Hyejin had to admit. She hadn’t been the happiest when Wheein went away without her. Normally they travelled as a unit, albeit mostly because of group activities, but the added fact that they spent minimal time apart also contributed to their dependency on one another.

Or perhaps it was just her dependency. Hyejin always felt a little lost without Wheein standing beside her. Call her whipped, but it’s what 10 years of constant company does to a person.

As she waited in the airport lobby right outside where all the gates were, Hyejin couldn’t help but think about all of this. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been a little hurt when Wheein had mentioned taking a trip to Hong Kong for some company that wanted to use her as a model for their matte lipstick or something that Hyejin hadn’t taken the time to memorize. Wheein taking the trip hadn’t been what hurt exactly. The fact that she wasn’t invited to tag along was what burned.

Usually the two jumped at the opportunity to go to other countries together where their faces were less known and they could act a little more like a couple than what South Korea allowed of them. The risk was still present, but it didn’t weigh on them like normal. It could almost be classified as freeing compared to their normal lives and such an opportunity was a waste to miss.

Knowing this, Hyejin had been immensely confused when she’d started getting excited about going on the trip and talking about where they could go in their off time when Wheein had mentioned that maybe she should go alone.

Though Hyejin had tried to hide the hurt she felt, Wheein saw right through it and a few pity cuddles and kisses on pouty lips later led to Wheein explaining that the schedule the company wanted her on for shooting, promotions, and other sponsored activities would be far too hectic and she wouldn’t have time to do anything but her job while she was there.

Hyejin understood that. Of course she did. It was her job too after all, but it still didn’t help the ache in her stomach knowing that Wheein would be away from her for almost 4 days with nothing but the pixelated image of a facetime call to keep her close to the girl she considered to be half of herself.

Even those calls came less frequently than Hyejin would’ve liked. Wheein had definitely not been lying when she’d said that she had no time. Every one of her calls would start with a brief, “I only have a few minutes.” and end in a rushed, “I have to go.”

Hyejin had almost called back and yelled at Wheein for not saying “I love you” before hanging up on one fateful call but decided against it in attempts to not look like “that girlfriend”. If even she very much was “that girlfriend”.

It wasn’t until later on that night that Hyejin realized just what kind of position her beautiful girlfriend was in. Despite her eyes falling heavily with every blink and the words she spoke coming out more and more slurred, she insisted that Hyejin and her talk for a while considering that’d barely spoken for the last day or two.

It was Hyejin who had to force Wheein off the call when she noticed that the girl was slipping in and out of sleep while speaking to her. With a kiss towards the screen and a meaningful “I love you”, Hyejin hung up on the other girl and curled into her own bed that felt much too empty compared to what she was used to.

Maybe that emptiness, or rather the lingering feeling of it, was what made Hyejin anxiously jump up everytime she saw a collection of passengers exit the terminal.

Normally, airports acted as just another photo-op for Hyejin and Wheein, but today management had assured them that no fansites knew of Wheein’s new brand deal and that they wanted to keep it that way until the product fully released.

That meant that no manager, no cameras, and no fans were waiting alongside Hyejin and that nothing could intrude on the reunion Hyejin had been awaiting practically sense Wheein had stepped onto the flight.

Despite this though, Hyejin still wore discreet clothing out of habit which was probably for the best just on the off chance that anyone happened to see them. It wasn’t always so easy to forget where they were and what was expected of them.

It took almost an hour of waiting before Hyejin saw the gift that was her girlfriend. Clad in similarly discreet clothing, Wheein exited the terminal along with her fellow passengers and a manager behind her attempting to right the somewhat skewed suitcase that dragged behind them.

Hyejin’s eyes quickly met Wheein’s as the pair smiled at one another and Wheein picked up her pace towards the other girl while Hyejin stood in awe of her as if it was the first time they’d ever seen one another.

When a pair of arms tightly wrapped themselves around her neck though, Hyejin couldn’t deny that she knew this feeling all too well for it to be the first time of anything between them.

“I missed you.” A slow kiss was pressed to Hyejin’s neck where Wheein had managed to nuzzle her face into and due to the concealment provided by their hair was able to display some affection that had been severely lacking for the last few days.

“I missed you too.” Hyejin wrapped her arms around Wheein’s neck and squeezed thus bringing her in closer. Hyejin had almost forgotten about the sweet, minty smell that tended to exude from Wheein, but as her nose pushed into the side of Wheein’s head, she was happy to note that it was a welcoming smell to be re-acquainted with.  

“Just so you know, I’m never going on a trip without you again.” Wheein was the one to speak this time as she pulled away slightly from Hyejin to be looking into her eyes. Hyejin smiled and nodded her head in agreement before pressing a quick peck to Wheein’s lips.

As her head retreated, a shocked expression settled over Wheein’s features as she looked around trying to discern if anyone had seen them. When it seemed like they were in the clear as everyone else was off doing their own things, Wheein finally allowed a smile to settle on her face before starting to giggle.

“You’re the reason the managers won’t let us go out alone in public anymore.” Wheein’s smile grew as Hyejin mimicked it and leaned their foreheads together.

“Totally worth it.” Just as Hyejin spoke, Wheein was seemingly ripped away from her arms to her near horror before she saw that it was the manager that had been accompanying Wheein that had pulled them apart.

“Look, you know I couldn’t care less what you two do in your free time, but could it at least wait until we get to the van?” The manager almost seemed desperate at this point. Obviously the trip had been rough on more than just Wheein. Understanding this, Wheein and Hyejin both shook their heads and followed the manager out to the parking lot to be picked up.

The fact that Wheein and Hyejin held hands as they walked wasn’t something they felt the manager needed to know.