A/N: Flashbacks are in italic. The girls are placed in the same school year here.

 

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The TV at the restaurant was showing a rerun of a popular drama, the scene where the arrogant male lead decided to act like a decent guy for once and protect his girlfriend from his jealous ex-fiancée – The second female lead, a girl with soft dark hair and big brown eyes, was heartbroken after the rejection and a sad song played in the background of the scene as she started to cry and regret her actions as the main couple walked away.

“Doesn’t matter if she is a crazy girl, I would always pick her. Look, she is a babe!” One of Chaewon’s coworkers said, the young man gesturing the TV where the actress managed to cry while still looking gorgeous – Kim snickered, remembering how messy she looked when she cried in reality. Chaewon’s smile was, however, filled with fondness. She tried to hide it by taking another sip of her drink.

“For me she is kind of average looking and her acting is pretty bad.” A female coworker said, her tone slightly overconfident as if she thought she could measure up to the actress. “Don’t you think, Chaewon?”

Chaewon rolled her eyes at it, the coworker’s ego was surely too big for her own good.

“I don’t see why my opinion or yours would matter. It’s not like she would date any of you guys anyway.” She replied, shrugging her shoulders as her eyes went back to the screen where the scene was coming to an ending. She wasn’t the biggest fan of dramas, but she had seen this one religiously over a year ago when it was first released. “There’s nothing average about her though.” She added in what was supposed to be a nonchalant tone, yet it sounded a little aggressive as she glared at the woman at her right – she really hated when her protective side kicked in.

With this, she won a sarcastic smile of the woman and a childish cheering from the man. Chaewon was never really fond of small talk and having finished her lunch, she decided it was time to go before they tried to pull her back into the conversation. Gathering her belongings, she bowed to them, ready to go.

“Ya, Chaewon! You can’t go now, we Minjoo’s fans need to join forces to defeat evil.” The man, Hyungwoo, told her as he playfully pointed at the other woman. Chaewon knew he meant no harm, after all he was one of the only coworkers she could stand and it says a lot about someone. But she wasn’t willing to stay just to tease someone, even though a part of her thought it would be fun.

With a small smile, she shook her head. “No, thanks. I have to visit a construction site now, besides…I’m not a Minjoo fan.” Her smile turned into a smirk, amused at the thought. Waving goodbye, she left the place to go head to her car.

Working as an engineer, part of her work was to inspect the constructions herself and make sure that what was on the blueprints was the same that was actually being done – dealing with entitled construction workers wasn’t easy, but for once her perpetual cold and slightly annoyed expression was put to good use. After this visit she would still have to comeback to the office and update the schedules and reports…The brunette sighed, it would be a long afternoon.

She loved her work, but it could be rather stressful. Most of the time she gave it all she had, working her way up the best she could. However, sometimes she just wanted a break.

People often said she should get more time to enjoy her ‘youth years’ and date around, but she was never good at it. Going on dates made her annoyed instead of excited, meeting new people was more awkward than enjoyable.

Now Chaewon only pretended to go on dates, but she never meets anyone. Not because she is afraid it won’t work out or they won’t like her, but because she knows there’s something far better in her life already.

All she needs is to be patient about it.

Kim’s phone ringed with a very familiar tune and she smiled softly to herself as she picked it up, forgetting about her contemplative thoughts for a moment. “What is it, Minjoo?” She asked to the sweet and familiar voice that she had heard thousands of times before. It wasn’t the famous actress Kim Minjoo on the other side of the line, it was the clumsy and kind girl she knew since high school – her best friend.

 

 

Chaewon glanced at the girl sat two rows away from her seat, right in the middle of the gossip zone – how unfortunate, the kid had just transferred there a couple of months ago. She noticed everything about her: from the soft black hair slightly disheveled, to the uniform that fit her well even though it didn’t match her worn out shoes, back to the face of harmonious features that would probably be even prettier once she was fully grown and got rid of her baby fat. The girl was pretty and Chae wasn’t the only person to notice it. But she seems to be the only one to notice how unhappy she was.

Kim observed as the girls sitting in front of the newbie told her something and the brunette blushed, lowering her head as she forced a smile. Chaewon didn’t need to listen to their words to know they had probably just given her one of their ‘helpful’ tips or a backhanded compliment. The new kid wasn’t good dealing with it, the discomfort was clear on her face, still she pretended otherwise and still hang around the people who hurt her.

Chaewon wasn’t sure if the girl was just too kind, dumb or desperate – perhaps all three. The fellow Kim was an easy target and it seems like no one was willing to spare her from the torture that was high school.

As the bell rang, announcing the ending of the period, the kids ran out of class, anxious to find a good place at the cafeteria and not get stuck in the infinite line to get food. Chaewon didn’t follow them, she never did. The high schooler hated crowds, and she usually would find somewhere quiet to eat the lunch she had brought from home – probably the back of the library where no one would bother her, not even the lazy old lady who worked at the front desk.

She saw the annoying group of girls leaving first, as the newbie, Minjoo, stayed behind with the excuse of organizing her things. They were alone in class and Chae considered the idea of talking to her, maybe even invite her to eat at the library too – she was terrible at making friends and she couldn’t say she had any ever since high school started, but that girl looked like someone who need a friend right now.

Yet, before she mustered the courage to get out of her comfort zone and try to talk to the girl, Minjoo was already gone.

With a sigh, Chae grabbed her things and left, heading to the library. She had just walked a couple of meters and was about to take a left turn, going to opposite way the cafeteria, when she caught a glimpse of a familiar silhouette.

Minjoo was outside the bathroom, her body was stiff and although she could only see the girl’s back, Chaewon could tell something was off. The older Kim sighed, her slow steps leading her to Minjoo’s direction, even though she knew it would be much easier to just not get involved in whatever was going on. It wasn’t like her to get involved, it wasn’t like her to even care enough to try – but here she was following a girl she never even talked to before, just because she couldn’t help but worry about her.

The closer she got, the easier it was to tell what the problem was. There were voices coming from within the bathroom, the same obnoxious voices Chaewon knew belonged to Minjoo’s ‘friends’, they were whispering shouting and giggling at their own remarks – the said remarks? Nothing less than a full-blown attack on Minjoo, from her family, to her face. They were dissecting every single aspect of her life, just so they could make fun of it. Chaewon had had her fair share of insults herself and learned to ignore their pathetic comments, however, she doubted the same could be said about the girl that was still static outside the room – she could also bet the girls inside knew about it as well, it would be just their style.

Chaewon furrowed her eyebrows, grimacing at the things she was hearing. Another step and she would be right beside Minjoo. But once more, the girl didn’t allow her to.

This time Minjoo walked fast, so fast that she was running by the time she a corner, heading to one of the lateral exits – that wasn’t the only difference.

This time Chaewon followed her.

 

 

The, now, redhead woman looked into the mirror and smiled at the hair stylist in approval. She was getting a new look for her next drama and it was her first time with such a bright hair color and a cute hair style – it was different, it made her look paler and her face smaller, but she thought it fit her new role just right.

Ruffling her bangs as a final touch, the hair stylist allowed her to move and Minjoo thanked her with a smile before leaving.

Kim had a photoshoot next, but she got a couple of extra minutes to relax before she had to change into new clothes and pose to the cameras alongside the rest of the cast. Throwing herself on one of the couches in her resting room, she grabbed her phone to check if she has any messages. She found the usual: her manager nagging her for freezing during her latest interview, her mother spamming her with new stickers, Chaewon telling her to stop texting her during work hours – she made sure to make her own spam of sad stickers to show her dislike for the older woman’s nagging. The only unusual thing was the last message, a short one from the guy she was dating recently – if going on two dates could be considered dating.

Minjoo frowned as she read the message, feeling a bitter taste in . He wasn’t dumping her, it was the opposite he wanted her to come over to his house to ‘watch something and maybe drink a little ;)’. It didn’t surprise her, it was always like this and perhaps it shouldn’t bother her – but it did, so much she right away replied. Dumping someone through text wasn’t very classy of her part, it wasn’t like she cared about what he’d think. The man didn’t like her, he just wanted to have some fun with her.

He didn’t know that she was quite shy around strangers and she still considered him one. He also didn’t know she liked romantic gestures and spontaneous demonstrations of affection, that she loved watching movies, but she liked hot chocolate much better than beer. He would never know she couldn’t sleep well anywhere except her own bed, with the only exception of when Chaewon was around because she made her feel safe. He didn’t know her, nor he wanted to, for him she was probably only as good as her face.

Putting her phone aside, she closed her eyes for a moment, wishing she could sleep right there and forget about her terrible luck in dating.

When she was younger, Minjoo always thought that as long as she gave her best, she would be able to have the life she always wanted – it was a rather optimistic outlook at life. Kim had been right for most of it.

She worked hard helping her parents at the store and doing some part time jobs here and there to pay for acting lessons and get into a good agency. She did all sort of commercials and small cameos in TV dramas and other shows, she hardly refused anything and always did her best to get recognized for her work. It was a long way, but it worked. She was still young and didn’t have that many famous works, yet she was well paid and the directors started to ask for her. She also made enough money to give part of it to her parents and live well with the rest.

She also had good friends now, ones that never made her feel lonely – even if they could be annoying once in a while teasing her about of her clumsiness.

The only thing she lacked was a love life, or better saying, the love of her life. Finding new boyfriends wasn’t hard, her looks were enough to give her the opportunity to meet and go out with many guys – or girls, but she couldn’t even recall the last time she tried to go out with one. However, the guys always seem to be into her appearance and the status of dating an actress and their interest died pretty quickly as they met her shy, clumsy and goofy side, perhaps because it ruined the vision of a chic and mature woman they had of her through her work.  

No matter how much she tried, the results were the same and even her natural optimism was being tested by now.

 Her phone buzzed, reminding her that it was time for the photoshoot and her room would be full of stylists in a matter of seconds. Lazily she sat down as her phone buzzed again, she checked it and saw two notifications – one of a very angry dude that she deleted right away, and other from her best friend.

‘Stop texting me or I’m blocking you.’ The message was followed by a cute sticker of an annoyed bear. Minjoo chuckled softly at it. Chaewon always say this kind of stuff, they both knew she wouldn’t block her even if she spammed her with all the stickers the app provided.

‘You wouldn’t dare! You’d feel lonely without my texts.’ She replied with a sticker of a green frog that was her trademark.

Chaewon replied with an eye-roll emoji and a short message: ‘You better bring me food later.’

‘I’ll come over with food and all my love <3’

Chaewon’s reply this time was only composed by many versions of the eye-roll emoji. Minjoo laughed, knowing that Chae was probably at her office right now fighting a smile as the tips of her ears grew red.

Her best friend might try to look cold on the outside, but she was the farthest thing of it. Their friendship was the biggest proof of Chae’s warm heart.

 

 

“I told you, she has nothing in her head, she is failing half of her classes.”

“I heard her parents’ business is about to go down, no wonder she always wears the same beat up shoes.”

“And you saw her skin? She’s a wreck! So much for the school’s beauty…” Scoffs followed every sentence as the rest of the group echoed in agreement. They seem to enjoy engaging in this little activity of talking about her when she wasn’t around.

Some of the other girls added other equally bitter comments, but Minjoo didn’t stay to listen to it.

It was winter and she could feel snow falling down on her shoulders, slowly making her uniform damp and making her shiver slightly – she didn’t mind it. The words she heard earlier were much more hurtful than any cold could ever be.

She wasn’t the brightest student and to be the new kid at school was hard. Her parents weren’t in such great condition now, trying to overcome a bad investment wasn’t easy and they were cutting expenses. She was going through a bad side effect of puberty and her skin was reacting to all the stress in her life, she was reminded of it every time she took a look into the mirror lately.

It wasn’t like they were lying, most of it was actually true, still to hear the people she thought were her friends talking about her with so much despise didn’t only break her heart, but her confidence.

Minjoo didn’t want to cry and show how weak she was, she already had too much to deal with, to be labeled a cry baby too. Yet, it was hard to not cry, and that’s why she was hiding in the school’s garden even though no one else would risk staying outside in such weather. She had thought those girls were slowly accepting her into their group, she even ignored their snarky comments and tried her best to fit in…Minjoo had ‘done it again’, fooling herself into thinking she could be friends with such people.

