requested by ChiaToma

The sound of the creaking wooden flooring startles Junhee from her peaceful slumber. Wide awake from what she depicts as clumsy footsteps and hushed voices right outside her room, Junhee ever so slowly uncovers herself, slips her feet into her pink bunny-slippers and stealthily makes her way to her door where she gently lays the side of her head against to listen.

She holds her breath.

She can’t make any of the voices out into words but she can differentiate the tones; they’re both heavier than her own voice. She immediately thinks of Kyungri, Chanyoung and Kris within her mind as the possible sources but debunks Kyungri since she’s never up during the early AMs. On the other hand, Chanyoung is always up during this time because she streams and Kris… well Kris’ sleeping schedule is wacky.

A loud thump is heard that causes Junhee’s heart to skip a beat as she jolts away from the door as if it’s burning. She then hears combined giggling at what she pin-points as directly across from her room.

No one inhabits that room.

Junhee takes many steps away from her bedroom door; her breath locked and her skin calling all its goosebumps to do a wave.

Giggling is heard once again.

The bobbed haired woman dives into her bed with a soft landing and wraps herself in a cocoon; acutely aware at how chilly her room is. She tucks her head in but still lays it on the pillow as her mind repeats that it’s probably just Chanyoung and Kris doing things outside. It is surely them, Junhee screws her eyes shut and shivers, it is, it is. She curls her toes and breathes warmth onto her hands, Chanyoung's been dying to get Kris to play games with her.

Suddenly Junhee's chest starts to feel warm.

It’s 11:34 PM and Junhee has just arrived home from a late night dinner with her coworkers.

Junhee balances herself with one hand on the wall and carefully takes off her high heels and plops them onto the pile (completely ignoring the unspoken rule by Kim Misook of putting their shoes in their respective cubbies) and gently massages her heel with a groan of relief. Once she soothes away the tense muscle, and is halfway setting her foot down, her eyes zone onto Kris’ cubby were a pair of shoes she’s never seen before are set. Her eyes drop to the pile and sees Kris’ torn up high-tops; they fly back up to her friend’s cubby.

She frowns.

Did she buy new shoes? Junhee ponders as she finally sets her foot down and takes her hand away from the wall. No wait, she couldn’t have. She doesn’t get paid until next Friday. She’s confused. Wait a moment, they’re Nikes. And Kris doesn’t like Nikes.

Junhee stands there, staring at the pair of shoes as she allows her mind to run its thoughts. The possibility of them being Chanyoung’s is high but Chanyoung doesn’t shop for clothes, let alone shoes, by herself. And it for sure can’t be Kris’ because one, she doesn’t wear the brand, and two, she shows off all her latest purchases to the household. Them being any of the other household members is out the window since they’re size two-hundred and eighty-five wow. Junhee puts one of the shoes back into the cubby.

She starts to feel that cramp-like feeling in the pit of her stomach once again the longer she thinks about those shoes. But it’s starting to spread to her chest, making it feel heavy whilst the rest of her body tingles with annoying warmth. Maybe they’re… someone else's. Junhee convinces herself as her face contorts to represent uncomfortable pain. Yeah. Someone else’s. In the household.

Junhee has trouble going to sleep that night.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Junhee adjusts herself on the couch to face Chanyoung; an arm over the headrest and the other laid upon her lap, “Are you telling me that Kris is… sneaking someone into her room? At night?”

Chanyoung sits up straighter at the burning fire within Junhee’s glare. The younger knows that it’s not directed towards her and that Junhee’s expressions are an open book but it still gives her the shivers. Plus, she might have just told something she isn’t supposed to tell. Oops.

“But why would she—It doesn’t—Why would—” if the conflicting tone in Junhee’s voice and the exaggerated but much needed gestures aren’t a sure sign to Chanyoung that the landlord has lost it, then she doesn’t know which way it up and which way is down, “I don’t under—” Junhee cuts herself off once again, biting down on her bottom lip. It’s like she’s a robot who short-circuited because her programming isn’t up to date.

