Kang Seulgi

            Seulgi wasn’t going to lie.

            There were times where she would get fed up with Joohyun.

            Irritated.

            Agitated.

            Isolated.

            These feelings were bound to manifest within her after so many years of dating just Bae Joohyun. The older woman had her moments where she wouldn’t stop pestering her to wash the dishes, even when she said that she would in a bit (just let her finish up this episode). Or when Joohyun blew up mindlessly on her after a long day of work, and Seulgi just happened to be the receiving end of it all.

            But these small commotions that could be easily avoidable weren’t the only things riling them up.

            They fought, they slammed doors, they threw belongings, they stormed out, they cried.

            It was as if all the qualities about her wife that Seulgi fell in love turned into the foulest and most unfamiliar yet—they were the characteristics she tried avoiding in the first place. Emotions would get the better of them, make them feel like another persona within was trying to emerge and take control. And that was the scariest part—how in the moment they weren’t themselves anymore. Seulgi didn’t feel like herself. Veins were bursting from their necks, mouths would spread wide to deal harm, eyes stung and burned with what would eventually stream down their cheeks after coming to a resolution.

            Seulgi didn’t feel like herself.

            And that scared her so much.

            It led her to the dark depths of her mind, the dangerous thoughts that should never see the light. But it did when Seulgi was left alone after one big fight, wallowing in her tears as she slumped down against their shared bedroom door. Joohyun had stormed out that night and trailed off to who knows where (Seulgi deep down just hoped that she was safe).

            Seulgi always wondered if they were going to last.

            If all those years through high school, college, and marriage were suddenly going to crumble down in a few, measly steps.

            If all of a sudden Joohyun got tired of her, got tired of staying with just one person. She was with Seulgi ever since they were teenagers—all those years of finding someone else, someone who could be better, were gone to waste.

            Then, with a clear mind and a better outlook on life, she was able to remember.

            The times they made up were the hardest only because it was awkward and difficult to know what to say at first. A slip up could steer their whole future spiraling down toward a direction they never wanted to exist in the first place. But it seemed like Seulgi and Joohyun knew what they had spewed out to each other with strained throats the other day was because their ugly emotions took over for that moment.

            Fights happened, but reconciliation did as well.

            “I’m so sorry, Seulgi,” Joohyun croaked out with hot, fresh tears welling up her eyes.

            It had been a few hours since she stormed out, but she returned back to their penthouse, stumbling across Seulgi who was slumped against the couch in their living room, still in her work clothes at two in the morning. The latter jolted up and marched her way over to her wife, crushing her into an embrace, no signs of letting go.

            Seulgi never liked fighting with Joohyun.

            It caused too much stress. Time was spent worrying over the other person’s safety, thinking about what they had said then cursing themselves for it, forging up explanations in their minds for why those words came out of their mouths.

            “N-No… I’m sorry,” Seulgi stammered out. “I shouldn’t have said those words.”

            She felt Joohyun press her face against her shoulder. “But those words still hold some truth to it, don’t they?”

            Seulgi closed her eyes.

            She didn’t want to have to think about those spiteful words.

            “No. I was dumb to have said them.”

            Her hands came up to Joohyun’s head to pull it away from her shoulder and into her range of sight. Joohyun stared up at her, eyes glassy, corners of her mouths tugging slightly downwards. She was about to cry again, but Seulgi wouldn’t let her—too many tears had been unwillingly produced.

            Fingers curled over cheeks as thumbs brushed away tears. Seulgi didn’t exactly know what else to say, too caught up in ridding the tears on Joohyun’s beautiful face.

            It was wild—how Joohyun still looked impossibly beautiful when crying.

            Seulgi was constantly reminded of her beauty no matter what she did. It was definitely one of the reasons why she fell in love with her, but it wasn’t the top reason.

            But still.

            Joohyun’s beauty seemed to have graced as they age.

            “I love you, Hyun.” Seulgi noticed how Joohyun barely blinked. Her wife’s lips trembled, tears seemingly settling more and more within her eyes and threatening to escape. “I still want to have kids with you some day.”

            A throaty chuckle escaped from Joohyun as she burrowed her face back into the crook of Seulgi’s neck. Seulgi felt her arms tightening even more.

            “I do, too,” muttered Joohyun. “Just thinking about seeing little you and me running around…”

            It was a dream come true.

            How Seulgi was living her life just like she dreamt of it as a child.

            It wasn’t an all too pleasant journey to get here, but she managed to do so anyway, all because of the woman in her arms.

            And she’d do it again in a different lifetime if same love persisted.

            “It’d be too cute. Can’t wait to see you taking care of a mini version of you,” said Seulgi, lips curling into a bright grin. She leaned down to kiss Joohyun’s crown.

            Joohyun tilted her head up, peering into Seulgi’s eyes. “What if it’s a little Seul?”

            “What if it’s a mix of the two of us? People have said that we look grossly alike. Twins, almost.”

            Joohyun press against Seulgi’s collarbone. Her eyes were still watery, so she closed them, resting her emotions.

            “Regardless,” she started, blindly backing Seulgi up against the couch. The latter involuntarily slumped down on the leather seats and brought the both of them down, allowing her wife to curl up on her lap. “I’d think we have the cutest babies ever.”

            “You think so?”

            Joohyun hummed. “Actually, I know so.”

            They remained in that position for a few moments longer, emotions settling down, fights coming to a pause. Seulgi thought they might have another one after this, but it might not be the case. It felt different this time around. Joohyun came back faster, her tears came stronger, and talks of their future followed right after.

            Seulgi always knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Joohyun.

            Fights weren’t going to change that, no matter how big or small.

            She would always need Joohyun in her life.

