Chapter Text
Everything’s great. Really, it is! She’s got a wonderful girlfriend, even if she can be a little bit greasy sometimes. Everyone’s eating properly, and they’re wrapping up shooting for their next music video. And so what if the fans are starting to pick up on the way Byul stares at her lips sometimes? Who cares if they post screenshots where she’s sitting on her lap? Nobody knows, they’ve been beyond careful. Not even the kids, even if it’s probably just that they aren’t saying anything. So, really, who cares if Byulyi drags her out after a shoot for a date in the park? And maybe it’ll get her girlfriend to stop whining.
“If they see us, we can just say it’s promoting the music video! And worst case, if they figure out it’s me, we’re assumed to just be close friends. I don’t kiss my friends on the lips, but they don’t know that!”
She rolls her eyes, but admits defeat. Maybe it’s not such a bad idea. Besides, they’ve always wanted to have a “proper date”, with goodnight kisses in the car, holding hands on a park bench. It’s late anyways. Nobody’s going to see them.
The next morning, they stand in front of their CEO, who has his arms crossed as they look over the photos he’s slid across the desk. Her girlfriend’s voice (unhelpfully) pipes up.
“Well, we sure fucking fumbled on this one.”
She snaps her head around as Byul claps a hand over her mouth and starts apologizing. As she stares at the pictures, her heart experiences an emotional rollercoaster closer to the Tower of Terror than anything else. The photos are unmistakably romantic. Even if they didn’t get a solid shot of the kisses, it’s pretty clear what’s happening. Sure, she’s thrilled that they’ve clearly made it out of friendship territory, despite how easy it had been to slip into their relationship. On the other hand, their CEO’s eyebrows are rising higher by the second as the two of them redden.
“So? Why is Moonbyul dressed as a man and kissing you in the park? I don’t care that you’re dating, but can you at least keep it in the dorms? You’ve already caused quite the scandal.”
When she looks back on this, she’ll laugh at how they still remained almost eerily in sync. In the present, though, they simply flush red and exclaim
“We’re not dating! It was possible promotion, for the music video!”
He levels a blank stare at them. Yongsun squeezes her eyes shut, and decides to continue.
“Besides, we hadn’t gotten to spend time together in public for a long time. We were reckless, and decided it on the spot, to try to get public attention on Mamamoo. It was my idea, I’m sorry.”
Silence. She dares to crack an eye open. Prepares herself to see the results of her splendid acting: perhaps a smile? A handshake? Congratulations, thanking her for her genius marketing decision? A swooning Byulyi, thoroughly impressed with her girlfriend’s incredible skill, leaning in to dip her and press a kiss to her lips as they-
“Alright. Sure. We’ll send out a statement later today. Your van’s outside.”
She blinks. Faintly, she senses Byul moving behind her, grabbing their coats and shepherding her towards the elevators. Well. At least it worked, sort of?
2.
She curses. This stupid meal kit gave her broken rice cakes! Well , she amends to herself. They’re not broken. That’s sort of the problem here, isn’t it? What other word is she supposed to use? Defunct? Non-functional? Deficient? She’s so focused on coming up with new synonyms that she forgets her stove is on. In retrospect? Totally preventable. But that’s not on current Yong’s mind. And while her mind isn’t on the flame flickering below the pan, something else decides it wants to be. The stained towel leaps into flame, and the first thing she thinks is this: I don’t think tteokbokki is supposed to smell like that. The second thing is a string of curses in every language she knows, running through her mind like a news banner scrolling along the bottom of a news broadcast. It’s an impressive list, really. The third thing?
“Ow.”
She’s lying on the floor, and there’s a shrill beeping echoing through their (definitely not, if the inspector asks) roach-infested apartment. There’s smoke, and some terrible smell, and her girlfriend dunking the poor towel into their sink, still piled with dirty dishes. Oh. Right. She was cooking. She sits up, her eyes locking onto Byul, who’s leaning against the counter with soot on her hands. Shit .
“What happened here? I went to shower and came back to you trying to burn the dorms down. If the kids put you up to this, I swear I’ll-”
Byulyi takes a breath, calming herself. She tries to keep her eyes off of damp skin, soot-stained hands, and the strong set of her girlfriend’s jaw. Oh, yeah. Speaking. She should do that.
“I’m sorry. I...I was trying to make food for us. For, you know. Date night. Since Wheeinie and Hyejinie went out for karaoke, I wanted to...to surprise you. I guess I still did, didn’t I?”
She chuckles, staring at the floor. There’s so much she could say. Should say, even. She was tired, the rice cakes were sticking together, that towel was ugly anyways. Maybe they should’ve burned the apartment down. It’s pretty disgusting, after all. Before she can voice that, though, Byul is squatting in front of her. Her eyes are shining, and her hand comes up to rest on Yongsun’s cheek.
“Baby, that’s adorable. Thank you so much. And really, before you say anything, I know it’s probably because you were tired. And, yes, that towel was gross. So you did us all a favor.”
She smiles, still in awe of how well her girlfriend can read her. As she calms down, her eyes fall to Byulyi’s tank top, clearly thrown on directly after her shower. Her girlfriend is staring at her, and her eyes are so loving that she feels like she might faint. At the same time, she looks so determined, and she’s really fucking attractive when she’s mad. So she does the only reasonable thing, and kisses her.
Byulyi kisses her back, her hand winding into her hair. As she cages Yongsun in with her arms, she drops another kiss to her lips. Stupid attractive girlfriend. Stupid tank top. Stupid kissable lips. She leans forward again, her lips parting lightly against Byulyi’s. The whole world falls away. They don’t care about the horrific odor in the air, the ruined towel, or their lack of dinner. She leans forward, pressing her girlfriend against the cabinets below the sink. The strap of her tank top falls down. She doesn’t move it back up. Right as some (quite frankly, embarrassing) noises start to fall from their lips, the door opens. The frantic chatter stops. Hyejin breaks the silence first.
“So, what the fuck happened here? Also, why is unnie’s lipstick all over your face? Didn’t you shower off?”
They share a glance. Yong makes no move to get off her girlfriend’s lap. She clears her throat.
“I wanted to make dinner. For my friend. Since we’re friends. And that’s what a friend does. I burned a towel, and Byulyi put it out. And then, uh. We.”
“I fainted,” Byulyi says. “Cause of the smoke. And unnie had to...resuscitate me. Cause, you know, Not enough oxygen.”
Wheein stares at them, clearly disbelieving. As she glances around the kitchen, taking in the wisps of smoke and forgotten tteokbokki, she sighs.
“Whatever. You’re both terrible liars. Just don’t have sex on the couch. Hyejinie and I have the decency to at least keep it out of the dorm, but you two clearly don’t. We’re gonna go get beers.”
As the youngest two walk out of the apartment, Yongsun starts giggling.
“You owe me sixty-thousand won, bitch!”