Jiwoo was the one with a weak immune system in their group of friends, but even someone as healthy as Haseul could get a cold once in a while. Jungeun blamed the crop tops Sooyoung had borrowed her – not that Jungeun paid much attention to the way Haseul dresses, of course not, it was just a little hard to not pay attention when Jo was showing enough skin to make her blush every  time she laid her eyes on the brunette.

This week the weather was a little chilly, and as a good housemate and friend she was only doing the natural thing by buying Haseul something to warm her up. At first she considered a scarf, but then Jungeun remembered that one time Jo complained about not liking to have anything hanging around her neck, not even necklaces. Therefore, she decided it would be better to buy something she knew the girl – and herself – loved: a sweater.

With Jiwoo’s help, they searched high and low for the perfect one. It shouldn’t be this difficult, after all Haseul was easy to please and would thank her even if made her one of these horrible looking Weasley sweaters. Still, she was having a hard time finding something appropriate. Jo would have liked a simple green one, yet it was just too simple for a gift. Jiwoo tried to convince her to buy a white one with bright pink drawings that looked like something out of Heejin’s wardrobe before she decided she was too much of a grown up to wear it now – Jungeun caught her wearing a very similar piece just last week, but the girl had created a whole story involving Hyunjin’s cat to excuse her fashion choice.

Kim wanted something comfortable, warm and that matched well with Haseul. She found it at a little store near the exit of the mall. There was a huge shelf full of sweaters, mostly simple ones with little details that made them cute, yet not childish. Jungeun had dragged Jiwoo to the store, ignoring the girl’s protests about how she was trying to get her and Sooyoung a new couple item – Jungeun was sure Ha would be grateful to her for this. She chose a black one with the drawing of a cherry on it. Haseul didn’t have that many black clothes and she would probably like the change, besides the fabric was so soft that she definitely would like it.

That day when she arrived home, she found Haseul lying on the couch watching one the movies she liked so much, and suddenly she second guessed herself. Jo’s birthday was still months away, just like Christmas and any other day that gave her an excuse to give out gifts without having to use the ‘I was just walking by that store and thought about you’ line – even the simple thought of saying it was embarrassing enough.

“Jungeun?” Haseul notice her presence before she had time to sneak into her room. The older girl was looking at her over the round glasses precariously balanced on the bridge of her nose, a sleepy smile on her face. “You’re late today. I brought us some food, but I was afraid it would go cold before you were back.”

“You didn’t eat yet?”

“Uhum.” Jo nodded, standing up to come closer. “I was waiting for you.”

Wasn’t it amazing how she had been panicking over a sweater, while Haseul was at home waiting for her so they could eat together? She should’ve bought her a whole clothing line.

Jungeun couldn’t help a smile, lifting the bag in her hand so the brunette could see it as well. There wouldn’t be a better time than now to give the gift without feeling too awkward. “I brought you something.”

Haseul’s brown eyes grew wider behind the lenses of her glasses, her gaze fixed on the bag. “You did?”

“It’s not a big deal. Just thought you need something warmer.” Jungeun mentally praised herself for sounding so nonchalant and keeping her blush under control.

Scrap it, her blush was full on as soon as Haseul’s small body got into contact with hers, a tight hug making it hard for her to breath and function properly. “Aren’t you the cutest roommate ever?” Only Haseul to be so grateful for something she hadn’t even seen yet.  Loosening her grip on the taller girl, the brunette took a step back so she could face Kim. “You know you didn’t have to, but I admit I’m excited to see what it is.”

Feeling her face warm and her heart a little too fast, Jungeun couldn’t utter a proper word, so she just handed Haseul the bag, letting her see for herself what was inside.

She watched as the girl carefully opened the bag, getting rid of the paper wrap and unfolding the sweater so  she could give it a proper look. “Jungie…” Jo’s eyebrows knitted adorably for a moment as she inspected the piece as if it was an art piece and not just a simple piece of cloth.

Kim moved uncomfortable, unsure of whether or not Haseul had liked the gift. Maybe Jiwoo was right and it was just too simple, or maybe Haseul hated the color, she should’ve got the green one instead or…

“I loved it! Thank you!” Haseul hugged the sweater, giving her a smile that was almost childish – she indeed looked like a kid who had just got what they asked for Christmas.

Warmth was spreading all over her face again, but this time it was accompanied by a proud and relieved smile. “Just make sure to wear it well, it’s getting colder and you were coughing the other day.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll do as you say, Miss Kim.” With a playful wink, she folded the sweater again, putting it back on the bag and leaving on the couch before making her way to Jungeun. “Thank you, Jungie.” She left a quick kiss on Jungeun’s cheek and took her by the hand, making Jungeun’s smile falter. “Come on. I bought your favorite!”

