Chapter Text
Hyejoo’s jaw drops to the floor, her eyes wide, fear obviously present in them. The atmosphere of the room is tense. Everyone stops what they’re doing, only staring between the girl still pointing and her cousin, who’s now visibly shaking.
“What?” Chaewon squeaks, her face completely red, her heartbeat fast, and her mind running through so many thoughts. She stares at the girl wearing a smug face, afraid to see how the girl next to her reacted to the sudden dare.
Hyejoo still hasn’t moved an inch. Just staring, trying to process the dare given to her.
Hyunjin speaks in a smug tone, “If you don’t do the dare, I’m telling Auntie Son that you’ve been using your dad’s credit card to buy LOL skins without asking for his permission. You know what the consequence is if they find out. I don’t think you’d want that, now would you, Hye?” She finally puts her arm down, crossing it with her other arm. She smiles when she sees her cousin looking like she’s about to pop a vein.
Hyejoo clenches her jaw, her face turning red, and her body vibrating from rage. Looking down and tightly closing her fists, she prepares to beat the shit out of her cousin, already imagining all the ways she could hurt the girl still acting smugly. The girls around her notice and prepare themselves to stop the fight between the cousins, knowing it will be tough because they’re both the strongest among the group.
Right before Hyejoo leaps over, Chaewon places her hand on the lap of the enraged girl. Hyejoo looks over at the owner of the shaking hand, locking eyes with the silver-headed girl who looks taken aback by her furious state. Chaewon nervously swallows, trying to calm herself down enough to shake her head and give a soft smile to try and calm Hyejoo down as well.
Surprisingly, it works.
Hyejoo eases up. Slowly unclenching her jaw and fists, still staring at Chaewon. Her face is still rosy but not because of the rage anymore. The trembling thumb circling on her thigh and the eyes gently staring back at hers makes her melt a bit, temporarily forgetting why she was mad in the first place.
Hyejoo is unsure of her feelings for Chaewon because she’s not sure about how the other girl feels either. The walls she put up years ago are still strong, but they’re starting to crumble over this girl making her heart race faster with each circle drawn by her soft hand. She won’t admit it but she’s worried that if they do this dare, she would scare Chaewon off. But the way the silver-haired girl is looking at her right now is making her think otherwise.
Chaewon figures that maybe the taller girl is scared of how she would react, so she looks deeply in Hyejoo’s eyes, silently trying to tell her that she’s okay with the dare.
Somehow, Hyejoo understands. She closes her eyes and looks down, sighing.
“Fine.”
Hyunjin and Yerim cheer and high-five each other across Heejin. Hyejoo glares at her best friend, feeling betrayed that she’s part of the “torture” they’re forcing her to do. Secretly thanking them because maybe she needs this push.
The rest of the girls sitting around the table are giggling at the celebrating cousins and the two blushing messes in front of them now trying to avoid meeting each other’s eyes.
Hyunjin slams her hands on the table to get the attention of Hyejoo and Chaewon, laughing at how jumpy the two are.
“Alright so here’s the premise of your dare. You have to go on 3 dates a week. 2 during the weekdays and 1 during the weekend. This is from today until the next 4 weeks, so that’s a total of 12 dates this month. You are allowed to have more dates if you want, that’s up to you. On some dates, some of us will be secretly watching over you, making sure you’re actually on a date and not lying to us. If you do end up lying about your date, it immediately counts as a forfeit and you lose, the consequence will be done promptly. You two also are not allowed to be silent and awkward the entire date or it won’t be counted. Do you understand?” Hyunjin cocks an eyebrow at the two. Hyejoo is fuming again while Chaewon is panicking internally.
How the hell are we gonna do this?
The two girls just begrudgingly nod.
The games continue after one last victory cheer from the cousins. Chaewon’s hand is still on Hyejoo’s lap, which is the only thing stopping the taller girl from jumping on the table to grab at her cousin. It stays there throughout the rest of the game because Chaewon notices Hyejoo’s jaw clench every once in a while (mostly when Hyunjin talks) so she figures if she’s stopping a brawl it might as well just stay there.
The party ends when Yerim starts to yawn. The girls have been having so much fun they didn’t realize it’s already past 8. Jungeun is the first to leave since it was near her curfew and she lives the farthest away. Hyejoo rides with Jungeun since they live somewhat near each other. Heejin and Hyunjin leave together after helping clean up. Jiwoo rides home with Chaewon, they decide to have their usual sleepover because the day has been a lot. Needless to say, they stay up all night talking while eating a whole cheesecake they stole from Jinsoul and Sooyoung doing heaven-knows-what in the room at the other side of the house.
This is going to be one hell of a month .
-------------------------------------------
Roses .
The first thing Chaewon notices when she opens the door is the intoxicating smell of roses from the girl wearing a loose black sweater tucked in some worn-out ripped jeans, and plain black converse shoes. Next to Hyejoo is her cousin, looking curiously at the garden and the huge front door painted in pearly white and decorated with elegant, handcrafted engravings on the frames.
It’s Sunday. Hyunjin had decided that it was time for Hyejoo and Chaewon’s kind-of first “date,” despite her cousin’s protests. Hyunjin decided to invite herself, Heejin, and Hyejoo over to Chaewon’s house to have a quick hang-out since seeing how much her cousin panicked when they were talking about dates the day after the party (yes, Hyejoo beat Hyunjin up a little as revenge but Heejin was able to stop her before the fight got bad), Hyunjin decided for them to have something chill so Hyejoo doesn’t end up exploding from gay panic.
“Hey, your front door looks different. Did you get it repainted recently?” Hyunjin asks while staring at the butterfly sculpture by the door.
“Uh, yeah. The paint was starting to wear off so Mom told me to get it repainted... Are you two really just gonna stand there?” Chaewon raises an eyebrow at the two cousins still looking around the beautiful garden filled with a large variety of flowers, making the whole place smell amazing.
But why is it that the only thing I can smell is Lavender?
Hyejoo shakes off that thought and nudges over at Hyunjin to walk in the house. Chaewon stands aside and glares at the red-haired girl giving her a knowing look. Hyejoo’s jaw drops when she looks around the house.
