Work Text:
Bae Irene was dragging in the rest of her weekly groceries into her shared apartment when she heard a familiar ding come from her phone. She dropped the multiple bags she was previously carrying and poked through her purse, in search of her phone. Once she felt the cold metal exterior of the phone itself, she grabbed it out of her purse, peering curiously at the brightened screen.
From Seulgi:
I won’t be coming home early today. Dance practice is running a little late and I have to lead the crew. Sorry, unnie T-T
Irene frowned at the text until another one came through.
I’ll make it up to you soon, I swear! But I have to go right now, bye! <3
If the first message had her frowning, then the second one definitely had her grinning like a kid brought into a candy store. She picked up her bags and keyed into her apartment, still smiling, and set the bags down onto the countertop. There were six in total, all of them full of groceries, food, and other necessities that she had been lacking.
She sighed, there went her plans of cooking extra dinner for the two of them. She took all of the bought items out of their respective bags and quickly sorted through them, organizing them on the limited space of the small counter. She stacked all the cold food in the refrigerator and the freezer, heaving a breath from all the bulky groceries.
She trudged to her room, delaying doing any household chores for the time being. She went straight to her bed, the only other occupant was a small brown stuffed bear with a little bowtie, laying casually under the blanket. Her lips tugged into a little smile as she approached the fluffy animal, sitting down on the bed and carefully unburying it from the blanket. She brought it up to her eye level and beamed at it adoringly. She tightened the bowtie at the neck of the bear, adjusting the bow to make two bunny ears. She craned her neck to the side to check if the bow was straight, slightly nodding in approval when she saw that it was. Ruffling through the short and curly hair at the top of its head, she hugged it tightly across her chest, breathing in the soft, lost scent of tangy citrus. The scent that had first coated it when Irene received the bear as a birthday gift. From Seulgi, nonetheless.
Irene smiled when she thought back to Seulgi. How could someone be so caring and adorable yet not acknowledge that they are? She’d met a few people in her life, but none could even compare to what Seulgi was to her. She just couldn’t explain it, what Seulgi makes her feel. Whenever she beamed one of her game-winning smiles at her, Irene felt like something was blossoming where her heart was located, a small flower blooming at its base. It suffocated her heart in a good way, invading all of her thoughts and causing her to feel some sort of alien emotion that she’d never come to feel before.
What Seulgi was to her, Irene was unsure of at the moment. Whether it be a friend or something more, she just wanted Seulgi to always be by her side with her. That’s all she asked for, not anything more nor anything less. She felt safe whenever the lovable girl was next to her, her citrus fragrance roaming through the air around her and enveloping Irene with it. For whatever reason, Irene liked to cling to Seulgi, to feel her in her embrace, to make sure that she wasn’t living a dream, or dead in heaven with an angel near her. At first, when Irene had initiated the touching and hugging, Seulgi was reluctant; she told her that she wasn’t one for those sorts of things. But as time passed by, say, around a few months, Seulgi had definitely warmed up to the closeness and hugged back at times.
They’d made progress.
But would it be enough for her?
To satisfy what she really wanted?
Even if she couldn’t verbalize it right now?
She gently placed the teddy bear back on the bed and put her face in her hands. Her eyes are closed, vision blocked by her hands. Without even having to be with her, Irene could already just visualize Seulgi, a bright smile on her face, eyes forming up into crescents and Irene could swear she saw the actual moon in the monolidded girl’s eyes. How cheerful she always is, even in the dimmest of situations. Irene’s told her that before, the moon idea, but Seulgi just brushed it off and instead replied back that the only light she was radiating was actually from the sun right in front of her, that she was nothing but receiving the reflected light. To that Irene blushed wildly, and Seulgi, being the person she was, rushed next to her, worried for her unnie.
Irene tucked the teddy bear into her comforter and folded it under the bear’s neck, making sure to not cover its face. She tightened the bow one last time and pat its head, getting off the bed.