Part of Chanyoung is a bit amazed at the state Junhee can get so quickly but that side of her is overruled by her worries for her friend. The only catch is that Chanyoung really doesn’t know what to do to calm her down. Does she try to comfort her? Does she need to be comforted? But what would comfort Junhee? Why is she even acting this way? Does this mean that she can’t have friends over either? What does she do?

Where is Misook when you need her the most?

Junhee’s hands are now in her hair, gripping the strands enough to make her knuckles turn ghost white, but it’s enough to snap Chanyoung out of her small conflicting panic episode to help her out, albeit poorly.

“Junhee!” Chanyoung starts with a really loud shout that jolts Junhee in fright but Chanyoung pays that no attention as she latches her hands onto Junhee’s petite shoulders; she shakes the older woman once before saying, in a complete messy rush, “There has to be a reason!”

All movement and sound cease at the unknown weight that Chanyoung has just tossed upon Junhee. It’s so figuratively heavy to her that outwardly she seems like she has calmed down but inside is nothing but her voice in growing mumbling panic.

Chanyoung doesn’t know what to do with her hands. Take them off of her or leave them there? Decisions are never her forte but purely from how Junhee has calmed down she decides to release the smaller woman free. Chanyoung falls back onto the sofa, blinking and waiting for any response from Junhee.

The silence almost makes Chanyoung lose it herself but once she starts to notice Junhee’s face morphing into a expression her breath locks in and she stills.

It’s a type of look she has never seen on Junhee’s cute face before. In fact it’s the type of expression that Chanyoung wouldn’t’ve have thought she could pull off, but she can. And it’s scary at how easily and flawless Junhee’s face looks with it.

“Reason, huh?” Her voice abruptly sounds vastly different to Chanyoung’s ears. It’s like Junhee has suddenly become a stereotypical seductive villainess right before the dark-haired woman's eyes. That or she’s been doing way too many superhero play-throughs on her streams. But it’s enough to get Chanyoung thinking about her words and it’s enough for her to start thinking of others words that could solve the misunderstanding that is likely taking place right this instant.

“What I meant was—”

“I’m the landlord here!” And suddenly the villain outlook is shattered at Junhee’s voice crack, “I have the right to know who comes and who goes from my land. From my house! What right does she have to sneak people in here? What right do any of you have. None! Because you are authorized to tell me. This is my house and there are rules set down for a reason and if I have to make a rule to know—” Junhee’s voice cuts so cleanly and quickly at the sound of the front door Chanyoung actually has to blink multiple times to understand what has just happen.

A thud is sounded, a scoff is heard and a curse from no other then Kris herself follows. But it’s enough to get Junhee up from the couch and marching to the entryway with Chanyoung hot on her tail who’s now whispering for the owner to come back and not embarrass herself even more. It was a lesson that Chanyoung had learned from Misook about Junhee and that is to stop Junhee from her control-like rants before she holes herself in her room later, regretting everything she had said prior.

“Kris!” The low mutter of voices stop like a whip; Junhee turns a corner to the walkway, “Kris! I’ll have you know that I will not tolerate secretive frieee—” Junhee’s body comes to a slow stop as her eyes notice that it isn’t just Kris by herself. She has company. And then she also notices that she’s dragging out that syllable for too long. “...fizz.” She lamely ends with.

Junhee’s eyes can’t help themselves by flicker between Kris and her friend. Who’s a male. And who is giving her a very friendly and charming smile that makes her heart hurt with guilt. She had just been bad mouthing him and he looks so harmless.

Junhee visibly jumps at Chanyoung’s rough and awkward cough. She doesn’t know if whether to thank the younger or not from saving her from her countless apologies toward the male in her head for words he doesn’t know that were aimed at him. But she’ll decide on that later.

“Um,” Junhee begins weakly. She’s acutely aware of how warm her neck, face and ears feels. She’s probably the color of pink and there’s no way to save face. “...fizz. Juice. Do you want fizz juice?” She gives a shaking smile at not only her choice of words but also her fragile tone of voice. Why is she so small in front of strangers? She can feel her nose prickling as the starter of tears.

She wants to cry.

“Um.” Kris bends back up to her full height, glances at Chanyoung then her friend then back to Junhee. “Okay?” She gives a unsure shrug.

