TW: Swear Words and non-consensual consumption

Sorry again for any mistakes, enjoy!

Chapter 3: Lover, You Should Come Over

Her eyes shot open once she felt herself wake up. Chaeyoung scrambles out of the comfort of her bed to fish her phone from the discarded flannel on the floor and immediately scrolls through her contacts.

“Oh thank god.” Chaeyoung releases a sigh of relief as she throws her head back in the pillows. It wasn’t a dream. The name of Myoui Mina was in her contacts, and she was more than relieved to know that it really did happen. Last night happened and she can still remember every single bit of it.

The memories of last night were still playing in her head. She can still smell the jasmines coming off from Mina, the way her hair flowed as the wind picked up and her smile. That smile. It was breathtaking and equally fatal.

There was something about Mina that made everything so… poetic for her. Mina exuded grace, elegance, and beauty. The perfect example of a muse. As if Aphrodite spent a little more time making Mina to be as perfect as she was now.

She could be exaggerating, but she couldn’t deny how overwhelmed she was with the existence of Mina. It could be the world giving her blessings and torturing her at the same time. It being a blessing was obvious. But she knew that it was complete torture that this woman, who is making Chaeyoung bend will is not hers and if their relationship develops, she has to see and witness more of Mina. Though the agony she has right now is trying to fall back asleep once she realizes it was still six in the morning and that her first class was in four hours.

Chaeyoung has thought about leaving Mina a message, maybe asking her if she was able to sleep well or if she was available to meet up within the day, but Chaeyoung hated the idea of being too eager. She had to wait, or maybe if the universe was on her side, they would meet by chance at school. Chaeyoung had to play it cool if they did bump into each other.

Before she could close her eyes once more, she hears a soft knock on her door. She immediately shoots up from her bed, looking at the time again.

“That’s odd.” She said to herself. Since she’s never had any visitors at this hour. It could be the manager of the building; but she knows she’s already paid off her dues for the room. She rushes to the door and listens for a bit; it was harder for her since her dorm doesn’t have doors that have peep holes. There was another knock, this time it was louder than the first one. Her curiosity takes the best of her and slowly opens the door, trying her best to dispel the idea that it was Mina.

“Let me in, er.” Jeongyeon said in a loud whisper.

“What the ?” Chaeyoung said, a little disappointed, as she swung the door open. Her friend rushes inside and tells her friend to close the door quickly. “What are you doing here? And why are you still in your clothes from last night?”

Which was a dumb question, because Chaeyoung knows that her friend spent the night with another lady friend. Jeongyeon immediately walks to Chaeyoung’s pantry, grabbing herself a glass of water and downs it in one gulp. “God, I needed that.” She said and placed the glass in the sink. “Apparently Nayeon stays here as well.”

Chaeyoung’s eyes went wide. Recalling that her best friend was practically eating face with their new friend last night. It started to make sense. “Oh wow. You actually scored with her.”

“Yeah dude.” Jeongyeon said with a smirk on her face, dragging herself to the couch and flopping on it. She raises her head and hand, pointing at her friend. “Best. . So far.”

“I’m glad that my best friend is having the best ever and is rubbing it in my face.” Chaeyoung responds walking towards the couch as well and slaps Jeongyeon’s feet off of it, sitting on the same spot. “Are you going to call her back or is this another one-night stand?”

Jeongyeon was quiet for a bit, she sat up and took off her jacket, revealing the large writing on her arm. It was a phone number. “I think Nayeon wants to see me again.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but make an impressed face, looking at it closely. “Yep, that’s a legit number.” She couldn’t help but look at the big, blocked characters written on her friend’s arm. “Did she use a ing marker on this?”

Jeongyeon rubbed her eyes and took a look at it again. “It seems so.” She lets out a small laugh. “I might actually call her or something.”

“For real?” Chaeyoung looked unconvinced. “You never say that about a girl you hook up with.”

They both laugh and nod their heads at the same time. “Anyway, what the happened to you last night?”

“What about me?” She tried to play dumb, knowing that she’ll still tell Jeongyeon. She couldn’t help but feel bad since Jeongyeon called dibs on trying to hit on Mina first. “I left early.”

“Yeah with Mina.” Jeongyeon said with a knowing smirk. “Before we left, Nayeon told me she saw you guys from the window.” She grabs Chaeyoung and wraps her arm around her again.

