ILYSB - LANY

 

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knock knock.

 

Yeji’s brow furrows. She can’t tell if she’s dreaming or fully awake; all she knows is that she’d really like this knocking sound to stop because she’d really, really like to get back to sleep.

 

knock knock.

 

It doesn’t stop. Unfortunate. Yeji’s eyes finally force themselves open, and she throws over a lazy arm to turn her phone on, squinting at the time. 2:24am. Much too early to be awake. Some haven’t even slept yet- although, Yeji supposes she shouldn’t be one to speak. She’s always been more of a morning person.

 

The knocking is timid, but Yeji’s always been a light sleeper (unlike her best friend, Lia. That girl could sleep through a hurricane- and a fire alarm, for that matter). It keeps going, a little sporadic but unrelenting and it’s clearly not going to go away any time soon, so Yeji finally throws her covers off with an exasperated groan as she shuffles grumpily to the door to see who on earth is still awake at this ungodly hour of the day.

 

“I swear, if it’s Yuna and Chaeryeong trying to sell me more Girl Scout cookies-“

 

She pushes the thought aside to give the evil young ones the benefit of the doubt. The knocking persists, and she unlocks her door and pulls it open with the most pleasant expression she can muster. “Hello??”

 

She finds Ryujin on the other side of the door, fully dressed and wide-eyed. The pink-haired girl stares at her like she’s surprised anyone opened the door.

 

Yeji blinks, waiting for the younger girl to say something. When it’s evident that Ryujin isn’t going to do that anytime soon, she decides to take matters into her own hands. “Hi.”

 

“Uh- hi.” Ryujin returns the greeting stiffly, awkwardly. She’s literally wearing jeans and a sweater- nothing close to what sleepwear looks like (to Yeji at least, who’s always preferred to doze off in a t-shirt and comfortable shorts). Yeji takes note of all this through her thick yawn.

 

Ryujin looks horrified. “Oh my gosh, I totally woke you up didn’t I. I’m so sorry- I always forget that you have early classes, I don’t know what I was thinking-“

 

Yeji cuts her off with a lazy laugh. “No, I’m happy to see you babe- but what are you doing out here at 2:24am?”

 

It’s a genuine question that Ryujin doesn’t seem to have a solid answer for. “Um- I- I couldn’t really sleep.” She finally says, a slight pink hue dusting her cheeks. It matches her hair. It’s kind of cute.

 

Yeji tilts her head, watching the younger girl curiously. Ryujin’s blush gets deeper. “I’m sorry. I just-“

 

“Why don’t you come in first?" Yeji cuts her off again in an effort to save Ryujin from herself for the second time that night. “Stay with me, since you’ve already come this far- I’m sure I have some extra sleepwear you can borrow for tonight.”

 

Yeji leaves no room for protest as she reaches a long arm out to pull her into the warm apartment. “Sit here, and I’ll find you something that’s a little more comfortable than those jeans. They look great on you, though.” Yeji winks at her cheekily as she ushers Ryujin’s stone-still form to the couch. 

 

Ryujin looks like she's struggling to piece words together in a coherent manner. “Wait, but I-“

 

“Also.” Yeji’s eyes twinkle in the dim lighting of her apartment’s nighttime mode as she casts a genuine, and what she hopes is reassuring, smile at Ryujin who clearly doesn’t seem very sure of her nighttime decisions. “It’s good to see you babe.” 

 

She can’t help herself- her hands reach out for Ryujin like they move on their own accord. She pulls Ryujin’s soft head of pink hair into the crook of her neck, a hand holding her softly in place as she presses a tender kiss to Ryujin’s warm temple. She allows her fingers to linger momentarily on the younger girl’s skin in a moment of pure fondness, before she releases the girl and turns to goes back into her room.

 

Some rummaging through her bottom drawers proves useful: Yeji manages to piece together what she deems to be an appropriately comfortable outfit  that consists of a draping t-shirt and shorts, and socks because she knows Ryujin’s weird like that and she likes to wear socks to sleep no matter what the weather (it’s winter now so it’s not exactly prime time for Yeji to try to make her point, but that’s not her main concern right now). She grins, delighted with her findings, and saunters back to the living room of her apartment to find Ryujin.

 

“Here- go get changed. I've put a toothbrush and stuff out for you in the bathroom, so go wash up.”

 

Ryujin stares at the clothes in Yeji’s outstretched hand dumbly. The corners of Yeji’s lips turn up ever so slightly as she watches the girl try to process a situation that she obviously didn’t predict. Ryujin looks so smol- adorably so in her brief moment of blunder. Yeji decides to be helpful once again, and pulls Ryujin to her feet to usher her into the bathroom. 

 

“Would you like me to help you change-“

 

That seems to be enough to snap Ryujin back to earth. “Wh- no!” Ryujin all but squawks, snatching the clothes out of Yeji’s hands and dashing to the bathroom with glowing cheeks. Yeji laughs aloud as she watches Ryujin all but trip into her bathroom and slam the door shut behind her. She chuckles once more before going back into her room to wait patiently.

