Chapter 10: The Ending Scene

“It won’t turn, unnie. Stop trying to hold my hand!” Wheein whined, laughter bubbling inside her as the woman pouted and resorted to holding onto Wheein’s arm instead, allowing the girl to finally open the front door and pull her into the darkness of the hallway. Yongsun kicked off her shoes, and strolled into the kitchen, the sound of the refrigerator door opening making Wheein sigh in amusement; it was always funny seeing Yong get tipsy, and even more entertaining now she was exposed to her clingy, romantic side too.

“Wanna eat jjajjangmyeon? We can recreate the first time you fell in love with my cooking,” Yongsun said with a smirk, opening every cupboard door and pretending as though she was searching for something. Which was near impossible since the woman had yet to turn on the lights.

“No thanks, weirdo. I still haven’t recovered from the first time you cooked it for me,” Wheein said, moving to the flick the lights on and laughing when Yongsun frowned at her, the scowl on her face pulling down her cheeks in a comical way. Wheein walked over to the woman, arms wrapping around her waist and planting a gentle kiss on her cheek, enjoying the way Yongsun’s eyes flickered in response, mouth turning upward and a small sigh escaping her lips. “You look really pretty right now.”

Yongsun rolled her eyes, the only way she knew how to cope with the feeling of embarrassment creeping up her cheeks, dusting them an obvious shade of pink. Hands settling at the base of Wheein’s neck and pulling the girl closer, Yongsun leaned in to kiss her slowly, a tenderness in the action which, paired with the slight taste of alcohol still on Yongsun’s tongue, make Wheein’s skin burn at the sweetness of it all. Yongsun’s thumbs ran over the baby hairs on the girl’s neck, while Wheein’s hands pulled Yongsun in closer, needing her closer, much closer.

“Do you wanna- !” Wheein squealed, hand clutching her chest as she noticed the woman entering the kitchen doorway, an empty glass in one hand and the other covering in an effort not to burst out laughing. “Eomma? you scared me, what are you doing–“

“We told you we were coming back tonight dummy, don’t you check your phone? I even text you to say we’d got back early in case I caught you…well… like this,” Wheein’s mom chuckled, mischief glinting in her eyes as she maneuvered her way around Wheein and patted Yongsun’s reddened cheek. She filled up her glass with water in the most awkward silence Wheein had ever experienced, before making her way back to her bedroom. “Don’t be up too late, girls,” Wheein’s mom said with a wink, leaving the girls standing bewildered in the kitchen.

“Oh god,” Yongsun whined, her head falling onto Wheein’s shoulder and hiding her face from the world. “I think your mom is the best cure for drunkness ever,” Yongsun said, making Wheein laugh loudly.

“Yeah I suddenly feel completely sober too.”

“Did you already tell her about us?” Yongsun asked, lifting her head to look at Wheein, not missing the flickering of the girl’s eyes, and the uncertain quirk of her lips. “I’m not mad.”

“I mentioned bringing you here and I guess she kind of assumed, since most of my time consists of talking about you nowadays.”

“Omo, sounds like someone’s a little obsessed with me,” Yongsun said, letting out a content sigh, holding on tighter to Wheein and smiling mischievously when Wheein tried to push her away, but Yongsun only clung on more tightly. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Yongsun continued to tease, the slight slur in her words reminding Wheein of the alcohol still in their veins.

“I’m not even close to crying, dummy,” Wheein said, tongue sticking out in defiance and taking Yongsun’s hand. “Let’s go to bed before you wake up my dad too.”

“Do you think they think we’re…gonna…”

Wheein shut her bedroom door and turned to Yongsun with amusement swimming in her eyes, sending the older woman a suggestive look as she began undressing for bed.

“Gonna what, unnie?” Wheein asked innocently, not missing the way Yong’s eyes quickly roamed Wheein’s body as the younger girl changed into one of Yongsun’s t-shirts she had left lying around.

“Nevermind,” Yongsun said in a sing-song voice, jumping into bed and pulling the covers over her chin so it only left two big, wide eyes staring at Wheein in silence. Wheein walked over to the bed and put two arms on either side of Yongsun, effectively entrapping the girl beneath the covers. She stared right back at the woman, who was now looking at Wheein’s forehead, refusing to give in to the eye contact Wheein was seeking.

“You know, we’re both adults, unnie. I’m sure no one will mind,” Wheein said, trying to pry the covers away from Yong’s tight grip, only succeeding in revealing her chin and smiling at the dumbfounded look on Yongsun’s face.

