Seulgi reaches a hand out from under her blanket and grabs her phone that has been buzzing against her nightstand table. With a slide of a finger, she shuts the annoying alarm off. Poking her head out of her blanket cocoon, she checks all the notifications in her phone. Her eyes widen when she sees a certain name on the notification.

 

From: Joohyun♥

Good morning, don’t be late for your class.

 

A smile blooms on her face and she quickly sits up on her bed.

 

To: Joohyun♥

Good morning! I just woke up. Are you already in office right now? Today is cold so don’t forget your coat!

 

She turns her head to the calendar on her desk, seeing a red circle on today’s date complete with the tiny hearts all over the date number. Today marks the one-year anniversary of their relationship, something Seulgi is really proud of. Being able to maintain such a relationship with Joohyun for this long is not something easy after all.

 

To be honest, the start of their relationship is not smooth at all. Seulgi remembers how Joohyun rejected her two times before finally agreed to date her. It’s not that Joohyun hates her or anything, but she’s just…very focused on her career. Joohyun doesn’t really do all this dating stuff to begin with.

 

The first time she met Joohyun two years ago was when she followed Seungwan who needed to drop by her sister’s office. While she’s waiting for Seungwan to talk with her sister, she bumped into the beautiful supervisor on her way to the washroom. She remembers how her breath was knocked out of her lungs and time felt like stopping when she looked into Joohyun’s eyes.

 

When Joohyun apologized and held her arm to keep her balance, Seulgi thought she was going to faint.

 

Since then, she always followed Seungwan whenever she needed to drop by her sister’s office, just so she could see Joohyun. After begging for Joohyun’s number from Seungwan’s sister, she started pursuing the older woman.

 

It was not easy at all. Joohyun is, for the lack of word, cold. She’s a mature woman and very composed, she works seriously and is told by Seungwan’s sister to be rather ambitious. She’s the type of woman who cares nothing but her career.

 

But still, Seulgi didn’t give up.

 

Even after Joohyun ignored her messages, ignored her when she visited her office, and told her to go home when she waited for her work to be done, Seulgi didn’t give up. For some people, it might look like Seulgi was being too persistent and Joohyun was getting very annoyed by the younger girl, but it wasn’t really true.

 

When Seulgi visited her in the office and brought her lunch – because Joohyun often got swamped by work she forgot her meals – Seulgi could see how Joohyun’s eyes light up and a small smile grazed her lips. Joohyun was pleased with her presence and it was the only reassurance Seulgi needed.

 

No matter how cold Joohyun was, as long as she looked at her with those eyes, Seulgi felt like she owned the world.

 

True enough, her efforts were starting to bear fruit.

 

They started meeting up outside the office even though it’s always Seulgi asking for it. They always hung out on weekend since it’s impossible to have a date with Joohyun on weekdays with her job. Joohyun would usually end up paying for everything because Seulgi is just a college girl with limited pocket money while Joohyun is a businesswoman.

 

After rejecting her confession twice, Joohyun finally explained about her focus on career and relationship was definitely not on her top priority. Seulgi understood, she had seen Joohyun’s seriousness in work and it was one of the things she admired about the older girl.

 

On her third confession, Seulgi brought Joohyun a stem of rose she bought with her limited money and told her that she’s going to accept everything about the elder. That night, Joohyun finally accepted the rose with a smile along with her feelings. Seulgi remembers how much she cried and Joohyun who didn’t know what to do except wiping her face with the napkin.

 

Seulgi chuckles lightly at the memory and ends up messing her eyeliner because of the movement. She sighs exasperatedly and perks up when her phone lights up with a new message.

 

 From: Joohyun♥

Of course I’m at office, look at the time. I’ll pick you up in your apartment for tonight’s dinner.

 

She presses her lips as she reads the message, but still smiles anyway. Well, at least they’re going to have their dinner date.

 

Joohyun is always like this. She’s cool and charismatic and amazing, but she still comes off as cold. Seulgi understands that it’s just her personality, but sometimes it makes her feel dejected.

 

There are no flowers, no I love you, no heart emojis or sweet words in messages – it feels like nothing changed from before they’re dating, but when Joohyun picked her up on weekend and went on a date, Seulgi always ended up falling all over again. Joohyun is Joohyun and from the moment she confessed, she had promised that she’s going to accept everything.

