Seungwan sat at the table, reading the book Joohyun attempted to read earlier that day.

There was a silence between them, but finally, it was comfortable.

The two had just finished eating dinner and bickered briefly about who should wash. Joohyun snickered away when she whispered into Seungwan’s ear about how she should rest because of all the work she did earlier.

It was domestic – it was home.

Although the couple were finally together, they were lost in their own worlds thinking about how they could make up for the lost time. The youngest was zoning out on the book, gosh the book this effect has, she was probably on the same page that Joohyun got lost on.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a warm peck on her cheek,

“Wannie, are you okay?” Joohyun was kneeling down beside her, “I’ve been calling you since I finished washing the dishes, is the book that good?”

Seungwan paid attention to the care and curiosity in Joohyun’s eyes.

Is this what I’ve been missing all along?

“..not quite,” she closed the book and brought the palm of her hand to Joohyun’s cheek, grazing it softly with her thumb.

“I was just thinking about us, how I can make it up to you.” Her gaze lingered as Joohyun’s softened.

The eldest removed her hand from her cheek and grasped it between her own, “you don’t have to make anything up to me Seungwan and we don’t have to rush. We have all the time in the world to talk about us.” She could see the emotions swimming in Seungwan’s eyes: fear, uncertainty, doubt.

“I know you were hurting too, I just.. I don’t want to mess this up. I don’t want to lose you again.”

Joohyun frowned as she could hear the pain in her voice, she sat on the edge of the table across from Seungwan and cradled her face between her hands.

“Maybe I was hurting before, but all that matters to me now is that I have you here,” she brought Seungwan’s hand to her chest and pulled her in by her nape to rest their foreheads together.

Joohyun closed her eyes at the warmth and proximity. If she focused enough, she could almost feel the pulse of Seungwan’s palm against her chest.

“You never lost me because you’ve always had me, and I will always love you,” she lifted her head and placed a lingering kiss on the former’s forehead.

They were looking at each other again as tears welled in Seungwan’s eyes, Joohyun gathered both of her hands in hers again.

“Be patient with me too, okay? I just let whatever happened between us fall away, and I don’t want that to happen again,” she paused as she swallowed the pain crawling back up recalling the flashbacks. “I promise I’ll try harder to communicate with you, but you have to do the same. As much as I know you already, I don’t know how you’re feeling all the time. Can you do that for me?”

Seungwan nodded as she swiped away a tear that escaped from Joohyun’s eyes, “I promise, I..”

I’m sorry, I love you, I’ll make it up to you, were all the words she wanted to say but swallowed along with the sob that almost broke her resolve. This was hard for the both of them, and she wanted to stay just as strong. Soon, she felt Joohyun’s soft lips press onto hers,

“Hey, it’s okay. We’re okay.”

Joohyun got off the table and took her place on Seungwan’s lap, sitting sideways as she wrapped her arms around her neck. Her heart felt calmer and more secure as she got closer to the younger one.

Seungwan gazed up at her as she secured an arm around her waist, bringing her other hand up to brush Joohyun’s hair out of her face. She wanted this moment to last forever, though she was sure it would remain engraved into her memory.

“I love you, so much.”

Joohyun felt a blush suddenly creep up to her cheeks as she buried her head into Seungwan’s neck.

“W- what?” She was suddenly startled at Joohyun’s shy demeanor, and how the tension and seriousness of the conversation slowly diminished along with her own doubts.

“Nothing, I just.. don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing you say that,” Joohyun’s doe eyes shifted into crescent shapes before she yelped at the pinch to her side,

“And??” Seungwan looked at her expectedly.

Joohyun giggled once she settled back into Seungwan’s embrace, “I love you too,” her voice dripped with honey as she pecked Seungwan on the lips again.

“Look, why don’t we get out of here for a bit? We’ve been couped up in here for a couple of days. Do you want to go take a walk at the Han River?” she brushed away Seungwan’s fringe, “we haven’t done that in a while.”

“Mm,” Seungwan smiled contentedly as she watched Joohyun’s face light up, “but go get one of my sweaters first, it’s a bit cooler tonight.”

Joohyun bounced off her lap at the suggestion to get her lover’s sweater while Seungwan just stared amusedly at how this woman could be older than her.

She brought her attention back to the table to see if she had to clean up anything else while her eyes landed on the book in front of her. She leaned forward, her fingertips dragging along the rough edges of the book.

