lion heart [bbangsaz] {feat. daerin}

Celebration Dinner

Minji

Minji zipped the back of her black dress, eyeing her disappointment in the bathroom mirror. Its spaghetti straps sagged a bit (she'd have to do some safety pinning) and it ended at an awkward length, right at her calves. As if it couldn't decide to be flirty or frumpish. In between. Like herself.

This dress and I deserved each other.

But, these were the results when your right-hand woman wasn't present.

Minji dug through a drawer, scraping three silver pins from its little grooves between the wooden slats. She blew debris from a pin, frowning. Minji had been avoiding Chaewon, if she'd be honest with herself.

Purposely grabbing early morning shifts (Chaewon preferred to sleep in) and answering texts in a friendly—albeit, noncommittal—manner. Because Chaewon practically majored in Kim Minji. She'd sniff out a dilemma like Lassie.

"Min, are you almost done?"

"Yeaaaah," she drawled, clipping the straps as well as she'd care. "You need something in here?"

Jake poked his head past the door, giving his gelled hair a little flip. "Sure do!"

Immediately, he glided behind Minji, squeezing her up into his lanky frame. "I needed this. Do you mind?"

"Oh, you sweet talker." She breathed in his 'fancy outing' cologne. Relaxed into the firmness of his chest, head rested on his shoulder. "I needed that hug, too."

"I bet. You've been withdrawn lately."

Minji schooled her body not to tense, though she'd probably failed. "I have, haven't I?"

"Should you...see a shrink?"

"No, I don't think it's like that. Besides, we can't afford it."

"Not yet." He waggled his eyebrows at her through the mirror, his narrow features handsome and confident. "This new client could change everything."

She admired that about Jake. His drive. It's the drive that made this celebratory dinner come to pass. Jake, his bros, and their girlfriends/wives got reservations to a restaurant heights above their usual pay grade. One of those bros happened to be Jay, Chaewon's fiancé. Meaning...

"You and Chaewon haven't binge-watched your awful soaps together in a while."

"They're not awful, Jake." Minji slipped in her earrings, smirking for him. "We're bogged down with that gruesome, ugly, unforgiving thing...I think it's called life?"

Jake laughed, but a shadow of something Minji didn't want to question darkened his eyes. "Am...um, am I responsible for the ugly in your life?"

"Oh, god, no!" Minji overcompensated by backing into him. His long arms stretched from either side of her, holding onto the edge of the sink. "You've done nothing, and I mean nothing wrong, so..."

His black eyebrows rose. Face expectant. The silence of the bathroom both heavy and stilted...a miserable combination.

"So, chin up. Tonight is about you, okay?"

Fortunately, that imparted a genuine smile to his face. "Team effort, Kim."

"Yeah, yeah, but you signed the client."

"That I did."

"And you've done the most all-nighters."

"That's true, too."

"Plus, you've been the encourager, their powerhouse of positive thinking, countless times. You're the best."

"Gotta admit," he murmured, lowering his lips to her shoulder. "All these compliments turn me on."