Damn, this girl is RICH rich.
The girls are greeted by a very large spacious living room filled with expensive paintings, gold-encrusted dinnerware in a handcrafted cabinet, a large turquoise recliner sofa that looks comfortable enough to sleep in for days, and other expensive furniture the tall girl can’t even name anymore. There’s an elegant archway by the stairs at their right that goes into the kitchen and a few other closed doors through a small hallway by the other side of the stairs that lead to other rooms.
“Hey, what time is Heejin coming?” Chaewon walks over to sit on the couch.
“Uh, maybe around 10 minutes. She said she had to do a quick errand before coming over,” Hyunjin sits next to Chaewon, man-spreading her legs and leaning her head back, already settling in comfortably on the couch.
Hyejoo just stands by the edge of the couch. Staring at the very large flat-screen TV in front of the couch that looks like a movie theater screen.
“You know you’re allowed to sit, right?” Chaewon speaks up to the distracted tall girl, raising an eyebrow curiously at her.
“I know. I’m just... looking...” Hyejoo slowly shifts around the glass center table to awkwardly sit next to her cousin vibing on the couch. She sits at the edge of the couch and slouches a bit, obviously nervous.
Chaewon doesn’t feel her usual nervousness around Hyejoo for some reason. Maybe it’s because she’s in the comfort of her own home, so she has most of the control. For Hyejoo, however, being in a new, unfamiliar environment makes her feel like she’s constantly on edge.
Chaewon turns the TV on, “So, what do you guys want to watch?” Chaewon flips through her folders of movie genres.
“Aeong,” Hyunjin says, still sinking into the couch, already looking bored.
“No, we already watched that,” Chaewon side-eyes Hyunjin.
Hyejoo’s mouth opens when she sees a folder she actually found interesting.
“Horror!” Hyejoo points at the TV smiling.
“You like those types of movies?” Chaewon looks at the smiling girl curiously.
Hyejoo just nods. Looking at Chaewon and puffing up her cheeks, looking excited about the genre.
How can she look so CUTE while talking about horror movies? Can she stop making my heart burst? She looks like a lil chubby bear.
Chaewon subtly shakes her head to get rid of the thoughts and opens up the folder. Slowly scanning through the few horror movies she has, she waits for Hyejoo to choose a movie.
“The Shining!” Hyejoo softly yells out, squealing a little bit in excitement.
Chaewon pauses for a moment, looking at Hyejoo, a bit of fear in her eyes. “Are you serious?”
Hyejoo finally leans back on the couch and giggles, “Yeah. You don’t like that movie?” The dark-haired girl tilts her head curiously at Chaewon.
“I’ve never actually watched it. After my sister and Sooyoungie watched like half of the movie last month, they hid in my room for the night and bothered me because they were too scared to be alone even though they were together,” Chaewon rolls her eyes while remembering that night. Jinsoul and Sooyoung suddenly barged into her room and huddled up under the sheets of her bed while she was in the middle of her jam session to her favorite Oh My Girl songs. She ended up comforting the scared babies and eating pizza and ice cream she asked their chef to make.
“It’s really good. It’s old but since it’s a psychological horror film it doesn’t rely on jump scares much so it’s actually genuinely scary. Do you think you can handle that?” Hyejoo asks with a cute smirk.
Chaewon tilts her head and smirks back, “Is that a challenge?”
“If you stop watching at any point during the movie you have to buy me chicken?” Hyejoo gives her a wide smile, she shakes her leg a bit in excitement.
“Deal. But if I finish the entire movie, You have to take me bowling on our next date,” Chaewon pulls a smug face, trying not to smile at Hyejoo who drops her smile and blushes when she hears the words “next date.”
The two girls nod at each other and shake hands. Hyejoo doesn’t let go of Chaewon’s hand, holding her a little longer than necessary, staring at the silver-haired girl’s eyes, trying to regain her composure and control.
They have a staring contest while holding hands, waiting for the other to break, while losing themselves in the other’s eyes. This goes on for a solid minute, both of them immediately breaking all contact when they hear the doorbell ring.
Hyunjin opens her eyes and immediately stands up, “She’s here!”
The red-haired girl quickly stands up. Falling over a little bit while running to the door. She opens the main door and immediately greets her girlfriend with a cheery “Aeong!!!”
Hyunjin stops and opens her arms for a big hug; but each step Heejin takes to her cheesing girlfriend, Hyunjin takes a step back. Heejin pauses three steps in and looks at the taller girl curiously. Hyunjin shakes her arms in the air a bit and continues to smile big, giggling a little bit. The dark brown-haired girl continues to walk forward and Hyunjin walks backward to the inside of Chaewon’s house. Heejin scrunches her face smiling when she finally realizes what Hyunjin is doing. The second Heejin closes the main door, she breaks into a sprint towards her girlfriend and Hyunjin immediately runs away laughing.
The two blushing girls sitting on the couch stop staring at each other and bring their legs up on the couch to avoid tripping the two girls running around the living room chasing each other. Heejin tries to catch up to her athlete girlfriend even though she knows she doesn’t really have much of a chance. They run through the kitchen, up and down the stairs, and through the small hallway. Hyunjin just laughs at her girlfriend the entire time and Heejin would softly grunt and giggle every time she would reach out to grab at Hyunjin who runs faster when she thinks the shorter girl gets a little too close.
“Hyunjin you know you have to pay when you break something this time, right?” Chaewon yells out to the laughing girl just starting to break a sweat.
Hyunjin gets distracted by what Chaewon said and slows down a bit when she notices she’s about to bump into the very expensive dinnerware cabinet.
Heejin takes this chance and grabs onto Hyunjin, immediately wrapping her arms around for a big hug. Their momentum doesn’t stop immediately and they do end up bumping at the expensive cabinet, causing it to shake a little bit. The shorter girl lets go of Hyunjin to hold on to the cabinet. Hyunjin just stands, covering her mouth with her hands in fear. Thankfully, the cabinet didn't fall and nothing inside broke.
