When Chaeyoung came home after work, it smelled delicious in the flat. She shouted a hello into the apartment as she slipped out of her boots and her parka and placed her purse on the floor. As she got no reply, she slowly made her way into the kitchen where she saw Jisoo sitting on the counter and laughing at something the male at the stove had just said and when Chaeyoung entered the room with raised eyebrows, both of their heads turned around in shock. "Hey, Chaeyoung," Jisoo muttered with a blush on her cheeks and the younger female couldn't help but grin.
"Hi Jisoo, hi Jinyoung," she grinned and walked into the room. "What are you cooking?"
"Spaghetti," Jinyoung answered and looked into the pan. "Do you want some as well? I think we made way too much for two people anyway because we didn't know when you'd be home... so we kind of just hoped you'd be hungry."
"You thought correctly," Chaeyoung replied and nodded her head. "I'm starving. Also, since when are the two of you here?"
"For about an hour now," Jisoo murmured with a look on her phone.
Chaeyoung nodded and looked at the counter where Jisoo was sitting. She pointed at it with a finger but without touching the surface and with a smug grin she asked, "I can still eat on this, can't I?"
The other two coughed and blushed deeply and didn't dare to look at neither each other nor Chaeyoung when they nodded their heads vividly, "Chaeyoung, oh my god, get out!" Jisoo shouted in embarrassment but without really being angry. She shoved her friend in the shoulder, who just laughed and apologised quickly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm glad you're here, Jinyoung, and I will stop making jokes now. Okay? It was just this one, I'm sorry."
"I swear to God," Jisoo muttered and sighed. "Next time you're bringing someone home, I'm going to embarrass you so much, seriously."
Chaeyoung grinned and the thought of her here with the blonde made her head spin a little. Her stomach did turns and she had to take a deep breath because what the fuck was that. She simply thought about having her here for even less than a second and she was reacting this strongly. "Chaeyoung? Are you okay?" Jisoo asked worriedly and when Chaeyoung's vision focused on her surroundings again, she noticed she held her stomach and looked probably very pale. Both Jinyoung and Jisoo looked at her with worry in their eyes and guided her over to one of the chairs.
The male handed her a glass of water immediately, which she drank and smiled at the two of them. "Sorry, I guess I'm just a bit tired from work. I don't know what just happened, sorry for making you worry."
"Why don't you lie down on the sofa and I'll bring you a cup of tea and when the food's ready I'll get you, alright?" Her roommate offered with a smile and already helped her up and walked with her into the living room, where she sat down with Chaeyoung. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked more quietly.
Chaeyoung nodded her head. She didn't want to tell Jisoo about this ridiculous crush on someone she didn't even know, especially because Jisoo would be worried and she seemed to happy now that there was finally something happening between her and Jinyoung and Chaeyoung didn't want to ruin the mood. "Yeah, I'm sure I'll be fine once I've relaxed a bit. I'm really just tired. And also I didn't really eat anything today, I'm sure it's that." She smiled comfortingly. "Now, go back to Jinyoung, I'm sure he's already missing you." She winked teasingly and shoved her lightly, making her friend get up.
With one last glance towards Chaeyoung, who replied with a smile, Jisoo walked back into the kitchen where she spoke in a hush voice with her new found boyfriend. Or at least that's what Chaeyoung assumed he was – after all, a one night stand wouldn't come to her flat to cook spaghetti if he didn't want to be more than just that; a one night stand.
When they ate spaghetti later, Chaeyoung made as much conversation as possible because whenever it was quiet on the table, the other two would look at her all worried and it irritated her quite a bit because she hated thinking about earlier – she didn't even know the name of that girl and she was just a customer, even if she was a really pretty and friendly one.
Needless to say, her reaction was over the top and she really needed to sort out her priorities and if she wanted to get something out of this whole thing between her and the blonde, she would have to at least ask her for her name. How could it be that she knew her age and what she worked as but had no idea what her name was?
