Chapter Text
the first time eunwoo learns of who jieqiong truly is, it’s four months into their pseudo-relationship.
they’re sprawled across eunwoo’s bed, chests heaving and bodies practically molded as one, bare under her rumpled sheets. jieqiong’s fingers aimlessly stroke across her back, and if eunwoo pays enough attention, she can make out a familiar beat that matches what she’s heard dahyun practice over the phone at three in the morning when the pianist can’t sleep.
(“dahyun, it’s late.”
“i know, ‘woo—i know. but i need someone to make sure this change sounds right and i trust you the most.”
eunwoo sighs, looks over to see jieqiong’s chest rise and fall peacefully beside her, then puts the phone on speaker to let dahyun act as her lullaby.
“i’m all ears, ‘hyun.”)
eunwoo smiles when jieqiong starts the pattern over again, then,
“i guess you retained that from hearing it so often when you stay over, huh?”
jieqiong’s fingers stop briefly, just barely touching eunwoo’s skin before she resumes, touch more prominent now.
“i should have, yeah. seeing as i composed it.”
eunwoo shifts and lifts up enough to hover above jieqiong, then pokes a finger against her still sweat-slicked chest.
“you came up with that? you?” she raises a skeptical brow, confusion evident, “the same girl who cries over we bare bears and sometimes naruto runs when she’s drunk—came up with something like that? i didn’t even know you played!”
jieqiong barks out an unflattering but somehow still pretty laugh at that and eunwoo smiles. her chest tightens when jieqiong’s eyes turn to crescents and she can’t help herself when she swoops down to muffle the younger girls mirth with her own lips. it takes a moment before either of them remembers that they were, in fact, having a conversation, and when eunwoo finally breaks their kiss, jieqiong chases her lips with a smirk so sinful that eunwoo has to press a hand to her chest to keep her at bay.
“seriously, jieqiong. how come i’ve never heard anything you’ve made?”
jieqiong shrugs and her palm smoothes down eunwoo’s side distractedly, “you most likely have if you’ve ever gone to see dahyun’s solos.”
eunwoo blinks and smacks a hand against jieqiong’s hip, ignores her when she yelps in surprise.
“you mean to tell me all those times i cried when dahyun played was because of you?”
the why haven’t you played for me yet? goes unsaid, but the slight upward tick of jieqiong’s left eyebrow lets eunwoo know it was heard loud and clear.
instead, it’s ignored and jieqiong smirks again, but this time it’s less seductive and more teasing, softer around the edges in that way that eunwoo can’t handle at half past four in the morning, so eunwoo rolls her eyes as she falls back to the bed beside her just as jieqiong pokes her cheek.
“i made you cry?”
“dahyun made me cry while she just so happened to play something you composed.”
“aw, baby,” jieqiong purrs and eunwoo shivers as an arm settles around her waist. jieqiong presses a wet kiss to where her neck and shoulder meet, smile tattooing her skin as she pulls the older close.
“maybe i’ll let you hear something properly someday.”
someday hasn’t come.
every time eunwoo asks, jieqiong always smiles and tugs her close, presses a kiss to her lips and tells her i’m not ready yet.
every time eunwoo catches her inside an empty band room, jieqiong happens to stop, turn, and gestures her away with a flourish and a quiet in time, sweetheart and all eunwoo can hear as she walks away is the muffled curse in jieqiong’s mother tongue and an angry slam of a piano lid.
every time eunwoo manages to see the crumpled sheets of long forgotten music littered across jieqiong’s floor whenever they burst in during a moment of quiet, jieqiong just presses hurried kisses to eunwoo’s stomach and whispers a hot not yet, it’s not ready that leaves her keening and breathless.
someday doesn’t come for two months and sixteen days. someday doesn’t come despite eunwoo’s not so subtle glances to the multiple instrument cases delicately tucked away in the closet of jieqiong’s dorm whenever she comes by for their usual study sessions (or their usual quickie between lectures).
someday doesn’t come as those two months turn to three, then four, then five, until eunwoo stops counting completely.