A few months ago, for Irene’s birthday, Seulgi had bought the small bear at a little boutique that she had passed by on the way back from campus. She was walking back to the apartment on her own, because apparently, a friend had canceled her plans with Seulgi, leaving the poor girl to stumble back on her own. The girl had remembered Irene’s birthday from a vague conversation the two had when they were still getting used to each other’s company. So Seulgi went in after having spotted a brown bear on the windowed display case. She quickly grabbed the stuffed bear from its current home on a white shelf, much to the store owner’s shock and displeasure. After a whole lot of bargaining and a small bit of arguing with the owner, Seulgi walked back to the apartment with the animal in her arms. That night, Irene was surprised with the gift, which she had trouble differentiating between the bear or the girl with her. It was also the night they really warmed up with one another, and Irene vowed to protect such a sweet, innocent girl.
The thought never failed to bring a smile back to Irene’s face. Seulgi was her muse, her inspiration, the person she always thought back to when her mind was blank and aimless. Irene didn’t know when this first started, but she knew she didn’t regret it happening. Seulgi made her happy, and hopefully, she thought the same way.
She left her room, turning off the lights and ceiling fan, and closing the door gently. There was an unspoken rule in the apartment: Seulgi couldn’t enter Irene’s room without permission. The reason? The older girl was incredibly shy and protective of her belongings and was very conscious about how the other would view her. Irene would become a completely open book once Seulgi came inside the room, and she didn’t want that to happen just yet. She wasn’t ready for it. So everytime Seulgi would ask to come in, Irene would try to dodge the question and slide into a different topic.
She frowned as she remembered the source of her stress these past weeks. The draft of her book. What started out as a small side-project from her college days quickly progressed into something she never thought she would have the responsibility of writing, editing, proofreading, etc. Hell, she didn’t think it would become her job . But, writing was like an open door to the numerous possibilities for her, she could make her greatest ideas, fantasies, and dreams come true through the form of a character just with the flick of a pen or the click of a mouse. The inner hopeless romantic in her had always been this way.
She didn’t give into procrastination this time though, and she pulled out the multiple notes and drafts surrounding her novel. She immersed herself with all the materials and resources she would need to write today, and it would be a hefty word count considering the fact that she hadn’t done much this week, save for adding a few words here and there for extra description. She took the glasses hanging on the collar of her blouse and put them on, blinking as the whole world around her came into focus.
Irene actually did write for a few hours, getting good ideas down into the organizer and approved ones onto the draft. By the time the clock struck 10 pm, Irene was yawning and her eyelids were slightly drooping. She stretched her numb limbs and sat up, looking down at what she’d accomplished that day. She smiled and switched off the desk lamp.
As she got up, a soft click of the door announced the new person who had just entered, and she turned around in surprise, “Seulgi-ah?”
The younger girl looked up at Irene with wistful and tired eyes. Her clothes were soaking wet and her hair was all messy and drenched. Irene glanced at the window nearest to her and realized it was raining the whole time she was home; a good five hours. In Seulgi’s left hand, she was dragging along her clothes bag, soggy as well, and in the other is her keys, jangling about in a noisy way.
“Oh, Irene-unnie, you’re still awake?” She asked quietly as if she were confused.
“Yeah, yeah, finally got to doing the draft, I’ve been putting it off for a while now,” Irene rushed to Seulgi’s side, “What happened to you? Don’t tell me you walked home.”
Seulgi nervously chuckled, “I won’t then, let’s just say the others back at practice forgot about me,” She took out her phone from her bag, “and the battery died. No choice but to go home the old-fashioned way.”
“Remind me to strangle your so-called friends the next time I see them.”
Seulgi beamed at her, “Will do, unnie.”
Irene grabbed the bag from Seulgi, “Go wash up, now. You’ll get a cold if you just keep standing like this.”
“O-oh, yeah, I will.” Seulgi offered Irene another wide smile before going off to the bathroom to shower.
Half an hour later, Seulgi came out of the bathroom, steam encircling her as she opened the door, her hair up in a wet towel. The smell of her citrus body wash hit Irene hard, and it invaded her senses, all she could smell was the clean orange and lemon smell she had come to associate with perfection. Seulgi was now in her pajamas, cutely patterned with bears in various poses covering the entirety of the clothes, with a light orange background.
Irene looked her up and down, “When’d you get that?”
Seulgi laughed, “I got it a while ago but just never wore it.”
“You’r‐it’s really cute,” Irene widened her eyes, she never meant for those words to come out and instantly regretted her stupid slip-up.
