A/N: Hello. I hated the original chapter, so I drafted it to add more stuff and rewrote a few scenes to make it slightly tolerable. I still don't like it, but I think it's a little better now. Really sorry if you guys were expecting a new chapter, I have commitment issues <3

**edits/revisions made as of 3/15/2021.

᠁

“There’s so many people here, Shu.”

Miyeon says as they’re seated in a lively bistro, feeling like she’s on some sort of reconnaissance mission, while Shuhua just gives the senior a -eating grin over her straw. And she responds to it by sticking her tongue out.

“Pfft, what are we? Five?” Shuhua jokes before taking a sip of her blue lemonade.

She looks really good today. Miyeon thinks, taking the liberty to admire Shuhua’s visuals while also trying to be inconspicuous about it.

The Taiwanese had dressed nicely that morning, with her black turtleneck shirt tucked into a pair of light-ripped jeans and white sneakers to complete the outfit. Simple, but stylish. Just her type.

Shuhua pretends to glance around conspiratorially, then turns back to Miyeon with a serious look.

“Quick. Act like you’re in love with me, unnie.”

It’s a strange request. One that initially takes her aback, but she recovers quickly. “Please,” Miyeon scoffs, hoping that her blush isn’t noticeable as she stares down at her table mat. “I’m pretty good at that…”

She’s not exactly lying.

Shuhua furrows her eyebrows at this and opens to say something. Except the waiter comes by with their food, and Miyeon couldn’t be any more thankful for the intervention. The last thing she wanted was to have an awkward conversation over breakfast. Especially now that they’re both getting along way better than they did almost two years ago.

“You seriously got crepes?” Miyeon asked when she finally takes a look at her plate, eyeing the flat pancake that’s stuffed with bacon and egg.

“Yup.” Shuhua had already dug into her order, which is the same as Miyeon’s, and spoke through a mouthful of egg. “I even got you hash brown.”

“I can see that.” Miyeon picks up one of the fried pieces with her fork and bites into it. Loving the crunch that follows, and how the hash brown almost seems to melt on her tongue. “I just didn’t expect you’d order something like this.”

“Just because I lived off instant ramyeon for the better half of my freshman year, doesn’t mean I don’t have any class.” Shuhua defends in a light-hearted tone.

“Crepes give me the creeps though.” Miyeon flashes a dimpled grin, then laughs upon seeing her face.

“Ugh… seriously?” Shuhua remains unamused.

“Hey, come on! That was good!”

“You are so not funny, unnie. Please stop trying.” Shuhua mutters with a roll of her eyes, but Miyeon can see the faint smile on her lips and counts that as a win. She then cuts a portion off her dish and plops it onto Miyeon’s plate, grinning to herself when the latter makes a surprised noise.

“Shuhua, what the Hell?” Miyeon looks at her incredulously. “Why?”

It’s no secret that her dongsaeng can be very possessive when it comes to food (if you count that one time when she threatened Minnie with a plastic knife, all because the Thai was just near her leftover pizza), so Miyeon couldn’t help but wonder why Shuhua is suddenly being nice to her. Not that she used to treat the older girl like scum or an actual villain, but it was unexpected from her former enemy. Even if it’s something so trivial like adding hash browns to her meal, or sharing a part of her own crepe.

“I realized you didn’t eat much the other day, unnie.” Shuhua explains coolly after noticing her confusion. “You only had those chicken nuggets for dinner, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give you extra. Just in case you’re hungry.”

Miyeon’s cheeks flush at her honesty.

“Oh.” Is all she could possibly say.

Her admiration for the younger girl grows at the fact that Shuhua had actually been observant enough to notice such a small, inconsequential detail, despite her seeming disinterest with anything that involves the senior—save for the brief moment they had earlier when she asked about Miyeon’s drawing and course, although that might’ve been out of boredom.

But maybe Shuhua does care about her, after all. Just in her own, passive ways.

Miyeon doesn’t try to hide her grateful smile. “Thanks, Shu. This is really sweet of you.”

Shuhua only shrugs. “It’s nothing much.” She downplays the act while focusing on her crepe, which has been reduced to a few more bites and some misplaced bits of bacon. “Don’t get used to it though. My wallet isn’t bottomless, and I’m still pretty territorial around my food.”

Knowing Shuhua, she can tell that the sophomore purposely changing the topic to avoid any prolonged attention. So, Miyeon—being understanding as always—just settles with a grateful smile instead.

“Still, I appreciate it.” She insists kindly, a pleasant warmth spreading in her chest at the thoughtful consideration as they go back to eating in companionable silence. And it’s only then that Miyeon realizes how good the food actually is. “Oh, wow. This crepe is amazing.”

“See why I brought you here, babe?” Shuhua has that brazen smirk on her face, which doesn’t do wonders for Miyeon’s poor heart after hearing the sudden endearment. “They have the best crepes in the neighborhood.”

She just hums approvingly, drinking from her water glass in an attempt to cover up her rosy cheeks, as Shuhua glances up and is startled by something (or rather, someone) behind her.

“Holy .”

“Wae?” Miyeon asks and follows her line of sight. When she finally spots who Shuhua is staring at, her curiosity peaks.

There’s a tall girl donning a brown trench coat over a striped tee, her midnight-black hair cascading down her shoulders in luxurious curls and her hand clasped around a takeout coffee cup in a cardboard sleeve. Somehow, her face reminded Miyeon of a cute fennec fox. Particularly with her beautiful, dark eyes that highlighted her youthful appeal.

“Shu-Shu!” The vixen beamed as she waves in their direction, which Shuhua responds to by returning it eagerly.

“Tzuyu! Hi!” She greets her fellow Taiwanese friend when the girl comes over to their table. “You remember Miyeon-unnie, right?”

