Sending Jungeun home was a satisfying experience, euphoric, to be exact. After making out for a few minutes outside the car, Jungeun had given Jinsoul a good punch in the gut before reentering the car. It seemed the kiss had opened up several doors and quite frankly, formed a new path for the two of them. Whatever silence; tension and apprehension had transformed into embarrassment, flushed cheeks and several lip bites all the way to Jungeun’s home. The atmosphere is more comfortable than Jinsoul has ever been in her years of living. And now driving home alone no longer gives Jinsoul confusion or added weight to her thoughts; her heart is at peace.

The kiss that had been planted on Jinsoul’s cheek before Jungeun rushed into the apartment building was scorching. She felt the imprint of Jungeun’s lips remain on her cheek.

When her ring tone interrupts her music, Jinsoul can’t help the little snort – it must be Sooyoung and her nosy coming to dig for information again. It gets amusing whenever her best friend has to come up with some lousy excuse just to fool her.

“Ha Sooyoung, what do you want?”

“Put some respect on my name! I made your date happen!”

“Do you want me to call Jiwoo?”

Putting aside the grumbling, Jinsoul makes a sad attempt of hiding her happiness as she recounts their wonderful date. She leaves the private details out, albeit too satisfied with how the night went. It might be coming to two in the morning, but everything that went down is still crystal clear in her memory.

“I’m glad you two are doing okay now. It hasn’t been easy.”

“Thanks, babe,” Jinsoul chuckles, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as she waits for the light to change. “I’m still on the way home so I’ll send you a text when I do.”

Everything feels peaceful.

Yet, Jinsoul should have suspected something would go wrong. Every time she lets her guard down and skips the ever-so-logical path, she’s proven wrong repeatedly. It had been a fantastic date, lovely wine and desserts, topped by a confession.

How things could go wrong within a matter of hours, Jinsoul cannot comprehend.

***

“MOMMY!!!”

Jungeun jerks back and knocks her knee on the underside of her dressing table, clamping down on her lip. She was peacefully slapping on some moisturizer and basking in the afterglow of her night. No one even came to greet her when she reached home; this is all a trap.

“Yerim, honey,” Jungeun smiles, helping her daughter onto the bed after watching her wriggle unsuccessfully. “Why are you still awake? I thought I told you to be in bed before I come back.”

Of course, Yerim isn’t going to come up with an answer or explanation, simply staring at her mother with those adorable puppy eyes. She beams the cutest smile, the tiny gap in between her milk teeth visible for the world to see. “I’m not sleepy…” Yerim crinkles her nose just as she says that, knocking her legs against the bed. A little scolding or nagging won’t be a problem if she gets to know the reason why her mother is smiling to herself like that.

“Well… I assume your Aunt is already snoring and comfortable in your bed, so I won’t be scolding you today, sweetheart.” Jungeun leans in to plant a smooch on her daughter’s chubby cheek, snuggling into the warm covers.

The young one buries her face into Jungeun’s side, arms and legs thrown over her mother’s body. She just loves watching her mother be at ease with herself and dabbling into the world of romance again. While most children her age grow up with both parents, Yerim doesn’t feel the least bit inferior. Whilst a lack of a fatherly figure had made her the victim of some teasing and mischief back in their hometown, Yerim hasn’t taken any of it to heart. Whatever other children had and enjoyed, Jungeun made up for everything tenfold. The gifts, the materialistic items had given her pleasure, because it also meant Yerim could use those to play with her mother. Living with just Jungeun has been a blessing.

However, if Jinsoul is the person who will make a new addition to their little family, maybe an exception could be put in place.

Resting her arms under her head, Jungeun turns on the television and makes sure Yerim is covered. She is on the brink of gushing about how respectfully Jinsoul had treated her the entire night, not that she’d put her own daughter through the ultimate gay awakening.

“Is she home yet?” Jungeun mumbles, glancing at her phone. She knows it takes a while for Jinsoul to get home, but it shouldn’t be this slow.

No one’s going to catch her slipping though.

Waiting for a bit won’t kill her.

