Knock knock knock

 

The soft pounding on the door startles Minjoo from her spot in the kitchen, still trying to make things presentable.

 

How is she always so quick?!

 

Taking a deep breath, she steels herself in front of the door and brushes off the nonexistent dust from her jeans. She grabs the handle and opens it in fake nonchalance.

 

“He--”

 

Oh. Oh okay. Wow. Oh wow.

 

She’s seen Chaewon in her edgy gangster getup and her pajamas--stuff like that. Even the day before, she had been wearing something close to what she had worn the first time they had met. Today, however, she wore a long-sleeve turtleneck--also a crop top, by the way--and ripped white shorts (isn’t she cold?). With the dark brown belt and the diamond studs she wore as well, she looked so…

 

Wow.

 

Chaewon normally gave off an intimidating vibe, a dark, y vibe. Right now, she looked so… hot. Yeah, Chaewon was normally pretty hot, but this was a different sort of dark, y, hotness she was emitting right now. Okay, she was having trouble with words. Her point? Chaewon looked good.

 

Her body really--wow, and the way her hair is tucked behind her ear on one side… she looks so good, I--

 

“Oh no, not again; you’re malfunctioning again,” Chaewon teases as she waves a hand in front of Minjoo’s face.

 

Minjoo jumps a little bit and runs a hand through her hair in embarrassment. She steps to the side and opens the door a little wider, beckoning Chaewon in.

 

“Welcome to my humble abode.”

 

“Thanks,” Chaewon smirks and flips her hair over her shoulder.

 

Oh Jesus Christ.

 

Okay, Chaewon also smelled really good. It was kind of coconutty but also a little… flower-y. It was good--like, as in Minjoo wanted to wrap her arms around her and bury her nose into her neck and inhale her scent--

 

JESUS CHRIST CALM DOWN MINJOO.

 

Anyways, she finally got a hold of herself and her hormones and closed the door behind her. When she turned to face Chaewon, she realized the girl was no longer behind her.

 

She was in the kitchen.

 

Raiding her fridge.

 

“Oh hey, ice cream!”

 

“Hey!” Minjoo whines as she moves toward her and hits her shoulder.

 

“What? I’m the guest.”

 

“Respect the host!”

 

“Haha, no.”

 

With that, Chaewon sticks her tongue out at Minjoo and walks away with the carton of ice cream.

 

Minjoo just groans and follows her to the couch after Chaewon finds some spoons.

 

“I haven’t even opened that yet!”

 

“Good thing I’m here to help then,” Chaewon grins cheekily.

 

Chaewon had already some movie playing on TV; clearly, she had already made herself at home. With her feet already on the table and the tub of ice cream in her grasp, Minjoo just plops down beside her and rolls her eyes.

 

“Give me that.”

 

She snatches the spoon from Chaewon’s grasp and spoons some into .

 

After putting it into , she quickly grimaces. This is what you call a no-no.

 

“Ew, okay, you can have it all. This is nasty.”

 

Chaewon gasps and grabs the spoon back in mock-horror.

 

“You don’t like mint chocolate?”

 

“I guess not. I don’t even know why I bought that disgusting thing in the first place.”

 

I probably bought it because I was thinking about you, but let’s ignore that.

 

“You’re disgusting,” Chaewon grumbles as cradles the ice cream protectively. The action just causes Minjoo to roll her eyes further but still lean against Chaewon’s body.

 

After a bit, there’s another knock on the door.

 

“Huh, didn’t think I’d have any other visitors today. Just you is too much to handle,” she teases as she heads to the door. She just barely misses the punch Chaewon throws her way.

 

“Oh!”

 

When she looks through the peephole, she sees a familiar face.

 

“Hey, Wonyoung!”
 

“Hi!”

 

The taller girl is wearing that same bright smile from before. Each time she sees her, she can’t help but smile when looking at the cheerful girl.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“I was wondering if you have a ladle we could use? I think I accidentally threw ours away,” Wonyoung laughs as she scratches her head.

 

“Yeah sure, come in and I’ll get it for you.”

 

“Thanks!”

 

Minjoo waves Wonyoung in and points towards Chaewon who’s still going down on the ice cream with her eyes glued to the TV.

 

“That’s Chaewon.”

 

Chaewon turns around at the mention of her name and locks eyes with Wonyoung. She blinks at her and tilts her head a bit, still with the spoon in . They just stare at each other for a few beats before Wonyoung finally speaks.

 

“Hi, I’m Wonyoung! Nice to meet you,” she beams.

 

Chaeown finally takes the spoon out of and offers a little nod of her head.

 

“I’m Chaewon. Likewise. Want some of Minjoo’s ice cream that I stole out of her fridge?”

 

Minjoo huffs and gives Chaewon a pointed glare before continuing into the kitchen.

 

“Thanks, but mom would kill me if I had ice cream right before dinner,” Wonyoung giggles.

 

“You sure? I won’t tell,” Chaewon says as she waves the spoon suggestively with a wink..

 

Wonyoung smiles softly at the offer.

 

“Maybe just one bite then.”