She looked up from her food to realise she had neither been talking for a couple of minutes nor really touched her food (playing with the fork inside of the plate didn't really count) and Jinyoung and Jisoo looked at her, chewing on their own food. "Chaeyoung, are you sure you're alright?"
Rolling her eyes the younger female looked at her friend. "Yes, Jisoo, I said I'm just tired and thinking about stuff. Like, what am I gonna wear tomorrow? Because my only Christmas jumper got dirty so I'm gonna have to find something else for tomorrow. I was just thinking about things like these. It was really busy today, so excuse me if I'm tired."
Jisoo nodded her head and smiled, "I'm sorry, it's just that I'm worried about you. I guess we read too much into it."
'We.' Chaeyoung couldn't help but smile at the choice of words Jisoo had made there and both of them looked confused why she was suddenly smiling. They probably thought she was insane by now, but to be perfectly frank, she didn't really care. "It's alright. I'm not really hungry anymore. Thanks, Jinyoung, for the delicious food, and I hope Jisoo's bed is big enough for you two. I'm going to bed now."
"Idiot!" Jisoo shouted after her laughing when Chaeyoung was almost inside of her room.
Tonight it took her a while to fall asleep.
•••
"It's really busy today once again," Fred murmured with a frown. They were both selling at the same time, which they hadn't done before because it had been busy, but never as many people as before so it wasn't needed that both of them worked on the same thing at the same time.
"Yup," Chaeyoung replied as she took the money from a customer with a smile. "Seems like our coffee break has to wait a bit today."
The male laughed as he wrapped a wreath and then handed it to another customer. There weren't many left of the ones they had prepared in the morning and they were afraid they'd run out of them because neither of them felt like they could just abandon the other with the people. "Okay, okay, Chaeyoung, I think we need more wreaths. I'll be alright, please just make some more quickly."
Chaeyoung nodded her head and talked to one more customer before she turned her attention to the wreaths. She had no idea where Fred got all the stuff from, but she was glad as long as they had enough every day. After about half an hour Chaeyoung had prepared quite a lot of them and there were less people, so they both slowed down a bit and relaxed. It only took about ten more minutes until there was not a single person left at the stall – for now – and they could both take a deep breath.
"I think we have really deserved our coffee break today," Fred laughed and Chaeyoung nodded her head with a smile,
"I think you're right. I'll wait here as always." Almost anticipating, she waited for Fred to disappear. He was always gone for more than just two minutes, which she'd think was the average time you'd need to queue, order and pay, but Chaeyoung didn't really care what he did because usually the blonde would appear in these minutes he was gone.
She kept looking at the people and felt her stomach do a nervous turn every time she saw a blonde person only to be disappointed when it wasn't the one she was waiting for. She almost gave up hope that she'd even turn up today, when someone said from behind her, "Hey there."
Chaeyoung turned around a bit too quickly and stumbled over her own feet and right into a box of bows, which then all fell onto the floor within the booth. "Oh my God, I'm sorry," the blonde muttered and looked over the counter. "Do you want me to come and help you? I mean, I need to ask for permission, don't I?"
Chaeyoung looked up at her with wide eyes from the floor and it was really strange but the ceiling lights were right behind the blonde's head and it really looked like a halo. She sighed deeply before getting up and dusted herself off, shaking her head. "No, uh, I'll clean it up later. How, uh, how are you?" What was wrong with her? Why on earth was she so nervous all of a sudden? It had worked perfectly fine the last couple of times they had talked and just because of a stupid overreaction yesterday she now reacted like this.
The blonde laughed and Chaeyoung felt the butterflies in her stomach. "I'm alright, it's quite amusing here, to be honest. I was watching some of the people on the ice skating rink not too far from here on the way and I wondered if I could find someone to skate with because alone it's quite boring and none of the kids have shoes, you know."
