Chapter Text
Sleep.
Sleep was the only thing Minnie wanted after spending hours and hours shooting for her Netflix sitcom. Sometimes, she hates herself for being such a perfectionist, for nitpicking at everything and for always wanting the best version of herself. It was tiring and infuriating. Yes, Minnie was mad at herself. Annoyingly mad and overly upset that she couldn’t act out her scenes for today well.
Oh, you’re always too serious. You did well, I know you did.
Those were the words Miyeon had said to her through the phone when the Thai gave her a call the moment the director wrapped up the last scene. Despite receiving praises from her co-workers, Minnie just felt like she could’ve done better.
Could’ve done better. She’s repeated those words throughout her life for way too many times now.
She sighed heavily, blowing her bangs up slightly. Dead but piercing eyes stared at her own reflection in the mirror. The girl was just standing there, staring, analyzing, thinking and thinking before a chuckle slipped from her lips.
“Always too serious? Me? Tsk. That idiot.” The tall girl scoffed at Miyeon’s words and dragged a soft piece of cotton across her left eyelid. After removing all of her make up, she once again lifted her face up to the mirror.
“Damn.”
Now void of makeup, the dark circles around her half lidded eyes were left on full display. Bringing a finger up to softly trace the eye bags hanging proudly under her eyes, the girl heaved out another depressing sigh.
She hasn’t been sleeping well. In truth, she hasn’t been sleeping well for a very long time now. She missed those times when she could easily fall asleep and drool at the back of the classroom when she was in Thailand.
Picking up the used cotton pads into the palm of her hand, her mind slowly drifted to Miyeon, the girl who could sleep anywhere at anytime. Yuqi would always joke around saying that Minnie should sleep with Miyeon more so that her ability to fall asleep quickly would seep into Minnie. She recalled how she had almost spit out the water she was sipping at the time when Yuqi said that. Although the Chinese vehemently insisted she meant to sleep with literally and absolutely not in any other way, Minnie pretended she didn’t see the way Miyeon’s cheeks flared as she pushed Yuqi off her chair.
Miyeon.
The Korean’s sleeping habit makes Minnie want to strangle her from time to time. It wasn’t novel news that Miyeon sometimes fall asleep in the Thai’s bed, inevitably spending the night there (and taking up half of her bed space and never waking up to her phone’s alarm the next morning). Minnie hated that with a vengeance and she’s never hesitated to show that with her distaste coming out in periodic grumps and whines.
And did it ever succeed in making Miyeon go away? No. Hell no.
The louder Minnie whines, the tighter Miyeon wraps her arms around Minnie’s torso. Only when Miyeon falls asleep, soft snores filling up the room, that Minnie halts her whines and instead, spend a few silent seconds looking at the face of her fellow bandmate. She’ll never ever say it to Miyeon’s face but the girl has a face sculpted by God himself. With features so define and so sharp, a person would simply be blind to deny the Korean’s beauty.
And her lips…
“Ok, no. Yeah, that was gay. Damn, you really need to sleep.” Minnie stopped her internal thoughts the moment they started to go off track. Her bandmate was unfairly pretty and so what? What about her lips? Nothing. Throwing the trash in her hand into the bin, she made way for her room and fell face first into her soft sheets.
All she wanted was sleep. That was all she asked for. But no, the world was cruel because the moment her finger tips graced dreamland, her jarring ringtone sliced through the air and yanked her back to blurry consciousness.
Biting the inside of her cheek to hold back a stream of profanities, the Thai stayed unmoved, letting the phone go off unattended on her table. When the phone fell silent, she breathed out to only hiss when it came back to life again. Minnie grumpily cursed under her breath as she pushed herself off her bed.
“Whoever this is—” Minnie glanced at the caller’s ID and sucked her teeth in mere annoyance.
“What do you want?” The red head hissed into her phone. If the other person wasn’t so dense, they would be able to tell that Minnie was one second away from exploding.
“Yah, can you come open the door—”
“No.”
“—What? No? Yah Kim Minnie!” Miyeon’s shrill voice rang loudly through the phone and Minnie only rolled her eyes in response.
“I said no.” The Thai dryly repeated but still opened her bedroom door and paddled to the entrance of her dorm. She leaned her shoulder against the entrance door and did absolutely nothing to let the girl on the other side in.
“Open up now!”
Minnie’s lips twitched in amusement when she heard Miyeon’s pissed off voice from both her phone and from behind the door. Instead of replying, the Thai just whistled a happy tune and tapped her foot against the ground.
