THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT US. winrina

18: Xs and Os

"Did you have fun?" Karina is glancing at her in the rearview mirror when she asks. Before she can say anything, the artist adds, "At Disneyland, I mean."

She did. Aeri was pretty fun to spend time with, always screaming at the top of her lungs on any rollercoaster no matter the intensity and always buying her food. They went on almost every ride there was, even the kiddie ones — courtesy of Aeri's scaredy cat ass who wouldn't go on an adult ride without Minjeong constantly having to assure her that she wasn't going to die from it. That was the less fun part about Disneyland, including the many times Minjeong had to hold Aeri's hair back when she was throwing up her guts in a trash can.

"Yeah," Minjeong replies but she doesn't know what else to say. Doesn't Karina already know how it went from the videos and pictures Aeri provided her for possibly the entire time there? Idiot, she's trying to make conversation. She grimaces for a moment and then clears her throat. It's worth a shot. "A lot less fun since you weren't there though."

She sees a stripe of pink fade in on Karina's cheeks but when she blinks a couple times, it's already gone. "I don't think my presence there would've made that much of a difference," Karina softly says as she keeps her eyes on the road.

Minjeong knows it wouldn't. The amount of fun would still have been at the same level and there would still have been puking, food, screaming. But there would have been Karina, sticking by her side, laughing with her, holding her hand, spoiling her with her money, being silly with her, being her girlfriend in public. Minjeong's sure that they would've even snuck in a few hugs and kisses.

Her own cheeks heat up and she turns to look out the window. Kisses. She really shouldn't be thinking about that, thinking about kissing Karina, or else she'll lose her sanity soon. You want to know what's worse though? The knowledge that Karina is a good kisser. Fuck! Okay, no, stop! Minjeong closes her eyes to force the image of Karina's lips coming in contact with hers out of her mind. She needs to get a fucking grip because she can't be fantasizing about that when Karina is right there in the driver's seat.

Soft fingers on her arm. Minjeong's eyes shoot open and find Karina looking at her, brows knotted, a small frown presenting itself on her face. Her mouth is moving; she's talking. And then her voice fades in finally. "Jeongie? Are you okay?"

Minjeong realizes that she's been quiet for too long. She smiles. "I'm okay. Just thinking." About you.

"You just looked troubled." Karina says, now mirroring her smile. "Are you jet-lagged? You can nap if you want. I'll wake you up when we're there."

"Jet-lagged from a one-hour flight? I'm not that weak, Jimin." She jokes.

Lies. She's actually damn sleepy but she blames it on the time of day. It's nighttime and they've just landed about twenty minutes ago. As soon as they got to the agency, Karina insisted that she should drive Minjeong back, reasoning that travelling by bus at night can be dangerous. (Minjeong tells her she's being paranoid but she knows well enough that it's absolutely true.) So then they end up in Karina's car, on the road to the university.

"I can take it from here." Minjeong says when she sees Karina killing the engine and getting out of the car. She scrambles out of her seat when the trunk opens and muffled thumps come from the back. When she's finally out, she sees Karina already pulling her luggage onto the sidewalk. She runs and deliberately blocks Karina's way, hands held out in front of her, slender fingers spread out. "No, seriously, Jimin! I can–"

Karina takes hold of one of Minjeong's hands. She's grinning so brightly in the next second that Minjeong forgets what she's saying for a brief moment.

"I want to help." Karina insists, sporting that look on her face that tells Minjeong she really can't refuse or else she'll do something to secure her agreement. (Minjeong can already sense the puppy eyes from miles away.)

Minjeong spends a few seconds gathering her thoughts; the thoughts that don't consist of She's so fucking adorable and Can I just kiss her right here, right now? Because truthfully, there are a few to pick up. "Jimin, what if someone sees you?"

"Well.." Karina trails off, using the short period of silence to thread their fingers together to which Minjeong very nearly screams out in frustration. (She manages to swallow it down for the most part. Although the strangled noise that successfully escapes her mouth goes unnoticed — or maybe Karina's just being generously ignorant.) There's an even bigger grin that stretches out on Karina's face as she finishes her sentence, though it seems more sheepish than anything. "They won't. But if they do, you'll hide me.. Right?"

Yes, I fucking will. Minjeong purses her lips, trying to shove her very loud thoughts into a corner of her mind. "Yeah, sure.." She says, heaving a sigh and putting on a smile when Karina keeps on looking at her with expectancy. "Let's go."

They make their waltz towards Minjeong's dorm block after the car is locked. Nothing but the quiet whistle of the wind and the sound of their synchronous footsteps surround the two. The night offers another level of tranquility that they are both grateful for — and sort of not, because it's actually doing no good for them but making it a little awkward. For the most part, they put up with it and maintain their walk.

The stairs come into view not long into their walk and they climb up it with Minjeong leading the way and Karina staggering behind with the luggage. (Minjeong tried helping her. She seriously did. But Karina just told her: "It's nothing." And then she struggled right after saying it. Cute.)

"Are you sure?" Minjeong asks again when she hears a grunt and a loud huff behind her. She treks up the last step to her floor before turning around and she stifles a laugh seeing Karina rubbing her arms that Minjeong reckons are sore from all the lifting.

Karina glares at her, lips forming a pout unintentionally. "This isn't funny."

Minjeong raises her hands but the grin on her face stays prominent. "I'm laughing because I think you're cute." She says it before she can think about it but the tint of red on Karina's cheeks that results from it makes Minjeong prideful enough that she lets it pass. She jogs back down to where Karina is and takes the luggage from the artist.

"But.." Karina pauses when Minjeong smiles, taking note of how close their faces are; mere inches away from having the tip of their noses touching. The blush on her cheeks becomes brighter. "...Nothing."

The two of them stalk up the remainder of the steps and silently shuffle into the dim corridor. It takes just a few steps for them to reach Minjeong's door and then it's time for them to separate. As Minjeong unlocks her door as quietly as possible, Karina stands idle behind her, chewing on her lip and finding herself saddened by the thought of having to leave Minjeong so soon.

After making sure that the room is empty — just double checking since she's already confirmed with Yizhuo that she'll be back earlier than the latter, Minjeong pushes her luggage into the room and turns back around to face Karina. “Do you want me to walk you back down?” She asks.

Karina shakes her head a bit too eagerly. “I'm okay. It's not that far of a walk.”

“Right.”

Then they're quiet for a little while. Minjeong uses up the seconds to simply stare and admire Karina's eyes that seem to gleam in the lack of light in the corridor. She takes notice of how Karina is doing the same to her. And before she knows it, Karina's stepping closer and her cheeks are engulfed by a comforting warmth from the artist's palms. She keeps her eyes on Karina's, anticipating her next move.

Soft-padded thumbs caress her cheeks as Karina leans forward. Minjeong feels plump lips press against her forehead and it's gone within a blink. “Good night, Jeongie.” Karina's smile is small but apparent on her petite face. It prompts Minjeong to smile as well.

She brings up a hand to place it atop Karina's, fingers gingerly curving around Karina's hand. “Good night, Jimin.” She parrots, her voice just above a whisper.

There's no bye-bye hug this time. Karina leaves her with a kiss on the head and a night to remember. But even then, shortly after Minjeong retreats to her bed and Karina returns to her car, a message comes in.

Jimin: (📷 Photo)
Jimin: dream of me?

Minjeong doesn't even try to stop herself from grinning from ear to ear when she opens the photo of Karina spreading her arms out as if to hug her through the screen.

You: Definitely.