Work Text:
Jiwoo honestly couldn’t tell if Jungeun was fucking with her or not.
It wasn’t that Jiwoo considered herself particularly gifted when it came to that thing people called “gut feelings” but before today Jiwoo would have liked to think she knew the person she considered to be one of her best friends well enough to tell if they were pranking her or not. But as Jungeun sits across from her, Jiwoo is finding herself at a rare loss for words.
(It isn’t until much later, when Jiwoo considers the circumstances of their sudden meeting that day, that she realizes she should have been suspicious from the start.)
When Jungeun had texted Jiwoo earlier that afternoon, Jiwoo had been sitting in her lonely office, hunched over her laptop, going through her email looking for something to do with herself. Having been living in Dal Segno for a couple of years now, she could usually count on someone looking for a (partially) human private detective to handle their private business. But when one depends on word of mouth for work, that sometimes leads to times like what Jiwoo is dealing with now, where her email is bone dry.
Kim Jungeun is a certain type of person. The type of person that anyone would look at and just know she had it together. Jungeun projects the kind of weight she pulls without even meaning to, and because of that weight, Jungeun is also a very busy woman and likes to keep herself on a predetermined schedule so as not to overwork herself. And Jungeun is not afraid to complain loudly so everyone knows how inconvenienced she is, should something disrupt her carefully planned agenda.
Her texting Jiwoo out of the blue asking to meet up… never happens. The first and only conclusion Jiwoo comes to is that Jungeun has an important job for her. On such short notice, it could possibly have come from the vampire queen of Dal Segno herself.
Considering Jiwoo is still technically on a probationary period within Dal Segno’s alliance and doing something personally for Joohyun could be the final push for her official acceptance, Jiwoo had left her office almost as soon as she’d finished reading the message.
When Jiwoo had walked into Mix & Match, Jungeun had even smiled charmingly at Jiwoo from her seat in a booth in the back corner of the café. She’s still dressed nicely in her office clothes like she’d come directly from Joohyun’s and two cups are sitting in front of her, one giving off steam and the other covered in condensation from sitting waiting for who Jiwoo can only assume to be her. How is Jiwoo not supposed to be flattered seeing that?
After all, Jungeun had been integral to her move to Dal Segno. Jungeun had appeared back in Jiwoo’s life right when Jiwoo needed her, looking for somewhere to start fresh. She had even vouched for Jiwoo’s character with Joohyun. If Jiwoo had ever screwed up badly enough, Jungeun would’ve faced the consequences herself.
Everything about seeing her today so unexpectedly makes the ever-present warmth at Jiwoo’s core simmer pleasantly. Jungeun lets Jiwoo hug her tightly before she sits down across from her, her skin cool and a welcome contrast to the naturally high-temperature Jiwoo always runs at.
They had spent a few minutes catching up and really, right up until Jungeun brings up the real reason why she’d asked Jiwoo to meet her, Jiwoo is genuinely enjoying herself. But Jungeun has to drop the small talk and get to the point eventually, and once she does, Jiwoo isn’t entirely sure how to respond. She can only stare at Jungeun from her seat with her mouth slightly agape. To Jungeun’s credit, she manages to keep a straight face for almost a full minute before her eyebrows furrow.
“What?” She barks defensively. A tone Jiwoo thinks she must be adopting from all the decades she’s had Jinsoul at her side.
“What do you mean, ‘what’?” Jiwoo keeps her voice low as she does a double check to make sure no one in their immediate area is paying them any attention. “You’re asking me to follow around one of you and your wife’s friends? Who’s a part of both our and Joohyun’s circles? Who just moved back here a couple of weeks ago?”
“Yeah. But you literally do this all the time.” Jiwoo blinks once at her. As if she needed to explain why those cases were all different. As if the person Jungeun was asking her to look into wasn’t someone Jiwoo had been hearing about for as long as she and Jungeun had rediscovered one another’s existences. As if this person wasn’t one of Jungeun’s best friends. As if this wasn’t the person Jungeun had been telling her for years was totally her type and is so perfect for you, Jiwoo. “Okay, fine. It’s a little different. But just hear me out, please? I’m asking you because I trust you more than anyone else.”
Jungeun presses her palms together and pouts at her, looking entirely too adorable for someone as lethal as a vampire.
“You really don’t fight fair,” Jiwoo mumbles, lips forming into a pout of her own. She takes a long sip of her still-cold drink, hoping to quell some of the uncomfortable warmth starting to build more dangerously in her gut as she considers what she’s about to spend her time doing. “What did she do to tip Joohyun off?”
“Actually… this is a personal favor.” Oh. “She dropped this at our place.” Jungeun dips her hand dramatically into the lapel of her blazer and from it produces an ivory-colored business card. Thankfully, she just presses the card into Jiwoo’s waiting hand rather than going all out with her dramatics and sliding it across the table.
Looking at the card, aside from the obvious wear and tear from exposure, it’s entirely blank except for three lines of text printed in the center in fancy, curled lettering.
Ha Yves
Private Investigator
“I thought her name was Sooyoung?” Jiwoo has been hearing about Sooyoung for so long the name is imprinted in her head. But, until today, Jungeun had never spoken a single ill word against her.
“It is.” Jungeun’s eyes drop to the table and the pensive look on her face changes into one Jiwoo can’t exactly place. “She doesn’t look it, but she does have a bit of a clumsy side to her. She dropped that while she was at our apartment. I’ve told you before how she left for almost ten years and how secretive she was about it. I’ve missed her and I’m really happy she’s back but Joohyun won’t tell me what happened either. I didn’t even know she was doing this kind of work again. It’s all just… A little weird. You see where I’m coming from, right?”
Jiwoo can’t pretend she doesn’t. And, really, the entire point of her job is to figure out if something is wrong and then report her findings back to her clients, but she can’t help but wonder aloud, “Why don’t you just ask her yourself?”
“Why are you trying to take all the fun out of catching her in the act?”
The dramatics of it all. But it isn’t like Jiwoo has anything better to do.
“Fine.”
It’s still early in the afternoon when Jiwoo gets back to her office. Jungeun had spent the rest of her lunch break with Jiwoo, as well as buying her an extra bagel as further compensation for doing her a favor. Jiwoo didn’t really need the extra bribery but she’s never going to turn down free food and Jungeun’s undivided attention.
“I’m back!” Jiwoo shouts as she throws her door open. And since Jiwoo works for and by herself, the silence that greets her is more than expected. Jiwoo sincerely misses those first few months when Yeojin had been acting as a liaison between Jiwoo and the residents of Dal Segno and been hanging around her office way more than necessary. She had been very helpful the entire time and she could always keep Jiwoo entertained, but Haseul could only let her get away with shirking her actual responsibilities for Jiwoo’s sake for so long.
Jiwoo sets her extra bagel on the spare desk as a snack for later, heading straight for the laptop she had abandoned to meet with Jungeun earlier. She’d spent the walk back trying to decide exactly how she’s going to start gathering more information about Ha Sooyoung without Jungeun spoon-feeding her everything by hand.
(Not necessarily by choice, since when Jiwoo had suggested Jungeun simply tell her what she knows, Jungeun had refused because that would “ruin the point of finding out what she’s hiding.” Or whatever.)
In the modern age, there’s one very obvious and (mostly) reliable way of quickly gathering information: an internet search.
When her computer is finished booting up, Jiwoo starts off her search feeling optimistic. However, it quickly becomes apparent that “Ha Sooyoung” has purposefully and meticulously removed all traces of herself from the internet. So much so that it begins to border on suspicious how impossible it is for Jiwoo to find anything leading back to the Sooyoung she’s looking for. Jiwoo does come across a Park Sooyoung and a Choi Sooyoung multiple times in connection to people she recognizes, but there’s no sign of a Ha Sooyoung. There aren’t even the usual decades-old photos of Sooyoung hidden in old digitized newspaper clippings like there is for everyone else in their circle, including Jiwoo herself.