“Ah, yes. Your ‘infamous’ rival, according to campus belief.” Tzuyu jests as she and Miyeon shook hands. “Nice to meet you, unnie!”

“Likewise.” The Korean beauty smiles politely.

“So, Tzu.” Shuhua looks at her friend with clear interest. “What brings you here? I didn’t think you’d be out of the city this weekend.”

“Oh, about that. I got invited to the wedding, apparently. Isn’t that cool?”

Miyeon can see Shuhua widen her eyes dramatically, but somehow manages to keep it in check and put on a cool demeanor. She’s impressed.

“Guess we’ll see you there then?” Miyeon offers to speak up, since the younger girl seems to be buffering right now.

“You’re going too, unnie?” Tzuyu looks surprised. “Wait, are you two like… a thing?”

Shuhua’s first instinct is to say “no”, except Miyeon had already anticipated this and takes over before she could say something stupid.

“I know, right? It came as a shock for me too, you know, with our reputation being ‘rivals’ and all. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Her eyes shone with fondness as she glances at Shuhua, whose face turns a bright red when Miyeon shoots her a wink. She doesn’t say anything, however, and just shifts her gaze towards the crumpled napkin by her plate.

Cute!

“Now that I think about it, you guys would make a great power couple.” Tzuyu compliments them. “I kinda get why people are still pitting the both of you against each other. The world isn’t ready for MiShu yet.”

Miyeon, who’d been taking a sip of water, almost spits out her drink while Shuhua splutters.

“MiShu?” The shorter Taiwanese parrots in disbelief.

"Yeah, 'cause Miyeon plus Shuhua equals MiShu. Honestly, Shu. Catch up." Tzuyu teases her friend while being completely oblivious to how flustered the make-believe couple are at their ship name. "Anyway, I'd better go ahead. I just came by to grab my girlfriend a coffee before we meet up at the station, but it was nice seeing you two!"

The three say their goodbyes before Tzuyu exits the bistro, and Miyeon turns back to find Shuhua sitting stock-still on her chair.

“She seems nice.” The senior muses with her elbow propped on the table, chin resting in her palm as she calmly waits for Shuhua to collect herself.

“Yeah, well… We sorta went out together once.” Shuhua mumbles while fiddling with the handle of her knife. “She’s actually the girl I mentioned to you last night. The one my grandparents were trying to set me up with?”

“Oh, so that’s her?”

She nods. “At first, it was their neighbors’ son. But then I told them I’m gay and the next thing I knew, I was on another date with the niece of one of their bingo buddies.”

Miyeon holds back a snort. “At least you two got along in the end.” She points out.

“Tzuyu’s a pretty cool person.” Shuhua states with a shrug. “I prefer her as a friend than a potential love interest though. And besides, she’s dating that Japanese exchange-student now. Minatozaki Sana, I think.”

“Ah, I see.”

They continue on eating and exchange a few more words during their meal.

“I’ve never been in an actual relationship before, so I’m pretty bad at this whole ‘pretend’ thing. How am I going to fake one enough to make it seem believable?” Shuhua speaks after wolfing down her last bite of crepe, then stiffens when Miyeon reaches over to wipe off the grease from the corner of .

“Sorry. You just got something there.”

She dabs on it with the clean part of her napkin before retracting slowly, the action causing their cheeks to warm a little as Miyeon coughs to hide her awkwardness. (It didn’t help.)

“T-That’s okay. Thanks, unnie.” Shuhua mumbles down at her plate. Suddenly, the crumbs look very interesting.

“For starters, I mean… it’s all about casual touching.” Miyeon says nervously. “Like you’re so close with both Soojin and Yuqi, it comes naturally for you guys. Just do what you normally do with them to me, and I’m sure everyone would buy it.”

The sophomore takes a moment to process this, and then nods again. “Yeah… yeah, I think I can do that.”

Satisfied, Miyeon downs the rest of her water in one gulp (Jesus, feels dry for some reason) before standing up. “Do you want me to pay you back, or…?” She trails off, gesturing at her shoulder bag.

Shuhua just waves the offer aside. “No need, unnie. It’s my treat for, you know, dragging you into this mess.”

Her expression is unreadable at first, which has Miyeon feeling confused, but it shifts to something more neutral as they leave the bistro in quiet, comfortable silence.

᠁

By the time they step out, the sidewalks were already bustling with civilians going about their business.

The midday sun glares down at them with such an intensity, they needed to squint under its harsh light as they navigate through the sea of people all clumped and squeezed together. Most of them chatting away with their companion, or talking loudly on their phones without a care of those around.

That, combined with the sultry weather, made it significantly troublesome for Miyeon, who didn’t enjoy the disregard of personal space as they walked along the busy streets.

Her discomfort grows at the constant brushing of skin with all the people they’ve passed, and everything from the temperature to the claustrophobia of being suffocated in a noisy crowd is making her feel very overwhelmed.

Breathe.

Miyeon’s throat closes up as she tries to swallow down the uneasiness that’s churning in her gut, her breaths growing shorter and ragged as she blinks her unfocused eyes on the path ahead—only to feel an arm grazing her own and gently easing her to the side, where it’s nearer to the shops and leaves a partial distance between her and the crowd.

Startled, Miyeon turns her head to find Shuhua looking at her with soft eyes as she smiles reassuringly.

“Just keep walking, unnie. I got you.”

The girl is so close, Miyeon can feel a different kind of heat creeping up her neck as she nods meekly and does what she’s told. Her blush increasing tenfold when Shuhua presses up against her back and keeps her arm held out by the Korean’s side, until the crowd diminishes to just a handful of people.

But even then, Shuhua stuck close to her and loosely draped her arm around Miyeon’s shoulders. Holding her closely as they crossed a few more streets and kept encountering a flock of people along the way, the action repeating itself as she continues to use her arm as a barrier separating Miyeon from unwanted physical contact.