 

Dating Joohyun is nice.

 

Her friends often tell her how lucky she is to be able to date a businesswoman like Joohyun and how jealous they are.

 

Joohyun is independent and mature, she can take care of herself and other people unlike Seulgi who always has a hard time waking up in the morning for class. Joohyun drives her own car and she can pay for their date while Seulgi takes the bus every day and can only afford to pay her own meals most of the times. When Joohyun went on a business trip, she would always bring some gifts for Seulgi.

 

It’s nice dating Joohyun, but sometimes she gets jealous at Sooyoung and Yerim who can meet almost every day and go on a date anytime they want since they’re studying in the same university. She can only go out on weekend with Joohyun, that’s if the elder didn’t have business trip or any other work to do.

 

She remembers one date where Joohyun had to rush back to her office on Saturday because something came up.

 

Sometimes when she sees Sooyoung and Yerim being lovey dovey around the campus, she wishes she can be like that with Joohyun too, but Joohyun won’t do something so childish.

 

Seulgi understands, she really does. After all, she’s just a third-year student in university who is juggling between her grades, part-time job, and her life. Unlike Joohyun who has a big responsibility on her shoulders, she’s just a kid. She doesn’t understand how difficult Joohyun’s work is so she has to understand when Joohyun says she doesn’t have time for her.

 

But Seulgi has always been a hopeless romantic. She craves for affection and sweet surprises which Joohyun rarely gives, almost never. Sure, they hold hands and hug and kiss and get between the sheets. But when Seulgi wants to have a longer cuddling session, Joohyun tends to pull away afterwards to get her own personal space.

 

Maybe Joohyun is not used to relationship and all that jazz and Seulgi has promised that she’s going to accept her girlfriend just the way she is. But sometimes, it just gets tiring, it’s exhausting.

 

There are some bad days where she wants nothing but to cuddle with Joohyun or listen to her voice until she falls asleep, but the elder doesn’t seem to share the same interest.

 

Sometimes, Seulgi even wonders if Joohyun shares the same feeling as her.

 

Shaking her head at her own suspicion, Seulgi pats her cheeks couple of times and in a deep breath to calm her thought. They’re going to have dinner tonight and she’s not going to let her insecurity ruin the mood. It’s their one-year anniversary and Seulgi wonders what kind of thing Joohyun has prepared for her.

 

Seulgi is in the middle of wearing her lipstick when the door of her apartment rings. Gasping softly, she quickly swipes it over her lips and grabs her purse before hopping over to the door. She unlocks the door and swings it open to see Joohyun standing in front of her wearing a white blouse and black pencil skirt with black pumps clad her feet.

 

She takes in the other’s appearance and blinks, not expecting that Joohyun would wear her office outfit for this special event, but then again, the elder might be too tired to change her clothes. It’s only Friday after all.

 

Seulgi herself is wearing a black turtleneck bodycon dress with black heels. She rarely wears dresses and Joohyun should be aware of it too, but the elder simply stares at her appearance without saying any compliment as if it’s not something unusual.

 

“Are you ready to leave?” Joohyun asks, flicking her eyes back to Seulgi’s face.

 

“Yeah, sure.” Seulgi nods quickly and steps out of her apartment.

 

They both walk towards the elevator and stand in silence as the elevator brings them to the lobby.

 

“How’s work?” Seulgi asks, trying to start up a conversation.

 

“Just like usual. It’s the end of the month so we need to finish all the reports.” Joohyun sighs softly and turns to her girlfriend. “What about you? How’s class?”

 

“Boring as usual.” Seulgi shrugs.

 

Joohyun chuckles softly and shakes her head before getting out of the elevator once the door opens. Seulgi follows the elder to her car and gets into the passenger seat. She glances at Joohyun who’s igniting the car engine, wondering where the elder is going to take her.

 

“Where do you want to eat?” Joohyun asks.

 

“Huh? I, uh, I don’t know…” Seulgi scratches her head awkwardly. She actually thought that Joohyun has planned everything for tonight, but she’s probably wrong. Of course Joohyun won’t waste her time planning about something like this.

