foreign space - poetry&prose

all right ○ joyrene

"scared?" joohyun asks.

sooyoung almost stops breathing as joohyun stays where she is, warm breath tickling her cheek. she tries to control it as it goes a little faster than intended, but it's not exactly working. so she stays silent for a while before saying, "you realize it's not the first time we're doing this."

she hears the older woman laugh softly. "that's kind of my point, isn't it?" she leans in a little bit more, and that's when sooyoung actually stops breathing, which is kind of obvious by the way she audibly catches her breath, almost hissing at how close joohyun is.

and this time, joohyun laughs as she moves away, her tongue in cheek as she watches sooyoung blink. the intimacy from that moment is gone, replaced by something else. after registering what just happened, she scowls a little. "don't do that."

"hm?" joohyun hums, although it's quite obvious she knows what she's doing with the slight smirk on her face. "don't do what?"

sooyoung almost snorts but settles for a sigh. "you know what. getting disgustingly close."

the other girl lets out a dramatic gasp. "no. calling your girlfriend of three years disgusting? that's kind of against the rules, sooyoung," but she's not really that fazed either, almost like she's suppressing a grin.

right. why is sooyoung here again? "if you wanted to kiss me, you would've done it by now."

"i know. i just wanted to see how you would react."

she opens her mouth, but no words come out. she coughs instead, calling the bartender. "please get me something strong."

"no, don't get her that," joohyun cuts in, raising an eyebrow while the bartender juggles his choices, confused. "um. sorry, you are?"

"someone who knows not to get her drunk," she answers just as sooyoung replies, "possessive girlfriend."

"i am not possessive-"

the bartender puts his hands up in surrender. "okay, okay. wait. so you want something, she doesn't want you to have it. is that what i'm hearing right now?"

sooyoung taps her fingers on the table, clicking her tongue. "yes. it's complicated."

she shoots a look at the girl opposite her, who looks passively at the boy, subconsciously playing with her nails. "never mind. just go back to business, flower boy."

as the bartender shuffles away, still confused and staring at them while making drinks for others, sooyoung stands up. "i'm going to go out just for some fresh air. i'll be back," she runs a hand through joohyun's hair as joohyun sighs, resting her head on her hand.

"don't go too far," she reminds her. sooyoung simply nods and walks out, watching as the sun slowly sets below the skyscrapers. she begins to walk along the pavement.

girlfriend of three years, joohyun said. she wasn't wrong. but it wasn't like she was completely right either.

they didn't even first see each other the way other people tended to do, or even like those cliche tropes: neighbours next door? nah. accidentally switched phones? not that either (although they did once, and sooyoung admits, it was hilarious). definitely not at a party.

more like sooyoung had accidentally kind of tripped and kissed her in a small little bar and laughed it off when joohyun started choking at the audacity of it all. and she wasn't drunk either, and she didn't see it awkward- because she liked the way joohyun had kissed back immediately.

they met up at said little bar as the business got slightly bigger, and every time they did sooyoung always teased joohyun with what happened before, and the other girl would just suck in a breath and bury her face in her hands.