Siyeon took the rest of the weekend to herself, remembering what had happened, looking at Gahyeon’s contact on her phone and wondering if it was too soon to send a text yet. Considering it had been less than a day: probably. A message notification popped up. 

 

Jiu~: What do you say about lunch on Monday?

 

Sure! Usual place?

 

Jiu~: Obviously. Bora will be there too!

 

The pianist smiled. If this was what she thought it was about, then those two had an announcement to make. She put her phone away willing to think about anything but the cute girl who had entered her life and failing. Siyeon had been doing this for two years now. Going to a club, hooking up with whoever wanted her back and never seeing them again after breakfast. Minji said it was because she was scared of being alone but too afraid to be hurt. Bora said she was just letting out her free spirit. She personally rationalized it by saying she was just trying to get out some steam, don't think and have fun. 

But that girl… That girl made her think a lot. Who in their right mind would choose a stranger for their first time? Probably more people than she thought, actually. Why did she care? It wasn’t really the question she wanted an answer to, anyway. Why did Gahyeon choose her? 

Her phone ran again. 

 

Gahyeonie: Hey! Hope you slept well :) I wanted to say thank you again for the food and… everything else. 

 

Siyeon smiled when she read the last part. The other girl was so shy even through text. It melted her every time. 

 

It was my pleasure, I’m glad you liked it. How are you today? 

 

“Kya! I can’t believe she already answered.”

Gahyeon hid her face in her palms to avoid looking at the screen while her two friends were already taking the matter into their own hands and scrolling through her messages to get the latest conversation. 

“Did you really put a wolf emoji next to her contact name?” one of them asked.

Gahyeon opened her hands to glare at the young blond woman who dared to judge her.

“It’s all in her gaze! You can’t understand.”

“Oh, I understand,” the blonde chuckled. “I was there.”

“Which in itself brings so many questions,” the second friend who hadn’t intervened yet mumbled. 

The blonde gasped while  dramatically covering with her hand. “What is that supposed to mean, Lee Yubin?”

The girl in question rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. “That you were supposed to look after her, Han Dong. Not throw her in the arms of the first y stranger you saw.”

“I only wanted them to dance! And Gahyeon is twenty, she can get laid if she wants to.”

Yubin choked on her drink. As she recovered, she darted her eyes around, hoping no one in the coffee shop had heard them. Meanwhile, Gahyeon was beet red in front of her friends. That had the two thinking. 

“Wait…” Han Dong whispered, connecting the dots. 

She had actually meant her previous sentence as a joke. She knew Gahyeon had only come out recently and she knew how hesitant the younger girl had been about this whole dating girls thing. 

“Did you actually…”

“I went back to her place! What do you think happened?” Gahyeon scolded her. 

“That you said no and slept on the couch?” her friend blurted innocently. 

The two other girls looked at her with two different ways of expressing disappointment. 

“Seriously?” Yubin asked judgingly. 

“You told us three days ago that you weren’t sure about going all the way with a woman. I just assumed you would take your time,” Han Dong stuttered to get out of this mess. However, she realised she may not have made the best call in that night club “In my defense I was drunk!” the girl added as an ultimate move that was more likely to announce her downfall. 

“It's fine, unnie. I'm the one who decided to go to her place and she wasn't being pushy or anything,” Gahyeon intervened with a cool head. 

“Are you sure?” Yubin insisted. 

“Yeah, she was really caring.”

“Did you have fun?” Han Dong piped in, which earned her a scowl from Yubin. “What?” the blonde defended herself. “That's the most important part!” 

Gahyeon smiled sheepishly. “I– I was so stressed that I couldn't even remember her name,” she admitted, remembering how Siyeon had handled it so swiftly. Just like the rest. “But it was nice. She was really, really nice. So different from what she let out at the club, you know?” 

The girl went back from her daydreaming and found that her friends were staring at her, humming loudly to express their engagement to the whole story and also to heavily imply there was something else they wanted to say. 