A flush covered Seulgi’s cheeks but Irene presumed it to be from her previous hot shower, “Thanks,” she took her hair out of the towel and ruffled it, running her hands through it as a makeshift way of combing, “I like it too.”
Irene smiled purely out of relief, “Good, then.”
Seulgi nodded, “Unnie, have you done the laundry yet?”
Irene furrowed her brows, “No, I don’t think I have yet, I’ll do it right now, I suppose,” she got up, but Seulgi stopped her.
“It’s fine, unnie, I’ll do it,” Seulgi placed a hand on Irene’s arm.
“W-what?” She flinched and looked down at Seulgi’s hand.
Seulgi let go of Irene from her reaction, much to the latter’s dismay, “You must be tired, let me do it this time.”
“But Seulgi‐”
“No buts, unnie, you’re obviously tired,” Seulgi said just as Irene was about to yawn. She tried to stifle it with a cough, earning a laugh from the younger.
“You do know how to work the machine, right?” Irene questioned.
Seulgi pouted, her lips puffing up and her arms crossing, “Of course I do!”
“I’m just kidding, Seulgi-ah.”
Her expression softened, “Oh, haha, um, I knew that,” she scratched the back of her neck, “Now you go to bed, Irene-unnie.”
“I will, I will,” she stood up, and Seulgi frowned, “I just need to go sort out some of the documents first. Then I’ll go straight to bed.”
“Promise?” Seulgi stuck out her pinky.
Irene entwined it with her own, “I promise,” she can’t hide the grin forming on her face.
Seulgi did a shoo-ing motion with her hands, “I’ll take care of it, don’t worry.”
“Alright, alright, I’m getting too old for this, anyway.”
“No doubt about it, unnie.”
Irene smacked Seulgi’s arm lightly, “What am I going to do with you?”
“Keep me forever?” Seulgi smiled, her eyes twinkling as she leaned in closer to Irene.
“Y-y-yah, you wish,” Irene fought the blush on her cheekbones and snapped her body away, hair flipping into Seulgi’s face in the process, as she left the room.
Seulgi sputtered at the hair which whipped at her, “Unnie!”
Irene cackled at Seulgi’s faraway cry as she approached her desk for some cleaning up.
//
Seulgi gathered all the dirty laundry from their combined hampers and stuffed it all into the basket, heaving it up with one arm while the other opened the door. She saw Irene still hunched over her desk, her eyes squinting and nose scrunched.
“What’s up with this? Go to bed!” Seulgi reprimanded.
“Hold on! I’m almost finished,” Irene scribbled down some more notes onto a loose leaf paper and folded it up.
“I won’t go until you’re completely done.” Seulgi placed down the basket with a loud thump.
Irene turned around at the sudden noise, “Ah, it’s fine.”
“No it’s not, Irene-unnie, you need to go to bed.”
“You do too, Seulgi-ah!”
“That’s not the point,” she gestured to the laundry, “I still have some work to do around here.”
“Which is technically my job.” Irene cocked an eyebrow.
Seulgi approached her, her arm leaning on the back of Irene’s chair, so close that Irene could see her irises, “I’m stealing it for today, then.” Her breath tickled Irene’s nose.
Irene gulped silently and tried to scoff, “W-well, if you are, you better hurry up or I’ll go do it instead.”
Seulgi backed up immediately and quickly picked up the basket, “No way, I’m out, unnie!” she singsonged as she sped out of the apartment and down to the washing machine below their floor.
Irene couldn’t help but laugh at the goofy, younger girl. She got out of her chair and headed to her room, her eyes blinking to stay awake.
She entered her bedroom and headed straight for the bed, crumbling when she reached it, letting the mattress absorb her fully. She scooted around the bed, finding a comfortable position before tugging the blanket for it to cover her body. She fluffed the pillow and laid back down on it, pulling the blanket up to her face.
Irene reached out for the familiar, soft, comforting feeling of the teddy, but after groping around for a good few seconds, she opened her eyes with reluctance and checked around for the bear. Her eyes adjusted to the dark slowly but surely, and they focused on an empty spot - exactly where the stuffed animal is supposed to be.
She jolted up in a panic, ruffling around the bed and blankets once more in search of the bear, but to no avail. Irene climbed out of bed, checking the floor to see if the fluffy animal fell down earlier. She frowned when she didn’t find it.