Chaewon pulls an angry face at the girl frozen in her spot.
“Nothing broke Chae, calm down.” Heejin raises her palms at the scary-looking girl.
The silver-haired girl continues to glare at Hyunjin but turns her head to the girl sitting next to her when she feels a soft hand on her exposed knee. She still has an angry expression, which scares the younger girl a little bit. Chaewon immediately softens her features when Hyejoo rubs small circles on her knee, getting chills when she feels a little tickled. Maybe wearing shorts today wasn’t a good idea, Chaewon thinks to herself.
When Heejin notices Chaewon get distracted, she immediately leaps over to finally hug her girlfriend. Hyunjin just pouts at her in defeat, not hugging the shorter girl back, instead leaning into her warmth, trying not to be overly affectionate for reasons Heejin still doesn’t understand.
Hyejoo gently hits the silver-haired girl’s knee to get her attention. “Come on, let’s watch the movie. I have a bet to win,” the dark-haired laughs when she gets hit on the arm by the girl frowning while trying not to laugh.
“Wait, what about food?” Hyunjin pulls away from Heejin’s arms, ignoring the pouting shorter girl.
Chaewon reaches over to the glass table to grab her phone, unlocking it to text someone. Hyejoo keeps her hand on the typing girl’s knee, subtly looking at who she’s texting.
“Oh, tell him to add extra cheese to the pizza and go to town with the cheese on the popcorn. Also, can I get iced americano?” Hyunjin says, leaning over the couch to read the text.
Heejin leans over Hyunjin, wrapping her arms around the groaning girl’s tummy, “extra chicken on the pizza too please,” she gives a big smile to Chaewon, who just rolls her eyes at the two love birds.
Chaewon pauses and looks up at the girl next to her watching her type on her phone and still playing with her knee.
“I, uh, text our chef our orders if we want to eat anything. Do you want anything?” Chaewon smiles softly.
“You have your own chef?” Hyejoo stares back in shock.
“Yeah... Since my parents are out most of the time, they just hired a chef so we don’t die from hunger. Jinsoul is also always busy since she’s a senior, and the last time I cooked... I’d rather not talk about…” Chaewon trails off, glaring at the two girls still leaning on the couch and laughing at the memory.
“Oh... Can I have churros then?” Hyejoo shyly asks.
Chaewon nods and types her order in, not forgetting to type in a “Thank you” at the end and sending the message to the chef. A few seconds later, her phone rings.
“Food will be here in 30 minutes. Do you guys wanna start watching or should we wait for the food?” Chaewon asks.
“Let’s wait for the food,” Hyunjin nudges to Heejin, signaling that she wants to stand up.
Chaewon nods and gestures for the girls to sit down on the couch. They just sit there silently, just thinking about the food they’re waiting for.
“Hey, do you guys want to build a blanket fort like we did during summer?!” Heejin suddenly excitedly asks.
Hyunjin claps at Heejin’s suggestion, “Yes, please! I miss those!!”
Chaewon rolls her eyes and chuckles. “Fine. I’m gonna go up and get the blankets. Hyunjin come with me since your long arms can carry many blankets. You two grab some cushions from the party room.” The girls nod and stand up to do their tasks.
Hyejoo stays close to Heejin, still being very cautious of her environment, afraid she’ll break something expensive. They follow the two by the stairs but separate when Chaewon and Hyunjin go up the stairs. They walk through the well lit hallway, passing by the bathroom on the left next to the stairs and the scary-looking dark room labeled “office” next to it. In front of the thick dark-oak door is a room that looks the exact opposite of it. Big double doors with elegant pastel design.
This must be the party room. Hyejoo thinks.
Heejin opens up the double doors of the room, slowly walking inside the dark room. The shorter girl claps twice to turn on the lights, revealing a large, open room with a colorful pastel design. There are tables and chairs tidied up by the sides of the room, a plain white elevated area on the floor that looks like the dance floor, a large DJ area by the end of the room, and a bar by the entrance.
“Chaewon’s really rich, huh?” Hyejoo says in amusement, looking at the tidied up pool tables, table tennis tables, and the door that says “Basement Party Room” hidden behind some tassels by the tables.
“Well, if your mom is the CEO of one of the country’s biggest modeling companies and your dad is a really famous heart surgeon, I think money would come easy for your family,” Heejin chuckled.
“Wait.” Hyejoo stops walking.
Heejin turns around to face Hyejoo and walks backward without hesitation to the direction of the sparkly DJ area, showing that she has the room perfectly memorized.
She speaks up loud enough for Hyejoo to hear, “yeah, her parents are The Mrs. and Dr. Park!” Heejin turns around again before stepping on the elevated dance floor.
“What?!” Hyejoo jogs to catch up to Heejin.
“Shocking to find out they have kids, huh? They’re always on the TV or out doing reports on huge medical advancements. You’d think they would be too busy to make a family...” Heejin steps off the dance floor and walks to the cabinets behind the DJ area.
“Chaewon told me they discussed as a family about keeping her and Jinsoul away from the public eye. When they were younger, they were forced to hide away though, but at least now they have an option to talk about what they want for their lives.” Heejin opens the very large cabinets and stares at the collection of cushions in different designs.
Heejin hands a few large cushions to Hyejoo, “You can carry all these, right?”
“Yeah.” Hyejoo takes the cushions, her mind racing with thoughts and questions about Heejin’s revelation on the Park family.
Waiting for Heejin to choose from the smaller pillows, the taller girl clears her throat, finally building up courage to ask a question.
“Why did you tell me?”
Pulling out a few more small pillows and closing the cabinet, Heejin stands up and gives the dumbfounded girl a soft smile.
“I figured you might want to actually have a conversation with her at some point instead of just staring at each other all the time. Just giving you some bonus points since you’re dating now.” Heejin gives a quick wink to the taller girl now blushing hard.
Hyejoo just silently follows Heejin out of the room, taking deep breaths to calm herself down and to tone down her blush.
When they walk back into the living room, Hyunjin is pushing the glass table carefully to the side while Chaewon stands at the side to guide her.
