“It’s cuddle season!” Yuri proclaims, tackling Wonyoung into a hug and sending the both of them sprawling on the couch. Hitomi blinks at this, the two words individually understandable but altogether a foreign phrase to her. She glances at Nako, who shrugs.

“No idea.”

Hitomi nods slowly. “Right.”

Nako tilts her head, speaking out what they both are thinking,

“Maybe Saku-chan would know.”

*

“Cuddle season,” Sakura begins, adjusting her nerdy glasses, “refers to the period wherein the weather starts to get cold and people are beginning to sit a little closer to share warmth. Cuddling is an activity in which—”

“We know what a cuddle is, Saku-chan,” Nako interrupts, amused.

“Thank you for your service.” Hitomi deeply bows.

“Thank you is not enough.” Sakura waves her switch in front of their faces. “Remember your promise,”

“We do.” Nako shifts to sit more comfortably, leaning back against the cushion propped against a bookshelf. She hugs her knees to her chest, “Come on, Saku-chan! I want to see you getting chased around by tarantulas.”

“Your confidence in me is astounding,” Sakura dryly says, but she starts up Animal Crossing with the widest smile Hitomi has ever seen her wear. “Okay so, Hyewon won’t be online because she’s taking Jjaeyeon out, but Yena should be. Nako, shoot her a message demanding her to open her island.”

“Ohhh, are we going to commit arson?”

“Well the game is not that dark, so I think not—”

Hitomi laughs and mirrors Nako’s earlier action, shifting to find a more comfortable position, peering at the screen with interest. It’s not the first time she’s watched Sakura play, but she doesn’t mind. The game itself is relaxingly interesting and Sakura is always so enraptured, her eagerness contagious (as well as her annoyance every time the bugs escape the swing of her net, or the fish disappear from her screen).

Besides, they don’t get to bond often, the three of them. It’s about time they do this, after all.

*

When they finally exit the game-room, it’s time for dinner and the dorm has been invaded with the people from the other dorm. Hitomi can hear Eunbi chiding Minjoo to slice the ham evenly, and Yuri is belting a seemingly heart-breaking song addressed to… ramen. A pot of ramen.

Hitomi blinks.

“Can I help?” Nako asks, already rolling up her sleeves.

“Yes, please fetch our laundry,” Yuri absently answers. “Wonyoung’s already there, give her a hand.”

Yujin perks up. “Can I come too?”

“No,” Minjoo hisses, tugging Yujin back to the suspicious-looking assortment of kimbap fillings they have been plating.

“What about me?” Hitomi curiously asks. Eunbi glances away from the stove and beams at her,

“Just go to the living room, Hii-chan. You can do the dishes after dinner.” Hitomi opens , but Eunbi shakes her head. “You won’t be alone, don’t worry. Chaewon and Yena are jobless too.”

Hitomi crinkles her nose. “Washing dishes with them sounds chaotic,”

“Don’t let Yena-unnie hear that,” Yuri quips. “She will purposefully act annoying to fulfil your prophecy.”

Hitomi fakes a horrified shudder, earning laughter from the others present.

*

The thought of cuddle season doesn’t come into Hitomi’s mind again until an hour after dinner. She has just finished washing the dishes with Chaewon and Yena, and they walk back into the living room with the two older girls chatting in whispered murmurs between themselves. Stepping into the room, Hitomi flicks her gaze to empty couch, and then to the couch adjacent to it. She faintly hears Yena exclaiming, “Yuri! Come with, I have something to show you—” but she refrains from looking over, blinking instead at the four people occupying said couch.

Yujin is sitting at the center, on her phone clicking away with eyes glued to the screen. In her lap is an iPad, playing a movie watched by Minjoo who sidles up on Yujin’s right—and Nako, who’s nestled snugly in Wonyoung’s embrace, to Yujin’s left. Wonyoung seems to be dozing off, head resting on Nako’s shoulder from behind—

“Are you going to stand here forever, Hitoma?” a voice amusedly asks, warm fingers curling around her wrist. Hitomi snaps out of her thought and glances to her side. Chaewon raises an eyebrow at her, “You don’t want to sit?”

Hitomi flushes. “Ah. Yes.” And Chaewon seems to take it as a confirmation, tugging her along to the empty couch next to—the cuddling quartet. Because surely that’s what they’re doing, right? Cuddling…

She settles down an arm away from the other, and she’s shifting to look at the neighbouring couch again except Chaewon then says,

“Why are you glaring at them?”