It wasn’t about popularity or being well liked, she just wanted to have a small group of friends, so for once she wouldn’t feel so out of place and lost – And nobody else bothered to try to be her friend except for them, if she didn’t count the numerous obnoxious boys that pretended to be nice to her only to call her names when she rejected any moves they made.

“’She is such a ’. ‘She thinks she is better than everyone’. ‘Even her parents can’t stand her that’s why she lives on her own.’ ‘No wonder she doesn’t have any friends.’” A voice, one that Minjoo didn’t recall hearing more than a couple of times said, oddly close to her as a girl took a seat beside her on the bench. “They always say the same kind of stuff. The truth, but meaner and definitely from a very biased point of view.”

 Minjoo tried to wipe the tears away hastily, turning around to face the girl by her side.

Kim Chaewon wasn’t looking at her, instead her gaze was in the lifeless trees scattered around the garden. She rested her hands on her lap and looked as calm as ever – perhaps ‘indifferent’ would’ve been a better definition. Chaewon was never frazzled, no matter what, she always maintained her cool façade with only a change on the glint of her eyes whenever something happened. She was the last person she expected to see now.

“What I mean is that you can’t ever win against them. You can, however, not pay them attention and let them choke on their own words.” Finally the slightly older Kim glanced at the brunette. They were in the same class, but it was the first time Minjoo ever spoke to the other girl.

The taller girl understood her words. It was all about your attitude and resilience, the latter being a hard thing for Minjoo. If the words she heard just a couple of minutes ago had affected her so much, how could she ignore it? How could she tune out the negativity and pretend she didn’t hear the whispers or noticed the dirty looks?

“Sometimes is better to be alone.” Chaewon shrugged, as if it was that simple – it wasn’t, and they both knew it. Chaewon was just telling her that maybe it would be better to not try to befriend anyone, than risking getting hurt by them.

Yet, Chaewon was there now and somehow, even with her weird words and cold exterior, it made Minjoo feel a little better.

“Then…Why are you here?” It wasn’t a complaint, she wasn’t trying to scare away the first nice person that approached her that day. It was a legit question, one that she hoped it would have a good answer. 

Chaewon fidgeted with her gloved fingers, giving her a small, slightly awkward, smile and Minjoo noticed it was only the first time she had seen her smile genuinely. “Because sometimes you need to have someone by your side too.”

A single sentence shouldn’t make her emotional, nor should it touch her so deeply. But maybe due to how sincere Chaewon’s gaze was, or the sweetness in her voice, it made a very different type of tears try to make their way out of her eyes.

She didn’t have time to say anything, Chaewon stood up and gently tugged her sleeve, making her follow suit. “It’s cold, let’s go inside.”

That day Chaewon stayed by her side at all times, mostly in a silence that was awkward at first, but slowly became a comfortable one. She understood that the girl was careful with her words and actions, that approaching her was probably as hard to Chaewon as it was for her to accept this sudden friendship.  

It took time and effort from both sides to learn how to trust and rely on each other and create a real bond. However, they were willing to try and if you ever asked if growing closer was a hard task, both would say the same thing: absolutely not.

 

 

Minjoo rested her back against the wall, eyes on the screen of her phone as she scrolled through her social media accounts. Wearing jeans, old sneakers and a white shirt under a light black jacket shouldn’t make her such an attractive view, but for Chaewon and perhaps anyone who spotted her right now, she was surely hard to miss. Her recently dyed red hair fell graciously over her shoulders and partially covered the pretty and soft features of her face, the bangs down her forehead were unable to hide the big brown eyes that reflect the small smile she sported on her full lips.

Chaewon giggled softly, not because it was a funny sight, just because her best friend always looked like she was in a TV commercial and while impressive, it was also pretty funny when she remembered all the embarrassing advertisements Minjoo used to shoot to get extra money.

“Are you planning on camping outside my apartment again?” The brown haired woman asked her friend, finally getting noticed by the taller girl that smiled at her brightly shaking her head and making her red hair get slightly disarranged – Chaewon had dyed her hair in a similar color once, but she got tired of it pretty fast and now she concluded that the color suited the other woman much better.

“I was waiting for you!” Minjoo’s sweet voice come to meet her dazzling smile, she run to Chaewon’s side and for a moment the brunette thought she looked like a cute puppy greeting its owner – then she remembered that Minjoo was more like a frog and the fact that she was waiting outside could only mean one thing.

With a sigh, she eyed the girl. “You forgot the password again and punched whatever came to your mind until you got the door lock blocked, didn’t you?” Chaewon didn’t wait for a direct reply, the glint of guilt on Minjoo’s eyes was enough – that girl would make the cops be called on them someday and she could only imagine how pathetic it would be to be scolded for getting wrong her own security code. The engineer proceeded unblocking the system by inserting the long code, before using her usual one to unlock the door and allow them to enter – she made sure Minjoo was watching as she did it, even though she knew her friend would most likely forget it again. Note to self: give Minjoo one of her electronic cards for emergencies.

She didn’t make a note on why her best friend needed one, nor questioned why the woman was always at her house when the actress’ place was just down the street. For Chaewon getting home and not seeing the other Kim was the same as being at the wrong place, she was too used to her presence.

The taller woman gave her an apologetic smile and a hug, making it hard for them to get in, as she excitedly informed she had bought them dinner and it was Chaewon’s favorite jajamyeon. Chae shook her head, but returned her smile.

It’s was just an ordinary night for the Kims. They would eat together, watch a movie and talk about their days – mostly Minjoo, Chaewon tended to be more of a listener. Minjoo would sleep over ninety percent of the time and they would cuddle so often it was almost an unspoken rule.

“No date tonight?” Chaewon asked after they were done with dinner and the delicious food had made her forget about Minjoo’s little mistake. She suddenly remembered that Minjoo was supposed to be unavailable for their homebody activities as she was dating a model – or was it another actor? She didn’t pay much attention to none of Minjoo’s boyfriends, they never last anyway. The girl should be busy dating instead of being with her now.

Minjoo made a face, shaking her head. “You know it never goes beyond ‘hi you’re so pretty let’s date as long as you don’t speak’ with these guys.” She shrugged, showing an indifference that they both knew wasn’t genuine. It was foolish of her, but Minjoo couldn’t help but harbor hope every time she met someone new, even when she tried her best to be careful and keep her hopes low, her inner wishes of finally finding someone to be her partner in life always made her heart ache a little whenever she failed. Unfortunately, her heart never knew success.

The brunette shook her head, clicking her tongue. “Why you still try then?” She already knew the answer, just like she knew Minjoo like the back of her hand.

“Because different of you, some of us aren’t perfectly confident independent woman who don’t need a relationship, just an infinite amount of mint-choco ice cream.” Minjoo was teasing her, nudging her shoulder lightly, but her tone was as sweet as ever.

It was Chaewon’s turn to scoff, looking over her wine glass to see her best friend sporting a dramatic pout. “I go on dates, you know? I’m just not as addicted  to it as some desperate people I know…” She teased with a smirk, making Minjoo’s pout turn into a grimace as the girl poked her sides in return for the offense.

Chaewon tried to shrug her off by pushing her glass into Minjoo’s hands and making her way to the couch. “Besides, I’m turning 29 next month and it will be only a year until we get married.” She delivery her words nonchalantly as she picked the movie from the TV’s catalogue.

Minjoo plumped down on the couch, laying with her feet on the older woman’s lap, completely comfortable. “Ei, I can find someone before that! One year and a half is a lot of time, who knows I might even be married by then.” The redhaired argued, she looked pretty confident for someone who had just admitted her failed romantic life.

“You failed to find someone for the last ten years, I’m confident in your capacity of failing a little more.” The brunette replied, patting her knees lightly with a condescending smile. “I’ll just wait here.”

As usual, the younger Kim only focused on the fact that Chaewon was mocking her, ignoring the brunette’s last statement. Chaewon thought she did it because she never took her words seriously. Minjoo did it for fearing taking them to her heart.

And also as usual, Minjoo tried to kick her best friend out of the couch as a punishment, what led to both women pushing each other between chuckles and light hearted bickering until they both were too tired to continue and settle down with cuddling instead.

Chaewon loved these moments, just like she loved Minjoo’s gentle vanilla scent and her warm body pressed by her side. But tonight when the movie was long over and redhead slept on her shoulder. her hot breathes hitting her sensitive skin, she wished the actress had paid more attention to her words and understood the meaning behind them.

Perhaps it was time to make it a little clear.

 

 

The night before graduation the girls stayed over Chaewon’s house, eating junk food and listening to the songs that Chae finds relaxing but made Minjoo a little sleep. It was a quiet night, especially in Chaewon’s single apartment. It was a little cramped, but throughout the last three years, it had become their safe place, the one place they could talk about anything and everything, and just enjoy each other’s company.

 Minjoo had come back from her very first heartbreak, as the one person she thought liked her for more than just her looks, turned out to like someone else and only tried to get her attention as a form of making the other girl jealous. She felt her heart ache, more than for the fact that she had lost someone who had never been really hers, but because she had made a fool of herself and thought that maybe the nervousness she felt around that person was a signal of love when it was probably just intuition informing her things wouldn’t work out.

It was only natural for her to look for Chaewon, the one person whom she knew would never hurt her heart, but help to mend it instead. And here she was now, her head resting on the girl’s lap as Chaewon caressed her hair, the slightly older girl had her eyes closed and if Minjoo didn’t know her better she would think Chaewon was about to fall asleep. However, it was her best friend and she knew her all too well.

Chaewon had grimaced as she heard her story, and albeit she kept her silence, there was a glimpse of rage in her eyes and her cold façade was ruined for a moment, before Chae managed to regain her composure. Minjoo knew it was her defense mechanism, to not let people know what was going through her mind, to try to shut out everyone so they couldn’t hurt her – except that she never left her out, what meant that the fact that she was seeing this Chaewon instead of her Chaewon, was because the other girl probably thought she wouldn’t like to hear what she really thought about this matter.

The taller girl hated it. She didn’t want to be treated with this kind of care. She wanted her Chaewon now – the playful and caring one, the one that liked to and wouldn’t hesitated before nagging at her or give her a scold, the one that could be incredibly sweet and affectionate when there was no one around. She wanted the Chaewon most people didn’t know existed, but she had slowly uncovered at the course of these three years.

The brunette’s eyes fluttered open when she felt arms hugging her waist and heard Minjoo’s muffled voice against her hoodie. ”Go ahead and say it, Chae. It hurts me more to see you acting like this than hear you saying you warned me to not trust anyone.”

Chaewon’s fingers stopped, her hand involuntarily closing into a fist. It wasn’t like she just wanted to brag about being right, or scold Minjoo for her poor decisions, it was just…It just a little too much to see the girl like that and she was having a hard time admitting to herself the reason why.

Sighing, she lowered her gaze, staring at Minjoo’s black hair that was all she could see with the girl having her head shoved against her hoodie. “Minjoo?” She called softly, almost hesitant. When it was about Minjoo, all her protective walls seem to disappear, leaving her there, vulnerable to the girl. “I could say it, and it would’ve been true, but it’s not what I want to tell you now.” She gave her a small, broken smile that the younger Kim couldn’t see or else she would have noticed what should’ve been clear all along. “I just think you deserve better than this. You should look for better. Don’t just accept anyone because you want to fall in love so badly.”

The younger brunette finally moved, turning to face her with a similar smile, one that wasn’t happy by any meanings. “But how will I find it if I never try, Chae?”

Chae averted her gaze to the wall opposite them, eyes looking for the pictures scattered around the place. Pictures of them. “Isn’t love suppose to happen naturally? I guess it would just find its way to you.” She shrugged, her words sounding empty to her own ears.

“And what if it doesn’t?”

A silence fell over them for a moment, and Minjoo thought the other girl might not answer at all. But when she did, there was a very familiar smirk on her lips – it was her Chaewon again, the mischievous side of her. “Then I guess you’ll become an old crazy cat lady.” Chae shrugged as if it wasn’t big deal.

It was a very childish reply and perhaps she should’ve got annoyed at her for downplaying her problems, but Minjoo only hit her thigh lightly. “I’m not becoming a crazy lady!”  She opposed, keeping her eyes on Chaewon. “If nothing else works and I’m still single when I turn 30, I can…We can just get married!” She didn’t know what motivated her to make such ridiculous suggestion and as soon as the words came out of , she wondered why she had even said it. Weirdly, she didn’t regret it.

