"Sooyoung?"
Sooyoung's smile doesn't really waver too much. If anything, it appears a little sorrowful as she comes face to face with Chaeyoung. "Chaeyoung. How are you? I haven't seen you in a while."
Chaeyoung is still tense beside you. She thought about how she might react a little earlier when you saw Hyejin, but she didn't imagine she'd actually run into her ex-girlfriend like this. The fact that she's Hyejin's friend and she was the one that actually told her about your church is... definitely a surprise. "I've been great," her eyes start to dart back and forth between the objects sprawled about on the table. She becomes a little restless. Her grip on your hand tightens but is then removed almost instantly after she stands up. "Um, it's getting a little late and I have a shift here early tomorrow morning. Gotta help open up."
Chaeyoung begins to gather her things, shoving everything into her little black converse backpack, getting ready to escape a situation she doesn't think she is mentally prepared for. "Oh, you're working here now?" Silence. The last of her belongings are packed and she looks over at you. Everything happens so quickly that you're not able to really comprehend the thoughts that flash through her mind.
"Chae-"
"Yeah, I'll talk to you later. See you guys!" And with that, Chaeyoung makes a quick exit and darts off for home, asking Alice to pick her up somewhere along the way. Sooyoung introduces herself to everyone she hasn't met yet. Your eyes don't match the smile you're giving her- Hyejin can't help but think about the irony that just repeats itself. Of all people, she had ended up befriending your new love interest's ex?
++
It's been just over a week since the encounter with Sooyoung and Hyejin. Hyejin came back to the service on Sunday, Sooyoung decided to accompany her and greet some old friends. Chaeyoung was a no-show, she claims she had a cold and wasn't feeling well. You wanted to visit her and check up on her, but given everything that's happened, you figured space would be ideal. Mr and Mrs Park had a nice conversation with you on Sunday and asked if you'd be free to come over for dinner sometime this coming week. Ultimately deciding on Friday evening, there are about two more nights of sleep until you'll be face-to-face with that situation.
-TO- Chipmunk Cheeks 🐿
Chae... How are you doing? I haven't heard from you much this week.
A good ten or so minutes pass and still no reply from Chaeyoung, which is unusual to you because she is normally quite good at replying.
-TO- Chipmunk Cheeks 🐿
I just want you to know that I miss you and that I hope you're doing well.
You sigh, tucking your phone away. You're meeting with Lisa soon, but before then, you decide to spend some time Asian grocery store hopping, hoping to find some banana milk substitute for your girl since she missed having it so much. "Where is it?" You called Jisoo shortly before arriving to get some ideas. Now that you've got a picture on your phone, the hunt begins.
"Y/N! How are you?" Your head snaps in the direction the voice seemed to have come from and see Mr Park in your line of vision. You quickly make your way over and he gives you a quick, friendly hug. "I haven't seen you around the house at all this week. Seems a little unusual now."
You give him a gentle chuckle, trying to figure out what to say. "Yeah, I think Chaeyoung has had a lot on her mind this week, I wanted to give her some space."
"Has something happened between you both..?"
"Oh, no. No, I don't believe so." He stares at you for a little while. Analysing your face, trying to get a feel for whether or not you're lying to him.
"You know, Y/N, I believe my daughters think I'm oblivious - but I can tell there is something going on between you and my daughter. Correct me if I'm wrong?"
Your mouth dries up. 'Has he mentioned this at all to Chaeyoung yet? To Alice? What do I say? Is it okay for me to say I've gone out on a date with his daughter?' A flash flood of thoughts crash around in your mind and you're not sure which one is the most appropriate for this scenario. "There is nothing for me to correct, 목사님 (Reverend Park)."
He nods understandingly and thinks a little more to himself. He comes from a conservative family in South Korea. Although he'd never act harshly on anyone that doesn't follow point by point what his beliefs are, he hasn't really thought about what he would do if someone in his family didn't exactly have the same ideals. Giving you a once over, he decides to make his way home to give it some more thought. "I will still be seeing you at dinner this Friday night, yes?"
"Yes! I am really looking forward to it. Thank you again for having me over." With that, he parts ways with you. You spend a little more time in the store before deciding to rush over to the last nearby Asian grocery store. Making a beeline towards the cold beverages, your eyes begin to scan. The cold air radiating off of the coolers makes you feel refreshed, the colourful array of drinks on display make you thirsty, the snacks behind you are tempting you to munch down on them all but you think against it because you're having dinner soon. After almost giving up, you quickly ask one of the store employees if they had any of the banana flavoured milk available.