“No one will mind…what exactly?” Yongsun asked, words coming out shy and quiet and Wheein almost wanted to pet the woman for being so damn cute. Wheein shrugged nonchalantly, before leaning in to quickly peck Yongsun’s lips, pulling away when the woman tried to follow. She watched Yongsun swallow, before the covers were ever so slowly pulled down and Wheein was pulled down on top of Yongsun by the woman’s hands on her hips. Yongsun pulled the covers over Wheein’s body and simply hugged the girl for a little bit, Wheein surrendering after a moment and finding solace by letting her head fall against Yongsun’s shoulder, relishing in the warmth of her body and placing a few faint kisses on the exposed skin of her shoulder, thanking all Gods in existence for the invention of over-sized t-shirts. And for the woman she clung to.

“Wheein-ah,” Yongsun breathed out, a hand patting the back of Wheein’s head to get the girl’s attention. Wheein lifted her head from Yong’s shoulder and looked at the woman’s face, going a little cross-eyed with the close distance. Yongsun gulped. “I might still be a little tipsy but I really…I really want to. I don’t think I can sleep in the same bed as you tonight without being with you.”

Yongsun’s honesty always surprised Wheein, especially after years of living alongside the woman as a leader, who often sacrificed her own wants and wishes for the sake of the majority. It was empowering hearing her want something for a change, and especially if it was something Wheein was wanting too. Wheein brought her hand to the woman’s face, fingers tracing the supple skin of Yongsun’s cheeks, and letting out a small squeal when Yongsun moved her head so her lips could press a long, sweet kiss to Wheein’s palm. “That tickles,” Wheein said offhandedly, resuming her exploration of the woman’s softness, before placing a kiss of her own on Yongsun’s forehead. “How drunk are you?”

“Not enough to regret this.” Yongsun’s voice had dropped at least an octave, and the sound hit Wheein’s bones in a way that would’ve made her weak if it hadn’t been for Yong’s body beneath hers. She shifting, sitting up a little so she was placed securely on Yongsun’s hips, and pulling the girl up with her. Yongsun reached around to switch on the small bedside lamp, basking the room in warm orange. Wheein gulped this time.

“You want the light on?”

Yongsun tilted her head. “I can turn it off if you want me to,” Yong said, hands finding Wheein’s and linking their fingers together sweetly. “I just wanted to see you.”

The way Yongsun said it, with her eyes big and honest and hopeful, made any hesitations Wheein had melt away in an instant. This was Yongsun. Yongsun who loved her.

“No, don’t. I wanna see you too,” Wheein said quietly. “Just don’t get your camera out this time, unnie,” Wheein chuckled, laughing more when Yongsun held a pinky up in a promise, and kissed their combined hands to seal it.

“Promise. Although…I would really like to update my phone background…”

“Yah!” Wheein said, hitting Yong’s arm, the other woman smiling goofily, proud of herself. “You’re not having me as your phone background, ert.”

“It’d be hot,” Yongsun shrugged, her words slow and heavy, a hand carefully sliding up Wheein’s thigh and reaching the bottom of the girl’s t-shirt. “But I guess I’ll just have to memorise all of you instead,” Yongsun whispered, lips barely touching Wheein’s ear and making the girl shiver as she dragged the t-shirt up higher, fingers dragging along Wheein’s skin every so often. Wheein couldn’t help but use both hands to pull Yongsun’s face to hers, to press their lips together and let out a relieved sigh.

“Go on, then,” Wheein encouraged, her tongue beginning to make an appearance in her actions. She locked eyes with Yongsun, just as the woman pulled her shirt over her head, then did the same for her own. Wheein smiled softly, smoothing out Yong’s cheeks lovingly. “Make some memories, unnie.”

**

Wheein hadn’t said anything yet. She refused to. It was bad enough that her mother had caught her mid-make out last night, but watching her sip her coffee slowly and send her knowing looks every few minutes was really too much. Especially since Yongsun had done an awful job at trying to hide the traces of their…activities…last night, and had ended up with patchy concealer all over her neck and shoulders, which really wasn’t concealing anything. But still, the older girl sat blissfully unaware of her appearance, chewing on a croissant and joking around with Wheein’s stepfather.

“Not hungry, Wheein-ah?” Wheein’s mother asked, nodding to the girl’s untouched plate.

“Not really, sorry,” Wheein said, Yongsun’s head turning at her words and the woman offered her a forkful of her own food, making the younger girl blush a little as she reluctantly accepted.

“Not hungry? I would’ve thought you’d have worked up an appetite last night…” Wheein’s mother said, feigning innocence and breaking into a grin when Wheein choked on her food and sent her a disbelieving look.

“Yah! That’s so inappropriate! Tell her Appa,” Wheein whined, and her father shook his head at her mother playfully, his own face reddening a little at the implication of her words.

“What? I was just saying that you two drank a lot of alcohol last night so you must need to eat something to get your energy back,” Wheein’s mom said, taking a long sip of her coffee and eyeing the girls over the rim of her cup, enjoying the uneasiness on Yongsun’s face.

