Chapter 5

The car ride was silent. They listened to the soft roar of the engine as Chaewon continued to drive. Yena looked at her side profile. The girl was ridiculously pretty. Soft wavy curls cascading down her shoulders made her features look even more angelic. Her cute button nose and small face made Yena wish the girl was not looking anywhere else but her. She hadn't noticed Chaewon staring at her from the rear view mirror, slightly amused at Yena’s expression. Mouth gaping as if she had seen a freshly baked batch of cookies being displayed at a bakery. 

“You might catch a fly if you keep doing that,” Chaewon says without looking at her.

Yena blushed, embarrassed that she had been caught staring.

“I- oh. I just thought you looked pretty.” It was Chaewon’s turn to blush, not knowing what to say. So she kept mum. She clears . They stop at a red light, both looking anywhere but at each other. In an attempt to save the awkward atmosphere, Yena strikes up a conversation.

“So, what's your favorite color?”

Chaewon snorted and slightly turnedto her as if to say ‘Really?’ before looking back at the road.

“I figured since we're gonna work together, shouldn't we get to know each other a bit?”

“This isn't a blind date.”

“So, what's your favorite color?” 

“Mint green.”

“Really? Mines yellow!”

“I figured.”

Yena pouted at Chaewon's dry response. Hands in her pocket, looking for anything to fidget with. She sits up but gets dragged back because of the seat belt, which surprises Chaewon.

“.”

“What?”

“. . ” Yena started frantically looking around. Chaewon panics and steps on the breaks, asking Yena if she was okay. 

“What’s wrong?” Chaewon darted her eyes between the road, the cars honking behind her, and a very distraught duck. 

“I lost my lip tint.”

“Jesus ing Chris- You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack!” Chaewon hissed. 

“But my lip tint, it’s important to me! Not really, but still!” Yena began to sink deeper into her seat as she presses herself closer to the door. 

“God, I'll buy you a new one. Get over it.”

A dejected looking Yena looks down at her hands and nodded. Chaewon instantly regretted her choice of words and awkwardly patted Yena’s shoulder. She continued to drive but does a U-turn and goes to another direction.

“Uhm, my place is that way.” Yena points to the other direction.

“I know, we’re just taking a little detour.”

Chaewon skillfully parks in front of an expensive looking cosmetics store before telling Yena to get out. She leads her inside and asked the store clerk where their lip tints are. Yena looked around, her eyes twinkling at the expensive brands of makeup. Chaewon saw Yena lagging behind and pulls her by the arm. 

“These are our latest products ma'am. And these ones are our best sellers. Would you like to sample them?”

Chaewon took the lip tint from the clerk and heod Yena’s face. Both blushing at the close proximity.

“Stop moving, and don't pucker your lips like that.”

Chaewon applies it to Yena’s lips. She observed the girl's face and nodded to herself, prompting Yena to look in the mirror. 

“Ohh this is a nice color,” Yena inspects the container. her eyes widened at the price. “but expensive as hell! Holy .”

“It’s a bit pricey since it’s a known brand, would you like to see our other collections?.” The clerk suggested, Yena starts walking but is stopped by Chaewon.

“We’ll take one of each.”

“NO, WE AREN’T!” She snapped her head to Chaewon. “You’re crazy.”

Yena turned to the confused clerk. “Sorry, give us a second.”

“It’s on me. Treat this as a bonus for working with me.” Chaewon pulled out her flashy debit card.

“No no. If you’re gonna buy me a lip tint then just buy me one.”

“But-”

“No buts. No impulsive buying, okay?”

“Okay.”

Chaewon drops Yena off, making sure she went inside before driving away. Yena entered their dorm and saw her roommates all sprawled in the living room, faces covered in face packs and eating ramen. They all turn to face her, Hyewon dropping the cucumber from her eyes and eating it.

“I’m home.” Yena hangs her jacket and plops on the couch.

“How was your date?” Chaeyeon looks up at the girl while painting Yuri’s toenails.

“It was great.” 

“She didn't even deny it was a date.” Yuri roled her eyes.

“Where’s my bread?” Hyewon raised her hand while eating a cucumber off of Minju who was peacefully sleeping beside her on the couch.

“Here, I got it from The Secret Cafe. Chaewon bought it actually.” Yena grabbed a bag from her 
side and tossed it to Hyewon.

“I change my mind. She’s nice.” The girls began to pass around the various pastries Yena brought home. 

“Did you get to use your pepper spray?” Chaeyeon asked. 

“No?”

“Oh okay. Keep it in case you need it next time.”

“Wait, she gave you flowers??” Yuri points to the bouquet of yellow flowers laid next to the girl.

“Oh this, I bought these for my brother.” 

“Oh right, I forgot his drama did well.”  Yuri recalled and continued to dry her nail art.

“When are you going to see him? A drowsy Minju rose up, trying to find the missing cucumbers from her face. 

“Tomorrow, after class.”

“Tell him we said congratulations.” “Will do.” Yena gets up and walks to her room, slumping on the bed. It's been a day. A very wonderful day. She rolled to her side. Kim Chaewon. 

“I'll remember this day, Wonnie.”

Chaewon gets home, exhausted. She dropped her keys in the empty fish bowl. Making her way upstairs to her bedroom. She lived in a penthouse, on the 17th floor of an establishment her parents gave her on her 18th birthday.

She puts down her stuff and looked at the flowers Yena had given her. She went back down and took an empty vase, filling it with water and went back to her bedroom. She puts the flowers on her desk and admired it for a while. That Yena girl sure is peculiar. Baby's breath is commonly used in marriage ceremonies. It's the symbol of long-lasting love. But Yena being Yena, she probably meant what she said about how she chose it because she thought Chaewon looked like a baby. Which wasn’t completely off.

