“You sure you’re okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you,” Minjoo responds smoothly before stumbling slightly while walking towards the door. The hangover medicine had helped a lot, thankfully, but she was still a little lacking in her motor skills and coordination.

“Mhmm,” Chaewon replies with a cocked eyebrow, crossing her arms.

Breakfast between the two was surprisingly peaceful albeit a tiny bit awkward--on Minjoo’s part, at least. They ate in silence with Minjoo glancing up at her company every now and then; every time she looked, Chaewon either had her eyes closed sleepily or averted towards the window. She fought with the idea that Chaewon was easily the most adorable gang member she had ever seen, granted she can’t recall very many. It was a very strange, foreign thought. She shook her head every time the thought appeared.

Now, with her own clothes back on (it sort of surprises her that Chaewon thought to wash them immediately after she changed), Minjoo stands in the doorway facing Chaewon who looks a little amused by her obvious wobbling.

“Thanks again,” Minjoo mumbles with a small wave, turning and walking away. She’s confused when she doesn’t hear the door shut behind her.

She stops for a fraction of a section and glances over her shoulder at the door. When her eyes meet Chaewon’s, the other girl pauses for only a second before returning a slight wave and closing the door.

Even after the door’s closed, Minjoo stands in that same spot.

It wasn’t the first time the two had met eyes, but this one in particular seemed to knock the breath out of Minjoo. There was something different this time. Curiosity? Wonder? Confusion?

Minjoo doesn’t know what it was.

But there was something stirring behind those eyes;

maybe on some deep, deep level, Minjoo wanted to uncover it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I need to stop doing this.

Minjoo loses her footing but manages to catch herself before she falls face-first into the pavement. Who knows how late it is, but it’s late enough that the city barely whispered and the passersby were sparse. In fact, Minjoo hadn’t seen another person since leaving the club fifteen minutes ago.

Thankfully, she wasn’t as wasted as she was the last time, so she was able to carry herself on her own two feet with minimal trouble.

She doesn’t really know where she’s headed. It’s really late, and she can’t exactly go back to the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. She’s in a bit of a pickle, but she keeps on walking.

I could try Sakura’s place? She’s probably still up playing games--

“Hey there, beautiful,” a man says off to the side, his presence coming closer.

Minjoo takes a step back as the man appears before her with a greasy grin and smelling strongly of alcohol. As she steps backward, he takes a few forward, reaching his hands out to grab her. Before he can touch her, however, the predator lurches forward in pain and crumples to the ground, holding his groin.

“Jesus Christ!” He cries out, his eyes watering.

“ert.”

The voice comes from behind him, a very female voice.

Wait--that voice

Minjoo’s head snaps up from his body to meet the eyes of her savior.

“Fancy meeting you here,” the figure says calmly.

“Chaewon?” Minjoo replies in disbelief. She hadn’t seen the girl for weeks.

“That is my name, yes,” she remarks as she kicks the man once more for good measure.

“Thank you,” Minjoo mumbles quietly, redirecting her gaze to the ground. When she sees Chaewon’s feet move, she looks back up.

Minjoo can only stare as Chaewon turns around and begins walking away. A lot just happened in a few minutes, she thinks. Minjoo’s feeling a bit of deja vu as she watches her back get further away.

This time, however, Chaewon stops. She tosses a gaze behind her and motions her hand for Minjoo to come forward. Shocked out of her daze, Minjoo quickly catches up to Chaewon. This is the way to Sakura’s apartment, anyways.

“Where are you headed?” Chaewon asks suddenly, still rooted in place.

“My friend’s apartment,” she replies and begins to walk towards Sakura’s place. She’s still a bit drunk, so her body tells her to just start walking. Chaewon watches with an eyebrow raised as the drunk girl nearly trips and falls with each step.

She sighs in resignation.

Minjoo is aware of the light footsteps behind her. She stops suddenly and turns towards Chaewon with her arms crossed in indignation.

“I can get there myself,” Minjoo huffs out with a pout. Her foggy mind insists that she’s capable of making it to Sakura’s apartment in one piece. She’s a strong, independent woman who doesn’t need protection.

Chaewon doesn’t even stop or look at Minjoo. She just keeps on walking, strolling along with her hands in her jacket pockets.

“Stop following me!” Minjoo whines again, indignant.

“I’m heading this way.”

Minjoo narrows her eyes at the girl in front of her before finally beginning to walk again. She quickens her pace a bit to walk alongside Chaewon.

I’m walking alongside a gangster in the middle of the night.

She found it odd how safe she felt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In her drunken state, she found it appropriate to excitedly clap her hands together upon reaching Sakura’s apartment with a soft, “Yay!”