“Oh, finally you’re here! Hyejoo drop those and help me with this.” Hyunjin huffs up, trying very hard not to break the expensive, heavy furniture.
Hyejoo carefully puts the cushions on the sofa, glancing a bit to Chaewon before pulling up her jeans and helping Hyunjin with the table.
Chaewon squeaks a small “oh” when the cousins move the table with ease using their combined strengths.
“Usually it takes 10 minutes for Hyunjin and Heejin to move that table to the side,” Chaewon laughs at Heejin playfully sneering at her.
When they move the table off to a safe place, the girls start to assemble the cushions around the recliner couch, pulling out the leg rests, arranging the blankets on the couch and on top of the cushions to make it look like a tent, and fixing the pillows inside for them to use.
The girls stand back to look at their majestic cushion castle. Well.. as majestic as 4 sophomores could make it.
While Heejin and Hyunjin crawl in the fort, Chaewon gets a text that food will be brought in soon. Hyejoo grimaces at the couple wrapping themselves under a blanket in the fort so she just stands there waiting for Chaewon to sit.
However, Chaewon walks away to wait for the food by the stairs.
Hyejoo thought it would be weird to follow her, so she decides to begrudgingly sit at the other end of the couch and zone out to ignore the cuddling couple. Soon enough, Chaewon walks to the fort followed by her personal chef pushing a trolley filled with food and drinks. Excitement fills the faces of the girls on the couch.
Hyunjin stands up to help with the food. Pulling out the foldable tables from the trolley and placing one in front of Heejin and the other in front of Hyejoo. Chaewon puts one pizza and a large popcorn container in each tray. Hyunjin sits back down next to her girlfriend and claps when Chaewon hands her iced americano to her. Heejin says an excited “thank you” when the silver-haired girl hands her a cappuccino. Chaewon pauses before turning around to face the dark-haired girl holding a cup with a red beverage in one hand and churros with the other. Slowly setting the food down in front of the confused girl, the short gives a soft smile.
“I got you watermelon shake. You seem like the type to like those.”
“I love watermelon,” Hyejoo gives Chaewon a big smile and softly giggles while grabbing the cup to take a sip.
Chaewon grabs her milkshake and the chocolate dips for the girl doing a small dance with her shake. She grabs the remote and sits between Heejin and Hyejoo.
The girls stare at each other while awkwardly sitting, wondering if they should have individual blankets or share one.
To their surprise, like Heejin can read their minds, she pulls out a blanket and covers both of them.
“This is supposed to be a date, remember?” Heejin winks at the dumbfounded girls and gives a cheeky grin, making them.
The four girls make themselves comfortable, fixing the blankets and pulling the food nearer to them. Going through her folders again, Chaewon looks for the movie the humming girl next to her requested earlier.
“Are you babies ready?” Hyejoo laughs at the couple side-eyeing her but stops when she sees Chaewon narrowing her eyes at her.
“Bet still on, cutie?” Hyejoo whispers to Chaewon, pulling a smug smirk to tease.
“Definitely.” Chaewon flips her hair at the girl trying not to laugh next to her, hiding her blushing face from the nickname used on her.
Clapping twice and yelling “off” to turn off the living room lights and playing the movie, she thinks maybe she took the bet for granted.
Creepy, loud music starts to play while showing a shot of a lake and a yellow car going down the long road already makes the 3 girls feel tense.
“Why the hell are the credits in neon blue?? That hurts my eyes.” Hyunjin complains, making the other girls feel slightly more at ease.
“Is this weird guy the main character? He looks high already.” Heejin chuckles at Chaewon’s comment
Maybe this movie won’t be so scary if we make it funny , Chaewon thinks to herself.
“His eyebrows are weird. I’m gonna call him Mr. crazy eyebrows from now on.” Hyunjin leans over Heejin’s shoulder, already looking bored from the start of the movie.
“None of you better fall asleep or I’ll draw on your faces. Especially you Chaewon. If you fall asleep, I win the bet.” Hyejoo snickers at Chaewon.
“Fine.” Chaewon rolls her eyes. Hiding her smile by taking a sip of her drink.
“Oh, a man killed his family and himself in this hotel? That’s fine that won’t happen to me,” Hyejoo says in a mocking voice, “I’m diFfEreNt”
Chaewon laughs at Hyejoo, softly hitting her shoulder, making Hyejoo laugh with her. The couple next to them share a look and raise their eyebrows at the girls laughing together cutely. Hyejoo and Chaewon don’t notice though.
“Hey, Hyunjin didn’t you do that talking to yourself alone in the mirror thing too when we were younger?” Hyejoo mocks her cousin.
“Aha ha ha ha” Hyunjin just narrows her eyes at her giggling cousin.
In the scene where the boy is playing darts alone in a room, eerie music starts playing and two girls are standing by the doorway, Hyejoo notices Chaewon start to tense up.
Maybe I should hold her?
Chaewon sighs deeply to calm herself down.
Nah she seems fine, Hyejoo thinks to herself. Noting to watch Chaewon in case she starts panicking out of nowhere.
“Wow, they really have an entire hotel all to themselves, huh?” Heejin says, wrapping herself up more in Hyunjin’s arms under the blanket.
“Aeong.” Hyunjin softly replies.
The girls are quiet during the next minutes of the movie. Only making comments like “That guy is rude and creepy” every few minutes, making a few jokes (mostly coming from Hyunjin and Hyejoo), and eating their food. The 3 girls try their best to keep their composure while Hyejoo keeps her smirk on watching them get tenser at some parts of the movie.
However, at the part of the movie where the little boy sees the two girls and the horror that happened to them at the hotel, Hyejoo notices Chaewon start to shake in fear. As if by instinct, she wraps her arm around the smaller girl’s back and gently holds her under the blanket.
“I got you.” Hyejoo drops her smirk and speaks in a reassuring tone, making sure Chaewon feels some kind of safety from her action.