There are, of course, plenty of perfectly reasonable explanations for why Sooyoung has had her entire internet footprint erased. But combined with Jungeun’s strange request, Jiwoo has to admit that it’s suspicious. Especially considering the fact that Sooyoung has never told anyone why she had suddenly left for almost an entire decade in the first place.
Not one to let one small failure stump her, Jiwoo moves on to her next plan of action.
If she couldn’t find any information about Ha Sooyoung, perhaps she could dig something up about Ha Yves instead. Still, she was doubtful looking into Sooyoung’s pseudonym would produce a visual of the woman. So Jiwoo texts Jungeun and asks her to send a photo of Sooyoung to her because she’s already making Jiwoo do more work than necessary for a favor before focusing her attention back on her computer screen.
Jiwoo finds Yves registered in Dal Segno’s Private Investigator Public Database which at least confirms she’s licensed to work in Dal Segno as of a month ago. Unfortunately, much like her given name, the results of her pseudonym end in a disappointing lack of relevant results. Aside from one: a website.
Sooyoung clearly likes to present herself as mysterious, if the minimalist styles of both her website and business card are anything to go by. Sooyoung’s website is a simple home page, an ivory color with only the necessary information available that can also be found on her card. The only difference is the addition of two lines of text that provide Jiwoo with a phone number and an address.
Some higher power must feel bad about the abysmal results of her initial search because Sooyoung’s office building is located in a part of town she’s familiar with. It's close enough to the end of a normal workday for Jiwoo to justify leaving her office again to do some scouting before sunset.
As she’s locking the door behind her, Jiwoo feels her phone buzz from where she’d tucked it into her back pocket. She doesn’t check the notification until she’s in the stairwell.
As she’d expected, it’s from Jungeun.
Kim Lippie:
1 Attachment.
Jiwoo taps the notification as she’s bounding down the stairs and almost trips looking at what Jungeun has sent her.
It’s a photo of Jinsoul and Sooyoung together. Both of them are mid-laughter, fully leaning on each other for support. There are a few people Jiwoo recognizes in the background, like Vivi and Heejin, at what looks like Velvet Manor. Jinsoul looks beautiful as always with her smile spread across her entire face. One of her hands is mid-motion, seemingly to cover her own mouth, the other is pushing against Sooyoung’s shoulder. Sooyoung’s smiling back at Jinsoul, laughing just as hard, if not harder. It’s a moment Jiwoo can tell they’re both unburdened and truly happy. Jiwoo feels something roll over in her gut.
Jungeun hadn’t been lying all these years about Sooyoung being her type. It’s not even just how blatantly gorgeous she is. There’s just something about Sooyoung, even just from this photograph, that’s magnetic. Maybe it’s the mischievous glint in her eyes or the carefree way she’s smiling. Maybe it’s that Jiwoo can only imagine what her laughter sounds like. That Jiwoo can only imagine what the person who has suddenly made her heart pound is like.
The way Jiwoo suddenly and intensely feels like she needs to know Sooyoung, even outside of Jungeun’s personal request, takes her back to the present.
So. That might be a problem.
Peering through the storefront window into Chaewon’s bookstore, Jiwoo can see there are only two people inside. Chaewon herself, sitting behind the front counter flipping through a magazine, and someone browsing casually through the bookshelves with a pair of russet-colored wolf ears poking up from the top of their head.
Having someone who can hear so well in the room isn’t preferable, but Jiwoo knows how to clear a room.
Jiwoo pushes the front door open and the bells hanging above it chime gently, announcing her presence. Jiwoo watches with a wide smile as Chaewon’s eye rises from her magazine and her mouth opens to greet who she expects to be a random customer. There’s a calm moment where Jiwoo watches as Chaewon processes that it’s her, before her face shifts into a grimace, knowing exactly what’s going to follow Jiwoo’s entrance.
“Chaewon!” Jiwoo greets. Loudly.
Admittedly, the volume of her voice surprises herself sometimes and Jiwoo lifts a hand to her mouth in genuine shock at how the sound fills the bookstore. The unfortunate werewolf, in the wrong place at the wrong time, winces visibly. Their ears press back against their skull, an irritated growl building in their throat until they turn to their aural assailant and take Jiwoo in. Despite being more than capable of taking care of herself, Jiwoo is aware that she doesn’t come across as very threatening. A blessing in this moment, as instead of getting directly angry with her, the werewolf simply ignores her attempts to apologize and pushes past her out the door.
Chaewon sighs once they’re alone.
“I’m going to be out of business if you keep scaring off my customers like this.” She closes her eyes tightly and rubs her temple with her fingers. Jiwoo ignores her in favor of skipping behind the counter and wrapping her in a tight hug. Chaewon's face screams disgust at the aggressive affection she’s being subjected to, which only makes Jiwoo hug her tighter.
“I’ve missed you too,” Jiwoo mumbles against Chaewon’s hair. “And now I have you all to myself.”
Chaewon continues to feign annoyance for a little longer, but when Jiwoo opens one eye the tiny pair of turquoise wings on her back flutter like a skipping heartbeat. Jiwoo knows the small giveaway from her wings is the closest she’s going to get to reciprocated affection from the fairy after scaring off potential income.
As much as Jiwoo hates to leave the familiarity of Chaewon’s non-hug, Jiwoo is here for a reason other than just seeing her friend. Chaewon raises an eyebrow as soon as Jiwoo pulls away. She doesn’t even give Jiwoo time to get farther than parting her lips.
“You want something. And you didn’t want an audience.” When Jiwoo pouts and leans against the wall behind them instead of answering, Chaewon turns around completely in her stool so she’s facing Jiwoo.
“Fine. Yes.” Jiwoo admits. Chaewon gestures for her to continue, not without looking smug about calling her out for beating around the bush. “But I also missed you. That’s the important part.” Chaewon purses her lips, trying very hard not to look affected. It isn’t like Chaewon is a stranger to Jiwoo’s open affection, but it makes her shy in a way Jiwoo rarely gets to see. “I’m looking for someone.”
“Aren’t you always?”
“Okay, fair enough. But this is different, hear me out.” Chaewon raises an eyebrow in question, still managing to look a little bored even though Jiwoo knows her secrecy has piqued Chaewon’s attention. Clearing the room is all Chaewon needed to see to know Jiwoo’s intentions. Beneath Chaewon’s bookshop, she and her partner Hyejoo are in the business of information. Jiwoo can always come to Chaewon if she needs help looking for someone. Chaewon doesn’t charge cheaply for her services though, even for friends. So Jiwoo is usually careful about how and when she uses her resources. But considering Sooyoung’s office is in the building across the street and Jiwoo wants to finish this job quickly, using the blatant shortcut feels like the obvious solution.
“Alright, you have my attention.” Chaewon concedes. It’s a little surprising Chaewon doesn’t mention a price on top of it. Jiwoo decides she must be in an especially good mood if she’s letting Jiwoo get away with this much. Maybe Hyejoo is due back from her monthly trip into the mountains soon.
“Do you know someone named Sooyoung? Or maybe she goes by Yves with you?” Chaewon’s lips purse as Jiwoo says her name, and then her eyebrows pinch when Jiwoo mentions her alias.
“Ha Sooyoung?” Jiwoo’s mouth falls open as Chaewon supplies Sooyoung’s last name without any prompting. While she had been hoping Chaewon might know Sooyoung, since Jiwoo is sure she’s not the only person who would think to come to Chaewon if they’re looking for less than readily available information and considering Sooyoung and Chaewon’s close proximity, she still hadn’t gotten her hopes up that she would be so lucky.