“Uh…we did drink a lot Wheein-ah. Maybe you should, ahem, listen to your Eomma,” Yongsun said, her voice small, embarrassment clearly swimming in her features and returning to her own breakfast. Wheein sent her mother a warning look, gesturing to Yongsun and earning an eyeroll from her mother.

“I’m only playing, Yongsunnie. You’re both adults and whatever you get up to-“ Wheein cut her off with a look of disbelief. “I mean, let’s get on with breakfast. Have you thought about what you want to do today? I think the market might be open…”

And just like that, Yongsun was asking a million questions about what the best food was, whether there were any famous landmarks she’d missed, and whether she would be able to film a mukbang in one of the infamous tteokbokki restaurants in the village. Wheein felt her shoulders relax, and let her hand find Yongsun’s under the table. In truth, she hadn’t really been able to not touch Yongsun in some way since last night, as though she had become a magnet overnight and couldn’t bear to be too far away from the woman. It also didn’t help that Yongsun was practically glowing, more than usual, and that everytime she looked at her she was reminded of everything they’d done the night before, everything sweet, adoring and completely unholy, and especially because in their hurry to go to breakfast looking somewhat presentable, Yongsun had thrown on another of Wheein’s old hoodies and Wheein thought she had to be developing a new kink at this point.

“What are you staring at?” Yongsun whispered once Wheein’s parents were lost in conversation together. Yongsun looked worried, a hand subtly coming up to cover her neck and Wheein chuckled. She wasn’t going to tell her that everyone could already see, not when the woman looked so cute.

“Just looking. What do you wanna do today?”

Yongsun shrugged, scooping egg onto her fork and taking a huge bite, and watching Wheein’s parents laughing together. “Whatever you want to do. Do you want to spend time with your parents alone since you haven’t seen them in a while?”

“You think I want to spend time alone with this lady?” Wheein asked, poking her mother playfully and earning a curse in response.

“Why couldn’t you be my daughter, Yongsunnie? My one is so mean to me.”

“Eomma why do you keep calling her Yongsunnie? Are you trying to be cute?” Wheein asking, sticking her tongue out when her mother did so. Yongsun just laughed along with their antics, unsure whether she should respond to anything they were saying or just let them slowly kill each other. Thankfully, Wheein’s stepfather stopped them before it got to murder level.

“Girls, why don’t you get dressed and we’ll take a walk into the town. Maybe show Yongsun-ssi the hanok village?” The man had a deep voice, but one which was smooth and unthreatening, one which wouldn’t do anything but make you feel at ease.

“Fine,” Wheein relented, shaking her head at the excited smile on Yongsun’s face, getting up to clearing her and Yongsun’s dishes, then doing the same for her parents. Wheein’s phone rang from the table, and Yongsun passed it over with a confused expression.

“It’s Nayeon,” the girl said, mirroring Wheein’s shrug as the girl answered with a confused ‘hello?’, her face instantly falling, a mixture of uncertainty and dread, and although Yongsun had no idea of what she was saying, Wheein’s shoulders seemed to be instantly weighed down once again.

“Okay. No, yeah, I’ll see you there. Bye,” Wheein ended the call, sending Yongsun an exhausted look, her parents also curious about what was happening. “So, Nayeon said he’s in the hospital asking to see me, apparently he’s really sick.”

“Your…Appa?” Wheein’s stepfather asked, his eyes bleeding concern. Wheein nodded.

“He said he needs to see me for some reason, and Nayeon’s mom is his nurse so she asked Nayeon to call me,” Wheein said, staring at the blank screen of her phone and letting out a deep sigh.

“You don’t have to go. You don’t owe him anything, he’s put you through enough,” Wheein’s mother started, void of any of the humour and lightness from before. Wheein nodded slowly, a sad smile on her face when she looked up at Yongsun who had a hand reached out ready to hold on to.

“I’ll go while you guys head into town,” Wheein said, encouraged by Yongsun softly squeezing her hand and the understanding expression softening her face. “It won’t take long, but I…I want to see him. To let him go.”

**

“He’s just in here.” Nayeon’s mother gestured to a room at the end of the ward.

“Thanks Eomma,” Nayeon said, following Wheein and stopping when they reached the door. “Do you want me to wait out here?”

Wheein, eyes trained on the door handle and willing herself to open it, nodded absentmindedly, before snapping out of it and sending Nayeon a worried look. “Can you…”

“I’ll stay just out here. When you want me to bring the contract in, just shout me okay?” Nayeon said, taking a seat on the chairs in the corridor. A few nurses smiled kindly at them, and Nayeon reached up to briefly squeeze Wheein’s arm. “Nothing he says is worth anything. And you don’t owe him a thing, Wheein. If it’s too much, just leave.”