 

“You’re wearing nice outfit tonight, let’s go to somewhere nice.” Joohyun flashes her a small smile and Seulgi swears she almost melts on the spot. With a small blush across her cheeks, she nods her head eagerly.

 

They end up sitting in a restaurant of a fancy hotel in the city. The atmosphere is nice and there’s a candle on their table, complete with the napkin set and a small vase with a rose stem. Seulgi’s eyes almost bulge out of her socket when she looks at the price of the food in the menu, she can barely afford a drink with her current money.

 

“What are you going to eat?” Joohyun asks as she scans the menu.

 

“Uh, I’ll have what you’re having.” Seulgi gulps.

 

“Alright, I’ll have sirloin steak with black pepper. You want that too?”

 

“I’ll have the mushroom sauce.”

 

“Let’s order some wine to pair our food. How about Cabernet Sauvignon or do you prefer Sangiovese?”

 

“Uh…” Seulgi trails off, not really sure which to pick. She doesn’t know anything about wines after all. She doesn’t even know the difference between the two choices.

 

Joohyun perks up when she doesn’t get any answer and notices how clueless Seulgi looks.

 

“Oh, right. You don’t get wines. Sorry…” She hums and drops her eyes to the beverages list again.

 

Joohyun may not realize it herself, but sometimes, Seulgi feels like Joohyun is treating her like a kid.  Well, she is a kid compared to Joohyun, but she’s trying to grow up for her, for Bae Joohyun.

 

“Alright, let’s order. I’m starving.” Joohyun says as she closes the menu.

 

Swallowing the bitter feeling in , Seulgi smiles and raises her hand to call the waiter.

 

As they eat their dinner in silence, Seulgi wonders when is the right time for her to give Joohyun the gift she has prepared for their anniversary. She has been saving some money to buy Joohyun a pendant necklace from a popular jewelry brand. It costs almost a fortune for a student like her, but Joohyun has been spending way more money for her so this is the least she can do to return the favor.

 

She figures that she will hand Joohyun the gift once the elder mentions about their anniversary. She can’t wait to see Joohyun’s reaction towards the gift, hopefully she will like it.

 

However, Joohyun doesn’t say anything after they finish the dinner. Seulgi sips on her wine and watches the elder with hopeful eyes, but doubt starts clouding her mind when Joohyun keeps being oblivious.

 

There’s no way Joohyun forgets about their anniversary, right?

 

Joohyun is an adult with career, Seulgi knows the elder doesn’t have time for cheesy relationship like Sooyoung and Yerim who celebrate their monthly anniversary with cute dates and sleepovers, but one year should be something special, right?

 

Seulgi bites her lower lip and clenches her fists under the table, trying to ignore the churning feeling in her stomach. is tightening and the air feels suffocating. This is the feeling she gets when she’s about to cry.

 

Noticing the silence between them, Joohyun puts her wine glass down and looks up to her girlfriend across the table.

 

“Are you okay, Seulgi?”

 

“Huh?” Seulgi blinks and looks up to the elder, snapped out of her trance.

 

“You don’t look so well. Are you alright?” Joohyun frowns and tilts her head.

 

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright… Yeah…” Seulgi huffs out a dry chuckle and nods her head.

 

“You don’t look that fine to me. I’ll send you home after this, okay?” Joohyun presses her lips. There’s a look of worry in her eyes, but Seulgi is too distracted with her own thought to notice it.

 

“Yeah… I guess…” Seulgi mutters under her breath, feeling her hands tremble and her stomach turning. There’s a knot forming in and she tries her best to swallow it down so she can flash her usual smile to Joohyun, her usual understanding smile to show that she’s mature enough for Joohyun, that she’s not a clingy girl who’s begging for Joohyun’s affection.

 

Joohyun’s brows twitch a little, but she decides to shrug it off and calls the waiter, assuming that Seulgi is simply tired. After Joohyun pays the bill with her credit card, they head back to Joohyun’s car in the basement.

 

The ride home is filled with silence. Joohyun is focused in driving like usual and Seulgi is busy staring out of the window. The elder notices that her girlfriend is being unusually silent tonight, but again, she assumes that Seulgi is just sleepy or tired.

 

When Joohyun pulls her car over in front of the apartment complex, Seulgi in a deep breath and finally turns to the elder. Joohyun is staring at her quietly, not asking any question about her silence, not saying anything about their anniversary and as usual, not saying a single I love you.