“You really know her?”
“Of course I do,” Chaewon says like it should be obvious. And maybe it would be if everyone around Jiwoo hadn’t been so secretive about Sooyoung all these years. Right now, it only serves to slightly annoy her, but also make her wonder just how high Sooyoung had been in Joohyun’s favor before she’d left. “Why are you looking for Soo—?”
Chaewon cuts herself off abruptly as something catches her eye and she turns her head to look out the front window. The action is so sudden and startling, Jiwoo doesn’t ask questions. Instead, she wordlessly follows Chaewon’s gaze out to where Sooyoung has appeared outside the office building across the street, the front doors swinging shut behind her.
While Jiwoo only has the one photo Jungeun had sent her to base it on, the person she’s looking at is undoubtedly Ha Sooyoung. Jiwoo has her face sketched out permanently in the back of her mind.
(Maybe she’d revisited the photo several times in the cab ride over just to admire how perfectly placed every single one of her features was. Maybe not. No one would ever know.)
The focused look on this woman’s face is much different from the carefree, weightless expression worn by the Sooyoung in Jungeun’s photo. Yet Jiwoo can’t help thinking that the photo hasn’t done Sooyoung’s beauty enough justice. Sooyoung’s just standing there and Jiwoo’s completely absorbed by the curve of her eyes as she looks around. Jiwoo's fingertips ache with the need to push her hair back for her, just because it's obstructing her gaze as the wind picks up. Sooyoung steps further into the afternoon sun and it hits her eyes just right, allowing Jiwoo to see the familiar crimson glint she's gotten used to seeing when she looks into Jungeun’s eyes.
Oh.
So, Sooyoung is a vampire.
Not that it doesn’t make sense, but why hadn’t Jungeun thought to mention to Jiwoo she was a vampire before now? Why hadn’t it even occurred to Jiwoo she would probably be a vampire?
The thought is sobering enough to finally shake Jiwoo from the trance seeing Sooyoung had put her in.
When she meets Chaewon’s eyes again, she isn’t bothering to hide the disgust on her face from having caught Jiwoo blatantly staring. Despite the heat that rises to her cheeks, she can’t help but turn her attention away from Chaewon’s judgment back through the glass windows where Sooyoung’s finished checking oncoming traffic and started crossing the road. She hasn’t bothered to go to the end of the street to the crosswalks; her path is clear after all. Why waste the extra steps when you’re heading directly across the street?
This time when Jiwoo turns to meet Chaewon’s eye, she only looks amused; purely curious as to how Jiwoo’s going to get herself out of her current situation without getting caught. Jiwoo doesn’t think twice before retrieving the face mask she keeps in her pocket and pulling the strings over her ears. As she’s tugging it up over her nose, Jiwoo doesn’t waste time checking how far away Sooyoung is. This isn’t the first time she’s almost been caught scouting someone out, and it certainly won’t be the last. Especially since it’s now happening again. Instead, Jiwoo moves from behind the counter without another word to Chaewon and takes up the position of the werewolf who’d been inside earlier.
Even if Sooyoung is a vampire, the lingering werewolf scent will hopefully be enough for Sooyoung’s senses not to pick up anything more than that.
There’s barely enough time for Jiwoo to run her fingers over the spine of a book whose title is in a language she isn’t able to translate before the familiar bells chime to signal Sooyoung’s entrance.
“Chaewooon.” Sooyoung's voice breaks into a whine as soon as the door swings shut behind her. The volume of Sooyoung’s voice is genuinely startling to Jiwoo. So much so that she’s too busy watching Sooyoung throw herself halfway over Chaewon’s counter to remember she’s supposed to be hiding. Chaewon rolls her eyes, shooting Jiwoo the briefest look of complete exasperation before giving Sooyoung her attention.
“What’s wrong?” Chaewon sighs. The tone is very similar to the one she’d used on Jiwoo earlier.
“I wanted to check with you about something. I got a pretty inconvenient request last night.” The admission is vague enough to pique Jiwoo’s interest. She had come here in the first place hoping to pick Chaewon’s brain for information for similar reasons. “Is Hyejoo back yet?”
“No. She won’t be back for a few more days.” Chaewon softens a little as she answers Sooyoung but quickly returns to her usual calm, unbothered demeanor.
“That’s too bad. I could’ve used her nose.” Sooyoung leans her elbows on the counter and Jiwoo ducks back behind the bookshelves, wishing she could see Sooyoung’s face. Not that there’s anything wrong with the back of her head. It’s a perfectly good head. In fact, it’s one of the nicest heads Jiwoo thinks she’s ever looked at.
But knowing how pleasant the front view is... it just feels like a bit of a waste.
“Well, I’ll be back when you don’t have a customer.” The sudden reminder that Sooyoung is fully aware that another person is lingering a few bookshelves away is startling enough that Jiwoo almost bites her tongue. But Sooyoung doesn’t seem interested in investigating her presence further. Instead, she murmurs something else to Chaewon that Jiwoo can’t quite hear.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I’ll see you later.” And just as quickly as she’d appeared, Sooyoung is back out the door. Jiwoo’s knees feel weak, but Chaewon seems to know exactly what to say.
“Kim Jiwoo, you might be one of the luckiest people alive.”
In Jiwoo’s completely unbiased opinion, she does a significantly better job tailing Sooyoung in the weeks following their first near encounter. The most unfortunate consequence to immediately follow was that Chaewon hadn’t been shy about laughing in her face when Jiwoo had approached her counter again. As Jiwoo expected, Chaewon wouldn’t give her any information on Sooyoung due to the same unspoken confidentiality agreement she had with Jiwoo herself.
Still, the whole thing wasn’t a total loss. She had confirmed Sooyoung’s work address and found out that they share a source for information. And from what Jiwoo can tell, Sooyoung has thus far been none the wiser to her newly acquired shadow. Even those few small advantages have helped Jiwoo observe and learn more about Sooyoung without the help of their mutual friends.
The first, unsurprisingly, is that Sooyoung is a late riser. She is a vampire, after all; daylight doesn’t suit her. The second, more surprisingly, is that Jiwoo quickly comes to realize Sooyoung is definitely living out of her office at the moment — surely in violation of her lease. The third is that Sooyoung visits Chaewon once a day without fail. Making Chaewon’s reaction to Jiwoo’s question of if she knew Sooyoung or not make much more sense in hindsight. Chaewon always greets Sooyoung with the same kind of quiet annoyance she had displayed when Jiwoo had been there, but it’s clear she looks forward to Sooyoung’s daily visits.
Out of everything Jiwoo observes Sooyoung doing, unless it explicitly involves either of them, she never does anything that would lead Jiwoo to believe she has ill intentions towards Jinsoul or Jungeun. While her secrecy is strange, it isn’t anything close to incriminating. Jiwoo reports as much back to Jungeun after a month of becoming intimately familiar with Sooyoung’s daily life. Jungeun’s response to her text is skepticism. Almost like Jungeun wants to catch Sooyoung in the wrong.
For what reason, Jiwoo can’t imagine. But Jiwoo is willing to play along for now until Jungeun is satisfied. Getting to spend so much of her day unabashedly thinking about anything and everything to do with Ha Sooyoung is, in a way, its own reward.
A week later when she arrives at Jungeun and Jinsoul’s apartment, Jiwoo thinks maybe she should take a note from Jungeun and be more suspicious after all. Even of the people she trusts with her life.
