“Hey, guess what?”

 

“What?”

 

“I’m moving to your city!”

 

“What?!”

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

Nayeon is, most definitely, awestruck.

 

It's big, it's bright, it's nothing she's ever thought before and it’s even better than what she’d seen in Youtube videos back when she was sixteen and searching for her dream.
It breathes ambition and dreams, as well as youth and opportunities that she too wants to have.

 

She’s so happy to be in this city. She’d call it The City, but she wouldn’t be objective enough.

 

And as if her luck couldn’t run out, it turns out that Jihyo lives there, not too far from her new apartment and is willing to help her out settle in the dense urban scenery.

 

"By the way,” Jihyo runs a hand under her bangs after she puts down one too big box. “Come to my party, there’ll be plenty people, you’ll make some friends. I know a scenarist or two." Nayeon is so star-eyed at the prospect of making new contacts that she accepts right away.

She comes in Jihyo's penthouse a little early (she's just on time, but apparently it’s not how it works here) so she uses the opportunity to help Jihyo bring out the chips and catch up with her long time friend.

They laugh so much that the time flies by and more and more people shuffle inside.

Jihyo, being a good host that she is, makes sure to greet everyone and jump from people to people to talk, to the point where she's hardly standing beside Nayeon anymore, and the older girl is now left standing in the middle of an unfamiliar crowd buzzing to the song.
She gets a few glances and a few stares that somehow convince her that this city is like a spider web of connections and friendships that tangle and untangle repeatedly, but she slips towards the american kitchen table and lifts her cup to her lips, staring at her surroundings.
The house is most definitely expensive, and decoration lights hang from the ceiling like ghosts breaking through the darkness of the party.
The playlist pleases everyone (one of the wonders that Park Jihyo manages to do) and almost every guest is up and dancing in the middle of the large living room.  
"Hey Nayeon!" Jihyo comes to her with a wide smile that illuminates the evening. Nayeon turns to her in relief, finally finding someone she could talk to.
"God, Jihyo, I've been waiting for you." Nayeon groans, gripping at her friend’s forearm. "You can't just leave me alone like this."
"I know,I know." The black haired girl tugs a hair strand behind her ear, giggling, and signals at someone from afar to come. "Which is why I've got you someone."
"What?" Nayeon gasps, growing anxious as the person Jihyo has called progressively comes closer.

“It’s fine. You need to meet people anyways, right?”

Nayeon bites her lips.
A blonde bob of hair suddenly peeks from the wall of people obscuring the view and Jihyo turns away from her.
"Okay. Nayeon,” Jihyo pushes the person forward until they're right in front of Nayeon. A tall woman that looks around her age stands there, eyebrows raised and cup still attached to her lips. “This is Jeongyeon.” The dark haired girl interjects, “Jeongyeon, Nayeon."

"Uh, hi! Nice to meet you." Nayeon gets hot at the prospect of having to talk to a stranger, but that she could do well enough. She extends a hand to the girl in front of her, taking in her thick lips and sharp eyes.
"Hi." The so-called Jeongyeon answers back with a polite smile, slipping her hand in hers.
"Alright." Jihyo clasps her hands together. She’s almost too glad about this. "Now you two become best friends, I have some business to attend."

A silence settles over them as soon as Jihyo turns on her heels and leaves. Nayeon holds her cup with both hands, her eyes trailing behind Jihyo’s hair. They both sip on their drinks with fleeting once overs.

Her charm spills like the Niagara falls, and she concludes that the stranger must come straight out of a tv series with her blonde cropped hair and blue cropped blouse. Nayeon stands firm in her spot and decides that a little bit of talking wouldn't hurt.

This is her first acquaintance that she’d make in this city, and it depends solely on her ability to entertain people.
At least, she says to comfort herself, it’d hurt less than the awkward silence.

"Jeongyeon, right? You're a friend a Jihyo?"

The girl in question raises her head from her drink and pours her eyes in Nayeon's, their sharpness contrasting with the soft color of the pupils.

"Yeah, I met her a while ago during an interview."

"Now that I think about it, she did mention you before." Nayeon mumbles more to herself than to the acquaintance, "Did she talk to you first? She's so social it's overbearing sometimes."

Jeongyeon smiles softly, before sipping on her drink, a bit more comfortable. "You seem to know her very well."