And just like that, the senior finds herself falling deeper into this rabbit hole that is Yeh Shuhua.

“Thank you, Shu.”

“Hm? For what?”

“For what you did back there… I really appreciate it.”

Shuhua tilts her head, and the tenderness in her smile is enough for Miyeon’s heart to race. She’s left breathless again, but for an entirely different reason.

“No problem, unnie.”

᠁

Somewhere down the corner, Miyeon drags Shuhua into a quaint, little shop under the guise of “not having cufflinks” and spend the next hour playing around like kids. Trying on a bunch of silly hats and tacky shirts with childlike glee as they explored the clothing section.

“Hey, Shu-Shu. Should I wear this to the dinner tonight?” Miyeon asked while holding up a Hawaiian print shirt that’s a distasteful shade of orange, it hurts for Shuhua to even look at.

“And look like someone who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Sure, be my guest.” She tells her with a tinge of sarcasm, and it’s enough for Miyeon to break into a fit of tinkling laughter. “But for real, please don’t. It’s so ugly.”

“Aw, come on! It’s basic lesbian fashion!”

“Unnie, you and I both know that flannel shirts are the true pinnacle of lesbian fashion.” Shuhua banters with a grin.

“Okay, fine. But what about a vest?” Miyeon trades the atrocious Hawaiian dad-shirt for a grey, single-button vest top from a completely different rack by the corner. “Vests were pretty much the rave back in the late 2000s. Even Charlene from Gimme Sugar had one in her closet tour.”

“Oh, God… Is this from her Don’t Feed the Lesbians vlog?”

“Yeah, why? Are you questioning Charlene’s fashion tastes now?” Miyeon humors upon meeting her gaze.

Shuhua raises her hands in surrender. “Please. Like I would ever question our Lord.” She joked. “I mean, they’re not as offensively unfashionable as cowgirl boots. It’s just… it’s gay, but it’s not spicy.”

The older girl almost busts a lung after hearing that.

Shuhua just smiled.

Adorable. She thinks, a sense of contentment washing over her as she observes Miyeon—laughing to her heart’s delight and wiping away the tears that have formed in her eyes—while a pleasant feeling grows in her chest.

“I’m going to try this it out.” Miyeon’s voice snaps her back into reality.

“You can’t be serious.” She gaped, watching in horror as Miyeon heads for the changing rooms with the stupid vest in hand.

“Watch me.”

“Unnie, no. Don’t you d—Yah! Get back here!”

“Try and catch me first, Shu!”

“Pabo Miyeon!”

Their laughter floats around them as Shuhua gives chase to the stubborn beauty, whose dimpled smile is bright enough to add more life inside the dingy, old shop and fill her heart with a certain kind of happiness she hasn’t felt anywhere else. Except with Miyeon.

᠁

It’s nearly two in the afternoon when they’re heading back to Shuhua’s house. The duo stopped at a sandwich shop for lunch, which had them running into more people and having to really amp up the romance. When they got inside the car, however, she doesn’t find herself exhausted at all. In fact, Shuhua was even unwilling to let go of Miyeon’s hand after the older girl had grabbed hers to “make their act seem more authentic.”

(Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to admit that the senior’s hand felt impossibly warm and soft in her grasp.)

But, unfortunately, she did have to let go in order for Miyeon to drive properly.

Shuhua connects her phone to the radio as they pull out of the parking lot, scrolling through her Spotify playlist until she lands on some EDM trap song that Soyeon had suggested to her. The music runs in the background as they cruise down a street, and Miyeon perks up once she hears the first verse of Feels Great being played.

“Oh my God, I recognize this.” She exclaims. “This is my jam!”

The next thing they knew, they’re singing at the top of their lungs when the chorus drops. Exchanging looks of pure enjoyment as their voices filled up the car.

“Now I miss the view from the floor of your room,

September came way too soon.

Do you remember how it feels to be young?

It feels great, mothaa, yeah!”

They sing out loud to their hearts’ content before laughing afterwards. The track keeps playing as Miyeon passionately sings along, while Shuhua mouths some of the lyrics that she remembers. They’re having so much fun, Miyeon almost misses a turn into Shuhua’s neighborhood and it sets the younger off again.

“Heyyyy, don’t give me that!” She whined, but still ends up chuckling anyway. Shuhua pretends to wipe at an imaginary tear, and Miyeon responds by pushing her shoulder playfully. “Stop laughing at me, you brat!”

“I can’t b-breathe—!” Shuhua wheezed as she clutches her stomach. Trying to hold her together when Miyeon gives her that pout, but ultimately fails and cracks up again.

“You’re insufferable.” Miyeon huffs, the smile betraying her words as she laughs alongside her happy dongsaeng.

The house is empty by the time they arrive, but the girls didn’t seem to mind as they climbed up the stairs with huge smiles on their faces. The sounds of their voices carry through the hallway as they enter Shuhua’s room, with the sophomore throwing herself unceremoniously onto her bed. Face-down and spread-eagled across the comforters for Miyeon to snicker at how ridiculous she looks right now.

Shortly after, Shuhua lets out a muffled ‘oof’ at the sudden weight that’s been dropped onto her back. Effectively sandwiching her between a warm body and the mattress as she twists her neck a little to see who it is, only to find herself staring into Miyeon’s innocent brown eyes.

“What are you doing?” She asked in mild amusement.

“Lying on top of you.” The older girl states the obvious.

“No, , Sherlock. But seriously, you’re crushing me.”

“Are you calling me fat?”

“You’re the one who’s saying that, unnie.” A pause. “But maybe you did gain a pound or two.”

Miyeon guffaws as she smacks her arm lightly. “Those hash browns were your idea!” She argued, mirth lacing her dulcet voice.