In all fairness, Jungeun had told her she’d be inviting someone else over to hang out with the three of them tonight. Jiwoo had just assumed Jungeun meant Yerim, even though Jungeun had never actually said her name. That might be Jiwoo’s fault for assuming and not asking for clarification, but Jiwoo never could have imagined the kind of chaos Jungeun would invite her into unprepared.
The crimson flecks in the wide brown eyes staring back at her once the door opens are familiar, but not because they’re Jungeun’s.
“Sooyoung, I told you I’d get it.” Jinsoul’s voice calls from deeper inside the apartment. Jiwoo’s eyes shift over the shoulder of the woman blocking the doorway as Jinsoul appears in the main hallway. Jinsoul’s wolf ears flatten at a comically slow pace when she realizes she’s too late to stop her. “Oh.”
Jiwoo turns her gaze back to Sooyoung with just enough time to watch Sooyoung’s eyes finish crawling their way back up to meet her own. When Jiwoo quirks an eyebrow, not entirely sure if she’s seeing what she thinks she’s seeing, Sooyoung’s cheeks flush just the faintest hint of pink and Jiwoo feels her own face heat up from what amounts to a confession.
Sooyoung had just been checking her out... Right?
Jiwoo barely has time to process the fact that Sooyoung had been checking her out before Jungeun, looking appalled, suddenly appears behind Sooyoung. Jungeun clamps rough hands-on Sooyoung’s shoulders and drags her out of the doorframe.
“Please come inside, Jiwoo. Excuse our friend, she’s not used to meeting people anymore apparently.” Jungeun shoves Sooyoung towards an unprepared Jinsoul who manages to clumsily catch Sooyoung by her elbows. Jiwoo pretends she doesn’t hear Jinsoul’s whispered you could’ve at least let her inside first as much as it further inflates her ego. The indignant look that takes over Sooyoung’s face as she turns her attention to Jinsoul is adorable.
Jungeun waits until Jiwoo’s finished removing her shoes before swinging an arm over Jiwoo’s shoulder and pulling her against her side.
“Be cool,” she mumbles into Jiwoo’s ear.
Easy for her to say.
Jinsoul brings Sooyoung back in front of the two of them before Jiwoo can reply. The rosy flush to her cheeks is still obvious but Jungeun launches directly into introductions before Jiwoo can attempt to get another word in. Jiwoo is listening at first, but then she makes the mistake of looking from Jinsoul’s lovestruck grin as she listens to Jungeun talk and talk and talk to lock eyes with Sooyoung, where she’s still tucked under Jinsoul’s arm. And she’s clearly been staring at her.
Again.
Sooyoung doesn’t even flinch when she realizes she’s been caught.
The confident way Sooyoung meets her eyes is nothing short of incredibly hot and Jiwoo feels the heat in her core ignite in a way she can’t keep ignoring. It doesn’t last more than a few seconds though, because once Sooyoung’s sure she has Jiwoo’s attention, she pointedly looks at Jungeun and rolls her eyes.
It’s so unexpected that Jiwoo is laughing before she can stop herself. Sooyoung’s mouth curls into a satisfied smirk that more than makes up for the annoyed way Jungeun pulls away from her.
“Are you even listening to me?”
“They’re flirting, Eunie,” Jinsoul snorts. She leaves her place at Sooyoung’s side to wrap her arms around Jungeun’s waist and rest her chin on her shoulder. It’s very cute and all but Jiwoo is too affronted by the callout from Jinsoul of all people to appreciate it.
“What—I—We—There’s—” Jiwoo stammers and Sooyoung interrupts her attempts to defend herself with a scoff.
“Can we have a moment, you’re interrupting.” Sooyoung glares at Jungeun and Jinsoul, who both glare right back at her, but after coming to a decision using their bond to wordlessly communicate, retreat to the kitchen with Jungeun muttering something about returning soon with drinks. Jungeun shoots her a look over her shoulder that Jiwoo takes as an attempt to reassure her.
It works until Sooyoung clears her throat quietly once they’ve disappeared.
“It’s nice to officially meet you, Jiwoo,” Sooyoung says, her voice soft like she thinks Jiwoo’s considering bolting back out the door. Jiwoo is very aware that she’s barely keeping herself from trembling at this moment. Of course, someone like Sooyoung would notice and treat her gently because of it. The pleasant, low tone of her voice does its job of soothing her nerves. Jiwoo doesn’t know if it’s because of what she is or who she is, but the way her name rolls off Sooyoung’s tongue, the way it sounds in her mouth, calms the molten feeling her anxiety was building within her.
“You, too.” Jiwoo breathes, taken aback by how calm she feels basking in Sooyoung’s undivided attention. Finally, Sooyoung’s eyes are on her too. “Can I call you ‘Sooyoung?’”
“Please.” Jiwoo doesn’t know if Sooyoung’s even aware of how desperate she sounds. But Jiwoo can hear it and it makes her chest feel tight, in a way she hasn’t felt in longer than she can remember.
Sooyoung interrupts any further train of thought by reaching her hands towards Jiwoo’s where she’s been absentmindedly wringing her fingers. By pure instinct, Jiwoo takes a step back as she does. Great for her cover but the way Sooyoung’s face turns apologetic makes Jiwoo feel guilty since it’s for the wrong reasons.
“Oh— I’m sorry, Sooyoung. It’s not you, it’s me. I mean it.” Sooyoung’s brows furrow as Jiwoo tries to explain herself. “I run really hot, like even hotter than werewolves hot. I’m not like a phoenix— I mean I don’t really know except that I’m clearly not fully human and I—”
When Jiwoo stops rambling long enough to look from Sooyoung’s hands, still paused in the air where she left them, back to her face, the knowing smile on Sooyoung’s face renders her speechless. Jiwoo doesn’t even know how to begin to describe the look in Sooyoung’s eyes but the understanding like she just knows stops her mid-sentence.
“May I?” She makes a vague gesture in the direction of Jiwoo’s hands and Jiwoo nods mutely. Jiwoo’s more than aware her exceptionally high body temperature wouldn’t have any effect on Sooyoung. Jiwoo has purposefully touched Heejin and Jungeun plenty of times, seeking out the coolness of their skin. But when Sooyoung takes her hand, the calm and relief that Jiwoo feels is instant and staggering, far more potent than any of the times she’s touched other vampires. It’s all Jiwoo can do not to tug Sooyoung forward so Jiwoo can bury her face in her neck and seek out even more of that feeling.
“I’m half-vampire,” Sooyoung says; there’s amusement there as she looks at Jiwoo’s puzzled expression. “I’m hard to burn.”
Sooyoung chooses that moment to wink at her. And just like that, all the heat Sooyoung’s touch has been suppressing returns. But this time it’s because Jiwoo’s considering pushing Sooyoung the few feet back towards the couch and climbing into her lap.
Unfortunately, before Jiwoo can put that plan into action, Jungeun and Jinsoul return at that moment, each with a drink in either hand. If either of them have anything to say about Sooyoung and Jiwoo’s joined hands, they don’t voice it. And Sooyoung doesn’t let go, so Jiwoo is more than content to let her keep touching her.
“So,” Jungeun starts, as she and Jinsoul rejoin them. “I was thinking Jiwoo and I could pair off for a few rounds while Jinsoul and Sooyoung do the same. And then we switch a little later.”
“No way,” Sooyoung protests immediately.
“Why not? We’re not gonna cheat or anything?” Jinsoul says unconvincingly. She looks sheepish when all three of them glare at her.
“Why would you even say that?” Sooyoung exclaims, seeming genuinely upset and they haven’t even started the game yet. “Now I know for sure you’re going to use your bond to cheat. This is why no one wants to play games with you two.”
“I agree,” Jiwoo adds. “You two don’t play fair.”
“Oh, so if you had a bond, you’re saying you wouldn’t use it?”
