57 days earlier

It’s early when the alarm on her phone rings, the blaring sound and vibration running through the end table and into her ears. When her eyes open, a harsh light greets her face from the screen as she lazily unlocks the phone and disarms the hideous sound. It’s quiet for a second, but the rustling of sheets next to her turn into a warm body draping over herself. “Is it already 7 am?” Seulgi asks with a soft voice despite the upcoming traffic already boosting from the outside.

Joohyun finds herself nodding, using the sleeves of her sweater to rub onto her itchy nose. “When did you go to bed?” she asks back with a hoarse voice, already feeling the need for a glass of water to relax . An arm goes away only to come back with a glass of newly tapped water. A chuckle escapes her lips. “I’m guessing you’re going to bed now,” Joohyun answers for the woman beside her, who smiles innocently enough.

“Sorry, Cabbage,” she lets out a half-assed apology before grabbing the blankets to wrap her body around it. She seems like she’s about to say more, she inhales as if she’s going to, but instead she hides her face inside the pillow.

Joohyun smiles softly then. “Writer’s block keeping you up?” she asks before adding what she hopes is a reassuring hug where Seulgi lies like a burrito in several layers. “I know you’ll be able to overcome it eventually,” she continues, knowing she must get up and get ready now. Still, she figures she can spare a few minutes to make sure Seulgi is relaxed before getting ready. Her job is a mere ten-minute walk, so she rarely runs late anyways.

A nod comes as a reply deep into the blankets and pillow, she looks like a small child who feels guilty for doing something dumb. Her hands cover her bare face, which has gotten noticeably more breakouts from the stress she’s been in. Seulgi doesn’t say much more then.

Joohyun knows how much tension Seulgi has held onto her shoulders lately. After her newest book did so well last year, many have been waiting for her newest work. In fact, it’s her bestselling yet and has for the first time seen commercial success. Her ratings were always top-notch, but it’s the first-time people have been celebrating her work and getting the publicity she deserves. It’s understandable that the pressure is high for her next release, hoping it would do better. or at least as well, as her previous novel.

She feels proud then, knowing how much Seulgi has achieved in the past few years. Also knowing that she probably doesn’t realize how talented she really is, which makes Joohyun feel bad. It makes her happy, however, that she’s finally getting the attention she deserves. She’s also not going to deny that the bigger paycheck from royalties also gave them room to redo the apartment and have more fancy dinners that aren’t ramen or frozen pizza.

Seulgi presses herself further into the bed, but also nudging towards Joohyun which seems to make her previous frown relax a little. Almost absentmindedly, she lets her hand glide through the dark strands of her hair, hoping to lull her into a peaceful sleep. Sure, the fact that they have different sleeping schedules is annoying, but she knows that Seulgi is going through a challenging phase. “I’ll make dinner tonight,” Seulgi offers while yawning. Her eyes begin to flutter softly, her eyes staying shut longer for every blink.

Joohyun has a feeling that she’ll probably still be asleep when she returns from work, but instead of stating that, she simply smiles. After patting her on the shoulder, she gets up and begins to get ready for another day at work for the firm. Many would consider her career as just another boring office job, but she liked the stability and the dynamic all at once.

When she returns to the room to grab her phone again, Seulgi is already deep asleep, so she moves softly not to wake her. Though she’s not a particularly light sleeper, it’s better to be safe and sorry. She places a soft kiss on her cheek, before grabbing her things and getting out the door. A soft grunt echoes through the room,

A rather uneventful day passes by at work, her phone not making a single sound the many hours she spends at the office. It’s not that Joohyun expected a text, Seulgi was sleeping after all, but she still felt a hinge of worry lock itself like a subtle pinch to her stomach. She ignores it when it travels to her chest and upwards, giving her a slight headache. Even when sitting down on her chair because she knows better than to waste her time on worry.

She comes home that day, not wanting to admit to herself that she wasn’t sure how she felt about the entire day. Nothing unusual happened and the day was as average as it could be. Her work was done on time, her boss didn’t really comment on her today, and even her co-workers were their usual grumpy or happy selves.

Opening the door with a sigh, and a bit chilly from the autumn air, she hears the faint voice of Seulgi. She’s speaking, and at first Joohyun thinks she’s on the phone, but she gets surprised to find another voice replying in the apartment. She takes off her coat and shoes with a bit of a puzzled look decorating her face, placing the keys on the bowl by the door, before heading towards the source of the conversation.

Seulgi is sitting by the gray recliner, the one they bought on a flea market many hears ago, while a familiar face sits on the sofa with a cup of tea in her hands. Her dark hair is tied up in a bun, her slim body adorned in pretty, yet casual and comfortable, attire. Even though she doesn’t seem to have dressed to impressed, Joohyun doesn’t know why she feels her veins heat up – and not in a good way. The woman’s lips are tied in a smile, and they look at each other while laughing about something Joohyun didn’t pay attention to.

