Jeongyeon grimaces as she enters her girlfriend’s apartment. It looks more like a garbage dump than an actual apartment. A high pile of dishes in the sink, various chips packets littered across the floor and the tables, mandarin peels randomly thrown around – even a rat wouldn’t live in here.

“Dahyun!” Jeongyeon calls out her girlfriend.

She receives no response and tip toes through the garbage to get to her room. Jeongyeon’s annoyance simmers down when she sees that Dahyun is asleep next to her piano. She pauses for a moment or two, considering what to do. Jeongyeon settles with carrying Dahyun to bed because staying in that posture for hours will definitely kill the state of her back. Dahyun doesn’t even bat an eye when Jeongyeon picks her up from the seat and carries her to her bed before throwing some blankets on her. She places a kiss on Dahyun’s forehead before she exits the room.

When Jeongyeon stands outside Dahyun’s room, she sighs in understanding. She’ll help her out this time, only because Jeongyeon knows that Dahyun’s been having a tough time writing lyrics and composing a song for an artist in their company. She, herself, can’t figure out a choreography for the next artist to have a comeback; Dahyun’s situation is probably worse. Hopefully, the fact that she’s asleep means that she finished with everything.

Resting her hands on her hips, Jeongyeon observes the state of the apartment. She doesn’t know where to start, but she does know what to end with.

Jeongyeon decides to start with the living room, pulling on a pair of disposable gloves and an apron as she picked up everything off the coffee table, the couch and the floor. She blocks her nose when she finds a rotten apple pushed down the side of the couch. She doesn’t want to know how long that’s been there for. She fills up an entire garbage bag so quickly, it surprises her. How much food did Dahyun inhale over the past few days?

A good hour later, she moves on to the kitchen. She swaps her disposable gloves for the pink pair of rubber ones below the sink. She’s sure Dahyun’s never touched them. At this stage, it’s basically Jeongyeon’s pair. Jeongyeon finishes washing the dishes in a short time, letting it dry in the drainer rather than doing it herself. Dahyun can do that at least. She looks back at what she has left to do. She did most of it already, the only thing that’s left is the laundry. Jeongyeon rolls her eyes at the tower of clothes. She’s surprised that Dahyun hadn’t just sent it off to the laundromat yet but then remembers she’s been low on time to do anything.

She spots Dahyun’s favourite shirt in there and an idea pops into her head. Perhaps Dahyun can use the untouched washing machine in her apartment for the first time in her life. She’ll want to wear it, especially if she’s finished with all of her stressful work for the time being. Jeongyeon scrunches up her nose at the thought of her not changing her shirt for a week. That’s how much she loves that one shirt. She’s surprised that it’s even in the to-be-washed pile in the first place.

They’ve been dating for more than two years now and Dahyun still wears that shirt like it’s a second skin. Sure, Jeongyeon gifted it to her on their second date but it’s literally ripped from being worn so much. She’ll happily replace the shirt but Dahyun doesn’t let her. She complains that it’ll break her heart if she ever got rid of the shirt and Jeongyeon always rolls her eyes at her whenever she says that. It’s just a shirt!

With nothing else left to tidy, Jeongyeon thinks it’s okay for her to vacuum the house. She does it last because despite Dahyun’s heavy sleeping, the vacuum is loud enough for her to wake up without Jeongyeon doing it herself and it taking longer. Even if you blow an air horn into her ear, she doesn’t even wake up (she used it only once, okay?)

When she just finishes with the kitchen, a sleepy Dahyun stumbles out of her room, rubbing her eyes. Jeongyeon wants to coo over how cute she looks, but she needs to go wash up first.

“Shower.” Jeongyeon points to the bathroom.

She notices the hesitance on Dahyun’s face and Jeongyeon feels like she’ll have to repeat it again but surprisingly, Dahyun listens. She bangs into the side table in her sleepy state too, muttering a mouthful of curses that makes Jeongyeon shake her head.

Jeongyeon is watching television when Dahyun exits the bathroom. She jumps on the couch and snuggles up to her immediately, wrapping Jeongyeon’s arm around her own shoulders. It takes her a few minutes to notice the state of her apartment.

“Wait, did you clean my apartment?” Dahyun gasps, receiving a nod from Jeongyeon. She thanks her with a flurry of kisses and Jeongyeon has to pry her away with much difficulty. “You didn’t have to. Since I finished the lyrics today, I was about to clean up.”

“Sure you were.” Jeongyeon snickers as Dahyun whines in retaliation.

“I really was. I don’t remember sleeping in my bed either.” Dahyun leans her chin on Jeongyeon’s shoulder.