“That's enough spacing out for today, I've got work to do.” She started doing her homework and looked up songs that would suit Yena's voice. It was almost past 10 pm when she heard her phone vibrate in her pocket.

Ducky
Goodnight! Thx 4 the ride and the lip tint ^^
Today at 9:45 pm

Chaewon smiled, types a quick text and went back to studying.

No problem, I’ll see you in class.
 Goodnight.
Today at 9:45 pm
Read

Yena hears her phone ding and scoffed. 'This girl has a really boring way of typing', she thought, but at least she replied fast. She doesn't bother doing her homework, she drifts off with a strawberry-haired girl in her dreams. 

Mina woke up with a slight headache. Stretching as she recalled last night's events. She looks at her girlfriend who was still fast asleep beside her and smiled, she looked like a baby. She slowly got up, careful not to wake Nayeon up from her slumber. Not caring that she was , she tiptoed to the bathroom and took a quick shower. By the time she was done, Nayeon had already been sitting up. Rubbing the tiredness from her eyes as she smiled sheepishly at Mina.

"Good morning, baby." Mina greeted. Chuckling at how cute Nayeon looked with her disheveled hair and little to no cover-up. "Why didn't you wake me up? We could've showered together!" Nayeon whined from the bed.

"You looked so peaceful, I didn't dare disrupt you from your sleep."

Nayeon went back to lying down, smelling the bed sheets. It smelled like Mina, everything in the room smelled like Mina. She loved Mina's scent the most. She watched her girlfriend blow dry her hair, silently observing her features. She feels so lucky to date this oh so gorgeous creature. But there's more to Mina than her amazing looks. The girl was also very down to earth. Although coming from a very wealthy family of renowned doctors and lawyers from Japan, Mina had come to South Korea alone at the age of 15 to attend high school, and now college. She had tackled everything without her parent's help, and that made Nayeon admire Mina even more. She's independent, headstrong and knows just what her next plan is. The girl did modeling and commercial gigs while studying at the same time, and that made her have her fair share of admirers.  Ones that Nayeon always scared away, Mina was her's and she was Mina's. Nothing more, nothing less.

“Are you gonna get up. or are you just gonna stare at me all day?”

“The second one sounds more appealing, to be honest." Mina shook her head, some things never change. 

“Get up stinky, go shower. I need to change the sheets.”

“But, but. Aren’t we going for round two?” A tissue box hits Nayeon’s face.

“Ow! Okay, okay! Getting up your highness.”

Nayeon stood up, taking the blanket with her. She looked for her extra clothes in Mina’s closet, which she had left just in case. She steps in the hot shower and rinsed Mina's scent away. She doesn't know when she'll be able to spend time with Mina again. And it worried her so much. She'd been busy applying for jobs and getting referrals from her professors. It's gonna be a long journey, a journey she wants to share with Mina. But how she'll get there doesn't matter. as long as she has Mina by her side, nothing else mattered. She had so many plans for them, for their future. And she'll make Mina the happiest girl in the world. 

Mina sighed as she drank her coffee. So many things she has to read, so many deadlines to deal with. 
And Nayeon. Her Nayeon. Her bunny is graduating soon, and Mina doesn't know how to cope without Nayeon pestering her 24/7. Graduating means going somewhere far away for work, meaning not seeing Nayeon that often anymore. The thought made Mina sad and depressed. So she got up, made Nayeon breakfast and the TV. She'll worry about these kinds of things later. 

Nayeon stepped out of the shower a while later, drying her hair with a towel. Wearing a large shirt and sweatpants. 

“Awhh, you made breakfast.”

“I always make you breakfast.” Mina laughed while setting a plate of pancakes down. 

“It's still sweet.” Nayeon leaned closer to Mina’s face to ask for a kiss. Mina stared at Nayeon’s as if asking if she had already brushed her teeth. Nayeon gives her a small nod accompanied by a smile and kisses Mina. 

“Mhmm.” 

“Do you wanna go on a date today?” 

“Really? We can?  I thought you were busy. “ Nayeon responded with a mouthful of pancake in . 

Mina lightheartedly makes a disgusted face back at the older girl who was talking with full. She then her own thumb and rubbed a spot of syrup from Nayeon’s chin. “I am, but I can always make time for you.” 

“Why couldn’t you just kiss it off as all the cute boyfriends do in dramas?” Nayeon pouted.

“Because I'm not a guy.”

“Yeah, but you're cute.”

“That's not- Nevermind.” 

They continue eating breakfast as they plan their date. 

Mina and Nayeon arrive at Han River, carrying their picnic baskets as they made their way to the banks. They settled down on a nice shaded part of the river bank and watch the clouds slowly pass by. Mina’s head laying on Nayeon's lap. 

“Babe,” Nayeon says with a serious expression, looking up at the clouds. 

“Mhmm.”

“So I was thinking.”

“Mhmm?” Mina hummed, eyes closed. 

“Do you wanna live with me?” Before Mina got the chance to speak, Nayeon shoots out an explanation. 

“I mean like, wouldn't it be more convenient? We can find a place closer to our Uni and you don't have to drive as much, I can just take the metro since my internship will probably be only a few steps away if we find a place in the middle of the city.” Nayeon cleared .

“So.. What do you think?”

“Let me think about it.” Mina opened her eyes to see Nayeon with a sullen look. 

“I mean you don't have to, I know you'd be busy to even move out. I can help with that just saying, I'll careful with your gaming stuff. But again it's all up to you.”

“I was kidding dummy, I'd love to.”

Nayeon lets a wide smile spread across her face, she looked down at Mina