It takes probably a couple of more seconds before the woman looks away and notices Joohyun standing there. Another gracious smile forms on her face. “Hello,” she greets with a calm enthusiasm.

Seulgi looks over then as well, also smiling. “Hey, I didn’t hear you, did you just come in?” she asks before standing up and is probably about to kiss Joohyun on the cheek. She usually does this, but instead she goes to turn down the radio by the table beside her instead. Joohyun feels a very tiny, barely noticeable knot form in then, but swallows it off with a nod as Seulgi sits down on the chair again. “You remember Jisoo, right?” Seulgi then continues while looking over at the said woman.

Jisoo then smiles again, and Joohyun is going to be real, there doesn’t seem to be anything behind it. Yet, it seems to taunt her, as if telling her head that she has been here for at least a couple of hours and entertained Seulgi when she was gone. And she can’t figure out why this bothers her, either.

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Joohyun says more to say something. She’s not sure what to do, so she leans back on the wall next to her. The silence stretches on with the music playing in the background, and she’s not sure if it’s just awkward for her or for everyone that nobody speaks.

Jisoo lets out a small cough before carefully placing her cup down on the coffee table. “Well, I got to get going,” she then announces before standing up. Her small hands straighten her slacks, even if there wasn’t the slightest sign of wrinkles. She doesn’t bother explaining her sudden departure, but it doesn’t surprise Joohyun that she doesn’t ask why she’s going. For some reason, she didn’t really want to know, even if it was the sake for small talk.

Seulgi ends up following her out, they talk a bit more, but Joohyun doesn’t want to listen. She just goes towards the kitchen, and since she’s passing the hall anyway, she bids goodbye to Jisoo who eventually exits the door. With that, a sigh Joohyun didn’t even realize she was holding, was let out.

When Seulgi enters the kitchen, she seems indifferent about the entire situation as if the moment between Joohyun coming home and Jisoo leaving hadn’t happened. It’s in that moment when she suddenly kisses Joohyun on the cheek like she always did when she got home, a lot later than what she usually does. The shorter woman doesn’t want to overthink anything, so she pushes the thought aside and smiles back. “How was your day?” Seulgi asks then, a hand on the shorter woman’s waist while the other hand leans on the counter.

Joohyun shrugs, going through her rather boring day as they stand there with the music playing from the radio, a mellow yet dramatic ballad echoing through the kitchen. “When did you wake up?” she asks back then, not really wondering why she asked in the first place. It must’ve been late, anyway.

“About noon I think,” Seulgi replies then while fixing a falling thread from her sweater.

Another silence stretches by, and Joohyun doesn’t really know what to say other than nod. It’s wrong to say the lack of conversation is awkward, it just feels… different in a way. That’s at least the closest description Joohyun can add to the atmosphere before letting her mind wander to paths it probably shouldn’t.

It’s not like she’s possessive or overly-jealous, but it was something about seeing that woman on their couch that struck a nerve in her. Like the way one strums a guitar that lets out a majorly out of tune and sharp noise, one that can’t be ignored and is very unpleasant to the ears. Not that she’s sure why she feels like that, hoping that soon enough the feeling would disappear. “What’s for dinner?” Joohyun asks then as they still lean by the counter, running a bit dry from the cold weather she just escaped and something else she can’t pinpoint.

A sheepish smile then forms on Seulgi’s lips, a twinge of guilt glimmering in her dark eyes. She apologizes shortly, mentioning something about forgetting to buy groceries because Jisoo came over and they ended up talking for hours. She apparently had a lot to talk about with Seulgi, not that she says what they were talking about anyway, and that’s about it. “If you want, we can just go out to that bistro down the block?” she offers then, before adding that it’ll be her treat.

Joohyun doesn’t feel like saying anything, really, though the temptation to let out a passive-aggressive comment from annoyance does strike within her lips. However, she keeps them shut before simply nodding. She’s too hungry to really want to bother with whatever situation that wasn’t her business anyway – sometimes things happen and time flies by, and people forget to do things on time.

Not that it’s typical Seulgi at all when it comes to Joohyun, but she doesn’t want to think about it right now.

The song playing on the radio enters with a resonating chorus, the melodious voice sending lyrics through Joohyun’s head. She pays attention to the rhythm, the melody, the way the singer embodies the song with emotion and power in something she usually wouldn’t listen to but finds herself momentarily enjoying.

You’re my lady, you’re my lady
It’s our story
The Moon shines on us
You’re my destiny, I’ll hold you tight

As the song progresses, a hand suddenly and seemingly absentmindedly slips into Joohyun’s lower back. It’s a warm touch that still sends familiar tingles down her spine, but it’s welcome, it’s always welcome and it makes her smile softly because of the small gesture. It doesn’t take long before another voice, one much closer and more wanted than any other voice, sings softly along.

