In a rare occurrence, iz*one had some free time and the group decided to spend it relaxing watching a movie. The Little Mermaid, they all agreed on. The movie was going on for over 30 minutes now and Chaewon couldn’t focus on it. She was trying--she really was. But how could she pay attention when Hitomi was giggling every few minutes at something Yena would say next to her. The younger girl’s smile was infectious and Chaewon couldn’t help but smile along with her. Minju who was sitting next to her, bumped her shoulder and gave her a smug smile. “Can I help you?” Chaewon exasperated.

Minju quietly laughed to herself and shook her head. Leaning in close, Minju whispered, “You’re so obvious.” Her warm breath tickled Chaewon’s ears and she instinctively pulled back. After she shot Minju an annoyed look, she gave the other girl a light punch to the shoulder. The two stared at each other for a few silent seconds before laughing it off. Turning back to the movie, Chaewon caught Hitomi’s eyes. Before she could even register they made eye contact, Hitomi whipped her head around and continued watching the movie. Chaewon wondered if she saw the whole exchange, or only happened to turn around at that moment because she heard Chaewon and Minju laugh.

Shrugging it off, Chaewon returned to the movie, only to have Hitomi laugh once again at something Yena said. She glanced over and Hitomi was leaning her head on Chaewon’s shoulder. Her eyes twitched at the sudden spark of jealousy. “Some of us are trying to watch the movie.” Chaewon said, shooting a glare towards Yena’s way. Yena laughed it off and apologized. The red-haired girl huffed and moved her eyes back to the screen. She doesn’t even know what's happening anymore cause she’s so distracted.

The silence in the room was quickly interrupted by a phone ringing in the kitchen. “Hitomi, can you go get that? You’re closest.” Eunbi asked. The girl did as she was asked and began to stand up, only to be followed by complaints.

“No! Hiichan! Don’t leave me!” Yena whined in japanese.

“I’ll be back soon!” Hitomi laughed and shook the other girl off her. Chaewon couldn’t help being jealous as she watched the exchange, an even more annoyed look appearing on her face. Hitomi shuffled off to the kitchen where the phone was ringing, but before she could reach it, it stopped. Chaewon glanced over to the kitchen to see Hitomi standing there, staring at the screen. Oh no… Chaewon thought. That’s her phone. She must have seen her lockscreen. Chaewon you idiot!  Hitomi stood there for a few more seconds before shuffling over to Chaewon. “Sorry, I took so long.” the younger girl said, her eyes trained to the ground. Chaewon looked from her to the phone before she took it from her.

“It’s okay, Hiichan. Thank you.” Chaewon said, her voice soft and gentle. The other girl nodded and took her seat next to Yena. Her heart pounded from the exchange. She felt so exposed.

[chaewon]: she saw it.

[minju]: ???

[chaewon]: my background

[minju]: still ???

[chaewon]: this!! lockscreen.jpg

[minju]: oh,,honey,,you’re so gay

Chaewon rolled her eyes. She loved Minju but she was no help when it came to her Hitomi predicament. “I’ll be right back.” Chaewon announced. She moved into her bedroom to calm down and slumped onto the bed. “Maybe she didn’t think anything about it.” Chaewon mumbled into the pillow. “Who am I kidding?” Chaewon groaned. “She probably thought it was weird. That I’m weird.”

A knock interrupted Chaewon’s somber thoughts as she lifted her head to see who it was. “Chaewon...can I come in?” A soft voice said, muffled by the closed door. Chaewon’s heart dropped. It was Hitomi. She stuffed down the last bit of sadness she had and suppressed it, telling herself she’ll deal with it later.

She walked over to the door and slowly opened it. “What’s up, Hitomi?” she asked, stepping aside so the smaller girl could walk in

“Can we talk?” Hitomi asked. Chaewon just stood there for a moment, arguing with the Devil and Angel on her shoulders. The devil commanded her to shut the door and ignore Hitomi for the rest of their career while the Angel said that any other action other than listening to the other girl is foolish. “Chaewon?” Hitomi asked, concerned that her question hasn’t been answered yet.

“Sorry, yeah.” Chaewon finally came back to reality. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure how to ask this but…” Hitomi paused, looking for the right korean words. “Your lockscreen...why is it just me?” Chaewon tensed up just a little. “I mean, that picture was one we originally took together. Why did you crop yourself out.”

“I just thought you looked cute in that picture and so I just made it my lockscreen.” Chaewon explained. It wasn’t a complete lie. Chaewon truly did think Hitomi looked cute and is why it’s her lockscreen, but she left out how she always think Hitomi looks cute and she enjoys looking at her everytime she turns on her phone.

Hitomi nodded her head in understanding. She laughed a little and the back of her head like she was embarrassed. “I thought you had me as your lock screen because you liked me or something.” Her tone was joking but her face showed that she was serious.

Chaewon’s blood ran cold. “Of course I like you, We’re friends!” She attempted to brush off Hitomi’s statement, using the same joking tone Hitomi used.

“No,” Hitomi wasn’t going to let her run away that easily. “I meant like like.” The silence between the two became heavy, the only noise came from the TV where the opening notes of “Kiss the Girl”.

Chaewon forced out a laugh. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

“Don’t joke about that.” Hitomi mumbled, eyes everywhere but Chaewon.

Confused, Chaewon asked, “Why not?” She felt a little hurt suddenly. Why would she be upset about Chaewon liking her? Is she against that sort of thing or is it just because she cherishes Chaewon’s friendship too much? Chaewon wished she didn’t say anything.

“Because I like you too much, it’d hurt if it was a joke.” She was so quiet Chaewon almost doubted she said anything at all. But her ears weren’t mistaken. Hitomi just confessed. Her heart fluttered madly.

A blush spread across Chaewon’s pale face. “And what if I like you too?” She enquired. Hitomi’s face quickly matched Chaewon’s as she finally locked eyes with the other girl. Chaewon could hear Sebastian singing “Go on and kiss the girl” in the background. With new found confidence, Chaewon mumbled, “Screw it.”  

“What--” Hitomi was quickly interrupted by Chaewon cupping her face and lightly pressing their lips together. Soft. The moment only lasted a moment before the duo pulled apart and rested their foreheads together, small smiles gracing both of their faces. “So...what does this mean?” Hitomi asked.

Chaewon slid her hand down from Hitomi’s cheek to her hand and intertwined their fingers together. “Be my girlfriend?” she asked, the blush still present on her cheeks.

Hitomi’s laugh was light and gentle, just as pretty as the girl it belonged to. Hearing it Chaewon’s rapidly beating heart pumped a little faster. “Of course.” She said. Chaewon embraced the other girl, resting her head in the crook of Hitomi’s neck.

“COME BACK AND WATCH THE MOVIE!” Yujin’s booming voice interrupted their sweet moment. Chaewon was irked and ready to go out there and give Yujin a piece of her mind for being so loud. “OW! EUNBI, MINJU HIT ME!” Luckily, she didn’t have to. The two girls shared one last laugh together and walked back to the living room, hand in hand.

///

chaetomi nation we have been eating good recently

if u wanna talk to me abt chaetomi or really any izone ship my twt is @lovehiichan <3