Chaeyoung's head was flooded with images of the two of them on the rink, holding hands and smiling and laughing and their faces red from the cold and their toes about to fall off but neither of them would care because they would enjoy it too much to give a damn... and once more she felt her head spin. "Are you okay?" The blonde asked. "You look a bit pale."
"Oh, what a nice thing to say," Chaeyoung said with a joking tone to lighten the mood. She hated herself for reacting like this because it was seriously so stupid. But whatever.
The blonde's mouth fell open and her eyes widened as she waved her hands in a defending gesture – Chaeyoung noticed she wasn't wearing her white gloves and with another look saw them lying on the counter between them. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that. You look just as gorgeous as every day, I was just worried."
"Why don't you kill me now," Chaeyoung whispered as quietly as she could as a reply she didn't want the blonde to hear. Why on earth would she say such things? It only fuelled Chaeyoung's childish imagination and her stupid hopes and. God. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
"What?" The blonde asked with a tilt of her head. She seriously looked extremely adorable and Chaeyoung just wanted to kiss her right there. Ugh.
"Nothing," Chaeyoung replied with a shake of her head and a smile on her lips. "Are you here to buy more wreaths?"
"That too, yes," the blonde replied and it was probably the first time Chaeyoung saw her blushing and it made her stomach turn. She raised an eyebrow, but didn't dare to question any further. She liked to pretend and even though it was stupid of her she didn't want her hopes to be crushed in case the answer was anything else than 'I also wanted to see you'. She wrapped one of the prepared wreaths and then looked at the blonde considering.
So far she had never really been positively surprised by the wreaths Chaeyoung had made for her and to be perfectly frank, the girl didn't know what the blonde wanted. She said she wanted one Chaeyoung would put up in her own flat... and she would put up anything, really, because it was always Jisoo who bought them (even this year, but somewhere else... that traitor) and Chaeyoung just accepted the ones that they had in their apartment.
She would probably buy one that reminded her of the blonde... but Chaeyoung didn't know anything about her except that she was twenty-one and worked in an orphanage. How could anything remind her of her? "I, uh. I don't know what to do," Chaeyoung replied honestly and looked at the blonde with a sad expression.
The blonde looked at her with wide eyes and clutched her chest; a gesture that made Chaeyoung very confused. She looked down at the naked wreath in front of her and then back at the blonde, who had looked up at the ceiling and whispering something. "Aw, don't look so sad! It doesn't matter," she replied quickly and waved her hands. "Just do anything. I'm happy about whatever you give me."
Chaeyoung blushed and quickly looked back down at the wreath before she sighed once more and pursed her lips in thought. She wanted to make the blonde happy about it for once, but seriously excited. Not just like this. Letting out a frustrated groan, she grabbed some bows and baubles and stars and pinned them to the wreath neatly. "Is that okay?" She asked with raised brows and unsure.
The blonde nodded her head with a soft smile and Chaeyoung noticed she had now also unzipped her jacket and leaned against the counter. It gave Chaeyoung this feeling of home and being domesticated and she saw Jinyoung in front of her, making spaghetti, but instead of Jinyoung it was suddenly the blonde and she groaned once more.
"No, don't worry, I love it," she smiled. "I'll take it."
Chaeyoung pushed out her lower lip and sighed with a nod before wrapping it and handing both of them to the blonde, who gave her twenty-one pounds this time. "It's alright this way," the blonde promised. "And don't worry, I'm sure you'll get inspired soon and make wreaths not only your customers like but also you yourself!"
Chaeyoung felt her stomach do a nervous turn again at their proximity and she nodded her head with a sheepish smile. "Thanks, uh –"
"You're welcome," she replied with a smile and waved before skipping away. There went her chance to ask her for a name once more and Chaeyoung face palmed herself in annoyance. Why, oh why, couldn't she just get the question out? It was so simple and easy to say and yet she always forgot to ask, too distracted by her simple presence.