 

Seulgi is used to this, really. But somehow, her heart is aching tonight.

 

“What’s wrong?” Joohyun asks with a small frown.

 

“Joohyun,” Seulgi mutters under her breath. “Do you love me?”

 

“Huh?” Joohyun’s frown grows deeper, obviously confused by the abrupt question.

 

Seulgi presses her lips into a tight smile and shakes her head lightly, taking the confusion as rejection. “Nevermind. Thank you for tonight, Joohyun.”

 

Joohyun watches quietly as Seulgi unbuckles her seatbelt and steps out of the car. Something feels like missing and a second later, she realizes that Seulgi doesn’t kiss her on the lips like how she usually does every time she drives her home.

 

“See you.” Seulgi says softly and shuts the door. She wraps her arms around herself and strides over to the apartment entrance, protecting herself from the chilly night air.

 

But no matter how cold tonight is, Joohyun’s heart still feels colder.

 

Once she steps into her apartment, she kicks her heels off and throws her purse on the couch before flopping herself on the bed, burying her face into a pillow.

 

It only takes a few seconds before the first teardrop escapes her eyes.

 

 

 

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joohyun lays awake on her bed that night. No matter how much she turns on the bed or how long she closes her eyes, she can’t fall asleep. Seulgi’s face would flash in her mind over and over again. She doesn’t understand why her girlfriend looked so upset throughout the dinner, she clearly remembers how bright her smile was when she picked her up in her apartment few hours ago.

 

Seulgi’s mood just flipped by the end of dinner and Joohyun thinks it might be her fault, but she doesn’t know what she did wrong. Was Seulgi upset with the food? Was she upset about the wine? Was she upset about the restaurant?

 

No matter what the reason is, there’s a heavy feeling in her stomach when she saw how upset her girlfriend looked.  

 

When she dropped Seulgi in front of her apartment, her stomach started twisting when she looked into Seulgi’s eyes. The younger looked even sadder compared to before and Joohyun got even more confused. She doesn’t know what probably went wrong between the short ride they had.

 

Seulgi always ends the date with some kisses and I love you, something that Joohyun likes. But tonight, she didn’t do any of those things. She just stared at her with sorrowful eyes and stepped out of the car.

 

Joohyun also doesn’t understand why Seulgi would ask that question; do you love me? She’s dating Seulgi right now, so why would she ask that kind of question. Why would she even date someone she doesn’t have feeling for? Isn’t Seulgi supposed to know the answer already?

 

There are a lot of questions in Joohyun’s head and she wonders if she should ask Seulgi directly about her weird behavior, but she figures that the younger is not in the mood to talk right now for whatever the reason is.

 

Sighing exasperatedly, Joohyun closes her eyes again, forcing herself to fall asleep.

 

The next morning, Joohyun steps out of her bed feeling like zombie. Seulgi’s sullen face won’t leave her mind and she decides to text her girlfriend who’s probably still asleep on her bed.

 

To: Seulbear

Good morning. Are you feeling better today?

 

Knowing that she won’t get any reply soon, she puts her phone aside and decides to do her morning routine. After taking a quick shower and changes her clothes, she decides to have a nice breakfast and do some groceries on her way back to the apartment.

 

“One tuna sandwich and one macchiato please.” Joohyun says to the counter.

 

“Unnie!”

 

A voice calls out behind her and she turns around to see a familiar girl waving her hand cheerfully.

 

“Seungwan? What a coincidence.” She smiles as the younger girl approaches her.

 

They end up sitting at a table around the corner of the café. Joohyun and Seungwan’s sister are good friends since high school and she has met Seungwan couple of times before. Seungwan is also the one who tells her things about Seulgi like her birthday, favorite food, and other trivial things.

 

“So, do you like the necklace?” Seungwan asks before taking a bite of her croissant.

 

“What necklace?” Joohyun hums questioningly.

 

“The necklace Seulgi gave to you, of course.” Seungwan laughs at the question.

 

When Joohyun keeps staring at her with a dumbfounded look, Seungwan’s laugh falters.

 

“Oh my God, did I just ruin the surprise?” Seungwan gasps, her face blanches in realization.