Chaeyoung blushed again, thinking about what happened to her last night with Mina. “I just walked her back to her apartment, that’s it.”

“That’s it? No going up to her room and making her realize what she’s missing out on?” She probed, receiving a punch on the arm from her smaller friend. At least Chaeyoung knows there were no hard feelings.

She could only sigh at the imagination; it would be nice to be intimate with Mina. But she wanted to know more about the girl, she had no intentions to have something shallow. “No, I mean—I really don’t know if she likes guys or girls yet.” She felt herself deflate from the words that came out of . “But I think I like her, that’s for sure.”

“Nice.” Jeongyeon simply said, fixing her hair. “Now your mission is converting her and then getting in her pants.”

“Dude.” She laughs at the last statement. “I really don’t know, but I want to get to know her more. Maybe things will develop from there, who knows?”

With a sigh, Jeongyeon pats her friend on the shoulder. “Here we are again, my best friend’s conquest for love is never ending.” She says laying back down on the couch.

“And what’s so wrong with that?”

“Nothing.” She immediately said, looking at her friend. Jeongyeon’s expression changed, she sat back up and gave a serious look. “It’s just—this is why I don’t want to fall in love.”

Chaeyoung knew where this was going; this wasn’t the first warning she’s had.

“You get your hopes up over something that might or might not happen.” She continued. “And then what? They don’t reciprocate your love and you’re left with all these invested feelings and what’s left of you?”

She wasn’t wrong. That can definitely happen. But maybe it’s not the case when you’ve found the right person. Plus, Chaeyoung was far from being in love with Mina. Things can change, that’s for sure. But she won’t know unless she tries, and she definitely wanted to try with Mina. She had to.

“Yeah, yeah.” Chaeyoung said, shoving her friend away from her. “Now go take a bath or something, I can smell all over you.”

Her friend laughs and gets up. Luckily, Jeongyeon would always have an emergency change of clothes in Chaeyoung’s dorm room. This was a common occurrence for them, and after almost three years of the same pattern they knew what to do when someone was in a pinch. She watches her friend walk over to the spare closet that was made especially for her and then walks to the bathroom. The moment she hears Jeongyeon turn on the shower, she treads back to her bed and throws herself on her pillows.

The words were stuck in her head. Chaeyoung didn’t deny that there was a chance that these feelings she had can develop into something deeper and that it’ll end up not being returned to her dismay. She doesn’t know what would happen when it does, and she wouldn’t know if Jeongyeon was going to be there when it does again. Things were changing, and people did as well.

The rising anxiety was creeping up inside her, but she tried her best to shrug it off. Feeling more optimistic with the idea that she can always start from zero. Love is something that can wait, and if it happens, it’s meant to be. She can only wish that things can actually happen between her and Mina. One can hope.

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A week after

“Bro, can you place these records back on the shelves when you’re free?” Mincheol, her co-worker said, pointing at the stack of vintage records that was sitting on the counter. He didn’t wait for a response and walked to the back of the store.

Chaeyoung could only give a weak smile and walked over to the stack to start her task.

Since this school year had more breaks than before, Chaeyoung decided to take a part time job when she had the time. Luckily she managed to get one at this small record shop that was surprisingly still running, and the owner was kind enough to let her work anytime she could. She usually comes in late afternoon and stays until the store closes late at night. These were days where Jeongyeon would tell her that she had practical exams to deal with and that they weren’t able to meet up after their classes.

On occasion, Jeongyeon would come by and hang out there until Chaeyoung was able to leave. The best part about the shop was that there was a section where you can place in some records, CDs or cassette tapes and listen to through the small headphones the owner has left behind. Sometimes it was refreshing to go back in time and listen to music the old-fashioned way.

This was one of the things that Chaeyoung wanted to do when she was younger. Music and art were such a huge part of her growing up. She was lucky enough that her dad let her borrow an old mp3 player when she was in grade school; only if she promised to listen to it on breaks or after class. Which helped her tremendously when trying to block out the noise from her surroundings; also to ignore the insults she received from her classmates when she walked by the halls or was exiting the school to walk home.

She didn’t know much about any artists or anything, so she only listened to what her dad placed in. It ma