“I thought it’d be good for my karma, you know. Feeding the hungry.”

“I… you’re impossible.”

“Impossibly compassionate, you mean?” Shuhua has that smug look on her face, which prompts Miyeon roll her eyes. Conceding. “Now please get off me. You’re cutting my blood circulation.”

“No.”

“Unnie.”

“I said no.”

Seeing that she’s not relenting anytime soon, Shuhua takes a deep breath and sighs through —before catching Miyeon off-guard by flipping their positions as she rolls them across the bed. Limbs tangled together, and their hair strewn about the wrinkled sheets.

“Y-Yah!” Miyeon yelps in the process, lying on her back with her black tresses splayed over the sheets and crowning her head in tousled waves.

From Shuhua’s point of view, Miyeon looks really sweet… and exquisite. The glimmer of sunlight creeping through the windows only accentuated the color that’s dusting her flushed cheeks, and her vibrant, brown irises made her seem all the more enticing as they gaze back at her own black pairs. First, in shock. Then gradually transitioning into something heavier and more intense.

Holy .

It takes Shuhua’s breath away. Especially when her eyes flit down to the parted lips that reminded her of a rose bud—pink and lush, and silky-looking—with the upper lip having its natural cupid’s bow, while the bottom one is a little plumper.

And for some inexplicable reason, it gives Shuhua the strange urge to lean down and feel them against her own.

“… Shu?”

A soft, almost longing voice breaks through her short trance. Just enough for her to realize the state that they’re in before reeling back instantly, like she had been straying too close to a fire and nearly got burned as a result.

“Err…” Shuhua immediately sits upright. Propped on her knees and away from Miyeon, who pushes herself up to fix the Taiwanese with a concerned look. “I-I just realized that we have a couple more hours till we head out again for dinner. Do you want to like… watch a movie or something?”

The expression on Miyeon’s face is hard to read, but her eyes seem to express something that Shuhua can’t quite piece together yet. However, she just nods and averts her gaze to the bed.

“Yeah, sure.” She quietly replied.

“Great… Just, um, give me moment.” Shuhua practically staggers off the bed, cursing at herself for being a total klutz, and fumbles to grab her laptop from her desk.

She tries not to think too much at the sight of Miyeon waiting patiently on her bed—cross-legged and hugging one of the many Ice Bear plushies tucked in the corner—and how she wanted to preserve this image in her memory forever, or have a picture of it saved in her phone’s gallery. Of how her skin broke into goosebumps when Miyeon presses against her side, their arms brushing lightly from how close they’re huddled together as it sends a tingle down her spine.

But most of all, Shuhua tries not to think of how Miyeon had stared at her earlier. How her eyes kept fluttering down and the way that her head moved in slightly, as if she had actually wanted to kiss Shuhua in that moment.

Conflicted, the younger sighed.

I’m probably just imagining things.

᠁

It’s a quarter to five when they leave the house, with Shuhua texting her dad for directions as they hopped into Miyeon’s car and pasting the address in Google Maps for the eldest to follow once they got settled in. Since the rehearsal dinner is mostly just a casual get-together, Shuhua decided to wear the same clothes with just a dark coat thrown over her shoulders while Miyeon changed into crisp, white blouse.

Not even fifteen minutes into the trip, Shuhua is already contemplating on jumping out because of the senior’s terrible song choice.

“If I have to listen to the WAP one more time, I’m throwing myself onto the street. Never mind if a truck runs me over.” She groaned, rubbing her forehead at the same time, while Miyeon titters at her exasperation.

“Come on, Shu! It’s catchy!”

Is she being serious right now?

“Listen, I’m all about female empowerment or whatever the Hell this song’s message is about. But I’m drawing a line at ‘wet and gushy’, okay? Like come on, who even uses the word ‘gushy’ to describe a body? Serial killers, that’s who!” Shuhua rants, fuming. “Please, unnie. This is debauchery.”

Even with that irritated look on her face, Miyeon thinks Shuhua is still adorable. Always has, always will.

She wants to reach over the console and squish her cheeks, but then decides against it for the sake of not driving them into a street sign.

“You’re right. Soyeon and Soojin would probably come after me if they found out that I corrupted our precious maknae.” Miyeon teased, then giggles at the scowl that was flashed her way.

“I’m starting to believe that you’re annoying me on purpose.” Shuhua grumbled.

“I just love seeing you all riled up.”

“Isn’t that like… a kink?”

Miyeon stifles a laugh. “Oh my God, no.” She denies through a grin.

“You sure? I promise I’m not going to kink-shame.” The sophomore insists with feigned innocence.

“You better zip it, or you’ll be hearing the WAP for the rest of this ride.”

“Unnie, wait. I was just kidding.” Shuhua blurts out with a hasty wave of her hands. “No more, please.”

A chuckle. “I figured such.”

They eventually come to a compromise and settle on playing A Thousand Miles next—at least, until Miyeon changes the song again because of Shuhua purposely butchering the vocals with her high-pitched voice. (“Shu, for the love of God, you’re going to make my ears peel off.” The former complains after she had practically hollered throughout the entire chorus.)

When they hit a red light, Miyeon removes her hand from the joystick to grasp Shuhua’s left hand with her right. And when the latter gives her a look, she just says—

“For luck, you know? There might be a lot of people waiting for us there, so I thought you could use some support.”

Shuhua’s stomach swoops at the gesture. She smiles back gratefully and lets Miyeon hold her hand for a while longer.

The contact is reassuring, as simple as it is. Even if she hadn’t been thinking about it, the thought of meeting her family at the rehearsal dinner was messing with her head a bit. She has never introduced a girlfriend before. Not because she’s afraid of the backlash, but rather having to deal with the incessant questions that always pop up.