"Well," Nayeon tilts her head. How is she going to leave a good impression with this one? "My ears suffer from her voice to this day."
“Right. She’s one hell of a ride.” She succeeds in making Jeongyeon laugh.  “You’re new here, right? She told me you just moved here.”

She holds her drink down, forgetting about it. “She did? I actually come from…”

And just like that, they chat for the rest of the evening until Jihyo shows up, hair still in place after hours.

"Well,” The blonde takes a side step, “I'll take my leave. See you Jihyo, Nayeon."
Nayeon exchanges a happy smile with the girl, proud of herself for making her first acquaintance in her new life. “See you!”

Jihyo proceeds and gushes about Jeongyeon and how she's a great friend to have.
“I’d give my life to her. She’s just this nice.”

Nayeon hums while they drive to her house. She comes home drained but fulfilled.

___________________________________________________________________________

"Wanna go around the city? I'll drive you." Jeongyeon asks her over the phone at the crack dawn.
She’s not even out of her sleepy stupor yet, clutching her phone like a lifeline under her covers and her pillows. But her eyes snap open when she hears, “I’ll buy you breakfast.”

 

“Mhm… Okay…” She groans, rubbing her eyes while trying to wake up. She peers at the clock on her nightstand: six twenty a.m. Damn you Yoo Jeongyeon.

"I’ll be here in thirty minutes."
"Hey, at least give me forty minutes. I have to put on makeup..."
"Psh. What do you need makeup for?"
Nayeon stares at the ceiling, half sleeping, half indignant, as if the white wall was Jeongyeon. "You never know, I might meet my soulmate this morning!"
"Whatever.” The younger girl huffs through the phone, “Forty minutes."

Nayeon shuffles through her apartment, cranky as morning can be, a toothbrush in her teeth and lotion on her face. Jeongyeon is a rapidly evolving individual, she reminds herself, which means she won’t be late. She has to rush through her preparation process, and that irks her even more.
Nayeon doesn’t understand her waking up so early when she doesn’t have work just yet, but she’d never finish picking up the things Yoo Jeongyeon does that she doesn’t get.

She puts on her clothes rapidly, a mixture of class and casualness with the trademark mom jeans, and her door rings right when she's applying the last layer of lipstick.

Right on time, she smiles, popping her lips as she slides to the door with her socks.

"What's up." Jeongyeon comes inside the flat as if it was her own, and Nayeon stares after her, and her long trench coat and combed hair.

"Wow, what's happening today? Lookin’ all fancy and stuff, I smell a date!"

Jeongyeon plops down on the sofa while Nayeon eyes her curiously, coming to stand in front of her.

They've become close over the past few months. It still makes Nayeon laugh when she gets reminded of their first meeting, and how fast they've come over the awkward pre-friend phase. The phase where neither of them knew if they could be comfortable with the other.

"No."

 

"Oh," Nayeon grins, sliding in her jacket. "I didn't know you wanted to impress me with your looks today. You should've told me, I'd have taken out the cocktail dress." She winks at Jeongyeon, who grunts in disgust.
"Keep dreaming." She fires back. "And why the hell would you wear a cocktail dress at eight a.m.?"

They both make their way outside the flat, exchanging glares.

"This is a free world. I can do whatever I want."

Jeongyeon simply scoffs.

Simple yet interesting, complex in her tastes and caring in her behavior (even though she seems to be the target of Jeongyeon's teasing, but this too, makes it the person she is), Nayeon couldn’t help but become immediately intrigued by her friend and her odd quirks, like how she laughs and moves her hands, or how she picks her clothes and has a weird obsession over legos. She discovered the last one a few days ago, and it’s still hasn’t processed in her mind.
"Hey, now that I think about it, I've never seen your car." Nayeon inquires as their ride the elevator. Jeongyeon turns to look at her a bit surprise, chin catching up in her scarf.
"Really?"
"Yeah." Nayeon nods. "I wonder what kind of car you have." They walk outside the elevator, strolling past the mailboxes. Nayeon catches Jeongyeon's wrist in her hand, a bright idea in mind.
"Wait! Let me guess!" She cheers, to which Jeongyeon grins back.
"Okay.” The blonde nods. “If you win, I'll let you drive it. If you lose, you pay for the coffee."
"Mhm." Nayeon taps her chin. A car that represents Jeongyeon's personality in some sort…
"A small BMW. I know it."
Jeongyeon laughs out loud.

