Ch 2

Since No One Else Was Gonna Do It: Uni

In the fall, the leaves changed their colours and the wind became cooler. With nature’s changes, also comes the tide known as their two year anniversary. But unlike last year, where they built a greenhouse, this year they had a bit more freedom. No longer were they burdened with a two day weekend. Now, with their schedules, they had a three day weekend. Technically.

Hyejin was that lucky freshman who had one class on friday. It was University Seminar so it wasn’t anything important anyway. She would have a lab beforehand, but it was cancelled for today. That meant she would have the afternoon free to perfectly execute her plan.

Wheein, on the other hand, was not so lucky. She had two morning classes back to back while also having a small study group session early in the afternoon. But, she knew Hyejin had a surprise for her so it made her day more bearable. Even if Hyejin never told her about the surprise, Wheein knew the excited kid look that was on Hyejin’s face all week meant something. 

So, while Wheein was busy being the oblivious girlfriend and attending classes like a good student, Hyejin plotted with her trusted side-kick.

“This is why I say you’re terrible at planning.” Ji Yeon lazily stated as she draped herself across the couch in Hyejin’s and Wheein’s living room. 

Hyejin was frantically pacing in front of the lazy Ji Yeon, “But I had the perfect plan!”

“Ok, but did you even think about the trouble of actually getting a ton of fireworks while also trying to arrange the perfect alignment of--” Ji Yeon was about to list all the reasons as to why Hyejin’s grand plan wasn’t going to work but she was interrupted by a new voice.

“When you said your friend was like, this, I thought you were joking.” 

Ji Yeon only tried to raise her head to get a good look at the source of the new voice. She saw a young woman, who seems to be older than them, with a soft smile on her face. With a small squint, she tried to remember if she has ever seen this woman before. But nothing came to mind. 

“Ah! Sujeong!” Hyejin exclaimed happily as she stopped pacing to greet the other with a hug. 

“Sujeong ?” Ji Yeon asked as she finally sat up to get a better look at this Sujeong person. 

“Yup! I met her during orientation and we have University Seminar together.” Hyejin proudly introduced Sujeong  with an arm around this Sujeong person.

“Yea, I don’t know why I’m here actually?” Sujeong  chuckled nervously under Ji Yeon’s intense gaze.

“You are here to be my support! Since somebody,” Hyejin glared at Ji Yeon, “always has to poke holes in my grand plan.”

“Why not keep it simple?” Sujeong  suggested with a small tilt of her head. 

“That’s what I said!!” Ji Yeon exclaimed while giving Hyejin a glare.

Hyejin just pouted and looked at them both, “But we do simple everyday! This is our second year, I want to do something that will leave a lasting impression.”

“Building a greenhouse wasn’t a lasting impression?” Sujeong  asked.

Ji Yeon glanced at Sujeong  quickly before turning her attention back to Hyejin. So, Hyejin told her about that huh? What else did Hyejin tell her already? Just who was this Sujeong  person and why didn’t Hyejin ever say a word about her before? Hyejin usually tells her everything.

“Ok, but her parents were there. Couldn’t exactly be romantic in that situation, you know?” Hyejin huffed while finally grabbing a seat and gestured for Sujeong  to do the same. 

They all remained quiet as they contemplated on how to make a simple gesture that would have a lasting impression. That also didn’t involve fireworks somehow. So, they all brainstormed.

They brainstormed like any good group. They brainstormed for a minute before giving up.

“Ugh, why is this so hard.” Hyejin rubbed her face in an attempt to wake up her brain.

“It’s cuz ya tryin’ so hard.” Ji Yeon grumbled.

“Why are you trying so hard anyway? Don’t you two love each other no matter what? Why does it need to be a big gesture anyway?” Sujeong  asked innocently. 

Hyejin stared up at the ceiling.

“I….I don’t know. I guess I just want to show Wheein how much I love her.”

“Uh-huh. And you thought fireworks were a good idea?”

Hyejin just groaned in pain and leaned her head back to gently bang against the wall. Ji Yeon was right. Why did she think fireworks was a good idea?

