What was one to do when there was an ethereal, angelic woman standing in front of you? Goggle at the flowing locks of light brown hair with hints of rose quartz when the angle of light was just right? Stare dumbly into soft golden-brown eyes, one of which had a small mole placed above its corner? Observe the way a pair of alluring lips, tinted with pink lip gloss, parted to say a word, a name? Your name.

Wait a minute. She’s saying my name.

“Byul, hello, Earth to Moon Byulyi, are you alive?” Yongsun’s breath tickled Byulyi’s chin, and brought her back to the present. The older woman was now standing so close to her that if she wanted to, she could probably count the exact number of eyelashes on Yongsun’s eyelids, and she quickly jumped back.

“Y-Yongsun… unnie…” Byulyi raised her right hand, bending it at a right angle in an awkward greeting. Yongsun’s eyes flickered to the hand and, lifting hers as well, slapped it in a high-five. The action made the corners of Byulyi’s lips curl up, and she pressed her lips together to stop a laugh from erupting. Pointing to her hand, she explained while chortling: “This was meant to be a greeting, unnie, not a high-five.”

“Ahh…” Yongsun breathed out, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. Oh my gods I screwed up I screwed up I screwed up, she thought to herself. Peeking through the gaps in her fingers, she looked at the handsomely dressed girl and laughed sheepishly.

“So, um, why are you dressed up like this today?” She quickly diverted the topic of conversation and pointed at Byulyi’s suit.

It’s now or never, Byulyi thought to herself. Smoothing down the front of her suit jacket, she sidled up to Yongsun and offered an arm, her elbow bent like an would do. She tilted her head to look at the older woman in the eye. “I would like to walk you back home, milady, if you would allow me to do so.”

An involuntary giggle escaped Yongsun’s lips, and she covered to suppress the rest of her laughter bubbling in . Blushing under Byulyi’s steady gaze, she timidly wrapped fingers around the younger girl’s forearm. “You’re so cheesy, Byul-ah,” she mumbled.

The silver-haired woman hooked Yongsun’s arm securely around hers and grinned. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah,” Yongsun nodded and grinned shyly at her. “I love it.”

************************************************

Yongsun stared at the waterfall of silvery-grey that bobbed up and down in time with her footsteps. It looked so smooth, so silky, that she wanted to run her hands through it, letting her fingers tangle in its locks. She almost succumbed to her impulses before recalling that she had a boyfriend — fake, of course.

Meanwhile, Byulyi could feel the older woman’s eyes trained on her, and had to keep herself from fidgeting. Gaining an opportunity to walk a beautiful woman such as Yongsun home was amazing, but she didn’t expect it to be this quiet of a trip.

She risked a glance to her left and summoned her trademark smirk. “Hey, unnie, how long do you want to stare? Are you interested in me?” Byulyi teased, breaking the silence.

“Yeah!” Yongsun blurted. Byulyi stopped walking at the word and looked at her weirdly. “I-I mean,” the brunette quickly added, “your hair, I’ve never seen you with that colour. Your hair colour is interesting.” Way to sound natural, Yongsun, she reprimanded herself inwardly.

“Oh yeah,” the younger woman grinned while running fingers through her hair. “Seulgi suggested I try it out. What do you think?” 

Yongsun flashed her two thumbs-up and her signature beaming smile. “You look great, especially in that suit.” Her words were full of sincerity, and made Byulyi blush.

After that short exchange, they continued on walking in silence, albeit a comfortable one. Yongsun directed Byulyi through the streets, turning at junctions and intersections until they reached her apartment block. “Um, I guess this is where we part ways,” Byulyi said, scuffling her shoes against each other.

“Thanks for walking me back, Byul-ah,” Yongsun reached out to take Byulyi’s hands in hers and squeezed them. “Do you want to — and only if you want to — maybe come in? As a thank-you,” she qualified, “for accompanying me.”

“Really?” Byulyi jumped at her unexpected opportunity. “Sure! Of course! Definitely!” She grinned toothily, her prominent cheekbones raised as high as they could go. She hopped on the spot, excited, as Yongsun swiped her access card at the door to unlock it.

In front of the apartment door, Byulyi glanced around as Yongsun fumbled with the keys. The corridor was littered with a myriad of objects from shoes to small and random potted plants. An empty polystyrene bowl sat in front of one of the doors, its inside splattered with remnants of leftover black bean sauce. Noting the yellowing paint peeling off the walls, Byulyi wondered as to how long the building had gone un-renovated.

“What are you looking at?” Yongsun asked, observing the way the girl looked around apprehensively. “Come in, the door’s open already.”

The condition of the house was slightly better than the corridor leading to it, though the allocated space was, in Byulyi’s opinion, not enough for two people to live in. Compared to her own apartment that she shared with Wheein, she estimated that this flat was probably half its size, and seemed even smaller with books and stationery cluttering the place.

“Take a seat.” Yongsun gestured to the small bed squeezed between a closet and a bookshelf. “Do you want cold or warm water?” she asked as she busied herself in the kitchen.

“Cold water is fine,” Byulyi replied as she attempted to navigate around the piles of books, “but… do you and Yonghee-unnie stay here together? Isn’t it, well, a bit cramped for the two of you?” 

Yongsun smiled at her softly as she turned around with two mugs of water and handed one over to her guest. “It’s better than staying at our old place, and it’s the best we could afford. The rooftop apartment was much smaller than this, and at least unnie and I get our own individual rooms here.” 

Byulyi sipped quietly at her water, awed by the way the older woman could still maintain a chirpy exterior despite living in such a small flat. If she were the one in Yongsun’s situation, she doubted that she would be able to go a day without complaining or whining. “How about your parents, can’t they help you find a better place?”

“Yong, you’re back?” Before the older woman could answer the question, Yonghee popped her head around the corner where the other room was. “Oh hey, Byulyi. Yong, can you come here for a while? We need to talk.”

“What’s wrong, unnie?” Yongsun rose from the bed where she sat next to Byulyi and made her way to her sister. Pulling the brunette into the room, Yonghee closed the door firmly behind her.

“There’s a big problem,” she whispered in a low tone to ensure that Byulyi couldn’t overhear. “I saw them again.”

Yongsun furrowed her brows, an unsettling feeling rising in her stomach. “You don’t mean…”

“Yeah. The creditors. They’ve found us.”

___________________________

a/n:
1) oh creditors

2) hi y'all sorry for the slow update i'm busy with cny prep + it's been raining non-stop where i am for the last 3 days (it just stopped thank gods) and my hometown where my grams lives is like mega flooded :< but hopefully it'll recede in time for cny... hopefully. :>

3) happy chinese new year everyone!!! <3