Irene debated whether to do a full-on search and scour her room for the teddy, but ruled against it, as Seulgi might come back and wonder what the hell she was doing in her room to cause all the noise. She sighed and got back into bed, wiggling around under the covers and hugging herself from the sudden chills that ran over her body.
It took a good ten minutes of silence for Irene to realize that she wouldn’t be able to sleep anytime soon. She was dead tired, obviously, but finding a comfortable pose to sleep in was harder than expected, especially without her teddy bear. She twisted and turned under the covers; every minute, her body would be in a different position from the last, but it just wasn’t working out. Irene cursed herself for not being able to find the bear.
Where did she last put it? Right here, on the bed.
Well, where was it now? How the hell was she supposed to know?!
Irene groaned in annoyance as she wriggled again, kicking off the blanket in the process. Outside, she heard the click of the door and presumed Seulgi must’ve come back, and hastily, yet quietly grabbed the blanket over herself. She heard the floor creaking from Seulgi walking, and the sound began to get ever so closer to her room. She shut her eyes as the footsteps abruptly stop, the only thing heard in the room was Irene’s anticipating breaths.
The door of Irene’s room peeped open slightly, and Irene sucked in a breath. She didn’t dare open her eyes and instead just buried her face into the pillow even more. What happened to not going into her room, Seulgi? She’d be getting a long lecture in the morning.
Seulgi shuffled into the room, closing the door behind her silently, making her way to Irene’s bed. She took painfully slow and small steps, being cautious not to wake up the supposedly asleep girl. Irene felt the foot of the bed slump down, the weight moving across her entire bed, coming closer to her. It stopped right near Irene’s torso is located, and she was careful not to lift her head from the pillow to get a better view of Seulgi in the darkness.
A soft hand came to tangle its fingers in Irene’s dark locks, twirling and playing with the strands in a gentle way. It moved to Irene’s bare arm, and the way it traced down her bicep, drawing small figures along the way, was enough for Irene to get goosebumps and shiver slightly. Seulgi pulled her hand away from Irene from the unexpected movement, and a second later, Irene felt Seulgi get off the bed completely, but after all, Irene was still fully awake.
She turned her head around from the pillow to face Seulgi. Her eyes fluttered open to see the younger girl, with worried brows and a sheepish smile on her sharp features. She bent down to Irene’s level, but far enough so that Irene couldn’t initiate contact.
Irene looked at Seulgi directly, hoping that the other won’t be able to miss it, “Seulgi-ah?”
“I-Irene-unnie! I thought you were asleep…” Seulgi trailed off.
“I wasn’t,” Irene said softly.
“Oh, I’ll just get going then, sorry, unnie,” Seulgi held the bed for support to get up, but Irene stopped her by putting her hands on Seulgi’s. The younger girl glanced back up to Irene in surprise.
“No… Don't,” she whispered.
“What?” Seulgi scooted closer to Irene and gave the girl her ear, “I couldn’t hear you, unnie.”
Irene shook her head and took one of Seulgi’s hands to pull her onto the bed. Seulgi complied and let herself get dragged in under the sheets. Irene moved back in the bed to give Seulgi some room for herself.
“U-unnie?” her voice wavered.
Irene snaked her arms around Seulgi’s waist and put her head on the girl’s shoulder. She nuzzled her nose into the younger’s hair, the citrus scent attacking it wildly. She breathed in Seulgi, her scent, her presence, her everything. Irene pulled herself flush against her, the other’s back touching her front. By now, Irene expected Seulgi to dart away from her sudden intimacy, but Seulgi allowed this to happen and even held Irene’s hand at her waist.
“Why aren’t you asleep, yet?” Seulgi murmured.
“I could ask you the same thing,” Irene smiled into Seulgi’s hair.
Seulgi tensed up, “Unnie.”
Irene presses her lips together and mumbled, “I couldn’t sleep.”
“You couldn’t sleep?”
She nodded, and Seulgi could feel it near the back of her head, “Mhmm.”
“Why’s that?”
“I-I… it’s nothing, Seul.”
“Yes it is, unnie,” Seulgi drew circles on the back of Irene’s hand.
Irene tightened her hold on Seulgi’s waist, “I just couldn’t find something.”
“Hm? What couldn’t you find?”