“What? An Alpha Romeo maybe?”

“Try again,” An amused Jeongyeon tells her.

“A Nissan GTR?”

At this, Jeongyeon raises both of her eyebrows, completely taken aback.

“What you think I am, a billionaire?”

She’s immediately led outside her own residence by a laughing Jeongyeon to take a look at her car and what she finds isn’t quite what she had in mind.

 

"You own a… Mini Cooper?" Nayeon asks, almost unbelieving.
"She's cute isn't she."

"It's yellow." She states out, intrigued."Wait she?"

 

There's something about the car that contrasts too much with Jeongyeon's nature. She looks at the girl, then at the car parked by the street, then back at the girl, who looks at her with a proud smile that makes her look like a clown.
Actually, nevermind, she thinks. This looks exactly like a car that Jeongyeon would own.

 

"She? Did I say she? I meant it."
"You call it she? What, don't tell me yoi have it a nickname!" She howls after Jeongyeon looks away guiltily. “You named your car! Who does that!”
"Whatever! You lost, so you pay for coffee." The taller girl grumpily walks to her car and unlocks it. It makes a funny noise that only fuels Nayeon's laughter.
"How dare you laugh when you talk to your plushies anyways?" She’s scolded by the infuriated blonde for over ten minutes, but in the end, Jeongyeon drives her around the entire city like she knows it by the hand. All the small streets and small shops aren't exempted and the radio plays soul songs to the ray of sunshine plunging through the window.
Nayeon feels something warm and pleasant in her when Jeongyeon asks her if she's satisfied with the tour.
"I am. Now drive me to breakfast, chauffeur."
"I see how it is." Jeongyeon snorts. "You're still paying though, princess."
"You called me princess!"
"God, don't you know sarcasm?"
They spend the rest of the drive in a mix of bickering and singing to the tunes, the latter mostly done by her to irk her friend. Purposely.
“But here I am, next to you, the sky's more blue, in Malibu!”

"Ugh, stop it! It's gonna rain!"
"My voice is pretty, and you’re just jealous." She says in a sing-song voice.
Jeongyeon eyes her pitifully. "Sure jan."

In the end, Jeongyeon still pays for the breakfast.

___________________________________________________________________________

Nayeon snuggles up in her scarf and her gloves to protect herself from the biting cold of winter.
She's tired beyond belief, having stayed up for the whole night and day learning and shooting for small screen drama. But the fatigue is almost blissful because she’s finally making her dream come true. She’s finally on tracks, and hopefully she’ll remain there.

The christmas lights illuminate the afternoon darkness, making everything glow under it’s realm. She’s cold but she’s warm and the same time, and she’s so confused it makes her smile.

 

"I'm hungry." Jeongyeon whines as they walk through one of the busiest area of the city. “So hungry I could eat anything.”

"Holy Jeongyeon, are you a stomach on legs or what?" Jihyo teases from the other side of Jeongyeon and Nayeon laughs heartily.
"I haven't eaten all day!" Jeongyeon defends herself.
"It's okay Jeong, we take you as you are. No judging."
" you both."
Nayeon snickers some more, before shuddering in her navy blue coat. They walk past a thrift shop that screams vintage and quirkiness and Jeongyeon trails her eyes on them as she says, "You're cold?"
"Who isn't?" She chuckles, forming a small smile on Jeongyeon’s lips.
“You should dress more. You do realize it’s December, right?”

Nayeon clicks her tongue. “Fashion over reason.”

"Let's get something warm!" Jihyo exclaims from underneath her expensive looking beanie that flattens her bangs on her forehead and hides most of her face. "I just have a phone call to make. Just a second."

Nayeon moves to the side of the street to wait, people swarming past them like a movie. She is looking around the scenery (her first Christmas in the City) when Jeongyeon throws an arm around her shoulders.
She turns to the taller girl, confused, and finds her tight lipped staring at her.

 

"Are you warmer now?"

She doesn't know that she blushes crimson red, and she smiles.

Somewhere deep inside she hears that Jeongyeon looks unfairly good with her newly dyed hair and her glasses stand on the tip of her nose cutely.
But Nayeon plays deaf.

"Yeah. Thanks, human-heating."

It’s surprising that Jeongyeon makes the first more, she never seemed to be the type to showcase physical affection in the months they’ve known each other (heck, not even affection with words). It’s unusual, but not unwelcomed.