I wonder what our story will be- her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the front door unlock. Cautiously, their maknae rounded the corner, “unnie?”

“Yerim-ah,” the other two shuffled in quietly behind her.

“Seungwannie, is everything okay?” Seulgi made her way in as well as Sooyoung carefully observed their dorm.

“Yes.. why?” Seungwan replied, slightly confused as to why there was tension building in the room.

As they all slipped into their house slippers, Sooyoung finally interjected, “where’s.. Joohyun unnie?”

And finally, everything clicked.

“Oh, she’s-“

“Right here,” Joohyun made her way down the hallway with Seungwan’s hoodie hanging over her arm. “Hey! That’s my favorite one,” Seungwan pouted, seemingly forgetting about the presence of the other three in the room.

“And? It was my favorite first.”

“Umm.. unnie?” Yerim directed at either one of them.

“Oh, right..” Seungwan stood up by Joohyun’s side and intertwined their hands, “we have something to tell you guys-“

“ FINALLY-“

“Sooyoung?!!?” Joohyun’s leader voice came out, “language?!”

“Essentially what Sooyoung said,” Seulgi grinned as she approached the two, pulling them both into her arms. “I’m happy for both of you.”

“So did you guys do it yet, cus I mean that was BUILDING-“

The couple blushed madly and now it was Seungwan’s turn to raise her voice, “PARK SOOYOUNG!”

The amusing conversation was suddenly interrupted as Yerim dropped her bag to the floor, along with her jaw.

“So you guys are like.. together together?”

Seungwan’s face turned red once again, barely recovering from Sooyoung’s comment as she felt Joohyun’s gaze on her.

“Yeah,” everyone felt their heart beat a little bit faster as Seungwan’s gaze met Joohyun’s.

“We’re still figuring things out, but we both know what we want now,” no one missed how her grip tightened.

“Well it seems like you two were off to somewhere,” Seulgi gestured to the hoodie in Joohyun’s hand while Seungwan’s unnecessarily-stupidly-massive bag was slung over her other shoulder. “We’ll leave the evening to both of you then, we can catch up when you guys get back.”

The three were about to part ways from the duo, thankful that they didn’t have to tiptoe around the both of them anymore.

“Wait-“ Seungwan turned around before they entered their respective rooms,

“Thank you guys..” Seungwan scratched the back of her neck, “I know this wasn’t easy on any of you either.”

Sooyoung approached Seungwan and patted her on the shoulder while she also sent her acknowledgements to Joohyun, “Thank you too unnies, for figuring this out. I can probably speak for all of us, but we’re just happy to see you both happy again – together.”

The chaotic duo that were about to enter their rooms nodded their heads in agreement.

Sooyoung turned around once more as she made her way to her room,

“And one more thing, please keep it down at night. We’re starting promotions again soon.”

Before Seungwan could say anything, the three mischievously shut their doors causing Seungwan to roll her eyes.

The whole time, Joohyun’s eyes never left Seungwan, causing the latter to look at her.

“What?”

“What what?” Joohyun responded, just as confused.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Seungwan, I don’t know what you’re talking about?” The eldest left her side, preparing to slip her shoes on, “c’mon, before it gets too late to be out.”

Seungwan scratched her head as she followed suit, brushing the thought away.

She picked up the bag that Yerim dropped, grinning as she remembered her reaction. Just then, she heard a door open.

“I was just coming to grab that! Thanks unnie,” Seungwan passed the bag over to their maknae.

“Oh and for the record, Joohyun unnie has always been looking at you like that.”

Yerim nonchalantly walked away and Seungwan looked up at Joohyun, who was patiently waiting by the door.

Warmth, love, and admiration radiated from her gaze as a small smile formed from her lips, her small hand extended, “you ready?”

“Always.”

[fin].

hi it's me lol. I dont have much to say other than I am really truly very sorry :( I actually envisioned this to end at chapter three, but I didn't feel like that sort of ending would do this fic justice. I also wanted to start another story but I couldn't do that until I knew that this one was done. For those of you who have stuck around, waited, and supported this short story - I am endlessly thankful for you. I don't do well at replying to comments, but just know that I read every single one of them and I'm grateful for all of you. 

happy reading! I hope to write to you all sooner than later (and not three years later).

-a.r