“What?” Gahyeon asked, already annoyed by the next bit. 

“You really fell that hard, huh?” Han Dong let out. 

 

***

 

Minji and Bora were already at their favourite table in the restaurant when Siyeon came in and sat next to Minji. The two definitely seemed friendlier than when their friend had let them a few days prior, which wasn't a surprise, really. It was the kind of relationship they had, and Bora had ever so rarely tested Minji's patience to this degree. 

“You two made up?” Siyeon asked cheerily. 

She noticed immediately Bora's glare towards her commanding her to not say anything out of line and knitted her brows, confused about what it meant. 

“Bora apologized with dessert and had the decency to not puke in my car. So everything is fine,” Minji answered with a light chuckle. 

“I wasn't that drunk,” Bora defended herself grumpily. 

Siyeon's eyes went back and forth between the two. Clearly she had missed something because that wasn't everything Bora told her she was going to do on the phone. 

“That's it?” the young woman blurted in bafflement. 

Her two friends looked at her quizzingly. Or more like Minji looked at her quizingly and Bora added an extra murder intent to it. 

“I'm also going to stop going out at night for a while. I need to get over this break up properly,” the party-goer announced and added with a discreet smirk: “Sorry I won't be able to join you anymore.”

Siyeon understood it was time to change the subject at her own expense. But also that she needed to have a conversation with Bora because Minji clearly deserved better than this. 

“It's fine,” the young woman answered stiffly, “I'll stop clubbing for now too, actually.”

“Does that have to do with the fact that the cute girl you left with on Friday was still with you on Saturday afternoon?” her friend squealed, too happy to move to that conversation for Siyeon's taste. 

“Wait, you mean the girl I saw with you?” Minji piped in, already invested in the drama. “She looked really cute, I'll give you that.”

“The girl’s name is Gahyeon,” Siyeon corrected them. “And, yes, she spent the day at my place… and we agreed to see each other again,” she added, looking askance. 

“Oh, that's new!” Bora commented. 

“What? So I can't have a proper date?” Siyeon pouted at her. 

“Of course you can,” Minji intervened softly. “It's just that you said you didn't want to try serious relationships anymore.”

“I know. But she’s different,” their pianist friend confided shyly. 

“Hum-hmm, care to elaborate?” 

Bora was looking at her with a mischievous spark in her eyes and an absent-minded smirk on her lips. Siyeon knew what that meant and as much as it irritated her, she couldn’t hold it against her friend because she had the same thought. She tried not to. She really, really tried not to. Because she knew what came after this. Her feelings always came out too strong and when eventually she was left with them alone it was always more than she could handle on her own and she drowned. Yet, she wanted to try again. Because Gahyeon was different. 

“I don't know how to explain it! It's just a feeling I have when I'm with her that I never had with anyone. I just want to know her more, to be with her more.”

Her two friends looked at each other and then at Siyeon again. 

“It’s good to hear that from you,” Minji said quietly. Then after a brief pause she clinged to Siyeon’s arm and squeaked out: “And also it’s really cuuute. You’re having a crush on someone!”

As her unnie was giggling at her expense, the young woman was blushing up to the point of her ears, letting out an embarrassed whine of agony.

“Shut up.”

The other two obviously kept teasing her for a few rounds to get her to smile and laugh with them, because that was clearly something to celebrate. Their friend was having feelings for someone again. If they didn’t know her that well, they would even believe she was being her regular happy but nervous self. 

“Is there something else you wanna talk about?” Minji asked with her fake naive tone. 

“No, it's good,” Siyeon answered mechanically before her brain picked up and she actually got to think about the question more. “I mean, maybe…” she rectified while throwing sheepish glances at her unnies. “I don't really know if I should talk about it.”

“Is it something that worries you?” Minji asked again. The shy girl nodded. “Then you should talk about it,” her unnie answered for her with a comforting smile. 