 

Chaewon hands her the spoon that she had gotten for Minjoo (which was then ignored as Minjoo just stole the one in her hand).

 

“Good call.”

 

Okay, Wonyoung eats three, maybe four spoons before Minjoo comes back with the ladle, but who’s counting?

 

“Here you go!”

 

“Thanks! You’re the best!”

 

Minjoo pats Wonyoung’s head lovingly and then turns a stern look towards Chaewon.

 

“Chaewon, are you pushing bad habits onto Wonyoung?”

 

Chaewon just sticks her tongue out again and fist bumps Wonyoung who’s giggling on the side.

 

“I’m showing her how to live her best life.”

 

Minjoo doesn’t change her stern gaze and instead shakes her head in disapproval.

 

“Thank you, I’ll be off now! Nice meeting you, Chaewon!”

 

Chaewon smiles at her and waves as she makes her way out after she hugs Minjoo in thanks.

 

“She’s a cute kid,” Chaewon says as Minjoo sits back down after Wonyoung leaves. At this point, the ice cream is a little more than halfway done; not like Minjoo was going to finish it anyways. Should have gotten chocolate.

 

“Yeah, she is,” she smiles, “they moved in a bit before I did, and she’s been so sweet. I just wanna put her in my pocket, but she’s too tall.”

 

“I can see it; anyone that likes mint chocolate is definitely a good, respectable person.”

 

“Let it go, Chaewon; it’s gross.”

 

“You’re gross.”

 

~~~

 

Minjoo hated the fact that Chaewon still looked so good after devouring all of that ice cream. You’d think her stomach would give out a little, but no, her abs were still clear-cut in all their glory. She was still the same y that she came in with, but it was substantially lower now that she was cutely rubbing her eyes in sleepiness and yawning like a tiger cub.

 

“Tired?” Minjoo asked in amusement. They had been just hanging for hours, not really doing anything. Just like the other times they spent together, night descended before either of them said goodbye to the other. As of now, Chaewon was sprawled on the couch as the movie finished playing; Minjoo had sort of paid attention as she also had her book in her hands. She was seated with her back against the armrest and her legs across Chaewon’s lap. Perfect reading position.

 

“No,” Chaewon grumbles as she’s interrupted by another yawn.

 

“Okay, sleepyhead, wanna just stay the night?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

Minjoo laughs at Chaewon nodding off and puts her book on the table. After throwing her legs off of Chaewon’s lap, she grabs her hand and drags her to her bedroom.

 

“Change first!”

 

She places a blue t-shirt and black shorts in her hands and then goes to find her a toothbrush. It makes her think about how Chaewon had kept her toothbrush in her own bathroom all this time; the thought makes her smile.

 

When she emerges from the bathroom, she finds Chaewon finishing pulling the shirt over head. She stood in front of Minjoo with her arms spread out at her sides, her eyes closed sleepily. The shirt was already loose on Minjoo, so it was much bigger on Chaewon. Looking at her now, Minjoo sees how petite and cute her frame is. She can’t help but coo at the girl and then envelop her in a hug.

 

“You’re so cute,” she laughs as she ruffles Chaewon’s hair.

 

“Ah, stop! I’m not cute!” Chaewon whines as she tries to get away from Minjoo’s grasp.

 

Minjoo ruffles her hair one more time with a chuckle before pulling her towards the bed.

 

“Go to sleep before you pass out on my new floor.”

 

There was no protest as Minjoo pushed her down gently onto the bed and under the covers. In no time, Chaewon was already snuggled up in Minjoo’s bed, blanket up to her nose, half asleep. The only reason she didn’t knock out right there was because she saw Minjoo heading out the door.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“To sleep? On the couch?”

 

Chaewon furrows her eyebrows and turns her body away from the door.

 

“Just sleep here. It’s your bed.”

 

She doesn’t hear anything for a few seconds, but then she can make out the little rustling from Minjoo’s footsteps. There’s a dip in the bed as another body drops beside her.

 

“Cute.”

 

Chaewon can hear the laugh behind her as Minjoo pulls her in close; she can feel Minjoo’s arm wrapped securely around her waist. Chaewon’s shirt had hitched up a little bit, so Minjoo’s arm was pressed against bare skin. She could faintly smell the scent from earlier when Chaewon had first walked past her when entering the apartment, only now she could bury her head into her hair as she pleased.

 

“I’m not…”

 

Chaewon cuddled up further into Minjoo’s embrace, but she wasn’t able to finish her sentence as she fell asleep on the spot.

 

That was quick.

 

Nuzzling her nose into Chaewon’s head, she lets herself fall into a peaceful slumber as well.

 

~~~

 

Minjoo was walking on clouds right now. It was a wonderful day, a beautiful morning, a lovely time to be alive. She hummed as she skipped around her apartment, thinking about waking up next to Chaewon in her bed and being the first person she saw as she opened her eyes. Said girl was currently in the bathroom brushing her teeth after whining about being hungry. Thus, Minjoo appeased the girl by promising pancakes, an offer that was received quite enthusiastically.

