five.

“Happy anniversary, love.” Seulgi murmured, tilting her head to the side to press a kiss on Joohyun’s temple.

The girl hummed in content, leaning into her more and opened her eyes again.“You’ve really outdone yourself this time.” Joohyun said with a smile that was to die for.

Seulgi shook her head, a short laugh escaping her lips. “Don’t tease me.” She said, her cheeks growing warm with slight embarrassment. “I had to settle for a less expensive alternative after that birthday dinner last month.” And also the fact that she was saving up to buy her a ring, but she wasn’t going to say that out loud of course.

“I’m not teasing you, I really mean it.” Joohyun said, sitting up straight to look at her seriously. “I love this! You know that I love nature.” She gestured to the outdoor picnic setup Seulgi had arranged for their anniversary date. “Being surrounded by beautiful natural scenery with food and with you, what is there not to like?” She asked rhetorically but Seulgi still looked wary.

“Don’t you think it’s lazy or thoughtless?” She asked worriedly.

Joohyun laughed, “Seulgi, I took you to an amusement park last year for our anniversary. Do you think that took a lot of thought? All I had to do was buy the tickets and set you free inside the park.”

“But…” Seulgi tried to argue but Joohyun covered and shook her head.

“I know what you’re thinking.” She said. “You feel bad because you didn’t spend much money on this, and you think that means you’re not sincere?”

Seulgi nodded slowly and Joohyun’s eyes disappeared when she laughed sweetly at how adorable her girlfriend was. “You really underestimate yourself and you put too much pressure on yourself when it’s really not a big deal.” Joohyun smiled when she remembered how jittery Seulgi had been for the past few days leading up to their anniversary.

“Not a big deal? It’s our anniversary. It marks the happiest day of my life.” Seulgi said, breathless when Joohyun kneeled on the picnic mat to be slightly taller than her who was sitting down and moved closer to loop her arms around her neck. She was so beautiful it was painful, but it was a pain that Seulgi was willing and eager to endure.

“I meant, what we do isn’t a big deal. As long as I’m with you, nothing else matters.” She replied softly, brushing Seulgi’s hair to the side when the breeze moved it. “If you ask me, I would choose this over an expensive dinner any day.”

“Really?” Seulgi’s eyes brightened and a smile made its way across her lips.

“Really.” Joohyun said sincerely, her gaze falling upon Seulgi’s lips at their close proximity and she was unable to resist giving her a peck. She saw her smile grow wider and Joohyun leaned in to kiss her again, their playful and short pecks quickly transitioning into lingering and deeper kisses.

She moved herself forward to sit on Seulgi’s lap and Seulgi’s arms wrapped around her petite body to keep her in place. Joohyun’s hand held onto Seulgi’s nape as their lips melded and everything around them faded from existence. Seulgi’s teeth grazed her lower lip and prompted her to part her lips but before Seulgi could get what she wanted, Joohyun suddenly pulled away with her eyes wide.

“What day is it today?”

“W-What?” Seulgi asked, dazed. “It’s Wednesday.”

“I forgot today is laundry day!” Joohyun exclaimed and Seulgi’s jaw dropped slightly. “Remind me when we get home okay?”

“Is this the type of stuff that goes through your head when we kiss?” Seulgi’s lips formed a small pout.

Joohyun giggled, shaking her head and cupping Seulgi’s face. “I don’t know why I suddenly remembered it either, maybe I caught a whiff of the fabric softener on your clothes.”

“I’ll help you with the laundry when we get home.”

“But you’re not touching the iron.” Joohyun responded quickly, remembering the disastrous combination of Seulgi with an iron.

Seulgi chuckled, “Of course I’ll leave that up to the professional.”

“So, are we having a laundry date?” Her eyes lit up excitedly at the thought.

“A laundry date..” Seulgi laughed amusedly, not knowing such a thing existed in this world and furthermore, that there would be someone out there who was so passionate about it. “Yes, let’s have a laundry date.”

Laundry’s number one fan Bae Joohyun gave an excited squeal, clapping her hands in anticipation. “I bought a new fabric softener on Monday and I can’t wait to use it! It’s a new scent that I’ve been looking everywhere for and finally the store near our house stocked it. I think you’ll really like this one.”