“That’s not important.”
“I bet it is, and I could help you look for it.” Seulgi suggested, “What is it?”
Irene took a deep breath and said quickly,
“It’s-the-fluffy-brown-teddy-bear-you-gave-me-on-my-birthday-and-it-really-means-a-lot-to-me-because-you-mean-a-lot-to-me-and-I-sorta-developed-a-habit-where-I-have-to-hug-the-teddy-to-fall-asleep-so-I-can’t-find-it-and-I’m-freaking-out-I’m-sorry!”
Seulgi turned around to face Irene with her eyes the size of golf balls, “What?” she laughed, “I didn’t catch that.”
“You didn't? Good.” Irene exhaled.
“Well, I did catch the part where you mentioned the bear,” she cupped Irene’s face and brought it closer, “I also heard the part where you said I mean a lot to you.”
“O-oh, you did?” Irene stuttered out. Her heart was palpitating fifty times faster than normal from Seulgi’s simple actions. She leaned into her touch, taking her own hand to hold Seulgi’s other.
Seulgi hummed and moved the pad of her thumb softly across the older girl’s delicate cheekbone, “I did, Joohyun-unnie.”
Irene stiffened up and looked at Seulgi, “Joohyun? How’d you know my real name?”
Seulgi stopped moving her hand across Irene’s cheek and nervously laughed, “Um, I read it on the tag of the stuffed bear.”
Irene raised her eyebrows, “When did you do that?”
“J-just this evening?”
“When, Seul?”
“When I came into your room, saw the unwashed and dusty bear, and chucked it into the laundry basket?”
“Seulgi-ah.”
“Yes?” her voice was meek.
“Are you saying that when you were doing the laundry, you went into my room, without permission may I add, and took the one thing that I cherished most just to wash it?”
“Aw, you cherish it? I’m flattered, Joohyun-unnie.” Seulgi put a hand on her heart.
“Yah!” she pushed her away with a free hand but not with much force, considering Seulgi came right back to the same spot a few seconds later, engulfing Irene in a hug.
“I’m sorry, it just looked so dirty! Your room is usually spotless!”
“How would you know that?”
“Uhh, what?”
“Have you entered my room on multiple occasions?”
Seulgi’s shoulders slumped, and she bit her lip, “Yes, I have. But I've got a good reason!”
“Continue,” Irene’s awfully curious now.
“You know how our schedules usually conflict, and when I come home, you’re already asleep?”
“Yes?”
“Every time I come home later than you do and you’re in bed, I go into your room to check if you’re sleeping well… you know, stuff like that,” Seulgi muttered.
“Is that what you did tonight?”
Seulgi nodded slowly.
“Hey,” Irene smiled at Seulgi, “Thank you.”
“For what?” Seulgi looked at Irene with such an innocent gaze that Irene almost melted.
“For every little thing you do, and every little thing you are,” Irene expressed.
“You’re so cheesy, unnie,” Seulgi inched closer.
“Yea‐” Irene’s statement was hurriedly halted when Seulgi suddenly gave her a quick peck on the lips. Irene stared at Seulgi, her cheeks blooming with a bright redness.
“You’re cheesy, but it’s just the way I like it,” Seulgi nuzzled her nose with Irene’s.
“Y-yeah, of course,” Any moment now and Irene’s sure that her heart might burst.
“Do you still need your teddy bear?” Seulgi grinned at her, her eyes forming into the crescents Irene’s come to love.
“No,” Irene used both her hands to hold Seulgi’s face up to her, “I don’t think so.”
“Why?” Seulgi tilted her head opposite to Irene’s. The older girl closed the gap between them and softly molded their lips together, each touch creating a sensation, electricity, between the two girls. The soft kiss lasted for a few more moments before they both pulled away, their breathing heavy and faces flushed.
“I already have something else. Something much better.” Irene clarified.
Seulgi pursed her lips and glanced at Irene with heavy-lidded eyes, “Yeah, what’s that?”
“I found a new teddy bear to hug at night,” Irene slowly kissed the crown of the younger girl’s head, “and I’m sure that she’ll even hug me back.”
“You’re right,” Seulgi put her forehead together with Irene’s, “I will,” she connected their lips for another gentle kiss.
“I’m all yours to hold, Joohyun-unnie.”