“We don’t want your pity practice rounds,” Sooyoung says. Jiwoo does notice she didn’t answer the question. Honestly, Jiwoo doesn’t really care that much but seeing Sooyoung worked up over potentially losing a game they haven’t even started yet is incredibly cute. And it certainly doesn’t hurt that Sooyoung has laced their fingers together at some point during her protests.
Eventually, Jungeun concedes to Sooyoung's insistence that she and Jiwoo will just lose honorably from the beginning. And since they’ve been called out, Jungeun and Jinsoul abuse their bond to the point that, even with Jiwoo and Sooyoung doing surprisingly well despite having just met that night, they win easily.
Sooyoung’s a very sore loser and she makes her annoyance known loudly until Jiwoo presses into her side the way she’s been doing all evening. Jiwoo has been ignoring every look their hosts give their blatant flirting, and she continues to do so now. This is Jungeun’s fault; let her witness the consequences of her actions.
If Jungeun has a problem with Jiwoo letting Sooyoung slip a hand into the back pocket of her jeans, well, that’s a problem for later Jiwoo.
Much later, after finishing their night over a bottle of wine, Sooyoung puts Jiwoo’s number in her phone, declaring they should “hang out” sometime.
Jiwoo’s too giddy to recognize the nagging feeling in the back of her head for what it is until she’s getting ready for bed.
Guilt.
She’d let herself forget that she’s supposed to be running an investigation. Instead, she let her attraction to Sooyoung take over. Jiwoo has never had an issue admitting to herself how gorgeous she finds Sooyoung. But having spent a night at her side, laughing with her, talking to her, touching her... Jiwoo is finished.
Jiwoo had never wanted anyone so badly in her life.
So, before she closes her eyes, she texts Jungeun to tell her she doesn’t think she can look into Sooyoung for her anymore.
And when Jiwoo wakes up to a simple good morning and hello from Sooyoung, she can’t bring herself to reply.
It only takes a couple of days for Jiwoo to reason with herself and conclude that outright ghosting Sooyoung had been the wrong thing to do. Really, ignoring Sooyoung when they have the same group of friends and Jiwoo would definitely see her again at some point is incredibly stupid. But by the time Jiwoo is ready to admit that, it’s also too late to reasonably try to text Sooyoung back and avoid the awkwardness of the whole thing altogether.
With no one to blame for it but herself and her own nerves for getting the best of her, rather than dealing with any of it, Jiwoo instead rededicates herself to her the work she’s been letting pile up in favor of focusing on Sooyoung. Those jobs are mostly... incredibly boring. Jiwoo can usually find fun in the mystery of a new case, but running background checks is much less interesting when she’s spending the entire time trying not to think about something— someone specific.
Jiwoo thinks she does a great job keeping her mind off Sooyoung. She doesn’t think about her stupid jokes that made Jiwoo laugh no matter how silly they were. She doesn’t think about the sincere way Sooyoung had listened to everything she said, or the extra attention Sooyoung had paid her that night. Or how it felt like Sooyoung had been going out of her way to touch Jiwoo at any and every opportunity she could.
No. None of that ever crosses her mind.
When she sees Jungeun again later in the week, Jungeun acts like the entire ordeal never happened. She even casually drops Sooyoung’s name in conversation the way she used to. Any suspicions she’d had apparently evaporated with the conclusion of Jiwoo’s investigation.
It’s by Heejin’s invitation a couple of weekends later that Jiwoo finally commits to evening plans again. It’s been months since Jiwoo has seen either of them longer than a few minutes since they’d mutually decided to be fully nocturnal again, just for the fun of it. Even without Hyunjin begging in the background of their phone call because Heejin won’t stop complaining about how much she misses you and I’m tired of hearing about it, Jiwoo doesn’t think twice before agreeing.
It’s not even until she’s hung up with Heejin that she realizes the vampire had never mentioned where they were going.
Since Heejin hadn’t considered it relevant information, Jiwoo doesn’t ask. It doesn’t matter to Jiwoo in the end when she’s going for the company. So, it's news to her when Jungeun informs her she’ll be the one picking her up, and then when they’re dropped off outside Velvet Manor and she’s following Jungeun inside with her arm looped through Jinsoul’s.
“I know it’s a little late but, uh, where are we going?” Jiwoo finally asks after Jungeun’s finished punching some secret code into the elevator and they start their descent.
“Didn’t Heejin tell you?” Jungeun crosses her arms as Jiwoo shakes her head.
“Tell me what?”
“Jiwoo, remember that one time I mentioned a place that you aren’t supposed to know about because you’re not in ‘Joohyun’s circle.’” The hint is all Jiwoo needs to feel her body temperature spike considerably and Jinsoul jumps away from her immediately. “Oh my god.”
“Sorry!”
The incident had happened so long ago Jiwoo had mostly forgotten about it. Jinsoul had mentioned in passing one night that they’d be going to La Rouge and had gone quiet when Jiwoo questioned what the place was. Jungeun later told her La Rouge is a private club where Joohyun and Seulgi prefer to spend their evenings, exclusive to members of either the Bae vampire clan or the Kang werewolf pack, with the location a closely-guarded secret for its clientele’s sake.
If they were bringing Jiwoo there…
“You should see the look on your face. I’m kind of glad Heejin kept it a surprise.” Jungeun pulls Jiwoo close in a brief hug and then laughs at the still shocked expression on her face. “At least close your mouth.”
Jiwoo’s jaw is still somewhere on the ground as the elevator settles on its destination and the doors slide open, bathing the three of them in pale red light and the faint scent of blood. For a club that essentially runs out of a basement, it’s more spacious inside than Jiwoo is expecting.
Jiwoo takes in a lot of things at once as they step out of the elevator and search the occupied booths for their friends. It’s surprisingly less populated than Jiwoo would’ve thought considering it’s a Saturday night; in particular, Joohyun and Seulgi aren’t present at the moment which is a bit of a relief. As grateful as Jiwoo is to be offered this symbolic acceptance, Joohyun still scares her a little bit, and Seulgi by proxy, although she’ll never admit it out loud.
Jiwoo also recognizes most of the faces of those in various booths and swaying together on the small dance floor. She finds Heejin and Hyunjin immediately, the two of them talking too animatedly to one another to miss, so the third person sitting beside them, unmoving and staring back at Jiwoo with unblinking eyes would’ve caught her attention even without Jiwoo recognizing her as the one person she’s been trying to avoid.
Even from across the room, Jiwoo can tell Sooyoung knows exactly when Jiwoo’s found her too. She’s impossible to read from this far away, but Jiwoo can’t imagine she’s thinking anything flattering considering where Jiwoo’s actions have currently left them. She thinks of making an excuse to leave but—
“Found them!” Jinsoul announces. It startles Jiwoo out of her stare down and squashes any hopes she has of being able to avoid Sooyoung a little longer. Well, it had only been a matter of time anyway.
Jiwoo keeps her gaze pointedly away from Sooyoung as she and Jungeun follow Jinsoul’s lead to the booth their friends are seated in. Hyunjin notices them first, stopping her conversation with Heejin and saying something to her that makes Heejin’s head snap around with comedic speed.
Jiwoo feels physically weighed down by how Sooyoung’s eyes haven’t left her once while Jiwoo is pretending she isn’t avoiding meeting her gaze. Heejin, bless her, doesn’t give Jiwoo the chance to dwell on it, hugging her so tight once she’s close enough that Jiwoo’s momentarily concerned Heejin’s testing how much force it would take to break a bone.
“Jiwoo, I’m so glad you came. And I brought a friend with me. She’s super hot, right? And she’s single, can you believe it?”