Haseul was on her way to have lunch at the food court at the mall when something in one of the shops’ window caught her attention. A sweater, just like the one Jungeun gave her just last night. There were other pieces, and a big sing saying “Couple items sale.” She read out loud, her feet unconsciously moving towards the store. A couple item? The black sweater seem to match another one in white, just in the right size for Jungeun.

Well, they weren’t a couple, but Haseul wouldn’t mind matching clothes with Jungeun for once – her younger friend liked to play it cool and keep her indifferent façade, but she was actually really thoughtful and sweet. Haseul wanted to return the gesture.

“Excuse me, can I have the white one?” She asked the seller, pointing the white sweater at the window.

“It is part of a couple set. Wouldn’t you  like taking both? What about what for your special person?”

 With a smile, she shook her head. “It’s what I’m doing now. She already gave me mine.”

“Now we can match!” Haseul said, stopping in front of Jungeun to show her a white sweater that was just like the one she had bought. Jungeun blinked, confused as the girl just gesture for her to take it.

“W-What?” If she was bad at giving gifts, she was even worse at receiving it – perhaps she was just unable to properly function when it involved Haseul showering her with smiles.

“It’s a couple set. When I saw it I just had to buy you one too.” Jo looked proud of her discovery, an expectant look on her face as she watched the younger woman, waiting for her to accept the gift.

“Oh, a couple set?” Of course it was a couple set. No wonder Jiwoo gave her a smug smile when she showed her the sweater – that’s what she gets for getting into the way of Jiwoo and her couple stickers. With shaky hands, she accept the piece, bringing it closer to her chest. Right now her heart was full, both of the already known feeling of warm Haseul always bring her, and from embarrassment. “Thanks, Seul. I really didn’t know it was a c…matching item.”

“You’re welcome!” Haseul eyes turned into half crescents, she was clearly pleased with the situation. While Kim was going through her own mental breakdown over the matter, for the older girl it might just look like a fun roommate activity.  “Jiwoo told you about the meeting on Saturday? We should wear it.”

“Together?!” Correction, now she was really having a mental breakdown.

Jo only nodded, taking a seat beside her at the couch. “We’ll look cute.”

Yeah, surely. If she didn’t die from embarrassment before Saturday.

Fortunately she didn’t die from embarrassment, however when Saturday came and she had to deal with not only one smug smile, but ten, she kind of wished she had. It didn’t help that Haseul was more than willing to tell everyone about the sweaters as if it was a big thing – Jungeun didn’t know if Jo was oblivious or she just didn’t care, but their friends weren’t even trying to be subtle and hide their giggles and mischievous comments. And it was just the beginning.

Haseul seem to like that sweater a tad too much, and albeit Jungeun should probably have said no, when the girl asked if they could wear it again next week she didn’t have the heart to deny. And just like this, their own little tradition began, every week at their friends meeting they would wear their couple sweaters – or the matching shirts Haseul bought for the hot days – and their friends would have the time of their lives mocking them.

Kim would like to say she hated it, that it was annoying that her friend asked for such a cheesy thing, but she didn’t.  She liked the feeling of being close to Haseul it gave her, she liked to  see the way the brunette was so careful to not ruin the sweater because it meant a lot for her, she liked the way Haseul would cling onto her arm and give a big smile every time someone on the street notice their matching clothes and smile, she even liked the jokes about them being a not so secret couple. At this point, Haseul could suggest them to start a whole collection of couple items and she wouldn’t even object it.

It’s been over a month since she bought the sweater, what means that it was their fourth being teased by their friends because of it – because adult life and they all couldn’t hang out together every day, their group always meet at someone’s house at the weekends to talk about their weeks, eat good food and act like they were teenagers again. It used to be Jungeun’s favorite day of the week, but it was starting to become a source of stress.

“We should go to the movies tomorrow, I can get us free tickets.” Heejin offered, as a college senior and the only worker that had ever lasted so long at the local cinema of their town she probably could book a whole room and no one would bat an eye.

“I don’t know about that. Didn’t Yeojin get expelled out of there because she was trying to sneak into an R rated section?” Hyejoo said, giving a smirk to her younger friend.

“Yah, it wasn’t that kind of movie. I just wanted to watch Devil’s Possession 2.” The small bean, the only one of them that was still nowhere near finishing college, tried to defend herself. “It was your girlfriend that almost blow up the place when she worked there for a week.”

