A/N: hello! it's been a while and i've got a valid explanation for that, but first, here's a 2jin side-drabble (because the viseul backstory is taking longer to write than i expected). 

Word count:2,073 words

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There is soreness on Heejin’s shoulder that won’t seem to go away, regardless of how much she massages or stretches the tensed muscles. A frown must’ve been evident on her face over it because Yerim pats her back to grab her attention, giving her a concerned look.

“You okay, Heejin unnie?” The younger girl asks, inclines her head to the side.

Heejin beams automatically at her concern. “Yeah, I’m good! Just feeling a little beat up in places. Nothing that a couple of patches won’t fix.”

Yerim returns her smile and nods in understanding before she promptly turns to her friends, Yeojin and Chaewon, both of whom are standing at the foot of the stage, backpacks on and ready to leave.

“Well, we should probably head home now.” Yerim mutters. “Unless... you’re going somewhere?”

“Oh, nah. I’m going straight home.” Heejin replies.

On top of her exhaustion from a full school day plus rehearsals, Hyunjin’s also too busy to do anything with her tonight. Her girlfriend had texted her earlier to tell her that she was staying on campus for another hour of training, urging her to not wait for her and to go on ahead without her. While she finds that it’s always a bit regretful when they don’t get to spend time and head home together, she understands that Hyunjin has to work her off to secure a win in the regionals.

“Ah,” Yerim’s voice breaks her off her thoughts. “That’s good. Get some rest and we’ll see each other tomorrow, unnie.”

With a smile, Heejin watches as the younger girl bounds off the stage and joins her friends.

“Great work today, guys! See you all in class!” She bids them goodbye, waving to them.

Yeojin smiles widely and nods to her, while Yerim waves back with her usual undeterred energy. And Chaewon… Chaewon just gives her a blank stare, eyes flitting away to look at the doors shortly after.

Heejin doesn’t think much of it. The girl does seem to be on the shy side, unlike her two hyperactive and extroverted friends. And honestly, she kinda reminds her of Hyejoo. The thought brings a smile to her lips as she sees them head for the doors to leave.

She becomes all too aware that the auditorium is quickly emptying. Since she doesn’t want to be the last one out, she hurries, cramming everything in her bag and speedwalking up the aisle and out the exit. In her haste, she almost misses the person standing off to the side, just outside the auditorium. Luckily, the familiar mustard yellow gym bag hanging on the girl’s shoulder catches her eye (it was a gift from her, for their first month together). Seeing it, she slows down and does a double-take.

Hyunjin meets her eye and lifts a hand to lazily wave at her. It’s the bare minimum but a huge smile stretches across Heejin’s lips, and she practically bounces her way toward her girlfriend. She’s not gonna lie, that word still sends butterflies to her stomach.

“What are you doing here?” She asks, taking one of Hyunjin’s hands and enveloping it with both of hers. “Hmm?”

Hyunjin doesn’t say anything. Instead, she simply offers her a small smile and throws an arm around her to pull her into a hug. Heejin is quick to melt in her hold, wrapping her arms around her waist and burying her face in the crook of her neck, like it’s the most natural thing. And maybe, it is.

“I thought you had extra practice.” Her voice is muffled against Hyunjin’s neck but she’s sure she heard her, because she hears the girl lets out a sigh.

Heejin waits for her to reply. When a whole minute passes and she still hasn’t said a thing, she makes to pull away. But Hyunjin’s hand cups the back of her head, locking her in place, keeping her in her embrace.

“Hyun?” Heejin calls her name and giggles at the feeling of familiar warmth spreading from her chest to the tips of her fingers and toes.

Strangely enough, she feels her tiredness drain away. Her shoulder even feels better now.

She hears another sigh, and finally, Hyunjin replies. “Can we just stay like this for a little longer?”

Heejin’s heart picks up speed after hearing those words because this is... something new. Hyunjin hardly ever initiates anything. Not that that’s a problem. It’s just a little surprising. But she isn’t going to complain about it, so she sings her okay and sinks deeper into her.

Her eyes close on instinct and her head comfortably settles against Hyunjin’s chest. The slow and steady motions of her breathing match that of hers and she holds onto Hyunjin tighter, feeling more and more at home in her arms with each second that passes.

Hyunjin lifts her head a little, leaving some space between them, but just enough to allow her to rest her chin on the top of Heejin’s head.

“Hey, Heejin?” Hyunjin’s voice comes out breathy and low, as if Heejin wasn’t already weak in the knees from everything that’s her.

“Mhmm?” She hums, unable to form words.

“I’m sorry.” Hyunjin says and Heejin pulls back.

She looks at Hyunjin’s face and sees the crinkle of frustration on her forehead and the helpless droop to her eyes. Both of it makes her feel like she’s suddenly doused with a bucketload of ice water.

“For what?” Heejin puts on a calm exterior but deep inside, she’s shaking with anxiety.

“Just… for everything.” Hyunjin answers. She takes a deep breath before she continues. “For not remembering our one month anniversary. For still teasing you a lot by not doing that heart thing you want us to do when we take pictures. Also, for taking a bite out of your bread when you’re not looking and then not giving you any of mine. And… and for… for being me .”

Her gaze drops to the ground and the fear in Heejin increases tenfold.

“What are you talking about, Hyunjin?” She grasps Hyunjin’s arms and tries desperately to catch her eye, but the girl’s adamant on not looking. Panic starts to seep in and she can’t take it anymore.

“Hyun, please, you’re scaring me.” She confesses in a small voice.