“Okay, Heejin. That’s enough of that. You don’t—” Sooyoung’s out of her seat quickly, her cheeks coloring as she puts a hand over Heejin’s mouth to stop her from continuing. Heejin looks offended at being physically silenced but Sooyoung’s not really paying attention to her at that point. “Hey, Jiwoo.”
“Hi,” Jiwoo says, feeling like she’s being picked apart under Sooyoung’s still unreadable eyes. Not to mention the rest of their audience.
“You already know each other?” Heejin pulls Sooyoung’s hand away from her mouth, looking back and forth between them.
“Heejin, I swear...” Jungeun grumbles from where she’s taken a seat beside Hyunjin, Jinsoul lounging comfortably next to her.
“You want to get a drink?” Sooyoung asks, making a clear choice to ignore everything going on around them and continue to keep her focus only on Jiwoo. It feels amazing to have the privilege of Sooyoung’s undivided attention once again.
“Uh, okay,” Jiwoo replies. When Sooyoung offers Jiwoo her hand, Jiwoo takes it unthinkingly and lets herself be pulled from Heejin’s arms off towards the bar. Knowing four pairs of eyes are doubtlessly watching them leave doesn’t do anything for the embarrassed heat burning away at her, but Jiwoo chooses to instead focus on where Sooyoung’s hand is wrapped around hers. On how her hand fits right in Jiwoo’s and how much she hadn’t realized she’d missed how her cool skin felt.
Jiwoo decides holding Sooyoung’s hand is really, really nice.
Jiwoo’s so preoccupied with Sooyoung's hand in hers that she doesn’t realize Sooyoung’s stopped until her chin almost hits her shoulder.
“Are you okay?” Sooyoung asks, making sure Jiwoo’s steady and looking at her with far more concern than Jiwoo thinks she deserves. Looking at her, there’s clearly something Sooyoung has on her mind and wants to say; she hasn’t even brought them fully to the bar, but instead just out of sight of the booth where they’ve left the rest of their party so they could have some privacy.
Honestly, whatever it could be kind of scared Jiwoo a little.
“I’m really sorry, Sooyoung,” Jiwoo blurts out before Sooyoung can gather her thoughts. Sooyoung’s eyebrows pinch, looking confused before it dawns on her what Jiwoo could be apologizing for. She lets out a sigh before dropping Jiwoo’s hand and taking a step away from her. Jiwoo wants to take her hand back but settles for playing with her fingers while Sooyoung looks at her, still deciding what she wants to say. Eventually, she lets out a small laugh.
“So, I did have the right number? You really did ghost me? That’s... pretty embarrassing.” The sheepish look that takes over Sooyoung’s face makes Jiwoo feel worse.
“What?” Sooyoung looks away with a pout so cute it gives Jiwoo the urge to take her face in her hands and kiss it away. Instead, she takes Sooyoung’s hands in hers again and pulls her back towards her. Sooyoung looks surprised at how close Jiwoo’s suddenly pulled her, but she doesn’t make any attempt to back away. “Sooyoung, it wasn’t you. It was all me. I was just... feeling a lot of things.”
“Oh.” Sooyoung looks at their joined hands. “Well, if I did something to make you uncomfortable or I misread something—”
“You didn’t!” Jiwoo insists. Sooyoung’s confusion mounts visibly as Jiwoo struggles to figure out exactly how to explain how she feels to Sooyoung. How all of this couldn’t be any less her fault. The only person who should be feeling bad here is Jiwoo. Well, and maybe Jungeun a little bit for putting her in this situation in the first place. Why couldn’t Jungeun have just—
“Hey.” Sooyoung’s voice brings Jiwoo out of her wandering thoughts. When she meets Sooyoung’s gentle gaze, there’s so much hidden in those beautiful brown eyes but there’s nothing accusatory about how she asks, “What are you thinking about?”
“Too much,” Jiwoo admits, unsure how to react to how attentive Sooyoung is with her but willing to do just about anything to keep her there.
Sooyoung nods in understanding, then seems to run through a few things in her mind before she peeks out from the corner she’s got them hidden in.
“We have an audience,” Sooyoung tells her, sounding exasperated.
“Yeah, Heejin’s made her intentions for us tonight pretty clear,” Jiwoo says which makes Sooyoung laugh. Jiwoo lets herself get lost in the carefree, loud way Sooyoung lets herself laugh at the ridiculousness of Heejin being so obvious about trying to set them up. With Sooyoung this close, Jiwoo’s eyes linger on the mole on her cheek and then the faint spray of freckles over the bridge of her nose.
“So then, if I wasn’t misreading anything, do you want to dance with me instead of getting that drink right now?”
Sooyoung leans into Jiwoo as she asks, one of her hands wrapping around Jiwoo’s wrist and letting her thumb stroke the exposed skin there. It’s a tease more than anything else and it makes Jiwoo’s knees feel a bit like jelly.
Like she’s going to say no to that.
Somehow, as much as Jiwoo has come to learn about Sooyoung over the past couple of months, she’s neglected to be informed of just how well Sooyoung can dance. If it wasn’t so hot, it would drive Jiwoo a different kind of crazy how much Sooyoung has clearly been counting on Jiwoo being clueless as to what she can do with her body when allowed to fully show off just how much control she has over it.
Jiwoo doesn’t even consider herself a terrible dancer by any means. If you ask her, being a good dancer has more to do with feeling than solely visuals. And Sooyoung definitely has the visuals. But the confidence with which Sooyoung dances makes Jiwoo feel like she looks even better just by being her dance partner. And to have that confident dancer completely focused on moving her body against Jiwoo, well...
Jiwoo is having a pretty damn good night.
With all the fun the two of them are having, and the clear lack of intent of returning to the booth that had been picked out for them, it doesn’t take long for the rest of the group to join them. Jiwoo forces herself away from Sooyoung when they do because as much as Jiwoo would like to glue her hands to Sooyoung’s hips, she did technically come here tonight for Heejin and she does want to catch up with her.
Still, Jiwoo can’t help but be hyper-aware of where Sooyoung is, regardless of what’s going on in front of her. At some point, Jungeun suddenly decides she’d rather be at home and quickly departs with Jinsoul after efficiently wishing everyone goodbye by bringing Hyunjin and Sooyoung over to where Jiwoo and Heejin are. Hyunjin takes the interruption as an opportunity to steal Heejin back and drag her away to the bar.
With the two of them essentially by themselves, Sooyoung’s not shy about moving Jiwoo’s hands from where she modestly places them on Sooyoung’s hips to her ass.
In the back of her head, Jiwoo thinks she should maybe be having second thoughts about how quickly things are escalating between them. But the much louder voice that she prefers listening to is fully enjoying every sway and rock of Sooyoung’s body against hers. Jiwoo’s so blissfully mesmerized by how Sooyoung’s abs flex with every move that she doesn’t realize how badly Sooyoung’s been trying to get Jiwoo to tilt her chin up until her roaming hands cup Jiwoo’s cheeks and force her to meet her eye. Then Sooyoung’s eyes make the obvious drop to her lips and Jiwoo swallows.
“Are you going to kiss me?” Jiwoo asks quietly.
“Would you let me?”
Of course, I would is what she wants to say, but the words won’t leave her mouth when she opens it. Immediately, Jiwoo knows that ugly guilt she had managed to forget as soon as Sooyoung batted her pretty eyes at her has returned. And there’s a point to it, right? How could she comfortably let Sooyoung kiss her right now without her knowing what Jiwoo had been doing?
The longer Jiwoo takes to answer, the more concerned Sooyoung looks. The look on Sooyoung’s face is the same guilty confusion from earlier that night like she had been the one to do something wrong.
