“Jeongyeon-unnie!” Chaeyoung whines as the older girl keeps eating the food she’s cooking. If she’s going to keep eating her food, there’s going to be none left for her girl, and that can’t do. “Cook your own food!”

“This ungrateful brat, I shouldn’t have saved you then!” She knocks Chaeyoung’s head, clicking her tongue. She had saved this little brat from dying that time in school, but here she is, making noise when she is just eating one little piece of sausage from her.

“You didn’t save me, you just got beaten up with me.” Chaeyoung rolls her eyes as she pours the sausages into a penguin themed lunch box, pushing them into one corner so that there is space for her to put fruits later.

“Shut up the two of you, both of you would have been dead if it wasn’t for me.” Nayeon deadpans.

(Her phone rings, and Jeongyeon opens her eyes, knowing that that is their help line. She doesn’t even have to see her phone to know that it’s her best friend on the other end, calling to scream at her for being late to their meeting. Well, her friend is just going to be even more livid when she knows that she’s late because she’s lying here, dying with her younger foster sister. She sees her phone that has skidded a few feet away during the fight, and grunts as she reaches for it.

“YAH YOO JEONGYEON WHERE ARE YOU?!” The voice over the phone booms and Jeongyeon doesn’t even flinch, poking at Chaeyoung to make sure she’s still alive. The younger girl groans, and Jeongyeon heaves a sigh of relief.

“Hi Nabongs, sorry I’m late, I just ran into a small situation.” Jeongyeon tells her best friend. “Alley behind the arts studio, see you.”

“What have you done this time?” Nayeon sighs into the phone, and Jeongyeon knows from Nayeon’s heavy breaths that she’s running here.

“Maybe, you should hurry up a little. We are kind of, dying here.”

“Who are ‘we’?”

She hears a gasp, and she turns to see Nayeon standing there with her hands over as she takes in the sight before her. “Wow, that was quick.”

“Just stay still, you idiot.” Nayeon barks back, turning her back to the two to call for help on her phone, more to hide her tears than anything.)

Jeongyeon huffs, unable to refute it. She looks at the penguin lunch box that Chaeyoung is arranging and she shakes her head, knowing who it’s for. “You still meeting that rich girl? I told you not to date rich girls, they are all just trouble.”

She steals another sausage from the penguin lunch box just to piss Chaeyoung off more than anything, running to dodge the shorter girl’s kick because a professional MMA fighter’s kicks and punches hurt like hell, take it from her.

“Just because the rich girl you dated was trash doesn’t mean all rich girls are trash.” Nayeon sasses, opening up the fridge to prepare for breakfast. “You just have bad taste.”

“Yeah definitely, because I’m still friends with you.” Jeongyeon shoots back, the two bickering nonstop in the morning already.

“Aish, stop fighting, it’s bad for the baby.” Chaeyoung shushes them, knowing that they don’t mean it when they fight, just friendly bantering, but she still wants to keep them in check before she leaves.

Nayeon nearly drops the orange juice in her hands hearing her words and Jeongyeon chokes on her sausage. “What baby?!”

Chaeyoung places the lid on the penguin lunch box before placing it into her gym bag. “Me. I’m the baby.”

She grins at them, having successfully pranked them. “I’m going, see you all later!”  

“Did you bring your gloves?!” Nayeon shouts after her, knowing how careless Chaeyoung can be. But she might as well be shouting into the void because the girl is already gone. Jeongyeon chuckles, “Forget it, that kid gets more excited than anything when she gets to see her girl.”

--

She watches the scenery go by in the car, sees how the leaves are turning different shades of yellow, red and orange and she knows autumn is really here. As the weather gets colder, the days get shorter, and sometimes it gets to her, makes her feel down, just wanting to stay in bed and not do anything. To add onto that, she has a test to get to, and she sighs, dreading it already.

But the car pulls over at a bus stop, and she immediately feels better. Because sitting at the bus stop, waiting for her, is her sunshine, with her super big gym bag almost covering her whole body. She quickly gathers her things, and doesn’t forget to thank her chauffeur for the ride.

“Thank you, Yoshi.” She’s not only thanking him for the ride, but also for keeping this as a secret between the two of them. (Because god knows what will happen if her mom finds out about this.)

“You are welcome Miss Myoui. Have a good day.” But Yoshi, a benevolent old soul, just smiles at her, encouraging her to go on.

