[5 years later]

You wake up to birds chirping, lack of sleep, and someone’s breath on the back of your neck as their arm is wrapped around your torso.

Turning around to switch sleeping positions so you don’t feel funny in the morning, you come face to face with a drowsy Chaewon who’s latched onto you like there’s no tomorrow. Seeing this side of your girlfriend makes you smile given how adorable she looks when asleep compared to her usual self where she would furrow her eyebrows if you’re too intimate with her.

It’s been 5 years since IZ*ONE disbanded, you’ve moved in with Chaewon despite both of your company’s initial protests but you both were able to negotiate with all parties with some help from Eunbi who did most of the brainstorming and planning.

You’re no longer an idol, for the most part. Other than the one random album your company pushed for once you went back to Urban Works, you’ve convinced yourself that your idol life will be put on an indefinite hiatus unless all 12 of you can be together again. The photoshoots and CF deals you’ve landed in the past few years are enough to keep you busy; things like fame and popularity aren't your top priority anymore. You’ve experienced it all as an IZ*ONE member, and being in the limelight for so long isn’t exactly suitable for timid and shy members like yourself.

Chaewon on the other hand, is still in the industry. She’s been actively trying out many things, such as solo promotions, duo stages with Eunbi, and to everyone’s surprise, a permanent Joyuriz unit with Yena and Yuri like they joked about many years ago. 

You won’t lie, it’s not like the past 5 years have been all sunshine and rainbow. Not being able to see your lover as frequently as before and the amount of time spent apart was weird at first. But after some thinking, you found that it was even weirder to be in a relationship with someone who is in the same group as you. 

And it all made much more sense thinking back to when Chaewon talked about the issue of dependency she feared and how being together all the time could be more of a bad thing than good.

Being apart forced you and Chaewon to mature faster than compared to if you were still in IZ*ONE. Things that needed to be said were done so in minutes rather than weeks, communication was stronger than before, and you stopped taking time for granted.

Your girlfriend makes a noise indicating that she’s beginning to wake up, and you comb her messy bangs out of her face which causes her to open her eyes. Her arms loosen you from her grip and you feel like you can breathe a bit easier not only because of that, but because you’re once more blessed with the sight of your girlfriend first thing in the morning.

The older girl mutters while nuzzling her head on your chest, “Please tell me I’m not late for anything.”

“You’re not.” 

“Good,” Chaewon whispers into you, leaving peppered kisses on your collarbone.

On any other day, you probably would’ve given into her and let her do whatever she wanted to do to you in the morning, but today would be the worst day to do so.

You’re meeting up with all the other IZ*ONE members today, and you’re going to get an earful and looks from the other girls if they see marks on either of you.

“Chaewon, we can’t. We already did it lots yesterday,” you tell her with a strained voice that’s holding back a groan as the other girl bites your neck lightly, teasing you. 

She looks at you innocently, half amused. “What are you talking about?”

“I. I thought, wait what? Uh-” A splutter of words escapes your lips, causing you to sink into your pillow in panic.

“You’re so funny in the morning,” she bursts out in a fit of laughter, kicking the blanket along with it.

You huff at your girlfriend, she’s totally ruined the mood. To be honest, maybe you wouldn’t have minded getting some action in the early morning, even if your conscience tells you no and that you’ll be a laughing stock if the other girls find out.

Her hand reaches over to your back gently, causing you to relax in her touch. She peers into your eyes and asks you, “Be honest with me, were you expecting more?”

Biting your lips to prevent you from making a face, you can’t help but feel the corner of your lips tug upwards from her sudden question. She knows you all too well, it’s been around 8 years since you’ve known her anyways. You both know what each other is thinking, and the love you hold for each other grows with each passing day.

“Are you begging for me to say it?” Asking your girlfriend with obviousness, you’re curious to see how she reacts.

“Minjoo,” Chaewon glowers at you, you recognise a change in her tone of voice, the one she uses when she’s not joking. “We are not playing this game, just admit it. Fine, I’ll admit it first. I, Kim Chaewon am deprived of-”

You blush in embarrassment upon hearing Chaewon’s words and interrupt her, “Okay stop! Me too, I want to be touched by you, and I want to touch you too.” 

It’s amazing how honesty works wonders, something you never would’ve imagined years ago.

The hand on your back moves underneath your shirt, you shudder in response and inhale heavily as you’re being touched by your lover.

“I love you so much,” she first whispers into your ear, then proceeds to crash her lips onto yours as she climbs on top of you and you rake your hands across her hair lovingly.

Your body heats up, whether it’s from the heat of Chaewon’s body on top of yours, or anticipating what’s about to come next, or from her telling you she loves you for the nth time, you don’t know and you don’t care. All you know is that you love her and you’re never letting her go.

Gasping loudly as you break apart from Chaewon’s lips, you say, “Me too, I love you too.”

“LATE. WE’RE LATE.” Minjoo panics, rummaging through her closet looking for a set of clothes to wear.

While you lazily roll around on your bed in boredom, you watch your girlfriend frantically go through her closet while spraying perfume on herself before running towards you and proceeds to spray some on you which causes you to scoff at her.

You grab your phone and check the time. There’s still an hour before the event and you’re sure you won’t be late. Especially not after last time when you both showed up late and Eunbi nearly chewed you two out. Thank goodness for Hitomi, who is still after all these years the only sane one out of the twelve, and has the power to reason with Eunbi.

Stretching your arms out while watching your favorite pastime TV show that you’ve named ‘Minjoo freaks out again’, you suggest to her, “How about wearing a turtleneck and jeans?” 

“I wanted to wear a nice v-neck, but unfortunately someone left visible marks on my neck that clearly doesn’t look like a bug bite,” she grumbles, yet she takes your suggestion and searches for those exact clothes.

Getting off the bed, you make your way towards her and hug her from behind. You play with the hem of her shirt while asking, “Wasn’t it worth it though?”

She turns her face to look at you, her expression still somewhat sulky.

It’s cute though. You wonder how she can look so adorable even when she’s pouting, or maybe you’re just too love-struck by her.

“Of course it felt good.” She places a quick and gentle kiss on your lips, and you’re in a daze.

A sly smile appears on your face as you have an idea of what to say. You should really stop hanging out with Yena so much because her stupid jokes are growing on you. “I’m glad, because you felt good too.”

Minjoo slaps your arm lightly, facepalming at your horrible joke. A small smile is etched in the corner of her lips though.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?”

“Only for you.”

Eunbi taps her watch impatiently, giving Hyewon a knowing look as to why Chaewon and Minjoo are late.

“Please don’t tell me you’re thinking of what I’m also thinking of.” Eunbi whispers frantically to Hyewon, making sure that the others aren’t listening in on them.

A bold laughter is heard from Chaeyeon who is sitting across the two. “We’re all adults here. Wonyoung and Yujin aren’t middle schoole