 

“Pancakes!” She heard from behind her as Chaewon emerged from the bathroom. She still wore Minjoo’s clothes, sleepily rubbing her eyes despite having an absolutely wonderful sleep. She was secretly torn between wanting to stay in bed with Minjoo longer and wanting to silence her stomach.

 

“Almost done,” Minjoo called with a laugh. Chaewon was especially whiny after waking up, she supposes.

 

As she finished and set them on the table, another knock sounded from her door.

 

“I’ll get it!” Chaewon says as Minjoo brings out cutlery and milk.

 

She peers into the peephole and finds another tall, beautiful girl, but not the same one as the other day.

 

“It’s a tall, pretty girl, but it’s not Wonyoung?”

 

“Ah, it’s probably Yujin.”

 

Taking that as permission to open the door (honestly, it didn’t matter who it was because if it were a bad dude she could have easily kicked his ), she pulls the handle and is met face to face with this Yujin girl who smiles brightly at her.

 

Chaewon intended to greet her first, but her eyes fall to the little bird stitched onto the corner of her sweatshirt. It looks really, really familiar.

 

No, it can’t be.

 

“Hi! I’m Yujin; is Minjoo here?”

 

At that moment, Minjoo appears beside her and beams at Yujin.

 

“Hey! What’s up? Ah, this is Chaewon. Chaewon, this is Yujin,” she says as she points to the two of them.

 

“Nice meeting you,” Yujin says with that same happy smile.

 

“You too,” she returns with a nod of her head and a little smile.

 

“So what’s up, Yujin?”

 

“Ah, I just wanted to see if you wanted to have lunch tomorrow? I was in the area so I thought I’d just drop by and ask.”

 

“Yeah, sure! Just text me when and where and I’ll meet you.”

 

“Okay, sweet. I’ll see you then. Pleasure meeting you, Chaewon!” She calls as she turns from the door with an energetic wave.

 

“You too!”

 

Minjoo turns around after closing the door with a smile but is greeted by Chaewon’s piercing glare directed towards the door. Her tongue was poking the inside of her cheek and she was emitting that gangster aura of hers.

 

She raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

 

“Hey, stop glaring at the door; you’ll burn it,” she laughs and grabs Chaewon’s hand, pulling her back towards the kitchen.

 

“Yujin’s a friend; we met a bit ago at the store.”

 

She pushes Chaeown’s pouting self into the seat and flicks her forehead playfully.

 

“Stop glaring.”

 

“I’m not!”

 

Minjoo finds it funny how she said that with a mouthful of pancakes. It’s a strong reminder of how much of a messy eater Chaewon was. She’s not too surprised at the fact that she had to bring a napkin to Chaewon’s face a few times before she finished across from her.

 

How can someone be this messy with pancakes?

 

After breakfast, Chaewon heads back into Minjoo’s room and changes into her clothes from the other day.

 

“Okay, I’ll be heading out now then.”

 

Minjoo can’t stop herself from sulking a little bit.

 

“You can’t stay a little longer?”

 

Ah, what’s all this, it’s not like we’re a couple or anything.

 

The thought makes Minjoo sulk a little more.

 

Chaewon chuckles and pokes Minjoo’s puffed cheek.

 

“I have some stuff I need to do,” she smiles apologetically and a bit guiltily.

 

In the back of her mind, Minjoo understands what she means.

 

She reaches forward and lightly grabs hold of Chaewon’s pinky. She’s still sulking a little bit and it’s a little sad, but she really can’t help it.

 

“Okay. Be careful,” she mumbles grumpily as she tugs on her pinky a little.

 

Chaewon thinks it’s absolutely adorable. She wishes she didn’t have all these stupid jobs to do; she’d much rather stay here. But, alas, she had to finish some things before the boss got upset. Letting go of Minjoo’s debt didn’t exactly make her father like her more either. It really took all of her willpower to not just stay here all day.

 

“Mhm, got it,” she says quietly with a smile.

 

~~~

 

The look they share before Chaewon leaves doesn’t leave her mind all day. They stared into each other’s eyes for a few moments longer than necessary, and both quite obviously look a quick glance towards the other’s lips. There was something about that moment that kept it replaying in Chaewon’s head over and over again.

 

“Miss, we got the money. I think the next one shouldn’t be too bad; he’s been pretty good about his payments.”

 

“Huh? Yeah, okay, sounds good.”

 

God, gangster-ing was so much harder when you couldn’t stop smiling stupidly.

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah, I saw it myself. She’s been a little absent minded as well, so it could be related.”

 

“Interesting.”

 

He taps his chin in thought and stares out the window.

 

“How’s your daughter been?”

 

The other man in the room is a bit startled at the question.

 

“She’s been fine, sir.”

 

“That’s good to hear. I guess you don’t have to worry about keeping her in line, then.”

 

“That’s right, sir.”

 

He sighs deeply and shakes his head in disappointment.

 

“Too bad my daughter isn’t the same.”

 

Turning toward the other man, he has a determined, ruthless look in his eyes.

 

“I have new orders for you.”