“'Kay!” Junhee squeaks like a squirrel and scurries off; Chanyoung not that far behind her.

The room is dimly light, a bit warm and the windows curtains are drawn but it’s dark enough to allow Junhee to sulk her nerves away and that is all that counts to her.

Junhee sits on her bed; on her pillows, back up against the wall and legs spread out in front of her. She hasn’t changed from this evening’s wear so she’s still sporting her dark leggings and off the shoulder t-shirt. It’s actually quite the common attire for Junhee around the house because they’re very comfortable on her. Also because she really likes how she looks in leggings.

She mutters incoherent mumbles of sassy frustrations that don’t even make sense in her own head. During so she is also plucking the short furred bunny stuffed animal that she has set between her thighs. The bunny’s growing bald as her fingers pick up their pace.

The woman is actually confused on how and why she is feeling the way she is feeling. Embarrassed, mad, guilty, hurt—the list seems to never end when Junhee tries to think about them. So right now she’s trying to not think about them but it’s only making her more and more pissed, for some reason.

Kris’ face pops into her train of jumbled thoughts and she scoffs with disgust. Leave it to Kris to break a rule, Junhee sourly comments in her head her fingers now playing with the long ears of the bunny. But her mind notices it and reminds her of who gifted her that bunny; she pouts and bats it away. The pink not-yet-bald bunny fails innocently on its stomach, face first.

Her pout turns into full blown frown the longer she stares at the back of the bunny and the more she thinks about Kris.

So Kris breaks a rule that isn’t actually a known house rule. It’s more common sense than anything else to tell your landlord, or even your roommates for this matter, that you are taking someone in for a couple of nights, right? Junhee is totally in the green to be mad at that, right? Even Misook is spiteful about Kris’ friend that stayed over—the two talked about it once the two giants [minus Chanyoung] left the house.

In Misook’s words: “It’s completely unethical to house a grown man in a household of fully grown women”. And to be completely honest Junhee actually never thought of that at that time, embarrassingly, but it’s still a very rational reason to be mad at. Along with a bunch of other things Misook ranted about that Junhee really wasn’t listening to at that time, but they were coming from Misook so all the older woman’s reasons just had to be right.

But overall Junhee actually feels a bit guilty. She hasn’t found a solid reason as to why with that emotion, though. Maybe it’s because her mind made Kris’ friend—who she hasn’t learned the name of—out to be a bad person when he really didn’t come off as such. Or maybe it’s because she knows that she doesn’t have a right to be full on pissed at Kris since maybe the latter might’ve remembered at how awkward she is around men and that’s the reason she didn’t tell Junhee? Or maybe it’s not even guilt. All she knows is that every time Kris and her friend pop into her brain her chest heats up and her jaw locks.

Boyfriend… He has to be her boyfriend. That is the only logical explanation as to why she would allow him to stay... Junhee’s fingers twitch at the bunny’s cotton tail at not only her thoughts but the low murmur of voices right outside her room. Her eyes snap themselves to stare a burning hole at the door knob.

She’s feels like she’s been caught red-handed.

Without moving her stare, and a jumpy heart, Junhee picks up the bunny and places it next to her propped up against her pillows. The bunny tilting over catches her attention and she seizes it before it could fall completely. She stills it. It falls, again, she sighs and sets it up, again. Her hand hovers around the bunny and catches it every time it tilts over. It’s slowly growing to frustrate her.

By the time the door opens and someone knocks, Junhee is full on pissed at the bunny.

“Hey…” It’s Kris and her voice is cautious despite having already opened Junhee’s bedroom door. “Junhee, I—” Junhee snaps her head to Kris mid-sentence that the sudden movement actually frightens Kris to a point that she visibly flinches. A part of the younger woman enjoys that feeling of seeing Kris flinch at her but the other part doesn’t. Junhee decides to focus in on the part that does.

Junhee watches like an angered predator as Kris awkwardly coughs into one of her hands whilst she walks into the room. She can see just how uncomfortable her stare is making Kris and little by little she’s enjoying the feel of power.