“Stop whistling and come open the door, I’m serious!”
“Don’t want to.” The younger girl cheekily replied and relished the sound of Miyeon huffing and puffing in distress.
“Are you being serious? Really? Fine. Whatever.” A click and the line went dead.
The smile painted on Minnie’s lips got wiped out in a flash. She’s made Miyeon mad for real again, it seems.
“Look who’s always being too serious.” Minnie mumbled softly as she kicked her body off the door and unlocked it. She stuck her head out to look at the retreating figure that was already halfway down the hall.
“Are you coming in or not?” Her voice bounced off the narrow hallway and Miyeon immediately turned around, her brows furrowing and her lips jutting out in an angry pout.
“Drop the face, you don’t look cute at all.” The Thai deadpanned and leaned against the door frame. Her bored eyes took in Miyeon’s outfit with disinterest. It seemed the latter just came back from a schedule, her head sporting her infamous deer beanie, her face coated with a light layer of makeup. Her line of sight trailed down to the white plastic bag hanging from the Korean’s fingertips.
“What’s that?” She cocked an eyebrow up.
The mad Korean didn’t even spare the younger girl an answer as she stormed in (aggressively), nearly knocking the Thai down on her way in.
“Are you mad for real? I was just playing with you.” The Thai pulled the door shut and followed Miyeon’s angry trail to the kitchen. The mad girl was aggressively yanking plastic boxes out of the bag.
“You brought food? Wait, is that Pad Thai?” Minnie waltzed excitedly to the dining table and reached for the box of food. But Miyeon was faster in pulling the food away from Minnie’s grasp.
Minnie’s mouth fell open in shock as she watched her friend hold onto her native food, a fuming expression painted onto her face. The older girl probably thinks she’s looking so intimidating when in truth, she was just about as scary as an angry kitten.
“I was just kidding! Why are you so mad?” It was now her turn to whine.
“Say sorry.”
“I—what?” Minnie’s mouth formed an “o” as she was rendered completely speechless. She looked at the two boxes of Pad Thai then flicked her sight back to Miyeon’s face. She has been craving Thai food for days now.
“You could’ve just told me you brought food you know? I was just about to fall asleep and you called me! You know how tired I was?” Minnie crossed her arms over her chest in frustration.
“And I’m not tired? I just left my schedule and immediately got this for you. If you don’t say sorry, I’m eating both boxes right in front of your face.” The chair screeched loudly as Miyeon pulled it out and sat down.
“Fine, sorry!”
“Say it like you mean it.”
“Ah, how annoying.” The red head grumbled underneath her breath. Maybe she had been a bit too mean to the Korean earlier. After sighing internally, she put both palms together and lifted it up to her forehead.
“I’m so sorry!” The Thai dramatically heaved out.
“Is this enough? Or should I get on my knees too?” She peeked at Miyeon’s face and grinned when she saw how the Korean was holding back a smile.
“I hate you.” Miyeon finally said but the way her lips lifted up into a soft smile proved otherwise. Minnie just rolled her eyes at the insult and opened the lid giddily. The moment the familiar homey smell of the Thai dish hit her nose, her mouth tingled and she didn’t waste another second before stuffing her face with food.
“Where’s Soyeon and Yuqi?” Upon hearing the question, the Thai looked up with her mouth still chewing. She thought for a bit and realized she actually didn’t know where they were. She’s been too tired to even notice the pair wasn’t home. The younger girl nonchalantly shrugged and was about to go back to eating when she noticed something.
Miyeon was looking at her weirdly.
“…What?” Her jaw slowly stopped chewing. Instead of answering, the older girl leaned forward and held the Thai’s chin. Minnie stiffened under the spontaneous touch. She felt a thumb wipe the corner of her mouth and reacting as quick as possible, she slapped Miyeon’s hands away.
“What are you doing? I can do it myself.” Minnie reached for a piece of tissue and quickly wiped her lips.
“I was just wiping the sauce for you, God, why are you being so mean to me today?” Miyeon threw an irritated glance at her bandmate.
“You’re being—” The remaining words died at the tip of her tongue when she witnessed Miyeon licking the sauce off her thumb. It was brief, it was really quick, but it still rendered Minnie speechless for a good few seconds.
“You’re being weird.” Her words seemed to have lost its original vigor, only coming out as an unsure statement.
Miyeon threw her a dirty glance and the foreigner shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She started chewing her food again while her hand tapped the end of her chopsticks against the table rapidly. The girl kind of knew the reason why Miyeon showed up tonight with food. It was definitely because of how Minnie sounded so upset when she called Miyeon earlier today after her shoot. The older girl came with nothing but good intentions but she herself just can’t stop being an ass.
