The day spent with Joohyun had made work more than simply tolerable for Seungwan again, and she was beyond glad that she and Joohyun were back on friendly speaking terms. The change was noticeable, Joohyun was more inclined to leave her office during the day for brief intervals to come and chat to Seungwan or to go and talk to Seulgi or Sooyoung. It seemed everything in the universe had righted itself and life was back to normal. The day before New Years Eve, as Seungwan and Joohyun were driving to the former’s apartment, Joohyun brought up the annual office celebration. “The office New Years celebration is tomorrow night, at Seulgi and Sooyoung’s apartment.” Joohyun informed Seungwan as she turned down Seungwan’s street. “Would you like to come? I would pick you up, of course.”

    “I’d love to come.” Seungwan said easily as Joohyun came to a stop in front of her house. She reached into her coat pocket and fished out the twenty dollar bill she had been saving since the night before to give to Joohyun as payment for the constant rides. “Here, take this.” She put the bill into Joohyun’s hand. “Gas money.”

    “No, no, I’m not taking that.” Joohyun argued, pushing the bill back towards her. “I don’t mind giving you rides.”

    “I feel bad about it though, so just take it.” Seungwan pressed the bill back into Joohyun’s hand.

Joohyun sighed, holding onto the bill and saying, “Well alright then. I’ll see you tomorrow at seven, okay?”

“Sounds good.” Seungwan agreed. “See you tomorrow Joohyun!” She slid out of the car and as she went, Joohyun took her chance and slipped the bill back into Seungwan’s pocket. Seungwan didn’t register the movement until she had already closed the car door and before she could open it back up Joohyun had locked it and was waving her goodbyes. As Joohyun pulled away, Seungwan shook her head, laughing to herself.

~

Seulgi and Sooyoung’s apartment was very similar to Joohyun’s; in fact, it was only a block away from Joohyun’s apartment. Joohyun and Seungwan walked up to the front door together, Joohyun knocking three times in quick procession. Seulgi came and answered the door, grinning at the two of them and opening the door up. “Come on in!” She said cheerily, leading the way inside. Joohyun slipped her shoes off at the door and Seungwan followed suit, her eyes travelling the room quickly. The front door led into the living room, which was semi open to the kitchen. “Sooyoung and Yerim are in the kitchen.” Seulgi said, taking them there. “There’s plenty of food and drinks, alcohol and otherwise.” They all stepped into the kitchen and Seulgi turned back towards them, hugging Joohyun first and then surprising Seungwan with an equally tight hug. “It’s good to see you both.”

“Joohyun unnie!” Sooyoung exclaimed, coming over and giving Joohyun a big hug. She then turned to Seungwan, grinning at her, saying, “And my favorite secretary.”

“Hey!” Yeri called out, taking mock offense to Sooyoung’s joke.

“You guys have to come and do shots with me, Seulgi and Yeri won’t.” Sooyoung insisted.

“I’m sorry I prefer to sip my drink slowly and not chug it.” Yeri laughed, sipping from a Mike’s hard lemonade.

“There has to be one responsible adult.” Seulgi explained, coming up to Sooyoung and sliding an arm around her waist.

Sooyoung kissed the top of her head and said, “You’re cute, Seul.” Seungwan was slightly taken aback by the easy displays of affection, which were non existent in the office. She did think it was sweet, and it was clear they made each other very happy. Sooyoung pressed shot glasses into Joohyun and Seungwan’s hands.

“You know I hate liquor, Soo.” Joohyun said.

“Uh no, you love liquor and don’t like what it does to you the next day.” Sooyoung corrected, making Joohyun laugh softly. “Ready?” She said, to which both Seungwan and Joohyun nodded. They all threw back their shots, the bitter taste of the vodka burning in Seungwan’s throat. It had been a long time since she had had hard liquor and she wasn’t quite as immune to the flavor as she once had been. She looked to her left at Joohyun, who was also cringing a little at the harsh flavor. Reaching into her pocket, Seungwan grasped onto the twenty dollar bill she still intended to give Joohyun for gas money. She took advantage of Joohyun being distracted and slid the bill into the back pocket of Joohyun’s jeans.

“Whoa,” Joohyun said, quickly turning to Seungwan and then looking behind her, clearly startled. “What did you do?” Seungwan couldn’t hide her grin despite her best attempts and Joohyun gave her a knowing look. “I’m not keeping it, Seungwan. I’ll get it back to you eventually.”

“Sure you will.” Seungwan said, still grinning. Joohyun rolled her eyes and turned back to Sooyoung. As Sooyoung and Joohyun got into a conversation while preparing a second shot, Seungwan went and got herself a Mike’s hard from the fridge to nurse.