“You probably sleep-walked.” Jeongyeon refuses to admit it was her.

“Uh-huh.” Dahyun doesn’t believe a word but places a soft kiss on Jeongyeon’s cheek.

“Are you spending time with Momo and Sana again?” Jeongyeon groans.

“Tsk. Just admit that you like it. You think I haven’t seen you smile when I kiss you?” Dahyun grins when Jeongyeon blushes.

“No, I – you have clothes that need to be washed too. Especially if you want to wear that shirt you never let go off.” Jeongyeon grumbles.

Dahyun’s eyes widen upon the memory of the pile of clothes she put aside to wash. She peeks out from under Jeongyeon’s arms, missing the smirk on her girlfriend’s face.

“Shoot, I can’t send it to the laundromat.” Dahyun mutters under her breath.

“Maybe you can finally use the washing machine in your apartment.” Jeongyeon suggests.

“Oh.”

“Oh? You forgot it existed, didn’t you? Do you even know how to use it?” Jeongyeon questions her girlfriend.

“… Yes, of course.” Dahyun lies with a straight face. “I’ll wash them later.”

Jeongyeon chuckles and holds Dahyun tighter against her.

“How about I cook lunch? You’ve been here for a while and haven’t eaten anything yet–”

Dahyun gets pulled back into Jeongyeon’s arms when she decides to leave and cook something. She’s taken off-guard but smiles at the sight of a clingy Jeongyeon. She claims she doesn’t want kisses and affection when it’s what she wants most. Dahyun runs a hand through Jeongyeon’s shoulder length hair before brushing off her bangs and kissing her forehead.

“How’s the choreography? You still don’t want to add in my suggestion?” Dahyun teases Jeongyeon.

“It’s enough having one eagle in here, imagine having nine members dance like an eagle.” Jeongyeon’s laughter vibrates against Dahyun’s neck.

“It was an honest suggestion! I’m offering it to you free of charge.” Dahyun responds smugly.

“I wouldn’t use it even if it wasn’t.” Jeongyeon groans when Dahyun pinches her arm. “I’m sure I’ll think of something soon. I’m almost recharged here anyway.”

Dahyun laughs at Jeongyeon’s words. They always call each other their ‘battery charger’ and she thinks it’s really cute. Of course, Jeongyeon didn’t accept it at first but everyone comes around to Dahyun’s genius ideas. That’s how she knows that her choreography suggestion will somehow be included in the next comeback for the artist Jeongyeon is preparing it for.

“Okay, my big baby, I think I’m going to cook something for you now because I don’t want you to starve.” Dahyun removes herself from Jeongyeon’s embrace with much difficulty. Her grip on Dahyun is strong and it’s only when she gives her a kiss that she finally lets go.

“Ramen is not considered as cooking!” Jeongyeon points out.

“It’s not ramen today, be quiet.” Dahyun glares at her teasing girlfriend.

Instead of staying put, Jeongyeon follows Dahyun around, keeping her chin on her shoulder as she cooks in the kitchen. She doesn’t have an idea of what Dahyun is making but seeing her being serious while cooking is adorable. She almost laughs when she sees how accurately she measures her ingredients. Mina definitely rubbed off on her sometime.

She almost drops a boiling pot of water when Jeongyeon slips her arms around her waist and rubs her nose against her neck. Dahyun scolds her for it, but Jeongyeon doesn’t move her hands away anyway.

“You’re never this clingy, are you sure you’re okay?” Dahyun pauses her cooking to face Jeongyeon. She cups her face with her hands and Jeongyeon closes her eyes, sighing softly. Maybe Dahyun’s worry is increasing with the lack of response.

“I’m tired, really. The lack of progress for the choreography is taking a toll on me. So, I need to recharge and this is my best way of recharging.” Jeongyeon explains, sighing softly.

Dahyun clucks her tongue in disapproval, pushing Jeongyeon out of the kitchen and into her bedroom. Jeongyeon raises an eyebrow at her and gets smacked on her shoulder for thinking about something else when she had her best interests in mind.

“Rest. Just for a little bit. I’ll wake you up when lunch is done. If you can’t smell, cuddle Dub.” Dahyun points to the tofu plush on her bed.

“Can’t I sleep with you?” Jeongyeon sulks.

Dahyun pauses and flushes because she didn’t expect that from Jeongyeon.

“I want to spend time with you, not rest. I need to recharge.” Jeongyeon holds out her arms for Dahyun.