“I know I’m not very good when it comes to social gatherings. But I can try talking more, if you want.” Miyeon suggests as she looks over at Shuhua, who remains silent. “You can jump in whenever you feel like it.”

“Nah, it’s okay. They’re my family, so I feel like it’s my responsibility to take charge.” She says, and the older girl smiles. “But thanks for offering, unnie. Decent of you.”

“What kind of fake girlfriend would I be if I didn’t?” Miyeon winks. “Or I guess, what kind of friend in general…? But I’ve got your back, Shu. Don’t worry.”

Shuhua smiles again, but she can feel that it’s not her regular level.

Fake-girlfriend. Right. Duh, they’re just friends now.

They pull into the parking lot as she shakes her body out, attempting to rid herself of the semi-ty mood she had put herself in. “Ready?” Shuhua asked while glancing at Miyeon, who has shut off the engine.

“As I’ll ever be, I hope.” Miyeon replies. Then she smiles, and it’s one of those bright, blinding ones that makes your breath hitch. “Shall we go, jagi?”

No, Shuhua did not blush.

“Lead the way, unnie.”

Dinner goes about as… not expected as possible. They’re not even seated near Mr. Yeh or Kuanlin, and she and Miyeon had to make small talk with the banes of family gatherings: privy aunts and the conniving cousins. Saying that Shuhua is stressed might be an understatement—the understatement of the decade, to be precise.

“Yo, Shu-Shu.” A tomboyish woman sporting a blonde undercut faces them. “Who’s your date tonight?”

Miyeon quietly asks Shuhua if that’s her cousin’s natural hair color, and the younger girl has to force down a laugh while also trying not to roll her eyes. She still found it adorable, though.

“Amber, this is Miyeon-unnie.” Shuhua motions beside her as the Korean waves with a soft “hello”. Didn’t she just say that Miyeon is her date like two minutes ago? “She’s my girlfriend.”

(At the same time, she tries not to dwell on how it rolls off her tongue naturally.)

“Woah, she is?” Her other cousin, Mark Tuan, interjects from their left. “Damn, Shu. And here, I thought you’d still be too young to be dating. You’ve really grown up, huh?” He grinned broadly and leans over to pat her shoulder.

“Haha, yeah…”

Shuhua chuckles uneasily, before shoving a whole piece of garlic bread into so she wouldn’t have to speak anymore. To her right, Miyeon snorts into her Mojito drink. Only to nearly choke on a mint leaf when she elbows her in the ribs.

“So, Miyeon dear…” A much older woman (the aunt, probably) pipes up from across them, and said girl sits up immediately. “How long have you known our little Shu-Shu?”

“Oh!” Miyeon says after setting her glass down. “Um… just a couple years, actually. We only started dating four months ago, but we’re still going strong and learning new things about each other. So, I think our relationship is going very smoothly.”

She then puts on her disarming smile that could grab everyone’s attention, and the woman is instantly charmed. Shuhua included.

“At first, we didn’t see eye-to-eye so much… I met Shuhua at a club orientation when she was still a freshman, but only got close to her because of our mutual friends in college. We had a rocky start with a few misunderstandings along the way. But once we got to actually spend time together, well… I can confidently say that we’re made for each other. Like best friends and lovers at the same time.”

Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Shuhua’s heart begins to race. It feels too good to be true, but Miyeon is in the zone right now.

“Even though she’s my dongsaeng, Shu-Shu takes good care of me. She doesn’t show it a lot, nor is it the most obvious, but I can see it from her actions. And I’m very thankful to have such a considerate girlfriend like her.”

Her gaze drifts to Shuhua at this, and the Taiwanese swears that she’s never seen anything sweeter and more genuine than the way Miyeon is looking at her as she spoke.

“No matter how cold and standoffish she might seem at times, Shuhua is a kind person with a good heart. It took me a while to notice it, and I think it just made me fall deeper in love with her.”

The trio are touched by her heartfelt words, while Shuhua is practically combusting in her seat.

“Oh, Shu-Shu. She’s a keeper!” The aunt tells her flustered niece, whose face has turned a flattering shade of pink. “You really picked the right choice for this one!”

“Did you hear that, Am?” Mark said while nudging the blonde. “Miyeon just called our lil’ cousin ‘Shu-Shu’.”

Amber grinned. “Must be in that deep, huh?”

Miyeon smiles again, and Shuhua swears that she can see all three of them swoon. It’s unbelievable.

Easy conversation drifts across the table, and the senior finds herself relaxing more around such affable company as she laughs at something Amber had said. It was like she’s already part of their family, exchanging stories and cracking a few jokes alongside of them, and the way they kept including Miyeon into their discussions gave her a sense of familial affection that felt incredibly validating.

There’s still that underlying guilt that this whole “fake-dating” is just a ruse for Shuhua to avoid getting roped into her grandparents’ shenanigans, but she chooses not to let it fester in her mind and just enjoy living in the moment.

That was the intent, at least. Until she casts a glance to her right and notices that Shuhua has gone silent. A troubled expression on her face as she occasionally checks her phone under the table.

“Is everything okay, Shu?”

For a single, fleeting moment, Miyeon is worried that it might’ve had something to do with her bold declarations of love a few minutes ago.

Although they’ve never really established any ground rules or boundaries to fall back on, there’s still a line that shouldn’t be crossed in terms of their arrangement. Just because they’re fine with mostly playing up the act, doesn’t mean it’s okay to do something that the other party wouldn’t be entirely comfortable with. Even if it’s from a sincere place.

“If it’s about what I said earlier, I’m really sorry.” Miyeon expressed with clear guilt. “I shouldn’t have gotten ahead of myself like that…”

Immediately, Shuhua shakes her head.

“No, it… it’s not that, unnie. You could never do anything wrong.”