(someday doesn’t come even when dahyun happens to find them hidden between the stacks in the library and mentions a recital she’s performing at for the spring recital. jieqiong only gives a tired and non-committal hum, eyes drooped low and face hidden against eunwoo’s neck, when dahyun asks if she’s finished her piece yet.)
and eunwoo thinks someday suddenly turns into never.
it’s only when eunwoo’s with eunbi and juyeon a two months before the spring recital that she finally breaks.
(and really, she surprises even herself that she lasted this long without whining—she even gives herself a mental pat on the back at that.)
she clears her throat and has to bite back a smile when both girls quickly silence their bickering and instantly give her their full attention.
she turns to juyeon, deflates when the other girl takes her hand without question, “does mei qi ever dance for you?”
juyeon nods immediately, enthusiastic at the prospect of being able to wax poetic about one of her girlfriends once again.
“all the time! mei qi’s always dancing, ya know? when she’s brushing her teeth, sometimes in her sleep. she even dances during the bad storms to help distract luda and i.” her eyes shine as she speaks and eunwoo would almost regret even asking if she wasn’t so happy that juyeon was just happy to be in love.
“didn’t mei qi join the new dance team nayoung’s sorority started, ‘woo?” eunbi questions, marking her place in her book quickly before closing it without a second thought and focusing on the girl before her. “you know she dances.”
“yeah, but i wanted to know if she danced for juyeon.”
eunbi blinks. eunwoo stares.
“mei qi dances for everyone.”
“but it’s different to dancing for juyeon, though. that makes it more special, doesn’t it? to do something that you’re good at specifically for someone? doesn’t it show how much you trust them?”
juyeon squeezes eunwoo’s hand and she glances between her two friends briefly before she sighs, then,
“jieqiong won’t play her music for me.”
eunbi smiles like she understands and eunwoo wants to whine because she doesn’t. it’s not the same as juyeon, who has a girlfriend so proud of what she was gifted that she’s able to just burst into a spontaneous freestyle and have it look good and another girlfriend that is literally known around the campus for being a part of every memorable organization known to every student because she loves showing off new talents. or even like eunbi, who’s so close to dating the literal coolest person eunwoo’s ever met that she doesn’t even know what shame is and is willing to do anything at any given moment.
eunwoo likes jieqiong so much, would absolutely do anything to make her happy and keep the smile on her face—but this just annoys her to no end.
“maybe she isn’t ready? needs time?”
“it’s been months!”
and eunwoo does whine now and she hates that it makes her feel younger than she is. like she’s back to being five and falling out of the tall sycamore tree in nayoung’s backyard and crying until the older girl promised to buy her ice cream while dahyun patched her up with mulan band-aids. it makes her feel small and useless and she hates it because she shouldn’t feel obligated to jieqiong’s personal secrets.
“maybe it’s just something that she wants to keep to herself.”
when eunwoo goes to whine again, eunbi cuts her off with a pointed look and a firm shake of her head.
“she may be your bed buddy, but she’s allowed to still be her own person and have things she only lets others see whenever she sees fit.”
(eunwoo hates that even though she knows eunbi doesn’t agree with the relationship she and jieqiong share, she still manages to stick up for jieqiong when it comes to a matter of allowing her privacy.
she silently curses eunbi for being such an understanding person when all she wants to do is complain.)
eunbi nods once, words final, then opens her book again, and eunwoo knows that’s that on this topic for now.
she slumps back against her seat and pouts, and juyeon just pats her hand consolingly before going back to her now cold noodles with a grimace.
despite the fact that jieqiong is pressing feverish kisses down the slope of eunwoo’s jaw, all the older girl can focus on is the old abandoned piano that sits in the corner of the old spare room that they’ve stumbled into.
it has to be fate, eunwoo mutedly decides, as jieqiong’s tongue swipes across that place behind her ear that usually has her shaking, but this time it serves as an indication of stopping because eunwoo cannot and will not let this moment pass if she can help it.