By the time she gets out of the car, her sunshine is already up on her feet, beaming at her, the little dimple on display and her arms outstretched. She doesn’t waste anymore time, running into her favourite person’s arms and her sunshine catches her sturdily, warm arms going around her. She ducks her head into the crook of her sunshine’s neck, feeling her girlfriend’s warmth even though the girl had been sitting in the cold waiting for her.

It’s been so long since they had spent some time together, she had been busy revising for her exams and her sunshine too busy practicing for her upcoming matches, and that’s why each other’s company seems even more precious now.

“Did you wait very long?” Mina asks, sorry that she made her girlfriend wait in the cold for her.

“Not really.” Chaeyoung reassures her, before pulling away to look at Mina carefully. “How’s my favourite girl in the world doing today?”

“I was really worried for my test just now, but I’m doing okay now that I see you.” Mina tells her, grinning her gummy smile.

Chaeyoung takes one of Mina’s hand into her own, kissing it before she walks her to her exam venue. She knows very well how Mina gets very stressed when it’s her exams period; being a pre-med student isn’t easy, and being a pre-med student who is set to inherit your father’s hospital in the future puts even more stress on her, having to do well to uphold the expectations her family has of her. “Don’t worry about it, alright? You will do well, like you always do.”

Mina bumps slightly into Chaeyoung as a way to say thank you for encouraging her. “You have a match today, right?”

Chaeyoung nods. “Will you be coming?”

It’s her last exam today, so she’s technically free to go and watch, but she hates watching Chaeyoung compete the most, because it means she has to see her sunshine get hurt. The past few times she went, she had cried while tending to the little fighter’s wounds after the match and she had sworn to herself that she will never ever go down to watch another one of her matches again. But every single time, she finds herself down there among the stands, sitting through the whole match with her eyes clenched tightly shut, hands firmly covering her ears, and wishing for the whole spectacle to be over soon, and for Chaeyoung to not be greatly hurt. What can she do except to be there as moral support for her girlfriend?

It seems like Chaeyoung understands her dilemma, because she tugs at their entwined hands to get her attention. “It’s okay if you don’t want to come and watch, I understand.” (Watching Mina cry the past few times wasn’t easy for her too.)

Chaeyoung’s here to give her moral support for her exams, so what kind of a girlfriend is she if she doesn’t do the same for her in return? “No… I will be there. Finish it quick, okay?”

They have reached the exam hall, and Chaeyoung steps in front of her, holding her other hand as she smiles. “I will try my best.”

Mina lifts Chaeyoung’s hands to her lips, kissing her two hands, moving on to plant a kiss on her forehead, her eyes, her nose and then her cheeks. The latter just lets her be, knowing that this is their ritual, where Mina believes that her kiss will protect her from injuries. Mina removes her hands from her grasp to cup her face now, running her thumb across her cheeks gently as the little fighter rests her arms around Mina’s waist. “You can’t get hurt, okay?”

“Okay.” It’s not up to her, but she will try her best for Mina. Chaeyoung points to her lips. “But what about here?”

“There too?” Mina asks, narrowing her eyes, knowing that her sneaky girlfriend is just fishing for kisses.

Chaeyoung nods seriously. “I think I’ll get hit here.”

But Mina relents, shaking her head before leaning in to peck Chaeyoung on the lips. She pulls back to see the biggest smile on her sunshine’s face, and the pre-med student instantly regrets nothing, poking at her favourite dimple.  

“Ah! Before I forget,” Chaeyoung exclaims, breaking away from her girlfriend to rummage through her bag to pull out the lunch box she had prepared earlier. “I made lunch for you. It’s nothing much, but I hope you like it.”

She takes it, looking at the cartoon penguins on the lid and she smiles, loving how good her sunshine is with surprise romantic gestures like this. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

Chaeyoung frowns as she rests a hand on her chin, but a smile is on her face. “Hmm, I think so, but you can tell me again just to be sure.”

She leans in, pecking the short fighter on the cheek. “I love you.”

The little beast’s cheeks turn red, and it’s not because of the cold autumn wind. “I love you too, but you should really head for your exams now. I will see you later.”

Mina nods, and the two finally separate, albeit reluctantly.

--

“Oh come on,” Jeongyeon scoffs as she rushes Nayeon while holding the door open.