Her voice is tight and barely audible, trembling around the corners as tears prickled the ducts of her blinking eyes.

Now Miyeon is growing immensely concerned. “Shuhua, what’s—”

“Unnie,” The younger sounds borderline desperate as she shoots her a pleading gaze, telling her not to probe about it anymore. “I don’t want to talk about it right now, alright? Just… focus on the dinner, please?”

Despite feeling torn, Miyeon abides to her request with strained reluctance and nods. Shifting her attention back to the conversation between Amber and Mark (something about llamas, apparently?), which—for the most part—falls on deaf ears as she slants worried gazes at Shuhua every now and then.

As much as she wants to comfort her and figure out what’s bothering her mind, she also respects her enough not to push for something Shuhua isn’t ready to open about yet.

The aunt then asks Miyeon what degree she’s majoring in college, and she answers gracefully. Her charm switched back on as she tries to mask the frown that’s creeping onto her face with a broad smile, while her peripherals catch Shuhua on the phone again. Her expression faltering the more she lingers on the screen, opened to what seems like an email about something Miyeon can’t decipher.

Suddenly, the girl stands up.

“I have to take a call. Be back in a bit.” And with an all-too-forced smile, Shuhua is gone.

The relatives don’t think much of it, but Miyeon watches her leave with a restless feeling in her gut.

What’s going on with her?

It’s been nearly ten minutes when the waiter comes over to take their orders, and Miyeon’s worry for Shuhua has only increased. The sophomore still hasn’t returned from her aforementioned “call”, which doesn’t help the older’s conscience as she fidgets uneasily on her seat. Itching to just get up and search for her missing date, dinner be damned.

With Shuhua nowhere to be seen, Miyeon ends up ordering on her behalf. She later asks the cousins whether they’ve seen any signs of Shuhua yet, and they both respond in the negative.

“Maybe it’s important?” Mark supplied helpfully, even though she deduced that the phone call was a lie. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon, don’t worry.”

Amber gives her a sympathetic nod, and Miyeon turns back to her silverware with uncertainty. After an excruciating minute of internal debate, she caves in and stands up as well.

“Excuse me, everyone. I’ll just go and check on Shu-Shu.”

With a polite bow, Miyeon hurries out the same direction Shuhua did. It doesn’t take long to find her outside of the restaurant, a hand to her face as she tries to choke down her faint sniffles.

“Shuhua…?”

Miyeon approaches her, but falls short when Shuhua looks up at her with tear-worn eyes that are slightly red from crying. Her heart twists a little at the sight.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asked delicately. “Why are you out here by yourself?”

Shuhua wipes her eyes, rushed and messy.

“I’m sorry, unnie.” Her wavering voice cracks, laced with unspent sobs she’s trying to hold back. “I’m sorry for leaving you there like that. I didn’t mean to…”

In an instant, she’s pulled into Miyeon’s embrace. Warmth. Shuhua nuzzles further against it and rests her head on the senior’s shoulder. Burying her face in the crook of Miyeon’s neck and screwing her eyes shut.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.” Miyeon whispers into her hair while gently rubbing her back. Slow and consoling. “I got you baked salmon, by the way. Is that alright with you?”

A weak nod.

Miyeon chews on her bottom lip. She’s not really sure how to go about comforting someone, so she settles with a direct approach instead.

“Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you? I’m all ears.”

“I, uh…” Shuhua curls her fingers into the fabric of Miyeon’s blouse. bobbing unevenly as she takes a ragged breath, then continues. “… I got an email saying that I’m failing Contemporary World this semester, officially, unless I can drop the class.”

Miyeon is confused. “But didn’t you just fail one exam, though?”

“Yeah, but like… I-I haven’t been doing well in some of my quizzes either.”

Shuhua sounds embarrassed by this, and the Korean hugs her tightly in reassurance. To let her know that Miyeon isn’t judging her for it.

“And I sorta flunked that one debate I had last week because I couldn’t stop stuttering and screwed up my entire rebuttal. I can’t do public speaking, unnie… I just can’t.”

The small whimper that escapes past her lips made Miyeon’s chest ache.

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that, Shu…”

“It’s fine…? I guess.” Shuhua attempts to convince them both, but to no success. “This is going to mess up my GPA so bad… I don’t want to lose my DL standing now, I worked too hard just to get there. . I have to drop it…”

The Taiwanese starts crying again, which puts Miyeon in a near-state of alarm. But she doesn’t do anything besides letting Shuhua sob against her neck, a hand going up to the crying girl’s hair in an effort to soothe her.

“It’s going to be okay, I got you.” Miyeon then shifts a bit to press a chaste kiss on the side of her dongsaeng’s head, hoping it was enough to provide her solace. “You can drop the class, right?”

“It costs a hundred-thousand won.” Shuhua wailed. “I don’t have a hundred-thousand.”

“Can’t you ask your dad?” The older carefully suggests while thumbing small circles on her nape.

“I could… but that means admitting that I’m literally failing a class. A minor one, at that.” She sniffed. “I feel like I should be paying it myself. The tuition’s already expensive as it is, and I don’t want to hassle my dad.”

Sighing, Miyeon holds Shuhua closely. Even though she’s known the younger girl for almost two years now, she never would’ve guessed that the latter could be so hard on herself.

“Shuhua, honey.” She mentally kicks herself for the endearment, but doesn’t stop there and keeps going. “Which is better, though? Failing and losing your DL spot, or dropping so it wouldn’t be on your GPA?”

“The second one…” Shuhua’s mumbles through the mouthful of fabric, allowing Miyeon to ease her head back so she could wipe her tears with a thumb. “… so, I guess I have to tell my dad anyway.”

Miyeon caresses her head. Soft, Shuhua could positively melt in her arms.