“jie,” she mumbles and she hates that it comes out more breathy than she means to because jieqiong puffs out a laugh against her neck and her fingers play against eunwoo’s rib cage so gently, so delicately, reminding her of the way she’s sure they’d glide across ivory keys.
“wait, babe—jieqiong!”
she manages to separate jieqiong from her neck with a huff, the younger girl finally relenting long enough to allow eunwoo even the smallest moment to think. her hands still settle on eunwoo’s waist regardless, fingers impatient as they hook into the hem of her jeans and tug, playful and teasing, trying to recapture the moment.
“can you play, jie?”
the tugging stops. jieqiong blinks, head tilted.
“i was about to, i thought?”
eunwoo smacks at her wrist gently, cheeks flushed and eyes skittering to the piano in the corner again, and licks at her suddenly dry (and still so kiss swollen) lower lip.
“no, the piano over there. you said you would before, but you haven’t yet.” she turns her gaze back, now grips lightly at jieqiong’s wrist when she feels the hold on her jeans loosen, “why haven’t you?”
“i told you someday i would.”
“yeah, months ago and you’ve never brought it up since. i honestly thought you forgot or just didn’t care anymore.”
jieqiong sighs and presses close again, lets her lips smooth down the curve of eunwoo’s jaw in a path of barely there kisses before she’s pressing a quick peck to her neck, “it’s not that big of a deal, ‘woo. it’s just something i do and i don’t really publicize it all that much outside of performances.”
she leaves a firmer kiss to eunwoo’s neck then steps back with a small smile trying to curl the corner of her lips. jieqiong’s hands instantly reach out to fix eunwoo’s hair from where impatient fingers had tugged at the strands then straightens out the older girls shirt before reaching for her bag that had been thrown at their feet in her haste.
“so don’t worry too much about it.” her hand’s on the door and she’s sending eunwoo that signature smile that usually has her weak in the knees, but now it’s making her stomach turn horribly. “i’ll see you later, babe. we’ll grab a bite before the party tonight.”
and then she’s gone, and eunwoo feels something shift.
eunwoo hasn’t seen jieqiong in two weeks.
she figures it’s partially her own fault, really; what with formally introducing jieqiong to all her friends as her girlfriend, after only hooking up, without properly talking to her about it before. and at a party no less.
so eunwoo slightly understands.
what she doesn’t fully understand, however, is why jieqiong didn’t answer her calls or return her texts for the first week. why jieqiong hasn’t texted or called her first, either, during the second week. why she hasn’t shown up at their usual meeting place beside the fountain to get lunch like they do every tuesday and thursday. why she hasn’t called, asking about their latest third friday plans. why she hasn’t been lounging in eunwoo’s dorm room after her late practices, offering up a massage and a night of trashy rom coms to help her relax. why she hasn’t grabbed her and pulled her into the nearest empty room after a gruelling exam period to celebrate passing.
she doesn’t understand why yaebin sends her a pitying look when jieqiong turns the opposite way when they see each other in the quad toward the beginning of the third week. why cheng xiao, the pretty exchange student she remembers juyeon introducing her to a few months ago, says jieqiong’s name like that when she happens to overhear a conversation that’s littered with praises and compliments of jieqiong’s skill.
she doesn’t understand why, when she manages to find that empty band room again and peak through the window, the old piano is gone and the door is locked tight.
she doesn’t understand why it feels like that’s not the only thing that’s gone.
weeks later, when eunwoo has finally figured that she’s fine with loss, that she can handle whatever life throws her way, there’s a pounding on her door and jieqiong’s frenzied voice piercing her ears.
