It's another Sunday. It's been slow, boring, and after the sole final table leaves just after 9:30PM, Yunjin makes the executive decision to just start closing up.
Chaewon has been sneaking glances at her from the bar all night, which Yunjin only knows because she's also been sneaking glances every chance she gets. Either Sana is the most oblivious person on the planet, or she's just polite enough to not call attention to it, but either way Yunjin's heart trips over itself and stutters into a quicker pace when at the end of the night Sana bids them goodbye and disappears off down the street, leaving them alone.
They stand at the bottom of the stairs, hesitating like this is a first date, like they've never touched each other.
"Do you want to go for a drink?"
Chaewon looks surprised at the question — fair, considering the last time they were alone together Chaewon confessed her feelings and Yunjin panicked and then ran away — but she smiles a slow, hesitant smile and says, "Sure."
They don't go to Eclipse — it's too loud and crowded and Yunjin gets the feeling whatever happens tonight will have more weight than any of their previous conversations — but instead to Puzzle, a tiny little cocktail bar a ten minute walk away that Yunjin discovered when she was out with Haseul a few months ago.
It has an even smaller outdoor deck that doesn't really have much of a view of anything — mostly just streets and buildings — but it's got a fire pit and fairy lights and a mismatched collection of picnic tables and cushioned seats, and besides, it's not like Yunjin is looking anywhere but at Chaewon.
Chaewon, who is now settling into the seat on the other side of the the little rickety table with a margarita in front of her. The flickering light from the fire turns her red hair even darker, shadows dancing across her face. Yunjin almost forgets how to breathe.
They're quiet for a moment. Chaewon sips at her drink and Yunjin fiddles with the sleeve of her jacket. It's the kind of quiet that tingles with anticipation. Like the moment right before a storm hits, the moment before the chorus of your favourite song.
"So," Chaewon starts.
"I'm sorry," Yunjin blurts out. "For shutting you down, and then running away, and then barely talking to you the whole weekend." Yunjin pauses. "And for interrupting you just now."
Chaewon smiles. "You seem like you have something to get off your chest. Don't let me stop you."
"I never answered your question. From Thursday. You asked if I feel this too, this thing between us, and the answer is yes. I do. Everything you said, about wanting to, um," Embarrassingly, Yunjin falters a bit. In her defence, Chaewon is very distracting. "You know—"
"Sleep with you again?"
Yunjin feels her ears go pink. "Yes. That. Um, I want it too. And everything that comes after. Waking up together and getting breakfast together and holding your hand across the table." Yunjin glances down at Chaewon's hand, resting on the table next to her drink, and pulls enough courage up from somewhere to reach out and brush her fingers against Chaewon's knuckles. "I'd, uh. I'd like to do that last part now, if that's alright."
"It's more than alright," Chaewon says, turning her hand over so their palms press together and their fingers slot together. Yunjin has literally had sex with this girl. They've done far filthier things to each other than hold hands, and yet here she is, heartbeat speeding up over some simple hand holding.
Yunjin can already hear Hyunjin laughing at her for this.
"I thought you didn't want this," Chaewon says, sounding the most vulnerable Yunjin has ever heard her. "That you didn't want me, that I'd just built this whole thing up in my head."
"I'm sorry," Yunjin says, wincing. "I was just scared. And dumb. Worrying about Eden when it should have been the furthest thing from my mind."
"Speaking of Eden, how is this going to work? You and me?" Chaewon asks, and then wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. "Sneaking around does sound kind of hot."
Yunjin laughs. "Yes, illicit rendezvouses in the keg room, the real height of romance. I hope you like being wooed."
Chaewon's smirk fades into something softer. "I think I'd like anything with you, unnie."
"Smooth talker," Yunjin says, ears warming up again. She wonders if Chaewon has realised yet just how easily she can disarm Yunjin with nothing more than a few words. "We have to disclose it to Sooyoung, Haseul and Kahei-unnie. Company policy. We can figure the rest out as we go along."
"Do we tell them about when we first met?"
"I think that can stay our little secret," Yunjin says. She tries to sound casual but her voice hitches when Chaewon runs her thumb over the back of Yunjin's hand, and then she's thinking about Chaewon's hands on other parts of her body. At least she can blame the warmth of her face on the crackling fire pit next to them.
They finish their drinks soon after, and leave still holding hands. The air between them has gotten heavier, damp and sticky like the moment before a thunderstorm hits and the skies open up. They only make it halfway down the street before Yunjin breaks and brings them to a stop somewhere between streetlight and shadow.
She turns to face Chaewon fully, and they're so close that it makes Yunjin's head spin. Close enough that errant strands of Chaewon's hair tickle her face. Close enough that she could count Chaewon's eyelashes if she wanted to. Close enough to watch the way Chaewon's eyes flutter shut when Yunjin's hand finds the line of her jaw, thumb stroking against her cheekbone, tilting her head up just enough that Yunjin can lean in and kiss her.
It's soft and gentle, like it's the first time they've kissed, and Yunjin melts into it, into the softness of Chaewon's lips and the warm wet pressure of her mouth.
Chaewon makes a tiny noise into her mouth when Yunjin sucks at her bottom lip, tasting the lingering salty-sweet of the margarita. Yunjin wants to hear that noise again. Yunjin wants— she wants more. Her whole body feels warm, like she's still sitting right next to the fire pit, the kiss so much headier and dizzier than any alcohol.
Chaewon breaks the kiss eventually — after how long, Yunjin has no idea; it could have been five minutes or five hours — but she doesn't move away, resting her forehead against Yunjin's.
"Yunjin-unnie," Chaewon says, her tequila-sweet breath puffing against Yunjin's kiss-bitten mouth. "Can I take you home?"
"Hm," Yunjin hums, stealing a quick kiss because she can do that now. "That depends." Another quick kiss. "Will you still be there in the morning?"
"I will," Chaewon says, laughing against Yunjin's mouth. "I promise. We can go out for breakfast. There's this Japanese place near me that does those huge fluffy pancakes."
"Okay," Yunjin says, pulling back slightly so she can bask in the full warmth of Chaewon's smile. "It's a date."
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...
