underneath the purple skies / purinz

05

In the morning, Chaewon wakes up slowly, the world trickling into her conscious mind. The traffic outside, the sound of a clock ticking. The faint smell of artificial citrus, the hair tickling her nose, the pins and needles in her left arm.

Chaewon blinks her eyes open, squinting against the sunlight coming through one of the living room windows that doesn't have the curtain fully pulled across it, and looks down to see a spray of blonde. Yunjin is wrapped around her like a blanket, her head tucked under Chaewon's chin, a knee thrown over Chaewon's legs, one arm wrapped around Chaewon's waist.

For a few moments, Chaewon selfishly lets herself pretend that this is something that she has. That she gets to wake up every morning with Yunjin's warm weight tucked into her side, sending her arm to sleep, Yunjin's citrus-shampoo smelling hair in her face, Yunjin's slow even breathing puffing against her neck.

She's gotten used to wanting Yunjin like this. Wanting her, always having her close enough to touch, but never really having her. Just enough to keep her hooked, but never enough to truly sate her.

And it always makes her feel a little bit ashamed, knowing that Yunjin doesn't feel the same. Knowing that one day, maybe in a few months, maybe a couple of years from now, Yunjin is going to meet someone new and she's going to decide she's had enough of living with Chaewon, and move in with her new person who makes her laugh and smile after a long day in the studio, who brings her flowers before their dates and takes her to Paris for their anniversary because Yunjin is a secret huge romantic at heart, who gets to kiss her good morning and good night every day, and Chaewon will still be just the best friend on the sidelines because she's never going to be that person for Yunjin.

Knowing that it's coming doesn't make it hurt any less though, and besides, wanting something isn't the same as needing something. Chaewon should really have gotten over this long ago.

It's cruel to give her stupid heart hope like this, and so it's only a few moments listening to Yunjin breathe before Chaewon starts the slow process of extracting herself from Yunjin's sleepy embrace. Thankfully, Yunjin is still fast asleep, so she barely even reacts apart from a sleepy little grumble and rolling onto her stomach once Chaewon manages to pry her last limb free, immediately snuggling into the pillow that Chaewon had been using.

Chaewon sighs, runs a hand through her sleep-mussed mess of hair, and goes through to the kitchen.

Later, once all four of them are awake and showered and appropriately caffeinated, they get lunch at the café owned by Sooyoung's younger sister Hyeju and her girlfriend Yerim, taking their food and drinks to go so they can take advantage of the afternoon sunshine and have a picnic in Dolores Park. After that, they begin to make their way over to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where Seulgi's exhibition is being displayed.

It's a good day. The weather is nice, a surprisingly warm day for October in northern California, and she's with her three best friends.

There's just one small problem, and that problem is Jiwoo. Or more specifically, the way she sometimes catches Jiwoo looking at her. Like Jiwoo knows something Chaewon doesn't, and she's going to bring it up eventually in a way so carefully worded so that Chaewon can't deflect or run away from the conversation like she normally would. These looks mostly seem to happen after Chaewon laughs at something Yunjin says, or Yunjin calls Chaewon one of her many affectionate nicknames, and it doesn't take a genius to know what Jiwoo is thinking.

Halfway through the exhibit, Yunjin and Sooyoung wander off in search of the museum's restrooms, and Jiwoo immediately pounces on the opportunity to corner Chaewon, sidling up to where Chaewon is reading the description for one of the photographs hanging on the wall.