They get out just after midnight; late for a Sunday night. Yena and Sana both leave as soon as the restaurant is clean — Yena to catch the last bus, Sana so she can meet up with some friends for drinks that she's already an hour late to — which just leaves Yunjin and Chaewon to tidy up the loose ends.
Yunjin has never closed with just Chaewon before; there's always been someone else there as a barrier, but once they're outside in the warm June night air and Yunjin has locked the front door and set the alarms, she expects them to exchange goodbyes, maybe a few allusions to the time they slept together that are so vague Yunjin isn't sure if she's reading too much into it or not, and then go their separate ways.
As it turns out, they're both heading in the same direction, to the same subway station.
Because of course they are.
Yunjin's plans of staying mostly quiet and letting Chaewon ramble away to fill the silence are derailed fairly quickly because, when she's not causing mini heart attacks induced by vague flirting, Chaewon is so easy to talk to. It's a fifteen or so minute walk to the subway but it feels like five with how easily the conversation flows from Eden to their friends to their respective hobbies to Chaewon's photography side hustle. When she talks, it's hard not to listen, and when she laughs, it's harder to look away.
That's another problem; after they'd finished cleaning and tidying up, Chaewon had gotten changed into black sweatpants and a faded baby blue sweater, and taken her hair down from its ponytail to fall in crimson waves over her shoulders. She looks so unbelievably soft, even under the hazy yellow of the streetlights, and she's just as magnetic like this as she was in a backless red dress in Wonderland.
She's seen Chaewon under so many different kinds of lighting — pink and purple and blue neon strobe club lights, the soft yellow-orange bar lights of Eden, the moonlight coming through her bedroom window — and every time it leaves her feeling a little off-kilter, like missing the last step on a staircase.
Yunjin's disappointed when she looks up and realises they've arrived at the subway station.
They linger inside for a few moments after scanning their tickets and going through the gate, Yunjin blinking against the harsh white light of the station after the dark night outside. They have some time; Yunjin's train is due in five minutes and Chaewon's in eight.
"Well," Chaewon says. "I'll see you on Wednesday?"
"Yeah, see you then."
"Goodnight, Yunjin-ssi," Chaewon says, turning to head towards the turnstiles.
"Chaewon," Yunjin blurts out, just before Chaewon disappears from view. "You don't need to be so formal. You can call me unnie."
"I thought it might help with keeping the line between us," Chaewon says, the picture of innocence.
"There doesn't have to be a line," Yunjin says. "We can be friends."
Friends who slept together once. It sounds stupid, but now it's out there and Yunjin can't take it back. Chaewon walks back over to her, an amused smile on her face that makes Yunjin almost regret opening her mouth in the first place.
"Are you sure?" Chaewon comes to a stop in front of her and sweeps her gaze very deliberately over Yunjin, lingering blatantly around her chest area. Yunjin can feel it as heavy as if Chaewon was touching her with her hands. "And I wouldn't want to be... unprofessional. Although it's been six months and you're still thinking about it, so."
"I— so are you?" Yunjin retorts, before realising a beat too late that she hasn't actually denied it like she should have.
"Yeah, I am," Chaewon says immediately, shamelessly and honestly.
This is too much for Yunjin's poor fragile self-control. This is the most blatant Chaewon's flirting has ever been, the most directly they've actually talked about that night, and there's only so long Yunjin can contain herself.
Down on the tracks, a train squeaks to a stop. Overhead, the tannoy announces the line to Hongdae has been delayed by five minutes. This late on a Sunday night, there's no one else around. Just Yunjin and Chaewon.
"Chaewon, you know— this, it can't—"
"I know," Chaewon sighs, and Yunjin refuses to acknowledge the possibility that Chaewon sounds disappointed. "It can't happen again."
Yunjin wonders if it was deliberate, the word choice. Can't happen again. Not won't happen again, but can't. She chooses not to comment on it.
"Goodnight, Chaewon."
Chaewon smiles softly at her. Even under the horrible light of the station, she still looks earth-shatteringly pretty. Yunjin wants to kiss her. If Chaewon tried to kiss her, Yunjin wouldn't stop her.
"Goodnight, Yunjin-unnie."
YOU ARE READING
speeding up my heartbeat / purinz
Fanfiction#1 huhyunjin #9 purinz Chaewon leans back in her chair and raises an eyebrow. "I mean, you never even told me your name." "You never asked," Yunjin points out. "And besides, you were gone the next morning before I woke up. It was clearly meant to j...