“Get married?” Minjoo expected some kind of mischievous reply, perhaps even irony. Instead, she felt Chaewon’s finger go back to lightly brush her hair, and her voice sounded oddly low when she spoke. She didn’t look at Minjoo, just shrugged again. “It seems like I’m stuck with you then.” But there was a smile on her face and it warmed Minjoo’s heart.

“Really?” It was only a joke, the kind of silly thing that didn’t mean much, but it somehow made her feel a little more hopeful about the future – Minjoo didn’t think about why the possibility of having Chaewon as her wife one day made her happy or why the other girl agreed on it, she would rather to not overthink it. “Promise?” She offered Chae her pinky, hoping for her to seal their promise.

“Uhum.” The older Kim nodded, her lips turning into a playful smile at Minjoo’s childish gesture – she didn’t reject it though. Intertwining their fingers, she held onto the brunette for a moment longer than necessary. “Don’t worry, I won’t forget about it.”

Neither of them did.

 

With a yawn, Minjoo forced herself to leave the bed and head to the bathroom. It was the begin of another day and the shooting for the drama would start in less than an hour. She had plenty of clothes at Chaewon’s place, and after taking a quick shower to wake herself up, she got dressed, just a simple combination of jeans and a red t-shirt – very much like last night – with one of Chaewon’s hoodies that smells like mint and is much warmer than her jacket. It was too simple and not very fitting for an actress, but she didn’t care, as soon as she reached the set they would doll her up and she wanted to feel comfortable for a little while before the torture.

Back to the room, she spotted her friend still asleep and couldn’t help but smile at the sight. Chae could play it cool all she wanted, but when she was sleepy, she was the most adorable creature in this word and Minjoo never missed an opportunity to witness these moments.

Taking a place beside the bed, she leaned in to inspect the older woman’s face as her fingers ever so slightly touched her brown hair. Brushing aside her bangs gently, she touched the sensitive skin of the face, first the forehead, then the nose bridge all the way to its tip – her eyes captured every subtle reaction Chaewon showed, from the way her eyebrows furrow slightly, to the soft, yet grumpy, sounds that left the woman’s parted lips.  In seconds, Chaewon’s soft chestnut eyes were staring at her in a mix of confusion and annoyance that was so endearing to the younger’s heart. Minjoo’s smile grew bigger and playful, her index finger drawing an imaginary flower on the brunette’s cheek.

“Hello! I’ve to go, but I wanted to see your weirdly pretty morning face before I leave.” She greeted, the mischief in her tone winning her a groan out of the other woman.

“Why didn’t you just go?” Chaewon whined, shutting her eyes close again and trying to hide under the covers again – the younger Kim made sure she didn’t.

“But then I wouldn’t see my favorite morning sight!”

The brunette grunted at Minjoo’s remark, shooting her eyes open again to face the redhead. “Go to work, Kim Minjoo.” She ordered, or at least tried to, with her barely open eyes and the cute pout on her face, it was hard to find her intimidating.

With a soft chuckle, Minjoo leaned in to kiss her forehead – Chaewon groaned again, but didn’t push her away. She liked her morning kisses just fine and they both knew it. “Have a good day, Chaewonie.”

Standing up, she went to grab her purse, but something made her stop half way.

“Ei, that’s my hoodie!” Chaewon shouted, her eyes finally completely open to glare at her best friend.

Muffling her giggles, the actress waved her hands in goodbye. “Bye bye, Chae! I’ll give it back to you at night!” She promised, before sprinting out of Chae’s sight, fast enough to avoid getting hit by a pillow.

Minjoo rested her back against the closed door of the apartment, the big smile on her face slowly fading away. She liked to wake up by Chaewon’s side, to see her puffy face and to , she loved it even more when they could have breakfast together and the food was awful because they both at cooking, but it was so fun to make that they never ordered food instead. She liked…Everything, as long as Chae was there.

Perhaps she liked it a little too much.

Shaking her head slightly, she made her way to the elevator. Pressing the button to the ground floor, she let her mind run free, going back to last night. Chaewon didn’t seem to notice how her words had power over the younger, how strong of an impression they left in Minjoo’s mind. The engineer was only joking, she knew that much, so why her heart skipped a beat every time?

Hugging herself, she closed her eyes and let the scent of mint and something sweeter – was it strawberry? –  involve her, bringing a feeling of warm and safety.  The hoodie was just like its owner in that sense.

“I’m sorry,” Someone interrupted her, his voice was deep and slightly hesitant. “Could you, perhaps…”

Opening her eyes, she come to face a handsome young man who had his phone out. Blinking she forced a smile. A picture? Of course, she couldn’t deny these requests without earning herself a ‘snob’ fame online. “Yes, sure.” She reached to grab the phone with one hand, as she used the other to fix her hair.

Minjoo was about to ask him to come a little closer so she could snap the picture, when he said: “I wasn’t sure someone pretty like you would agree on giving me your number like this. I know it’s sudden, but I couldn’t waste the opportunity.”

She let her hand fall again, only years of acting preventing her from turning her smile into a frown. That guy was hitting on her, he wasn’t one of her fans.

The redhead considered turning him down right away, explain it was a misunderstand. But as the guy smiled at her, the glint of hope in his eyes, all she could think off was the subtle pain in her chest every time Chaewon mentioned the idea of them getting married as a joke.

Their promise would never be fulfilled, therefore she might as well give herself another try at being happy.

“Why not?” She said more to herself than to the man, as she inserted her digits into his phone.

 

 

“Hey…No, I just arrived…Oh shut up, I can handle it myself!” Chaewon spoke to the person on the other side of the line, Minjoo, who was persistently asking about her date. She had set her up with some guy, a friend of her new fling, and Chae was as excited for it as she was to her dentist appointment – and just like she avoided going to her medical appointments at all costs, she also avoided the date.

The cashier frowned at her, waiting for the girl to finish her discussion over the phone to hand her a big bucket of popcorn and a cup of soda – Kim just grabbed it anyway. Chaewon thanked her quietly, as she balanced the food in her hands, while the phone was still pressed between her cheek and her shoulder – quite a weird view to the passerby.

She was supposed to be at some restaurant, waiting for her date and preparing herself to face the stranger. But here she was, at the movies, ready to see some superhero movie she didn’t even like that much, just so she could kill some time.

Minjoo would most definitely get mad at her for this, albeit Chae would rather to hear her nagging than to put on a show for a guy she wasn’t interested on to begin with.

She took a seat at the middle row, thanking mentally that the theater was nearly empty – the movie was released long ago and most people had seen it already. Now with her hands free, she held the phone against her ear again, focusing more on the sound of her friend’s voice, than in what she was saying – something about trying to smile more? As if she would even bother.

The movie was about to begin and it would be better to hang up, especially when she didn’t even like the subject of the conversation. Still, she liked the sound of Minjoo’s voice as the younger woman tried her best to give her tips about how to make things go smoothly.

Chaewon almost felt guilty for ditching her date after Minjoo put so much effort into making her have a good time. Only almost. She knew very well she was making the right choice not going, Kim was making herself and the guy a favor by not showing up and starting something that would fail nonetheless. She didn’t want to date whoever Minjoo had set her up with, nor the man would want someone that couldn’t date him sincerely.

Therefore, she just hummed quietly as she listened to Minjoo, even after the lights were off and the movie started.

After ten minutes of this, where Chaewon just munched into her popcorn and let the younger Kim make all the conversation, the redhaired seem to finally realize something was off – what kind of person stays on the phone for 20 minutes when she was supposed to be on a date?

“Is everything okay, Chae?” Minjoo asked, concern in her tone. The actress probably thought she was stood up by the guy – oh the irony.

Muffling a laugh, Chaewon shook her head even though the other woman couldn’t see her. “Will you still be dating when my birthday comes?” She asked, ignoring the original question.

“What? Chaewon, did you drink already?” The concern was now replaced by confusion in Minjoo’s voice and Chaewon’s heart grew a little fonder – confused Minjoo was the cutest Minjoo after all.

“No, I didn’t.” The older woman left out an airy chuckle. “So, will you?”

The redhead hesitated, and Chae could hear a sigh in her voice when she replied. “Why does it matter?”

Chaewon didn’t reply right away, considering for a moment before breaking the silence. “I guess it doesn’t. Just make sure you have the date free, it’s the least you can do for crashing at my place so often.”

“Ya, no need to act like this!” The protest came as expected, but was it her impression or Minjoo’s voice sounded more frustrated than anything else? “I would spend time with you anyway.”

Chaewon chuckled softly, relaxing in her seat. “I know, I’m counting on it.” With this, she ended the call.

She didn’t really recall much of the movie as she left the theater later that night, her mind filled with a clear plan for the next year. She had waited long enough.

 

 

Chaewon watched with half lidded eyes as the other girl did her best to climb on the playground climber, reaching the very top just so she could take a seat on the bars painted in deep green. Minjoo called her over with a smile that was hard to ignore, so Chae followed her, taking a seat only a level below.

It was almost the end of their first high school year, therefore the climber didn’t look very tall or menacing as Chaewon recalled it to be when she was a child. It was only enough to give them a better view of the other toys at the playground. She looked up to meet Minjoo’s eyes, the girl looked pretty happy to be there even if it was only a nearly empty playground with toys too small for them.

“I love places like this. When I was younger my dad would always bring me here. It was just like an amusement park back then.” The slight younger girl shared, her tone light, expressing that it was a fond memory to her. Chae smiled, a subtle curving of her lips.

Although Minjoo tended to trust people easily, she had learned her lesson and even if she was still pretty friendly to people, she usually just stayed around Chaewon – it made her feel safe. They have been hanging out for the last couple of months, finding comfort in each other’s presence and learning to enjoy it.

Chaewon was still pretty much her old self, keeping her distance from people, being labeled as a cold person for most, and as a snob for some. She was, however, warming up to Minjoo. Slowly, she let the girl into her life, sharing small moments and memories like this. For her building trust takes a lot of time, but Minjoo made it easy and before she knew it, she was returning her efforts and telling about her own childhood. “I didn’t come here often. My parents didn’t have time, but Eunbi would bring me once in a while. I never liked this kind of thing.” She gestured the climber they were on in the moment. If she was honest, she was just too scared to climb it at the time. “She would just play with me in the swings and the see-saw, it was fun.”

Minjoo nodded, an understanding smile on her face. Chaewon didn’t talk much about her family, she would rarely mention her parents, but sometimes she would mention Eunbi, her older sister who was in college now. They didn’t live together, her parents were overseas for work and her sister stayed in the college dorms, hence why Chaewon lived by herself in a small apartment near school. It bothered Minjoo to know that the fellow Kim didn’t have anyone waiting home after a long day or could run to her parents to ask for help whenever she needed. She wondered if Chaewon felt lonely? Resentful? Or just upset?

Still, the taller brunette never asked about it. She didn’t because Chaewon wasn’t the type that liked to share her pain, instead she would rather ignore it. Therefore, Minjoo had found another way to make her feel better – or at least try to.

Reaching to touch Chaewon hair to get her attention – it felt very soft against her hand and she did often, Chae never complained so she understood as a signal that she didn’t mind it. “Things are a little better at home now. The store is getting more clients and my parents are smiling more often.” Minjoo shared, feeling comfortable enough to tell her anything. Chaewon might not say much about herself, but she was great at listening and it wasn’t hard to see how much she cared about everything she heard.

“Really? This is really good, Minjoo!” The smile Chae gave her was enough to bright up the whole place, and maybe because it was so rare, it seemed even more precious to the younger Kim.

“Yes!” Minjoo herself was thrilled that things were getting better. Her parents were very sweet and protective, trying to keep her out of their ‘adult problems’ to not burden her, however, it would be impossible for her to not notice when the money started to run out and they had to move into a smaller house in a new neighborhood in the middle of her school year. Now things were looking up. The brunette struggled to take a pair of tickets from the pocket of her school’s coat and show it to Chaewon. “Look, dad gave me this! Isn’t your birthday tomorrow?”