Fred walked into the stall right that moment and handed Chaeyoung her frappuccino with a grin. "Your cheeks are even redder than yesterday," he laughed. "I thought I'd give you two some more time today but I still had to wait and walk around the shops until she was gone. Sorry if your coffee is cold."
"A frappuccino is always cold," Chaeyoung laughed and placed her free hand on her cheek, hoping to cool it down a bit and make the embarrassing shade of red disappear from her cheeks. Customers would blame it on the cold but the problem was that Fred knew better, and he was the one she stood next to and therefore he was the one that mattered. "Anyway, I'll just make some more wreaths now." And with that she turned her back to the male and shut down her thoughts for a while.
Her eyes noticed something on the counter and with a surprised look she saw that the blonde had forgotten her gloves there. Jade took them to make sure nobody else would take them. With a little bit of luck the blonde would come back for them and they'd have another chat.
She didn't come back today anymore.
•••
"Hello? Anyone home?" Chaeyoung called into the flat when she came home that afternoon. This time she couldn't smell anything and after a quick look on her phone she saw she also didn't have any texts from Jisoo that would tell her she'd be alone tonight.
"In the living room!" Jisoo's voice shouted back and the younger female made her way into said room, where the happy couple lay on the sofa in each other's arms with a blanket lazily thrown onto them and popcorn and chocolate in their laps, Jisoo's feet on the glass table.
Chaeyoung looked at them with a grin before she sat down next to Jisoo and looked at the TV, where they were watching Love Actually. "Hey, you two. How was your day?"
"Relaxed," Jinyoung answered and took a bite of the chocolate in his hand. "What about yours?"
"Busy, but not as bad as yesterday, I think," Jinyoung replied with a nod. "I suppose I'll be alright. What have you two eaten? Except for popcorn and chocolate, I mean."
Jinyoung giggled and shook her head, "I'm afraid nothing proper. We were too lazy to get off the sofa all day, sorry. But, we could order something? We haven't eaten Chinese in forever. What do you say?" Her look changed from Jinyoung to Chaeyoung and then back at the boy, who nodded his head, "Alright with me."
Chaeyoung agreed as well before she looked at the two of them with a mildly disapproving look. "I suppose I'm also the one who has to get up and get the menu from the pin board?" Because, yes, they were that organised. At least Chaeyoung was (sometimes). Hopefully Jinyoung was more organised than Jisoo or else this flat would turn into a dumb within the next two weeks, if not even less.
"So, Chaeyoung," Jisoo murmured when Jinyoung had gone to the toilet after they had all picked something and called the restaurant. "Does it bother you when Jinyoung is here all the time? I know we haven't really talked about it, I'm really sorry."
"No, no, no, it's really fine with me. I'm happy for you two and you deserve it. He seems nice enough and if you enjoy his presence, then I'm sure as hell not gonna take it away. If he keeps cooking as well as yesterday, I don't mind one bit."
Jisoo giggled, "Oh, thank God you see it like that. And yes, he's an amazing cook but I don't think he'll cook for us very often. I mean, he doesn't live here, right? I mean, not yet anyway. I don't even know if he'd want that, I mean, he has his own place and –"
"Calm down, Jisoo," Chaeyoung laughed and placed her hand on her friend's mouth to shut her up. "It'll all turn out alright between you two, I'm sure. You look really cute together and it was just a matter of time 'til the two of you would end up together." After these words she was almost crushed in a hug by her flat mate and she had to push her away so she wouldn't suffocate. "Didn't I just tell you to calm down, Chu?" She laughed and then hugged her back anyway. "Love you."
"Love you, too, Chaengie."
"If Jinyoung hears you call me that our friendship is over," Chaeyoung threatened jokingly for which she received a poke in the sides. This time Jisoo was prepared for her friend's reaction and moved to the right in order to avoid receiving any accidental punches from her friend.
Chaeyoung would take her time telling Jisoo about the blonde, because right now everything was about Jinyoung and Jisoo – and not about her. She could wait.