“I’m done already, stop rushing me!” Nayeon bites back, flipping the signboard to ‘Closed’ before she steps out of the café. Despite their nonstop arguments, they have been running this small café together ever since graduating from college, Nayeon in charge of taking orders and serving food while Jeongyeon mans the kitchen. They are closing early today to make their way down to support Chaeyoung, but are going to be late because of a certain bunny.

“If you didn’t take that last order of your ‘handsome’ customer, we wouldn’t be running late!” Jeongyeon hisses as she locks the door while Nayeon reaches into Jeongyeon’s back pocket for her motorcycle keys, walking ahead to start the engine first. Despite all their bickering, they work well together as a team.

“Well, you could have cooked faster!” Nayeon doesn’t back down, not sure why Jeongyeon is so grouchy when it means they are making more money. “Besides, we are earning more, I don’t understand why you are making a big fuss out of it.”

“You just want to serve him because he’s handsome.” Jeongyeon rolls her eyes as she takes out two helmets, shoving one to Nayeon. “Did you even see the way he was eyeing you? He was totally undressing you with his eyes.”

“And can I blame him? I mean like, have you seen me? I’m quite a looker myself.” Nayeon says as she clips on her helmet, flipping her hair back.

Jeongyeon blanches. “Get off my bike, you find your own transport there.”

Nayeon whines, tugging at Jeongyeon’s shirt. “Hmm~ Please give Nayeonie a ride~ We have to go and watch our baby fight~”

Jeongyeon nearly throws her helmet into Nayeon’s face. She was just joking before, but now, she’s really thinking about kicking the older girl off her bike and leaving her here. Nayeon realizes this and lets go of Jeongyeon’s shirt, sitting up straight in the back seat of the bike. “Let’s go,” She says in her normal voice.

--

“Oh unnie, you are here already?” Chaeyoung asks as she enters the changing room, placing her bag down on the bench. She receives a knuckle to the forehead immediately, causing her to wince.

“How many times have I told you it’s ‘Coach’?” Jihyo chides, before focusing back on the laptop in front of her.

They are only two years apart, so Chaeyoung doesn’t know why Jihyo is so insistent on the title, but she does oblige, calling her ‘Coach’ when there are other people around and preferring to stick to ‘Unnie’ when it’s just the two of them, like now. She walks over to peek over her coach’s shoulder. “What are you looking at?”

“Watching your opponent’s past matches.” Jihyo tells Chaeyoung as she focuses on the screen to see two people in the familiar octagon. She points at the girl who is bigger in size among the two, indicating that that is her opponent for today. It’s ridiculous how someone of her size is in her weight class, and Chaeyoung feels the first nerves creeping in. She’s big, which means her punches are not going to be weak, and Chaeyoung winces as she watches her opponent take down hers in the video easily with a solid punch to the face. She might not be able to keep her promise to Mina after all.

“Don’t worry,” Jihyo says as she shuts her laptop. “She may have the size and power, but you have the dexterity and speed. Go and warm up, we don’t have much time left.”

--

Chaeyoung follows behind Jihyo as they stride towards the octagon, her eyes focused on the back of her coach. She doesn’t let anything distract her, follows Jihyo to the blue corner, the corner she’s assigned to today, and puts out her hands for her coach to put on her gloves for her. Jihyo then holds out piece, and she wears it, adjusting it so that it fits nicely in .

Jihyo holds Chaeyoung by the shoulders. “Remember, avoid direct confrontation as much as you can, keep your distance, go in for quick jabs and pull back. Wait for your chance to strike.”

Chaeyoung nods, and Jihyo helps her to take her jacket off. She takes the time to look at the audience stand, and spots Jeongyeon, Nayeon and Mina easily. Nayeon is cheering enthusiastically for her, screaming and shouting in her seat, while Jeongyeon is mock punching the air, her way of telling her to do her best. Mina on the other hand, has her arms crossed and face in a frown. She knows Mina hates being here, hates watching her get hurt, so she reminds herself that she has to do better for her. She smiles at them, more to reassure Mina than anything, and turns back, stepping into the octagon.