(it’s not the first time she’s been privy to jieqiong trying to come back around. she remembers the scowl on eunbi’s face when she mentions jieqiong showing up to the cafe weeks ago, intent on speaking to her, but being turned away with her tail between her legs by nayoung.
it took everything eunwoo possessed to not go running back.)
but she’s too tired now, to worn down to not properly see her at least once, so she opens the door and just looks.
she looks at the sweat dripping from jieqiong’s temples; the hopeful, desperate look in her eyes; the way her hand shakes from where she curls her fist too tight.
she looks at the girl whose given her heaven and hell, and feels her heart seize violently.
eunwoo closes the door.
(she hears jieqiong sob, hears her beg and plead and promise to be better.
hears everything anyone would want. but not what she needs.)
she makes sure they both hear the lock click with finality.
dahyun grabs her hand as eunwoo goes to pass by the moment the professor dismisses them, eyes rimmed red and rubbed raw.
“you okay, woo?”
eunwoo nods, thinks briefly, then shakes her head with a sigh.
“jieqiong came by last night. practically cried herself silly outside my room, but i couldn’t deal with it. it’s not fair.”
dahyun nods, pulls her into a hug, and eunwoo breaks. she heaves into dahyun’s shoulder, feels her heart break and shatter again, and dahyun just pulls her closer all the while.
“it’ll be okay, promise. you both will be okay.”
(she knows it’s a tough spot for dahyun to be in. because while she and dahyun have been friends since literal birth, dahyun is still much too friendly, too loving and caring and kind, that she latches onto anyone she knows needs a stable pillar in their life.
so eunwoo knows, she just knows that dahyun comforts jieqiong in the same way in the privacy of their own bubble, because she knows they share their own special bond, too. that she allows the other to be vulnerable just as she’s allowing eunwoo.
and she can’t hold that against her best friend.)
“hey,” dahyun mumbles against the crown of eunwoo’s head, snorting out a laugh when eunwoo lets out a wet whine of acknowledgement. “i have an idea.”
eunwoo did not expect dahyun’s idea to involve her being squeezed into the fanciest dress she’s ever laid her eyes on, shoved into an equally fancy car, and driven to the theater hall for the spring recital a week later.
and hell, has it been a week of a nonstop loop of an emotional rollercoaster.
(she’s had jieqiong in her face at every passing moment. the smile that eunwoo had fallen for before less teasing and more hopeful each time it surfaces, hoping that this is the day where eunwoo says she’s forgiven. but eunwoo never does; just takes what jieqjong offers and keeps going, hoping that her heart won’t beat hard enough to break all over again.
she even calls her out on it one day, expects jieqiong to give up after and let her be, but the steely determination and refined fervor stays in her eyes, and she knows it just might only be the beginning.)
so this break from the constant onslaught of emotion is a welcome one, despite the way eunwoo grimaces every time she tugs at the hem of her dress in uncomfortable displeasure.
there’s a chuckle from beside her, her hand being grasped and pulled from the fabric before she accidentally tears something, “why can’t you ever just let nice things be?”
the words are teasing and eunwoo rolls her eyes at eunbi’s snarky remark, sticking her tongue out childishly, “not everyone is so used to constantly dressing up, miss i-go-to-fancy-dinners-every-other-week-with-my-super-rich-soon-to-be-girlfriend.”
eunbi splutters and pinches harshly at eunwoo’s palm, cheeks burning red suddenly.
“she isn’t my soon to be anything! my dinners with sojung are strictly professional—yewon told me she studied bimolecular engineering before taking a year off to ‘find herself’ and deciding she wanted to venture into liberal arts and get an anthropology degree.”
eunwoo blinks, smirk stretching across her lips.
“you sure know a lot about her history.”
“i need to know her history, she’s helping me with my dissertation so i have to make sure she’s properly qualified in what she’s talking about.”