Her face dropped down to look at the food in front of her. The least she could do was say thank you. She opened her mouth but was cut off when Miyeon spoke again.
“Do you know when Soyeon and Yuqi are gonna come back?”
“Excuse me, but do you need them for something?” Minnie fired back with a question. She had originally thought Miyeon came for her but now, she was starting to doubt herself.
“Huh? No. I’m just curious.” The Korean silently went back to eating her food. Minnie held her glance, her eyes turning into suspicious slits.
“I don’t know. You can send them a text to ask, if you must know.” Minnie poked at her food idly.
“It’s fine.”
“Thanks for bringing me the food, by the way.” The red head flicked a piece of meat into the wall of her container. In her peripheral vision, she saw Miyeon nod slowly.
“It’s nothing.”
Minnie didn’t know what to say nor how to reply. The silence became awkward. The Thai racked her brain for something to ask or to say. Did she make Miyeon upset again with how she reacted when Miyeon wiped her lips? She did act like she was disgusted.
“When are you going back?” Minnie tried to initiate small talk.
“You want me to go back?” Miyeon put her chopsticks down and leaned into her chair. The way she looked at Minnie was borderline deadly.
“What? No! I was just asking.”
“Do you even want me here? Because it seems like you don’t.” The Korean chewed at her bottom lip and Minnie suddenly felt defensive.
“I never said that! I said thank you right?”
Miyeon played with her fingers below the table. Minnie cocked a questioning eyebrow up. From all the years Minnie has spent with Miyeon, she dares say she knows almost everything about the older girl. Playing with her fingers meant that the girl was nervous. But about what?
“I’ve watched your latest Replay episode. The final one. It was great.” That was Minnie’s shitty attempt at saving the tense atmosphere between them.
“Oh?”
Minnie’s confusion only worsened at the lack of reaction from the Korean. Usually, a bright smile would appear upon hearing the compliment. Something was definitely up.
“What did you think of the ending scene?”
Minnie almost choked on air.
“Er, the kissing scene?”
Miyeon gave out a low affirmative hum.
Minnie stared intensely at her nails. She squinted her eyes and finally replied.
“It was amazing. Really. I felt butterflies in my stomach.” Minnie flashed a toothy grin that didn’t ignite happiness in her but instead, made her lips numb from the strain it was giving. What she said was a straight up lie. She didn’t realize how foreign and off-putting it was to see Miyeon kissing someone. It was like watching a sibling kissing someone else.
You call that a kissing scene? I could’ve kissed you better than that—
Minnie stopped herself before she could finish that sinful thought. Her brain was being really weird today. Extremely.
“Really? I didn’t even feel butterflies and you did?” The skepticism was so obvious in her tone. But then, there was something else in the way she spoke. It sounded almost like disappointment. The older girl couldn’t have noticed she was lying through her teeth right?
“I did. But, I still wished you ended up with Ji-hoon.” Minnie abruptly stood up and stretched. Miyeon jolted in shock and looked up at Minnie with big eyes.
“Do you have a schedule tomorrow?” Divert the topic. That was her strategy in making Miyeon forget about her lie. Maybe bringing her web drama up was a mistake because the Thai can’t stand another second discussing about that kissing scene. It sent tingles along her skin, in a bad way.
“No.”
“Well, this new movie just came out and it’s on Netflix. Do you want to watch it?” Minnie tilted her head to the side and sent a soft smile to the latter.
Minnie woke up to the dark. For a few hazy seconds, she tried to sort out the confusion bubbling in her head. The last thing she remembered was her and Miyeon watching a movie together on her bed. Did she actually fall asleep? Since when? The red head had no idea. She couldn’t even remember which part of the movie she was at. Speaking of which, she wondered if Miyeon had already left.
Her question was immediately answered by the rustling behind her and the strong scent of body lotion that only Miyeon uses. A bit too strong for her liking, if she was being honest. But then, since when did Miyeon and her taste align? They were always arguing about their tastes in things.
The bed creaked and groaned as she felt the person beside her shift. Now, Minnie finally understood why she woke up. Being the light sleeper that she was, the Thai can wake up to anything. It wasn’t unusual at all but from all the time Miyeon has spent her nights over, Minnie had never woke up because whenever the older girl sleeps, she sleeps like a rock. Tonight, however, was different. Speaking of which, today has already been a bit different.