Surprisingly, it works. Chaewon closes her eyes a bit when the frame holds on the gruesome scene of the girls, moving closer to Hyejoo, hiding her face on the crook of the dark-haired girl’s neck, allowing herself to be held more in the warm comfort of the taller girl and taking deep breaths to calm down faster.
Her eyes open back up when the sounds start to pick-up again, resting her head on Hyejoo’s shoulder. After realizing the position they’re in Chaewon blushes. She quickly looks over to Hyejoo to see if she’s blushing too and humming when she sees how red her ears are, she stays in this position. Afraid that another wrong move could easily withdraw the warm comfort she is in right now.
Hyejoo doesn’t know what got into her to make a big move like that but she doesn’t regret anything one bit. She keeps her eyes glued to the screen but her mind is going haywire from holding Chaewon. The way the silver-haired girl was breathing on her neck while hiding from the movie earlier made the hair on her nape stand up. She would’ve called the smaller girl out for not watching the movie but she didn’t trust her voice at the time.
After a few minutes of trying to calm her brain down, Hyejoo looks over at the couple next to them if they’re watching, but she sighs in relief to see them asleep in each other’s arms already. So, she takes this opportunity to wrap her arms around Chaewon and properly hold on to her under the blanket while they watch the movie.
Whenever Chaewon would get scared from a scene, she would bury her face on Hyejoo and the taller girl would rub on her shoulder and tell her comforting things like “it’s okay, I got you.” A surprising part of Hyejoo Chaewon hasn’t seen before.
They both cover their eyes and giggle during the scene with the naked lady, leaning their foreheads against each other, trying to ignore the creepy laugh of the old lady and the eerie music that’s only seemingly getting louder along with the lady’s laugh.
When they think the coast is clear, they lower their hands, only now noticing that their faces are mere inches against each other.
Oh, shit. Am I dreaming again?
Hyejoo feels her blush deepen when she feels Chaewon’s hot breath against her lips. The intensely intoxicating smell of Lavender and Roses mixing in the air of the small space left between the girls.
They just stare at each other’s eyes. Unsure of whether they should do something or stay like this. Both their hearts are speeding up faster every second that passes by. They know because they can feel the other’s heartbeat from holding each other closely under the sheets. Chaewon quickly looks down on the dark-haired girl’s lips and back up to her eyes, she quickly realizes it was a mistake because Hyejoo moved a few centimeters back, fear starting to show in her eyes.
But she only moved back to check if the couple next to them is still sleeping. Letting out a shaky sigh of relief, Hyejoo turns her head back to Chaewon. Her face nearer than before.
Ignoring the argument from the couple in the movie, Hyejoo decided to take a leap of faith.
If this is real or not, I don’t want to waste another opportunity like this .
Hyejoo slowly moves one of her hands up, carefully watching Chaewon’s body language to see if what she’s doing is okay. Cupping the smaller girl’s face with her hand, she gently rubs her cheek, not missing the small smile returned to her from the soft action Hyejoo did.
Both of them let out a shaky sigh, letting out a little bit of tension from the situation they’re in. Their minds are going crazy thinking about what’s about to happen.
Am I actually gonna do this? Is this even actually real? My heart is going 1000 km/h. I feel like I could actually faint any second now.
Chaewon notices Hyejoo’s distress, so she brings one of her hands up to the back of the dark-haired girl’s neck and gives a small nod, silently telling her everything’s okay. A small payback for all the comfort Hyejoo gave earlier.
The gesture gave Hyejoo some confidence. Taking one last shaky breath in, she leans closer to close the gap between them. She feels goosebumps run down her back as Chaewon plays with the hair on the back of her head.
When they finally felt their lips slightly touch each other, a very loud clang of metals from the movie startles everyone in the room. Prompting the couple next to them to stir awake.
Hyejoo and Chaewon quickly pull away from each other, clearing their throats. Chaewon sits properly back on the couch, looking back at the television, while Hyejoo grabs a slice of pizza, stuffing it immediately in her mouth. Both of them are flustered and upset, trying to act and look normal while the couple next to them start to come back to reality from their dreams.
Hyejoo still has her arm around Chaewon’s back, though. They have that, at least.
“What the hell is happening?” Hyunjin grumbles, clearly upset she was abruptly woken up from her nap.
Heejin opens her eyes, looks around the room and plops her head back down on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Quickly falling asleep once again.
Hyunjin pushes her girlfriend off her shoulder, shaking the whining girl to wake her up.
Meanwhile, Hyejoo hands Chaewon her milkshake. Eating a churro and leaning back down on the couch with her. Her hand is clutching on to Chaewon’s sweater, still a little tense from their moment. Both of them are obviously upset, thinking about what could have been.
The couple next to the fix themselves up to watch, just in time for the climax of the movie.
The four girls watch silently again as the main character slips into madness. The music picks up and threats of Jack to his wife and son immediately make the girls panicky and scared.
“The actual scary part is about to start. Are you sure you wanna push through with watching until the end?” Hyejoo asks smugly but mixed with a small tone of concern for the smaller girl, whose eyes are starting to shake in fear.
“I’m pushing through. I won’t let you win this bet,” Chaewon replies in a surprisingly cocky tone.
“Alright,” Hyejoo shrugs, her hand now playing with the smaller girl’s sweater.
The girls start to feel tense again as the movie’s climax starts to peak. With every yell of “redrum” by the child and every hit of the ax to the door, the girls shake a bit harder.
Hyunjin giggles as Heejin hides her face under the blankets with her hands, trying to hide from the movie. She starts to shake but the red-haired girl hugs her, still giggling at her mockingly.
Hyunjin stops when the eerie music picks up, the three girls are completely focused as they silently wish the wife will be able to escape with the child.
“They all die, you know” Hyejoo grabs another pizza, snickering.
“WhaT??” The three girls yell in unison.
Their attention goes back to the TV when Wendy screams, every hit of Jack’s ax to the door makes one of the girls swear. The three of them shake in anticipation of what happens next. Heejin screams when the door finally breaks open.
“Just stab his face with the knife, dumbass” Chaewon shakingly mocks.