Perfectly unbothered by Yerim’s tiny body wrapped all over her, Jungeun glues her eyes to the television. Not that it’s working though, since all she can think about is that adorable woman. Remember when I promised to take care of you? I really mean it.

How could Jungeun not swoon?

[jinsoul]

can you open the door?

please?

Jungeun had to reread the message more than twice, wondering if Jinsoul had sent that to the correct person. She was supposed to be on the way home, and would have reached her apartment by now. It would make no sense for Jinsoul to send that text.

[jinsoul]

jungeun I’m outside

come and open the door, please

Throwing the covers off her legs, she leaps out of bed and rushes into the living room. The wooden surface beneath Jungeun’s feet suddenly feel as if they might give way if she’s not conscious.

Standing in front of the door, Jungeun feels a wave of anxiety wash over her senses. If Jinsoul is really in front of the door like she says she is, what could she possibly say?

“Jinso— ouch…” Jungeun lets out a small whimper at the impact of Jinsoul’s body slamming against hers. She’s about to push the taller woman off when she realizes how hard Jinsoul is trembling.

Jinsoul’s hands grasp desperately at Jungeun’s shirt, pressing soft kisses against the younger woman’s head. She can feel her own head spinning; whatever just happened was so surreal. It’s like an alternate universe; Jinsoul could be the most delusional person ever but this was utterly ridiculous and impossible.

Everything was over.

Everything was going to be fine.

*

Jinsoul’s hands tremble around the mug of warm milk, her eyes still drawn to the table. It’s not just her tummy that’s in knots; her heart is still going through so many palpitations. The scene of her getting stopped right in the middle of the road still causes Jinsoul to overthink about their future; it’s uncertain. The responsibility on her shoulders will not be small, neither will it be easy to tackle. If Jungeun is willing to take the leap of faith with Jinsoul, then everything will be in its rightful place.

“What happened, Jinsoul? You were supposed to be back home and in bed by now.” Jungeun whispers, eyes scanning the older woman carefully.

“I… I was stopped on the way home,” Jinsoul whispers, dying a little bit on the inside as she thinks of her impending question. She timidly looks up at Jungeun, the fear in her eyes visible to the world. “Y-Yerim’s father… he stopped me.”

Jungeun’s eyes snap up to meet Jinsoul’s, the confusion and fear welling up in them. She had expected the older woman to say something along the lines of getting into an accident or a blown-out engine… anything but the reappearance of a man who has nothing to do with her anymore.

Before she can remove her hand from Jinsoul’s hold, she finds both of Jinsoul’s hands holding tightly onto her cold one.

“It’s okay… he’s never going to bother you again,” Jinsoul tearfully reveals, bending her head a little bit to wipe her tears. She didn’t want to go into detail tonight.

This is too much to take in right now; Jungeun cannot deal with this. She spent far too long trying to get over her past issues to let it eat her up from the inside again.

“Come here.”

The florescent light from her mother’s desk seeps beneath Yerim’s half-opened eye lids, gently awakening the young one from her slumber. She sits up groggily, almost losing her balance since her tiny body has been comfortably tucked in for a while. Turning her tiny head left and right, Yerim almost has to double-back at the space next to her; her mother was definitely lying down beside her before she fell asleep. Her vision still remains a bit blurry, but her ears pick up the sound of their television turning on in the living room.

Mommy’s watching TV without me?

Grabbing Potter – her stuffed toy in the shape of a fruit bat – and another stuffed toy in the shape of a fish in her other hand, Yerim hops off the bed with a little yelp. She will be very much interrupting her mother’s movie time, just based on the fact that she wasn’t invited.

“Mommy?”

Surprise, surprise.

“JINDO—”

“Shh…” Jinsoul can barely hold back her own grin, the excitement on her face mirroring the little girl’s. She beckons the young one over to where she’s sitting, a rather large obstacle hindering her movement. “Let’s not wake Mommy up…”

Yerim just hops onto the empty space beside her favourite teacher, leaning against her arm as she peeks at her mother in her peaceful slumber. She has no recollection of seeing Jungeun sleep so well in a long while. In fact, the last time this happened, it was after family day event organized by the kindergarten. The car ride home was a comfortable one, nothing much for her to do except sleep in the backseat of Jinsoul’s car. Obviously, her mother had similar thoughts because Yerim clearly remembers the look of surprise on her face when Jinsoul leaned over. It’s safe to say Yerim had quite a view from the backseat.