"Guys." Jihyo comes back hurriedly, phone still plastered against her ear, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry I have to go. Some business came up in the company."

"What?" Nayeon yelps. It makes her forget about her inner feelings and she moves along with Jeongyeon to face the smaller girl. "What do you mean you have to leave?"
Jihyo sighs. "Chaeyoung called me. Some problem about misdelivery of stocks. They’re delaying the game for a bribe."
Jeongyeon hums as if she knew what she was talking about, and Nayeon feels all of her hype disappear.

Jihyo bites on her lip.

 

"Tell you what, I'll try to make it fast, okay? Just choose a restaurant and text me the adress, I'll come as fast as I can."

Jeongyeon makes an okay gesture with her hand while Nayeon escapes her hold to hug Jihyo quickly. "Sure, Jihyo. Go deal with your CEO life some more."
"Okay, see you guys later."
"Say hi to Chaeng for me!" Nayeon screams after Jihyo's retreating figure.
They watch her until she rounds the corner, still seriously talking over the phone.

"Must be tough to own a start-up." Nayeon muses as they start walking again. Jeongyeon nods, a bit lost in her own thoughts.
The space between them reduces as Nayeon almost bumps into her to avoid walking into people. It's silently that she slings an arm around Jeongyeon's, a habit that's caused them some kind of trouble before.

 

It was a few weeks ago.

They were walking after lunch to get to her car. Her name was shouted somewhere in the crowd, and two strangers suddenly came to them with apprehensive faces.
"Im Nayeon?"
Nayeon was so surprised that she nodded, surprised, clutching at Jeongyeon's arm.
"Oh my God, you really are Im Nayeon!" The young woman in front of her exclaimed, while the other smiled happily.
"We're big fans of your web drama! We watch it every week!"
"Oh really?" Nayeon felt sheer joy swarm into her. Finally, her face was getting recognized in the midst of everyone’s. Did it mean that she’d been doing a good job?

"I'm so happy to hear that!"
"Really, we love it." The second person said, "We weren't sure if we could come talk to you since you seem busy with…"
They all turned to her left, and Nayeon followed the eyesight to fall onto Jeongyeon's blank face. An air of surprise came onto her for a fraction second, as if silently asking them why they were all looking at her.

"Boyfriend." One of the woman said but it sounded more like a question.

And all it took was a second for Nayeon’s body to go cold at the word.
Worst of all, the cold wasn’t helping anything.
"Ah, no, she's… not-"
"Oh sorry,” One of them said in pure innocence, a happy smile on their face. “I mistook your girlfriend because of the hair. I'm sorry, you're really pretty now that I see it." She addressed Jeongyeon like they were talking about the weather, totally missing the main point.

Oh my God! Nayeon screamed in her head, how could someone be so undiscerning!

 

"I think there's a slight misunderstanding here." Nayeon chuckled, embarrassed. "This is my friend."

The two women hummed in acknowledgment, both visibly flustered by their insinuations.
"Oh my, we apologize."
"It's fine." She shrugged, clutching Jeongyeon’s coat in her fingers.
"Ah... could we have a picture with you?
"Yes, sure! Just don't post them on SNS alright?"
The two women were gone as soon as they were done taking the pictures, but the remnants of awkwardness remained between her and Jeongyeon.

They got away with it while we had to deal with it.

They walked side to side, and Jeongyeon remained silent for the most part, making Nayeon feel guilty when she didn’t even do anything.

 

"I guess we look too good together?" Nayeon joked and elbowed Jeongyeon's side. The taller girl looked at her and chuckles slowly, shaking her head slightly.
"I guess." Jeongyeon muttered to herself, a small smile on her lips.

And at that moment, she felt like she wasted something, but she wasn’t sure what.

 

“Hey dreamy head.” Jeongyeon pushes a finger on her temple, bringing Nayeon back to present time. “What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing.” She growled. “You should respect older people a bit more, you know?”

Jeongyeon smirks. “Sure. I’ll buy you a cane next birthday then, grandma.”

“Hey! I’m not that old!”

___________________________________________________________________________

 

“And it’s funny because I really thought that was my worst casting ever. I was so surprised when they called me back that I cried in the street!”

 

“Oh honey, you have no idea.”

 

“What? What’re you talking about?”

