Some girls do

Chapter 41: Chaewon

I'm lying on Kazuha's pillows, watching her sleep, soaking in every last detail. Like the way her eyelashes tangle together, just a little, when her eyes are shut like this. And the way her lips curve slightly into a smile—even in her dreams, she's happy. And the way the hickeys, which I swear to god I didn't mean to give her, have bloomed into tiny red dots on her collarbone.

It's been three weeks since the pageant, and a lot has already changed. Like I've officially retired from pageant life, which feels great but a little weird at the same time. I'm still very occasionally helping Eunbi with her makeup classes, but only because it's fun now that I'm not being forced. Mostly, I work part-time—on the books, even—for Hyojong, with plans to go full-time for the summer.

I'm still not really talking to my mom, but I know I'll have to soon. She's left me a couple apologetic voicemails, but I'm just . . . not ready yet. Meanwhile, Hyojong cleaned out an entire room for me, even though I told him I was fine on the couch, and last week Kazuha's parents came up, not in their own car, but in a giant rented U-Haul. They asked me to open it, and when I did, I found it stuffed with a bedroom set they claimed to have had "lying around," even though there was an invoice stuck on the mattress dated from that morning.

Talk about grand gestures.

And Kazuha, well, she's already back to work changing the world. She and this football player are trying to start this student athlete rainbow coalition thing. They're in the really early stages, but I've never seen her this fired up before.

She's been going to rallies and even guest-speaking at random schools' GSAs and stuff. Her boss, Sakura, has been helping her. Sometimes, I even go with her.

But today, this morning, I have something special planned just for us.

"Wake up, sleeping beauty," I say, kissing her on her nose, her forehead, her neck, the spot behind her ear that makes her squirm. Her sleepy smirk turns into a full-on smile as she opens her eyes.

"You're here," she says, her usual morning greeting. I try not to let it bother me that she still worries about that. Given our track record, I suppose it's fair.

"Can't get rid of me that easily, Nakamura," I say, which is my usual response. She tries to pull me down under the covers. "Nope." I push them away. "You have to get up."

"Why?" she whines, grabbing her phone to check the time. "It's like nine a.m."

"We promised your family we'd go out for brunch, remember?"

"That's not till ten!" Kazuha rolls over, yanking the blanket over her head.

"Nuh-uh," I say, poking her in the side where she's the most ticklish. She shrieks and jerks across the bed.

"You are evil."

"You like it." I stand and walk to her closet.

"Yeah," she grumbles, finally sitting up in bed, and it's kind of cute how much of a morning person she isn't.

I flip through a few shirts, deciding on the KISS MORE GIRLS shirt, which earns me an eyebrow raise when I fling it at her along with a pair of leggings. "Get. Dressed," I say, grabbing her by the ankles and pulling her down the bed until she giggles. "I'm gonna go freshen up in the bathroom, and you better be ready when I'm done. I want to stop somewhere first."

"Yes, sir." She fake salutes me just as I pull the door open and see her brother in the hallway.

"I don't want to know," he says.

"Good morning to you too, Chan," I call after him, but he just flips me off with a smile. Rude.

It's not long before I'm back, my teeth brushed with my finger—not the best, but it works in a pinch—my hair up in a bun.. She's dressed when I walk in, flipping through pictures on her phone of me at the pageant. She's kind of obsessed with reliving our "epic double grand gesture," as she calls it. It's become a running joke now, where I pretend I'm taking notes whenever we see one in a movie—and we've seen a lot lately thanks to her Netflix rom-com addiction. Kazuha says nothing will ever be able to top my pageant interview, but we'll see. I'm hoping today might.

"This dress is so beautiful," she says, running her hand over the screen like it's not hanging in my closet at Hyojong's for her to touch whenever she wants.

"You can have it," I say. I don't even know why.

"We should donate it," Kazuha says, always thinking of others. "The center gives out prom dresses to people who can't afford them. Imagine going there and finding this."

"Okay." I take the phone from her hands and set it down on the dresser. "We'll donate it. Now go get ready and meet me in the car."

She groans, but I can tell she's curious, so off she goes. And less than ten minutes later, we're pulling out of her parking lot.

"Are you going to tell me where we're headed?" Kazuha asks.

"Nope," I say, squeezing her hand.

We drive mostly in contented silence, her fiddling with the radio, turning it up when a Harry Styles song comes on. It doesn't take long before we're parking at the library.

"Okayyyy." Kazuha looks at me curiously.

"Come on," I say.

Kazuha follows me inside to the little community room. She scrunches up her forehead as we walk past the sign announcing the school art show. "What's this?"

But I don't say anything. I just lead her past the ceramics and paintings to a wall of photographs. Jimin's senior project, Heart Eyes. Her art teacher was so impressed with it, she chose it as one of the few projects to display for the whole town.

"Are these Karina's? She's so friggin' talented," Kazuha says softly, taking them all in. She's seen a few of Karina's photos before—we've all been hanging out a lot lately—but I've never shown her the one of me.

"Yeah," I say, waiting.

"Oh," Kazuha whispers, and I know she's found me among all the other shots. She steps forward, studying the picture before turning back to me.

"Who are you looking at?" she asks, and she looks a little worried, like it could possibly be anyone else but her.

I swallow hard. "Um, you."

Kazuha's face breaks out into a smile. "Really?"

I nod.

"When was this?"

I bite my lip and take a deep breath. "That day you hit my car and stole my seat."

"No way," Kazuha says. "That was my first day."

"Yep," I say, watching Kazuha read the little tag beside it.

KIM CHAEWON

"First Crush"

"Oh my god." Her eyes look a little glassy. "I thought you hated me!"

"I know. That's why I wanted to show you this. How I really felt back then."

"Chaewon—"

"The label's wrong, though," I interrupt, and Kazuha tilts her head. "It's not a crush."

"Chaewon." Her voice goes quiet.

"I love you," I say, the words rushing out before I lose my nerve. "And I know this is cheesy as hell, but I'd like to be your girlfriend. Officially. If that's cool."

"What happened to 'no labels'? You don't have to—"

"I know. I want to." I lace my fingers with hers. "It feels right."

She smiles, tearing up. "Well, this definitely tops the speech."

"Is that a yes?" I ask. Because, for once, it's me who needs the words.

"Yes," she says, moving closer until we're completely face-to-face. "I'd love for you to be my girlfriend, Chaewon. And I love you too."

I tip forward till I feel her lips against mine, and then I pour every ounce of myself into our kiss. My whole life might be a never-ending series of question marks right now, but this I'm sure of. This I want.

"Come on, then," I say when we finally pull apart. "I want to take my girlfriend to brunch."

Kazuha smiles, looking at the picture once more, then reaches for me as we walk out. I take her hand and squeeze like I have a hundred times before. But this time feels different.

This time, I don't ever want to let go.

This was the last chapter guys, thanks to everyone who read it.Until the next story :)