“Uh, so,” Junhee huffs and looks away from Kris but watches her out of the corner of her eye. Kris her lips in with slightly widen eyes but ultimately nods understandably. Or at least it looks like it to Junhee.

The taller woman tiptoes over Junhee’s mess; scatter clothes, papers, candy wrappers and bottles, to Junhee’s bed where she sits down at the edge, far away from her. Junhee feels embarrassment creep back up her at the state of her room.

Kris clears once, “A little hamster told me to apologi—”

“If you’re going to pin me as an animal then make me cat, Kris!” The distinct voice of Misook fires from the open door, startling Junhee.

Kris rolls her eyes and turns towards the door to yell, “Oh go hiss somewhere else, ham-ham!”

Instantaneously Misook appears at the door slamming a hand on it whilst flipping Kris off with the other; her body language expressing nothing but pure spite. Junhee can’t see the expression on Kris’ face but she too also flips Misook off. Now she understands why Misook’s rant was so long. She forgot that the two still haven’t worked their differences out.

Without a word Misook walks off and Kris abruptly turns back to Junhee and makes eye contact with her. Junhee freezes at getting caught and quickly looks away, her face heating up and her chest tightening. She hears Kris sighs.

“Look. Here’s the story,” the bed shifts from the unbalanced weight of Kris adjusting herself. Junhee decides to give Kris her attention but she still holds a sour expression as the two make eye contact again. “My friend, whose name is Kevin by the way, is my childhood pal from back when I lived in the States. We're like two peas in a pod, in some strange way”—at this Junhee scrunches her face up in confusion—“Right. That doesn't translate as well um… were like long lost brothers? Yeah, let's go with that.

So, being best friends that we are, he called me up four weeks ago saying he was coming down for an audition and needed a place to crash at since he was limited on spending. So I offered for him to stay here, in my room, on the weekends and Fridays during that month since motels are usually more expensive during the weekends.

Honestly it's a solid plan—it was a solid plan. I even told him that he was only gonna stay over during night just for a place to crash and he was up for it. I didn't think… Look, Junhee, it was only on the weekends and he spent majority of the time here sleeping. And he wasn't going to do anything funny—he didn't do anything funny while here. I trust him enough to vouch for him.”

Junhee doesn't immediately respond after Kris’ explanation. Instead she sits and stares at Kris in deep thought.

Kris is a very loyal and protective person, Junhee knows that first hand. So she knew, even before, that Kris wouldn't just invite someone over that she doesn't trust. There had to be a logical reason why Kris did what she did and now Junhee has the answer. At least the answer to the reason but not the answer to her weird chest pains.

Junhee sighs as she gathers her thoughts together. She uncrosses her arms, let's them fall to her lap and says, “But Kris, you still invited someone over without prior notice.”

“I know and I—”

“And what am I supposed to do? For Misook who's upset and Chanyoung who's worried that she can't have friends over?”

“I'm pretty sure the Chanyoung part is your doing…” Kris trails off with a sheepish grin at Junhee’s sharp glare. “Okay, okay look. You can punish me. I don't know, have me assigned kitchen duty for a week or two. And we can also have a meeting about this again with everyone else. Maybe list it in the rules on the board in the entryway?”

Junhee ponders over Kris’ solutions and sees them working. But she's a bit reluctant on agreeing with Kris so quickly. For Heaven's sake she was pissed at Kris for a full month but the minute they sit down and talk, she isn't? It's like everything makes sense to her about that month but didn't at the same time. Is she even supposed to agree to Kris’ terms? Or make up her own? She hasn't even apologised! a soft voice in Junhee’s head shouts and like a trigger Junhee shows her bitterness about it. “Kris…” she starts, “You haven't apologised.”

Kris, for a split second appears astonish before blinking it away, “I thought… it was implied?”

“Kris.” Junhee sternly calls her name. “I won't put this pass us unless you apologise.”

Kris throws the minimal of tantrums with her legs tangled in Junhee’s bedsheets. “But, Junhee, you know that I am!”