“and that requires fancy dinners at the country’s most prestigious restaurant—that she pays for, no less!—and the longing stares across campus?”
eunbi’s cheeks darken further, if even possible, and eunwoo’s smirk broadens as the older girl turns on her heel and stalks inside the theater without her.
“goodbye, eunwoo! i’m going to find juyeon now, seeing as she’s nicer than you are.”
(yes, this was definitely the break she needed from her emotions.)
//
inside, eunwoo finally catches up to eunbi, the smirk long gone from her face and replaced with a soft smile, quiet apology on her lips as she wraps an arm around her friend’s shoulder to tug her close, which eunbi begrudgingly allows when she realizes eunwoo won’t let go anytime soon.
they find juyeon soon enough, both her arms slung across her girlfriends waists, and all three looking like the epitome of what eunwoo would call a teen dream team .
“guys!” juyeon lets go of mei qi and luda long enough to throw her arms around them, smile stretched wide on her mouth, “can you believe dahyun is playing here? it’s the biggest venue yet!”
(they had all screamed and cried when dahyun mentioned the theater the recital was taking place in.
the literal place a seven-year-old kim dahyun had sworn up and down she’d play back when every piano she came across was taller than her. back when she knew what she wanted during her youth before any of them even truly knew what a life goal was.)
“she always said she’d make it here,” eunwoo comments, pride swelling in her chest for her best friend, “who knew it’d happen before we were even twenty-five like she planned?”
“i think the theater selection is all thanks to jieqiong,” mei qi comments from the side, gentle smile on her lips when she sees eunwoo stiffen. “said someone mentioned this was a dream of dahyun’s before, apparently, and jieqiong said something about wanting to prove she could do good things, too. spent the last three weeks getting all this arranged—almost gave the director a complex with the abrupt reorganizing.”
eunwoo refuses to acknowledge that she was the one who mentioned it to jieqiong during a night where they spent hours talking about anything that came to mind—their past, their futures, their friends and family; their dreams.
refuses to acknowledge that jieqiong helped make dahyun’s dream come true because she said it was her dream to make sure all her friends got what they wanted.
(refuses to acknowledge that jieqiong did this for her just as much as she did it for dahyun.)
there’s a tap to her shoulder and eunwoo startles, eyes wide.
she meets eunbi’s delicate smile and juyeon’s worrying gaze, both girls taking her hands in each of their own just as there’s final call for everyone to find their seats.
“come on, let’s go watch dahyun shine and forget everything else.
//
thing is, dahyun does shine. she always does.
she plays like her life depends on it, and distantly, eunwoo figures it does. because she remembers the time where practice always came first to dahyun. where the summers spent outside finding fireflies at the river soon quickly turned to them huddled in their small towns only music shop, watching dahyun play piece after piece under nice old mister park’s careful instruction.
she remembers her, eunbi, and juyeon saving up all their christmas, new year, and birthday money for two years so they (along with nayoung, who was just barely scraping by through her first part time job at the rundown roller rink across town) could buy dahyun the expensive keyboard she had stared in awe at when their families took a trip to the city for a weekend one summer. remembers how dahyun had cried and thanked them. had lugged that keyboard with her everywhere, even all the way to her dorm room now.
dahyun belongs up there, eunwoo thinks, chest swollen with admiration and pride as dahyun’s piece builds and builds until it bursts completely. it’s silent for a long, tense moment, then the hall explodes in applause and dahyun glows.
eunwoo feels tears in her eyes, because dahyun has finally gotten the first taste of a long had dream that they all had been running toward for years.