“Well,” Sujeong  gathered her thoughts, “instead of fireworks, why not go to the places most significant to you two? Like, the places that hold a special place your hearts.”

Ji Yeon quickly picked up on what Sujeong  meant.

“Oh, like a trip down memory lane?”

Sujeong  excitedly nodded, “Yea, yea! Make a little day trip out of it, you know?”

Hyejin continued to stare at the ceiling but she heard their words. She heard them and they were sound. It wasn’t a bad idea. Besides, it would be nice to go back home for a bit. They’ve been a bit busy lately so they haven’t even been back home for the past couple of weeks. She knows Wheein’s parents, and even her own parents, would love a surprise visit as well. Ms. Manju might give them hell though.

“Ya know what? That doesn’t sound half bad. Thanks Sujeong .” Hyejin shot Sujeong a grateful smile. A smile that was returned in kind.

“Wh-what?! Why are you just thanking her? I helped too!” Ji Yeon whined.

“Because she came up with the idea.” Came Hyejin’s almost snooty reply.

“I can’t believe this…..” Ji Yeon said with a dead tone. 

Sujeong  nervously looked between the two. She could feel the tension in the air begin to rise. As if the room was full of gas. Any wrong move from either party would ignite everything.

“It’s true. Without Sujeong ’s help, we would be at an impa--”

A pillow smacked Hyejin’s square in the face. As soon as it made contact, Ji Yeon’s snickering could be heard. Sujeong  tried to make herself as small as possible. She knows that this won’t end well.

“That’s what you get for ignoring my contribution to such an id--”

The pillow returned with twice as much force. 

Ji Yeon glared at Hyejin. Hyejin glared back. Sujeong  nervously stared at the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Wheein entered into the small foyer of their apartment, she knew something was up. The more she went in, she began to find evidence of the events that transpired. She passed the small little office, and it was empty. Nothing happened there. She continued and put her bag in the closet and looked in the kitchen. The kitchen was spotless, so not that much of a big mess to clean up. And not a single feather made its way in either. So that’s a plus. 

She passed the dining room and that’s where the evidence really started to gather. At first it was a feather here and there, then, as she gradually made her way to the living room, feathers gathered en masse. Feathers filled the living room like flour in a kitchen.

However, her girlfriend was nowhere in sight.

“Hyejin-ah??” Wheein called out while examining the living room and wondering how the hell they are going to clean all of this. 

As she wandered through the living room, she found Ji Yeon faced down on the floor. She also saw evidence of another person being there. While the feathers were haphazardly thrown everywhere, there was a clear indent on where a body was, and thus, there was just one clean spot in the entire living room.

“Hey, Ji Yeon, what did you two do?” Wheein asked as she gently nudged Ji Yeon with her foot.

“Hyejin loves you too much, Sujeong  can never be underestimated, and I am just the poor fool caught in the middle.” Came the muffled reply.

“..........I--”

“Hyejin is in the bedroom by the way.” More mumbling with a weak pointing gesture towards said bedroom. 

Wheein shook her head and quickly thanked Ji Yeon before making her way to their bedroom. She had so many questions, but knowing Hyejin, it was best for her to explain it. So, with the soft pitter patter of her feet, she crossed the short distance to the bedroom. A bedroom with the door slightly ajar. A bedroom that was illuminated with the soft afternoon sun as the curtains were wide open. A bedroom where a certain lion was currently conversing with a stuffed lion that was on the bed while said certain lion kneeled in front.

“Ok, does that sound like a good plan, Mr. Lion?” Hyejin asked.

“It sure does!” Mr. Lion said. Or, at least what Hyejin made Mr. Lion say while waving its paw in the air. 

“Do you foresee any potential mishaps, Mr. Lion?”

Hyejin made Mr. Lion think about the question for a while. She maneuvered it’s paw under its chin while moving it’s head in a way to convey contemplation. Honestly, Wheein was impressed on how Hyejin was able to convey such expressive emotions with Mr. Lion. Impressed so much that the fleeting thought of how Hyejin would be a great mother to their children easily came into her mind. And just as quickly as it came, it vanished.