She crosses her arms. “That you are what?” Junhee keeps her firm voice—a facade that she’s still upset—despite her lips quivering in unleashed laughter. She knows how hard this is for Kris. The older, despite being loyal and protective, is also very, very prideful. Hearing “I’m” and “Sorry” in the same breath from Kris is a rarity in its own. And sometimes Junhee likes to see her struggle with that.

“I'm…” Kris mumbles the rest with her head down and voice low.

Junhee giggles, tossing away the upset feelings she harbored earlier. In fact she can't even place a logical reason behind them. All she knows is that she feels happy and light and thinking about Kris’ friend doesn't make her stomach knot. How silly of her to think, at one point, that Kris was sneaking a boyfriend in? So silly.

“What was that?” Junhee teases with a smile.

Kris looks up, her expression sour, “I said I'm sorry, okay? Happy?”

“Delighted.” Junhee chirps.

Kris untangles her feet from Junhee’s covers with playful roll of her eyes that Junhee catches. The dark-haired woman rises from the bed with a groan that sounds like the simple action hurts her and Junhee just laughs.

“Hey, hey, hey don’t—” Kris pauses with a hand on her back and a finger pointed towards Junhee when her eyes catch the fallen pink bunny. She goes over to it and picks it up, examining it. “Why is the top of Jennie’s head balding?” It’s an innocent question but it makes Junhee panic.

The younger dives in a vain attempt to get her bunny back from Kris’ clutches. Her body falls to her bed when Kris simply maneuvers the bunny to her other hand.

“Give it—”

“What has Jennie ever done to you to deserve this cruel treatment?” Kris makes the most ugliest sad face Junhee can only ever see on her face. But instead of making her sad, or laugh, it makes Junhee panic even more.

“Uh, uh, uh,” Junhee is on her knees, thinking out loud like her life depends on it, “Shaving. She was intercepting me of my way of shaving. My legs. Shaving.” the second the words leave she wants to curl up under her covers and cry.

Kris blanks for about two second before letting an boastful laugh escape. She hunches over with the bunny in hand, squishing it to her stomach. The more she laughs the more Junhee just wants to cry.

And she kind of does, with teary eyes, as she tries to tell Kris to stop but it only makes Kris laugh more.

(It’s four hours after finally Kevin meeting Junhee and finally introducing Kevin to Junhee. It started off rocky but in the end it was saved by no other then Do Kyungri herself.

Her cooking does wonders.

But now it’s time for Kevin to depart and go back home and Kris is walking with him to his car. On their way to the car they’re both deadly silent compared to how they were going out the front door inside the house.

Kevin unlocks his car and bends into the driver sit but leaves a leg out so that Kris doesn’t slam the door on him. He looks up to meet Kris’ unreadable eyes and starts smirking, “Ya know, Kris, Junhee-”

“No.”

“Oh. Okay. Then does that mean-”

“No.”

“So your-”

“No.”

“Lovely conversation, friend.”

“Exquisite.”)

A / N:
eyy it's back and maybe not better then ever lol also this is long
1) i do sincerely apologize that this request took me a while but note that i do take a long time to write something up and even longer editing. i also thoroughly enjoyed the prompt that i wrote so much [over 10k words i know, much wow] that i just had to cut down to actually make sense. real talk Kevin might come back ;p
2) i've been thinking of making a table of context for this series but i don't want to put it as a new chapter [as the first chapter] nor in the forward because i don't want to force people to see it, if that makes sense. instead i've been thinking of just making a blog for this but i'm unsure if you can edit a blog, on here, after publicly posting. answers to this is much appreciated!
3) so i'm pretty sure fem!krisho is cannon but not yet official. fite me if u r against this.
4) ps. pls dont.
5) junhee is confusing to read and she triggers my anxiety so i think i'm doing something right with her lol sorry for her confusing character but i love her just as she is ;A;
6) i probably will only do Winter Holiday specials, unless a prompt is given.
7) requesting is and will always be open. sometimes i won't notify you if i'm doing your request simply because of surprises :D
aaand i think that's all? i'm unsure but it seems like it. should've wrote them down before posting lol
this is also half edited so bare with the mistakes first time around haha.
until next Monday, readers! <3
(/whispers/ a friendly hello to all the new readers! i hope you're enjoying how things are playing out~)