Fingers trail up and down her bare spine, ticking against her skin as the window thunders with heavy rain. Soojin has never felt so relaxed and carefree in her life. Being in the arms of the woman she loves with her whole heart, soft lips whispering sweet nothings in her ears. 

“Why do you love the rain so much?” Soojin asks curiously, eyes following two raindrops on the window as they race to the bottom. 

Shuhua hummed against her hair, thinking of her words. “One day I was having a really bad day.” A small chuckle leaves Shuhua’s lips. Her whole childhood was horrible, Soojin knew that, and she didn’t need to be told again just how much her girlfriend had suffered. “But someone taught me how to always see the positive in the worst moments of my life.” 

Soojin lifts her head up from Shuhua’s chest, looking at her with round and curious eyes. “Rain makes everything gloomy. That’s how people usually see it. The clouds turn gray, the sunshine goes away, and it just darkens the atmosphere.” A thumb traces over Soojin’s round cheeks, “but rain also gives life. To all things that make this earth beautiful. Flowers, trees, all kinds of plants.” Shuhua bumps their noses together. “So when it rains, do you know what I like to do?” 

Soojin hums, raising her chin up to ghost her lips over Shuhua’s. “You like to catch rain drops in your hands and hop in puddles. Sometimes you like to dance in the rain with your amazing dancer girlfriend.” 

Shuhua giggles and hums, “yes, I like to do all those things. Because when it rains and turns everything gloomy, I can think about how much life it’s giving to the earth, and celebrate that instead.” 

“So rain makes you think of that person?” Soojin asks, adjusting her arms around her girlfriend’s petite body. 

Shuhua looks hesitant, but she nods anyway. “Yeah… does that bother you?” 

Shaking her head, Soojin smiles. “No, it doesn’t. I know Yiren was special to you.” Her eyes trail over Shuhua’s features, “tell me about her.” 

Shuhua’s smile settles into a comfortable and light one. “She was the first person ever, to make me feel like life wouldn’t be so bad if I kept living it.” 

Soojin listens intently, eyebrows slightly furrowing. A finger taps the space where her eyebrows meet, and Shuhua smoothens it by constantly caressing it. 

“Yiren made me learn about myself. She pushed on all those boundaries that I was always so scared to explore by myself.” Shuhua’s eyes seem distant, reminiscing, as her finger trails over Soojin’s soft features. 

“She was my first friend, my first protector,” Shuhua raises her gaze to meet Soojin’s gaze, “the first person who taught me what it felt like to be in love.” 

“She must’ve meant a lot to you.” Soojin whispered. Her heart swells with pain as she remembers that Shuhua didn’t know the real truth about what had happened to Yiren. 

“She did,” Shuhua says. “I haven’t seen Yiren and her mother in years. My parents must’ve scared them off real bad.” She lets out a bitter chuckle, before snuggling into Soojin even more. 

Soojin sighs, closing her eyes when Shuhua starts to trail kisses on the side of her neck. She feels horrible for knowing something that her girlfriend deserved to know. But was she the right person to hear it from? Soojin didn’t even know much about Yiren, besides the fact that she was Shuhua’s first love. 

If she could have met Yiren, Soojin thinks they would have gotten along real well. 

“You might not have been my first love, Soojin, but you’re my greatest love.” Shuhua whispers in her ear, pulling Soojin away from her thoughts. The older woman pulled away to look at her girlfriend with shining eyes. 

“What?” 

Shuhua smiles, “you’re my greatest love. I’ve never felt such love for someone before, and neither have I received this much love from someone before. I’m very lucky to have you, baby.” 

Soojin’s breath hitches, eyes watering, and heart swelling with so much adoration. “You can’t just say things like that.” 

The younger woman chuckles, swiping her thumb across Soojin’s cheek. “Yes, I can.” 

“I love you.” Soojin whispers vulnerably. 