The referee checks and clears them, and the bell goes off, officially announcing the start of the match. Both of them do not make any moves first, preferring to circle around the octagon, sizing each other up. Her opponent makes the first move to come closer to her, and Chaeyoung holds her arms up in front of her in a defensive manner, waiting for the blows to come. She makes a quick jab at her, which Chaeyoung manages to parry the blow with her arms, and she can feel the strength of her opponent clearly. She backs up a little, knowing that she will definitely be knocked out by her opponent’s powerful punches if they are just going to engage in a direct fist fight.

But her opponent seems to take her measured hesitance as fear, stepping closer to rain multiple punches on her face and stomach, hoping to disarm her. Chaeyoung is peddling backwards while trying to block off as many of the hits as possible, but she can feel warm blood starting to trickle down her temple, and she knows one must have gotten through to inflict some damage. She’s starting to feel dizzy from the attacks when she feels her opponent slowing down, underestimating her, thinking that she will take this win easily. Taking her chance, she starts counterattacking, throwing quick jabs around her opponent’s face. Her opponent staggers backwards from the sudden attack, not ready for it, wildly throwing a few punches in the air hoping to get her. But it doesn’t, and Chaeyoung takes this chance of vulnerability to strike directly for her opponent’s jaw. It’s the right spot because it knocks her out cold, and the referee pushes her back away from the fighter lying on the floor to cease the fight temporarily to check on her opponent. Her opponent is confirmed to be knocked out cold, and the fight goes to her, the referee raising her hand up to declare the win.

She bows to all the audience before she goes back to her corner where Jihyo is waiting with a proud smile. “Good job, tiger cub.” She gives her a tight hug, patting her on the back before holding out a bucket for her to spit piece out, and proceeds to take off her gloves for her. Chaeyoung is in the midst of putting her jacket back on when the medic on duty approaches them, wanting to patch her wound up.

“Oh, it’s okay,” Chaeyoung tells him, because why would she need another medic when she has her own? “Thanks anyway.”

Nayeon is on her the next instance, engulfing her in a tight hug while Jeongyeon pats her on the back. “Good job, cub, I’m so proud of you. That lighting KO punch.” She whistles as she attempts to do a feeble imitation of said punch, which makes Chaeyoung laugh.

“You small little thing, when did you become such a big girl?” Nayeon wipes her tears as she pulls away, talking as if she’s her mother.

“Nayeon-unnie stop it, you are embarrassing me!” Chaeyoung whines while Jeongyeon pulls the emotional bunny into her own embrace, more to stop her from bothering her younger sister than to console her. She tilts her head towards the audience stands, where Mina is still sitting there with her head down.

“Your girl’s crying.” Jeongyeon tells her, shaking her head. “I don’t get why she’s making such a big fuss over this, it’s just a little wound.”

“Says the one whose best friend is ugly crying now?” Chaeyoung says in jest at Nayeon who is tugged into Jeongyeon’s arms, and the latter sighs, unable to refute it. This is not the first time, and it’s not going to be the last time too. She pats her older sister on the back before heading to Mina.

“Hey.” Chaeyoung greets, squatting down and reaching for her girlfriend’s hands. She knows Mina needs time, so she doesn’t rush her, just waiting for her until she’s ready. It takes a while, but Mina finally looks up, and Chaeyoung’s heart breaks when she sees tear trails on that beautiful face, with more tears threatening to spill from her eyes. She hurries to wipe them. “Hey, I won, okay? Don’t cry.”

“Can’t you just… not do this?” Mina sniffs, “I can’t bear to watch.”

Chaeyoung looks down at their entwined hands, because she won’t be able to say no to those tearful eyes if she stares any longer. So, she tries to sweet talk her way out of it. “I’m in trouble. How can you still look pretty even when you are crying?”

Mina frowns and hits Chaeyoung’s arms, wanting her to be more serious about this. But the fighter winces as it hits the same spot which she had received blows from earlier, and Mina immediately softens, rubbing her arm to soothe it. She sighs, knowing that she can’t ask Chaeyoung to stop fighting, because this is her dream, and she wouldn’t want to take that away from her sunshine. But it doesn’t mean it doesn’t break her heart every time she sees the numerous wounds on her body. “Come on, let’s get you patched up.”