 

“Ha… Nevermind. So, how are the ratings? I heard they’re pretty good.”

 

___________________________________________________________________________
 

 

The thunder screeches loudly, tearing the early dusk violently.
 

"Run!" Jeongyeon orders her and they immediately pick up their pace in the empty street that looks like it comes straight out of a scary movie. Nayeon struggles with her heels but keeps up with Jeongyeon, who doesn't seem bothered by her own.

", it's pouring!" She exclaims, a hand over her head as a mock shield when they come to a halt to look around for a shelter that isn't a tree. (She doesn't want to die struck by lighting, and neither does Jeongyeon. Finally something they can agree on.)
Jeongyeon is doing something between laughing and cursing at the whole world and the weather, her hair flattening onto her hair and dripping just as fast as the rain.

 

“How far is it?” She yells at the girl and blinks the water away from her face. Her makeup is most definitely ruined for the night.

“It’s too far to go by foot right now!”

 

Another loud thunder comes seconds after the flash of lights and they both yelp so loud they get startled at the other.

"Here," Jeongyeon puffs out, pointing at a small lit up space at the end of the street. Nayeon squints: it’s... "A phone cabin."

They jog to the glass cabin and Jeongyeon pushes Nayeon inside first, before stuffing herself in right after.

They get in with disgustingly loud squeak noises when their wet clothes slide against the glass, and it's tight to the point where Nayeon starts feeling claustrophobia kick in (she doesn't even have it, but she’s sure it feels something like right now).

 

She feels Jeongyeon’s heaving chest against hers and balls her hands in fists that hover over the front of the brunette’s shoulders.

", it's tight." Jeongyeon makes a face that sends her in a laughing fit.

What are the odds that on the day they decide to take public commute to go to a party, there is a storm that was not planned to be this strong right when they're out and far from the subway?

"You're the unluckiest person ever."
"No you are!" Jeongyeon accuses. "Whenever I'm with you, something ty happens to me."
"Psh," She scoffs, "That's because you're with the great Im Nayeon."
"Who? The tiny Im- Ow! Hey, don't start a fight with me in such a small space." Jeongyeon warns, all the seriousness conveyed in the single finger she raises with difficulty.

Nayeon puts the back of her head against the glass.
"Oh, you look so threatening right now."
"Oh yeah? I’ll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I’ve been-”
"Okay, okay! Enough!" Nayeon laughs. She knew Jeongyeon was a dork and liked to live off of memes instead of sleep during the night. “I get it.”

 

"Wait, can't you move your a little it's taking the whole space." Jeongyeon groans as she tries to move around to have a bit more space, closing the glass door behind her.
"Did you just say I have a nice ?"
“You wish I did."

 

Her whole head throbs from exhaustion and the incoming cold she’s currently catching.
She watches Jeongyeon’s profile as the girl looks outside the window. She’d like to think they’ve grown to be the closest out of their group of friends.
Of course, Nayeon had met plenty of new people, she remembers meeting Sana the extravagant brunette, Tzuyu the tall model, Chaeyoung the adorable secretary she wished was her manager, and Mina the quiet girl. (Funny how they all seemed to be Jihyo's new love interests, though she's sure the girl has a little preference for the latter. Even funnier how Jeongyeon does not fit in that list.)

But Jihyo's acting like a proud mom who's wary of her dating anyone. She always makes sure she doesn’t meet male actors, passing them as distractions for her career.
Nayeon doesn’t care, but she doesn't get why Jihyo gives her a mischievous look whenever they’re all gathered together. And-

"Earth to Nayeon." Jeongyeon calls out to her and she blinks. "What's gotten you so unfocused just now?"
"Oh, I was just thinking how we go well with one another."
She doesn't get answer for as long as she looks outside the cabin, the downfall of water providing an almost intimate atmosphere to the situation.
"Do you want to date me that much? You need to chill Nabongs."
"What?" She turns to her friend as the once unfamiliar sensation of warmth comes back to her again. "Don't get ahead of yourself."
Jeongyeon hums with a smirk. She doesn’t stand losing to the girl and it's a sight that makes Nayeon want a revenge.
So she lifts her hand as discreetly as she can, careful not to make a sound against the moist glass and--
"Ah!" Jeongyeon yelps, "Do not tickle me! Do not -- ow!"
Nayeon laughs happily, tugging the hair off of her face. She has however only a few seconds of rest because Jeongyeon's the next to attack her sides.

