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(They leave the party just after 2AM, holding hands and exchanging unsubtle heated glances in the back of the taxi, and the door to Yunjin's apartment is barely shut behind them before they're crashing into each other.

It catches up with Chaewon all at once then, everything she has been missing, everything she has been trying so hard to forget, and it feels like every piece in the universe is falling into place as Yunjin crowds her against the door and kisses her so deeply it's like Chaewon's whole body melts into her.

It feels like drowning in Yunjin, in breathless gasps and feverish kisses and hands that leave a trail of liquid fire everywhere they touch, surging over her and submerging her underwater. It feels like her entire body has been holding its breath waiting for this, waiting to feel Yunjin's touch again, waiting to hear Yunjin whimper Chaewon's name again, waiting to taste Yunjin's lips again, and now she can finally exhale.

They don't stop kissing as they fumble with coats and scarves and shoes, and they don't stop kissing as they slowly make their way down the hallway, and they don't stop kissing as they stumble into Yunjin's bedroom.

"We don't— have to do anything," Yunjin mutters, completely contradicting herself by bringing her fingers to the top button of Chaewon's shirt and popping it open. "If you don't want to." The second button comes undone, and then the third. "We can just sleep." The fourth, the fifth, and then the rest of them until her shirt is wide open and Yunjin's palms are searing against her waist. "You know, take it slow this time."

"Slow," Chaewon laughs, like she hasn't been waiting for this for years. Her hands tighten in Yunjin's hair when Yunjin's nails drag across her skin. "I mean, I am a fifth date kind of girl, you know. And we haven't even been on one yet."

The back of Chaewon's knees hit the bed, and she tumbles onto the mattress with a soft oof. Yunjin stares at her hungrily for long enough that the tingle low in Chaewon's stomach grows into an insistent tug before she follows, climbing onto the bed and settling in Chaewon's lap.

"Okay," Yunjin says with a grin. "We can take it slow."

And then she peels her dress up and off in one fluid motion and tosses it behind her, and Chaewon promptly forgets how to breathe. Slow is the absolute last thing on her mind when she has Yunjin straddling her, all toned abs and soft skin and dark eyes, looking down at her with a mischievous smirk, just waiting for Chaewon to make the next move.

And Chaewon does, reaching up to drag Yunjin down. "Touch me," she whispers in between frantic kisses. "Please."

She feels Yunjin smile against her mouth. "Thought you'd never ask.")

/

The first thing Chaewon becomes aware of is that her toes are cold.

The second is that she can hear muffled voices, Jiwoo and Sooyoung's, somewhere in the apartment, which must have been what woke her up — she's always been cursed to be a light sleeper.

The third is that the amount of light bleeding into the room on the other side of her closed eyelids indicates it's late enough into the morning that she should probably get up.

However, Chaewon has a pretty good reason to stay exactly where she is, and that reason is curled against her back, face buried in the back of Chaewon's neck with one arm wrapped tightly around Chaewon's waist.

Chaewon stretches underneath the blanket, wiggling her feet until her cold toes are safely tucked back underneath the heavy fabric. Her muscles and limbs feel loose and heavy, a faint residual ache present through her whole body but most prominent in her thighs and hips, her skin thrumming from the phantom sensation of Yunjin's mouth and fingers.

Yunjin's still fast asleep, her breathing slow and deep and steady. Her fingers twitch against Chaewon's stomach every now and then, and her body is warm where it's pressed against the length of Chaewon's back.

Chaewon's phone lights up on the nightstand with a text from Jiwoo, just close enough that Chaewon can reach it to look at the screen without disturbing Yunjin.

Pingu 🐧
hiii!
sooyoungie and i just got home, we're going to make pancakes if you and Yunjinie are awake and want to join us!
*3*

Chaewon ignores it; she definitely doesn't plan on moving anytime soon. Jiwoo and Sooyoung and pancakes can wait.

She dozes on and off for about fifty minutes, listening to the sound of Yunjin's breathing and Jiwoo and Sooyoung pottering about in the kitchen, before Yunjin begins to stir behind her.

"Mmph," Yunjin mumbles into Chaewon's hair, her voice still thick with sleep. "Morning."

"Morning."

Yunjin yawns, her arm tightening around Chaewon's middle.

"You're still here," Yunjin murmurs after a few moments of peaceful quiet, sounding a bit more awake now.

Chaewon turns over in Yunjin's arms so they're facing each other, a few inches of space between them on the pillow. She doesn't really want to put any more distance between them; the past few months have given her enough of that, along with a Yunjin-shaped hole in her heart.

Yunjin's hair is sticking up everywhere and her face is all red and puffy from sleep as she blinks groggily at Chaewon, but it's still the best thing Chaewon has ever seen, something she wouldn't mind getting to wake up to every morning.

"Did you think I wouldn't be?"

Yunjin shifts, and then her hand appears from under the blankets, lifting to cup Chaewon's face and gently sweep her thumb across her cheekbone. "I guess even after everything last night, there was still a tiny part of me that was scared you would be gone again."

Chaewon catches Yunjin's hand as it retreats, pressing a kiss to her open palm before turning it over and kissing her knuckles.

"I don't plan on going anywhere," Chaewon says, dropping another kiss to the back of Yunjin's hands and letting it linger for a few seconds.

A fond smile slowly forms on Yunjin's face. She twists her hand until she can intertwine them properly, her fingers slotting in between Chaewon's perfectly like their hands were molded for each other. "Me neither."

"Yeah?" Chaewon asks shakily.

Yeah," Yunjin repeats, leaning forward to press her own lips to the back of Chaewon's hand softly. "I am all in, I promise. I want this, I want you. For as long as you'll have me."

In this moment, Chaewon can feel that Yunjin-shaped hole in her heart stitching itself closed and beginning to scar over.

"Yeah, me too."

Their hands separate, only for Yunjin to scoot forward so she can snuggle closer to Chaewon. Yunjin is bigger than her, but she feels strangely small as she tucks herself into Chaewon's arms and presses her face into the juncture of Chaewon's neck. She wants to capture this content feeling of warmth in her memory, keep it like a photograph that she can take out and look at whenever they're apart.

"I love you," Yunjin mumbles against her neck.

Chaewon sighs happily, angles her head down so she can kiss Yunjin's forehead. "I love you too."

Something bursts open inside her chest. That single seed, planted twelve years ago in Heejin's back yard that has slowly flourished over the years despite Chaewon's best attempts to rip it out at the roots, blooming like cherry blossoms in the spring. Into something new. Into something great.

all my nights taste like gold / purinzWhere stories live. Discover now