The shorter girl faced her with a confused expression, surprised not only because Minjoo was nearly shoving the tickets on her face, but also because the girl was able to remember something she had only mentioned once.

“We can spend the day there, it would be really fun!” Minjoo continued, excitement tinted her voice in all kind of colors.

She usually hanged out with Eunbi on her birthdays, eating at her favorite place and going to the movies after, her parents would call at the end of the night to congratulate her and say they were sorry for missing the date – sometimes she doubted it, but she still accepted their greetings and the money they would send her to buy something nice. This year would be different since Eunbi was busy with college and having an internship at a big company, and she wouldn’t be able to stay with her for the day.

She was expecting spending it on her own and she was okay with it…Then why she couldn’t control her smile right now? She didn’t even like amusement parks that much.

As Minjoo started at her expectantly and her dark eyes sparkled with a special glint, Chaewon realized something that would affect her life from then on: she might not like many things, but she really liked Minjoo.

Chaewon’s reply came in the form of a flushed face and a childish grin, an enthusiastic nod confirming her acceptance. It seemed to be enough for Minjoo, who shoved a ticket in her hand before making her way down the playground climber – nearly falling face first, but it was such a common occurrence that only made Chaewon chuckle softly as she followed her.

“The tickets are on me, but the food will be on you. So, I’ll make sure to eat plenty!” The younger Kim said, pointing a finger at Chaewon who was still smiling at her clumsiness. “Everything except that toothpaste thing you always eat!”

Chaewon’s smiled dropped from her face as she hurried to reach the younger girl and defend her beloved mint-choco ice cream. “Ei, Kim Minjoo!”

It was the beginning of a long hour of bickering, playful shoves here and there and muffled laughs. It was also the first time that Chaewon allowed herself to be so careless, chasing after Minjoo through the playground like a…Teenager? Perhaps it was the first time she was indeed acting like one.

That day, just like her sixteenth birthday become a very precious date for her and all because Minjoo there. It would only be the first of many others as their bond grew stronger and the line between “I” and “Us” disappeared.

 

 

By the time Chaewon’s birthday arrived, Minjoo had been single for over a week – the elevator guy, Jonghyun, hadn’t last more than twenty days, and albeit annoyed by her latest failed relationship, she couldn’t say she was hurt by the break up. Perhaps she was the one to blame this time, her unrealistic expectations doomed the relationship to failure.

The guy this time wasn’t rude, or a ert, or even greedy to latch on her fame. He was…Average, just a normal guy, with a typical job and life, he was funny and did his best to act like a gentleman around her. Really, this time she was the only one to blame. It started when Jonghyun called her when she was on her way to Chae’s place, and listening to his voice asking her to go on a date with him instead, made her weirdly annoyed and she was pretty sure he noticed it. This annoyance just became worse with time. He was always asking about her plans and how she became so close to Chaewon when the girl seemed so unfriendly. It was true, but still annoyed her to listen someone talk about her best friend like that – she was the only one allowed to nag Chae about her terrible social skills, besides how could he understand their bond?

So that was it, she had broken up with him with a lazy excuse about being busy with work, when in fact she was just annoyed that he couldn’t stop questioning her friendship with the other Kim.

Relationships come and go, but Chaewon was always with her. Maybe that was why she was never upset after ending another fling. Her heart always complained about the lost opportunity, but seeing the brunette was enough for it to flutter happily again.

That’s why she grinned when the front door opened, revealing her sleepy best friend. She greeted Chaewon with a bear hug. “Happy birthday, Chaewonie!”

“This early?” It was supposed to be a complaint, but Chaewon’s voice was muffled by Minjoo’s white sweater, so it just sounded cute to the taller woman’s ears.

“I have a lot of plans!” The younger Kim explained, her grin still on her face as she hugged the girl better – completely woken Chaewon would have pushed her away complaining about how clingy she could be, but sleepy Chaewon was more than glad to snuggle further into her, making the embrace last a lot more than originally intended. None of them complained.

After several minutes, Minjoo managed to push Chaewon’s towards her room and get her to change into appropriate clothes for their day date – friendly date, but still. She decided to make them some breakfast, to the best of her capacities, that included simple sandwiches and some orange juice. For everyone’s good, she didn’t risk cooking anything today.

The engineer entered the kitchen a couple of minutes later, wearing the bright mint sweater Minjoo had handed her earlier. “You bought me a matching item for my birthday? Shouldn’t you have given me both then?” Chaewon asked, pointing out Minjoo’s white sweater with a little frog emblem on the right side of the chest, the same as Chaewon’s. The redhead smiled sheepishly and Chae wished she could say she was annoyed at her best friend for making her wear something so embarrassing to go to…where were they even going? Doesn’t matter, she would still wear it anyway.

“Thank you, MinMin.” She couldn’t help but return the smile. “Now, what about telling me where are we going?”

“Our old place!” Minjoo chirped, showing her a pair of tickets. Their old place was nothing less than an amusement park they used to go to back in high school. “Hurry up and eat, it opens at 9 and I want to go to all the rides.”

The birthday girl shook her head slightly, before following Minjoo’s request and starting to eat.

Hours later, when they were both inside a booth in the Ferris wheel, going up to the sky with the gentle wind rocking it softly, Chaewon smirked at her best friend.

The place had changed quite a bit, it was full of new attractions and some of their favorite rides didn’t even exist anymore. Her and Minjoo, though, hadn’t changed that much. Minjoo was surprisingly brave and willing to go to any ride, while Chaewon would rather to ride only the ones that couldn’t give her a heart attack. Chaewon didn’t love the haunted house, but Minjoo wouldn’t risk even going near it – it was funny and the brunette considered dragging her friend inside as payback for making ride all the rollercoasters of the park, she decided against it as the day was coming to an ending and she wouldn’t waste the opportunity of seeing the sunset riding the Ferris wheel.

“It’s getting late, but I think we still have time to pay the haunted house a visit before leaving, what you think?” She asked just for the sake of messing with Minjoo.

As expected, the redhead was quick to reject her suggestion. “No! I have reservations at a restaurant, we won’t have time for that.”

It was a blatant lie and Chaewon could see right through Minjoo, she knew the other Kim so well that she could spot her lies from a mile away. How could an actress be such a terrible liar? Chae had this theory that Minjoo just channeled a completely different person when she sets a foot at work. “I’ll say I believe it because last time you cried for half an hour.” She winked at the girl and received a whinny and a light shove as reply.

Snickering, she rested her arm over the slightly younger girl’s shoulders, she pulled her closer so they both could see the pretty view. It was a good day in many ways and she could’ve called it a nearly perfect birthday – it was simple, fun and she had the person she loves beside her.

Love.

Chaewon took a deep breath, resting her head on the girl’s. Yeah, this wasn’t a new feeling, but it still amazed her how it seemed to grow every day.

Minjoo tensed up for a moment, before relaxing and snuggling against Chae’s side. Mint scent filled her lungs as she rested her head on the older woman’s shoulder, the soft fabric of the sweater and the natural warm of Chaewon’s body making the place extra comfortable. The day went just as she planned. The sweater fit the brunette perfectly, just like her hand on hers as they walked around the park the whole day. They enjoyed all the rides – her more than the older girl, she admitted this part –, the food, and even tried their luck at some games and took some pictures at a booth. She even bought Chaewon and her cute headbands.

During the day they just talked about random things, just enjoying being silly with each other and allowing themselves to laugh and forget about their adult lives for a little while. Minjoo had genuinely felt happy and by the sparkle in Chae’s eyes, she knew the other woman felt the same way.

How weird wasn’t the fact that her best dates were always her ‘friendly-dates’ with Chaewon, instead of the numerous ‘real’ dates she had with her past boyfriends? She hugged her friend’s waist a little tighter, as if like this Chaewon wouldn’t be able to ever leave her.

“Minjoo?” Chae’s soft voice interrupted her thoughts, it sounded a little deeper than usual – it reminded her of the old Chaewon, the one that was so closed off on herself before they became friends and Minjoo got to see beyond her façade.

“Hm?” Raising her gaze, her chocolate brown eyes met Chae’s chestnut ones that still seem so bright even in the little illumination inside the booth – Minjoo thought they carried a special glint that night.

“I’m 29.” The brunette announced, in such obvious statement that it seemed a little redundant. Her tone, however, didn’t betray any signal of amusement. Chae looked oddly serious.  “Only one year to go now.”

Maybe because Chaewon looked so into this moment, the sudden commentary about their old promised, made the younger girl tense up. She hated it, she hated that Chae decided to ruin a moment like this with that silly joke. “I know.” Straightening herself, she pretended to be busy fixing her hair to distance herself from the girl and avoid her eyes. “Don’t worry. A year is still plenty of time.”  

“I don’t think you know.” Chaewon’s cryptic reply made Minjoo furrow her eyebrows, a question on her face that was never answered because the engineer had one of her own to ask. “Can I have a birthday kiss?”

It took the redhead a moment to fully realize what she just heard, and when she did, her eyes grew wider. “A what?!”

“I’ll have two then!” In a very unusual demonstration of affection, the brunette pulled her closer again to press her soft lips against Minjoo’s cheek for a moment too long. It wasn’t big deal, it wasn’t like they hadn’t kissed each other – platonically – many times before, but the younger girl was having a problem functionating as Chae smiled at her after the kiss. “This year won’t be like the others.” With a grin, Chaewon kissed the other side of her face, resulting in a very flustered Minjoo that was almost as red as her hair.

As if on a cue, the booth reached the ground as soon as Chaewon pulled away. Grabbing the actress’ hand, the shorter woman stood up and started to drag her friend back to the outside world. “Time to go! We don’t want to lose the reservation, right?”

Minjoo had a bunch of questions regarding this weird behavior of her best friend, but she didn’t get to ask anything and she didn’t mind it. Chae’s soft and warm hand was on hers, and she still could feel her cheeks red, yet she was too happy to care about it now – if she had paid a little more attention to her partner, she would notice the tips of Chaewon’s ears were as red as her face, and the silly grin on her lips that she would never be able to control.

 

 

Chaewon’s ‘weird’ behavior at that day was only the beginning of a subtle, but very noticeable change in their relationship in the course of the next weeks – Minjoo wasn’t the greatest at picking on the clues, what made the older girl’s work a little more complex.

Now she was waiting for Minjoo outside her apartment, instead of the other way around. Her feet hitting the floor was the only signal of her nerves. Chaewon had left work earlier than usual, leaving her projects aside for once, and went over to the restaurant that served Minjoo’s favorite food so she could bring it for them to eat together. Minjoo wasn’t sleeping over her place as often due to the fact that she had to leave very early for her drama shooting and she would use all her spare time to memorize her lines. Therefore, Chaewon decided it would be a nice change to pay her a visit.

One would think that with over than years to plan for this moment, she would know what to do – but she was still only herself, and Chaewon was never great at dating. Try to woo the younger woman with flowers, fancy gifts, candle lighted dinners and all the typical stuff just didn’t seem like the right thing to do.

She was good at taking care of Minjoo though, and perhaps she could show her feelings in a different way.

Small things like buying her dinner and talk about their day seem like a good start point. Albeit part of her was afraid this was too little, that it would go over Minjoo’s head and she wouldn’t even notice the extra effort Chaewon was putting into things. It was a risk she would have to face, she just hoped no one would try to steal away her future wife while she was at it.

Chaewon made a face at the thought of the existence of someone else in Minjoo’s life. She wasn’t jealous, was she?

“Chae?! What are you doing here?” The redhead interrupted her thoughts, frowning in worry as she noticed the older girl’s expression.

With a chuckle that was more out of embarrassment than anything else, she lifted the bag in her hand. “I bought us dinner. Shall we?” She gestured the door, hoping that the fellow Kim wouldn’t notice her red ears.

It was Minjoo’s turn to chuckle, amusement in her eyes as she stared at the shorter woman. “Chaewon, you know the code. You could have just entered.”

It was true and Chaewon didn’t have a good excuse for waiting outside like a fool when she would usually just enter and make herself comfortable. Chae took a hand to her face, pretending to fix her bangs when she was just trying to hide the light blush in her cheeks, as she replied. “I wanted to wait for you just like you always wait for me.”

The reply didn’t come in the form of words, instead Minjoo cling to her arms with that smiled that made her look like a puppy and dragged her to inside the house.