Wheein nodded, knowing she didn’t have the words to say anything more, and pushed open the door.

For someone Wheein had once thought the world of and wanted to impress more than anything, the man lying in the hospital bed looked nothing as she’d remembered. It had been around 8 years since she’d last seen the man in person, and while he was never a picture of health, he looked considerably frailer and smaller than she had ever seen him. He turned his head towards the door at the sound of Wheein’s entrance, and Wheein’s heart constricted in an all-too familiar way. It might not have been the same body she remembered, but his eyes were just as bitter and hateful as before, no matter if they were much more bloodshot now.

“Are you just going to stand there the whole time?” He asked, his words lacking their usual venom but making Wheein react immediately all the same.

Wheein shuffled over to the chair placed farthest from the bed, by the large window, and stared at the man blanky. She really didn’t know what to feel. She pushed her palms under her legs, hoping it would weigh them down enough to stop them shaking.

“I saw you the other night,” the man began, his voice gravely and rough.

Wheein frowned, her face turning steely, jaw clenching. Did he mean the night her and Yongsun went for a walk? Or had he been following her? “Where?”

“TV. Some show about singers.” The man’s voice was indifferent. To Wheein that was as close to some kind of approval from him that she would ever get. She hated the longing she still felt to please him. “Didn’t think you’d be here though, back home.”

“Right.” Wheein didn’t want to talk, she realised. Her hands moved to her lap, fingers twirling her rings around over and over, willing herself to remain calm. She remembered Nayeon outside, and looked over at the door, knowing she had no reason to stay if she didn’t want to.

“You not gonna ask what’s wrong with me?” Wheein’s father asked, his hands reaching over to his bedside cabinet and opening it with a pained groan. He pulled out something small and silver, and lifted it to his lips, gulping down its contents and storing it under his pillow. It was an eerily familiar sight to Wheein, memories of her father having flasks of alcohol littered around the house flooding back to her. She gulped down her disgust and remained silent, stoic. “ing hell. Have you turned mute or something?”

“Why are you in hospital?” Wheein didn’t know why she was still adhering to her father’s wishes, she really felt very little for the man’s health, but she still humoured him all the same, a strange sense of guilt overwhelming her. It’d always been like this; the guilt of having a parent she hated but couldn’t help to love.

“They said my liver’s failed. Put me on dialysis, said I need a liver transplant.” The man groaned as he sat up a little, and for a split second, Wheein thought he had called her here to ask her for her liver. “Like they’re gonna give me a liver. I drink too much,” the man chuckled to himself, the noise wet and sputtering. Wheein grimaced.

“Why did you ask to see me?” Wheein’s words were hard, cutting, coming out in a way she couldn’t help. Wheein’s father looked taken aback for a second before his face morphed into one of…embarrassment?

“Shouldn’t a man be surrounded by his family at a time like this?”

Wheein laughed once, suddenly finding her voice in her anger. “We’re not family. We haven’t been family for years, you made sure of that.”

Wheein’s father huffed. “Whatever. It’s not like your mother was any better than me.”

“She’s worth a thousand of you.” Wheein said firmly. “Can you just tell me why I’m here? I know it’s not because you see me as your family.”

Wheein’s father sighed. “ing hell. I thought seeing me on my deathbed would be enough. Isn’t that what you’ve wanted this whole time?”

Wheein shook her head in disbelief. “You really know nothing about me, huh? As much as I hated you for what you did, what you’re still doing…I never once wanted you dead.”

“Well I won’t be around for much longer so, just thought I’d let you know.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because I’ll be dead. So you can stop with your little wannabe lawyer friends and all these ing contracts they want me to sign.” Wheein’s father said, coughing out the last few words and making Wheein wince sceptically, her head tilting as she processed his words.

“You’re…leaving me alone?”

Wheein’s father shrugged. “Got enough money to last me a while with what your stupid friend gave me,” he said. “And they’re not letting me out of here until I’m dead, by the looks of it.”

“So you’re gonna stop? Everything?”

“ing hell, so you’re deaf AND stupid now?” The man spat, and Wheein shrugged off his words, biting the inside of her cheek like she used to as a child. “Thought you might say thank you at least. I could’ve ruined you, y’know.”

Wheein shook her head. “No, actually. You couldn’t.”

“No one would’ve worked with you if they knew what disgusting you did as a kid,” Wheein’s father said, his voice raising, the veins in his forehead becoming more prominent with each word. “You’re lucky I’m letting you off.”

“Why are you letting me off?” Wheein couldn’t help herself. She knew making him angry was probably not the best idea when he carried so much power over her, but she was tired of being the one to bow, to bend to his will no matter what.

“I’m dying, idiot.”