_

Shuhua has made it a habit to wait for Soojin to be done with her dance practices every day. She would lounge in the study areas of the music and dance building, doing homework or reading a book. Sometimes she was allowed to watch Soojin’s practice run, other times her girlfriend would kick her out because she was too much of a distraction for her. 

She had gotten closer to Soojin’s fellow dance captains, and it was fun to see Jeno being picked on by Soojin. 

“Jeno, too early.” Soojin stopped the music to correct him with a disappointed sigh. “Again.” 

Shuhua sat against the wall on the floor, the other captains lined in the same position next to her as they watched Soojin lead today's practice. 

“Your girlfriend is the strict one.” Lisa whispers to Shuhua with a giggle, “the newbies are always scared of her.” 

Shuhua chuckles, “she’s not even that scary.” 

Lisa scoffs, “well, to you, she’s softer than a bunny’s . Of course, you’re not scared of her.” 

Shuhua sees how tense and focused Soojin was when she was in her element. It was very attractive. Exactly why she liked to crash their practices all the time. Dance captain Soojin was quite a sight. 

“Okay, take five.” Soojin waves her hand, annoyance pinched on her features. 

Shuhua has the older woman’s water bottle ready in her hands, and she frowns when she sees Soojin’s expression. 

“Hey,” Shuhua called out to her, handing her flask over. She stands and rubs Soojin's arm up and down to ease her down from her annoyance. “It’s okay, love. It’ll come together. That’s what practices are for right?” 

Soojin’s chest heaves as she gulps from her water bottle. “Did they get you to come here to hold me from chopping heads off?” 

Shuhua giggles and glances at the other dance captains who were obviously listening, but were hiding behind their hands. “Maybe.” She shrugs, taking a step closer to push their bodies together. “Or maybe I just got the hots for dance captain Seo Soojin.” 

Soojin’s jaw twitches, eyes darkening at Shuhua’s attempt to be a complete distraction. “Do you wanna get kicked out of the practice room, stray girl? I’ll kick you out myself if this is how you’re going to act.” 

From a distance came a grumble. “I’ll kick you both out! Don’t do that crap in my practice room.” Taeyong rolls his eyes at the two. 

“Your practice room?” Lisa challenges. 

“Just be mindful of the singles, Kay?” 

Shuhua chuckles, shaking her head at the bickering dance captains. She turns back to Soojin, clutching onto her shirt to pull her attention back to her. 

“How do you feel about me taking you and the kids on a picnic tomorrow?” 

Soojin snorts, “when you say that it sounds like we’re an old married couple that has five kids and—,”

“You want five kids?” Shuhua asks with wide eyes. “Five?!” 

“Hypothetically, stray girl.” She flicks her girlfriend's forehead, “and yeah, that sounds like fun. Yoon’s been talking about the dog park again. She thinks Haku and Mata should have more furry buddies.” 

Shuhua beams, “great!” Tip toeing and landing a quick kiss on plump lips, she starts to say her goodbyes to Soojin’s friends. 

“You’re not staying?” Soojin asks, confused. 

“No, I’m going to Yuqi’s. I don’t want you to get kicked out of the practice room. You have to lead.” Shuhua winks at her teasingly. 

_

“I didn’t know you would invite my whole family.” Soojin bumps hips with Shuhua, making a face at her rowdy family as they walk ahead of them. 

Soojin holds one of the picnic baskets, while Shuhua holds the other one. Jae was kicking his soccer ball back and forth with Taehyung and Jungkook as they all proceeded to find a good spot to settle. Yoon ran with the dogs, all three running freely around the park. 

“I wanted you to spend more time with your family too.” Shuhua returns another bump of their hips, switching the hand that was holding the basket, so that she could intertwine their hands together. 

Soojin smiles, “have I been working too much?” 

“I tell you that all the time.” Shuhua rolls her eyes. “And instead of sleeping right after work, you come over to my house instead.” 

“Because I know you’re still up after midnight just reading your books.” Soojin says, as a matter of fact. “And if I don’t come over, who will make sure to lock yo