Is Miyeon not asleep? But, that’s impossible. Minnie internally rationalized.
Since Minnie was sleeping on her side with her face to the wall, of course, she had no idea how she could confirm her thoughts. A part of her wanted to throw a whisper into the dark but something held her back.
The bed creaked again, the springs groaning under Miyeon’s weight. The Korean was shifting, tossing and turning and at this point, sleep was already far from Minnie’s grasp. With eyes opened wide in the dark, Minnie stayed still like a rock.
And then, she felt it. It was faint, but with nothing but the dark, all her senses were much more enhanced, making her feel the soft breaths of air gracing her nape. Miyeon was close. Not close enough to touch her but she knew Miyeon was extremely close. Close enough so that the body warmth radiating from her was licking the back of Minnie’s bare thighs and seeping through her flimsy cotton shirt.
Goosebumps rose along the length of her arms.
Judging from the way Miyeon’s breath fanned the back of her neck, the Korean’s breathing was nothing out of the ordinary. The air stayed silent for a moment and Minnie almost thought that the older girl was just moving in her sleep when she felt hot flushed skin hesitantly press against her back. Minnie would’ve been fine, she would’ve been okay if it weren’t for the way she could vividly feel the Korean’s chest pressing against her shoulder blades, her bottom, no doubt pressed up against the older girl’s crotch.
She’d like to think Miyeon was just moving in her sleep, her body unconsciously searching for a pillow to cuddle with. But then, that wouldn’t be able explain the hand that shyly snaked its way over the dip of her hips and down to the front of her belly. How the fingers gingerly hovered over the fabric of her shirt before lowering down to fully splay across her stomach was enough proof that Miyeon was far from asleep. A person deep in a slumber wouldn’t be capable of such calculative actions.
In contrast to the freezing room, the pads of Miyeon’s fingers burned through the fabric of her top and into Minnie’s skin. At this point, the Thai should’ve said something, she should’ve moved so that Miyeon would stop but no, she found herself there laying still, accepting all touches made upon her skin as if she was anticipating whatever Miyeon was going to do next.
Her heart skipped a beat when the intrusive fingers moved again, leaving deliciously scorching trails as they made their way down to the hem of her shirt. Whatever Miyeon was doing, it was as if it was a game, a game the Korean was enjoying playing by herself. Each move was made with a purpose; a purpose to induce pleasure in Miyeon but in turn, ignite nothing but curiosity and painful anticipation in the red head.
Minnie knew this was weird, this was overstepping the friendship boundary they shared but she can’t will herself to move and she didn’t know why.
This is so wrong. Do something.
But Minnie did nothing. Miyeon was still fiddling with her shirt, twirling the cloth with her index finger mindlessly. But then, she stopped. And so did Minnie’s breath. The Korean was waiting for something, or was she unsure? A warm breath of air draped her neck and Miyeon finally slipped her fingers in. The initial contact caught the younger girl by surprise and her body twitched slightly in response.
The fingers on her body froze. Shit. Minnie cursed in her head.
Her heart beat wildly against her chest as she registered how Miyeon’s breath got a bit more ragged, perfectly showing that she was nervous. Slowly, the fingers detached from Minnie’s skin and Miyeon carefully pulled her hand back. The bed croaked again and the searing warmth vanished, the breath against her neck dissipating as if it was never even there.
The mattress dipped slightly then bounced back up. A few shuffling was heard before her door opened and closed with a faint click. From the distance, the front door of her shared dorm thudded close.
Miyeon had left.
The younger girl exhaled shakily and finally turned around to feel the empty space beside her. The space Miyeon was in a few seconds ago was still warm, acting as proof that whatever that just happened was very much real. Feeling her way in the dark, she grabbed her phone and checked the time.
Her phone showed 1:12 A.M. If Minnie wasn’t mistaken, she watched the movie at 11 P.M. Give or take. She might’ve fell asleep at around midnight. That left an hour time slot. Did the older girl even sleep?
A friend wouldn’t have done that. Minnie kept repeating that in her head as she stared up at the ceiling. The areas in which Miyeon touched still tingled, making loads of questions flood into her head. Questions she couldn’t answer.
Questions like:
“If that wasn’t normal, then why did I let her touch me like that?”
“If that wasn’t normal, then why did my heart race?”
“If that wasn’t normal, then why did it actually feel nice?”
Minnie didn’t get a wink of sleep that night. She watched from her window as the sun rose from the horizon, the traces that Miyeon left still burning even hours after the girl had left.