Chaewon watches as Minjoo makes her way into the building, making sure that the clumsy girl didn’t fall on her face or anything of the sort. Through the glass, she can see Minjoo being buzzed past the door, making her way up to her friend’s place. She waits a few minutes before turning back around and heading in the opposite direction from where they came from.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of eyes watched her from a window on the seventh floor. The brown orbs squinted at Chaewon’s retreating figure, noting how she was going in the opposite direction.

Minjoo huffed.

What a stupid liar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chaewon shivers slightly with the cold, burrowing her neck deeper into her jacket. It’s true: gangsters shiver too. It’s quiet outside, just her walking now that Minjoo was gone. Unlike Minjoo, though, if someone where to try and make any advances towards her, she could knock them out in an instant.

She found it a bit funny, how Minjoo had balked at that disgusting man stepping towards her but had no qualms about walking home with her scary, cold, gangster self. Well, besides her stubbornness towards being accompanied home, insisting that should could handle herself.

Yeah, right.

She snorts while thinking about the other girl trying to fight someone off.

Somewhere along her walk back, Chaewon decides that she was doing all of this because she didn’t want any unnecessary blood on her turf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What are you doing out so late, anyways?” Sakura mumbles with filled with salted plums as she holds the bowl and heads towards Minjoo. The girl had finally taken a break from her gaming. In fact, this was the first thing Sakura had said since Minjoo had been hurriedly buzzed in an hour ago (Sakura had to rush to the door in the middle of a game). After letting her in, she went straight back to her desk and hadn’t moved since--until now, anyways.

Meanwhile, Minjoo had been lying on the couch just staring at the ceiling. As tired and alcohol-induced as she was, she couldn’t bring herself to fall asleep. Instead, her mind raced with images and thoughts she couldn’t quite place her finger on.

Minjoo hummed at Sakura’s question, shrugging her shoulders. Sakura kneels down in front of the couch, facing Minjoo’s side profile. With the bowl still cradled in one arm, she pokes Minjoo’s cheek roughly, inciting said girl to whine and puff her cheeks out.

“Should I kick his ?” Sakura says as she pokes Minjoo’s cheek again, setting down the bowl and resting her arm on the couch with her head cradled on top. She pouts at Minjoo and pinches her cheek.

Minjoo breathes out a slight laugh and bats Sakura’s hand away, turning her body towards Sakura.

“You can’t just challenge him in Fortnite, you know,” Minjoo says teasingly with a smile.

Sakura gasps and shakes her head.

“Nevermind, then. You’re on your own.”

Minjoo laughs and jabs her pointer finger at Sakura’s forehead. The older girl scrunches her face as Minjoo sticks her tongue out.

Sakura rolls her eyes but brings up a hand to brush away some of the hair from Minjoo’s forehead and gives her an angry little pout.

“Really, though, if you ever need me to KICK his with the strength of a THOUSAND suns, you know where to find me.”

Minjoo smiles gratefully at the girl and closes her eyes, mumbling out, “Yeah, in your room, playing video games.”

“Precisely!” Sakura calls out behind her as she runs back into her room.

Minjoo chuckles quietly to herself. God, she loves Sakura so much. Although, the girl could do with a little more outside air.

Oh well.

Settling back down into her little bubble of quiet, she takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. What a night, huh?

What a weird girl.

Minjoo purses her lips at the thought of Chaewon.

Chaewon.

Her mind is clear enough now that she can place a name to the thoughts that had been flitting across her brain for the past hour.

Her breathing begins to slow while she traces the outline of Chaewon’s figure in her mind. It was hazy and messy, but the thought was, strangely enough, giving her some comfort. Perhaps if she were more sober, she’d reprimand herself for thinking anything good about that girl. She’d probably think back on her cornering her father with her eyes set on nothing else but the money. Minjoo would probably grimace in disgust and quietly mumble curses towards the gangster.

But Minjoo currently had alcohol coursing through her body and her mind, so none of the aforementioned things happened. Instead, she just thought of the girl’s cold stare, her lazy but purposeful moments, her messy hair and pajamas. Maybe she was crazy. Chaewon probably was, too.

Minjoo thinks about tonight, about bumping into Chaewon. She thinks about how the girl had lied and had walked her all the way to Sakura’s place. She thinks about the smell of Chaewon’s clothing that she could still vividly recall weeks later. And, finally, she thinks about that look in Chaewon’s eyes as she shut the door the last time they had met.

Her breathing slows further, her body slowly slipping into the realm of sleep.

What a weird, weird girl.