 

“What surprise?” Joohyun frowns, not sure where the conversation is going.

 

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry!” Seungwan clasps her hands together and drops her head. “I thought Seulgi has given it to you, I didn’t know!”

 

“Wait, what are you talking about?”

 

“Seulgi bought you a gift for your one-year anniversary yesterday and she told me she’s planning to give it to you last night. I’m so sorry!” Seungwan stutters in guilt.

 

The words hit Joohyun like a brick and she almost drops the cup of coffee in her hand.

 

Anniversary.

 

Of course, everything makes sense now.

 

Joohyun has always been a smart girl. She’s the daughter her parents are proud of – even after she came out of the closet; thanks to her understanding parents. She was always the top of her class and she graduated university as one of the best graduates; she even gave a speech on the podium with her parents watching her proudly.

 

Yet right now, she feels like the biggest fool in the world.

 

She’s an adult with career now, there are a lot of things she should put her mind on. The reports, the meetings, the clients, the stocks; everything needs her focus and attention. She has been too caught up with so many things that she didn’t realize yesterday was their anniversary.

 

Knowing Seulgi, she would definitely get so upset about this.

 

Even though the kid always tries to look more mature than her age, but Joohyun knows how childlike her girlfriend is.

 

She knows Seulgi would put so much sugar in her coffee. She knows Seulgi likes orange color, yet the younger would prefer to wear dark and chic clothing instead of bright colored outfits because it makes her look more mature.

 

Not only that, she also knows Seulgi dislikes going out on rainy days. She even knows that Seulgi would start washing her body from her left arm when she’s taking a shower.

 

Joohyun knows so much about Seulgi because she has been paying attention on her and noting down the little things in her head, yet her brain manages to forget about the anniversary.

 

She knows she has to fix this mess, she has to apologize to her girlfriend and take her to a proper dinner and of course, buy her a gift.

 

But would it be enough?

 

Would taking her out on dinner and buying her an expensive gift be enough to make Seulgi forgive her?

 

Joohyun has never been good with words. Her friends have for being quiet or cold, but that’s just she is. She’s not used to express her feelings with words and she doesn’t think it’s a big problem since there are things people are just not good at. If other people is good at expressing their feelings with words, then she’s simply not good at it.

 

She has been dumped couple of times because of her cold attitude, but she didn’t think much of it. If people can’t accept her for what she is, then it’s okay for them to leave, isn’t it?

 

That’s what she thought until she met Seulgi.

 

Seulgi is the opposite of her. She’s never afraid to express her feelings with words and action. She’s always so honest and so true to herself and that kind of Seulgi looks so dazzling in Joohyun’s eyes.

 

Seulgi bravely confessed her attraction to her after their short meeting over a coffee. That time, Joohyun couldn’t understand how Seulgi managed to blurt those words with her cheeks flushed in red like tomato. She couldn’t understand how the girl who blushed at the drop of a hat could express her feelings with such blunt words.

 

Joohyun had never been a romantic person, she had never been the type who would drown herself in love stories like most of the girls. But when she looks at Seulgi, she finally understands what people said by getting butterflies in your stomach.

 

Her stomach would flutter when she sees Seulgi smiling at her, her hand would twitch when Seulgi holds it, her lips would curl into a smile whenever Seulgi is blushing, and her heart would skip a beat whenever their lips meet in a kiss.

 

She loves to bury her nose in Seulgi’s hair whenever they hug, she loves to hear Seulgi’s laugh, she loves to interlace her fingers with Seulgi’s whenever they’re holding hands, she loves to stare into Seulgi’s bright eyes, she loves to trace the curve of Seulgi’s body with her fingers; she loves everything – she just loves Seulgi.

 

The thought of Seulgi walking away from her makes her scared to death and she has never felt like this before. She thought it would be fine for people to walk away if they couldn’t accept her, but she doesn’t want Seulgi to do that.

 

If her inability to express her feeling would cause Seulgi to leave, then she’s willing to do something she had never done before.

 

She’s going to let herself go and act on impulsive.

 

She is not the kind of person who acts without thinking, but for Seulgi, she would do anything.

 

 

 

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seulgi steps out of her bathroom with a sigh and reaches for her phone, checking the messages for the nth times today. When she doesn’t find Joohyun’s name in the list, she lets out another sigh and puts her phone aside.

