Soojin fills Mata’s bowls with dog food and water, before joining Shuhua back in the kitchen. She pauses by the door, eyebrows shooting up in amusement, as she watches Shuhua eyeing the vegetables laid out on her kitchen counter, and the knife right next to it. 

“No,” Soojin snorts, body curling down in laughter, even slapping her knee in the process, “tell me you’re not trying to cook right now, stray girl.” 

Shuhua gasps in offense, “I can cook!” 

The older woman rounds the kitchen island to stand next to Shuhua, “really? Because you look very confused right now. Not a good sign.”

Shuhua pouts, crossing her arms. 

Soojin giggles, nuzzling her forehead against Shuhua’s temple adoringly. “Aw, okay, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have teased you.” She rubs the younger woman’s hip bone softly, trying to get a smile out of her. 

“You’re always so mean to me.” Shuhua states, not letting her eyes fall on Soojin, remaining unfaltering. 

“You should know by now, that’s my love language.” Soojin whispers in her ear, giggling in the process when Shuhua pulls her head away, very set on staying mad at her. 

“Bullying? That’s your love language?” Shuhua scoffs. 

Soojin nods firmly, “very much so.” 

“Well, it’s annoying.” Shuhua mumbles, slapping the hand on her waist. 

The older woman only grins, pulling her closer again, and turning Shuhua around to face her. “Well, if you don’t like that one, I can show you my other love language.” 

Shuhua suppresses a smile when Soojin presses a firm kiss against her lips. A hand lifts up to cup the younger woman’s chin, Soojin’s thumb pulling open to slip her tongue between Shuhua’s lips. 

It always escalated quickly. 

But Shuhua’s not surprised that it did. Soojin was always good at this, and Shuhua just couldn’t find it within herself to resist Soojin. Who in their right mind would? 

“Mm,” Shuhua hums against eager lips, a yelp erupting from when hasty hands slide to the back of her thighs, hoisting her up onto the kitchen island. 

She giggles, pulling away only for Soojin to busy on the expanse of her neck and collarbone. 

“Baby, this is where we eat.” Shuhua tells her, but either way, she can’t help when her eyes close shut upon feeling the older woman nip at her skin. 

Soojin hums, “and that’s what I intend to do. Eat.” Shuhua can practically feel Soojin’s smugness splayed on cherry lips against her skin. 

Fingers remain at Shuhua’s waist, slightly dipping underneath the hem of her shorts, but they don’t trail any lower, the older woman waiting for Shuhua to let her know that this was most definitely okay. Shuhua figures that much, and her heart flutters every time because Soojin always makes sure she is comfortable. 

Shuhua groans, “God, we’re gonna have to disinfect everything later.” Soojin smirks, and that was the only green light she needed. 

The plan to cook was thrown out the window, but Shuhua wasn’t complaining. Their life was better than ever, especially now that feelings were out in the open and obviously mutual on both sides. 

Shuhua even thinks that Soojin handled her much softer, now that their anger, or shall we say, pent up ual energy was no where to be seen, but of course, there were moments where Soojin was driven from stress and frustration, whether it’d be from work or school, and she’d handle Shuhua much rougher and her into oblivion. 

Oh, but Shuhua loved when that happened. 

But above all, as much pleasure was given and taken, Shuhua thinks her favorite moments with Soojin would be the ones that came after. 

Soojin was the most vulnerable then, and Shuhua used it to her advantage of course, engaging in deep talks and getting to know anything and everything about Seo Soojin. And vice versa. 

They managed to make it up to Shuhua’s room, now snuggled under the covers, and any plans to eat stowed away for later. 

“What’s your favorite candy?” Shuhua had asked, tracing the heart tattoo inked on Soojin’s shoulder. 

The older woman opens her eyes, chuckling at Shuhua’s randomness, but never surprised about it. “Lollipops.” 

Shuhua hums, “I like skittles.” 

And Soojin hums back, closing her eyes again, but it wasn’t long until a voice cuts through the silence again, “I’ve never seen you eat a lollipop before.” 

Soojin sighs, giving up on sleep, before opening her eyes again to stare at curious brown orbs blinking towards her. She grabs the hand that was tracing her tattoo, slotting their fingers together. 

“Lollipops remind me of my father.” Soojin says, her voice quiet and breaking through her exhaustion. “When Jae and I were little, we were only allowed one type of sweet a week because our mom said it would rot our teeth if we had too many.” A fond smile curls through Soojin’s expression, “she was a doctor after all, so it made sense that she was strict on our health.” 

Shuhua mirrors her smile. 

“But our dad would always give us extra sweets at the end of the week whenever he picked us up from school. And it would always be lollipops. He said it was a secret, and that we couldn’t tell mom, but god knows that man couldn’t keep anything from her. I know mom knew, but she always played along.” 

Her eyes were distant, filled with nostalgia whenever Soojin would talk about her happiest moments. Shuhua noticed by now that those moments always took place in her childhood, when Soojin’s mother was still alive, and when her father was still her father. 

When Soojin found Shuhua’s gaze again, the younger woman was looking at her with extreme focus on every word she was saying. Soojin loved that about her. How attentive Shuhua was, not just to her, but to everyone and everything around her. 

“So why do you like skittles?” 

Shuhua blinks, and her grin brightens the room. “Because they’re colorful, and both sweet and sour. Best of both worlds.” 

The older woman giggles, “that’s adorable. A very good reason.” 

Brown orbs squint at her suspiciously, grin settling down to pursed lips. “Are you teasing me again?” 

Soojin softly shakes her head, “no, baby. It was genuine.” She pulls Shuhua closer to her, turning her around, so she could be the big spoon. 

“Hm,” Shuhua hums, “seems to me that someone is certainly warming up to the idea of cute nicknames.” 

Her grin widens when Soojin only buries her face into the crook of her neck, arms tightening around her waist. “I can’t  hear you. I’m sleeping.” 

_

Shuhua’s brush pause in the air upon the noisy steps of feet climbing the stairs, familiar voices chattering amongst themselves. She stares at the door, waiting till it swings open to show the faces of the intruders. 

“Yo! Nerd, let’s get out of here.” Jeno was the first to appear, Karina trailing behind him with a growing grin upon seeing Shuhua. 

“No, Jeno,” Shuhua sighs, depleting to sit on the ground as she drops her brush, “I’m not in the mood to go out to the bar tonight.” 

Jeno pouts, “why? It’s only seven o’clock. And you get to see Soojin. That reason alone should make you leap out the door.” 

“She’s not working tonight. She’s…” Shuhua pauses, blinking in thought. “I actually don’t know what she’s doing right now.” 

Karina sits next to her, dragging Jeno down with her. “Well, then what shall we do, beautiful? Anything you want.” 

She looks up at her two friends, and her frown deepens as she lays down onto the floor with her arms and legs open wide like a starfish. “Let’s just lay here and do nothing.” 

Jeno exchanges a questioning look with Karina, motioning towards the dazed Shuhua on the floor. Karina only shrugs, before willingly joining Shuhua onto the floor, reaching over to wipe off a smudge of green paint on Shuhua’s chin. 

“Hey, you know what?” Jeno snaps his fingers, joining the two women on the floor. “We can plan your birthday party while we lay here and do nothing.” 

“You obviously don’t know what doing nothing means.” Shuhua lets out a weak chuckle, raising her head up to look for her friend’s arms, linking her own around them and pulling them closer for comfort. 

Jeno clicks his tongue, “come on, Shu. Your twenty-first birthday is coming up in a few days. You should be excited about this very important milestone of your life.”