pairing: Jihyo x Mina

summary: Some parties can be a bit dull.

note: this is set in the same universe as chapter 3.

“Tell me again why we are here?” Jihyo asks sulkily, rolling a can of cider in her hands.

“Because there’s free food and drinks,” Mina says with a smile that turns into a low giggle as a slightly intoxicated young man tips over with his chair. He gets up quickly and fixes his shirt in a poor attempt to hide what just happened.

“Right,” Jihyo says and frowns, taking a sip of her drink.

For the fifth time in less than an hour, Jihyo draws her shoulders back and tries to make the fabric of her dress to stretch. Mina can’t help but to stare at her girlfriend’s chest and marvel just how well the dress fits. Even as Jihyo had claimed not to care about the party she had had a small nervous breakdown earlier in the evening as she had nothing to wear (according to herself). She had sat on the edge of the bed in nothing but her underwear, pouting like a four-year-old and Mina had to save the day once again.

So, that was how Jihyo had ended up wearing Mina’s purple dress, which had been slightly loose on her, but caressed every curve of Jihyo’s body better than she had dared to dream. Keeping hands to herself was extremely difficult, so every once in a while she gave in and let her hand travel to Jihyo’s .

“I swear to God Myoui Mina if you do that one more time…” Jihyo growls, shy pink on her cheeks but a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“Then what?” Mina looks around the room, showing her best innocent face. It had been a good idea to locate next to the kitchen counter, so that she could do whatever she wanted without anybody noticing from the living room. Besides, this way they wouldn’t be so likely to be bothered by drunk men.

“I will…” Jihyo starts, leans in and whispers the rest into Mina’s ear, who in turn changes color.

Jihyo goes back to her previous position and grins, knowing fully well that she has won this round. Mina stares at her once again, wondering how the hell she can still turn her soft from the knees with just a few well-chosen words. They have been together for two years, surely the magic should be fading by now?

“Oh, that’s Jinsun,” Jihyo says and waves a hand at her ex-boyfriend who appears from the foyer with his new girlfriend. Mina’s eyes narrow immediately, the mere mention of his name sending her into a war mode. He spots them from the other side and smiles shyly, but as his eyes meet Mina’s death glare he quickly turns his head down and takes his girlfriend’s hand.

“Did I do something wrong?” Jihyo wonders out loud and Mina tries to school her face back to serenity.

“He probably doesn’t want to upset his girlfriend,” Mina says dryly.

“You’re probably right,” Jihyo says and as she catches up with the underlying message of the other girl’s words, she spins around. Her eyes are shining as she puts her drink on to the kitchen counter and lays her hands on Mina’s hips instead.

“Are you jealous?” she asks, eyes curving gleefully and teeth peeking behind red lips.

“I have no idea what you are taking about,” Mina states, and stares at the space just above Jihyo’s left shoulder. She knows that if she looks at the older girl’s face she will forget everything she is supposed to say or do, and she doesn’t want to lose again.

“Migurii~~” Jihyo drawls with a little bit of aegyo and the younger girl has to steel herself not to react. Jihyo lifts her hand and gently uses her fingers to tilt Mina’s jaw so that she can’t look away. Mina feels her toes curling in her tight shoes as the world’s most beautiful eyes look at her like nothing else exits.

“Everyone in this room is looking at you,” Jihyo says and uses her fingertips to trace the outlines of Mina’s jaw and cheek. It’s a feather light touch, meant to make her brain turn into water.

She manages to scoff as she realizes just how ridiculous Jihyo is.

“It’s you they are looking at,” she says and presses her lips to the corner of Jihyo’s mouth. (Jinsun better be looking now, she thinks.) “And I’m worried about them liking you too much,” she whispers and moves her lips over the skin of Jihyo’s cheek and closer to her ear. She can feel Jihyo’s hands grasping the fabric of her blouse tightly.

“Will you ever stop that?” comes a question from the doorway and as the intruder walks in, Mina is forced to pull away, leaving Jihyo starry-eyed and lovestoned. One of them has to play it cool and usually Mina is better at getting herself together. (At least, in theory.)

“Unnie, do you need help?” Mina asks as Jeongyeon goes to the fridge, taking out a plate of mini-pizzas.

“Nah, I’m good,” she says with a lopsided smile, looking like a perfect house party hostess. “Besides, you are guests. If someone’s gotta help it’s Nayeon,” she says with a sigh.

“I swear if you guys weren’t dating, Nayeon unnie would have starved to death by now,” Jihyo quips, finally finding her voice and composure. Mina resists an urge to pinch her arm, not liking the way Jihyo talks about her friend, even if she is just joking.

