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It was a rare night.
Handong was back in Korea for a week, and per Minji’s request, they’d all agreed to gather for a night of drinking and reminiscing memories of their time together.
Yoohyeon was still a light-weight. Not even two glasses of wine, and her eyes were on Minji like a moth to a flame.
It didn’t seem to matter that she still saw her and Bora all the time due to intertwined work schedules, nor that her time with the others was a lot more limited now. Her gaze remained steady on one of two people who’d never left.
Minji sat right across from Yoohyeon, smiling, and cheeks slightly flushed from the wine. Yoohyeon’s heart stuttered in her chest. She didn’t think she’d ever looked quite this beautiful, eyes sparkling, bright, and so, so soft.
Her face turned towards Yoohyeon as if sensing her eyes on her, and Yoohyeon’s lips parted involuntarily, a barely noticeable, but startlingly real sound escaping before she managed to swallow it down with the rest of her wine.
Minji looked at her questioningly, her brows pulled into a frown. There was some confusion, something analytical, and almost calculating in her gaze, but then Siyeon nudged her shoulder, saying something Yoohyeon was too out of it to hear, and when she looked away to respond, Yoohyeon felt like she could finally catch her breath.
Someone suggested they play a game.
Yoohyeon, again, was too caught up with Minji to realize who the voice belonged to. She was too tipsy to care about how obvious she was in her staring, figuring that no one would know it held any special meaning anyway.
Every once in a while, Minji would glance her way. Never for more than a few seconds, and never long enough for Yoohyeon to feel embarrassed enough to look away.
Yoohyeon’s attention only drifted momentarily when she absentmindedly reached for a beer, opening it with a flick, and taking a long sip from it. She put it back down and rested her head in her palm as she looked back at Minji with heavy-lidded eyes and a faint smile on her lips.
Yoohyeon noticed Minji’s lips moving without sound and blinked to focus, eyes narrowing as she read them.
Are you okay?
Her eyes drifted back up to find Minji’s, and Yoohyeon nodded, offering her a thumbs-up. The gesture made Minji smile, but she still didn’t look like she fully believed it.
Yoohyeon mouthed something back before she could think better of it, no longer held back by the invisible chains of sobriety.
You’re just beautiful.
Minji’s eyes widened in shock, and not even two seconds later Yoohyeon had pushed her chair back, her own eyes flickering and unsure as they reflected the internal panic Minji’s reaction had immediately stirred within her chest.
She excused herself under the disguise of having to go to the bathroom and tried to leave the room quickly, but in a way that wouldn’t seem out of character or suspicious to any of the others.
Yoohyeon swore she could feel eyes on her back as she went, but she didn’t dare to turn around. Instead, she kept moving until she was finally at the bathroom door, and quietly slipped inside, before locking it behind her.
She stepped up to the sink and grabbed the edges of it with both of her hands as she slowly lifted her eyes to look at herself through the mirror.
The way her eyes were glassing over.
The subtle quivering of her lips.
The shallow breathing.
”Why did I do that?” Yoohyeon whispered helplessly. “I’m such an idiot.” She bit her lip hard as tears started rapidly falling down her cheeks.
Just as she had managed to calm down a little, there was a soft voice on the other side of the door.
”…Yoohyeon-ah?”
Yoohyeon recognized the voice and froze.
She swallowed. “Yeah?”
”Will you open the door?”
”I-I don’t think that’s—“
”—Please?”
Yoohyeon’s resistance faltered. “Okay.”
With shoulders slumped, she sighed, and turned around to unlock the door. She tentatively opened it, just a crack, eyes anxious as they searched Minji’s.
”Hi unnie,” she said quietly.
”Hi,” Minji breathed.
Yoohyeon opened the door the rest of the way and wasn’t really sure what else to say, so Minji decided to save her by speaking again.
”Are you oka—?”
”I’m sorry,” Yoohyeon accidentally cut in.
Minji closed the door behind them and reached for Yoohyeon’s hand with a frown. “Don’t be sorry.”
Yoohyeon blushed. “I-I’m drunk! I didn’t mean…”
”Hey, it’s okay. Breathe.”
”I shouldn’t have… I just, I wasn’t thinking—“
”Yoohyeon-ah.”
Yoohyeon bit her tongue and looked down at her feet.
”Yoohyeon-ah, can you look at me? Please?”
She carefully lifted her gaze to Minji’s face.
”It’s okay.” Minji’s voice was so gentle and reassuring it brought fresh tears to Yoohyeon’s eyes. She pushed them away before they had a chance to fall. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
”I did. I couldn’t stop looking at you, and I pretty much admitted that it’s because I find you too beautiful to look away from,” Yoohyeon whispered. “It’s not okay.”
“You can look.”
Yoohyeon dropped Minji’s hand. “What?”
Minji reached up to touch the sides of Yoohyeon’s face with her hands, her eyes soft as they traced Yoohyeon’s features with a reverence that suggested she didn’t want to ever forget a single one of them.