Seulgi couldn’t hold back a smile at her girlfriend’s rambling and she brought Joohyun’s face closer to kiss her gently, which effectively quietened her. She grinned, “God, I love you so much. Even with your weird laundry obsession.” She teased. “You’re so easy to please.”

“Is that a compliment?” Joohyun asked biting her lip, tracing Seulgi’s collarbone and blushing slightly.

“Yeah.” She breathed out, thinking to herself that it was impossible to love someone this much. “It’s one of the many reasons I love you. It’s how you find happiness in the simplest things in life, you’re content with what you have and you never ask for anything more. You taught me to be appreciative of what I have and I mean it when I say that you’re my everything. Having you by my side is all I need and I don’t need anything else as long as I have you.”

“I’m only content with what I have because I have you.” Joohyun whispered, smiling with teary eyes.

Seulgi kissed her again, hand caressing her face and ingraining this perfect moment into her memory; the feeling of her smooth skin under her fingertips, the gentle warm breeze surrounding them and the perfect fit of their lips together.

She wanted this to last forever.

…

The first thing she noticed when she woke up was that her cheek was damp. Seulgi shifted her head and saw the tear stained pillow, but when she tried to sit up, the hangover hit her hard and she groaned, clutching her head.

She found her phone buried beneath the covers and she tried to check if she received any messages but it had run out of battery. Seulgi cursed, putting it aside and climbed out of bed to stumble into the bathroom.

Memories of last night started returning and she remembered meeting Joohyun again, getting rejected again and getting her heart broken again. She stared at her own reflection; at her dishevelled clothes from yesterday that she never changed out of, her swollen eyes from crying, smudged make up and empty eyes. She was a complete mess.

She ran a hand through her hair, sighing. After her dream of a memory from last year and looking at her current state, she realised that maybe she does need Joohyun after all.

…

“Why do I have to go again?” Joohyun asked, pulling the covers over her head.

“Because!” Seungwan tugged the covers back, exposing her to the cold air and Joohyun curled herself up into a ball while whining at the cold. “Besides going to work, all you’ve been doing is staying in your room like a hermit.”

“I am a hermit.” Joohyun acknowledged.

“It’s just a dinner.” Seungwan sighed, grabbing her arm to pull her up from the bed. “Sooyoung managed to get us a booking at the new restaurant that opened. It’s really famous and the queues always reach the next street. It’ll be good, come on!”

“Fine, fine.” She caved in after Seungwan’s persistent begging. “How much time do I have?”

“Under 20 minutes.”

Joohyun’s eyes widened and she sprang up from her bed, pushing Seungwan out of her room before flying to her closet to find an outfit. Seungwan laughed from the other side of the door, relieved that Joohyun was back to normal, kind of. Her and Sooyoung had made it their mission to constantly distract Joohyun so that she wouldn’t have time to think about Seulgi, just in case Joohyun decides to act on impulse and do something stupid.

It was relieving to see Joohyun with them, chatting, smiling and laughing like old times. Sooyoung always did a good job in making them laugh and could keep the conversations going easily. However, whenever there were small gaps in between conversations, Seungwan could see the sadness in Joohyun’s eyes as she quietly played with the food on her plate. The gloomy expression would disappear as soon as one of them spoke and Joohyun would have this big smile on her face as she listened intently to what her friends had to say and Seungwan knew she was trying her best to act like she was fine in front of them so they wouldn’t worry about her.

Did she really think Seungwan wouldn’t hear her crying at night when her room was right next door? Or that Seungwan wouldn’t catch her scrolling through pictures of her and Seulgi on her phone?

Seungwan got carried away studying Joohyun’s expression that she didn’t notice that Sooyoung had stopped talking and instead, had her eyes trained on something behind Seungwan. 

“Hey, isn’t that…”

Seungwan turned around in her seat, searching through the busy sea of people to find out what Sooyoung was so intrigued by. It didn’t take her long to lock her sights on a certain two person table near the window and the all too familiar face. 

“…” Seungwan swore under her breath, turning back around quickly but it was too late. Joohyun had also seen them. It was obvious from the way her eyes seemed to lose their light and her shoulders slumped.