            “I love you, Seul,” her wife sleepily mumbled against her skin.

Bae Joohyun

            “Hey! You come back here, you little rascal!”

            Joohyun turned her head so fast to watch the commotion occurring in their new backyard. A few years into their marriage, Seulgi and Joohyun thought it would be best to move to the suburbs into a humble two-story home with a beautiful backyard. There were more things waiting for them ahead.

            Like this mischievous five-year old kid running around with Seulgi hot on her tail.

            Still wearing the rubber gloves that ran up to her elbows, Joohyun had dropped her task of washing the dishes to get a better view of Seulgi tackling their giggling daughter, Ana, into the soft grass. Seulgi had a bright smile on her face, fingers digging into the sides of the tiny body below her.

            Joohyun initially thought that she had to break up another useless fight between Seulgi and Ana, but she found herself smiling at the sight.

            There were times where she couldn’t believe she was living a married life with her one true love. And now with the addition of their daughter who entered the complicated puzzle, it became even more unreal.

            But there were also times where realization hit her.

            This was truly her life.

            Dating, loving, marrying Kang Seulgi.

            Bearing a child of their own.

            Living a domesticated life in a beautiful home.

            This was the life she deserved.

            A piercing laughter broke her from her trance—Joohyun quickly averted her blank stare to Ana, who was crying from laughter.

            “Ha! Haha! Mama! Mama, stop, I’m sorry!”

            Seulgi eventually stopped tickling Ana and picked her up from the ground, brushing off the stray blades of grass on her body. And there went Ana’s high-pitched laughter as Seulgi threw her up into the air multiple times. It could seriously be on par with Joohyun’s own.

            Joohyun shook her head but smiled not that long after, steadily treading back to the sink to finish the remaining dishes.

            “Mommy!” Ana called out, her tiny feet pattering against the wooden flooring of their hallway until they tapped against the tiled floors of the kitchen.

            Joohyun placed the last of the clean dish into the drying rack and removed the rubber gloves. She glanced over her shoulder down at Ana, whose hair was mussed up from playing around with Seulgi.

            “What is it, sweetie?”

            “Do you think we can have ice cream for dinner?” Ana pouted and curled her hands together, something she usually did to sway the others into giving into her requests.

            Joohyun fully turned towards Ana and crossed her arms. “What did I say about having dessert as your only dinner?”

            Ana frowned. “That it’s not actually food food…”

            “Exactly.” Joohyun reached down to push Ana into one of the dining chairs so that she could fix her hair. She removed the hair ties from her loose pigtail braids to make a neater one. “Now tell Mama she can’t have ice cream for dinner.”

            Ana immediately opened to call for Seulgi, but the latter walked into the kitchen with agape.

            “Hey!” Seulgi called. Joohyun stifled a laughter by biting down on her lower lip. “I’m not the only one who wants ice cream around here.”

            “You’re lucky Ana has your fast metabolism,” said Joohyun. “She’s been eating so much junk food because of you.”

            Seulgi rolled her eyes and sat down next to Ana. “I’m giving them to her moderately like you asked, Hyun. You think I’m going to stuff our child like that? What would her teacher think of us as parents?”

            “You mean think of you as a parent. Mrs. Kwon knows that I wouldn’t do such a thing,” Joohyun said with a smug look.

            Seulgi peered into Ana’s doe eyes with a pout. “Look at your Mommy. She’s being so mean to me.”

            Ana’s quick movement of her head paused Joohyun’s braiding. “Mommy, why are you being mean to Mama?”

            Joohyun widened her eyes and was about to smack Seulgi up side the head.

            It was always this adorable, harmless banter with the family. Seulgi and Ana playing around, Ana running to Joohyun for relief from Seulgi, the three merging together, and Joohyun throwing teasing remarks at Seulgi. Seulgi would always attempt to get Ana to side with her by taking advantage of how gullible and innocent the little girl still was. But it was nothing more than that—just Ana blinking innocently with Joohyun threatening to throw a fist at Seulgi.

            “There. All done, sweetie,” Joohyun said softly, running her hands across Ana’s kempt hair down to the tight braids.

            “Thanks Mommy! I’m going to go watch TV now,” Ana announced. She hopped down from the dining chair and waddled into the living room, plopping right down onto the couch.

            Seulgi and Joohyun continued to observe Ana for a few more moments, smiling to themselves as their little girl wiggled back against the couch and grabbed a teddy bear to hold onto.

            “Ana’s adorable,” Joohyun said.

            “Yeah,” Seulgi replied absentmindedly. She averted her gaze onto her wife. “She has your eyes.”

            “She has your nose…”

            “She has our ears…”

            Joohyun cleared . “Alright, she has a mixture of us, Seul.”

            Seulgi laughed at how abruptly Joohyun ended their back and forth “competition.” She reached forward to grab the latter by her waist, pulling her closer until she fit nicely in between her legs. She rested her head onto Joohyun’s flat stomach.

            “I’m happy, Hyun.”

            Joohyun hummed, running her hand down Seulgi’s soft hair. “Yeah?”

            Seulgi nodded her head. She closed her eyes and relished in the moment of Joohyun pampering her. Joohyun really couldn’t think about anyone else she could be spending the rest of her life with. Having a child together with Seulgi completely solidified their future one way or another. It was a given that they were going to grow old together, but with little Seulgi’s and Joohyun’s in the picture, it just made life a whole lot better.

            “I’m happy, too,” Joohyun whispered. She untangled some loosening knots in Seulgi’s hair, most likely from all the tussle she did with Ana. “With you, I’ll always be.”

Here is the bonus chapter that I promised a while back! Yay!!! Now this story is really complete now.

I think this is still one of my favorite things to work on, hehe.

Thank you for reading again!