The night seemed to fly by in a whirlwind of stories, jokes, and a lot of alcohol. Joohyun was well beyond tipsy as the clock inched closer and closer to midnight, though Seungwan was only slightly buzzed. She stayed close to Joohyun’s side, looking after her. Joohyun was still quiet as ever, even drunk. They had all crowded in the living room to prepare to watch the ball drop, and Seulgi, Sooyoung, and Yeri were all hooping and hollering as the minutes ticked by. Joohyun put her fingers to her ears to block the sound, so Seungwan whispered, “Do you want to go to the kitchen where it’s quieter?”

“Mhm,” Joohyun said. “Sounds better.” Seungwan offered her a hand to help her up and Joohyun slipped an arm around Seungwan’s waist, hanging on to her for balance. They went to the kitchen unnoticed by the rest of the group. It was slightly quieter in the kitchen, the half wall blocking some of the yelling. The stove clock told them it was three minutes until midnight.

“How are you feeling?” Seungwan asked, as Joohyun still had not moved her hand from Seungwan’s waist.

“Good.” Joohyun answered, her voice even more quiet than usual. “A little fuzzy.” She paused. “How close is it to midnight?”

“About two minutes.” Seungwan told her. Joohyun only nodded. “I’m kind of glad we’re out of the living room, we’ll get to miss Sooyoung drunkenly trying to kiss Seulgi at midnight.”

Joohyun laughed in an odd way. There were a few short moments of silence in the kitchen, though the yells of the rowdier crowd in the living room could still be heard.

    “Seungwan.” Joohyun said, her voice suddenly very serious.

    “Hm?” The younger woman asked in reply. There was half a minute of silence, in which the time on the clock switched to 11:59.

    Then, suddenly, “You’re the most wonderful person I think I’ve ever met.”

    “Thank you, Joohyun. You’re sweet.” Seungwan said, confused as to where this was coming from.

    “You’re so beautiful.” Joohyun went on. “I hope you know that.” The group in the living room began a loud countdown, starting at thirty.

    “Thank you.” Seungwan said again. Joohyun simply studied her, her dark eyes clouded with drunkenness, but a fondness still glimmering through. Seungwan was terribly confused at what was going on and she, for some odd reason she could not explain, felt nervousness growing in the pit of her stomach. The countdown reached twenty and Joohyun moved forward, wrapping her arms around Seungwan in a soft, frail hug. “Is everything okay?” Seungwan asked, to which Joohyun only nodded. She did not let go of Seungwan.  

    10, 9, 8

    The voices from the living room all chorused in unison. Joohyun tightened her hold on Seungwan.

    7, 6, 5

    Suddenly, Joohyun looked up at Seungwan, their faces close, closer than they had ever been. Seungwan felt her breath hitch in .

    4, 3, 2

    As the voices from the living room shouted one, Joohyun leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Seungwan’s lips, and Seungwan could feel Joohyun was trembling all over. The kiss was soft, slow, and delicate, and Seungwan felt herself almost beginning to enjoy it until she snapped quickly back to reality. She pulled back and Joohyun looked up at her, looking horribly sad, still shaking slightly. “I’m sorry, Joohyun. Not while you’re drunk. You’ll regret it in the morning.” Embarrassment clouded her eyes and Joohyun nodded solemnly, which made Seungwan feel horridly guilty. “Let’s go home.” Joohyun nodded again. Seungwan led her out to the living room and said to the group, “We’re gonna head out, Joohyun overdid it a little.”

    “Okay, be careful Seungwan.” Seulgi said.

    “Goodbye, Wan!” Yeri called out.

    “Bye Seungwan!” Sooyoung chimed in.

    “Bye, everybody.” Seungwan said back, going to the door with haste. She led Joohyun out to the car, realizing she was now tasked with driving. “Joohyun, can you hand me your car keys?” Joohyun complied, taking longer than usual to grasp her keys but getting there eventually. Seungwan helped Joohyun into the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt before going around to the drivers side. It had been a very long time since she had driven, so she was extremely careful backing out of the driveway and onto the road. She drove the block over to Joohyun’s apartment. “I’ll bring you back your car tomorrow, okay?”

    “Mhm.” Joohyun agreed easily. Seungwan helped her out of the car and up to the door, getting her inside.

    “Goodnight, Joohyun. Be careful.” She said.

    “You too, Seungwannie.” Joohyun mumbled back. The nickname took Seungwan by surprise. “Night.” She waved half heartedly and then shut the door. Seungwan spent the whole drive back to her apartment fretting over Joohyun all alone in her apartment and replaying their quick, stolen kiss in Seulgi and Sooyoung’s kitchen, wondering what to do about it. Because of that one moment, as the year changed, things were changed forever and Seungwan had no control over the trajectory of that change.