--

Chaeyoung doesn’t understand how antiseptic can cause her more pain than the punches she received during the actual match itself, and although Mina is very gentle, she can’t help but wince when the cold alcohol swap makes contact with her open wound, the sting jarring her senses. Mina frowns as she works, half because she’s focused, and the other half because it hurts her to see Chaeyoung hurt. But the little fighter just finds her girlfriend extra hot when she’s serious like this, smiling as she takes the time to scrutinize the latter while she works.

Mina finishes off with a plaster, but she doesn’t move away, just stands there to look down at Chaeyoung, cupping her face gently. She really loves her sunshine and will never ask of anything from her, but she really wants her to stop this sport. Open wounds and bruises like today are fine, but what if it’s more serious injuries, like concussion, loss of hearing, or sight the next time? She doesn’t say anything, but Chaeyoung hears the unspoken words.

“I’m okay, alright? Stop frowning like this.” Chaeyoung pacifies, taking Mina’s hands in hers.

Her phone rings, and she knows it’s Yoshi calling, their time together for today is up. She lets it go, because she doesn’t want to spend the little amount of time they have together arguing or staying upset at each other. She mutes the phone and focuses back on her sunshine, who is staring back at her with a sad smile, reluctant to let her go too.

“Keep your weekend free next week, let’s go somewhere, just the two of us.” Mina tells her; now that they are both slightly freer from their commitments, they should make use of it to spend some long overdue quality time together. She may have to lie to her mom, telling her that she’s going out with Sana and Momo instead of Chaeyoung, but it’s a lie worth telling.

Chaeyoung stands up, poking Mina on the nose with a fond smile. She does have training, but Jihyo is always understanding, so it shouldn’t be a problem. (She might just suffer a bit more when she comes back, but it’s worth it if it means being able to spend time with her favourite person in the world.) “Anything for you, my princess. Come on, I will walk you to the car.”

Bonus

Nayeon is wailing as Jeongyeon sits on the hospital bed, wounds already taken care of. The taller girl wants to laugh because Nayeon is a really ugly crier, mouth wide open and snot coming out. (But why does she find that so adorable at the same time?)

“Stop crying already.” She says in jest, passing the box of tissues to Nayeon. The older girl takes a few pieces and blows her nose loudly with it while Jeongyeon reaches out to push some hair away from Nayeon’s face, not wanting the girl to eat her hair while she cries. “Are you stupid? Why are you fighting people now?”

Jeongyeon sighs, looking over to the next bed where Chaeyoung is lying, sleeping peacefully. She is the reason why Jeongyeon fought in the first place. She knew there was a reason why the girl turned up at their house in hoodie and sweatpants in the middle of summer, why she held up her fists at her when she was just going to the light switches to turn off the lights, and she’s glad she finally knows the reason now. Staying in the orphanage with the older bullies had broken her, but Jeongyeon made a promise to herself to mend the broken girl.

“She’s the foster sister I’ve told you about.” Jeongyeon have told Nayeon that they were going to foster a kid, but this is the first time she is actually meeting her. It’s a shame that they are meeting under such circumstances, and she hopes Nayeon won’t have a bad impression of Chaeyoung; she really wants them to get along with each other.  “They were beating her up, those bullies who are twice the size of her. I can’t just stand by and watch, you know.”

Nayeon also looks over at the small girl, with a bandage on her head and numerous bandages over her arms and legs, and she wonders how they could even bring themselves to hurt such a tiny, little precious thing. “Your parents are going to adopt her, you say?”

Jeongyeon gives out a sound of agreement. “My parents really like her, and they have been thinking about it, but I think this pretty much seals the deal. There is no way we are going to let her go back to the orphanage where the bullies are.”

“Then that means she’s my little sister from now on too.” Nayeon tells her, still sniffing from her outburst just now as she looks at Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon doesn’t know why, but a smile grows on her face, her chest suddenly feels warm and full, something that has been happening quite often recently, and only with Nayeon. But the next second, Nayeon hits her on the arm roughly, and the warmth immediately vanishes as she yells in pain.

“What was that for!” Jeongyeon retorts, rubbing her arm.

“I will forgive you this time, but if you get hurt again next time, I’m going to kill you.” Nayeon warns her and Jeongyeon just laughs at the empty threat of the bunny, but relents anyway. “Okay.”

--

a/n: WELL WELL WELL this is it, the start of this story and i'm so excited to be writing this and i hope you guys are as excited as i am!!! 

ngl writing the michaeng parts gave me diabetes, did it give you diabetes too?