Blankets rustled in the darkness as warm breaths and quiet giggles filled the air of the bedroom.

They were wrestling, a little bit. Mostly it was the younger woman poking this place and that, delighting in the older woman’s reactions and attempts to keep her away.

“Byul ah...” the older woman laugh-scolds breathlessly. She grabbed the younger woman’s hand to put it back next to its owner. “Byul...” she said in a warning tone.

The younger woman laughed as she slipped her hand out of Yong’s grip and went back to Yong’s armpit for a quick pinch.

“Ow!”

Byulyi chuckled as Yong swatted her away and looked at her with mock offense. The younger woman’s hand made their way towards her armpit again before Yong grabbed it and whined for her to stop. They arm wrestled briefly.

This was a familiar exchange. They’ve played with each other like this so often that it’s like breathing. One provoking the other and the other who couldn’t resist responding. A push and pull like magnets swirling around each other, almost aligning for the perfect click before swerving to keep the pretense of separation.

Yong didn’t hold back. She let go of Byul (she was losing anyway) and went for a surprise attack. A sharp pinch to the side of her ribs.

“Ah! Unnie...” the younger girl whined. She retreated to massage her patch of skin tingling with pain. Yong looked down at Byul’s pouting face and couldn’t help the warmth that bubbled up to her heart. She replaced Byul’s hand with her own to massage the spot better.

“Be good, okay?” She gave the spot a few more rubs before wrapping her arms around the younger girl and tucking her under her chin. It was their original position before the one-sided play fight started.

Byul smelled really good. There was a faint, refreshing scent from her freshly washed hair, the usual scents from all the oils and serums of their nighttime face routine, and something else that was really nice. She smelled really nice. Yong buried her face a little deeper and took a breath in.

Friends cuddled. She wasn’t always sure if she and Byulyi were friends. They were more like soulmates. But they often cuddled. Just like this, in the darkness of Yong’s room, after a day of schedules and activities, where they could finally have some space to themselves.

Byul, relaxed after getting her dose of Yong’s reactions, shifted a bit under her. She craned her neck and gave Yongsun a peck on her chin.

“Ddunie, how was your day?”

The older girl paused to think.

“Um... Good. The tteokbokki today was really good.”

Byul’s hands went up to tuck a few strands of hair behind Yong’s ear. “Then we should order from there more.”

“Yeah. Definitely.”

Byul peppered some more kisses on Yong’s chin. Yong felt like Byul was almost treating her like a cat, but instead of scratching her chin she was kissing it. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

Instead, she lowered her chin to stop the still-ongoing chin kisses. She pushed Byul’s head down and kissed her forehead.

The younger girl stilled beside her. Then made a squeak or a squeal or some other high pitched sound and absolutely pounced on Yong, pushing the older girl to her back and smushing her face into the crook of her neck.

“Hey! Oh my God Byulyi I’ve done that before! Byul!” Yong laughed.

“Unnie I love you,” the muffled voice said.

“I know I know. I love you too.”

They weren’t... lovers. They didn’t have with each other. They loved each other and readily admitted so. But they weren’t... what some people assumed they were. None of what people thought about them mattered to Yongsun. She was most worried about protecting Moonbyul from malicious rumor-spreaders and those who wanted to take advantage of her soft heart.

Moon Byulyi was the person who she would do anything to protect and care for.

As the embarrassed girl slowly let go of her tight grip on Yong’s arms, Yong started humming a song in her ears. It was one they often listened to together before they debuted, studying the vocals and choreography in an attempt to imitate their favorite idols.

She peeked down with one eye to find the younger girl’s bright eyes staring at her.

“So what time do we need to wake up tomorrow?” Byul asked softly.

It was already 3am, they came back to Yong’s apartment late after finishing their last festival booking. Tomorrow they will have a CF filming and a private event.

“The van is going to pick us up by 2. Let’s get up by 1?”

The younger made a sound of acknowledgement. After one last peck to Yong’s cheek, Byul adjusted herself so that her weight wouldn’t be too heavy for Yong to sleep with. She leaned in close and whispered once again her affection for her, just for good measure.

Yong knows. She whispered it back, staring into the younger girl’s delighted moonlit features.

Moon Byulyi didn't need to hear those words to know how Kim Yongsun felt about her.

Just being close, in this space, at this time; just being in this privileged spot in Yong's life, nothing else could compare.