A world where a tattoo would spontaneously appear on your body every time you fall in love may be a world full of improbabilities.

~

“God, I’m beat.”

The whiny voice was followed by the loud thwack of a body hitting a too-thin mattress. Jiwon looked up from the game on her phone to see Wonyoung sprawled across their queen bed, face-down, wet hair dripping dark spots onto the white sheets. Jiwon clicked her tongue in disapproval and made her way over.

“Come on, you’re making a mess,” Jiwon attempted a stern tone as she tried to pry Wonyoung off her beloved bed, but it didn’t sound convincing even to her own ears. Messy Wonyoung was a rare occurrence, and Jiwon loved that Wonyoung let her see this side of her. She had regrettably made it quite obvious that she loved taking care of Wonyoung, and Wonyoung fully took advantage of it.

In response, the prone girl made muffled noises against the pillow that vaguely resembled human speech but showed no sign of getting up.

“Wonyoung.”

Another whine and a shake of her head. No.

“Wonyoung. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Jiwon heard a snort and fell open, offended. So Wonyoung thought Jiwon was all bark and no bite, huh? I’ll show her! Jiwon leaned down, planting one knee on the mattress, and aimed fluttering fingers at Wonyoung’s armpits. Wonyoung yelped, somewhere between laughter and distress, and started to roll over.

“Okay, fi-” Wonyoung jumped when Jiwon showed no mercy. “STOP!”

Jiwon kept up the tickle attacks for another minute, until both of them were flushed and breathless with laughter, before she decided to give Wonyoung a break. She looked on with a smug grin as Wonyoung grudgingly crawled off the bed and plugged in the hairdryer.

“You’re so mean.”

“Pardon me for not wanting to, like, drown in a puddle while I’m sleeping.”

“Drown in a puddle?” Wonyoung exclaimed in indignance over the hum of the hairdryer as she started to work through her wet locks. “When did you become such a drama queen?”

“It’s the company I keep.” Jiwon laughed when she saw the exaggerated pout on Wonyoung’s face. Case in point. 

She walked over to where Wonyoung was sitting at the dressing table and took the hairdryer from her hand. The pout instantly melted into a serene smile as Jiwon’s fingers combed through her hair. Jiwon remembered the first time she’d been overcome by the impulse to help to dry Wonyoung’s hair and the instant regret and awkwardness that had followed. Back then, they had not officially started dating, and the entire time Jiwon had been haunted by the prospect of somehow ripping Wonyoung’s hair out and making her bald by accident. By now, though, the routine had become as easy as breathing. Jiwon could (and sometimes did) do it while singing the alphabet song backwards.

When Jiwon was satisfied with her work, she looked at their reflection in the dressing table mirror. Her eyes lingered on the tattoo just visible above the collar of Wonyoung’s pyjamas, right between her collarbones - a picture of a wounded sparrow that they had nursed back to health together in their senior year of high school. Without warning, affection swelled in Jiwon’s chest like a tide. She had always thought she and Wonyoung looked a bit goofy together, almost like characters drawn in two different art styles and really shouldn’t work together at all. But they did, because they wanted to. Wonyoung hadn’t chosen to have the sparrow permanently etched on her skin, but she had chosen to wear it proudly and with care.

Jiwon settled the hairdryer down and pressed a kiss to the top of Wonyoung’s head. The taller girl grabbed Jiwon’s hand and held them all the way as she got back on the bed, wiggled under the covers, and wrapped Jiwon’s arms around her in a back hug.

“Mhmmm.” Wonyoung sighed in content. “Comfy. Snug as a bug. Not sure I can wake up on time tomorrow.”

Jiwon immediately recognised what Wonyoung was implying and pinched her arm. Wonyoung seemed too exhausted to react beyond an annoyed grunt. “That’s, like, the third excuse you’ve come up with just today to get out of the reunion trip.”

“I’m just so tired. The finals this sem really kicked my ,” Wonyoung mumbled. Jiwon felt the girl shift in her arms to swipe her nose with a little sniffle that never failed to make Jiwon soften.

“I mean, you could cancel. It’s just… not easy to get the gang all together like this, you know? Gaeul unnie really worked so hard to organise the trip. Everyone’s scattered everywhere and so busy with uni and stuff. I mean, I haven’t been apart from Rei for this long since, like, seventh grade?”

Wonyoung giggled at the way Jiwon unknowingly squeezed her between her arms at the thought of seeing Rei again. “You’re so excited. I feel like I should really feel jealous of Rei sometimes.”

“Oh please.” Jiwon clicked her tongue. “You love Rei.” Oh please, as if there were any tattoos on me that didn’t belong to you. “Besides, don’t you want to see Hyunseo?”

“I see Hyunseo every week.”

“Okay? My question remains, don’t you want to see Hyunseo?”

“You’re right, I do. Always. Can we kidnap her at the resort?”

“We should. Who knows, maybe her parents would be thankful even?”

Jiwon let their sluggish conversation derail into a rough outline for kidnapping Hyunseo during the upcoming trip. She could tell that both of them were avoiding mentioning the last person in their old high school clique, but that they were thinking about her all the same. Jiwon suddenly became hyper-aware of the way Wonyoung’s body was pressed against hers. She focused on it hard enough she swore she could feel it over two layers of clothes - the texture of the myriad tattoos that all but covered Wonyoung’s entire back. She saw them in her mind’s eye as clearly as if someone had painted them on the inside of her skull. A swing set from Wonyoung’s primary school days sitting on top of her left shoulder blade, a soccer ball and pom poms from middle school decorating her spine, and then high school was just… a mess. No fewer than a dozen images of tarot cards, stars, a crutch, meadow-rue flowers, a golden retriever, and more things Jiwon couldn't make out as the memories began to overlap and blend together all the way to the small of her back.

By comparison, the neat little sparrow tattoo on Wonyoung’s chest that belonged to Jiwon seemed so tiny. Trivial.

“You don’t have to go, you know,” Jiwon mumbled against the sweet lavender smell of Wonyoung’s hair. Her hand found a loose thread on the pillowcase near Wonyoung’s cheek and started to pull on it. “If you really don’t want to. They’ll complain, but they’ll understand.”

“Don’t be silly.” Wonyoung’s voice was soft, floating backwards to Jiwon like a cloud as she teetered on the edge of sleep. She laced her fingers through Jiwon’s, stopping her fidgeting, and cradled their joined hands against her chest. “I’ll go if you go.”

The simplicity of that statement made Jiwon smile. Against her palm, Wonyoung’s heart tapped out a steady, calming rhythm, like a tender lullaby only Jiwon could hear. She took a deep, shampoo-scented breath and resolutely expelled all the complicated feelings crowding her brain with the exhale. The firm weight of Wonyoung’s presence replaced them as Jiwon pulled her closer, flat against the growing collection of colourful cherries, lavenders, and mittens blooming across her own skin.