//
but if dahyun shines and glows on stage, then jieqiong radiates.
eunwoo remembers, slightly bitter, that jieqiong still has never played for her. but it means nothing now when she sees how jieqiong plays now. she seems at one when the instrument perched between her legs, fingers flying as they press into chords that sing through the theater.
she plays like dahyun, like it’s all she knows, but completely different at the same time. and eunwoo can’t even be mad anymore at the fact that she hasn’t seen this firsthand yet. because it’s like she’s seeing jieqiong for the very first time again, like this is the true jieqiong.
and eunwoo gets it now, why jieqiong is so private about this side of her. because this is someone else entirely. not the loud, adorable girl who pouts when eunwoo teases her and randomly begs for cuddles in between frantic make out sessions. this girl is serious, lost in the lights and the music she creates. she tells who she is, what she is, with the way she plays. and it feels almost voyeuristic in the way eunwoo can’t take her eyes off her.
the music swells and her fingers still, then it crashes with a final blow so devastatingly haunting that eunwoo feels her chest heave harshly.
she’s too far away, eunwoo suddenly thinks.
jieqiong’s smiling as she stands then bows deeply, her cheeks pinched tight and chest rattling heavy with deep, over excited breaths as the applause around her crescendos.
the intricate styling of her hairdo has come undone, jet black wisps of crinkled curls sticking to her forehead with sweat in such a way that it reminds eunwoo too much of a breathless jieqiong in another way from too long ago and it’s not fair.
because jieqiong isn’t hers in this moment. she belongs to the stage, the crowd, the people who love her and demand more from the renowned zhou jieqiong, campus pride.
there are flowers thrown on stage, cheers and cries of encore! encore! echoing around the theatre. jieqiong’s smile stretches, her familiar laugh, wet and drenched in emotion, sounds across the stage as she bows deeply again.
she leaves before the applause stops, doesn’t allow jieqiong to see her in such a vulnerable state despite seeing jieqiong as stripped away and raw as possible.
it’s outside when she finally stops, lets the air fill her lungs as she takes deep breaths to regain her bearings.
eunwoo thinks, or maybe i’m not close enough anymore .
a few days passes and, now that she has truly seen jieqiong like it’s the first very time, eunwoo decides to try again.
when she sees jieqiong between classes, they don't ignore each other anymore; they smile and wave and it feels like a step toward something better.
when minkyung invites her to movie nights with yaebin and she learns that jieqiong will be there too, eunwoo doesn’t decline. she comes and eats and even laughs and feels her heart thump when jieqiong tells a particularly horrible joke about cheese.
(eunwoo may have seen the real jieqiong now, but it feels like this jieqiong is hers, too.)
//
before she even knows it's happening, they seem to have come to a mutual understanding.
it goes from something as simple as jieqiong coming to help eunwoo search for pepper on friday morning, to eunwoo willingly leaving the warmth of her bed at three-fifteen saturday morning and going to stay with jieqiong in the library for three more hours as she studies.
it goes from simple smiles across the campus, to eunwoo taking the initiative to hug jieqiong again.
it’s suddenly hand holding and never-ending eye contact. it’s her friends easily welcoming jieqiong back into her life and genuinely becoming her friends as well.
it’s everything, and yet still somehow not enough.
there’s another party and eunwoo agrees to go, just for the sole fact that she wants to wipe the taste of the last year out of her mouth. alcohol seems to help, but jieqiong’s arm around her waist and lips pressed to her neck doesn’t seem to hurt, either.
it’s a vastly different night this time around. because unlike last year, where she went home with unanswered texts and calls and a tear-stained face. this time she’s heading home with jieqiong (her actual girlfriend !) molded to her side and a promise of possible forever dripping from her lips.
//
“eunwoo—hey. ‘woo, wake up.”
eunwoo shifts, groans when the sheets slide uncomfortably against her bare chest, and cracks one eye open lazily before closing it again when she’s met with the fuzzy outline of jieqiong form against the darkness.