“You could still call reporters from your bed. You could have done all along, ever since I debuted…but you didn’t.” Wheein began to stand up, moving towards the end of her father’s bed. He looked even smaller from here, only slightly resembling the man who used to make her feel like the smallest person in the room. “Why didn’t you call them before now? They would’ve offered you money, for all of it.”

“I’m not being known as the father of someone like that.”

It should’ve hurt, the rejection she so desperately wanted to avoid in the past. But how could it hurt now, when her father had just given her confirmation that his pride was more important than ruining Wheein’s life? He’d practically handed her her freedom in a matter of seconds, and all without her having to give up Yongsun or her career, or who she was. Even if she was outed now, her father wouldn’t be able to get anything from her. And if she was able to keep up the easy bliss of being together privately with Yongsun, she would get to live without her father in her life, for good this time. With a small smile, Wheein went over to the door and wave a hand, encouraging Nayeon to enter. “Well, in that case, can we get that in writing? Since if you recover, you can’t possibly want the scandal of having a daughter like me to get out, right?”

Nayeon, who hadn’t really known what sort of atmosphere she would be walking in on, hurriedly grabbed the newly printed contract from her bag, along with a pen, and handed it over to the man she hadn’t seen since she was sixteen. He looked just as uncomfortable as she did, and Wheein was surprised he didn’t start cursing at her on sight. Without much resistance, he scribbled his name on the bottom of three pages and practically threw it back to Nayeon, barely looking at the woman who retreated towards the door.

“That it?” The man asked, clearly annoyed that Wheein hadn’t felt at all moved by his dire state.

“Yep,” Wheein nodded, moving towards the door and swallowing down the last ounce of fear she had for the man and sending him a pitying smile. “I hope you find peace, and I hope you stop being angry at the world for not giving you what you thought you deserved. You could’ve had a nice life with us. I hope you found happiness in the choices you made,” she said, her words sincere and heavy, each one leaving her heart lighter with every utterance. The man in the bed looked guilty for a split second, before grunting in response and turning to look outside the window, a sign he was finished with their encounter. Wheein exited the room, Nayeon following closely behind, and let out a long, heavy sigh when the door slammed shut behind her. She felt Nayeon’s hand on her shoulder and turned to look at the girl. “Thanks. For everything.”

“Yah, Wheein-ah you’re crying,” Nayeon said, concern etched on her features as she became flustered and teary herself. Wheein let out a choked laugh, hands covering her face as she tried to shake off her emotions. She didn’t know what it was, if she was feeling happy or sad or angry, but she was definitely overwhelmed. And so ing relieved. “Come here,” Nayeon said, pulling the girl into a hug and wrapping her arms around her tightly, while Wheein held her face in her hands and sobbed.

“I’m not even sad,” she said after a moment, letting out a frustrated noise as she pulled out of Nayeon’s embrace and the older girl laughed at her clearly complicated state.

“Good. You can feel whatever you want to feel,” Nayeon said, pulling the girl away from her father’s room and down the corridor. “Thank you for letting me help you. And for letting me be apart of something good in your life, for once,” Nayeon said quietly. Wheein wiped the last of her tears away and let out a loud, relieved sigh.

“Shut up,” Wheein joked, shaking her head. “I didn’t expect we’d ever have a conversation again, honestly. But I guess I should thank you for helping me figure some things out about myself, too,” Wheein said, squinting as the sunlight hit her face when they exited the hospital and entered the car park. Nayeon shrugged, not really wanting to broach the topic all over again, and wanting to revel in Wheein’s victory instead.

“Let’s stop being sappy now, okay?” Nayeon said, clicking her car key and following the sound of her vehicle. “Want a ride?”

Wheein nodded, following Nayeon, contract still clutched in her hand and a giddiness in her chest she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

**

“It’s just lovely to see you girls still taking such good care of each other,” Wheein’s mom said, laughing when Hyejin pouted and threw her arms around the woman, squeezing her tightly and refusing to let go until the woman began cursing at her through laughter.

“Bye bye Eommoni,” Hyejin said, blowing Wheein’s mother a kiss and waving to Wheein’s stepfather, then climbing into the passenger seat of Byuli’s car. Byuli had already entered after saying her goodbyes to Wheein’s parents and checking the car was fully loaded before they set off. Yongsun lingered next to Wheein, sending Wheein’s mother a bashful smile as she presented something from behind her back.

“I forgot to give this to you earlier, it’s just a small gift. Wheeinie said you liked drinking tea together,” Yongsun said softly to both Wheein’s mother and stepfather, holding out a bag of fancy-looking herbal teas and bowing slightly, making Wheein stifle a laugh as well as a coo when she noticed the formality of her unnie.

Wheein’s mother took the gift, holding onto Yongsun’s hand for a moment and squeezing gently as she leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Don’t tell Wheein or the others but you’re my bias now.”