That seems to get to Hyunjin.

“I don’t mean to scare you, Heejin!” She quickly says, finally meeting her eyes. “It’s just… ugh. See? I can’t seem to do anything right!” She grumbles. The angry step she takes back speaks of her frustration with herself.

“What’s wrong? Please tell me.” Heejin’s eyes soften, now more worried for her girlfriend than scared for herself.

Hyunjin takes a deep breath. It’s easy to tell that she’s gathering her courage, so Heejin holds her ground and waits for her.

“I… I guess I just want you to know that I’m sorry because... I’m not very good at this girlfriend thing yet.” Her eyes lock onto Heejin’s and she can clearly see the vulnerability there. “I make a lot of stupid mistakes but I’m trying not to. And I promise I’ll try a lot harder for you because I want you to be happy.”

She cups Heejin’s face and smiles at her weakly, begging softly. “I’m dense and slow but… I hope you can be a bit more patient with me, Heejin.”

Heejin finally lets out a breath and returns Hyunjin’s weak smile with one of her own.

“Oh, Hyunjin…” Hyunjin looks at her with her big, brown eyes and Heejin sees herself reflected there - looking so hopelessly endeared.

She laughs lightly and wraps her arms around Hyunjin’s shoulders, pulling her down.

“What’s going on? Why are you laughing?” She asks, sounding like a confused child.

“You’re being silly!” Heejin pulls back and pokes Hyunjin on the cheek. “None of that matters to me, Hyun. I’m not going anywhere.”

And it’s the truth. Hyunjin might be clumsy and fumbles a lot with navigating the girlfriends' territory, but it’s alright. Because Heejin is too. She’s just a little bit better at hiding it but the thing is, they’re both still learning and that’s fine.  

Heejin receives a pout from Hyunjin in reply. Something about the sad, apologetic look in her eyes gets her to realize that she should no longer hold herself back.

“I’ll be here for a long time.” She breathes and rests her forehead against Hyunjin’s, preparing to voice out what she’s been thinking about for the longest time already. “I promise, you don’t have to worry about any of that, Hyun… because I will still love you anyway.”

Hyunjin is quick to close the small distance between them, capturing her lips in a kiss that’s sweet and short, making Heejin’s knees feel like jelly.

A minute passes where they both just stare at each other, too caught up in the depth of their emotions and the gravity of their confessions. When they recover enough, Hyunjin is the first to say something.

“And I love you too, Heejin. That’s why I’m going to do better for you.”

When she says it, there’s that same determined sparkle in her eyes and it just makes Heejin swoon.

“I know, Kim Hyunjin. I know.” She giggles. Her cheeks flush pink as she admits another thing. “Not that it isn’t nice to hear you say it.”

“Then I’ll say it more often.” Hyunjin smiles, and this time, it finally reaches her eyes.

Heejin pulls back to see that smile better, settling for holding Hyunjin’s hand.

“Shall we head home now? Your parents are probably wondering where you are.” She leads the way down the street.

Her eyes refuse to look away from her girlfriend, allowing her to see the small smile forming on Hyunjin’s lips as she replies.

“Actually… I already texted them that I was going to sleepover at your place tonight.”

Upon hearing that, Heejin immediately feels her face flame up. It doesn’t take long for alarm over her own reaction to overtake her. And when it does, she quickly finds that there’s one more thing for her to worry about.

“Okay, when I said sleepover, I really meant that we’re just going to sleep next to each other.” Hyunjin says, mouth hanging slightly open, scandalized.

Heejin kind of wants to let go of her hand and ran away in embarrassment. But she doesn’t. She knows she needs to clear things up.

“Well, of course, I knew that! I wasn’t expecting anything like that!” She exclaims defensively. Her gaze drops to the ground and her voice becomes small again. “I was just hoping that… can we cuddle?”

She looks back up to check for Hyunjin’s reaction - the girl has a feigned look of resignation on her face and is shaking her head in disbelief.

“It’s not like you’d be able to keep your arms to yourself. I don’t remember having a sleepover where I didn’t wake up to you being all over me.” She catches Heejin’s eye and she squirms. “Also, I recall a handful of times that I felt you inching closer when you thought I was already sleeping.”

“I can’t help it! You’re really warm and cuddly.” Heejin mumbles. A thought hits her and she fires back. “And besides, it’s not like you didn’t always snuggle back!”

Hyunjin’s expression becomes blank and Heejin smirks in satisfaction.

“...I never said anything about not liking it.” Her girlfriend admits.

Heejin narrows her eyes at her. “So what was the point?”

Hyunjin lets out a hearty chuckle, then, without warning, she plants a kiss on Heejin’s cheek.

Heejin’s eyes widen at the surprise attack, but Hyunjin only grins cheekily at her and squeezes her hand tighter.

For a moment, they just walk in satisfied silence, stupid smiles on their faces, fingers intertwined, and hearts thrumming the same love song. The feeling carries through, even when Hyunjin speaks again.

“Hey, Heejin?” Her voice sounds a lot lighter now.

“Yes, Hyunjin?” And Heejin can’t help but echo it.

“I’ve got a stargazing activity on campus this Sunday. It’s for drawing class but I’m sure it’ll be fine. Do you wanna come with me? We can have dinner beforehand and make it a date?”

Heejin takes one look at Hyunjin and the nervous but charming smile on her lips, and she knows that she doesn’t even have to think about it. In a fluttering heartbeat, she answers.

“Sure, Hyun. I’d love to.”