The said girlfriend and resident kitchen arsonist, Chaewon, raised her hands to interfere. “It’s not my fault they didn’t tell me you can’t make popcorns at maximum heat without it getting a little bit out of hand.”

“You flooded the place with popcorn and I spent a month dealing with pigeons trying to attack Heejin to get some spare popcorn. Talk about angry birds.”  Hyunjin deadpanned, for both, Heejin and Chaewon’s, embarrassment.

Haseul shivered at the mention of birds, she was never very fond of them. “I’m free tomorrow, but can we go to a place without flying rats?”

Heejin, as the proud junior manager of the cinema, was about to explain the place was very much free of angry pigeons and Chaewon’s burned popcorn, but Sooyoung was faster to speak. “Are you sure the birds are the problem and not the fact that you want to stay at home to watch that kind of movie with Jungeun?”

“I know for a fact that they do it often because they never let me sleep over in these days.” Jiwoo added, always the supportive girlfriend and the terrible friend– Jungeun kicked her under the table where they were sat at. It wasn’t fair that she was such an easy target just because they knew how she felt about Haseul, and seem to enjoy seeing her acting like a fool.

“And what if we do? We’re both of age.” Haseul came to her rescue – well, was it even a rescue if her words were only making her more embarrassed? The way Jo stood behind her, arms loosely around her neck, was rather protective and it somehow made all the teasing worth.

“Just a normal day for a couple.” Jinsol winked at them, her expression was more affectionate than playful, and knowing her she probably hadn’t even catch on the joke. “Now, who wants to play monopoly?”

Jungeun thanked Jung for distracting the group – even if after half hour of game they would be throwing hands at each other and the place would be in chaos, just like very week.

She watched as the girls gathered together around the table, claiming their own space. Haseul didn’t join them, staying in place and giving Jungeun a accomplice smile. Kim couldn’t bear to stare back at her, so instead she just reached out for Haseul’s hands, intertwining their fingers and receiving a gentle squeeze on them. If she really wanted their friends to stop teasing them, stop acting like a couple would be a good step, but she wasn’t willing to do so, not just yet.

Haseul had to admit that seeing Jungeun flustered was rather funny, although she tried her best to not let it show in her face, it was easy to see how much the girls jokes embarrassed her. It was hard for her to understand why Kim was so bothered by the comments, after all their friends were always like this – teasing one another was their subtle way of showing affection.

Jungie had moved in with her only last year, recently graduated from college she needed a good place to stay and Haseul had a spare room that she was more than willing to lend her. The two of them were often seen as the ‘moms’ of the group, and even if Jo wasn’t as organized and bossy as Jungeun could be at times, she liked to have the girl’s company and it was hard to imagine living with anyone else. They always got along well, their contrasting personalities still shared a few very important points that allowed them to respect each other’s space and understand the other just fine. Living with Jungeun was comfortable and nice, making her want to spend more time at home than out of there – they both were becoming homebodies. And even when they were outside, it wasn’t uncommon for them to be together as well, be it shopping for groceries or just having one of their dates – that weren’t really dates but look awfully lot like it.

It wasn’t weird that people thought they were a couple, after all they not only lived together, but also spent a lot of time together and were never subtle about it. The matching sweaters were just a little more obvious than usual. If people got the wrong idea…Well, she couldn’t really say it bothered her. Why would it? Jungeun was pretty much everything she could ever ask for in a girl – even with all the nagging –, they liked and respected each other, they had fun together and their chemistry was obvious to anyone with a good pair of eyes. It would be a lie to say she didn’t consider taking the next step in their relation before, the sweaters were just a subtle way of letting Jungeun know about it.

Haseul wasn’t as oblivious as the girl seems to think she was, and although she didn’t want to make things awkward between them, it was about time they spoke about it. “Why do you get so embarrassed? You know they love to tease us, but they mean no harm.” She asked when they left Jinsol’s apartment, starting the short walk to their place that was only a block away.

“I know. It’s just that they keep saying we…Well, we’re…” Jungeun gestured their matching clothes, avoiding Haseul’s gaze to complete: “They think it’s a couple item.”

Haseul frowned slightly. “And what about it?”

“Well, we’re not…” Haseul’s nonchalant tone only seem to embarrass Kim further, the typical redness that Jungeun hated and Haseul loved, starting to paint her face again. “You know.”

“A couple?” Pursing her lips, Haseul nodded. Now things made sense to her, Jungeun wasn’t the type that deals well with her own feelings and gets flustered by it instead. Jo wasn’t that great at it either, yet, when it was about Jungeun, she didn’t feel the need to hide her thoughts. “I told you, I think we’d look cute together.” She said with a shrug. “They were having a couple items sell, we could get new things, you know?”