 

Ryujin emerges fifteen-something minutes later (not that Yeji’s counting or anything), changed and freshly washed up. Yeji’s eyes curve into crescents as she sits back up in her bed to greet her younger counterpart; the t-shirt is Yeji’s size, which is just a little bit too big for Ryujin’s smaller form and it shows. Yeji’s shorts only barely peek out beneath the hem of the oversized t-shirt on Ryujin’s frame, and the whole sight just makes something warm stir in Yeji’s heart that she doesn’t bother to suppress anymore. She promptly holds her arms out to Ryujin with what she knows must be the dopiest smile known to man on her face.

 

(She can never seem to help it; she’s well-aware that although she has some sort of chilled cool image to everyone else, when it comes to Ryujin all bets are off. Off. She’s been made aware that despite her rather brash, somewhat careless nature, she’s frighteningly detailed when Ryujin is involved.)

 

Ryujin finally properly meets her eyes for the first time that evening (besides the few seconds she gaped at Yeji when she opened the door) and there’s this small, self-conscious and unsure quirk of her lips that makes Yeji want to squeeze her and cuddle her and make everything better because Ryujin’s obviously not had a great day, considering she was distressed enough to show up at Yeji’s place at 2:24am in the morning without any assurance that anyone would be up to answer the door.

 

Yeji grins delightedly when Ryujin heads towards her and settles softly into her outstretched arms. Yeji pulls the younger one down besides her, lays down with her so they’re facing each other, takes a moment to just stare into Ryujin’s baby brown eyes and appreciate the love blooming in her chest even though she’s exhausted and it’s now nearing 3am and Ryujin was the one who woke her up from an otherwise undisturbed and pleasant sleep to begin with.

 

“I- I’m sorry about all this." Ryujin murmurs softly, bashful. Her eyes cast down as she gazes through her lashes. Yeji thinks she’s the prettiest thing.

 

She shakes her head, as best as she can with one side of her face smooshed on her pillow, in an attempt to divert Ryujin’s attention. “Don’t be- I was probably sleeping earlier than I should’ve been anyway. Tell me how your day was.”

 

Ryujin takes a moment in that thoughtful way she does to piece her words together. “It was alright I guess. Could’ve been better.”

 

Yeji hums lightly. "Did you have breakfast?”

 

Ryujin lets out a short laugh because they both really know the answer to that one. “Nope. I woke up later than I wanted to.”

 

“I expect nothing less from you.” Yeji teases her lightly as she lets her fingers brush some stray hairs from Ryujin’s face. “Did you make it to class then?”

 

“I always make it, contrary to what Chaeryeong tells all of you.” Ryujin grumbles, a pout on her full lips to express her full dissatisfaction at Yeji’s sanded inquiry. Yeji laughs, reaching out to pull her closer because she really can’t help that swell of affection that always seems to threaten to spill over whenever she’s with Ryujin. 

 

“On time?”

 

“Of course! Well- usually, anyway.” The last part comes out as a tiny grumble and Yeji can’t help her laugh, reaching out to smooth out the crease that’s formed between Ryujin’s well-formed eyebrows.

 

“Did you learn anything?”

 

“I- kind of.” Ryujin admits, somewhat breathy. She looks a little less focused than she usually does, so Yeji takes this as a sign that it’s time for her to sleep.

 

“That’s very nice. I’m glad you’ve paid attention.” Yeji hums, reaching out to fix Ryujin’s hair and pull her in. Ryujin’s forehead rests just by Yeji’s lips so she leans forward to press a brief kiss to soft skin before wrapping the blankets tighter around them and settling into her pillow, Ryujin tucked snugly in her arms.

 

Yeji feels her lids start to get heavy. Rightfully so; she’d been sleeping before any of this anyway, and she’s always been a morning person rather than a night owl. Plus, Ryujin cuddled up in her arms and using her bicep as a pillow is something that would comfort any member of the sleepless, so she lets herself succumb to the dark, incoming peace of sleep.

 

“Good night, Yej.” Ryujin’s small voice cuts through the stillness of the room. She’s already kind of drowsy, the soft heat from Yeji’s body tangible through her thin clothes and the comfort of the older girl surrounding her, settling her in.

 

Yeji finally lets her eyes drift . “Mm, g’night Ryuddeng. Sleep tight.”

 

Ryujin does.

 

When Yeji wakes up the next morning, she wakes up to a sunrise and Ryujin in her bed. Ryujin sleeps soundly in her arms, face serene and breathing even. She’s nestled up in Yeji’s arms, head resting lightly against Yeji’s collarbone and wrapped snugly in the blankets. 

 

Yeji still doesn’t know what drove Ryujin to go out looking for her at 2:24am, but she settles with the knowledge that Ryujin will fell her everything in due time. For now, she decides to let herself enjoy the moment where Ryujin’s finally made a home in her- one she can always come back to, no matter what time of the day it is.