While they ate, Minjoo told her all about the drama, complaining about the long scenes filmed outdoors and how she hoped that they finished before winter. Chaewon listened intentionally, making a note to buy Minjoo a new, warmer coat to leave at her place, so the girl wouldn’t need to come back home to pick something up.

After it, Minjoo asked about her day and Chaewon fought the urge to brush the question aside – it wasn’t really big deal, her work was pretty boring today, but she knew that Minjoo still wanted to hear about it because that was how caring she was. So, she did. She told her about all the projects and the problematic construction workers that insisted on arguing with her about all sort of things, she even told her about her coworker being a huge fan of hers – Minjoo offered to giver her an autograph for him, Chaewon refused to deliver it.

Their conversation soon turned back to Minjoo’s work as the woman still had to memorize the changes in the scrip for her next shoot in two days and she was struggling with it. Chaewon knew she still struggled with this kind of thing sometimes and it wasn’t unusual for her to help Minjoo rehearse her lines.

“MinMin?” She didn’t call her like that often, mainly because it was a little embarrassing and Minjoo always beamed at that, making her embarrassment turn into a full blush. She was trying to change it as well, slipping in the cute nickname here and there.

“Yes, Chaewonie?” The taller woman looked at her over her the pages of the script, her eyes crinkling at the corners adorably.

“Do you want to stay at my place? I can give you a ride to work and it would be easier to have someone to run lines with you at home.” The engineer asked in an impulse.

Minjoo narrowed her eyes, lowering the script so she could stare properly at the other Kim – Chaewon moved on her seat, trying her best to not showcase how nervous she was. It wasn’t that much of big of deal, she wasn’t asking Minjoo to move in with her, it was just…Her best friend’s voice saved her from the torture of her own thoughts.

“Aren’t you suggesting it just because you miss having me around?” Beaming. Minjoo was beaming as she asked playfully, she was like a kid with that smile and the way she stared at the brunette in expectation.

Minjoo was so transparent that it was almost annoying. Chaewon loved it.

“Perhaps.” Chaewon tried to admit it coolly, but by the way she could feel her ears burning, she was a lost cause.

Luckily for her, Minjoo didn’t seem to mind it. Not at all. “I’ll pack my stuff.”

 

 

There was a spare room in Chaewon’s apartment, but as if in a silent agreement, they left Minjoo’s things in her bedroom instead and Chaewon had to fight a smile as she saw the redhead lay down on her bed with her cute white and green pajamas, ready to cuddle – her script was forgotten somewhere in the house. She looked like she was at home and Chae would make sure she didn’t have a change of heart.

Driving Minjoo to work every day meant Chaewon had to wake up half an hour earlier to drop her by the studio and head to her office. But it also meant that she would sleep surrounded by Minjoo’s addicting vanilla scent and her warm arms hugging her tightly – sleepy Minjoo was even more clingy and it was almost like having an extension of her own body. Chaewon could get used to it.

Minjoo was the one to wake up first, gently rocking Chaewon back and forth so the woman would get up in time. They didn’t have a fixed routine just yet, so Minjoo went to bathroom first to take a quick shower, while the other would fix them breakfast – with things that didn’t require cooking, since even though Chaewon would like to take pride in her omelets, everyone else seem to beg to differ about the taste of it.

After eating, they headed to Minjoo’s work – they went to a school that would be the location for today instead of the broadcast station. Chaewon hadn’t brought the new coat yet, and to be honest, Minjoo already seem to have enough clothes of hers to keep warm for a whole winter, but still the older girl lend her favorite coat – the checkered one that Minjoo loved to borrow and the redhead accept it gladly.

“Isn’t Eunbi visiting this month?” Minjoo had asked as she slipped into the coat, hugging herself for a moment. She looked like the happiest little frog on Earth and Chaewon didn’t look any different when she linked their arms together, leading the way to her car at the garage.

“She is busy with some stuff, she is working with Sian this time and you know how they are. Besides someone has to look after my niece.” Her sister lived in Busan and sometimes she came over for the weekend, but it was harder now that she was raising her little girl while trying to keep her job at the company. Their parents had part on it, but Eunbi was always so self-sufficient that she wouldn’t accept any special treatment, what meant that she would overwork herself to climb her way up at the company – it was a little problematic since Sian didn’t seem to agree with her way of doing things lately.

Chaewon shook her head slightly, wonder if she wasn’t the one that should visit them this time.

Opening the door of the car for Minjoo, she made sure her hand was over the actress’ head until she was safely sat at the passenger’s seat – this wasn’t about being romantic, Minjoo was just too clumsy for her own good and Chae developed the habit of looking out for her, making sure she didn’t arrive with a bruise at the drama set was only one of the things she was used to do.

“What about going there for Christmas? Do you think we would be intruding?” Minjoo suggested as if she could read her mind. “I miss Hyewon, she must have grown so much since the last time I saw her.” The girl continued as Chaewon drove off. They still had a lot of time and the location was pretty close but you can’t ever underestimate the traffic in a big city.

“I think she would be happy to see you too. You spoiled her a lot last time.” Chae snickered as she remembered how engrossed Minjoo was into getting her niece to like her. They might not be a couple, yet, but Minjoo already fit so well in their family. After so many years, Eunbi was so used to the younger Kim presence that she would joke about having two little sisters instead of only one – it made sense since they are shared the same last name, still Chaewon always frowned at the thought of being related to Minjoo like that.  “I’ll talk to them about it. We don’t need to stay over Eunbi’s place, we can find a house near the beach for the weekend or something like this.”

“The beach! Too bad it will be cold, but the view would be great and…”

Before Chaewon knew it, Minjoo and her were already planning their vacations for the next year. Not that it surprised her, it was actually very natural for them. They were so sure of each other’s unwavering presence in their lives that it didn’t seem weird to think about the future, one way or another they would be together.

Time went by fast as they talked and soon Chaewon parked her car in front of the school where Minjoo would be filming at. The actress looked surprised and maybe even a little disappointed to see they were already there.

Chaewon took another mental note: ask Minjoo about that again, it looked like she really wanted to spend some time away of the city and Chaewon could find them a good place to visit even if only for one night.

“I should get going. I still have to change and get my make up done.” The redhead announced, although she didn’t seem particularly happy to go to work that day.

“Tell them to give you something warm to wear or else your fiancée will come back to take you home.”

“Fiancée?” As expected her silly suggestion was enough to make Minjoo’s smile grow bigger, the girl hitting her shoulder gently. “Don’t change your mind later! I might really call you.”

“Just text me and I’ll be here.” Chaewon reassured, smiling at her as Minjoo leaned in to kiss her cheek quickly. However, Chaewon surprised her with a tight hug. “To keep you warm.” Although the hug was indeed so very warm and it filled them both with the light, pleasant feeling that always came with their embraces, it would be a lie to say Chae had done it only for the warmth.

Minjoo’s face was lighten up by a smile, her arms tightly wrapped around Chaewon’s shoulders. Her reply was another kiss on the brunette’s cheek, this one just a little longer than the last.

 

 

As the days passed by, Minjoo couldn’t help but keep a silly smile on her face.

Sleeping over Chaewon’s house wasn’t something new, but this time was different and it wasn’t only due the fact that she was spending more time there than usual.

Usually sleeping over at that place gave her a bittersweet feeling. She was torn by the happiness that filled her heart to be able to go to sleep and wake up beside her best friend, and the pain of knowing Chaewon probably would never feel the same way. Now, however, the pain wasn’t there. It was replaced by a very different, much warmer and brighter sensation – Minjoo wouldn’t dare to label it, but made her heart flutter a little every time she stepped inside the place.

At first, she thought it might be her mind playing tricks on her and making her see things where they didn’t exist, but she slowly realized it wasn’t the case.

Chaewon’s place was different, little changes that seem to reflect Minjoo’s most banal wishes.  Once she said that she liked white better than dark colors for the ambient, the next day the red wine curtains were replaced by white ones. She was sensitive to the cold and stepping on the cold floor of the bedroom every morning made her wince, Chae seem to notice it and she dragged the redhead to pick a fluff carpet. Minjoo had trouble keeping up with her shooting schedule, so now Chaewon just wrote down everything in the white board at the kitchen alongside with her own schedule.

The change wasn’t restricted to the house. Chaewon’s attention seem to surround her in every way, even when the engineer wasn’t around. From the thick, yet so very soft, white coat Chae had given her as an unexpected gift, to the little sticky notes that she would find in her clothes and objects with brief messages that varied from ‘stay warm and don’t skip any meals’ to ‘you’re you doing great, be confident’, and sometimes even flirty ones like ‘you look cute today, but also every other day’. As if it wasn’t enough, Chaewon would act completely nonchalant about it, she would pretend there was nothing different and when asked, she would just say ‘it was how things were supposed to be’ with a cryptic smile and her ears red. At this point Minjoo was genuinely confused – and pathetically happy.

She considered that maybe it was just Chaewon’s way to support her since this drama was the first one where she would be playing a leading role instead of a villain or just a supporting character. But this wouldn’t explain all the unusual and perhaps unnecessary skinship that the brunette was doing lately – and there was a lot of it. Long hugs, too many cheek kisses, she even held her hand sometimes…And don’t even get her started on all the times she would pat her back, or caress her hair.

Minjoo’s heart wasn’t ready for this kind of intimacy. The touches weren’t in any way inappropriate or unwelcome, she was used to touching Chaewon and showing her affection after all, but it was surprising to see the other woman initiating it.

Minjoo didn’t want to delude herself, but it was hard to not interpret Chaewon’s actions as more than friendly.

Chaewon also took the initiative in other things. Her cellphone lighting up with a message was the proof of it:

“Are you done?

 I’ll pick you up.” 

Her little grumpy girl that always complained about her excessive texting, had been texting her more and more often and sometimes Minjoo would ghost her just to let her know the feeling – she might be in love, but Chaewon was still her best friend and was part of their routine. Although this time she answered right away.

“We just shot the last scene!

Pick me up in 15m?”

Chae’s reply came shortly after, confirming she would be there soon.

Minjoo smiled to herself as she headed to her rest room to get out of her character’s clothes and into her normal ones. It was Friday and thankfully there weren’t any night scenes being filmed today and she would have the weekend free, finally she would have some time off.

Chaewon waited for her at the parking lot, she was resting against her car with her arms folded and looked like pretty much like the perfect example of a girlfriend waiting for her lover to arrive. Chae was wearing her work clothes still, dark pants and a green turtle neck sweater under her cream colored coat that matched Minjoo’s well. In the younger woman’s opinion, she looked absolutely dashing and perhaps it would be better to be more careful when greeting her to avoid them being noticed by the reporters that always seem to be everywhere – she wasn’t careful though, greeting Chaewon with a tight hug as she snuggled into the girl so she could feel the scent of mint that came from her. She was convinced that Chaewon smelt like home, otherwise why would she feel so comfortable even though they were in the middle of the parking lot?

“Missing me that much, future wife?” She could hear the smirk on Chae’s words, this kind of comment was becoming more common as well, making her wonder how much of joke it still was. But any annoyance she could feel at the remark disappeared when she felt a kiss being placed on her head. “Come on. It’s cold.” The brunette urged her to get into the car.

After leaving the place and entering the intense traffic, it took Minjoo some minutes to realize they were going to the opposite direction of their, she meant Chaewon’s, place. “Chaewon? Where are we going?”

Instead of a direct answer, she won another one of those cryptic smiles as Chae reached to hold her hand with her right one. “You’ll see soon. Trust me, please?”

Minjoo would rather knowing where they were going after such a long day, but she couldn’t fight Chaewon’s cute smile and warm hands. Intertwining their fingers, she nodded. “I always do.”

 

 

Chaewon was nervous and excited as they headed to the airport. The last couple of weeks had been erratic, both for Minjoo’s work and her projects, and for her attempts of making herself noticed. She was confident that, at least to a certain extent, Minjoo had noticed her efforts – after all she didn’t see a single obnoxious man trying to take her into dates in weeks, nor Minjoo mentioned having a new boyfriend, what was a first and Chae would like to think it was because she was the only one to whom Minjoo was paying attention now.