Their eyes found each other again, and Yoohyeon’s breath was stolen from her lungs when she found Minji smiling at her like she meant so much more to her than Yoohyeon had ever dared to realize.
”I want you to look at me,” Minji murmured, her hands lowering to caress Yoohyeon’s cheeks. “It’s never been just you who has a hard time looking away, so if you don’t, maybe… maybe I won’t feel like I have to, either. Maybe it would finally be okay for me to look as well.”
Yoohyeon didn’t know what to say. Her mouth felt dry, and she tried to breathe in, deeply, to find her words, but they failed her still, leaving her speechless and disoriented.
Minji tilted her head at her. “Are you still with me?”
Yoohyeon nodded dumbly.
”Okay,” Minji whispered. “Okay, I just— I need…”
Yoohyeon gasped when Minji’s upper body unexpectedly leaned into her own, stumbling back to keep from falling, only for her hands to grip the edges of the sink again, although significantly more tightly this time around.
They were close enough now that Yoohyeon could feel Minji’s hot breath against her cheek, and the realization sent a shudder through her entire being. Minji licked her lips subconsciously and settled her own hands next to Yoohyeon’s before lifting her gaze to meet her eyes.
”Is this okay?” She asked breathlessly.
Yoohyeon nodded and, by some miracle, finally managed to find her voice. “What is this? Unnie, why— why are you doing this?”
”You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you.”
Yoohyeon’s chest rose. “You’ve thought about kissing me?”
Minji chuckled, but there was something pleading and almost desperate about how it sounded. She sighed and reached up a hand to cup Yoohyeon’s cheek gently.
”So many times,” she admitted vulnerably.
”And you’re not…” Yoohyeon closed her eyes. “You’re not just saying that because you’re drunk.” She opened them again, searching Minji’s dilated pupils. “…Right?”
”Yoohyeon-ah,” Minji’s voice cracked, and the sound tore through Yoohyeon enough to reach up one of her own hands to her cheek, a faint smile slowly spreading on her face when Minji nuzzled against it, her eyes not once straying from Yoohyeon’s own. “I always want to kiss you,” she said quietly, worrying her lip between her teeth. “Just you. It’s always you, because I— I’m so… I just…” Minji’s head dropped forward to touch Yoohyeon’s forehead lightly, and Yoohyeon’s hand on Minji’s cheek found the back of Minji’s neck, caressing her there for comfort.
”Because you’re in love with me,” Yoohyeon guessed.
Minji’s lips parted on a shaky inhale.
She nodded once. Yoohyeon felt it.
”Baby,” Yoohyeon said tearfully.
Minji’s breath hitched, and she slowly leaned back to look into Yoohyeon’s face, eyebrows scrunching into a worried frown at the sight of fresh tears spilling down her cheeks.
“Tell me,” Yoohyeon practically begged.
Minji’s own eyes quickly filled with tears. “I’m in love with you, Hyeonie. I’m so in love with you. I want you more than anything, I—“
”You have me,” Yoohyeon sniffled. “I’m all yours.”
“Are you sure?” Minji sobbed.
”Yes,” Yoohyeon laughed, pressing a lingering kiss to Minji’s forehead, before pulling back to see her staring at her like she put the stars in the sky. “I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I’m just— Minji, I’m so in love with you. You have no idea how happy I am to know that it’s not just me. I was going crazy over here for a while.”
”Me too,” Minji said through a watery chuckle.
“Please kiss me before I actually go insane.”
Minji chuckled and let her forehead touch Yoohyeon’s, nodding as she pulled back to look at her with so much love it took Yoohyeon’s breath away. “You’re so pretty.”
Minji’s expression softened further. “My beautiful girl.”
Yoohyeon only had a second to flush at how possessive that sounded, and how much she liked hearing that from Minji’s mouth, before one of Minji’s hands settled at her waist, the other softly cupping her jaw, and then Minji was leaning in, their breaths mingling, hearts beating just a little faster, and lips connected in what Yoohyeon could only describe as something completely otherworldly.
Sparks. Warmth. Passion. Comfort. Electricity. Home.
It was an overwhelming collision of strong emotions that neither of them had ever felt at the same time quite so strongly, and they pulled each other just a little closer as a result of it, both secretly scared to lose the feeling too soon after finally knowing it— after finally having each other in the way they’d craved to for such a long time.
Yoohyeon whined unwittingly, causing her lips to part slightly, and Minji’s tongue asked for entrance without hesitation, without thought, which was granted with an equal thoughtlessness that left Yoohyeon moaning softly into Minji’s mouth, her knees weakening beneath her, barely strong enough to keep herself standing if not for Minji pressing their bodies even closer in response.
When they finally pulled apart, it was with shaky breaths, red tinted cheeks, impossibly soft smiles, and eyes that seemed incapable of looking at anything but the person in front of them.
Minji leaned in to kiss Yoohyeon’s nose playfully.
”Hey you,” she said softly.
Yoohyeon giggled, biting her lip shyly. “Hi…”
Because what else could she possibly do?
Minji was just too beautiful.
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