“There you go.” Miyeon smiled. “But don’t think about it right now. Let’s go eat some oily salmon and think about all the good desserts they probably have. We can worry about it later.”

By then, the sobs have dwindled down to quiet sniffles and shuddering breaths as Miyeon dries the remainder of Shuhua’s tears. Her touch is so gentle and caring, she can’t help but lean further into it. A small, yet relieved sigh drawing out of her parted lips when the older girl kisses her forehead. Affection. It’s a bit unexpected, but appreciated nonetheless.

“You ready to head back inside, Shu-Shu?” Miyeon had done her best to help clean up Shuhua’s face so that she looks somewhat proper, and not like she had just bawled her eyes out in secret.

“Y-Yeah…” Shuhua gives her a watery smile. “Thanks, unnie. This was decent of you.”

“I have to take care of my date, don’t I?” Miyeon quips before offering her hand to Shuhua, who takes it gratefully. And with that, they walked back into the restaurant where their food is already waiting for them.

Her cousins had predictably, but annoyingly asked about the phone call. She babbles some excuse about it being groupwork-related while putting most of her attention on Miyeon, who is busy making the others laugh with her ridiculous stories of Minnie’s drunken escapades.

“She gave Yuqi a lap-dance once, and the two couldn’t so much as look at each other for a whole week!”

The table erupts into a chorus of hearty laughter, and Shuhua regards her fondly. Admiring the ethereal beauty that is Cho Miyeon as she effortlessly captivates everyone with her natural charms.

She’s just perfect, isn’t she?

Shuhua continues to marvel from her seat. Unknowingly falling harder with each passing moment as she stares at Miyeon with hearts shooting out of her eyes.

Sometime during their meal, the room’s temperature has dropped low enough for Miyeon to start shivering. Shuhua caught this and immediately takes off her coat so she could drape it over the girl’s shoulders, noting that her flimsy blouse wouldn’t do much against the cold, AC air blowing in their direction.

“Here, unnie. You need this more than I do.”

While preoccupied with fixing the sleeves, she misses the blush on Miyeon’s face at the courteous gesture. She does, however, turns bashful at the collective fawns of her relatives watching the scene unfold before them.

“Chivalry ain’t dead, y’all!” Amber whoops from the side as Mark snickered, unfazed by the death glare Shuhua sends their way.

“Zip it, you.” She grunts, masking her shyness with a look of indifference when Miyeon faces her.

It doesn’t last very long, since the senior ends up leaning in to kiss her cheek. Lips grazing softly against her skin as she retracts with a small “thank you” and a glowing smile. Shuhua keeps it under control pretty well while the rest coo at her, but she’s actually freaking out inside because they definitely did not practice this.

And yet, Shuhua doesn’t complain. Nor does she hate it, at all.

What are you doing to me, unnie?

“Don’t mention it.”

᠁

About an hour later, everyone starts to leave after a largely eventful dinner. Bidding their farewells and waving at one another, before filing out of the restaurant and towards their respective rides. But as the pair is making their exit, they inevitably run into Shuhua’s grandparents on the way out.

“Grandma! Hi!” Shuhua greets anxiously as her grandmother crushes her in a hug. “I didn’t see you there.”

God, she sounds so fake.

“Shuhua, sweetie.” She pats her cheek before glancing at Miyeon, who bows respectfully. “And who is this beautiful, young lady with you?”

“Oh, right.” She grasps the Korean beauty’s hand in her own and laces their fingers together. “This is Miyeon-unnie, my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend, you say?” Her grandfather exclaims, grinning. “Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting this!”

He shakes Miyeon’s free hand a little too enthusiastically, but she smiles nevertheless.

“So nice to meet you, dear! I’m glad to see our granddaughter finally going out with someone!”

Shuhua doesn’t suppress her giggle when Miyeon’s frantic eyes dart to her, silently screaming for help as the elderly couple showers her with all their undivided attention.

As expected, they do start drilling her with a bunch of questions ranging from “so, how did you meet our baby Shu-Shu?” to “how long have you two been in a relationship?” and the anticipated “why didn’t Shuhua tell us about you during our family’s Christmas reunion?”

Miyeon, of course, never disappoints and eventually answered their rapid-fire questions with her usual grace and calmness. Her signature smile on full blast as she smoothly recites the same answers and stories that they had rehearsed for this exact moment, albeit improvising a few lines and adding her own honest compliments and confessions here and there for extra authenticity points.

In fact, she’s doing it so well that Shuhua can only look on with awe. Amazed at how Miyeon slips into her role so seamlessly, despite her earlier panic. At the same time, she can feel the older girl squeezing her hand gently and the back of her palm with a thumb.

Shuhua’s heart beats a little faster as a result.

“Well, we’re both very happy for your relationship!” Her grandmother concludes with a proud smile. “It’s good to know that you two are still going on strong. Ah, to be young and in love…”

She sighs wistfully, and the young Taiwanese laughs rigidly in a mix of awkwardness and touch of a guilt.

“Yes, indeed. It’s been hard getting Shuhua to stay committed.” Her grandfather adds with a tone of exasperation. “She can never stick with the same person for more than just one date.”

“Granddad!” Shuhua protests, the tips of her ears turning red when Miyeon cracks up at that.

“Now, now, dear. You’re embarrassing our Shu-Shu in front of her girlfriend.”

“What? I’m being honest!”

Closing her eyes, Shuhua tilts her head back and lets out a resigned groan to the night sky. Please let this evening be over. She prayed.

“Isn’t this a lovely get-together?” Kuanlin (bless his soul) pops into the scene and drapes his arms around their grandparents’ shoulders. “Hate to cut it short, but dad’s looking for you guys. We’d better get you two home.”

He urges them along gently and shouts “Night, lovebirds!” over his shoulder, prompting Shuhua to roll her eyes while Miyeon just chuckled, and the two groups exchange their goodbyes as they head off to their own rides.