“why wake up? it’s sleep time, which means we sleep, jie.”
jieqiong chuckles and eunwoo feels the bed dip as the younger girl leans over. there’s a trail of kisses pressed along her sternum, and eunwoo whines because she can’t go again now, too tired and worn out from the last few hours. plus, they had promised to meet up with everyone for a post-party breakfast and she refuses to go with anything less than at least three solid hours of sleep.
but the kisses keep trailing up until they hit her neck, then jaw, until finally jieqiong ends with a kiss to her lips. “come on, just five minutes.”
eunwoo sighs and waits. hopes that maybe jieqiong will say nevermind and they can sleep. but the silence stretches and the bed shifts again as jieqiong moves, and eunwoo finally gives in with an over exaggerated and slightly childish whine, back popping loudly as she stretches to sit up.
her eyes search the dark briefly, because jieqiong isn’t sitting at the edge like eunwoo expects anymore. instead, she’s moved to the other side of the room, and when she switches on the lamp that’s sitting on her desk, eunwoo mutedly notes that dahyun’s favorite keyboard is tucked against the wall.
“did you steal that from dahyun?” she questions dumbly, eyes blinking. because really, she loves jieqiong to death, but she isn’t willing to actually see her die when dahyun inevitably kills her for stealing her literal prized possession.
she wonders, briefly, if she promises dahyun a lifetime supply of those chocolate pie things she likes would she be willing to spare jieqiong until at least next tuesday because they had a date to the aquarium planned and eunwoo wants to see the sting rays!
or, maybe she can shave jieqiong’s head in her sleep, give her a new identity and—
“—to play for you.”
eunwoo blinks. tilts her head. blinks again.
“sorry, what was that?”
jieqiong smiles and eunwoo can’t even stop the way a smile stretches back across her face in return.
“i said i wanted to play for you.” she pauses, licks at her lips as her gaze finally moves away from eunwoo’s, “you know. properly.”
eunwoo swears she hears an unspoken apology between the words, a silent i want to make everything up to you and her heart thuds painfully against her chest as she scrambles off the bed and to jieqiong’s side.
she brushes her fingers over jieqiong’s cheek, softly, tenderly, so full of love. “you sure? i know how personal this is for you.”
jieqiong turns her head just enough to press a fleeting kiss to the pads of her fingers.
“i trust you.”
her fingers press into the first chords.
eunwoo’s heart soars.
“you know,” jieqiong starts as they’re walking back to campus after breakfast. a little ways ahead of them, juyeon pulls eunbi into a headlock after she pushes her a little too harshly and nayoung simply clicks her tongue at them before they scramble apart with a quick apology. eunwoo smiles, briefly, then glances back to jieqiong as she squeezes her hand for attention, “you never told me how you felt about the piece i played you.”
her cheeks burn and eunwoo nudges jieqiong with her shoulder, “i did, remember?”
jieqiong laughs and leans over to kiss her cheek, mirth on her lips as she pulls back with that familiar teasing smirk.
“i meant with words, babe. you know, adjectives and shit.”
“i didn’t think words would do it justice.” at jieqiong’s confused pout, eunwoo stops walking and tugs at her hand to pull her girlfriend to a stop with her. “you didn’t use words when you bared yourself to me. it was—i don’t know. magic? some kind of voodoo? you practically picked me up and threw me down but in the most heartaching and glorious way.”
eunwoo shakes her head, laughs when her own words seem too ostentatious for even her.
“i don’t know, jie. it was everything, that’s all i can say.”
jieqiong seems to barely think about it before she’s pulling eunwoo in and stealing the breath from her, free hand cupping her jaw and angling her just so to deepen the kiss. when eunwoo feels a sly tongue swipe at her lower lip, she has to step back abruptly, remembering that they’re in public and that their friends have finally stopped and realized they were no longer following behind.
“jie?”
jieqiong smiles. her eyes turn into crescents and her cheeks pinch. eunwoo’s reminded of the theater, of the lights and applause and the surge of love she felt then.
“i’m glad you thought it was apparently ‘everything', you know.” she tugs at eunwoo’s hand and pulls her toward their friends again at dahyun’s insistent can you lovebirds please wait until you’re behind closed doors before you suck face! then,
“because it was for you, and you’re everything.”