Minjoo’s eyes grew wide as she noticed where they had arrived, and Chaewon interrupted her before she could start asking questions. “Remember you said you wanted to go somewhere to relax if you had the chance? This our chance.” She showed her a black face mask, asking for permission through a look, before fixing it on Minjoo’s face. “I have the tickets and got you all you need in a backpack in the trunk. It’s just two days, but I picked a place you’ll really like.”

Minjoo lowered the mask, facing the brunette. “We are travelling?!” Her voice sounded a little higher than usual due to the excitement and seeing her like this made Chaewon relax, knowing her efforts would be worth if it made the other girl this happy. “Why the mask though?”

The older snickered at the question. “Do you want someone to recognize you and start asking why you’re travelling with an unknown girl to the one place every couple wants to go for their honeymoon?”

 “Are we going to Jeju Island?” As expected from Minjoo, she completely ignored the important part to focus on the fact that she would be seeing the sea in couple of hours. “Oh my god, Chaewon! You have been planning this all along?”

“Enough questions! We don’t have much time.” Fixing the mask on her face, Chaewon put one of her hats on the girl’s head, making sure she was well covered before they left the car to enter the airport.  They were in luck it was out of season and their flight didn’t have as many passengers as the usual, making it easier for Minjoo to go unnoticed – although Chaewon doubted the old ladies at the line would be pleased to meet the person who usually ruined their dramas.

They arrived at Jeju by the end of the night, albeit Chaewon couldn’t recall much of the flight having fallen asleep on Minjoo’s shoulder. She was still a little sleepy when they caught a taxi to take them to the place Chae had find them – it wasn’t a hotel, but an apartment near the beach. The owners of the place didn’t come here often and they assured she could have the place whenever she needed – of course, her parents who still lived abroad wouldn’t mind if she spent a couple of day at their place.

She had asked someone to have it cleaned up before, but it still smelt a bit like abandonment. The place wasn’t very big, but it was organized and had everything they could need. Tomorrow they would have to buy groceries, however for now, it was just fine as the two of them just wanted to sleep – or at least that was what she wanted to do, as for Minjoo, the girl was too busy looking at view from the balcony.

“Do you like it here?” Chaewon asked, taking the taller woman by surprise as she back hugged her. She rested her cheek on Minjoo’s lean back, letting the sweet smell of vanilla and the ocean involve her.

Minjoo relaxed, leaning back against her. “I love it.”

“Good.” She nodded, resting her chin on Minjoo’s shoulder. “It’s my parent’s place, they won’t mind if we come here to celebrate our honeymoon as well.”

“Kim Chaewon! Will you ever stop with this joke?” The younger woman asked with annoyance in her voice, although she didn’t try to shake her off.

Chaewon wondered if she should back out, by now she thought her intentions were clear enough, but what if it wasn’t what Minjoo wanted? She moved slightly to meet Minjoo’s eyes and what she saw made her think that it was okay to keep going.

“Huh? Who said it was a joke?” The older Kim was too tired to feel embarrassed about her bold statement, so she just showed a small, fond smile. “Minjoo, I’m keeping my word. Don’t I always do?”

Hesitation flashed through the Minjoo’s eyes for a moment as she considered her best friend’s words. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to hug Chaewon. “You always do.” But it wasn’t about keeping promises, it was about the feeling behind her willingness to do so.

 

 

They woke up early the next morning – Minjoo by choice and Chaewon by her very hyped friend.

There was a slight tension in the air last night, but thankfully they were too tired to keep the conversation going and ended up falling asleep. Minjoo, however, was still very aware of Chaewon’s words and her brain insisted on replaying the scene, making it hard for her to look at Chaewon without asking the questions that were bothering her: Did she really meant it? And if she did, was it for the right reasons?

“Come on, I want to see the city!” With these words, she dragged Chaewon with her to have breakfast at a nearby place. It was much warmer than in Seoul and albeit it wasn’t in her plans initially, she decided that visiting the beach would be a nice idea – only that Jeju had quite a few beaches and for Chaewon’s horror, Minjoo wanted to see as many as she could. So they did it.

“Do we really have to do this now?” The shorter asked as they walked through the beach and she tried to take off her shoes to carry them instead, rushing to keep up with the redhead.

It was the fourth beach that morning, the sun was high up the sky with barely any clouds, oddly the place wasn’t crowded by tourists. Minjoo walked closer to the water, enjoying the feeling of the small waves hitting her feet every now and then, while Chaewon walked beside her squeezing her eyes due to the excessive luminosity.

“You said I would have fun here and I think this is fun.” Minjoo grinned at her as she playfully kicked the shallow water at Chaewon’s direction. She had her cellphone ready to snap a picture – of both, Chaewon’s surprised face and the pretty view. “Aren’t you keeping your word then?”  There was a hint of something else in her voice, a not so subtle reference to their last conversation.

“The first three were okay, now they all just look the same!” They didn’t. Jeju had over a dozen beaches and each had its charms, Chaewon was just not very fond of walking and visiting these places required a lot of it. Usually the brunette would kick some wet sand back at her friend, it was probably what Minjoo expected of her, but the taller woman’s question made her hesitate before she weakly kicked the sand. “Didn’t I tell you yesterday I always do?”

“Then do your best! Impress me!” Water splashed on Chaewon just like the words hit her, the younger Kim’s laugher following. There was a clear message in her words, one well expressed by her smile: she was aware of Chaewon’s intentions and her actions, and willing to accept them.

It took Chaewon a moment to react, a smile slowly making its way to her face as she ran to Minjoo’s side, kicking the water at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll!”

And she did, because Chaewon indeed always kept her word.

They played in the water like the kids they were once, kicking and splashing, shoving one another lightly and laughing at each failed attack and every clumsy step that led them to get stuck in the sand. Chaewon tried her best to focus on the moment and let herself enjoy it, providing Minjoo with what she would like the most: be genuine. Minjoo never demanded much from her, just like she didn’t expect from anything other than just receive the girl’s sincere smile and her genuine happiness – perhaps that was what love was all about, wanting someone for who they really were and cherishing them for it, while still trying your best to keep them this way.

She didn’t have to force a laugh, or to think too much, they had the most fun when they simply let themselves go – even if it meant given in to her silliest ideas like trying to carry Minjoo into the water only to collapse under her weight and get them both covered in sea water and sand. None of them minded it, laughing and making fun of each other’s appearance…At least until they had to search for Minjoo’s phone and ran to a café nearby to try and resurrect it.

Both, Minjoo and Chaewon, as well as the phone, spent a good afternoon enjoying the sea breeze to get rid of the sea water.

“You look like a wet hedgehog.” Minjoo giggling as she stared at Chaewon wild brown hair covering partially her face, Chaewon had the habit of looking like a grumpy kid even when she wasn’t doing anything – people had a word for it, but she never thought it fit her best friend. Chaewon was always cute regardless of her snarky eyes.

“And you look like a mess.” Chaewon said reaching to take out some kind of algae that was stuck on Minjoo’s damp hair. They were seating at a table outside the café, waiting for their lunch to arrive and both smelt like the ocean, or ocean’s fish to be more accurate, and people would steal glances of them and whisper – Chaewon’s frown did the work at scaring them away. “A pretty one nonetheless.” She smiled, combing her fingers through Minjoo’s orangish hair to fix it. Her gestures were sweet, but there was a mischievous glint in her eyes. “What do you call a baby frog? MinMin?”

“Calling me a mess and a frog, is this your way to compliment your future wife?” Shaking her head slightly, Minjoo rolled her eyes at Chae’s attempt of teasing. How could she get mad at her, when Chaewon was touching her so gently and staring at her as if she was the most precious person in the world? Minjoo was having trouble seeing her bratty best friend in the other woman right now.

 “Well, you just called me a hedgehog, while I called you a pretty mess.” Chae corrected with a smirk. “Besides, I like my frog just fine. It’s a pretty cute one.”

Fighting a smile, she hit Chaewon’s shoulder lightly, resting her hand on it. Since when Chae was such a good flirter? Minjoo wasn’t complaining. “Chaewonie isn’t a bad looking hedgehog either. A little moody, but it can be really adorable sometimes.”  She rested her free hand on the brunette’s face and they exchanged a smile.

There was a different kind of tension now, but it was a very welcomed one.

Chaewon’s eyes looked a little brighter today, sparkling in the same proportion the tip of her ears grew warmer, and Minjoo leaned in to see it up and close. She always loved the pure chestnut in the older Kim’s eyes, she loved it much better now that it had a special glint – one that was meant for her. She was considering the idea of checking if a kiss might make the sparkles on Chae’s eyes grew even brighter, when an annoyingly familiar voice interrupted them.

“Minjoo-ah? Hi! I didn’t think I’d see you here…And with her out of all people.” The man, Minjoo’s ex that Chaewon never bothered to remember the name an only called him as the ‘Elevator stalker’, greeted as his eyes inspected the women as if he was checking a new product at a shop.

The glint in the brunette’s eyes became dull, her eyes sharp as she furrowed her eyebrows at the newcomer, glaring at him. She wasn’t a jealous person, really. But why the hell this dude had to be there today? Chaewon was considering trying to dry Minjoo’s phone with that man’s face…Okay, maybe she was a slightly on the jealous side, only slightly.

 “If I knew you’d be here, we wouldn’t have come.” She muttered to herself, secretly hoping to be heard. Maybe like this the guy would get the clue to leave – she was in luck, Minjoo had a better to do this.

“Of course, we’re partners for life.” The actress declared, grinning as her gaze once more met Chaewon’s – the brunette averted her eyes, trying to control her own smile. “I hope you’re enjoying the place as much as we are, Jonghyun.” The sweetness in Minjoo’s voice was surprisingly genuine, as she reached to grab Chaewon’s hand and squeeze it softly. “Now if you excuse us, our food is here.” Gesturing the waitress coming their way, she not so subtly asked the man to leave.

“Yeah, sure…Partners…I figured it.” He mumbled giving them a final look before making his way back to his table inside the café.

They watched Jonghyun leave and exchanged a glance before busting out in laugh.

 

 

The first time they kissed wasn’t during a special moment, they weren’t at a beautiful place or had planned a complicate date, it was just one of these nights where they would bicker and cuddle in the couch until one of them fell asleep – the only difference was that this time they weren’t at Chae’s house, but at the apartment in Jeju after a long day of playing around and visiting every interesting location, like the tourists they were.

The rest of the day had gone by fast, after coming back home to take a shower and get into new clothes, they left again to visit some touristic attractions. The mood was light and Chaewon felt a new confidence blossoming on her chest as she held onto Minjoo’s hand and the redhead smiled at her. They walked until her feet was sore and Minjoo had took enough pictures for a year – yes, her cellphone somewhat survived the sea encounter, barely but survived. They would have to use Chaewon’s phone from now on.

They came back at the beginning of the night, after having dinner at a nice restaurant and buying some things at the convenience store – only ice cream and snacks, they did considerer the idea of buying something to cook, but the idea was rejected as they remembered none of them could really cook.

It was too early to sleep and maybe they should’ve explored the night life of the city, however both were tired after such a long day and their homebody tendencies couldn’t be ignored, which led them to the position they were now.

A horror movie was playing on the TV, the soundtrack creepier than the movie itself, making Minjoo cling onto Chaewon more than usual as the older girl mocked her for being such a coward even though she wasn’t that brave herself. Chae’s teasing led them to yet another round of light hearted bickering – mainly because Minjoo would rather engage in any other activity than to pay attention to the scary scenes of the movie.

“You know, my parents know this one director and he is making a horror movie. I think it would be just the perfect opportunity for you. Should I tell him you asked for an interview?” Chaewon had said, smirking at the younger woman. It was a complete lie, but scared cat Minjoo wouldn’t even question her, too busy refusing her kind offer.

“Thank you, but no thank you. Why don’t you ask one for yourself? I think you’d look nice as the girl that haunts the girl’s bathroom.” The redhead replied making a reference to the obnoxious character that haunted the bathrooms of Hogwarts.

“Well, I’d be thrilled to play the Myrtle, but unfortunately they aren’t redoing the movies yet.” Chaewon shrugged nonchalantly, dodging one of Minjoo’s hands that tried to hit her shoulder. “But you can still get a new job! I think he is doing a dark version of a Disney movie, perhaps you can play as the cursed frog princess?”