With Jeongyeon pouting at her and giving her the puppy eyes, how could Dahyun resist? She knows she won’t be sleeping, but at least she could get Jeongyeon to fall asleep first and then slip out of bed. The thing is that when Jeongyeon is given choreography to create for an artist, she exhausts herself endlessly and it’s escalated to situations where she’s been admitted into hospital. Dahyun doesn’t want to see that happening again, so she grants Jeongyeon’s wish and slips into bed with her.

Jeongyeon wants to be the big spoon but Dahyun won’t be able to sneak out of bed if that happens, so she’s adamant on Jeongyeon snuggling against her. She throws in a threat of being in her apartment and Jeongyeon meekly nods and stifles a yawn as she nuzzles her nose against Dahyun’s neck.

She must have been extremely tired, Dahyun thinks. Jeongyeon falls asleep within a few minutes of Dahyun massaging her head. The soft snores are cute and Dahyun admires how peaceful Jeongyeon looks when she’s resting. She needs this and she needs a lot of it. She won’t be waking her girlfriend up anytime soon.

Dahyun quietly sneaks out of Jeongyeon’s grasp, replacing herself with Dub and covering Jeongyeon with the blankets. She chuckles when she sees Jeongyeon pull Dub closer to her. She peeks at Jeongyeon one last time, ensuring she’s asleep before she closes the door behind her and exits the room.

She finishes off her cooking first. She’s actually surprised that it doesn’t take that long. Dahyun guesses it’s because of the fact that Jeongyeon isn’t here to disturb her or distract while she tries to work. If she were to be honest, she’d rather have Jeongyeon keeping her company in the kitchen than being alone, but she’ll never admit it to her. Her ego will just shoot up the roof and it’s already pretty high up there.

By the time Dahyun finishes, it’s been two hours since she put Jeongyeon to bed. For once, she feels like time is going slow. It gives her more time to do other things though. That doomed pile of clothes sitting on the other side of the room is just glaring at Dahyun, waiting to be cleared. Dahyun is nervous to even use her washing machine. She’s never run it. She’s never looked at the manual. She’s never even touched it.

She walks into the laundry and gulps. Dahyun is terrified. She stares ahead, hoping that perhaps her gaze will be enough to engulf it in flames. Maybe she didn’t have to do it. Dahyun could just give her clothes to the laundromat tomorrow and she’ll get her shirt later. It won’t matter if it’s in someone else’s hands with a chance of being torn into shreds because it’s already tearing at the seams–

Okay, she needs to run the machine herself. She can’t let anyone else touch her precious shirt. Nope, nope, nope. Dahyun looks at the buttons and dials and thinks she can do it. How hard can washing clothes be? It’s a simple machine.

Oh! Washing powder! Did she even have any of it? Dahyun peruses her cupboards and surprises herself when she finds a box of frangipani scented washing powder. She opens it, and tilts it about half of the two-kilogram box, satisfied with the amount of powder before turning it on and leaving the laundry.

It would take an hour for the whole cycle, so Dahyun entertains herself by trying to write some lyrics. It’s nothing really; simply a mess of words all jumbled up in her head. Most of them are inspired by Jeongyeon, or the rest of her friends. She prefers using real life experiences in her lyric writing as opposed to something fake. It helps when composing too.

At about the half an hour mark, Dahyun hears weird whizzing noises from the laundry. She walks towards the room and opens it, only to switch into panic mode. The washing machine is overflowing and she’s unaware of how to stop it. She rushes to stop the machine, pushing away the suds that were spread over it to reach the stop sign.

She releases a sigh of relief when she’s able to clear out the suds and she mops the floor of the laundry too. When Dahyun finishes wiping, she leans against the door and rests. At least Jeongyeon didn’t witness her failure.

A chuckle.

That’s what Dahyun hears.

She turns slowly, internally crying already. Maybe she didn’t see it all? Maybe it was just the mopping? Dahyun smiles at Jeongyeon who only smirks at her in response.

“Yes, of course you know how to use a washing machine!” Jeongyeon cheers.

Dahyun smacks her for teasing her before hugging her in embarrassment. “When did you even wake up?”

“Right about when you stomped towards the laundry.” Jeongyeon laughs and kisses the top of Dahyun’s head. “It’s fine, you know. It happens sometimes.”

“I didn’t want you to witness my failure.” Dahyun grumbles.

“It’s not. It just makes me love you more.” Jeongyeon comments sincerely.

Jeongyeon gives Dahyun a reassuring kiss that makes her forget her thoughts. She has to tip toe to loop her arms around Jeongyeon’s neck but Dahyun is pulled onto the laundry counter instead. She squeals and Jeongyeon laughs, bumping their noses together. “How about you let me teach you how to use this washing machine instead.”

Dahyun nods.

It was probably the safer option anyway.