Heaven's Demon - Purinz

XIII. Yunjin's Coping Mechanism

A quiet roll of thunder is what awakens her from a hazy slumber.

The smell of fresh evening rain drifts through the darkened room as Yunjin inhales a sleepy breath. She feels warm and achingly relaxed, her muscles contracting in protest as Yunjin shifts to settle back into a dreamless sleep.

Her fingers slip across the cool expanse of sheets as she stretches and rolls over... right into a face full of feathers.

Pulling back with fuzzy disgruntlement, Yunjin lifts her head and tries to blink the groggy sleep from her eyes as she works to get her bearings.

She grunts against the street light filtering through a partially-opened window along the far side of the room, the patter of raindrops against glass confirming the culprit of her wakefulness. Frowning through her disorientation, Yunjin lets her eyes wander from the window up to the high vaulted ceiling above, the expanse of it looming over the mini cathedral-type mystery of a room.

"What in the fu..." she trails off, eyes dragging back down the darkened walls. A mirror hangs on the wall above a table overflowing with beauty products, Yunjin taking a moment to focus on the reflection of herself, her mussed hair and droopy eyes shining back as she lies propped up next to—

Oh.

Right.

Yunjin lets her head swivel around to take in the sleeping figure beside her. She lowers herself back down to her pillow as Chaewon snoozes on, each rhythmic breath punctuated by the rise and fall of slightly twitching wings. A smile tugs at Yunjin's lips at the serene look of her, shoulders hunched beneath the crown of feathers as a delicate fist sits tucked under Chaewon's chin.

Beginning to feel a bit awkward at her own staring, she twists to stare up at the ceiling again and releases a slow breath. A few silent moments pass as the sound of rain continues to drum out its pleasantly relaxing beat,

Yunjin finds herself becoming restless beneath the foreign scent of expensive sheets and detergent, the longer she lies there. A prickly energy starts in her toes and creeps upward, tightening as the feeling of it takes hold inside her chest. She can't name it, but she squirms with it, an uneasy sort of doubt pulling her further and further away from sleep.

This isn't the plan, Yunjin reminds herself as she glances once again to her side.

Not that she ever has a plan when it comes to Chaewon, at least not one that doesn't implode within the first few moments of being near her. But if she actually has even a semblance of one... This certainly shouldn't be it.

Fingers drumming a final time on her stomach, Yunjin gives a definitive nod and moves to roll toward the edge of the bed.

Only to immediately collapse back down again with an "oof" as a blanket of midnight feathers slides over her and tugs her back in.

"Where d'you think you're goin'?"

Yunjin releases a breath of a laugh when she looks toward the sleep-saturated voice.

"...Can't a girl use the bathroom?" she eventually whispers teasingly after a moment of mental scrambling, reaching beneath the canopy of Chaewon's wing to poke a finger into her side.

Chaewon doesn't move immediately, instead lying there in slumbering silence, eyes closed and breathing deep throughout the tiny exchange. Then a sharper inhale gives way to a relenting sigh as the cage of feathers lifts from around Yunjin's waist and moves back to rest again along Chaewon's side.

Moving through the room on tiptoes, Yunjin uses the light of the street lamp slotting through the window to help her navigate past a bookshelf and makeup table to the door that stands ajar opposite from the bed. Opening it slowly to avoid any creaking of the hinges and wood, Yunjin slips inside and shuts it with a quiet click, hand smoothing over the wall until she can flip on the light.