With a gentle gaze directed at the woman snoozing in her arms, Jinsoul barely refrains from moving forward to give the latter a kiss on the forehead. If it wasn’t for the little girl playing with her sleeve, there’s no telling how long she would be staring at Jungeun.

Jinsoul finally tears her eyes away from the love of her life and changes her focus to the young girl. “Why are you still awake, baby girl?”

“TV was on…”

If Jungeun knew or saw what she was planning to do, Jinsoul would probably not be allowed in at night ever again. Then again, kids do need their time to relax too.

“Go crazy,” Jinsoul grins, handing the remote over to Yerim.

How often does she get to do this?

It’s barely possible to hold back from screaming in excitement but Yerim holds Potter close to her face, squeezing the life out of her stuffed toy. “Thank you, Jindori! I love you!”

Making herself comfortable in front of the coffee table, Yerim’s attention is effortlessly drawn towards the reflection in the corner of the screen. Her little eyes widen when she notices Jinsoul lifting her hand – was she going to hit her mother? The warning sirens and alarm bells going off in her head immediately resolve themselves when Jinsoul simply tucks her mother’s fringe behind her ear. She cups her chubby cheeks and rests on her crossed legs, unable to even focus on her cartoon instead of the lovely movie happening right behind. If this is the kind of scenario she gets to watch every time Jinsoul is here, then she’d be begging for the latter to come over all the time.

It’s the silent actions, and the careful movements Jinsoul made sure to have, giving her mother so much respect and tenderness. Frankly, it’s no wonder why Jungeun is happy whenever her teacher is around.

“Jinsoul…”

“Shhh, go back to sleep,” Jinsoul mumbles, rubbing the woman’s shoulder comfortingly. “I’ll be right here; I’ll take care of Yerim…”

Soon enough, similar smiles begin to form on both mother and daughter’s faces; extremely safe and secure with Jinsoul around. It comes as a natural gift to them.

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Waking up with a slight ache in her back and neck, Jinsoul doesn’t expect much to happen. She just remembers the events of last night being extremely… puzzling and overwhelming. Being stopped in the middle of the road by Jungeun’s ex-boyfriend, rushing over here to be with Jungeun immediately… and spending a wholesome night on the sofa with Yerim too? It feels so lovely, so domestic, so oddly comfortable; it feels almost as if she’s already part of the family. There’s honestly nothing more she wants than to get Yerim’s stamp of approval, which she has achieved without any verbal announcements.

If Jinsoul didn’t know it before, she realizes it today – Yerim is still sleeping soundly in her arms despite Jungeun not being there. Granted it has happened prior, last night had been the gamechanger for all of them.

“Yerim-ah…” Jinsoul coos softly, finger wiping away the speck of drool from the side of Yerim’s face.

“Let her sleep. I think she likes sleeping in your arms.”

Adjusting her position just enough to be able to look up, Jinsoul struggles to see where Jungeun appeared from. She gasps when she sees Jungeun all dolled up, a nice off-shoulder blouse and a pair of denim shorts to accompany it.

“Where are you going?”

Jungeun heaves a big sigh, taking careful strides towards the sofa while she thinks of how to tell Jinsoul this. She sits down on the floor, reaching out to grasp Jinsoul’s free hand. “I’m going to talk to him about some things… I think, I do owe him an explanation in some way and it’s going to be closure for both of us.”

An eerie silence overcame the room within seconds, but they weren’t on the same page.

“Jinsoul? Aren’t you going to say something?”

Jinsoul tilts her head, confusion filling her eyes within seconds. She gently removes her hand from under the little girl’s head, folding it and putting it under her head. While her thoughts are still under some form of control, Jinsoul can’t help but let out a tiny twinkle of a smile. There are so many things that shouldn’t be said aloud, and there are some things that Jinsoul knows better than to bring up. Furthermore, Jungeun is her own person who can make her own