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It’s almost two in the morning, and Seo Soojin is currently questioning the logic behind her relationship with Yeh Shuhua.

“Babe… This is getting a bit ridiculous, don’t you think?” She mutters unhappily, tugging at the sleeves of her baggy sweater as her only means of warmth in this otherwise frigid freezer of a shop. “It’s late, I’m cold, and I wanna go home. They’re still on sale, anyway, so why don’t we just come back later and—”

Soojin is abruptly cut off by her girlfriend, who finally peels away from the shelf she’s been examining for an awfully long time as if to uncover its precious secrets to face her with eyes wide in disbelief.

“Later? Later?” Shuhua repeats in an increasingly louder voice, which prompts Soojin to flinch as she stares back at her bewildered expression. “Jin-Jin, do you not know why we’re even here right now?”

The younger girl gives her an expectant look, like she’s waiting for Soojin's brain to fall into the same wavelength as hers. By the looks of it, the late hour does nothing to cap her restless energy in the slightest. Judging by how Shuhua still manages to stay wide awake and bouncing on her heels like an energetic puppy whenever she finds something of great interest, Soojin would think she’s being screwed around with for the s and giggles – if not for Shuhua’s genuine excitement at the idea of heading out to the 24-hour sweet shop just a few blocks down from their apartment.

“Well, I would assume it has something to do with all these chocolates—” Soojin gestures widely around them at the grand selection of red-and-white boxes surrounding the couple while speaking in the most sarcastic tone ever. “—since we’ve been standing in this same aisle for the past fifteen minutes.”

Shuhua beams. “Precisely!” She snaps her fingers before giving the unimpressed girl a finger gun. “That’s exactly why. The chocolate! The discounted chocolate, as a matter of fact!”

She reinforces her point by hugging a random pack of heart-shaped treats in a rectangular box that’s longer than her own two arms. A velvet-red packaging with glitter embellishments that is topped with a gold bow and a blank card attached to one end of it.

Soojin rolls her eyes at the clear expectation in Shuhua’s sparkling eyes, trying not to get jealous over a stupid tacky box that’s getting more love out of her girlfriend than she is.

“I just bought you some yesterday.” She deadpans.

“I know, I know. But that was before Valentine’s day,” Shuhua places the box back in its shelf space – Good, stay there. Soojin thinks petulantly – as she goes to grab two smaller boxes from a different rack to compare their price tags. “Which means you bought them at full price.”

“Yeah, like I’ve been doing for the past three and a half years since we’ve started dating.” Soojin isn’t keen on helping Shuhua with whatever ridiculous chocolate mission her mind has apparently set itself on, but she knows better than to convince the latter to change her plans. Behind the playfulness and carefree demeanor is a surprising amount of stubborn persistence.

However, that doesn’t mean Soojin is going to give her an easy time after getting dragged out of their cozy warm home and into the unforgiving chill of February night. Clad in only her thin pajamas and the sweater Shuhua had all but tossed onto her head when she complained about the cold.

Lads, ladies, and non-binaries, Best Girlfriend of the Year: Yeh freaking Shuhua.

“And I love you and appreciate your efforts very much.”

The brat pauses in her search to peck Soojin’s cheek in gratitude, leaving her flustered from the unexpected but welcomed affection.

“But hear me out—some of these are only available during the month, and it’s way too expensive to start stocking up on them right before they go on sale. I’m not letting myself get into a fight with another y PTA mom in the middle of the candy aisle like what happened last year. Do you remember Brenda, Jin-Jin? Do you remember, Bren?”

The crazy, near-hysterical glint in Shuhua’s eyes makes Soojin wince. Ah, yes. She remembers Brenda and her god-awful child who did nothing but cry obnoxiously in the middle of his mother’s temper tantrum as Shuhua and her clashed head-to-head in a screaming match over discounted Toblerone bars. They ended up leaving the store with just a single Cadbury (not even the large one), but Soojin likes to think that maybe it was for the best. The last thing she needed after such a stressful day was to have the Taiwanese behind bars for strangling a grown woman who was probably going through a midlife crisis. In front of her useless son, no less.

“Of course, I remember Bren.” She air-quotes. “So, anyway, the point of all this would be…?”

Shuhua digs through the shelf and begins taking out a few choice boxes from the selection, wordlessly dumping them into Soojin’s waiting arms when she reaches out automatically to collect them. They have a fixed system, and it revolves around the fact that Soojin has absolutely zero knowledge (and interest) in chocolate, whilst Shuhua considers herself a connoisseur.

“The point, my dear baobei, is that I am hell-bound to get each and every brand I want this year without the hassle of next-day sales and an army of Brendas up all the good stuff. If that means hitting up every open store within a half-mile radius at a quarter past midnight, so be it.”

Soojin grumbles beneath the growing stack of boxes piling up quickly in her arms. They aren’t exactly heavy, but balancing them all together proves to be quite the challenge. God, please don’t let that Ferrero box fall on my head. She mentally prays.

“I suppose that makes sense…” She concedes in defeat. “But I don’t see why I’m still being dragged into this.”

“Someone’s gotta carry them over to the car.” Shuhua snickers, only to amend shortly after with a few lighthearted apologies and an adorable eye-smile that Soojin loves when the older girl shoots her death glare. “I’m kidding, babe. I’ll carry some of them too.” She pats Soojin’s head before kissing her on the cheek again for good measure. Soojin relaxes all at once with a hum.

“Mm. You better.” She mumbles, not willing to give Shuhua the satisfaction of knowing that she likes it whenever the younger girl acts sweet and cute towards her. “Are we done yet? I wanna go home already.” Soojin whines. “I’m exhausted, Shu.”

“What’s the matter, Jin-Jin? Did I tire you out earlier?” Shuhua laughs once they’re heading for the cashier.

Soojin’s face can pretty much resemble the color of these boxes in her grasp as her cheeks burn furiously. It doesn’t help that Shuhua is wagging her eyebrows in the greasiest way possible.

“I hate you,” She pouts even harder, despite the blush raging on her features. Damn Shuhua and her knack of overstimulating her poor body till Soojin has been reduced to a blubbering incoherent mess of hypersensitive nerves on their bedsheets. “I’m gonna feel that for the rest of the week, and it’s all your fault!”

“Aww, I’m sorry.” Shuhua giggles, pinching a rosy cheek between her thumb and index to draw out a squeal from the beet-red Soojin. She leans in to kiss her girlfriend’s lips. “How about I make it up to you later? Say… with chocolate?” She offers with a wink after pulling away.

Now, it’s Soojin’s turn to laugh – the first time she has ever smiled since they embarked on this silly chocolate escapade.

“I guess that’ll work just fine for me.”

She kisses Shuhua back just as softly. This time, Soojin lingers for a few seconds longer to savor the pleasantly warm contact as she smiles against . Soojin can feel Shuhua returning it instantly. Clearly quite pleased with herself for having appeased the former with such a simple proposition.

And for once, Soojin doesn’t see the need to revive their banter just to kick Shuhua down a peg or two. Heck, she doesn’t even mind it one bit at all.

“Alright, let’s go buy your damn chocolates already. Our bed is waiting for us, and I don’t think I can wait any longer either.” Soojin tugs Shuhua along by her wrist with such uncharacteristic patience that has the other girl chuckling. Especially when she notices just how eager Soojin is to get back home pronto so they can indulge in a little bit of a late-night “snack” for a job well done.

Although the day ended much later than she hoped it would, the dumb yet endearing grin on Shuhua’s glowing face makes Soojin realize that this is totally worth the lost sleep in the end.