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generalfrings) wrote2022-04-26 10:16 pm
préparation (can you read my mind) - heerim - chapter 3
Author:
generalfrings Rating: R
Fandom: 스물다섯 스물하나 (Twenty-Five Twenty-One)
Pairing/Characters: Na Hee Do/Go Yu Rim
Length: 59k words
Summary:
Hee Do had rehearsed this answer. "I don't think about touring when I go abroad for a competition,” she tells her mother, just like she’d practiced. “I just want to sleep once it's over."
Which, to be fair, isn't not true.
Disclaimer: The TV show Twenty-Five Twenty-One was written by Kwon Do Eun and is owned by Hwa&Dam Pictures. I do not own or purport to own Twenty-Five Twenty-One or any of its characters. All rights to Twenty-Five Twenty-One are owned by Hwa&Dam, tVN, and Netflix. I do not own any of the songs quotes. The lyrics to Read My Mind were written by Brandon Flowers, Dave Keuning, and Mark Stoemer and all rights to the song are owned by The Island Def Jam Music Group. The lyrics to Je N'Ai Pas Changé (No Vengo Ni Voy) were written by Claude Lemesle and all rights to the song are owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The lyrics to Y, ¿Si fuera ella? were written by Alejandro Sanz and all rights to the song are owned by Warner Music Group. This work is a piece of fanfiction written under fair use and for entertainment only; as its author I earn no compensation in any form, including monetary, from its creation or publication.
Author's note: You might want to rewatch Hee Do and Yu Rim's match in Episode 15 real quick to get in the mood before we start. :)
BTW, in fencing an attack in preparation is a score granted when, despite your opponent beginning their action before you, you are the one who covers the distance and attacks before the opponent can finish preparing their action.
(For context, sabre fencing - which is what Hee Do and Ye Rim do - has "right of way" or priority rules for determining scoring, especially on seemingly simultaneous hits by the fencers: in extreme summary, the person that starts their offensive action first will generally be granted the point - unless their action gets parried or otherwise rendered incomplete - because they have the right of way until then. Attack in preparation is not a counter attack! Especially in higher levels of fencing, it would moreso require one to predict their opponent's action instead of reacting to it.)
Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4
July 26th, continued
Oh well, I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you jump
Tell me what you find
Can you read my mind?
the killers - read my mind
She can have one moment.
Just one, Hee Do thinks. She’s already been strong - strong enough for the both of them, earlier, when Yu Rim had made her be the one to have to not to open that damn door after everything they’d been through this past year.
She’s already secured herself at least a silver medal at the Olympic Games.
None of that means that this is over - far from it - but surely Hee Do can have this one moment.
She stands by the benches at the sidelines and allows herself to watch her.
This feels like the last time she’ll ever get to watch Yu Rim like this, like the admirer Hee Do has always been. Yu Rim the fencer: her friend, her idol. This is the last moment Hee Do has before she makes true to her old promise and achieves her dream of well and truly becoming Go Yu Rim’s rival.
If she lets herself forget, the colors on Yu Rim’s helmet could well be South Korea’s.
The scoreboard reminds her they’re not, though. Julia Ko from Russia is lagging behind.
She silently wills Yu Rim to not let her down now: they’ve both paid too dearly for this just for Yu Rim to lose to Germany.
Yu Rim, of course, doesn’t let either of them down. The buzzer echoes through the venue along with Yu Rim’s hoarse scream of victory, and Hee Do can finally let out the breath she’d been holding.
Hee Do knows that her reckless, selfish moment is coming to an end. She’s already steeling herself and narrowing her focus back down to her goal, pushing her thoughts aside to ground herself back in her body.
Yu Rim’s hair is matted down with sweat and her face is awash with emotion as she salutes her opponent.
Hee Do swallows.
One last moment, then. A burst of emotions in her chest: pride, happiness, longing, anguish.
Hee Do turns her back to the piste and starts getting ready for the final.
&&&
The referee rules that Hee Do had been in preparation and grants Yu Rim the point, but she was attacking Yu Rim who was in preparation herself, Hee Do knew instinctly what Yu Rim was about to do and had clearly advanced while-
Stop.
Stop, Hee Do’s own voice yells at herself in her head.
She stops questioning the referee.
She’s hit with the memory of the last time they’d competed for a medal. Yu Rim had been the one to claim to be faster that time.
Is this what that had been like? Is this how Yu Rim had felt?
Hee Do catches her breath. It doesn’t matter. She gets back into position, grabs her helmet, and that’s when their eyes meet properly for the first time.
There’s the beginning of an emotion.
That’s as far as it gets, though. Yu Rim’s focused gaze is impassive, and so is Hee Do’s. This is here and now, and there's only what's ahead. Hee Do will just have to score an extra point.
She does. She takes that point back and scores another one for good measure, securing the tie.
Then they both advance at the call and meet each other in the middle.
They have to do it again.
Then again.
Action simultane: no score for any of their advances.
It’s frustrating. It’s exhilarating. It’s enraging. There’s no use questioning it - if the referee sees simultane, then it is simultane. In order for one of them to win, they’ll simply have to do better - and Hee Do knows she can do this.
This time Hee Do uses all of her strength, widens her step, and lunges. There’s no questioning her advance over the distance this time, and her sure strike lands hard on Yu Rim’s chest.
There’s a ringing in her ears.
It might be from the buzzer.