Hyejoo raises her eyebrow, surprised that the girl has the guts to make a comment like that when she’s trembling under her fingertips.
“HAH!” Chaewon claps her hand when the woman does hit the guy’s hand.
Heejin cheers when the main character leaves the poor woman alone to investigate the car outside the hotel.
“Is he gonna die?” Chaewon asks, gently hitting the girl who’s calmly eating next to her, watching the main character limp around the hotel, looking for the owner of the unexpected visitor’s voice.
“They’re all gonna die, don’t worry,” Hyejoo winks before taking the last sip of her drink.
Chaewon just sits back on the arm still wrapped around her, pouting.
At this point, Heejin has buried her face in Hyunjin’s shoulder to completely hide from the movie. Hyunjin is laughing at her quivering girlfriend, trying to be discreet about her hand covering her own eyes.
Hyejoo looks over at the couple next to them not even watching the movie anymore. She leans into Chaewon, pulling her a bit closer.
“If you cover your eyes in the next few minutes, I win the bet,” Hyejoo whispers lowly to the silver-haired girl.
Chaewon huffs, clenching her tiny fists to prepare for what’s about to happen.
The couple next to them peek through from their covers to watch when the scene was a little too quiet. Only hearing the guy walk around yelling “Hello?” a few times, they got curious.
The three girls jump when the main character hits the guy with his ax. Heejin and Chaewon are yelling in unison with the child on the screen while Hyunjin just hides her face in her hands, fanning herself pretending that she didn’t just get scared too.
Hyejoo immediately laughs at them. Clapping her hands, and wiping tears off her eyes from laughing so much, she ignores the three girls sneering at her.
“Oh my- Why is there a furry and a guy in that room? What are they doing ??” Chaewon yells, the girls now laughing at the weird scene from the movie.
“What the fuck is the child doing?” Hyunjin questions.
“I think he’s luring the guy to the maze,” Heejin replies.
“Well, that’s stupid what if he gets lost too or gets cornered?”
“I’m telling you they’re all gonna die!” Hyejoo responds to her cousin, snickering.
Heejin hides again when the wife finds the dead body and the ghost of an injured man in the hallway. Hyunjin continues to watch this time, laughing again at her panicky girlfriend.
The girls continue to make silly side comments until the wife and child finally escape. Cheering when they make it out alive. Swearing at the main character as he goes around the maze groaning, and flinching one last time when his frozen dead body is shown on the screen. The girls clap when the credits finally roll. Chaewon claps twice and yells “on” to turn the lights back on. The couple next to them stands up to stretch. While Chaewon is about to stand up, she pauses. Looking at the girl next to her eating the last of her churros, she knits her eyebrows.
“Hey, you said everyone’s going to die? You liar!” Chaewon hits the girl repeatedly while giggling.
“I was tricking you so you’d get scared and I’d win” Hyejoo giggles with her mouth full, covering herself from the weak attacks with her arms.
When the dark-haired girl finally finishes chewing, she grabs both wrists of the girl hitting her and pulls her towards her. Close enough that they can smell their perfumes mix in the air again, but far enough that her cousin won’t make much of a big deal with it.
“I won the bet though,” Hyejoo smirks at the girl now looking pissed. She locks eyes with the girl next to her, making the smaller girl feel a little intimidated
“What? No way, I watched the entire thing!” Chaewon pulls her wrists back a little, but not so much that she’d escape.
“No, you covered your eyes in some scenes. That doesn’t count!” Hyejoo laughs at the girl knitting her eyebrows, tempted to lean in and do what could have been; but she knew better. Knowing what could happen if her cousin sees.
Chaewon pulls back a little harder now, getting a bit pissed. “The bet was to finish the movie. I finished the movie, therefore, I win the bet.” the silver-haired girl subconsciously leans a bit closer, tugging on her wrists.
Hyejoo picks up on their closing gap but doesn’t do anything. “But you didn’t watch the whole movie,” Hyejoo smugly replies. She starts to push on Chaewon gently. She breaks eye contact to look for her cousin using her peripheral vision. The taller girl sighs when she notices the couple not paying attention to them cleaning up their food trays.
“But I finished it. Which is what the bet is on.” Chaewon starts to push on the taller girl as well, starting to figure out what little fight they are on now.
Hyejoo locks eyes with her again, watching the silver-haired girl narrow her eyes, she pulls her hands to spread them. Immediately letting go, she goes to her waist and starts to tickle her sides.
“I still won the bet since you didn’t watch the entire movie”
Chaewon laughs, pushing the taller girl’s hands off her.
“nO HAHA N-nAAH I still won HAHAHA” Chaewon tries to get out, feeling her tears start to form and her throat hurting a little from screaming and laughing. She covers whatever part of her body she can with her arms, but the taller girl moves her hands up to tickle her neck.
Hyejoo laughs with her, tickling whatever part of her neck, sides or tummy isn’t covered by the smaller girl’s hands. Both of them are still yelling about winning the bet. Chaewon pulls her legs up to help cover her torso while one hand tries to cover her neck, but Hyejoo tickles her knees so she ends up stretching her leg and opening her torso up for tickles anyway.
Chaewon tries to kick her side but Hyejoo doesn’t budge, only giggling from the surprise attack on her side. However, the silver-haired girl realizes something. Pulling her hands off her, laughing harder from the taller girl taking advantage of the area exposed to her, she suddenly moves her hands to the attacker’s side, Chaewon gets her revenge and tickles Hyejoo’s sides.
Hyejoo screams and laughs, tickling the smaller girl harder. They both just scream and laugh trying to get the other to scream and laugh harder. Their throats are burning and tears are forming in their eyes, they’re both moving uncontrollably, being controlled by the other person’s hands, twitching and kicking to get away from each other.
Until both of them fall off the couch.
A loud thump and grunts from two girls prompt the couple to stop laughing at them and break them up before they start actually hurting each other.
Heejin and Hyunjin try to pull the pair up, but they shake their hands at them, signaling for them to be left groaning and laughing while curled up on the floor.