"Ah, sorry. English is not... very good." Oh man. Okay, time to practice Korean.
"Ah... 여기 바나나맛 우유 있나요? (Is there banana flavoured milk here?)" The clerks face lights up a little, understanding what you needed now. Motioning you over, there is a little cooler you missed at the back filled with different flavoured milk of a very similar brand to the one in Korea. "정말 고맙습니다! (Thank you so much!)"
You buy a pack of the banana for Chaeyoung, strawberry for yourself, and chocolate for Lisa. The store clerk sees you off with a warm smile. "다시 뵙길 바래요! (Hope to see you again!)"
++
"Yah! Lalisa!" The tall blonde turns to take a peek over her shoulder to see you wonder toward here with something behind your back. She raises an eyebrow at you, curious as to what was behind your back.
"Hey, Y/N/N. Whatcha got there?" You lean down to give her a hug whilst placing the little pack of milk in her lap. "Oh my gosh! Chocolate milk!" She quickly opens the pack and takes two out, handing one to you. "To you, the best friend ever. Oh, and to chocolate milk! Because do I even need a reason?"
A chuckle escapes your mouth as you clink your milk with hers, taking a sip out of the provided straw. You both make your way over to a Vietnamese restaurant for dinner, giving the menu a once over before deciding what you'd be filling yourselves with. The restaurant is bustling with customers sporting happy faces and satisfied tastebuds. The interior of the place really giving off a homey vibe, the wait staff doing their best to provide a positive experience. After ordering and Lisa becoming slightly agape at your ability to speak the language, you carry on with your conversation. "You seem to have forgotten I spent a good number of months in Vietnam for work. You of all people shouldn't be that surprised."
"I keep forgetting! At least we got some sweet free drinks," taking a sip of her coconut juice, she toys around with the coconut flesh inside the glass. "So, have you heard from Chae lately?"
Huffing out a short sigh, you shake your head gently. "She hasn't been replying to any of my messages or returning any calls. Well, no, she replied to me like one time to tell me she was busy with some stuff and that she'd talk to me later," fishing a piece of coconut flesh out of your cup to munch on, you take a glance over to your phone. "After that, I thought it'd be good to give her some space to think and get her mind straight."
Lisa's head bobs slightly, nodding in understanding, bringing a hand up to her face to rest. "You know, I actually met up with her briefly after her work shift the other night. I caught her trying to get to what looked like a rooftop entrance not too far away. She looked really tired, almost like she hasn't been getting much sleep."
Your eyebrows furrow together. "I've been at the cafe a few times this past week, I haven't seen her. Are you sure she was leaving work?"
"I'm not sure, that's just what she told me. I got her talking, whether or not she was completely willing to, I don't know. Joy has been showing up at her house trying to talk to her. Her mother once let her in, Chae was essentially forced into talking with her. I don't know what happened, but she went quiet after that. I didn't want to push her."
You spend the rest of the meal with Chaeyoung in the back of your mind. Lisa distracts you from your own mind from time to time when you suddenly stop eating get too wrapped up in your thoughts. The girls have all essentially become best friends at this point in time, Lisa's parents have come back from their trip, and apparently, you have had the least contact with her out of them all. As thankful as you are that Chaeyoung is opening up again, you feel a little sad that you aren't one of those people.
++
"Alright, it's getting late. You've got a work meeting in the morning, and I'm not about to keep you up out here longer than you need to be. You're gonna see her in two days at her house, she can't escape you there. Just... Yeah, I don't need to say it. You're already going to be cautious with her." You pull up outside of Lisa's house and wait for her to get inside. "Let me know how it goes!" She waves goodbye to you and makes her way inside. You see her mother quickly come to the door to bid you farewell also before you pull away from the house.
"Bye! I'll see you soon!"
"Come over often, Y/N!"
You give her mother, Chitthip, a warm, wide smile before disappearing into the night. On your drive home, you approach the intersection of your street and Chaeyoung's. Slowing down to think, you decide to turn down her street and approach her house. Upon pulling up outside, you see a figure leaving the house that looks a little like Sooyoung's - but not knowing her too well yet, you can't really put the puzzle pieces together properly. Taking your key out of the ignition, your car becomes silent one door down from the Park household. Stepping outside, the breeze instantly hits you in the face, bringing a slight shiver to your body and goosebumps to your arms. Grabbing your hoodie from the passenger seat of the car, you throw it on quickly, the hoodie coming up with the wind and sitting comfortably on your head. You open up the trunk of your car and dig around for the box hidden inside. With the brown cardboard box in your hands, a memory flashes in your mind quickly.
