from which a garden grows / purinz

Chapter 5/01 : Seedlings

"We're here," Yunjin softly shakes Chaewon from her slumber.

Chaewon opens her eyes and finds herself leaning against the passenger window with a pillow wedged between her and the glass. "I fell asleep? When?"

"Oh..." Yunjin takes the extra time to ponder even though she knows the answer, "Pretty much as soon as we got on the highway."

"That long? I didn't even notice!"

Chaewon appreciates a smooth driver. Seed #5.

Yunjin nods toward Chaewon's head. "Seems like that nap helped soothe your hangover. Are you feeling better?"

Chaewon stares out the window, wincing only slightly at the natural sunlight.

"A little."

That answer doesn't satisfy Yunjin quite enough so she takes matters into her own hands, pressing a lingering kiss on Chaewon's forehead.

"Mwah! There. You should be feeling a lot better now."

Forehead kisses, forehead kisses, forehead kisses. Chaewon never knew she was such a sucker for them. That's got to be worth... what? Seven seeds? Chaewon doesn't really know how this system works.

Maybe she'll just utter "Check!" in her head every time Yunjin does something she likes.

Yunjin helps Chaewon out of the truck (chivalrous-check!), waves at an elderly man who's taking out his trash (friendly to anyone, even strangers-check!), and picks up a soda can and tosses it in the appropriate recycling bin (environmentally conscious-check!).

All of this happens in the span of ten seconds.

(What the hell? Why is she so likable? The fact that Yunjin's so likable almost makes her... un likable in a way. If that makes sense.)

"You ok, Chaewon?" (Always checks in-check!).

"I'm really not sure."

"You know, I've noticed that's a mannerism of yours. You don't always give me a straight answer."

"Well, I'm not... straight either, so..." Chaewon scratches her nape, "I mean... heh... what do you expect from me?"

Utterly charmed, Yunjin's mouth curls up in a cheeky grin. "Have you always been this awkward and I've just never noticed?"

Chaewon points to Yunjin's spectacles. "Maybe you need a stronger prescription."

(The fuck is she saying? What is happening to her?! )

Yunjin eats it up regardless.

"Oh wow. You're way weirder than I remember. I can dig it!" (Goes with the flow-check.)

Yunjin reaches into the trunk and pulls out an oversized messenger bag, reminiscent of the satchels that old-timey mailmen and newspaper boys wear while on their deliveries.

Chaewon can't help her curiosity as she peeks inside. The bag is stuffed to the brim with envelopes addressed to all sorts of people and organizations, from the "Pledis High School English Department" to "Choi Family Animal Rescue".

Yunjin scoops Shiro up, places him inside and atop the bed of letters ("Don't pee on them, boy!"), and zips the bag partly closed, leaving space for Shiro's head to pop out.

"What's all this?"

"Oh, they're thank you notes. When I skipped town, I couldn't get out of here fast enough. I didn't have the time to formally thank the few people who actually supported me. You know that whole stereotype about closeted kids being friends with their English teachers?"

"That was you?" Chaewon asks teasingly.

"You bet! Mrs. Hayes and I spent both our lunches dissecting all 121 episodes of Glee. She cried when Brittany and Santana got married. She basically cried any time they had screen time. I guess in retrospect, I should've known she was gay too." Yunjin says, smiling fondly at the memories before cringing at herself. "Man, was I uncool!"

Chaewon clings onto Yunjin's arm, lightly dancing her fingers up Yunjin's shoulder. "But isn't it always the nerd who gets the girl at the end?"

Yunjin's previously neutral expression morphs into one that Chaewon knows all too well. Soft eyes clashing against a rough and mischievous grin, this look encompasses everything right about Yunjin... and everything so deliciously wrong as well.

This look means "I'm going to make you feel the best you've ever felt... while pinning you against the nearest solid surface."

The look is that powerful and impactful that it warrants its own exhibit in the Tate Modern, if one were to ask Chaewon.

Never has Chaewon been on the receiving end of this look and not ended up... well... receiving.

And Yunjin is the textbook definition of a giver-under and out of the sheets. She'll launch Chaewon on a round trip, all expenses paid trip to the moon using only her skillful hands, then she'll turn on the TV, watch some late night infomercial, cry about some endangered bonobos in the Congo, and find herself suddenly signing up to become a donor to the World Wildlife Fund.

Chaewon can't fathom how Yunjin can be so good to a world that has been nothing but awful to her.

Yunjin is just kind all the time. She never shuts it off. That halo above her head never loses its glow.

Except right now, when she's being an impossible tease.

"Consider me the luckiest nerd in the world," Yunjin whispers as she cages Chaewon's body between hers and the body of her pickup truck.

Conditioned for what's coming next, Chaewon parts her lips. She's nothing but a slack jawed fool when Yunjin doesn't kiss her.

(Yunjin opts for a head pat instead! A head pat! How demeaning! Who is Chaewon? Shiro?!)

"Now, now, Chaewon. This is a nice neighborhood with dignified people." Yunjin chastises, shaking her head. "Best save your exhibitionist fantasies for some other place."

"I hate you," Chaewon narrows her eyes at the object of her affections.

Yunjin is not the least bit affected. "Nah, no you don't."

Chaewon lets out a frustrated sigh because she hates when she's proven wrong and Yunjin is so very, very right.

"No, I don't."