Joohyun pulls her shirt up and stares at her reflection in the mirror. She puts a hand on her stomach and in a breath so her abs tighten. Or rather, where her abs used to be. She releases her breath and her hold on her shirt. Her eyebrows draw together, her forehead furrows, her lips pinch. Then she sees a familiar figure in the mirror.

Seungwan steps up behind her and puts her arms around her, resting her head on Joohyun’s shoulder. Just like that, the tension seeps out of the taut lines of her face, the ramrod stiffness of her back. Her body curves toward Seungwan’s, fitting against hers, part of the dance that she knows best.

“Hi,” Seungwan murmurs.

Joohyun turns around so they’re facing each other, so she can look into Seungwan’s eyes instead of merely seeing her reflection in the mirror. They say that objects in a mirror are closer than they appear, but Seungwan can never be close enough for Joohyun.

They sit next to each other on the van, and they walk around with linked arms, and they’ve even shared a cardigan before, but none of that feels enough for Joohyun. She would crawl under Seungwan’s skin if she could, burrow under her ribs and rest beside her heart to breathe in each beat.

She doesn’t know if that makes her creepy or needy or just in love.

“Hi,” she replies.

Seungwan smiles. “What were you thinking about? You had your scary unnie face on.”

“My scary unnie face?”

“Yeah, you know, that resting expression you have sometimes that scares people off.” Joohyun frowns and then pouts. Seungwan laughs and pokes her cheek. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t scare any of us now.”

“I wish I could scare you guys into doing the chores.”

Seungwan laughs. “Good luck with that.”

Joohyun’s pout makes a comeback. Seungwan softens and this time, instead of poking her, she brings to Joohyun’s face, leaving a butterfly trail of kisses along her cheek. The soft press of her lips makes a butterfly trail of warmth flutter in Joohyun’s stomach.

“You’re not—overwhelmed, are you?” Seungwan asks carefully. “You know you can always ask me for help.”

Oh, Seungwan. “You already do basically all the cooking.”

“Well, the last time Sooyoung and Yerim tried to make something, they almost set the kitchen on fire, so…”

Joohyun chuckles at the memory. The maknaes haven’t been allowed near the kitchen since, which Sooyoung didn’t seem bothered by in the slightest.

“I mean it,” Seungwan says, quiet but firm. “You can always ask me.”

“I know.” Joohyun takes Seungwan’s hand, just because she wants to touch her, to feel her, to hold onto her. “You would be the first one I’d ask.”

Seungwan smiles at her, an expression that never fails to flood her with warmth. Then, in the next instant, because Seungwan’s expressions change at the speed of light, her smile turns into a curious frown. “You never answered my question.”

“Huh? What question?”

“What were you thinking about when you were looking in the mirror?”

“Oh, just… It’s nothing, really.”

Seungwan doesn’t look convinced.

Joohyun takes her hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing for a moment, before guiding it to her stomach. “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” Suddenly, Seungwan gasps and looks at her with eyes as round as coins. “Am I supposed to feel a bump? Are you pregnant?”

Joohyun elbows Seungwan, who doubles over with an exaggerated whine. “That’s not funny,” she grumbles.

“Hey, you’re the one who initiated baby-seeking contact.”

“Baby—what?” Sometimes she forgets just how weird Seungwan is, but she can trust Seungwan to remind her in a split second.

“Baby, don’t worry, I trust you to be faithful to me,” Seungwan says with a playful grin.

Joohyun just kind of stares at her. Honestly, her girlfriend is so strange. But she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find her strangeness endearing.

Seungwan pokes her cheek again. “You’re zoning out a lot.”

“I’m not zoning out,” Joohyun replies. “I’m…thinking about you.”

“Yeah?” And it’s beyond endearing how Seungwan still ducks her head shyly at that, like she can’t believe Joohyun can be thinking about her, like she doesn’t know she makes up most of Joohyun’s thoughts. “What about me?”

“I like”—your smile, your voice, you—“your baking.”

Seungwan looks confused for a second but then breaks into a bright smile. “Good. You should eat more of it.”

“Eat more?” Joohyun points to her stomach. “I ate so much of your carrot cake that I’m going to have to live at the gym to burn it off.”

Seungwan blinks at her like she’s speaking some other language, and then she puts her hand on Joohyun’s stomach again, her touch firmer and more purposeful this time. Her fingers dip under Joohyun’s shirt and Joohyun shivers instinctively as they run slowly over her abdomen, but then Seungwan’s touch is gone.

“Is that what you’re upset about?” Seungwan asks with twinkling eyes. “That your abs aren’t nice as before?”

“What abs?” Joohyun grumbles. “I’ve gone all soft thanks to you.”

Seungwan presses against her and whispers against her lips. “But I like you soft.”

The flutter in her stomach returns, a butterfly trail warming her from the inside out. She pulls Seungwan closer to her and kisses her, wondering if she can feel the butterflies too.

“I mean it,” Seungwan says. “I think your tummy’s cute.”

Joohyun’s cheeks warm. “Do you have to call it a tummy? What happened to ‘abs’?”

“Well, you said it, right?” Seungwan’s smile is just—unfair. “My carrot cake happened.”

“You sound so proud.”

“I am proud.” Seungwan grins. “Proud my girlfriend likes my cooking.”

“Of course I do,” Joohyun says softly, and by that she means I like you.

Seungwan’s grin softens into a smile. “Well then, I’m happy.” And Joohyun thinks maybe she means I like you too.

Deleted Scene:

Joohyun smiles a little. “I remember how you used to bow practically ninety degrees to me and Seulgi every time you saw us.”

“You were my sunbaes!”

“Sooyoung never even bowed to us once.”

“Well, Sooyoung’s—” Seungwan makes a dismissive hand gesture that probably means something along the lines of ‘the spawn of Satan.’

A/N: This part - Joohyun: "I've gone all soft thanks to you." Seungwan: "But I like you soft." - is inspired by a passage - Yuri: "I'm out of shape. Hanging out with you has made me a little soft." Yoona: "But I like you soft." - from who i was, from the start by darkaslay.