Minjoo threw a pillow at her, but it only made the brunette smirked catching it. Changing her strategy, she went for a more direct attack: Chae was very sensitive to tickling and this way Minjoo wins both, the argument and Chaewon’s laugh. The older woman wasn’t ready for the sudden attack and the redhead had asserted her victory by tickling her vulnerable sides mercilessly.

The engineer tried to fight back, but it was useless when Minjoo had already reached her weak points. Chae’s laugh echoed through the room, it was loud and addictive, becoming airy as she run out of breath for laughing too much. Minjoo’s chuckles joined her, it was filled with pride for her little win over her best friend, and of fondness because seeing Chaewon smile always made her to do the same – even if she was the literal cause of it.

After a couple of minutes, when Minjoo finally gave her a little break to breath, Chae managed to get ahold of her hands to prevent a new attack. Trying to catch her breath, she looked at her favorite girl, the one that was heartless enough to nearly make her collapse from laughing, but still managed to look so pure and adorable with a bright smile that made her Indian dimples stand out. Chaewon should use this chance to return the attack, but it was the last thing on her mind right now, her heart beating happily as she fondly stared at the redhead.

“Minjoo did it again.” Cupping her face with one of her hands, she used her free hand to ruffle her bangs lightly and gave her a soft smile that reached her chestnut eyes giving them a very familiar sparkle.

Minjoo felt her heart warm up at the view, her own smile becoming smaller as she got lost into Chaewon’s gaze. “What did I do?”

“Made me fall for you.” The warmth in her heart spread to the rest of her body as Chae leaned in, brushing her nose against hers in a silly, yet heart fluttering touch. Their breathes become one, the sparkles in Chaewon eyes becoming like stars as she got close, blinding the younger until she couldn’t help but close her eyes. Soft lips brushed against hers gently, making the stars explode behind Minjoo’s eyes, coloring her mind in colors.

Reaching out, Minjoo grabbed fistfuls of the mint colored sweater the brunette wore, pulling her closer, molding her lips to hers. The touch was light, their lips brushing against each other briefly, each time making a little longer, a little deeper. Chaewon was like a painter, leaving colored marks on her every time they kissed, bringing a new emotion at every gentle touch.

Chae’s right hand was still on the side of the younger woman’s face, caressing her cheek ever so slight, as her left one laced Minjoo’s neck, her fingers touching the sensitive skin of her nape before going up to enter her hair to comb her fingers through it as she brought her closer to kiss her bottom lip, on it lightly and receiving a pleased sigh in return. Pulling away slightly, she kissed Minjoo’s cheek and jaw, making the kisses as brief as she could – it was their first kiss and her heart was going haywire, but she didn’t want her feelings to take over and rush the moment.

Minjoo, however, wasn’t as careful. She hugged her waist tight, bringing their lips together again, completely rendered by the emotion of the moment. As if they had done it many times before, the second kiss was even more eager than the first, their lips fitting each other so well, searching for more contact. With a soft whimper, she slid her tongue over Chaewon’s bottom lip and the brunette understood the request, allowing her to deepen the kiss with a moan of her own.

The kiss was a little rough at first, rushed from both parts, but none of them would complain about it. Chae could feel her heart beating on her ears, strong and ridiculous happy and she melted under Minjoo’s touch – she wasn’t worried the girl could hear it, she could her heart beating fast too.

The redhead thought the woman tasted like mint-choco ice cream, what didn’t surprise her at all, it was familiar and weirdly good. Kissing Chaewon brought all the sensations she already knew when she was around the other Kim: happiness and safety, it made her feel warm and content, as if all the extra colors Chaewon added to her world didn’t make it a new, but instead bright up her old reality.

She decided she wouldn’t mind tasting mint-choco every day.

 

 

The trip to Jeju was too short for them to fully enjoy this new stage of their relationship. What was their relationship? It was hard to tell. The first kiss led to many more, as well as some very long cuddling and hand holding sessions that could make anyone cringe by how sweet they were.

There was no awkwardness between them, surprisingly it felt just right to evolve their relationship like this and both found themselves wanting for more. For years they had thought about the possibility and now that it was here, it was almost too good to be true.

Chaewon thought Minjoo’s hands fit right into hers, just like her lips. The feelings were as sweet as the chocolate in MinMin’s eyes and warmer than her breathes against Chae’s face when they kissed, it was a feeling that filled her up from within and brought a new light to everything, as if it was indeed a new world just for the two of them, or perhaps Minjoo had only let her in into her own universe – she would like to think it was the case, it was an universe she would never get tired of exploring.

Minjoo thought Chae fit right into her arms, that her hugs were the warmest and her kisses the only ones that brought her world to life. She always thought kisses weren’t that special, that the descriptions in the books and movies were exaggerated, and perhaps they were for most – but when she was with Chaewon every moment had its own magic. More than the mere physical attraction, her heart was so light and full that even the smallest contact was enough to make her all giddy on the inside.

Everything was, mainly, innocent – baby steps, that was what Chaewon was trying to go for.

For the disappointment of both of them, destiny seem to agree on the idea, forcing them apart by giving Minjoo long hours at the set, sometimes going on for the whole night – her drama got an extension thanks to the good ratings, but her schedules were killing her. Chaewon also had to visit some of her projects, what meant she couldn’t just ignore her sleeping hours just to go see Minjoo on set. They barely had time to see each other, and aside from quick slight clumsy kisses, they didn’t have time to enjoy how things were now, even less time to discuss and label it. Minjoo’s parents sudden visit didn’t help neither, since the redhead had to go back to her apartment to stay with them.

Chaewon loved the Kims – the other Kims – sometimes even a little more than her own parents, but their timing was terrible. Minjoo dragged her to see them and it was awkward enough for her want to crawl into a hole, not because they weren’t nice to her and she didn’t miss them, but because she had no clue on how to act now. Part of her wanted to be bold and tell them about her and Minjoo, but another part wasn’t so sure it was a good idea, after all shouldn’t their daughter be the one giving the news? She didn’t recall Minjoo introducing them to any of her boyfriends, so she was still on the lead by far – this kind of silly thought still haunted her every now and then, it was her insecurity fighting her crescent boosts of confidence.

Minjoo was going through a similar dilemma. Technically she didn’t have to introduce Chaewon to her parents, they knew each other for almost as long as she knew the girl, but it felt wrong to hide the new status of their relationship. Yet, she didn’t know how to approach the subject, in the past her ‘boyfriends’ just self-proclaimed themselves after a date and that was it, she never really cared. With Chaewon it wasn’t as simple, if they were going for made up titles, she should just inform her parents Chae was her fiancée– they would probably be shocked, but it didn’t sound half bad.

 Luckily for her unofficial-official fiancée, she couldn’t entertain this thought for long as her parents left before she managed to say anything. Chaewon’s relieved sigh could’ve been heard from the other side of the town that night.

“For someone that goes around talking about our wedding like its nothing, you’re surely shy all of sudden.” Minjoo commented. She wasn’t looking at the brunette, too busy inspecting all the food her parents left her and placing it on the freezer – they still think that she will starve living on their own, and it wasn’t that far from the truth, so she would make sure to eat it all.

Chaewon made a face, glad Minjoo couldn’t see her. Just like the younger woman she was also busy organizing all the lunch boxes over the kitchen counter, these were the things that wouldn’t go bad easily. “I admit. We never told them about us before and I…Er, I’ve never met a girlfriend’s parents before.” Her reply was made in a quiet, almost embarrassed voice. She was used to being the more mature one between the two of them – what wasn’t very mature to be honest –, but when it comes down to dating, Minjoo had much more experience to flaunt.

Instead of a verbal reply, she felt arms surrounding her in a back hug. Minjoo’s pretty face was too close now, her chin resting comfortably on her shoulder. Chaewon didn’t flinch, she was too used by her touch by now, but her heart did a little thing – the beats growing stronger and a little faster, as if it was jumping happily at the contact. She tried to turn to face the slightly taller girl, however Minjoo’s lips stopped her – right on the sensitive skin of her neck, sending pleasant chills through her body.

The back hug might not have surprised her much, but was making it hard for her to remember how to breath. Minjoo might be shy at first, and kind of a dorky when you know her a little better, but Chaewon was learning that as a girlfriend she was the very affectionate type.

Minjoo left a trail of kisses, going upwards to her jaw line. She loved kissing the girl, every touch was like their own little special moment that would be engraved in her heart for the rest of the day, making it flutter at the memory even when she was supposed to be busy reading her lines on set. She missed these moments, therefore she didn’t try to refrain herself from showing all her love to her girlfriend…Wasn’t that what Chaewon just implied they were? Fighting a smile, she made her hug a little looser, allowing the brunette to turn to face her.

“So now I’m your girlfriend?” Minjoo asked in a voice as quiet as Chaewon’s, furrowing her brows slightly, a small pout on her face – so very different from the girl who had been kissing the brunette just now. She was watching the shorter woman closely, trying her best to keep her face straight and not give away how excited and happy she felt right now. “Are you so afraid of losing me that you decided everything on your own?” Labels weren’t a big thing for her in the past, but this one seem important when it was Chaewon who would claim it.

Chaewon was having a hard time concentrating – both because she was too close to Minjoo and she wanted to be even closer; and because she could feel herself getting a little flustered for having said too much. She could’ve downplayed her words, tease the younger Kim about hearing things that didn’t exist, but the thing was: she wanted to make things clear between them. She wanted the labels, to be able to do and say everything that her heart told her to, she would even accept the awkward family meetings if it meant Minjoo and her were together.

Braving up, she tried to straighten her back to make herself a little taller, wrapping her arms around the Minjoo’s shoulders and looking into the pretty chocolate eyes she loved so much – thanks gods for her sudden boosts of confidence. “Yes. I waited long enough and even if we promised it would be next year, I don’t want to stay away until then.” Chaewon offered a small, sincere smile that was as nervous as she felt inside. It was silly, she could see in the taller woman’s eyes what her answer would be. “I want this. I want you and us. Not because of the promise or because we might end up as cat ladies...Just because it’s you and I’ll always want you, because I...” Lips that were now so familiar interrupted her, kissing her with so much intensity that it took her by surprise.

Chaewon pulled the redhead closer, kissing her back with the same enthusiasm. The contact was better than words, it was able to transmit all the care and love they felt, and display the chemistry that had always been there. It was hard to believe they had wait for long, when Chaewon was having a hard time keeping herself away from the girl even for a little while.

 Unfortunately for her, breathing was still necessary. When she pulled away, she could notice they were both panting, but had similar silly smiles on their faces.

If Minjoo was struggling to keep her feelings under control earlier, it would be completely impossible now. Her heart was overflowing with love for a very cute hedgehog that filled perfectly the position of the love of her life. She pulled Chae in for another kiss, a shorter, sweeter one. “I can’t believe you made me wait a decade for this!”

 “I can’t believe you date all those guys when I was right there!” Chaewon made a face, clearly displeased at the memory, but ended it with a chuckle – it was okay, none of those guys stood a chance now.

“Believe, it was just as bad for me.” Just to think about all her problematic exes made Minjoo’s head hurt, so instead she focused on the chestnut of Chaewon’s eyes. “I only dated them because you never showed any interest, and I thought if I found someone else it could make me forget about our promise and all the plans my mind insisted on doing every time we were together.”

“It would be impossible to forget it. I tried it a couple of times, and in the ending I realized that I’d happily wait for you if I had to.” Giving her girlfriend a smile, Chaewon kissed one of the cute dimples in Minjoo’s face. “I guess I was right all along, love can find its way to you. But it’s a little faster if you put some effort.” Chae giggled at her own words, remembering how much effort she had putting into getting Minjoo to understand she meant every word about fulfilling their promise and for all the right reasons.

Chae’s words brought the memory of the very first time they talked, that moment back in the school’s frozen garden where Minjoo had felt so sad and lonely, and as if by destiny or pure luck, Chaewon had found her way to her. Minjoo never asked her why she came looking for her, but it didn’t matter now. What mattered was that Chaewon had found her and it changed everything.

Her eyes crinkled in the corners, that silly grin of hers was once again on her face as she hugged Chaewon tight, snuggling into her and letting her scent involve her. If love had a smell it would be mint and strawberries, it would smell just like Chaewon.