________
"Oh, look at that! That is so cute!"
"Chaeng, I thought you didn't like avocadoes."
"I may not like avocadoes, but this plushie is still so adorable!" She cuddles it in her arms for a few moments with you doing nothing aside from standing there in adoration of the sight before you. She brings the plushie out in front of her face to inspect it, looking for the price tag. "$60?" Her squishy cheeks puff out as she pouts, her bottom lip coming out. She puts the plushie back down into the small pile that it came from, her hand wrapping itself in the warmth of your own once again.
"Not going to get it, Rosie?"
"It costs a little too much. I can't afford to spoil myself at the moment."
Understanding, you give her a slight nod. "Well, how about we go get some tteokbokki to make up for the lack of a plushie?"
Chaeyoung jumps slightly and nods vigorously, pulling you with her as she makes a beeline for the stall outside that's making it fresh with a beautiful, full smile on her stunning face.
________
-TO- Chipmunk Cheeks 🐿
Check your front door.
Placing the box down on the welcome mat with the banana milk on top of it, you hit send. Checking the time on your watch, it reads 10:32 PM. 'She should be at home.' You quickly turn yourself around and quietly make your way back out through the fence, not wanting to make a noise.
"Y/N?"
You turn to your right instantly at the sound of her voice. Your heart sinks a little at the bags under her eyes and the lifeless look on her face. "Chaeyoung-ah." She gets up from the hidden bench around the corner of the front yard and makes her way out to the street where you are. You instinctively bring yourself over to her and wrap her up in your arms; instinctively to her as well, her arms automatically wrap themselves around your waist.
"I got your messages."
"It's good to know you've been receiving them-"
"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you."
You sigh quietly beside her ear. That action causes her to hold onto you tighter than she did before, hoping you'll forgive her. "Roseanne, I'm not mad at you. I get it. I just hope you won't shut me out in the future."
"I won't." Loosening your grip on her a little, you bring your head back to examine her more carefully. Your hand comes back around from her neck to her cheek to make her face you. She stares into your eyes with a hint of intensity mixed in with sorrow. "She kissed me."
You blink a few times, head tilting a little to your side, registering the words she just uttered. "Sooyoung?" Chaeyoung nods, bringing her own hand up to her face, covering it in shame after repeating herself; after telling you how sorry she was again. "Chae-"
"I'm sorry that I let it happen. I should've pushed her away as soon as it happened but I was in shock and-"
"Rosé." You cut her off and remove her hand from her face. "Stop telling me you're sorry."
"But I-"
"Park Chaeyoung. All I care about is whether or not you chose to kiss her back. Did you?"
She shakes her head quickly, denying any such claims. "No! Of course not, I would never do that to you. I like you so, so much, I don't-"
You bring your hand up to the back of her head and close the gap between the two of you. As your lips lock together, you feel her kiss you back immediately, desperately; missing the feeling of yours on hers. Her arms tighten around you once more, bringing your bodies closer together, keeping each other warm. You lose your balance somehow, the back of you coming into contact with the fence to her house. The minor collision doesn't register in your minds, neither does the porch light coming on. What does bring you out of your own little world, however, is the sound of the lock becoming undone on the front door. You quickly pull yourself away from Chaeyoung, not wanting to get caught by either of her parents. Chaeyoung, apparently, does not realise this; so she cups your face again to reconnect your lips together having been away from you for too long.
"Chaeyoung, is that you?" Luckily, since it's late, that obviously means that it's dark outside. Chaeyoung removes herself from you hastily yet reluctantly, walking past the fence and into the light coming from the porch.
"엄마! (Mum!) Sorry, I was just talking to Y/N for a little bit. I'll be inside soon."
"You both should come and talk inside, it's cold out there tonight. I don't want either of you to get sick." Her eyes narrow as she peers past Chaeyoung to try and spot you in the midst of the darkness.
Leaning over the fence as far as you can, you give an enthusiastic wave as your cheerful voice is projected into her ears. "Mrs Park! Good to see you!"