“I’ll be right back,” Jiwoo finds herself murmuring. Not sure where she’s planning on going other than anywhere but under Sooyoung’s wilted expression.
Well, Jiwoo’s definitely lost.
She hasn’t been paying much attention to where she’s going after taking the elevator back up to the ground floor. And it turns out wandering down hallway after hallway without a clear goal in mind in a mansion you’ve been in maybe twice before is a great way to get lost. It’s around the fourth or fifth turn that Jiwoo realizes she has no idea where she is and proceeds to get even more lost trying to find her way back.
On the bright side, Jiwoo has found this gorgeous portrait of Joohyun and Seulgi, from a few decades ago based on their attire. Jiwoo wonders to herself how they ended up together.
“Jiwoo?” The timid way Sooyoung calls her name like Jiwoo’s going to run again makes her heart clench. A part of her was probably expecting Sooyoung to come to find her with how long she’s been gone. And here she’d wasted the precious time she’s had to gather her thoughts admiring a painting of two beautiful bosses.
“Hey,” Jiwoo says, feeling pretty lame for the short reply. She turns to face Sooyoung who approaches her slowly, coming to stand by her side and look up at the portrait of Joohyun and Seulgi curiously. As if she could retrace the same paths Jiwoo’s taken if she looks hard enough.
“Are you okay? I’m sorry for coming on so strong. I was going to wait for you to come back on your own, but Hyunjin said you’d probably gotten lost. So, I thought I’d come looking for you instead.”
“Oh, god. Sooyoung—” Jiwoo wipes a hand over her face, frustrated. “Nothing you’ve done has made me uncomfortable. Not once, so please don’t apologize.”
“Okay. Then can you tell me what’s wrong? Please?” Sooyoung turns to face Jiwoo with her hands behind her back. Her lips are pressed together in this cute, thoughtful pout, genuinely clueless as to what could be plaguing Jiwoo if it isn’t disinterest. Jiwoo can’t really blame her for that; she hasn’t exactly been giving her the most direct signals. So, Jiwoo takes a breath and tells Sooyoung the entire story up until tonight. Jiwoo’s aware as she talks that she’s probably giving more detail than necessary when recounting the past couple of months, but Sooyoung listens patiently until Jiwoo’s finished.
When Jiwoo meets her eyes again, a little afraid of what she’ll say, Sooyoung’s lips split into a wide grin.
“Uh, why are you looking at me like that?”
“You really don’t know?” Jiwoo shakes her head and Sooyoung offers her hand. Jiwoo takes it and, as she’s become accustomed to whenever Sooyoung does this, Sooyoung tugs her into a hug, placing one hand on the back of her head and tucking Jiwoo’s nose against her neck. Jiwoo’s so surprised she downright relishes how strong Sooyoung’s sweet scent is here and the soft skin of her collarbone brushes against Jiwoo’s lips. “Jiwoo, I already knew all of that.”
Jiwoo shoves Sooyoung away from her a bit more roughly than she means to and Sooyoung almost topples over. Jiwoo manages to grab her by the hips to steady her and Sooyoung covers Jiwoo’s hands with her own.
“Hold on—” Sooyoung starts, but Jiwoo interrupts her.
“What do you mean you already knew?”
“You really don’t know?” Jiwoo shakes her head again. Sooyoung, now seemingly satisfied Jiwoo isn’t going to move her hands from where she’s placed them, raises her hands to rub up and down Jiwoo’s arms. With how hot her entire body feels, it soothes Jiwoo more than Sooyoung could know and the attentiveness makes Jiwoo melt into her touch despite how Sooyoung’s following words shock her. “That day you were hiding in Chaewon’s bookstore, Jinsoul had just asked me to look into you for her the night before. And she’s a terrible liar so I thought it was weird that the Jiwoo they never said anything bad about suddenly was so suspicious to them that they wanted me to start looking into her when I was barely back. And then you showed up outside my office and... well...”
“Well? Why didn’t you say anything?” Jiwoo asks, pinching at Sooyoung’s hip. Sooyoung squirms a little, apparently ticklish which Jiwoo makes a mental note of, but she makes no move to move away from her.
“Honestly?” Jiwoo nods. “I thought it was really cute. You were trying so hard to figure me out, I liked the attention.”
“What the hell!” Jiwoo exclaims. “That’s not fair at all. You were all just messing with me?”
“Of course not.” Sooyoung’s hands move from her arms to cup Jiwoo’s face. “Jiwoo, the only reason I let any of this keep happening is because I liked having your attention.”
“Oh.”
“Oh, she says,” Sooyoung mocks with a snort, but she’s smiling at Jiwoo like she’s special and it makes her cheeks turn pink beneath Sooyoung’s hands. “You’re so frustrating, Kim Jiwoo. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you weren’t interested in me at all.”
“Sooyoung.” There must be something different in her tone because whatever Sooyoung is planning on saying next dies in her throat at the determined heat burning behind Jiwoo’s eyes.
“Hm?”
“Do you think there’s a spare room around here Joohyun wouldn’t mind us borrowing?”
“I— I think I could find one.”
The room Sooyoung “finds” for them is the first unlocked bedroom they walk past. Not that it matters either way to Jiwoo, especially not after Sooyoung pulls her inside and presses her back against the door with her own body. Jiwoo lets out a gasp as she does, Sooyoung’s cool presence radiating off her body in a comforting way. When Jiwoo looks up at her, Sooyoung’s eyes are unmistakably trained on her mouth and she swallows.
“Are you going to run away again if I try to kiss you?” Sooyoung asks through a smirk, her hand resting firm against the back of Jiwoo’s neck. Instead of answering her snark verbally, Jiwoo rolls her eyes but still leans those few inches forward to finally kiss Sooyoung like she’s been wanting to for so long. Jiwoo leans into her when Sooyoung’s fingertips press purposefully into her skin. Sooyoung surges forward when Jiwoo parts her lips so she can kiss her deeper, like something in her has been set loose and Jiwoo groans quietly into her mouth as her shoulder blades dig into the solid wood at her back.
“Sorry,” Sooyoung mumbles. Jiwoo barely manages to get out a breathless it’s fine before Sooyoung kisses her again, dipping her tongue past Jiwoo’s lips to lick into her mouth. She pulls away wetly before tilting Jiwoo’s chin up and sucking at her pulse. “You just— You taste even better than I thought you would.” A nip at her collarbone, the pressure sharp enough Jiwoo knows she’s using her fangs and she shudders. “Is this okay?”
“God, yes.” Jiwoo breathes, thoughts centered around the ghost of Sooyoung's soft, needy lips against hers and Sooyoung admitting to fantasizing about how she’d taste. Sooyoung dips her head to capture Jiwoo’s lips again, letting out a long, satisfied sigh into Jiwoo’s mouth when she does. Every stroke of Sooyoung’s lips and tongue is intoxicating, way better than any of the scenarios that had popped up in her mind in the past.
It's only when Jiwoo pulls back for a little air that she realizes just how eagerly she’s been pressing her entire body against Sooyoung’s. At the same time, Sooyoung must realize how physically hot Jiwoo’s gotten, and she moves her hands from the back of her neck to cup her cheeks instead. Jiwoo nuzzles into her hands which makes Sooyoung smile softly as she tells her, “You’re so hot.”
While Jiwoo’s more than aware that Sooyoung means literally, she can’t help herself.
“I know.” Sooyoung’s unimpressed expression as she keeps Jiwoo’s face held firmly between her palms is worth it. When Jiwoo kisses Sooyoung, finding the expression doesn’t make her face any less kissable, this time Sooyoung’s hands boldly make their way beneath Jiwoo’s shirt and grope at her chest.