“I wish I could say you weren’t right,” Jeongyeon agrees tiredly and proceeds to walk out of the kitchen, but not before she has warned them not to start making out in her house – because she would rather not see that.

“You’re just jealous,” Jihyo shoots back at her friend while Mina can only roll her eyes.

“So, where were we?” Jihyo says as she spins around and purposefully stares at her girlfriend’s lips.

“You were telling me how beautiful I am,” Mina replies and takes Jihyo’s cider, making a show of drinking from it as elegantly as she can.

“And I thought it was the other way around,” the older girl says and squints her eyes comically. Jihyo really is a complete dork and the more time Mina spends with her, the more she knows this. Their relationship seems to be a game where the one who laughs first always loses. So, they both make a great show of being witty (usually Mina) and downright stupid (mostly Jihyo). She is sure that she is getting abs because she has been trying not to laugh at her girlfriend and not because they have been going to the gym for the past two months.

“Your ego is insatiable,” she teases, even as the joke is mostly on her. Jihyo looks so gorgeous that her mind is coming up with new metaphors for love and beauty, but thankfully she isn’t dumb enough to tell Jihyo all that. She is not that weak. (Maybe)

Suddenly, Jihyo pulls a face of utter despair and Mina’s first instinct is to reach out to her, like a mother comforting a child who just fell to her knees.

“Not again,” Jihyo whines and takes the cider from Mina’s hands. After a moment, Mina realizes what is going on – the sound system is playing “Who’s Your Mama” for the third time in mere hour.

Mina smiles sympathetically and rubs Jihyo’s shoulder.

“There are worse songs,” she says and almost believes it herself.

“I don’t get it. Beyoncé’s got a new album out and here we are listening to this old sleazy man.”

Mina hums in agreement, once again spotting Jinsun from the corner of her eye. She can’t stand him, never could. No matter how highly Jihyo always spoke of him - or maybe just because of that.

“Why don’t we ditch this party?” she says out loud, surprising herself in the process. Jihyo seems to be as surprised, having been the grumpy one all night long while Mina has tried to have a positive mindset for both of them. As much as they both adore Nayeon and Jeongyeon, the party isn’t exactly “the best thing ever” as Nayeon had promoted it. The other guests are too boring, or too drunk, and the music isn’t something you would want to listen to after few shared cans of cider. The only major draw was Jeongyeon’s food.

“Let’s. I can’t wait to get rid of this dress,” Jihyo says and pours the last drops of cider into , placing the empty can on the counter.

“I think you should sleep with that dress on,” Mina says slyly before she walks out of the room, leaving Jihyo to catch up with her, physically and verbally. If she could decide, Jihyo wouldn’t be wearing her own clothes ever again. Why hadn’t she realized before just how y it would be to see her own clothes on Jihyo?

In the living room, she passes Jinsun and his other half, dancing to some old slow song. This time she acts as if she doesn’t see him, but only grabs Jihyo’s hand as the older girl finally manages to fall into step with her own. She can see Jihyo taking a curious peek in their direction and makes a mental note to kiss all of those thoughts out of Jihyo’s head once they get out of the house.

Hand in hand they pass the foyer and a couple of rooms before they can hear Nayeon’s distinctive laughter coming from one of the rooms. The house belongs to Nayeon’s parents and it’s huge. Mina can’t even imagine living in a place like that, let alone having to clean up a house like that every week. She’d much rather live in a box with Jihyo and not worry about hoovering a hectare of floor space every Friday.

She and Jihyo aren’t exactly the best team when it comes to cleaning up, she thinks and remembers the dishes in their apartment sink, waiting for someone to come and save them.

In the room, they find Nayeon and Jeongyeon sitting on a couch with a couple of strangers, talking animatedly about something. Well, mostly it’s Nayeon talking and Jeongyeon facepalming, but nevertheless. Mina has always found them to be a cute couple, but sometimes she wonders how they make it all work. But as silly as Nayeon can be, Jeongyeon never seems to love her any less. Besides, they have been together for much longer than she and Jihyo have.

“Hey guys, we are going now,” Mina says, still not letting go of Jihyo’s hand.

“Already?” Nayeon yelps, and jumps off the couch. With a great fuss, she comes over to them and takes Mina’s free hand into her own. She has always been fond of the Japanese girl, to the point that Jihyo has gotten slightly jealous, but Mina has always convinced her not to worry about it.