The couple just shrug and leave the two to themselves. Heejin picks up their tray to return to the kitchen but Hyunjin grabs it away from her. Heejin protests and tries to take the tray back but Hyunjin gives her a serious look, leaning in to whisper something to her girlfriend.
“Follow me.” Hyunjin gives a quick wink before leaving the room.
Heejin follows her and asks questions but Hyunjin just ignores her.
Before they reach the kitchen, Hyunjin turns around to face her girlfriend, whose arms are crossed, and face is pouted cutely.
“Do you think potatoes are healthy?” Hyunjin asks, eyebrows turned, looking genuinely curious.
“Hyunjinie, why are we in front of the kitchen?” Heejin questions while smiling, her hands raised at her sides.
“I want mashed potatoes. Also, I didn’t want to be in the room with them and I don’t want to go to the kitchen alone.” Hyunjin pouts.
Heejin drags Hyunjin to the kitchen. Hyunjin puts the tray in the sink and they talk to the chef. The chef is very nice so she immediately agrees to the request of the two kids. While waiting, they chat among each other while the chef boils the potatoes. Heejin asks about what it was like watching Chaewon and Jinsoul grow up and cooking for them all those years.
“Dr. and Mrs. Park are the nicest people I’ve ever worked with. They always treated me like I’m part of the family. And it’s the same with Chaewon and Jinsoul. They’ve always been super nice and respectful growing up.” The chef says while preparing the ingredients of the mashed potatoes.
“Aeong.” Hyunjin watches the chef cut up pieces of butter and grate some cheese.
“I remember when they were little kids, only a few months after I started working here, they walked to me in this kitchen wearing their favorite oversized pajamas. The nanny was already asleep in her room after tucking them in bed an hour before and I was about to go home; so, I was really surprised to see them up. But Jinsoul was dragging Chaewon by the wrist and it looked like they were crying. I picked them up and sat them on the counter. I asked what happened and Jinsoul said in a cute pouty voice that they “miss their mommy and daddy.” It’s a shame, really, that they were hidden from the public and that their parents are almost never home. They still got a lot of attention growing up though, for their looks and Jinsoul’s academic achievements. I promised them that one day they’ll be one big happy family and their mom and dad would spend a lot of time with them. Then I gave them ice cream, made them brush their teeth again, and tucked them back in bed.”
“Do you think they still miss their parents a lot?” Heejin questions.
“I think they’re used to their parents not being around as much. However, Jinsoul had a big rebellious phase a few years back. You should’ve seen her. Spending a lot of money on clothes and her science things, bringing home random people even though they aren’t allowed to have guests without permission, she even came home with a few tattoos and a piercing! But of course they were fake. Jinsoul couldn’t handle doing something like that.” The chef finishes the potatoes and serves them to the couple.
“What tattoos did she get?” Heejin asks.
“Uh a striking blue betta fish, a turquoise butterfly with gowon’s name under it, a microphone, and a dark red swan.” The chef turns to the sink and washes the dishes on the tray.
“Why a shwan?” Hyunjin asks with her mouth stuffed.
Heejin hits her arm and laughs at Hyunjin stuffing her face with food.
“I don’t really know. When I asked she just blushed and said she thinks they’re really pretty. She was starting to hang out with Sooyoung during that time though. I never really asked again after.” The chef wipes her stations and puts on a serious face.
Then, she looks at the girls with a face filled with contentment and gratitude.
“I’m really glad Jinsoul had friends that pulled her out of it. And I’m more glad that Chaewon hasn’t gone through something like that. Having Jiwoo as a friend growing up, and now you two and Yerim. I hope you keep her happy and supported during this weird stage in your life where you’re figuring things out about yourselves and your lives.” The chef smiles at the couple.
Heejin and Hyunjin look at each other and back at the chef.
“We promise.” “Aeong.” They say in unison.
The chef grins at the girls in front of her. Taking the empty bowls and washing them quickly. The two girls tell her that they’re going back out to check on the two girls outside. They thank each other and the girls walk out of the kitchen.
When they get to the living room, half of the fort has been tidied up by the two girls who are blushing really hard and avoiding each other’s gaze.
Hyunjin whispers to Heejin, “this should be fun.”
The red-haired girl loudly clears her throat, making the girls jump. The couple laughs at them.
“What’s going on here?” Heejin asks, taking the other end of the blanket Hyejoo is folding to help.
“W-we’re just tidying up.” Chaewon replies, speaking before Hyejoo could open her mouth.
“Why are you shaky?” Hyunjin questions the small girl.
“Uh, nothing. The movie just got to me.” Chaewon awkwardly chuckles.
Hyejoo just softly snorts. Heejin narrows her eyes to her. When they finish folding the blanket, Heejin opens her mouth to question the taller girl but someone’s phone rings.
Hyejoo picks her phone up to read a text. Her face slightly drops and her blush immediately fades. Heejin studies the taller girl’s face, thinking it must be serious.
“Hyun, we have to go.” Hyejoo says in a serious tone.
“Why? What happened?” Hyunjin places a stack of cushions on the floor.
“Code 3.”
“Oh.” Hyunjin looks at Heejin, “code 3,” the red-head shrugs.
Heejin just nods. “Can you help us take the stuff back before you two go?”
The cousins just nod.
“What’s going on?” Chaewon asks, eyebrows knitted.
“Code 3. They have to leave immediately.” Heejin quickly replies. Stacking the blankets high for Hyunjin.
“Okay.. but, why?” Chaewon stacks the rest of the cushions.
The three girls look at each other. Wondering how they’ll explain it to their confused friend.
“Mrs. Son needs help at the cafe!” Hyunjin shouts.
Heejin shakes her head and looks at her girlfriend in confusion. Hyunjin just shrugs.
“Yeah, the uh coffee maker breaks down sometimes and only Hyejoo can fix it.” Hyunjin backs up her story.
Hyejoo picks up the cushions, not saying a word. Chaewon tries to read her face but all she sees is that blank expression she always pulls when she’s acting cold. Chaewon grimaces at that.
The girls immediately scurry to return the items. The cousins put the table back in place and grab their things to go.