Even with that, Siyeon still hesitated. If it was just about her, she wouldn’t take that long to tell everything that was on her mind. Except it wasn’t just about her. But it worried her. And she wouldn't get into details or anything. 

“It's Gahyeon's first relationship with a woman,” she finally let out. 

Bora didn’t seem to understand what it had to do with anything at first. “Why is it…” her gaze fixated on Siyeon then on Minji who seemed to have realized at the same moment as her. Gahyeon’s first relationship with a woman was with Siyeon and she was at Siyeon’s place for the night and… Oh .

“Wait. Does that mean it was her… that you were her…?” Siyeon was blushing again under her stare, confirming her thoughts. “Oh my god, Siyeon, you were someone's first time!” 

“What did she say?” Minji took the lead again more calmly. 

“She said it was perfect,” Siyeon mumbled, unable to look any of her friends in the eye. 

“I was always convinced you were a great laid,” Bora stated while nodding firmly as if she was disclosing some important information.

Siyeon stared at her, unable to decide how she should react to such a statement made by a friend. She opted for the embarrassed chuckle and a hand in her hair. “Tmi. But thanks.”

Minji only spared a quick glance towards the whole situation, deciding to act as if she had never heard that exchange. 

“So what's bothering you?” she asked while returning her attention to Siyeon.

“Her first time was a hook-up,” the younger girl complained. “I didn't even think about it before she was in my bed. It should have been so obvious . But instead I played it like I always play it until we started to…” -she made an emphatic gesture with her hands- “you know. And she was so nervous . Maybe it wasn't the right time for her…”

“Siyeon,” Minji interrupted the mess, “did you confirm with her that she wanted it?” 

Her friend nodded. 

“And did she tell you to stop or did you feel like she really didn't want this?”

Her friend shook her head. 

“Then everything is fine!” the oldest exclaimed, showing slight annoyance for having to break such an obvious fact to the younger one. 

“I know. It's just–” Siyeon paused, biting her lower lip. She hated when the right words just refused to come out. She knew there was a reason, deep down, for her uneasiness. And like almost everything else related to her love life it was linked to that one person. “You know how I wished my first time had been different…” she muttered.

Minji’s eyes softened. She patted her friend on the shoulder. “I know. But she's not you. And you're certainly not Hyera. I know you did everything right, Siyeon.”

“How?” 

Her unnie smiled brightly at her to deliver the secret: “Because she wants to see you again.”

 

***

 

She saw the cute young woman with a curly smile from across the street and waved at her when she walked to the place they had chosen to meet. 

“Hi,” Gahyeon said shyly when she reached Siyeon. 

“Hi.”

They were smiling, not awkwardly, oddly this wasn’t awkward, just happy, wondering if this was real. Siyeon returned to reality first, remembering she was on a date with that woman looking so flustered next to her. 

“Should we see if our table is ready?”

“Sure!” Gahyeon came back to earth. “I’m starting to be very hungry actually,” she said with a wide smile. “Oh, and before I forget” -She brought a paper bag she was holding in front of her to give it to Siyeon- “Here! It’s your shirt. I washed it before giving it back to you. Thank you for lending it to me.”

Her date received the bag gratefully but genuinely surprised because she had completely forgotten that the younger girl had left with it on when they separated a week ago. Now the image of Gahyeon in her borrowed shirt resurfaced in her mind and it was… still as attractive as it was then. Not the fit in itself -although Siyeon was pretty sure Gahyeon could fit anything- but the fact that she was wearing her shirt.

“Oh. Well thanks for giving it back,” the woman said while smiling shyly. “It looked good on you.”

“It was way too big!” her date laughed, probably thinking Siyeon was just trying to be nice out of politeness. 

The pianist laughed too, because, well, it was true. But also… “Yeah, but when you wore it it felt like it was meant to be on you.” 