"Stop!" She tried to free herself from the girl's grip. The task however becomes a handful because of the lack of space. She twists between Jeongyeon’s powerful hands and directs her own to her sides, trying to jab her fingers in them.

The rain is forgotten under the ragged laughs from both girls.

Nayeon grips at Jeongyeon's silky shirt and pulls to plant a finger to her side. She flinches when the blonde tickles her and they slide against the glass, until Jeongyeon fumbles and catches herself with Nayeon, pushing her back onto the glass behind her.

"Crap," Jeongyeon puffs out, a palm against the cabin glass.

Nayeon blinks at the closeness they're in but before she can think about it Jeongyeon lifts herself and stands back up on the other side of the cabin in a flash. (Or a few inches away from Nayeon, there isn't enough space to call it the other side anyways.)

They feet are tangled and her high heels arch her ankles in a weird manner. Jeongyeon shuffles in her immaculate ankle-boots.

"Moving a bit fast now aren’t we?" Nayeon teases irrationally, almost feeling the palpable tension that settles in the phonebox.

Jeongyeon is mostly red, flushed and embarrassed by the close call that they just had, but she laughs that laugh of hers that makes Nayeon grin that grin of hers.

It’s like they reset everything. But her heart beats fast and the rain doesn't stop even half an hour later when they decide to run through the street until they reach a taxi, hand in hand against Mother Nature.
She laughs because she's happy, even when she gets in the cab and the driver scolds them for getting his leather seats wet.
She's happy to be with Jeongyeon, whose bangs ridiculously stick to her forehead.

"You look like a dork."

The girl eyes her with caution, and something she doesn't catch. "So do you."

___________________________________________________________________________

Nayeon watches how Jeongyeon fingers the rim of her bottle and lifts it to her lips, staining the borders with lipsticks as the liquid swirls down her tongue. The music is loud enough to deafen her, but at the same time rigs her into swaying her hips to the tropical rhythm.

The "at-the-peak-of-the-night" meet up had been stupid so far (Jihyo and Jeongyeon can think of really dumb ideas most of the time), but she's grown to like it.

Nayeon feared the night as it carried threats it's in infinite shadows, and surely a group of young women wandering around couldn't be safe enough.
But she has to remind herself that this isn't her hometown and people swarmed outside at any time of the day.
And, according to Momo, one of Jihyo and Jeongyeon's many acquaintances, if she discovered the day-time city, she has yet to discover it during the night.

 

Which is why she finds herself dancing with the brunette in the mini dance floor in the middle of the black leather couches, a VIP room that provides a lot of secrecy.
She'd asked who booked it for them, and Jihyo simply side-eyed Jeongyeon a quick second.

"Damn girl!" Sana cheers from where she sits nestled under Jihyo's arm. "Get that going!"

Nayeon laughs under Momo's nose as the two get close, clinging to each other's hips for the show.

She’s sure her heart might burst from adrenaline but the feeling of her blood running through her system so fast is exhilarating, even when Momo slides a hand on the low curve of her back and presses closer.
Somewhere behind Jihyo and Sana holler at them and she feels paper -- dollar bills? -- falling onto her and --
"Aight!” Jeongyeon stands up and yells, a cheery voice highlighting the bottle in her hand. “Time for another round, loser pays the bill!"  

 

Nayeon slows down when Momo sends her a quick wink and distances herself, laughing at her.

She’s quickly yanked to the table by the Japanese girl and a new bottle is set within ten minutes of happy chatting, but Nayeon doesn't notice Jeongyeon's trained gaze on her.

"Holy , is this strawberry Champagne?" Nayeon yelps at the tag of the bottle, watching the bubbles fizzle in her glass as Jeongyeon pours her a drink.

"Yup darling. Bottoms up?"

Nayeon eyes her friend, a challenging look between them. Her heart beats loudly in her ribcage, she figures it's normal since this is Jeongyeon she is talking with.

"You're going to lose." She says lowly, a rasp evident in her voice as a smirk settles on Jeongyeon's face and her fingers dance on the rim of the glass.

 

"Hey! Don't play without us." Sana cooes, watching the two of them curiously.

Jihyo grasps her glass and by the count of three, they're all downing their drink.