 

It’s almost midnight right now which means her birthday is coming up and she’s probably going to receive a call from Seungwan for her birthday. Her best friend has always been the first one who wishes her happy birthday every year and Seulgi really appreciates it.

 

She wonders if Joohyun is going to remember her birthday considering that she didn’t remember about their anniversary date.

 

Well, anniversary might not be important for an adult like Joohyun, but what about her birthday?

 

She’s important to Joohyun, right?

 

Seulgi leans back against the couch she’s sitting and looks up to the ceiling. She’s thinking about calling her girlfriend, but what’s the point if Joohyun hasn’t even replied to her message since afternoon?

 

The elder is probably tired with her work and as an understanding girlfriend, Seulgi won’t bother her.

 

But the childish part of her wants to hear Joohyun’s voice. It wants to see Joohyun’s beautiful face and feels her soft hair brushing her face when they hug. It wants to curl up in Joohyun’s arms and cuddle with her on the bed. It wants to hear Joohyun whispering sweet nothings to her while kissing her to sleep.

 

It wants to feel Joohyun’s love.

 

Seulgi doesn’t realize that tears are welling in her eyes until she notices her blurry vision. With a bitter chuckle, she quickly wipes them away, figuring that it’s useless to cry over something like this.

 

Before she can head to her bed for sleep, the doorbell of her apartment suddenly rings.

 

She frowns weirdly at the door, wondering who’s visiting her at such a late hour. Moreover, she heard that tonight’s air is pretty chilly and people avoid staying outdoor tonight.

 

Shrugging her shoulders, she makes her way to the door and peeks at the peephole, only to see something that looks like a teddy bear standing behind her door. Blinking at the odd sight, she decides to open the door.

 

It’s true, there’s a huge teddy bear in front of her eyes right now, but then her attention trails to the small arm that’s holding the teddy bear up and a pair of slim legs peeking from underneath the oversized teddy bear.

 

The teddy bear suddenly moves, revealing her girlfriend’s face hidden behind the big plushie. Joohyun’s nose and cheeks are red because of the chilly air and Seulgi can only blink, trying to register everything. For a moment, she almost thinks that she’s dreaming because there’s no way Joohyun is standing in front of her door in the middle of the night holding such a big teddy bear.

 

As if it’s not enough, Joohyun moves her other hand that has been hidden behind her back, showing Seulgi a bouquet of beautiful red roses. The younger girl, getting entranced by so much beauty in front of her eyes, drops open. She flicks her eyes to the teddy bear, to the roses, and finally to Joohyun’s face.

 

“Happy birthday, b-baby.” Joohyun stutters softly.

 

Baby. Seulgi swears her heart almost jumps out of hearing the word spoken by her girlfriend, by Bae Joohyun.

 

“Huh…?”

 

It is the only word Seulgi manages to say, her eyes still wide in shock and she looks completely baffled.

 

Joohyun bites her lower lips and takes a deep breath, trying to swallow her nervousness before looking up to Seulgi again.

 

“Can I come in?”

 

“Uh, oh, sure.” Seulgi nods quickly, as if snapped out of her thought, and steps aside to let her girlfriend in.

 

Joohyun steps into the apartment, takes her heels off with difficulties, and walks into the living room. She places the giant teddy bear on the couch and the bouquet of roses on the table before walking back to Seulgi who’s still standing frozen on the doorway, even the door is still opened wide.

 

Smiling softly, the elder closes the door before turning to Seulgi whose mouth is still ajar. It actually makes her feel a little bit guilty to see Seulgi looking so surprised, as if the younger doesn’t expect that she would come to see her on her birthday.

 

Just how bad she has been treating her girlfriend all this time?

 

Without saying anything, Joohyun loops her arms around Seulgi’s slim waist and hugs her tightly, face buried in Seulgi’s black hair to smell the scent of her shampoo. The air is chilly outside and Joohyun shivered a little bit when she made her way to the apartment building, but hugging her girlfriend like this makes her forget everything.

 

It takes a few seconds before Joohyun feels a pair of arms hugging her back.

 

“You… Why are you here—I mean, I just don’t expect you’d be here.” Seulgi clears and Joohyun can feel the arms around her tighten a little bit.