The taller girl blinked, her steps coming to a stop as she was so taken aback by such reply. “You want people to think we’re a couple?”

“I don’t really mind it.” Lifting her gaze to meet Jungeun’s caramel eyes she gave her a small, sincere smile. Whether people thought they were a couple or not wasn’t important, it was only important what they thought and she was about to make it clear. “But I’d like if you thought we’re.” She made sure to make her tone light, pushing Jungie to give her a positive answer wasn’t her intention. Her gut feeling – and Jiwoo and Jungeun complete incapacity of being subtle when they were talking ‘secret’ things – told her that there was a good chance Jungeun wanted the same as her. “I mean, the idea doesn’t sound that bad, does it?”

Jungie opened and closed , unable to find the right words to express herself. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say. She knew Haseul well enough to be able to tell when she was being serious, and the warm brown stare over her now was very much sincere. She had been so caught up on her own feelings, packing at the simple thought of people thinking they were together and Haseul figuring out how much she liked her, that she didn’t allow herself to think about the possibility of the feeling being returned. “So the whole sweater thing…Oh.”

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” Jo snickered, fondness in her eyes as she took a hold of the younger girl’s hand. “You know, now it’s a good time for you to say something before I start to turn into a embarrassed tomato too.”

Jungeun wanted to slap herself for being so dumb and not having noticed before. Haseul wasn’t being subtle at all with the couple items idea, but it was only one of the many ways she showed her feelings. Buying food and waiting for her, working around her schedule to always make it on time for their dates, kissing her cheeks and giving her extra tight hugs… No wonder the girls so much, it wasn’t about the fact that she liked Haseul, but about the fact that she was so oblivious to Haseul’s feelings even though they very pretty obvious.

“I think we should get more sweaters then.” Not the cleverest words, but it was all the best she could do when her heart was jumping around inside her rib cage and sending waves of exciting though her body demanding her to clingy onto Haseul like there was no tomorrow – what she did, even if they were in the middle of the street and a couple of people stared at them.

Haseul musical laughed echoed against her ears a moment before she could feel a kiss against her hair. “So, what do you think about a real date tomorrow so we can watch that kind of movie and buy couple stickers?” Playfulness was back on Haseul’s face when she looked at her, a comfortable familiar feeling warmed her heart at the sight.

Now she would have to deal with eleven, instead of only ten girls teasing her, still looking at Haseul’s face she concluded she didn’t mind it one bit.

Pulling Haseul by the collar, she brought their lips together in a kiss.

Okay, maybe Jungeun had been wrong. Maybe she did mind being clowned by eleven girls and a bunch of people at the movies.

She tried to cover the sweater with her jacket, giving her girlfriend a stiff smile that should send the message that she didn’t want to show off it there – message that was very much ignored, as Haseul dragged her to meet their friends.

“Seul! Can’t I just change really quick? What about the cherry one? I love that one much better!” Actually she loved anything that wasn’t the bright pink sweater Jiwoo had gifted them – that little one surely knew how to hold a grudge.

“No time for this! We’ll be late for the movie.” Jo, who was wearing an slightly less embarrassing version of the couple sweater in a shade of blue, didn’t seem to mind the funny looks they were getting – truth be said, if Jungeun didn’t look so visibly ashamed, maybe they could pass unnoticed.

Reaching the ending of the line where greeted by their friends’ tooth smiles and chuckles, and Jungeun once again tried to use her jacket for protection.

“What are you doing?”  The shorter woman shook her head, pushing the fabric away to expose Jungeun’s embarrassing sweater to everyone to see. “See? My girlfriend and I matching!” Dorky proud Haseul was probably the most adorable thing in existence, or it would be if she wasn’t laughing at the Kim’s expense.

“Okay, okay, you won!” Letting go of Haseul’s arm, she opened her jacket to give their friends a good view of the ugly sweater and soon closed it, hiding by the wall as they laughed loudly at her fashion misfortune. “Are you happy now?” She asked as soon as her girlfriend came closer to hug her, a hug that she was too much of a fool in love to refuse.

Haseul’s annoying, yet lovely, smile was back on her face as she leaned in to kiss Jungeun. “Very much!”

A/N: Hi there! I'm not so sure about this one, but well, when am I ever? I tried my best considering the time I had to work on it. Thank you again to @myoineuri for trusting me with her idea (I'm sorry if this is a mess!). All mistakes are mine, thank you for reading. See you soon! <3