 

Nayeon coughs the bubbles away -- , this is going to be bad in her stomach -- and Jeongyeon laughs at them all, a slumped Momo at her side.
"Look at her! Moguri, wake up!" Jeongyeon runs a hand on Momo's cheek, at which Nayeon forces a chuckle.
"Is she always like this?"
The blonde doesn’t look at her, "Drinking makes her sleepy."

“Mhm.” She fetches the champagne for another drink.

The bottle empties quite fast with the five girls exchanging glasses and jokes that make no sense and soon enough, the night flashes by and the sky cracks in vibrant shades of the early morning.

Nayeon however wouldn't know, as she lays onto the couch, absently snoring.

"Hey." She's snatched awake by a nudge of a hand on her back. Jeongyeon stands close to her, observing the way she wakes up with a jolt and then melts back into the couch.

 

"Jus… five minutes..."

"Im Nayeon, wake up. The club's gonna close and we have to leave."

With a whine she stretches and turns to lie on her back, eyes clashing with Jeongyeon's. The younger girl looks like a ghost of herself with her face pale and eyebags almost purple.
She’s torn between anger and affection.

"You look bad." Nayeon comments.
"Just wake up." Jeongyeon scoffs, "I'm not arguing with you at four a.m."

"Where are the others?" Nayeon asks when she sees the room emptied of its previous occupants, the glasses stacked onto the table, organized, and the bottles picked up from the ground.
"Sent them home.” The blonde follows her eyes. “I cleaned a bit, you just have to take your clutch and come with me."

"Okay." Nayeon groans, shuffling around the room to grab her bag, smoothing her hair while they descend the stairs of the club.

It looks completely lifeless with all of the lights turned off and no music streaming through the huge speakers. She clutches at Jeongyeon's hand not to fall.

Somehow she feels like a complete mess, in a worst state than the girl leading her to her car, even though she's sure the blonde drank more than her.
Maybe she has fast recovery abilities? Or maybe she's-

"Climb in." The door of the corny yellow car swings open and Nayeon lets herself fall onto the leather seat. She's suddenly a bit more aware  of her surroundings, of the orange in the dark blue sky when the outside air fills her lungs.

"Got your seatbelt on? God…" Jeongyeon nags but still reaches to her and snaps her belt shut, and Nayeon observes her.
The person that has taken care of her throughout this year is here, sitting beside her in a small smart car that doesn't suit her looks, listening to mellow songs as she drives with the windows open.

She watches on and on, feeling so conflicted about where they stand in their friendship.

 

"You're staring." Jeongyeon comments, perching her chin on her hand and driving with the other at a leisurely pace since the streets are empty of life.
The lights are all slowly turning off when the sun rises just a little bit more each passing minute.
Then it strikes her: she'd rather stay like this forever than get home.

"You're still staring." The girl eyes her for a second, shifting to grip the wheel with both hands. "What's wrong? Do you feel in pain?"
Nayeon chuckles, ignoring the obvious hangover headache she's having.
"I'm fine. You're always taking care of me."
The atmosphere stills are they cruise down the road. The night is almost over now that the sun is peeking from the ground.
"For the last year you've been standing beside me in everything that I had going on, the good and the bad."
She remembers the nights she thought she wouldn't make it, the days she couldn't breathe properly, anxious about everything. The days people asked too much from her. The days of joy when she learned she got the role, of fatigue when she was sick and overworked.

The days she was happy to be where she was, like today, like right now.
Jeongyeon was always there.

"Thank you." Nayeon says quietly, putting her hand onto Jeongeon's over the shift gear.

It catches the girl off guard, who looks at her for a second longer than needed, as if to read her intentions in her eyes.
Jeongyeon turns back to the road, a self-made expression of disgust to hide the growing smile on her face. Nevertheless, she turns her hand over and intertwines their fingers.
There is no snarky comment made to anger her, no groan of annoyance signaling that she is too cheesy for her. Just a simple, strained smile that tells a lot more that words.

"Any time."

And Nayeon swears she can see stars in the sky, even when the sun is up.

___________________________________________________________________________

 

“Man, it’s really been a year since you moved in.”

 

“I didn’t even notice the time going by. So much happened!”

 

“How about a little celebration? Over at yours, I’ll tell her to bring the champagne.”

 

“Shut up. And stop partying for a second will you?”

 

“Haha… You better buy me a meal sometime.”