“Well, that depends,” Hyejin made Mr. Lion scratch the back of his head before dramatically making him stomp his paw on the bed, “Just don’t be a and all will be fine!”

Wheein couldn’t help but finally give herself away by chuckling at the scene before her. To which Hyejin only jumped a little but still maintained her cool. Cool enough to still be talking through Mr. Lion.

“Ah! The lovely Wheein has returned!”

Hyejin got up to meet Wheein halfway but she kept Mr. Lion in front of her as the main focus. Wheein gently smiled as she played along. The thought of Hyejin being a great mother came back again and this time she had to force the thought back. 

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I return? I do live here.” Wheein spoke directly to Mr. Lion, and, upon reaching him, gently started to pet him.

“Because,” Hyejin whipped her head to glance at the clock while making Mr. Lion look at his wrist, “Usually you don’t get back here until another thirty minutes or so!”

“It’s called friday, Mr. Lion. Besides, midterms are coming up so we decided it was best to treat ourselves today and stop a bit early.” Wheein said as she scratched under his chin as if he was a real animal.

“A bit of warning would be nice!” Hyejin moved Mr. Lion’s paws in order to playfully swat at Wheein’s hands. Earning a bright chuckle from Wheein.

“But if I were to do that, Mr. Lion, then how would I surprise my girlfriend? I assume she would love it if I got back early.” 

Hyejin moved Mr. Lion close to Wheein’s face and booped her nose with his nose before returning back to the previous position.

“Of course she would love it! She would love it even more if you didn’t have to get back so early and see the mess though.” Mr. Lion said as Hyejin pointed a paw to the living room mess. Where Ji yeon still remained. Maybe they have to check on her, but that can wait.

“Mr. Lion, do you know what happened? Ji Yeon wasn’t very helpful when I asked her. I think Hyejin might’ve given her more trouble than it was worth.” Wheein asked as she gently held Mr. Lion’s head in her hands to look right into his little beady eyes.

“I can’t say for sure, but, I do know that Hyejin is innocent!” Mr. Lion gave a proud salute.

“That is some grade A bull, Mr. Lion!!” Came Ji Yeon’s muffled yell from the living room.

Wheein bursted into pure laughter while holding onto Hyejin’s arm to remain upright. Not even Hyejin could stick to the Mr. Lion persona while seeing Wheein like this. The sound of Wheein’s laughter brought a bright smile onto Hyejin’s face as she finally moved Mr. Lion out of the way so she could look at Wheein in all of her glory. Her glory and her struggle to not fall off this plane of existence like she does everytime laughter overtakes her. It was a glorious sight, a sight that Hyejin will never get tired of seeing.

Once Wheein started to catch her breath, Hyejin pulled her in for a kiss and a hug. Nothing too intimate. It was quick but it was the necessary recharge they both needed. Going for days with long periods of seperatiation, and sometimes not seeing each other till they come home, they learned to make the most out of minimal touch. But, that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Not having Hyejin’s touch made Wheein feel cold. Not having Wheein’s touch made Hyejin feel empty. Luckily, during the weekends they more than made up for it and eventually they became comfortable enough to not be hung over the fact that they are without the other’s touch. Once they established cuddle sessions after the school day is done into their routine, the days went by quicker and became easier to bear. 

“Dear lord, I can you you guys smacking from here. Disgusting.” Ji Yeon’s disgruntled voice ruined their peace.

“Ugh, why are you still here?” Hyejin responded back with a clear hint of annoyance. Sure, quick to them sometimes means a good five minutes to the rest of the world, but that’s beside the point. 

Wheein just nuzzled into Hyejin’s neck, not bothering to remove her hands from under Hyejin’s shirt. She missed the feeling Hyejin’s soft skin under her fingers. Skin that looked soft and delicate, but hid a terrifying force underneath. She’s seen Hyejin’s muscles at work when boxing, so she knows how powerful they are, but she also knows how gentle they can be. Before her hands could wander, Ji Yeon cried out again.