 

“I’m sorry…” Joohyun whispers with so much guilt and nuzzles her face deeper.

 

“W-Why are you sorry…?” Seulgi’s voice is slightly shaky and Joohyun doesn’t know if it’s because of confusion or if the younger is about to cry.

 

Pulling away, she sees Seulgi staring at her with a mixed look in her eyes; confusion, shock, longing, and adoration.

 

Joohyun knows this is the right time to finally let the dam break, to finally pour her feelings out.

 

“I’m sorry, Seulgi. I’m sorry for being such a bad lover for you, I’m sorry for drowning myself in my work and assuming that you’re okay with it.”

 

“No, Joohyun—“

 

“Shhh,” Joohyun hushes her. “I’m sorry for being such a , for making you crawl to me while I sit on my throne with my head high; I swear it’s not like that, it’s never like that. I… I’m sorry, it must feel terrible for you to endure my attitude and it’s so selfish for me thinking that you’re fine with the way I am…”

 

“I’m fine with the way you are, Joohyun.” Seulgi whispers softly.

 

“No, it’s wrong, Seulgi. You are saying this because you love me, you’re willing to endure this because you love me, but…what if you stopped loving me…?” Joohyun can hear her own voice shaking, but she has decided that she’s going to let herself go.

 

“What if one day you got tired and decided to leave the exhausting me? I get so scared at the thought of you leaving me, I don’t want to lose you, Seulgi…” Joohyun croaks out and feels something wet trickling down her cheeks.

 

Seulgi doesn’t know what to do at the sight of Joohyun in tears.

 

All the while she has known the elder, she has never seen her girlfriend cried. Sure, Joohyun had her bad days and gloomy mood, but she had never seen her shed any tears. Joohyun is always strong and charismatic, and she doesn’t expect to see her girlfriend break into tears like this.

 

“I’m not like you, I can’t express my feeling with words, but I’ll learn for you, Seulgi. I’ll work hard to make you happy, to make you feel loved because even though I’ve never said it, I want you to know that I love you. I really do.” Joohyun wipes her tears quickly and looks up to Seulgi, her lips pressed tight in anticipation.

 

Seulgi blinks at her once, twice, and on the third time, she can feel her own eyes watering. Her heart is swelling so much it’s starting to hurt, but she’s not going to trade this feeling with anything else, never.

 

This is the first time she hears those three words from Joohyun’s pretty lips, I love you, and Seulgi didn’t think they would affect her this much.

 

“Joohyun,” Seulgi croaks out, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes. “I love you too…”

 

“I know, you said it every day.” Joohyun smiles and wipes the younger’s tears with her thumb. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say this, I promise I’ll say it more often from now on, but you have to promise me something.”

 

“Promise?” Seulgi perks up, still sniffling softly.

 

“Promise me that you have to tell me if there’s something bothering you… like the anniversary. I’m sorry for not remembering it, you see, I’m not as smart as you think I am, so I’d really appreciate it if you told me everything from now on.” Joohyun clears and looks away.

 

Seulgi smiles when she sees a tint of pink spreading over the elder’s cheeks. Joohyun looks absolutely adorable when she’s blushing.

 

“I promise. I’m sorry for not telling the truth and sulking over it like a kid.” Seulgi sighs in guilt, feeling so childish over her behavior.

 

“You’re a kid. It’s okay to act like one. I’m fully aware that you’re a kid from the moment I decided to date you.” Joohyun curls her lips into a small smile.

 

Seulgi smiles back at her and as their eyes grow stuck, both of them can feel the urge to get closer. With Joohyun’s hand cupping Seulgi’s face and Seulgi’s arms on Joohyun’s waist, they lean closer to press their lips into a kiss. Their lips mold perfectly and Seulgi can feel her heart thundering in her chest. Kissing Joohyun always feel so wonderful.

 

When Joohyun pries open with her tongue, Seulgi presses in deeper to let their tongues curl lovingly against each other. The kiss is gentle and loving, yet passionate. Seulgi can feel Joohyun’s hand moving to the back of her neck, pulling her closer into the kiss. There’s no space left between their bodies and Seulgi wonders if the heartbeat she is feeling right now belong to her or Joohyun.