The compliment stopped Gahyeon in her laugh. The girl looked at the other woman with wide eyes that were asking: “really?” She felt the point of her ears heating up slightly, just thinking about the fact that Siyeon could find her attractive in such a simple outfit. The older woman saw it in her eyes that she was taking the compliment at heart and got uneasy by it. 

“Anyway! Let’s eat.”

They were guided inside the dining room and shown to their table. Nothing much happened outside the regular things people do at restaurants. Ordering, eating in relative silence, exchanging banalities about food. Starting over when they had already done so much together felt weird for the both of them. 

“So…” Siyeon attempted a conversation. “We didn’t really take the time to cover the basics last time. Or I mean, not that kind of basics.” Her cheeks reddened when she realized what she was saying. “Anyway! Lee Gahyeon, how old are you and what do you do in life?” 

The younger smiled, actually glad that the other woman was trying despite their obvious social inabilities. “I’m twenty and I’m studying computer engineering. Currently, I’m sharing an apartment with a friend. I’ve been living in Seoul since I entered university, so a little over two years. What about you? I’m guessing you’re a piano teacher, right?”

Siyeon’s brain froze when she heard “I’m twenty.” Sure they only were five years apart. But at the same time: they were five years apart. Damn. And computer engineering. For real? That girl had big brains and somehow she was sharing a date with the human mess that was Siyeon. But well, the pianist had her fair share of experience with numbers and theory she presumed. 

“Computer engineering… That’s impressive. I bet it must be hard too,” the woman mused. “Well, I’m twenty-five, been living in Seoul for well over six years now. I went to conservatory and now I’m a music teacher both private and I give some Musical Theory classes at Seoul’s university as well.”

Gahyeon knew this wasn’t the best reaction but she gawked. That woman was finding her impressive. And also: twenty-five. The age difference didn’t seem as big when they talked though. Aside from the fact that one of them clearly had her life figured out and the other was struggling to complete her master’s degree. How lucky was she to have a chance with that woman? 

“By the way,” -Siyeon cleared - “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but… how long have you known that you like girls?”

The student froze for a solid minute. Could she actually answer “three months?” It was embarrassing to admit she was a newby. Not that this was a game, although some might argue that seduction was a game, but that wasn’t the point. The self-discovery had been so sudden. One day she was a straight girl who just wanted a break from men and the other she wanted to kiss women. If she looked deep inside, she had always known. She just wanted to tread the easier path for a while. Gahyeon chose to be sincere.

“A few months. My friend took me to that club because I said I wanted to do more gay stuff” -the girl smiled- “Clearly that was a leap.”

Siyeon choked on her food. “No !” Her sentence was broken by her scoffs. “Oh god… You have to tell me before you say stuff like that.”

They both laughed, Gahyeon pouring water in Siyeon’s glass to help her swallow the food stuck in . The situation was indeed funnier viewed through that angle. However, when the teacher stopped scoffing she took on a more serious look. 

“And are you happy with how it turned out?”

Her date seemed shaken by the question. “I don’t regret anything,” she answered with assurance. “Do you?”

“No, I don’t,” Siyeon said with a smile. “I’m really glad that I met you.”

That seemed to lift all of Gahyeon’s worries away for now. The student smiled, more confident than she was at the beginning of this date. 

“So, do you play other instruments outside the piano?”

From that point on, the conversation was lighter. The flow rose and fell organically while the two shared their thoughts and experiences. It did feel like evidence back then that their paths were meant to cross.

 

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And so this Gahsing never stops 😆
I decided to make it a pure fluff, slice of life fic about those two. For now I'm putting it as complete even though more chapters will be added because, technically, each chapter is enough on its own. From the way I see it, it could go on forever or stop at any point while still being a complete reading experience.
Don't expect regular updates, I'll go back to it when I feel like it ^^ (I do have a lot of ideas for what's next tho, hehe)

Anyway, thank you for reading. Please leave a kudo or comment, I do love reading everyone's thoughts and reactions. Have a nice day and see ya!