“Yes, you really found your way to me. Just like I’ll always find mine to you.”

 

 

It was the usual, a lazy Friday at the engineer’s house, their house, at this point Minjoo only paid rent so she would have a place to go to when her parents were visiting and she had to pretend she didn’t sleep over Chae’s every day – some time later they would accidently learn that Minjoo’s parents knew about it all along and were just messing with them pretending they didn’t.  

Months into their relationship, the changes weren’t very big, they still enjoyed to be in each other’s presence in the most ordinary ways and it wasn’t rare for people to say they were a pretty boring couple – the reporters had given up on making at articles about them since they figured all they ever did when they left the house was go to the movies and sometimes the amusement park, and although cute, it wasn’t exactly news worthy.

 Chaewon yawned, hugging her girl a little closer and kissing her soft hair – it was dark now, she thought Minjoo looked just as gorgeous like this and she told her so.

The younger Kim giggled softly, her sleepy face showing a fondness that was only directed to Chaewon. She reached for the arms that surrounded her, grabbing Chae’s hands so she could kiss them – the older woman hugged her a little tighter, Minjoo’s back resting against her chest. “I love you.” The phrase came naturally, as easy as saying good morning every day. It’s not hard when it’s true and Minjoo found a new joy in the phrase the more she heard it back.

“I love you too, MinMin.” There it was, Chaewon’s adorable sleepy tone that was deeper and sweeter than normal. She rested her chin on Minjoo’s shoulder, stealing a glance at the girl. “Anything you want for your birthday tomorrow?”

Minjoo considered the question for a moment, and nodded as her lips curved into a smile. “Just one thing.”

Crooking her head to the side, Chae tried to see her face better. “And what is it?”

The actress’s smile grew into a grin as she turned to face her girlfriend. “I want to break our promise.”

“Uhum…Wait, what?!” It took a second for Chaewon’s sleepy mind to process her words, and she tried to blink away the sleep. “Minjoo, what do you mean?”

“Don’t look at me like that!” Giggling, she leaned in to give her a quick peck, resting her hand on the girl’s nape and caressing it to assure her everything was fine. “I don’t need another year. To be honest I think we didn’t even need the eleven years we already waited.” Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and tried to emulate her tone that night so many years before. “Let’s get married before we are 30!”

“You mean…” Chae narrowed her eyes, before pulling her into a tight hug. They weren’t back to the start point, many things had changed over the years and the last couple of months had been a very important turning point for them, now it was time to start a new point in their lives – together as they were supposed to be. “A summer wedding? So you really wanted that honeymoon trip to my parents apartment!”

“Oh shut up, Kim Chaewon! Just say yes!”

“I have a very bossy fiancée, huh? And I love her even if she looks a little like an angry frog now!” Chae teased, preventing Minjoo of protesting by kissing her face multiple times, anywhere she could lay her lips on. She finished with a lingering kiss on her lips. Resting her forehead against Minjoo’s, she stared at the sweet dark chocolate eyes that were so deep that it was impossible to not be attracted by them – it was okay, Chaewon wouldn’t mind drowning in her eyes when all she could see in them was love. “Yes, it’s a yes for you. It’s always been.”

Minjoo could’ve said it was the same for her, but words weren’t needed when her face was displaying how happy she felt in the moment. Therefore she just pulled her in for a kiss, this time one long enough to turn her mind into mush as the colors in her heart became real and brighter at every second, just like her love for Chaewon became a little a little stronger and bigger – she didn’t think it would ever stop, she didn’t want it to.

 

 

Epilogue

 

Chaewon was currently reflecting about her life choices – okay, maybe it wasn’t that deep, but she was definitely amused with the turn of events in her life.

How did she end up marrying a frog and having a duck and a dog with her?! She was pretty sure it wasn’t like she had imagined her adult life, although she couldn’t recall how her life was before Minjoo – or the two adorable little animals that were their children. Honestly, she wouldn’t want to imagine how it would be, she wouldn’t trade this life for any other.

After so many years, one thing had never changed for her, and it was how much she loved the woman that was her wife now. Their marriage was, in many senses, a pretty normal one: they had good and bad days, but most of them were good ones and they always found the way back to each other even in the bad ones. Adult life can take a toll on you once in a while, and having somewhere to share this burden was a good thing, however Chaewon preferred to think that living with Minjoo wasn’t only about sharing their struggles, it was more about bringing the best out of the other and create the special magic that was happiness and love – Minjoo was the most powerful witch in this sense. Chae didn’t mind being seduced by her spells.

The married life also brought her two very special and unexpected gifts. Nothing could have prepared her for Yena and Yujin – no one could be prepared for this little duo. The girls were separated by 3 years, yet, they shared a unique connection that was strictly used to keep their moms on edge as they got themselves in all sort of trouble. Yena, their oldest daughter, was the most talkative kid she had ever seen – what was rather ironic considering her and Minjoo were on the shy side –, she had and easy smile and was very affectionate. Chaewon loved her with all her heart; Yujin, their 3 years old maknae, seem to have an infinite amount of energy and a very playful personality, she was smart and mischievous although she could get surprisingly shy when around strangers. Chaewon also loved her with her whole heart.

“Where is the duckie…Mom’s duckie! Duckie!” Chaewon called as she walked around the mess that was their living room with the toys of the girls scattered around and a half-done pillow fort set right in the middle of the place. It was easy to spot a child barely hidden by the curtain, her little face peeking through the transparent fabric. Her mother was kind enough to pretend to search everywhere else first before heading there. “My duckie, where are you?” Narrowing her eyes, she acted as if it was hard to see anything, kneeling down on the floor right in front of the kid.

Her lips turned into a mischievous grin as she suddenly threw the curtains open to reveal a very shocked little girl. “I found the duckie!” She lifted the kid in her arms, meeting her warm dark brown eyes that reflected a glimpse of disappointment for failing at winning the game, a little cute pout that reminded Chaewon of Minjoo. “Oh my baby! Who is this cutie? So cute!” She pinched her cheeks affectionately, giving her a kiss in the forehead. Yena, her six year old daughter, was very easy to please and loved to receive compliments – she was indeed the most adorable thing Chaewon had ever laid her eyes on, with her fluffy cheeks, bright eyes and pouty lips, it wasn’t hard to find compliments to give her. “Aren’t you so pretty?! My baby is so big now!” She continued, peppering her daughter’s face with kisses, making the little girl laugh.

Kim never thought about herself as the maternal type, turns out that it only took her a beautiful little girl who is oddly similar to a duckling to turn her into a fool. Needless to say, having a puppy like kid after the first one just worsened her pathetic state as a very silly and loving parent.

A light chuckle filled the room, making mother and daughter turn to face the source of the sound – both furrow their brows for a brief moment, before opening a huge smile to greet her.

Minjoo returned the smile, feeling her heart light at the sight of her beautiful family. The remaining member of the said family was currently in her arms, struggling to finish a cookie that was too big for her tiny hands – Yujin surely was a greedy one. The youngest was supposed to be hiding like her sister, but Minjoo had found her trying to steal some cookies at the kitchen instead. It was late and she shouldn’t allow Yujin to do so, yet when her baby looked at her with those big puppy eyes, it was impossible to not give her a cookie – in Minjoo’s defense, she had made Yujin promised she wouldn’t try to get more without permission and the kid had sealed the promise with a kiss on her cheek. Hence why the kid was still trying to finish her food as Minjoo carried her back to the living room.

Luckily for her, she had reached the room right in time to see the cute little moment between her wife and their daughter – it was something that happened often and shouldn’t make her melt so much, but every time she saw it, she turned into the biggest softie in the world.  “Can we join or is this a duck event only?” Minjoo beamed at them, coming closer to the duo.

Yujin finally seem to notice where they were at, she shook her half-eaten cookie, showing her mother and sister a gummy smile a little darker than usual thanks to all the chocolate in – Minjoo would’ve to help her brush her teeth again later.

As expected, the kids urged their mothers to put them on the ground so they could run to the pillow fort to continue playing there. There was no chance the said fort would stay in place for more than ten minutes again, therefore they only laughed when Yena tripped and took half of the construction with her. Yujin followed her sister’s example and there wasn’t anything a single pillow standing after it. While Yena desperately tried to fix the ‘walls’ back up, Yujin just happily jumped around – somehow there was still a piece of cookie in her hand.

The couple shared a look and nodded in a silent agreement as they headed to help the kids out – in the ending the fort reconstruction, even with the best of Chaewon’s expertise and Minjoo’s attention to detail, was still a fail and they gave up midway as Yujin fell asleep while trying to climb the couch.

They carried the kids to the bathroom, making sure they brush their teeth before heading to bed – it wasn’t easy to wake up a moody Yujin, but with all the chocolate in her teeth Minjoo was afraid she wouldn’t have any teeth left tomorrow morning if she didn’t clean up now. As usual Yena tried to use the sink as her personal pond and Chaewon had to prevent her from getting all wet, reminding her that she wasn’t a real duck after all.

Since Yena was a scared cat and Yujin didn’t like being alone, the girls slept in the same room down the hall, two doors away from their moms’ room.

They tucked the girls into bed, distributing the usual hugs and forehead kisses, as well as wishing the babies a good night of sleep. Sometimes Minjoo would tell a story, or Chaewon would sing something to help the children to fall asleep, but both girls were heavy sleepers and it didn’t take much for them to be on the way to dreamland.

Yawning, Minjoo lazily hugged her wife as they walked to their bedroom. She loved being a mother, her daughters were the light of her life, but handling a full day on set and being a good mother at home wasn’t easy. “We have to find a new place for the cookies. I caught Yujin trying to steal again.”

“Yeah, I noticed by the way she suddenly got brown teeth.” Chaewon chuckled softly, turning to face the taller woman. “I also saw a pretty big cookie on her hand. I wonder if there isn’t anyone enabling her addiction…” Minjoo gave her an apologetic smile, but the older woman only laughed again before pulling her closer to give her a quick kiss. “It’s fine. It’s really hard to resist a cute puppy, I couldn’t even resist a cute frog.”

The actress was too used to be compared with the cute green animal to get annoyed with Chae’s teasing. Therefore, she just smiled sleepy, hugging her wife better and burying her face on the crook of her neck. She just wanted to go to bed and cuddle her for the rest of the night, getting lost in the scent of mint and the warmth of Chaewon. However, she still needed to take a proper shower and get changed. Minjoo sighed, preparing to break the embrace, but she felt Chaewon’s lips on her hair and her hands running through her back.

The older Kim cupped her wife’s face with one hand, eyes full of love as she looked at her. “I’ll help you to get changed, you look like you can use some care today. Besides, I miss babying you.” There was a hint of mischief in her voice, but Minjoo didn’t mind it at all, she just followed the shorter woman.

Much to Minjoo’s surprise, Chaewon treated her just like their kids, sending her to the shower while she picked a pair of comfy pajamas – Minjoo noticed it matched the one the brunette was wearing and it made her smile at Chaewon’s silliness, so much for someone who hated couple items. Changed into the white pajamas, Chae pulled the covers of the bed, tucking her in before going to her side and throwing the covers over them. As the unofficial hugger of the couple, Minjoo was used to being the big spoon, however she didn’t protest when her wife hugged her against her chest, instead she snuggled up Chaewon with a pleased sigh.

“I love you, Chaewonie.” She said, nuzzling into Chae’s neck and leaving a soft kiss there. “I’m glad I proposed to you back in high school.”

Having a happy marriage wasn’t something easy, it required commitment, loyalty and a lot of love. Luckily, she had chosen just the right partner for the task. Chaewon was her partner for life and she couldn’t be any happier about it.

There was a smile on Chaewon’s voice when she replied. “And I’m glad I accepted.” She hugged Minjoo a little tighter. “I love you too, Minjoo.”

 

 

 

A/N: Hello guys. It's my first time writing for 2kim so I'm a little nervous. I know it's like super long, but I hope it was worth the read!

If you managed to read this all, thank you so much and I'm very sorry for any mistakes! I hope you liked it and please let me know what you think.

I also want to thank Cherry for trusting me with this prompt (I hope I didn't disappoint you!) and my friend Charlie for helping me by giving me some very nice tips <3

*In case any of you don’t know (I doubt it) Myrtle is a character in the Harry Potter series.