You’re my lady, You’re the one
I’ll sing for you
I love you, I love you
I’m confessing all of my true heart

Joohyun wants to laugh because the lyrics are so cheesy and not something she usually enjoys, but as Seulgi inches closer to wrap her arms around her body in a tight embrace, she just smiles. It’s nice having her this close in her big sweater and warm body, making Joohyun feel more at ease than earlier, thinking to herself that after all Seulgi is here and that’ll make everything alright.

Still, she can’t help herself from letting a small comment muffle between her lips and Seulgi’s shoulder, which she leans her head on. “This song is so extra,” she says with her arms also around the other woman.

Vibrations of a chuckle commutes between their pressed together bodies, only separated by thick winter clothes. “I like extra,” she says then as she stops singing along. “I mean if I didn’t, I don’t think we’d be standing here right now or have our cute little affair back in Yanagawa,” she adds them.

Another smile ends on the corner of Joohyun’s lips while thinking back to that time, where things were both simpler and complicated all at once. “I wouldn’t say it was cute,” she interjects then. She ponders a bit with herself before replying. “It felt more like us just dancing around each other before we couldn’t decide if we wanted to be together or not,” she reminisces a bit then. “I mean if we’re talking extra, you’re the one who randomly showed up outside the office in my clothes.”

A small yet friendly jab emerges from Seulgi’s shoulders before she adds some distance between them, yet still keeping a fairly close proximity. “Come on, you were the one jumping on me and not letting go, Ms. I-don’t-like-PDA-I’m-too-shy,” she retorts back with a playful grin. “And you were also the one who had hearts in your eyes whenever you saw me,” she continues to tease.

It’s not really that untrue, because when she thinks back, she probably wasn’t so subtle in how she came off with her feelings for Seulgi. Of course. she never said anything until a while later and never directly flirted with her in the beginning, but the redness on her cheeks and timid nature might have come across as a point that she liked Seulgi more than a friend during that time.

Instead of replying, she just pats Seulgi on the side before giving her a small peck that was well received by the other. Then as they move away, she wonders why they were so silent earlier to begin with. “You ready to go?” Joohyun asks then when her stomach reminds her that it needs food, rumbling softly.

Seulgi nods before grabbing her hand and both of them walk towards the hall, and another hand finds itself grabbing onto Joohyun’s . A soft shriek followed by a laugh emerges from , but she doesn’t remove her hand. “When do you ever learn to not walk in front of me?” Seulgi teases her then before kissing her down her neck.

 The shorter woman chuckles again then, borderline giggling like a school girl. “What if I like having your hands there?” she asks back with a bit of a whispery tone, lips still landing small pecks on her neck and moving towards her shoulder, where her sweater gets moved to give more access.

“I can have my hands in other places too,” Seulgi adds then with her fingers slowly moving from her backside and over to the edge of her pants. Joohyun can feel the smirk on her face even if she can’t see the woman behind her. Then, a pair of lips kiss her cheek until they come closer towards her ear. “Are you mine?” Seulgi asks then, and it nearly bothers Joohyun that something happens between her legs whenever her girlfriend uses that particular seductive tone.

Still, she nods before turning her head slowly to face the other one standing behind her. “I’m always and only yours,” she replies back before their lips meet. It’s slow, but it’s also heavy enough to break the tension that went on between them, making food the last thing on Joohyun’s mind as warm fingers dove down the edges of her pants and even further.

The song continues on, more dramatic notes and music playing with such a force that Joohyun couldn’t ignore it even if her mind and body was occupied by something else going on. Heavy breaths between painted lips, thuds from bodies crashing against walls and the floor with clothes disappearing by the second, makes up for the uneasiness Joohyun felt earlier as she soon enough finds herself gasping on the wooden floors in the hallway from yet another .

Her hands pat the top of Seulgi’s dark hair tiredly, tingling running through vibrations in her veins and making her blood pump with satisfaction. As her face moves from between her legs and ends up with her head leaning on top of Joohyun’s chest, hands wrapping around her and kissing her bare chest with such gentleness, she can’t help but feel as if every day should always be this full of love and passion between to mere people wanting to be together.

“You’re my lady,” Seulgi says then in between soft pecks on Joohyun’s body. The said woman finds herself smiling as warmth radiates through her chest, wondering if it was possible to be so high up on the clouds that it would be impossible to fall down.

“You’re the one,” Joohyun says back despite not being entirely herself, just because she felt so open and exposed and connected in the best way possible – and she doesn’t want it to ever end.

Yet, it doesn’t always remain like that. Joohyun recalls then that this was probably one of the last times they had been intimate with genuine passion and wanting for one-another without the other possibly faking it or avoiding it all together. Because even if she doesn’t want to admit it, seeing Seulgi and Jisoo that day sparked something that would lead to the possible downfall of their relationship, and she’s not sure if anything can fix it anymore. How could it be that a couple of months could change everything they worked so hard to get?