Chaewon and Heejin walk the cousins to the gate. Hyejoo walks in front of everyone, obviously frantic. Chaewon continues to pout while looking at Hyejoo. When they reach the gate, Heejin hugs Hyunjin tightly, Hyunjin doesn’t fight it and hugs her back with one arm. Heejin rolls her eyes at that.
Chaewon and Hyejoo just stand there awkwardly. Not really knowing if they should hug or shake hands or bow. When Hyunjin notices, she gets her cousin’s attention and signals her to hug Chaewon. Hyejoo shakes her head. Hyunjin clicks her tongue, which gets Chaewon’s attention.
“Hug each other or this doesn’t count as a date.” Heejin suddenly speaks up.
Chaewon and Hyejoo look at each other. Then back at the couple talking about meeting again soon. Then back at each other.
Chaewon takes a step forward but Hyejoo takes a step back.
How could this girl make me feel like I’m in the clouds one minute but suddenly drops me down like it’s nothing , Chaewon feels the familiar pain in her chest, tears starting to build up.
“Hyejoo hug her or I swear I’m erasing your last save!” Hyunjin yells at her cousin.
The taller girl clicks her tongue and begrudgingly hugs the smaller girl. Chaewon doesn’t even know how she should feel. Chaewon just feels like she’s being hugged by an iron maiden.
It hurts .
But the hug lasted longer than she expected, and it got warmer and warmer. The scent of roses fill the head of the smaller girl, making her want to give in and return the hug. But the sound of a phone’s ringtone suddenly stops her arms from moving. Hyejoo immediately pulls away, not reading the text, instead just walking through the gate and out onto the sidewalk.
The couple immediately stops smiling and frowns. Hyunjin starts to follow her cousin who seems like she’s not gonna stop until she’s home. Heejin pulls her back and kisses her cheek, making Hyunjin grimace. Turning back she jogs to her cousin but remembers to shout “I’m buying bread” to Chaewon and waves at the friends while blushing a bit.
When she reaches Hyejoo, she thumps her cousin at the back of her head. Hyejoo threatens to punch Hyunjin but the red-head blocks immediately. Hyunjin giggles when the taller girl lowers her hands. They walk home in silence,except for when Hyunjin says “aeong” everytime she sees a cat. Hyunjin brings Hyejoo home and explains to her dad why they were a little bit late. Mr. Son understands and thanks Hyunjin for bringing her cousin home safely. Hyunjin goes to a nearby bakery before she goes home.
Meanwhile, the girls back at the mansion continue to fix up the living room. Chaewon and Heejin are stacking up the last of the pillows to return to the party room. The smaller girl keeps looking at Heejin, seeming like she wants to talk about something or ask something. Heejin notices after a while but doesn’t ask or push in case she scares the silver-haired girl.
“..and I had no idea how to tell the owner that Hyunjin was just “borrowing” the pot from his sto-”
“Was there ever a time when you questioned if Hyunjin really likes you?” Chaewon cuts Heejin off, staring at the stack of pillows the latter is carrying.
Heejin stops for a second to think, then proceeds to walk to the party room to return the last of the pillows.
Chaewon trails behind her, waiting for an answer. Heejin continues to silently return the pillows to the cabinets where she got them. The silver-haired girl just stares at Heejin until she closes the cabinets, sighing, and pulling out a yellow bracelet with a stone in the middle painted pink.
Heejin turns the stone around and shows a crudely drawn engraving to the curious girl.
“ Can you hear me? ”
“We had been secretly dating for about 2 months. I was starting to get really suspicious of her because of all the sneaking around we had to do, especially around her friends, but surprisingly not to her family.” Heejin pauses and smiles, looking at the bracelet and gently rubbing the engraving with her thumb.
“We had known each other for years by then but really with Hyunjin, do we really know her? It really frustrated me that she won’t put down her walls with me and I felt like she didn’t trust me at all. I was already planning on breaking up with her by then. I even discreetly asked her cousin for some advice since she was good at leaving people out of the blue, but maybe she already figured out that we’re dating and told Hyunjin because the day after I asked for advice, I found this on my desk at school. Then, I realized I was looking at all the wrong signs from her. She isn’t really good at expressing herself. I just needed to actually listen to what she was trying to say rather than figuring it out by myself.”
“That makes no sense.” Chaewon looks at Heejin with a confused face.
“It does. Just listen.” Heejin closes her eyes and holds the bracelet to her chest.
Chaewon just looks at her weirdly and thinks about what she said. Suddenly, something clicks in the shorter girl’s head.
“Wait, which cousin were you talking about?”
“What?” Heejin asks, her eyes still closed.
“The cousin you asked advice from?” Chaewon pokes her arm.
Heejin’s eyes suddenly opens, realizing she slipped. She just stands there, looking at various parts of the room they’re in while thinking of an excuse to say to the girl looking at her with a hint of curiosity and pain in her eyes.
Suddenly Heejin’s phone rings.
Saved by the bell .
She raises a finger to Chaewon, asking for a second, then quickly answers her phone to her distressed girlfriend yelling from the other line.
“HEEJIN THEY GOT ME! THEY FUCKING GOT ME THIS TIME!”
“What?? Who?!?”
Chaewon can hear the screaming girl from the phone even if it’s not on speaker, making the two of them panic, afraid that Hyunjin is in actual danger.
“HYUNJIN WHERE ARE YOU??” Heejin yells at her phone.
They hear a loud sound from the phone, like it fell on the floor.
“MY FAVORITE BAKERY. CALL THE COPS THEY’RE TAKING ME!” Hyunjin yells, but it’s in a lower volume from her distance to the phone’s microphone.
Chaewon quickly pulls out her phone and dials the emergency hotline.
They hear one last distant yell from the girl before the line is suddenly quiet. Heejin was about to drop the call when they hear someone pick up Hyunjin’s phone. They hear 2 voices from the other line but it was suddenly cut when they were trying to figure out if they knew them.
“They sound familiar..” Heejin pauses, staring at Chaewon with panic in her eyes.
What the fuck is going on?