“Geez, unnie. You looked like you were about to run for the hills back there.” Shuhua jokes once they’re settled inside the senior’s car, then squeals from the pointed jab of a finger into her side. “Ow! What the—!”

“You were of absolutely no help whatsoever!” Miyeon complained, making sure to punctuate every word with a poke in the sophomore’s ticklish spot. “And it’s not like you were any better either. You even looked like you were about to throw up in front of them!”

“Maybe I was just nervous about introducing my girlfriend, that’s all.” Shuhua tries to defend herself by swatting the offending hand away. “They were totally going to talk about setting me up with that one girl tomorrow, until grandma saw you.”

“Poor Shu-Shu.” Miyeon pinches her cheek, causing Shuhua to whine as she scoots up against the door. “You’re so cute.”

“Oh, will you just drive already? My social battery is low, and I’m tired.”

“Okay, okay. So demanding.”

She gives one final pinch to her cheek, and Shuhua plucks the hand off her face to fix the older with a glare. Miyeon only laughs in turn before revving up the engine and driving them out of the parking lot.

On the way back home, the ride is relatively quiet. Save for the slow, mellow tunes of Vanilla Twilight serving as background noise inside the car.

Drifting her gaze to the side, Shuhua notes that Miyeon is still wearing her coat. She doesn’t ask for it back, however, since the girl looks rather cozy with it draped around her. And daresay, seeing Miyeon in one of her own clothes made Shuhua feel things. Solely good ones.

Her thoughts wander back to the events of their dinner. Miyeon’s impromptu love speech at the table, the moment they shared outside of the restaurant when Shuhua was on the verge of a breakdown, the kiss Miyeon left on her cheek after she had offered her coat…

That last one stuck to Shuhua for a while because, well—what the ?

She believes that Miyeon had only kissed her to sell the whole charade, but they haven’t actually talked about it. Sure, they seem to be fine with physical touches now. But kissing…? That’s a subject they never really touched on. Like at all.

Shuhua couldn’t even do much damage control right after, since she was still freaking out over the fact that Cho freaking Miyeon had kissed her. Granted, it was on the cheek. But it was a kiss, nonetheless, and the Taiwanese had felt tingles. Honest-to-God tingles that lingered on her cheek, even long after the Korean had withdrawn from her. It’s stressing her out to no end.

“Miyeon-unnie,” Shuhua spoke up once they’re lying together on her bed almost an hour later. Facing each other the same way they did the night before as Miyeon puts her attention on what she has to say.

“Hm? What is it, Shu?” Her voice is soft. Impossibly soft, Shuhua could just listen to it all night.

“Why did you kiss my cheek earlier?”

The senior falls silent at that.

“I, um… felt like it, I guess?” Miyeon said as she meekly pulled the sheets up to her face, like she wanted to hide herself behind it. “And I wanted to say thank you for, you know, lending your coat to me.”

“I mean, you did. But then you kissed me right after, so I was wondering why you did it anyway.” Shuhua explained, sounding confused.

“It just seemed natural for me to do, okay? Isn’t that why we’re doing all this? We’re supposed to be a couple, might as well act like it. What’s so wrong about that?”

The immediate shift in tone forces Shuhua to retract, seeing how Miyeon has turned defensive with her expression twisted into a slight frown. It made her feel bad, particularly for probing more than she should and making the other girl uncomfortable.

“N-Nothing! I was just curious, that’s all…” She trails off, waiting for Miyeon to relax before continuing. “There’s nothing wrong about it, unnie. Like yeah, I was surprised. But I didn’t have a problem with it, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

In the darkness of her room, Shuhua can tell that Miyeon is studying her. Uncertainty in her brown eyes as she nibbles on her bottom lip, contemplating.

“… Does that mean it’s okay if I kiss your cheek again next time?” She asked quietly, looking at Shuhua with an almost hopeful look.

There are different emotions swirling in the sophomore’s head right now, but none of them are objecting to it.

“Sure, unnie. If that’s what you want.”

The way Miyeon’s face lit up was enough for Shuhua to smile.

“Oh, and unnie?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for today… I had a lot of fun spending time with you, and I really appreciated what you did back there at the restaurant. I wouldn’t have gotten to my senses if you hadn’t been there for me…”

Miyeon then reaches out to Shuhua’s cheek. Ever so gently, as the corner of her lips tugged into a kind smile.

“Anything for you, Shu.”

When they’re settled back under the sheets a couple minutes later, the two are cuddled around each other. Miyeon is already fast asleep with her head tucked comfortably under Shuhua’s chin, and her arm thrown lazily across the younger’s waist. Her reasons being that she felt cold and wanted to warm up against Shuhua, and the possibility that Mr. Yeh might check in on them when he comes back home with Kuanlin.

And nothing says “intimate” better than a pair of sapphic girlfriends clinging to each other like it’s the last time they’ll ever do this. Fitting, given their situation.

The sandman evades Shuhua for most of the night. Her mind tries to keep her awake with all sorts of thoughts running through it. She doesn’t want to think about what becomes of them after the wedding, when they break off their deal come Sunday afternoon and go their own ways.

Would they stay where they are now, or will things turn back to the way they were?

She doesn’t really know the answer to that.

Hugging Miyeon closer to her, Shuhua shuts her eyes at the low hum from the sleeping girl in her arms as Miyeon nuzzles her neck. Her skin tingling from the warm breaths brushing against it with each soft exhale from the senior’s parted mouth.

Whatever happens then, she might as well enjoy this moment while it lasts.

Me knowing that I have fics to revamp/update and one-shots to finish, but chose to procrastinate and just hang around on YouTube all day:

(cr: @readwithcindy | Twitter)