“Are you sure? We were just thinking about playing some games,” Nayeon says and glances at Jeongyeon who nods solemnly. Jihyo seems to be gesturing that there’s no way she is going to stay and play games, at least that’s what she gathers from the way Jihyo’s grip tightens and how she clears .

“We have an early morning tomorrow,” Mina lies, but only partially. They should get up early to go and buy a new coffee maker, but knowing them, they’ll just lie in bed until it’s almost too late to go anywhere and then they have to rush. Mina blames Jihyo’s comfortable shoulder and soft arms for never getting up in time.

“That’s right,” Jihyo says, backing her version of the truth immediately. “But thanks for having us, the food was great.” Jeongyeon smiles pleasantly, perhaps knowing more than she cares to show.

Nayeon makes a slightly disappointed noise in the back of , but relents.  She scoops Mina into her arms, while also trying to include Jihyo in it. “It was so nice to see you both. We should all go for a lunch sometime.”

“Totally,” Mina mumbles, mouth blocked by Nayeon’s dark hair. It is easy to tell that she is drunk from the way the awkward almost-but-not-quite group hug lasts for a little bit too long.

When the hostess finally pulls away, Mina is more than happy to breathe freely again.

“Goodnight then,” Jihyo says, eager to get out and get going, almost dragging Mina with her. As Nayeon moves to accompany them to the front door Jihyo adds gently: “We know the way, Nabongs.”

-

They decide to walk home as the weather is warm and it never hurts to save money by not getting a cab. Mina likes walking anyway and with Jihyo she isn’t afraid. She would never dare to walk alone so late but with the older girl by her side she could do anything. Sometimes she even wonders if she trusts the feeling of security too much.

Jihyo keeps humming a song that is definitely not Who’s Your Mama, but some old Korean ballad that makes Mina think of sailors and their patient wives who wait and wait never knowing whether their loved ones will ever come back again, because the sea is unpredictable and uncaring.

After they are almost home, Jihyo breaks the comfortable silence.

“Are the parties getting boring, or are we getting boring?” she asks, half to herself, half to Mina.

Mina must admit that she hasn’t thought of that before. It is true that they are rarely enjoying these house parties anymore and going out never seems like a priority. They like dancing and eating out, but Mina can’t even remember the last time they had been drunk.

Is this what getting old feels like?

“Maybe we just have too much fun by ourselves,” Mina wonders out loud and fiddles with the fabric of Jihyo’s jacket.

“Are you sure you’re not bored with me?” Jihyo asks quietly, her steps becoming less confident.

It takes a moment before Mina registers what the other girl has said but when she does, she stops and turns around so that she is blocking Jihyo from moving forward.

Under a streetlight, she can clearly see the insecurity in Jihyo’s eyes and the way she purses her lips, hands suddenly deep in her pockets. Mina feels like screaming and laughing at the same time. How can it possibly be that this woman in front of her, the love of her life, still thinks that she might want something else, someone else, when everything she has ever wanted is right here?

“For someone so smart, you are really stupid,” she says and grabs the collar of Jihyo’s jacket, not caring if someone sees them now. “I haven’t been bored since the moment I met you.”

As the words don’t seem to have the effect that she wants, she pulls the other girl closer, even now admiring just how utterly beautiful she is. If only she believed it herself.

“I love you,” Mina says pleadingly and the words catch in , spilling out like water over rocks. Jihyo’s eyes shine with unshed tears that look like pearls at the bottom of the sea.

“I love you, Mina,” she whispers and before her lips start quivering too much, Mina captures them with her own. She doesn’t know how many times they have kissed during their years together, but it still makes something warm burst in the pit of her stomach every time.

“Let’s go home,” Mina says as they finally pull apart. The air seems to glitter as it dances around Jihyo’s face, illuminated by the streetlight. The shadow of uncertainty is gone from the brunette’s eyes and Mina feels relieved, even as she knows that it won’t be gone forever. But she’ll happily drive away those insecurities over and over again if it means that Jihyo will stay with her.

“I’m going to punish you for looking so hot all night,” she adds as they start walking again, and admires how her words make Jihyo’s mouth fall open. “You look like a walking murder with that dress on.” Then Mina slaps Jihyo’s , just to make sure that she knows how serious she is.

“Didn’t I warn you, Myoui Mina?” Jihyo shouts, but Mina is already running towards the familiar building, giggling uncontrollably as she goes.

You’re going to wish you were bored soon, she thinks and winks at her girlfriend before disappearing into the building.

A/N: Hello, hello! Mina/Jihyo have been acting like girlfriends all week so my brain came up with this. I JUST LOVE THEM, okay? I hope everyone is well!