Yongsun stifled a laugh, giving both parents another polite bow and ignoring the whine from Wheein when she refused to tell her what had been whispered to her.

“Yah! You can’t keep secrets with my own mother,” the girl frowned, Yongsun shrugging innocently as she climbed into the car with a finger over her lips miming ‘secret, secret’ to the younger girl. Wheein rolled her eyes, turning back to her parents and moving to give her stepfather a hug, mumbling into his jacket when his arms wrapped around her. “I really don’t know how you live with her 24/7, Appa,” she said, earning a simple chuckle and kiss to her head from the tall man.

“I’m right here, jerk,” Wheein’s mother said, pulling the girl towards her and giving her an over-the-top hug, coupled with multiple long kisses to her face. Wheein groaned.

“What happened to my cool, hip mother since I’ve been gone?” Wheein asked with a teasing smile, hugging her mother a little more tightly and letting out a content sigh.

“She’s still here. I just have to keep saving up all my love for so long that it all comes out like this when I see you,” the woman said, a slight waver in her voice making Wheein pull back. She looked at her mother, the woman’s eyes teary and a sad smile stretching across red-painted lips.

“Don’t cry, Eomma,” Wheein said, her voice small.

“Just go already. I feel like a fool,” the woman chuckled, wiping under her eyes quickly. “It’s just so nice seeing you happy, baby. Life’s got a lot more of that happiness in store for you now, too. I can feel it. Especially with that one by your side,” Wheein’s mother said quietly, nodding over to Yongsun who was leaning over to the front seats to show Hyejin and Byuli some of the pictures she’d taken during her walk earlier, head thrown back in a fit of laughter over a joke the other girls had clearly missed. Wheein smiled shyly, nodding at her mother’s words before kissing the woman on the cheek.

“Love you both,” Wheein said, waving goodbye to both of her parents and clambering into the car, settling beside Yongsun and closing the door, getting a last glimpse of her paretns out of the rolled-down window.

“Bye girls,” Wheein’s mother called, waving happily. “Love you all.”

“Ready to go?” Byuli asked over her shoulder, giggling at the sight of Wheein dabbing her palms under her eyes after waving her last goodbye and rolling up the window, noticing Yongsun looking at the Wheein as though she was being tortured right in front of her. “Yong you’re going to burn her face off if you keep staring like that.”

Hyejin turned to look at the pair, laughing along with Byuli when she saw the dramatic scene for herself. Wheein whined, hitting Byul’s chair with a small fist, and glaring at the woman through the rear-view mirror. “I regret letting you two come,” Wheein said, the aegyo creeping into her words only increasing the laughter coming from the front seats as Byuli to the highway.

“Shut up, you would’ve been bored without us,” Hyejin said, squinting at Wheein like she dared her to argue back. Yongsun watched on blankly, only half keeping up with what was going on having tuned out after watching a stray dog trying to chase their car a few seconds ago.

“You wish,” Wheein said, sticking her tongue out at her friend while checking the remnants of mascara on her cheeks through her phone reflection. Yongsun noticed, muttering for the girl to look at her as she wiped the younger girl’s face herself, her touch gentle and motherly. “Thanks unnie.”

Yongsun nodded once slowly, a simple smile on her face, settling back into her seat and linking an arm around Wheein’s, using the girl’s shoulder as her pillow. Wheein patted the girl’s head with a soft chuckle. The hum of the car was peaceful, the sound of Hyejin attempting to feed Byuli some kind of liqourice which the older girl was vehemently refusing with a babyish whine worryingly turning into a growl, Yongsun lazily replying to some emails, letting out small sounds of tiredness every once in a while. Wheein put in an earphone, playing some quiet rnb playlist and letting her head rest gently atop Yongsun’s, a content sigh falling from the older woman’s lips. Yongsun’s hand squeezed Wheein’s arm once, her other hand typing something out in her notes.

Wanna stay at mine tonight? :)

Wheein let out a soft chuckle, putting her arm out in front of her and showing a goofy thumbs up, her hand dancing around in front of Yong’s face exaggeratedly.

“Aish, how annoying,” Yong muttered, the playful frown on her face as she caught Wheein’s runaway hand and brought it between her own, holding it captive with a smug smirk. Wheein whined dramatically, trying to free her hand with no effort whatsoever, enjoying the attention she was getting from the older woman’s frustrated sighs.

“Unnie I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to hold someone’s hand so aggressively,” Wheein said seriously, leaning down to the back of Yongsun’s hand once, earning a loud shriek from the woman and a slap to her arm.

“Ew! Wheein that was gross,” Yongsun said, shrugging the girl off of her and wiping her hand on the girl’s clothes dramatically. Wheein laughed in that head-thrown-back kind of way Yongsun couldn’t help but melt to.