 

The sound of lips smacking resounds in the room and when they pull away, Seulgi opens her eyes to look at Joohyun, seeing her round eyes sparkling beautifully. Joohyun is always so beautiful and Seulgi knows she’s so lucky to have her as a girlfriend.

 

Right now, she can feel herself falling for Joohyun all over again.

 

“Happy birthday.” Joohyun says with a smile.

 

“Thank you.” Seulgi gives her girlfriend a peck on the lips before turning to the giant teddy bear on her couch, chuckling happily. “I really like the teddy bear, thank you. Oh, and of course the roses too.”

 

“I’m glad you like them. I was thinking about buying a bouquet of violets since they symbolize the birth flower of this month, but…I remember that you said your favorite flower is red roses.”

 

Seulgi is honestly surprised to find out that Joohyun remembers such a mundane thing while she has forgotten about saying it herself. She doesn’t think Joohyun notices tiny details that she thought had gone unnoticed.

 

“And the teddy bear… I remember we passed by this toy store and you told me how cute the giant teddy bear is.” Joohyun smiles as she recalls the said moment, remembering how Seulgi’s eyes twinkled in excitement as she pointed at the big teddy bear displayed on the store’s window.

 

“I…didn’t think you’re going to remember things like that…” Seulgi smiles sheepishly, feeling a warmth spreading in her chest.

 

Joohyun’s face however, falters into a blank look.

 

“You really thought I’ve never cared for you…?”

 

“No! I didn’t mean it like that,” Seulgi quickly shakes her head and tries to correct her words, “I mean you never talked much so…I just thought that… You didn’t think about them…”

 

There’s a silence follows before Joohyun lets out a long sigh.

 

“We really need a long talk over this.”

 

Seulgi chuckles softly and nods her head in agreement. “We can talk in the bedroom, more comfortable.”

 

Joohyun tilts her head and curls her lips into a small suggestive smile.

 

“Alright then.”

 

 

 

 

 

____________________

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Seulgi wakes up in the morning, she can feel a gentle hand running through her hair, caressing her face and tracing her features. She opens her eyes to see Joohyun lying beside her, still like how they fell asleep last night.

 

“Good morning and happy birthday.” Joohyun says and kisses her girlfriend on the forehead.

 

“Good morning.” Seulgi giggles lightly and kisses the elder’s cheek.

 

“Should we go get dinner in a hotel tonight to celebrate your birthday?” Joohyun hums questioningly.

 

Seulgi’s eyes twinkle for a moment before her face falters slightly, and then she shakes her head with a small smile. “It’s alright, this is enough.”

 

Joohyun raises a brow at the reaction. “We had a long talk last night, Seulgi. It would be nice if we didn’t go back to square one.”

 

Seulgi blushes at the words and bites her lips, hesitating for a moment, and then looks up to Joohyun again.

 

“Yes, I want to have dinner with you.” She says clearly.

 

“Got it.” Joohyun smiles in satisfaction. “You know I’m very bad at this, so you have to be clear about what you want.”

 

Seulgi, still blushing, nods her head lightly and snuggles closer to her girlfriend.

 

“I love you, Joohyun.”

 

There’s no reply for a while and when Seulgi perks up carefully, she sees Joohyun staring at her with red cheeks.

 

“I can’t believe how easy it is for you to say something like that so early in the morning.” Joohyun whimpers and covers her flushed face with both hands.

 

Seulgi blinks at the sight before breaking into a giggling fit. She knows it would take time for Joohyun to be able to show her affection freely, but she doesn’t mind, the elder looks so adorable when she’s like this and Seulgi enjoys it a lot.

 

It’s okay if Joohyun is quiet, it’s okay if Joohyun is awkward, it’s okay if Joohyun keeps being the woman Seulgi has always known her for.

 

They can take their time from here and this time, Seulgi will not feel insecure anymore because she knows Joohyun loves her with her whole heart.

 

 

 

---

A/N

And that's why communication is important in a relationship

I actually got the idea of this story from my friend who complained to me that her girlfriend is so busy and doesn't really text her back, but if you see their relationship closely, you will know that they do like each other lmaooo so much drama 

Anyway, those who are responsible for Wendy’s current body can come and fight me : )))) my girl doesn't deserve this

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