Time ticks forward.
In the distance, she can hear people chanting as the ten second countdown begins.
Ten, nine, eight.
A loud cheer goes up from the balcony of a packed apartment across the street.
Seven, six, five.
Downstairs in Joohyun's apartment, the music gets louder, the bass pulsing out of an open window.
Four, three, two.
Halfway across Seoul, the fireworks begin to shoot up into the sky, bright colours bursting open on the dark canvas.
One. The date on her phone screen changes from December 31st to January 1st, the clock changing from 23:59 to 00:00. The entire city seems to roar underneath the fireworks.
Chaewon's still alone.
She'll give it a few more minutes before she goes back in. Give everyone some time to get their soppy couple moments that Chaewon has no interest in witnessing out of the way and hopefully by then the bubbly champagne will have been replaced with some actual alcohol.
(Seulgi's been looking longingly at a litre bottle of tequila she's acquired from somewhere since about 10PM, Joohyun taking it off her for the reason of, "I want things to stay classy until at least midnight, and I don't want anybody throwing up in my favourite potted plant again," while directing a pointed glare in her sister's direction.)
Behind her, the door to the roof squeaks open.
Chaewon's expecting Haseul, possibly Joohyun, coming to chew her out for missing the countdown. Maybe Jiwoo, if she's not too distracted by Sooyoung.
She isn't expecting Yunjin.
She has a cosy looking black peacoat on over her dress, and she's holding Chaewon's fur-lined leather jacket in her hands as she crosses the roof with a slightly irritated look on her face.
"Are you crazy?" Yunjin huffs, shoving the jacket into Chaewon's hands when she comes to a stop in front of her. "What are you trying to do, intentionally give yourself frostbite?"
"Sorry," Chaewon mutters, slipping her arms through the sleeves and bringing the jacket around her shoulders. At least she's a bit warmer now, even though she can feel herself beginning to panic slightly.
She can't be left alone with Yunjin. She can't. Yunjin's presence has always made her forget herself, made her too reckless, too stupid, too weak, and a two month drought has done absolutely nothing to lessen the effect her best friend has on her.
If anything, it's made it worse, because even now, after everything, there's a small, self-destructive part of Chaewon that desperately wants to push Yunjin against the railing and kiss her until she can't breathe. There's an even smaller, slightly deluded part of her that thinks Yunjin might even let her. And that kind of stupid wishful thinking needs to stop, because Yunjin doesn't want her.
"Wow," Yunjin murmurs, looking out over the city. "I always forget how incredible the view is from up here."
"Being friends with a borderline chaebol heir has its perks," Chaewon says, pulling her jacket tighter around herself.
They're both quiet for a few moments, until Yunjin breaks the silence.
"I want to apologise," she says, her voice surprisingly shaky.
Which is— not what Chaewon was expecting.
"What? What for?"
"For... God, for everything, I guess."
YOU ARE READING
all my nights taste like gold / purinz
Fanfiction#3 purinz "It's not like- it won't be the first time we've kissed," Yunjin says. Slurs, really, her voice lower and her sentences slower than usual, which is just another reminder that neither of them are really in the right condition to be consider...