Hitomi blinks at her in askance and Chaewon gestures to the pile surrounding Yujin,

“You keep watching them with narrowed eyes. Wanna watch the movie too?”

Hitomi shakes her head, allowing a smile to form on her lips. “I was just curious. Yuri mentioned this morning about cuddle season, so—”

Chaewon hums, leaning back and tilting her head sideways to look at her. “What they’re doing is more like a cuddle-pile, instead of a normal cuddle.”

Hitomi mirrors the older girl’s action, eyebrows furrowing slightly as she takes in the other’s words. “Are you not… a fan of the cuddle season, then?”

Chaewon purses her lips. “I’m not opposed to it,” she says, and Hitomi thinks it’s the truth. Compared to Eunbi, Chaewon doesn’t initiate skinship as much, but she doesn’t shy away from receiving them. Chaewon coughs into her fist, gaze averting away, “And, you know. If you want to get into the spirit—”

“The spirit,” Hitomi repeats, the corners of her lips curling up.

“Yes, the spirit of the season.”

“The spirit of the cuddle season.”

“I mean, if we take a leaf from their book—” Chaewon gestures to the carpeted floor, where Sakura is draped on Chaeyeon’s shoulder, the former playing a game while the latter is busy colouring, “it doesn’t look that bad to try out.”

“Just to get a feeling on what it’s all about,” Hitomi muses, feeling the start of a calm excitement in her stomach.

“Exactly,” Chaewon says, grinning at her even as the tip of her ears slightly reddens.

“I guess,” Hitomi concedes, “it won’t hurt to try, in the name of research.”

“Right,” Chaewon nods, clearing . “So…” she extends her arm towards Hitomi, “wanna give cuddle season a shot?”

Hitomi lets out an airy laugh, scooting over until her side presses up against Chaewon’s warm frame, Chaewon’s arm smoothly wrapping around her shoulders and bringing her even closer. They have hugged before, have sat side-by-side plenty of times, but hugs are usually fleeting and sitting side-by-side doesn’t feel as… intimate as this. Hitomi hesitates for a second, then—very slowly—moves to rest her head on Chaewon’s shoulder.

“You’re right,” Hitomi whispers.

“Mmm?”

“This,” she says, fiddling with her fingers, suddenly feeling shy. “This cuddling thing, I meant. It’s not bad.”

Chaewon only hums in response, and after a long beat, moves to place her head on top of Hitomi’s.

“I’m glad,” Chaewon says, voice soft and there’s warmth unfurling inside Hitomi’s chest at the sound, at the feeling of being held so close and the hint of vanilla smell coming from Chaewon’s body. She loves vanilla and Chaewon just suits it so much, too much that sometimes she thinks of the older girl whenever she catches a whiff of the pleasant smell.

“But,” Hitomi slowly says the moment she feels Chaewon’s hold loosen, “it could be better.”

Chaewon pauses. “Oh,” she softly says, but before Chaewon can shift or move away, Hitomi quickly adds,

“I propose we hold this position longer to gather more data.” Then, rather unnecessarily, “For research, of course.”

And then the tension leaves the older girl’s posture, an amused chuckle escaping her lips. There’s a shift, a warmth pressing down Hitomi’s crown for a fleeting second, and a murmured hmm.

There’s no words to follow after that, but Chaewon doesn’t move away, either. Instead she pulls Hitomi close again, still holding her even when Eunbi calls her name to ask about something. Eunbi-unnie might ask her to walk over, Hitomi thinks when Sakura looks over and squints at their loud exchanges—except Eunbi heaves a sigh and gets up to approach them, leaving Hyewon’s side.

“Sakura should just use earphones,” Eunbi grumbles, and Chaewon laughs, slightly squeezing Hitomi’s shoulder. Eunbi catches Hitomi’s eyes and beams, “Hi, Hii-chan. Are you tired? You look sleepy, take a nap Chaewon’s shoulder is comfortable. Anyway, Chaewon—" she turns to Chaewon again and continues their discussion. There’s no change in Chaewon and Hitomi’s positions, only the occasional squeeze from Chaewon’s arm around her and a gentle ruffle to her hair.

Hitomi smiles, slowly closing her eyes, and she snuggles up to Chaewon, the chatters around them fading into the background. Cuddle season is good. She should thank Yuri sometime for introducing the concept to Nako and her.

(I hope she wouldn’t mind a repeat tomorrow, and the days after today.)

[ ♡ ]