“What did she do?” Hyejin asked from the seat in front of Yongsun, eyes shining with the opportunity of teasing Wheein.

“She me!” Yongsun said innocently, showing Hyejin her hand as if she was showing off a wound. Hyejin’s brow lifted, locking eyes with Wheein, opening to talk in a way Wheein could tell was going to ruin her.

“Oh really, unnie? I thought you’d have been used to Wheein doing that to you by now…”

Wheein’s mouth opened in shock for a moment, Byuli’s sputtering laughter adding to her humiliation but Yong just continued on.

“No this is the first time she’s done it!” Yongsun pouted, cradling her hand, Hyejin shaking her head amusedly at the woman’s antics.

“Ah that must be so annoying, Unnie. I would’ve thought Wheein had done that many many times to you by now. Especially over this weekend,” Hyejin said, reaching back to pat Yongsun’s shoulder and sending Wheein a smug look, the girl’s face now burning bright red, unable to defend herself especially with Hyejin’s eyes trained on Yongsun’s still-mauled neck.

“Yah Hyejin-ah who raised you?” Byul asked, shaking her head as she drove, punching the girl’s arm with her free hand. Yongsun tilted her head at Byuli’s comment, eyes moving around the car as though she was searching for the answer to the evil-sounding laughter coming from the front seat, and seemingly finding it in Wheein’s embarrassed expression.

“OMO! AHN HYEJIN YOU LITTLE ,” Yongsun gasped, hand covering and shaking her head, unable to hide the pinkness in her cheeks or the guilty look shared with Wheein, her other hand coming up to cover her neck as Hyejin cackled wickedly.

“Yah you wait until I meet Woogie again, Hyejin-ah. I’m going to ruin you,” Wheein said coldly, sending Hyejin her best attempt at a scowl she could muster but only earning a mischievous grin in response.

“Is that what you said to Yongsun-unnie last night, too?”

If it wasn’t for Yongsun clinging onto her arm like her life depended on it, and the fact they were driving at high speed down a motorway, Wheein swore she would’ve ended Hyejin right there, no question about it. Except she also kind of wanted to hug the girl for being so damn normal about everything. But she would definitely not admit that.

**

“Unnie I’m so tired,” Wheein whined, trailing behind Yongsun like a child, dragging her feet with her lip jutted out and eyes half-closed. Yongsun chided her softly, putting in her door code and tugging Wheein into the apartment. They kicked off their shoes, both girls too tired to care about placing them neatly, and entered the living room with big yawns.

“Oh! You’re back!” Yongsun jumped at the sound of her sister’s voice, making Wheein shriek similarly, both having clearly not noticed that the lights were on, or the fact Yonghee was sprawled out on the sofa watching TV with Yongkeey sleeping soundly on her legs.

“ unnie, I didn’t think you’d be back yet,” Yongsun said, setting her bags down near her bedroom door and gesturing for Wheein to do the same, the younger girl a little more awake now with the presence of Yongsun’s very pretty, very intimidating older sister.

“I finished the job early so picked Yongkeey up yesterday,” Yonghee said, sitting up slightly and taking a sip of her wine, careful not to wake her dog. She craned her neck round Yongsun and smiled simply at the girl somewhat hiding behind her. “Hi Wheein.”

The way Yonghee said her name, in a sing-song way that seemed to hold a little too much knowledge about why she was at their house, made Wheein instantly blush. “Uh…h-hi Yonghee-ssi. It’s nice to see you,” Wheein said, a slight bow paired with her words making both Yongs laugh a little.

“You staying over tonight?” Yonghee asked, and Wheein let out a small ‘yes’, trying with all her might not to bow again.

“I think we’re gonna go to bed now, we’re really tired unnie. We’ll catch up tomorrow?” Yongsun said, and Yonghee nodded, sending the girls a wave as they retreated to Yongsun’s bedroom, dragging their bags in and Wheein sending a polite ‘goodnight’ over her shoulder. Yongsun shut the door gently, a big sigh leaving her lips before walking over to Wheein and taking the girl by her hand just as she was about to dive onto the bed. “Shower first, then bed,” Yongsun said, ignoring the whine from Wheein and grabbing two towels, leading Wheein into her bathroom and making the girl tilt her head.

“…Together?”

Yongsun shrugged innocently, taking off her sweatshirt and leaning over to switch the shower on to heat up, looking at Wheein expectantly. “Do you want to wait and shower after me? Or save time and water and shower with me?”

Wheein answered by turning around and taking off her hoodie, too shy to watch Yongsun undress but not too shy to get into a shower with her , with her sister only in the next room. She could almost hear Yongsun smiling at her. Once she was completely undressed, she felt a hand on her wrist and a gentle tug, allowing herself to turn and be led into the shower by her girlfriend.