“This would be the part where I would say ‘oh, but Hyejin, let me help you clean up!’ But we all know the truth.” Ji Yeon’s voice faded in and out as a clear indicator that she was moving about. As she moved about, the swooshing sound of a broom could be heard.

“She needed to leave!” 

“Can’t believe you’re playing favourites already.” Ji Yeon said followed by some aggressive sweeping.

“Favourites?” Wheein asked as she finally unlatched herself from Hyejin and made her way to go help Ji Yeon.

Hyejin gently placed Mr. Lion back on the bed before joining the other two. 

“Hyejin let Sujeong leave even though she did the most damage.” Ji Yeon gathered a good portion of the feathers into a nice pile.

“Sujeong?” Wheein asked as she grabbed the dustpan and placed it in front of the feather pile for Ji Yeon to sweep some feathers in.

“ She’s a friend I made during orientation and we have Seminar together.” Hyejin gave a nonchalant shrug as she dust off the feathers that made it onto the furniture.

“You had her over?” Wheein squinted at Hyejin in confusion. She never heard of this Sujeong person before.

“Yea, I needed help with…...,” Hyejin paused as she contemplated her next words carefully, “....Something since Ji Yeon didn’t cut it.”

Ji Yeon gave Hyejin a blank stare. Wheein just froze in place. Hyejin continued on as if nothing was wrong. Oblivious to the sort of insinuation her words gave. But, that wasn’t the reason why Ji Yeon and Wheein acted the way they did.

“Hyejin, we talked about this. You need to work on your phrasing.” Wheein finally faced Hyejin with mild concern.

“You know, if you two didn’t have trust or just top tier communication skills, I would whack you upside the head. How are you like this?”

Hyejin looked at them with a startled expression, “Wh-what?  What was wrong with my phrasing?”

“It insinuated many things…” Ji Yeon started.

“It insinuated you had a need to be taken care of and Ji Yeon couldn’t help you so you got Sujeong to help.” Wheein ended with emphasis.

“Well, yea I had a need. That’s what I said.” Hyejin looked between them, still confused as ever.

Ji Yeon breathed in deep before patting Wheein on the shoulder, “I’m glad you have the braincell, Wheein.”

Wheein just shook her head with a small smile. If anyone else were to say those words to her, she would be somewhat suspicious. But not with Hyejin. Never with Hyejin. Hyejin was just too honest. While to others, this trait would seem like a negative, in fact it has rubbed people the wrong way before, but it’s a trait that Wheein loves. Even if sometimes the phrasing has been a bit off and people have misunderstood her, but they’re working on that. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


It took them a good thirty minutes to make the room featherless. They even took a moment to bask in their work before finally splitting. Ji Yeon said her goodbyes and the two lovebirds were finally left alone. Alone and sprawled on the couch with Wheein on top of Hyejin.

“Wheein-ah…” Hyejin’s voice softly filled the air around them. It was only the vibrations from Hyejin’s body that brought Wheein back from falling over the edge and into the darkness known as an afternoon nap. 

“Hmmm?” Wheein lazily stretched across Hyejin before settling back down and nuzzling into Hyejin’s neck and placing gentle kisses on the tender, exposed skin.

“How bout we go home for the weekend?” Hyejin muttered as she craned her neck more to give Wheein more space to kiss.

“Oh. for your grand plan?” Wheein said as she reached up and gently booped Hyejin’s nose.

“I don’t know about gr--wait, how do you know?”

Wheein’s soft laughter enveloped them both as she wrapped her arms around Hyejin’s neck to cuddle even closer.

“You had a look in your eye all week. Like you had a grand scheme or something.” Wheein’s voice faded as Hyejin’s warmth and scent edged her closer to the comforting darkness of sleep.

The comfort was only intensified as Hyejin began to comb her fingers through Wheein’s hair. A content sigh escaped from Wheein as the darkness beckoned her ever so sweetly. But, Hyejin wouldn’t let her fall. She needed answers. 

