but she survived | sae-byeok x ji-yeong

starts with happiness, ends with grieve, some excitement in between

The word lovers had never felt more real. Not since Jeju. Since that night on the cliff where they finally got to say it out loud, their hearts pounding in sync when the other returned their words. Since they got to show every single gram of love that had been unspoken for way too long later that night too. It had been a dream. An awake dream for the both of them. And they weren't sure how long it would last. Forever. Months. Days. Hours. But as they were sitting in their bathtub, Ji-yeong's back pressed up against her lover's chest, a scent of lavender from the bath bomb blending with the scented candles that were lighting up the room which had been smothered in darkness since the sun had disappeared into the horizon and the moon had taken its place, hanging innocently on the sky as it watched the night closely, they couldn't imagine anything but that it would last forever. 

"I fucking love chocolate!" Ji-yeong stated, yet another piece of the sweet delight being thrown into her mouth enthusiastically. "I can't mention something that makes me happier."

"Well, ouch," Sae-byeok calmly said, her fingers still running up and down the girl's bare arm in an even calmer motion. "But you know, there's actually science behind that." 

Ji-yeong would normally just look at her with a confused expression, signaling to her that she didn't understand. But it wasn't quite possible in their position to look at each other, and silence couldn't replace her intention. So it ended with a final, "huh?", the taller girl laughing quietly at the pure confusion in her voice. 

"Well, first off, the main ingredient in chocolate is cacao, which is said to have a mood-enhancing effect. Cacao also contains tryptophan, which has serotonin in it. You know what serotonin is, right? The happiness hormone?" A single nod from the girl allowed her to continue. "Good. But that's not the only good thing in cacao, 'cause there's also phenylethylamine in it-"

"Pheny-what?" Ji-yeong knew school in prison couldn't compare to regular school, but she had never in her life heard about pheny- yeah, the word her girlfriend so easily just threw out there. 

"Phenylethylamine. It's a substance released by the body when new love blossoms. So you actually feel a few butterflies in your tummy every time you eat chocolate." As Sae-byeok spoke, her hands slowly glided across the girl's wet skin onto her stomach, resting there while a kiss was placed on Ji-yeong's cheek. 

"Oh, I just thought those butterflies came from lying against you naked." Ji-yeong shrugged, well-aware of the shade of red her girlfriend's face had turned. The corners of her lips quickly turned upwards into a smirk when she felt a heart that wasn't hers speed up. 

And if Sae-byeok had known Ji-yeong could feel it, she would have probably died of embarrassment. "It might- uh, it might also be that." 

"Yeah, perhaps a nice mixture?" Ji-yeong kept on going, already way past the goal of getting her girlfriend flustered. 

"Yeah- perhaps," Sae-byeok stuttered, embarrassed about the fact she still got so nervous around her girlfriend. The girl she had shared her love with fully. Said them. Expressed them. Felt them. All of it. And even though, she had been nervous, she had to admit that expressing it felt so much better than saying it. The memories of her pleasuring touches, hands everywhere, the electrifying feeling of her tongue running over her scar. Memories she would keep with her, maybe in a little treasure chest somewhere in her heart. Yeah. She would keep them in a treasure chest.

Some more cute embarrassment and a lot of stolen kisses later, they went to bed, the hand in the clock already way past the 1 as they gave each other a last kiss before letting themselves drift away in each other's arms.

-

"BRO, YOU'LL NEVER GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TODAY-" 

Sae-byeok was quick to enter the hall, where an excited Ji-yeong was jumping around, trying to take off her shoes as fast as she could.