“Wan, do you know her? The other chick.” Sooyoung asked, subtly pointing to Seulgi’s table.

Seungwan pretended to call over a waiter for water refills and shot a glance over at the table again, this time focusing her eyes on the pretty girl sitting across from Seulgi. She really looked familiar too, but Seungwan couldn’t put a name to her face. Was she a celebrity? She turned back to Sooyoung, shaking her head.

“Who is she?” Joohyun asked and Seungwan could see she cared too much about something that she shouldn’t care about.

“That’s Krystal Jung.” Sooyoung said, a smug smile on her face because she knew something the others didn’t. “Jung Sangmin’s one and only daughter. Basically the princess of Korea.”

At the sound of the man’s name, Joohyun’s expression visibly contorted with hatred and disgust. It didn’t help that the daughter of the person Joohyun despised the most was sitting with Seulgi right now. She was burning holes with her gaze as she watched Krystal laugh at something Seulgi said and then playfully kicked her under the table which only made Seulgi laugh as well.

Sooyoung snorted, making Joohyun turn her attention back to their own table. “So she’s sleeping with the chairman’s daughter too. That Kang Seulgi is craftier than I thought.”

Joohyun’s face darkened and Seungwan kicked Sooyoung, earning a yelp from the taller girl who was about to start a fight when she finally noticed Seungwan’s warning glare and the words she was mouthing.

“Oh.” She finally understood and glanced at Joohyun guiltily. Their table fell into awkward silence until Joohyun finally spoke.

“Can we leave now? I want to go home.”

“Yeah let’s go!” Seungwan quickly agreed, shooting a look at Sooyoung who was about to protest that they hadn’t had dessert yet. She pulled the girl out of her seat, dragging her with them as Joohyun marched straight to the entrance without looking back.

…

“Hey.” She heard her voice murmur beside her ear and arms wrapped around her waist from behind. “I’m home.”

Joohyun smiled, leaning back into her warmth. “You’re actually on time today.” She said with a slight hint of teasing in her voice.

“Right?” Seulgi loosened her grip on her so that she could turn her around instead. “Can I get a reward then?” She wiggled her eyebrows, eyeing her girlfriend’s lips that she had been dreaming of for the entire day.

She rolled her eyes but still leaned up and gave her a gentle kiss. “Why are you being so affectionate all of a sudden?” She mumbled when Seulgi re-joined their lips. The taller girl just hummed, smiling into the kiss as she caressed the back of Joohyun’s head. “Did something happen today?” Joohyun asked, eyes still closed.

“Do I need a reason to want to kiss you?” Seulgi responded, tilting her head to the side.

“No, but you’re being touchier than usual today.” Joohyun smiled up at her. “I like it.”

Seulgi gave her another peck, “I have something to tell you later.” She bit back a smile and Joohyun could see her trying to contain her excitement. It must be good news, if it could put Seulgi in such a good mood.

It turned out to be good news for Seulgi, but not for Joohyun.

“No.”

Her face fell, “What do you mean no?” Seulgi asked, frowning.

Joohyun couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Seulgi, do you know what that man has done?” She demanded.  

“I..I know.” Seulgi sighed. “I knew you wouldn’t like this.” She mumbled.

“Then why did you even consider it?” Joohyun asked, trying her best to keep calm and talk levelly. “I’m happy for you that you’re getting offered a place in a big company and I would definitely support you, but if it’s Jung Sangmin’s company, then it’s out of the question.”

“Do you know how much more I can earn if I work at J Corporation?”

“Is money all that matters?” Joohyun grew agitated. “More than morals? Even after you know what he’s done, not only to my family, but to thousands more innocent citizens, you still want to work for him?”

“I mean… I won’t be directly working for him.” Seulgi’s voice grew smaller.

“I don’t care. I just don’t like the idea of you working for that tyrant.” Joohyun folded her arms and leaned back against her chair, signalling the end of the conversation.

But Seulgi wasn’t done. “I’m doing this for us, Joohyun.” She said, unable to hold back her frustration at her stubbornness. “I know you always say we’re fine the way we are, but it’s a lie to say we don’t have financial troubles. Perhaps we’re fine now, but what about later in the future? I just want us to have a good future; one where we can afford to move to a better place, to go on vacations overseas, and have our own family one day.”