“Is that a yes then?” 

Even Hyejin’s voice brought her closer to falling into the abyss. The soft and tender tone combined with the rumbling of her chest. If she could, she would want to sleep on Hyejin for the rest of her days. The firm, yet soft, body that belonged to Hyejin made all her worries vanish. Hyejin’s warmth and scent was its own comforting embrace. Hyejin’s arms that wrapped around her was a protective shield against the evils of the world. She wonders if Hyejin thinks the same way about her. Maybe she should ask one day. But not today. Being on top of Hyejin while being embraced and under the lazy rays of the sun, there were more important things to think about. And say.

“Mmm...Yeah…” The last mumbled words from Wheein before she finally fell asleep. 

Hyejin smirked and gave Wheein a kiss on the head. Enjoying this time to admire the art that is known as Wheein’s natural state of being. Sometimes she wishes she was an artist so that way she could try to show the world what she sees. To show the world how beautiful Wheein is when she isn’t trying. To show the world what true peace looks like. To show the world a work of art that would make any renaissance painter jealous. But she knows better. She knows that even if she was trained under all of the world’s greatests artists throughout time, she knows that nothing would compare to the real thing. That no amount of realism would equate to what she really sees. Besides, she’s perfectly happy that she’s the only one in the world to have such a view. 

Underneath Wheein's warmth, Hyejin began to feel the lull of sleep. The comforting pressure of Wheein’s body combined with the reassurance of Wheein’s scent, Hyejin never felt more at ease. It truly feels like she’s where she’s supposed to be. With Wheein.
 

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Marz009
~THE END~
Anyway, hoped ya enjoyed! It's sad ngl ;~; but it was bound to happen. Don't worry, I remember Side Story Collection so look forward to more updates on that :D until next time~~

Comments

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123eoi
#1
Chapter 38: TT I love this story so much.... wish it could last forever. I'll go read the side story collection now.
CliveBenevolent #2
Chapter 38: sreztfvugzihug8tr7fde6sw I'm so sad this is over TT, I loved it!!
Chexmix #3
Whoa! That was a journey! Wow first off that was amazing. I managed to binge both stories in three days (would have been one but life got in the way.) Now I'm in that state where you don't know what to do with yourself after reading such a great book and its all your fault! I demand more!

In all seriousness, would love to see Moonsun's story because I would have never expected the way they described their past to lead up to their "present" selves. Their journey seems like it would be wild. Anyway, thank you for giving us such a great story and THEN a sequel that was just as good as the original. Will be looking forward to more works from you in the future!
Danchoou #4
Chapter 38: I love this story so much, i kept reading it from the start time to time. Thank you so much for this story!
esined-rm #5
Chapter 38: Thanks for finishing this! But did wheein propose to hyejin in the end?
Erika1987 #6
Chapter 38: It was a beautiful story
Wheesateas
#7
Chapter 38: I'm crying. I can't believe one of my favourite stories has come to an end. And it was so soft and simply perfect.
Thank you so much for writing a sequel and being very real and honest with it yet making it a happy ending by resolving their issues and turning their relationship into something even more beautiful. Throughout it, and especially the last two chapters, I've felt the warmth of their love and felt comforted by your words and their story. I'm going to miss it and their relationship and I feel sad but in a good way. Thank you again and please, if you have the time and inspiration, share more of your writing in the future. I hope you have a good weekend <3
_JungHyejin_ #8
Chapter 38: Im cryinggg huhuhu, Im happy for them... I still can't believe that one of my favorite story finally ends. I really enjoyed reading this! Thank you so much author-nim, i love youuuu ❤️
moomoojeez #9
Chapter 38: im emotional cause i feel like i grew along together with this story and its finally end no.... forever grateful for you authornim thank you and i love you!!!
velahohoho #10
Chapter 38: OMGGGGGGGGG WHAT DID I POSSIBLY DO TO BE BLESSED BY YOUR DOUBLE UPDATE