“You’re really hot,” Sooyoung agrees, her hands pushing up the cups of her bra beneath her shirt. Jiwoo lets out a sharp exhale from how cold her hands are against her bare skin. Sooyoung, taking the sound as encouragement, continues tracing the line of Jiwoo’s jaw with her lips until she makes her way to suck at the skin behind her ear.
It’s almost enough to distract Jiwoo from what she wants, so before it can happen Jiwoo uses Sooyoung’s preoccupation with her earlobe to flip their positions so Sooyoung’s the one against the door instead. Sooyoung stares at her for a moment, confusion clear on her face at why Jiwoo’s changed their positions.
“I want to eat you out,” Jiwoo tells her. “I can’t wait anymore.”
“Fuck,” Sooyoung breathes, sliding her hands from under Jiwoo’s shirt to tug on its hemline. “Okay. Let me take this off you first and you can do whatever you want.”
Well, that’s a win-win really.
Sooyoung rids Jiwoo of her shirt, keeping herself back against the door the entire time like Jiwoo’s pinned her there. Once it’s been pulled over her head, Jiwoo’s too greedy not to kiss her again while Sooyoung works on removing Jiwoo’s bra. Jiwoo loses the rhythm of their kiss then, unable to keep from moaning as Sooyoung thumbs at her nipples in a way that makes her legs almost give out.
When Jiwoo pulls away from her and Sooyoung chases her lips, Jiwoo lets her kiss again, because why wouldn’t she? Sooyoung kisses her and kisses her, and Jiwoo eventually has to force herself away from her lips. Sooyoung looks at Jiwoo with hooded eyes like she’s ready to devour her. Jiwoo ignores the disappointed look on Sooyoung’s face when Jiwoo doesn’t kiss her again this time; instead, she works open the button of Sooyoung’s jeans and drops to her knees, pulling her pants and panties down with her. She pretends not to notice the way Sooyoung’s legs tremble as Jiwoo helps her step out of them.
In anticipation, Jiwoo hopes; she is planning on fucking Sooyoung for as long as she’ll let her.
Now that she’s here, Jiwoo doesn’t mind letting herself indulge a little as she stares at Sooyoung's bare lower half. Jiwoo’s only fantasized about doing this since she first saw that photo of her from Jungeun months ago. To think if Jungeun hadn’t made it so damn dramatic—
A rough hand cups her jaw and forces Jiwoo’s gaze up. In the few seconds she’s been distracted, Sooyoung has taken her top off so she’s now fully naked and leaning back against the door. Jiwoo is entranced as Sooyoung’s thumb drags over her lips. And then Sooyoung’s hand fists in her hair and she tugs Jiwoo forward as she tosses a leg over Jiwoo’s shoulder, placing her face directly between her legs.
“Stop thinking so hard. Focus on me.” When she says it like that... well, it’s not like Sooyoung doesn’t make a great point. Jiwoo has plenty of time to be mad at Jungeun later for delaying this and it’ll make an interesting story at least. In the meantime, Jiwoo presses an open-mouthed kiss to Sooyoung’s knee while she squeezes her ass. Sooyoung bucks into her, her eyelids fluttering as Jiwoo kisses her way to her center and then drags her tongue against her waiting cunt. Sooyoung’s head falls back against the door and she lets out a quiet sigh. It sounds like a relief. And Jiwoo has done that.
“Sooyoung.” Sooyoung manages to look at her, bottom lip falling from between her teeth, plump and red and so kissable. “Tell me what you like.”
“Fuck me, Jiwoo. I don’t care how as long as you’re doing it.” Never had Jiwoo imagined Sooyoung would become this pliant when she’s just barely started touching her. Jiwoo’s not complaining; as unexpected as it is, having Sooyoung wet and asking Jiwoo to fuck her is better than anything she could have wished for.
Since Sooyoung has declined her request for instruction, Jiwoo takes her time exploring what Sooyoung likes and dislikes. Jiwoo palms the curve of her ass, holding Sooyoung against her and kneading it roughly as she lets her tongue, lips, and teeth do the work of figuring out how Sooyoung likes to be eaten out. It’s maddening watching Sooyoung’s body pulse and writhe above her, responding to every single thing like all she needs is Jiwoo herself to feel good.
It’s a thought that makes Jiwoo double her efforts and Sooyoung’s fingers fist in her hair, scratching encouragingly at her scalp.
“Fuck, baby, just like that. Don’t stop, please,” Sooyoung downright begs, looking down at Jiwoo with hazy eyes, her thighs twitching around her head with each pass of Jiwoo’s tongue, making encouraging mewls no matter where Jiwoo decides to place her mouth. The world could end and Jiwoo won’t stop until Sooyoung has come in her mouth.
And when Jiwoo purposefully brushes a pinky against Sooyoung’s rim after mumbling something about giving her ass the same treatment later, Sooyoung does just that, with a gasp like she suddenly can’t breathe. She strokes Jiwoo’s head as she comes, Jiwoo licking at her until Sooyoung drags her back up and kisses her, her tongue lapping into Jiwoo’s mouth like she’s actively trying to steal her own essence off Jiwoo’s lips. Jiwoo is the one to pull away again and Sooyoung’s mouth moves to her neck instead. She bites down in a way that Jiwoo knows is going to leave a nice bruise. Her cool tongue soothes the spot while Jiwoo turns her head to figure out where she’s going to fuck Sooyoung next.
Her eyes land on a fancy chaise longue a few feet away and she sends a quiet apology to Joohyun before she pulls Sooyoung towards it, sitting down and pulling Sooyoung into her lap.
“I can’t believe you still have your pants on,” Sooyoung says as Jiwoo runs her nails down Sooyoung’s back lightly. Sooyoung shivers and then her body jolts when Jiwoo pinches at one of her nipples.
“I’m not done with you yet.” Jiwoo offers Sooyoung two fingers which Sooyoung eagerly takes into her mouth. Sooyoung lets her tongue lave over Jiwoo’s fingers and then she sucks. “Are you ready to ride my fingers, baby?”
Sooyoung melts into her lap as she says it and she nods like she hasn’t already come once. And Jiwoo isn’t going to stop at two. Sooyoung lathers Jiwoo’s fingers with her spit, a line of it following Jiwoo’s fingers when she pulls them out before she moves her hand between Sooyoung’s legs. And Jiwoo watches as Sooyoung positions herself, and then sinks down onto Jiwoo’s waiting fingers with the loudest moan Jiwoo’s heard yet directly in her ear.
Jiwoo wakes up in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, with an unfamiliar heartbeat echoing in her ear. Of those three things, Jiwoo decides to focus on the sluggish, irregular heartbeat of the half-vampire beneath her who’s stroking her hair while humming to herself. The arm slung around Jiwoo’s waist tightens a little once Sooyoung realizes she’s awake.
“Hi,” Sooyoung says when Jiwoo looks at her. Jiwoo scrunches her nose, the darkness outside explaining why Sooyoung’s still wide awake.
“Were you watching me sleep?” Jiwoo asks, averting her eyes to avoid the swirl of emotions she feels waking up to Sooyoung playing with her hair and holding her in her sleep, with her body aching wonderfully. It’s way too soon to think about or deal with any of that.
“What if I was?”
“Kinda creepy. Maybe I should run.” Sooyoung cards her fingers through Jiwoo’s hair and Jiwoo can’t help but tuck her head back into her.
“You feel like running?”
“No. I’m comfortable right here,” Jiwoo says honestly and Sooyoung laughs before she kisses her. Not unlike the way Sooyoung had kissed her last night, she kisses Jiwoo like she’s savoring every second. Sooyoung holds her close for a moment when she draws back, but then she pulls away suddenly, remembering something.
“Jungeun texted us both by the way. Says we’re welcome.”