"Come over here, sweetie. I want to give you a hug." You pass through the fence and quickly brush past Chaeyoung to get to her mother, giving her a warm embrace. "Oh wow, you're so warm!"
"Cuddling her is the best. Like a warm teddy bear." Chaeyoung chimes in with a light chuckle seeing your expression at her later statement. She watches you with her mother, neither of you looking like you'll be pulling apart any time soon. Her mother has really grown to treat you as one of her own, and in such a short amount of time, too. She thinks back to the time Sooyoung was introduced to her mother. For Sooyoung to get even remotely close to the level of comfort and adoration that you have with her mother took her months upon months of proving herself. She quickly takes a picture of you both and sets it as her the background on her phone, smiling contently to herself.
"I would love to stay for a bit, but I do have work early tomorrow morning so I should get going," you bend down after removing yourself from Mrs Park, picking up the things you had brought for Chaeyoung. "I actually just came by to drop these off for your chipmunk." You turn back to Chaeyoung with the gifts in your hands. She looks past you at her mother, giving her a look that pleads for the both of you to be left alone for another moment. She nods and bids her farewell to you, expressing her excitement for dinner on Friday night.
Chaeyoung's eyes widen at the banana milk in front of her, jumping up and down out of pure joy like an innocent young child. "How did you get this? Where did you get this from?"
"I know that it isn't exactly the same as the one you and Jisoo used to get, but it's the closest thing I could get. Wasn't easy to track down."
Chaeyoung puts it down beside her to give you a proper hug, still clutching onto the box. "I really appreciate it," You part from her once more to allow her to open the box. Her eyes soften and an effortless smile graces her face once she lays eyes on the avocado plushie in her hands. "You got it?"
"Of course. Did you see the look on your face when you saw it? How could I not get it for you?" She places the box on the ground as well, clutching onto the adorable avocado and squishing it against her body. She lets out a cute little giggle, too happy to keep it in.
"You make me really happy. I don't deserve you."
"Hey, don't you dare say that. You are worthy of all the happiness in the world. You're like my own personal ray of sunshine with a rainbow peeking out from within. I wish I could get you everything your heart desires." Chaeyoung glances over to you as you tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, your hand then resting comfortably on her cheek. "God, I love these cheeks." You give her free cheek a quick peck, seeing her face become pink at the contact. She buries her face into your shoulder, trying to contain the heat rising up to her cheeks, arms wrapping themselves around your body once more, feeling at home. You feel her begin to shake a little and sounds that sound like little sniffles can be heard right beside your ear. "Hey, Sunshine, why are you crying? Am I really that bad at sweet-talking?"
She sniffles once more, shaking her head a little as she stands upright to wipe some tears away; you beat her to the punch, bringing your own thumbs up to caress her face and brush the tears away yourself before she gets the chance. She grabs hold of your hands not wanting the moment to come to an end so soon. "You're what my heart desires."
"Whew, so cheesy, Rosie!" The melodious sound of her laughter rings through your ears and takes over your brain. Reaching behind you, you open up the front door to the Park household. "Sunshine, I should get going and you should get inside because the wind is really starting to pick up." She immediately clings to you like a koala, face buried into you.
"Already?" Even though she's mumbling into your shoulder, you can feel the pout coming from her. Resting your chin on the top of her hand and caressing her hair soothingly, you give her one last peck on the head before you part from her.
"Yeah, sadly. But listen, I'll be back here before you know it. I'll see you on Friday night, okay?" Chaeyoung nods, still attached to you.
As you leave, Chaeyoung quickly gives you a sneaky kiss out of nowhere before closing the door after seeing you off. "Has Y/N gone home?" Startling her daughter, Mrs Park retains the warm smile that sat on her face ever since she saw you about five or so minutes ago. She was coming down from the stairs right before you left. She knows you'd just left to go home. She saw her daughter clinging to you. She saw her kiss you. She knew you were more than a friend to her; she's known for a while.
"엄마! 깜짝 놀랐어요! (Mum! You scared me!)" Her heart is beating in her chest, not only from her mother's sudden appearance behind her but also from the idea of getting caught kissing you. 'Did she see me? Will she prevent me from hanging out with Y/N? Will Y/N be banned from coming over? Is she going to send me away?'
"Sweetie, I just want you to know that I love you no matter what. Okay?"
"... Okay. That was kind of random, but thanks, 엄마 (Mum). I love you too."