The water was a little cold, a shiver running through Wheein’s body involuntarily and Yongsun moved to turn the temperature up, her arm leaning over Wheein and their faces stupidly close. Wheein leaned up to place a sweet kiss on Yongsun’s lips, the older woman making a small surprised noise then letting her arm fall to rest around Wheein’s shoulder, hand the baby hairs at the nape of her neck.

“I feel like we haven’t done that much today,” Wheein said after a moment of quietness, the women staring at eachother adoringly. Yongsun nodded, hand moving to touch Wheein’s face, smoothing her eyebrows and pressing a kiss to her dimple.

“I’m really proud of you,” Yongsun whispered, the steady sound of water hitting their bodies slightly drowning her voice and making Wheein lean in curiously.

“Proud? Why?”

Yongsun reached down to grab some shampoo and squeezed some onto her hand, gesturing for Wheein to turn around and beginning to massage the shampoo into Wheein’s hair, stifling a laugh when Wheein let out a slightly-too-loud moan. “The way you handled everything today. I was so impressed by you.”

Wheein frowned in surprise at the honesty in Yongsun’s voice, the words prickling at her eyes, and she was thankful that she could use shampoo as an excuse for why her eyes were reddened and teary. It had been a long, long day. Yongsun rinsed Wheein’s hair of the shampoo and quickly applied the conditioner, enjoying the motion of caring for Wheein like this. She felt completely comfortable.

“My turn,” was all Wheein could think of to say in response, turning around once Yong had finished rinsing her hair and beginning the same motions for the older woman. Wheein let her hands roam down Yongsun’s back, leaning forward to plant small kisses on her shoulders, a few remnants of the night before acting as a guide for her affection. She felt Yongsun relax completely, her arms unable to resist linking around the girl’s waist, hands resting contently on her tummy and pulling her closer to her.

“Wheein-ah,” Yongsun breathed out, hands linking with the younger girl’s and letting her head lean back to rest on her shoulder.

“Yes, unnie?” Wheein’s lips were soft against the woman’s back as she spoke. Yongsun turned around, fighting the urge to sink back into the younger girl and surrender to her touch. She moved damp hair from Wheein’s face and let the water run over their bodies for a moment before speaking, foreheads pressed together blissfully.

“I love you,” Yongsun said, the words making goosebumps appear on her arms, smiling goofily as she continued. “But we really need to sleep. And I don’t think my neck will be able to take another round of your…special kisses.”

Wheein laughed loudly at that, the noise bouncing off the tiled walls and the younger girl nodded, offering Yongsun the body wash and spending the next few moments washing themselves in a content silence, a few bashful looks and sweet kisses stolen here and there.

When they got into bed, Wheein sporting an incredibly loud pair of pyjamas that Yongsun had begged her to wear with a hopeful smile Wheein didn’t have the energy to argue with (no matter how much she hated the ugly shade of orange and the different types of neon fruits littering the clothes), Wheein instantly clung to the older girl and wrapped herself around the woman like a monkey, earning a few coos and head pats at her actions.

“I want to sleep forever,” Wheein mumbled, her words slow and slurred and making ticklish vibrations against Yong’s chest. The older woman ran her fingers through Wheein’s slightly damp hair, her other hand scratching softly along her arm. Yongsun hummed in agreement.

“We should go on a date next week,” Yongsun said drowsily, pulling the covers up over their bodies and pulling Wheein even closer to her body. Wheein lifted her head up to look at the woman, a little shocked at her suggestion.

“Really? Are you sure?”

Yongsun nodded. “Well you are my girlfriend now, no? I think I should start showing you how great it is to be dating me.”

“You’re insane,” Wheein said, shakingher head and resuming her position curled into Yongsun’s side.

“Seriously, though. I think this weekend showed me how much stronger I want to be for you now. And since everything seems to have settled finally, and since we’ve come a long way compared to who we were before…it just feels like we’ve caught a break.”

Wheein nodded, breathing in the warmth and easiness of her girlfriend. She still couldn’t get over how easy it was to be like this, to love like this with her.

“I wanna go to the beach. Or somewhere with lots of space,” Wheein requested, expecting an affirmation from Yongsun but receiving only lulled breathing and a peaceful expression in response. Wheein leaned up to gently place a kiss to the underside of Yongsun’s chin, then settled back down to find peace of her own.

It seemed that it had finally happened, the promise of things getting easier; of days becoming better and life meaning much more than just being alive. And it had happened for them together, during the chaos of falling in love with each other whilst Wheein fell out of it with her father, and realising that sometimes the only way out of the fire is through it. Luckily, for Wheein, she didn’t have to go through it alone. And likely never would again.