Joohyun’s eyes softened and she reached forward to hold onto Seulgi’s hand that was on the table. “You’re a smart and capable person Seulgi, I’m sure you will have plenty of other opportunities to get promotions or other job offers.”

A sigh escaped her lips and she pulled back, her hand slipping out of Joohyun’s. “So in the end, you’re still against me joining J Corp?” She asked, running a hand through her hair in frustration.

Joohyun pursed her lips, nodding firmly.  

“Fine, let’s not talk about money then. I’m tired of being a nobody, I’m tired of working in an irrelevant, small company that gets stepped on by the bigger businesses.” Seulgi blurted. “I want to achieve something with my life, I don’t want to spend my life every day in that damn cramped office doing the same boring work. If I work in J Corp, I get a better job position to begin with, and there are plenty of chances for me to get promoted. It’s a chance for me to actually do something important with my life. I want to be somebody, don’t you get it?”

Joohyun understood, but she didn’t know Seulgi had felt this way. Why didn’t she ever tell her this before? “I didn’t know you were so unhappy with your life.” Joohyun said. “And here, I really thought that you were content with everything we had.”

Seulgi gave a dark chuckle, “Maybe it’s time to be realistic, Joohyun. Being optimistic is good of course, but you can’t just be happy and expect all your problems to fly away. Being happy doesn’t pay the bills.” She said sharply and the words stung Joohyun more than they were supposed to.

“That’s not what you said a few weeks ago.” She forced her tears back, thinking about the conversation they had on their anniversary and how much it pained her to think that those words were all lies.

“That’s because I was naïve back then.” Seulgi replied. “I’m being realistic here Joohyun, and as much as the truth hurts, money and power is what gets you places in this world.”

“I don’t think so.”

“I think so.”

Joohyun had never had such an argument with Seulgi where both of them stood strong on their opposing views and locked horns like this. It was strange, seeing how stubborn Seulgi was when normally she would be lenient and easy-going with anything.

“I don’t want to keep fighting with you.” Joohyun said, shaking her head and standing up. Seulgi didn’t say anything and just kept her eyes on the table when Joohyun walked away to give them both some space.

They spent the next half an hour avoiding each other, which was relatively difficult, considering the size of their apartment and how they couldn’t really hide from each other when everything was out in the open. It was bad because they couldn’t properly get their own space, but it was good because it sped up the process of sorting things out and making up.

Eventually, it was Joohyun who caved first and she got off the couch once she had made her mind up, walking over to where Seulgi was pacing back and forth near their bed. Their eyes met and Seulgi was visibly nervous to be facing her, but Joohyun just walked closer and pulled Seulgi into a tight hug wordlessly.

Seulgi hugged her back immediately, burying her head into her shoulder and giving her the silent reassurance that she wasn’t mad at her.

“I really hate it when we argue.” Joohyun mumbled, her words getting muffled since she had her face buried in the crook of Seulgi’s neck.

“Me too.” Seulgi whispered. “Listen, I’m sorry.” She pulled Joohyun away so that she could look her in the eyes. “I said some harsh things to you that I didn’t mean and I really regret them. I’m so sorry, Hyun.”

“I’m sorry too.” She responded, caressing Seulgi’s face. “For being stubborn and not allowing you to achieve your dreams. I should’ve realised how important this was to you.”

Seulgi kept quiet, waiting patiently for the final verdict.

“Take the job, Seul.”

Her jaw dropped. “R-Really?” She couldn’t believe it. “You’re going to let me take it?”

Joohyun smiled, nodding, and seeing how ecstatic Seulgi looked, she knew she had made the right decision. “You’re right, maybe we should be realistic sometimes. And besides, I want to see that future you spoke of become a reality.” She added, with a hint of shyness.

Seulgi grinned, pulling her back into a hug and kissing her forehead before whispering. “I love you so much.”

...

a/n: a longer chapter this time
and some seulrene moments that we can only get in the form of flashbacks haha

 thank you for all the subscriptions, upvotes and comments!
feedback is always appreciated, it's also interesting to see all the theories you have :)