Hee Do feels like she’s under water. She knows, rationally, that the stadium had just exploded into cheers, even if it all sounds dull to her ears, and she knows that she has to move back. Her steps feel heavy, though. She forces her feet to move, one after the other, and staggers back through the adrenaline draining down to her toes and out of her all at once.
She’s drenched in sweat under her equipment. She’s thankful to be able to hide under her helmet, if only for a moment.
Just one.
Just long enough for her tears to spill over and for her to give up on trying to keep them back.
She’d had to refuse to let Yu Rim in earlier.
She doesn’t intend on ever doing it again.
Yu Rim crashes into her open arms, and Hee Do squeezes her as tight as she can for a start.
&&&
Hee Do’s won a golden medal. Now she needs to receive it.
They are hurried through preparations for the ceremony to be held where the piste had just been. Hee Do lets go of Yu Rim for a mere second, and what feels like the entire venue swarms in between them to start setting everything up, including them.
It all feels like a complete blur. It might be because of all the tears in Hee Do’s eyes.
She gets put back into her Korean ceremonies uniform and finds herself stood on a podium shortly after. Not just a podium – the podium.
She’s stood higher than everyone else now, and her head spins from all the noise around her. Yu Rim stands to her right, and Hee Do reaches down for her hand, clutching it tightly as soon as she finds it.
She doesn’t care that her hand is clammy and their grip has gotten sweaty by now, and she doesn’t care that all cameras are on them. She needs this. She thinks Yu Rim knows, because she lets her have it.
Hee Do really wishes her dad was here to see this.
She hopes at least her mother is watching back home, then wonders if she’s finally proud of Hee Do.
Yu Rim looks better than Hee Do could ever hope to as the ceremony proceeds: she’s put together and serene, the perfect image of an Olympian athlete. She hasn’t cried at all, unlike Hee Do, and her smile belongs in magazines. When she looks up at Hee Do and her eyes curve from how much her smile grows, Hee Do feels on top of the world.
The three medalists get handed some flowers, and Hee Do just nervously follows whatever Yu Rim does. They have to shake some more hands, bow once or twice, say some overwhelmed thanks to people Hee Do knows are very important, and then an Olympic gold medal is being placed around Hee Do’s neck.
Hee Do should probably try not to break Yu Rim’s fingers with her death grip, what with being a gold medalist now and all.
She forces herself to relax her clutch on Yu Rim’s hand to avoid a global diplomatic disaster in front of the sea of camera flashes going off at them, but she really, really doesn’t want to let go. Yu Rim indulges her for as long as possible, but does eventually force her hand loose from Hee Do’s so that they can all listen to Korea’s national anthem respectfully.
Hee Do’s tears spill over again as she mouths the words to her anthem, the familiar swell of the violins following the swell of emotions in her chest. She never thought she’d get emotional at this of all things, and she’s glad when it ends.
As soon as it does, the entire venue seems to hurry to wrap things up and leave. She guesses she’s not the only exhausted one around.
Hee Do can see the assistant Korean coach heading her way just as a photographer with a huge camera and an even bigger Olympic Games badge steps up to the podium for some last pictures. She grabs Yu Rim’s arm and tugs her onto the first-place podium with her, pressing tightly to her side as they bring up their medals for a picture.
She must look ridiculous right now, what with how hard she’s grinning while the tears keep on coming, but whatever. She gestures over the bronze medalist from Hungary onto the podium with them for a picture with the three of them, and then the assistant coach reaches her.
It’s bizarre to see his face split into an uncharacteristic grin - she doesn’t think he’s ever smiled at her until now - and he’s clearly eager to take her away for something. She tightens her grip on Yu Rim’s arm instinctively.
“It’s okay,” Yu Rim tells her, apparently noticing him too as she pries Hee Do’s hand from her arm as gently as she can manage. “Later.” Hee Do can see people from the Russian delegation hurrying over too, and she knows she can’t ask Yu Rim not to go. “You’re staying at the Village?”
Huh? “Are you not?” Hee Do asks in confusion, holding onto Yu Rim’s fingers stubbornly even as Yu Rim looks back towards the Russian crew.
“Meet me at the Arches in the morning,” Yu Rim tells her simply, and then they get pulled apart and away from each other again.
It’s fine. It is, right? Tomorrow morning is almost here, and what is a night compared to the last year?
The Korean fencing crew swarms her all at once, hugging and high fiving her and chanting all the way back to their building at the Village, where she’s promptly informed they’re not letting her go before they celebrate properly.
What celebrating properly means turns out to be what they expressly can’t call a party at one of the basketball teams’ apartments. There’s no partying allowed at the Village, technically, but they have a gold medal, a bunch of excited athletes, and plenty of alcohol, which works just as well.
Hee Do doesn’t need to drink a single sip to feel buzzed that night, so she doesn’t. The not-party might well have been for her, technically, but it’s really more for Korea, so she doesn’t feel that bad about skipping out on it as soon as she can manage.
There’s something way more important for her to get to next morning.
July 27th
Et toi non plus tu n'as pas change
toujours le même parfum léger
toujours le même petit sourire
qui en dit long sans vraiment le dire.
julio iglesias - je n'ai pas change
And you haven't changed either
still the same light perfume
still the same little smile
that says so much without really saying anything
It’s a beautiful day, and Hee Do skips out of the dormitories with a pep to her step so she can get to the Olympic Arches at the plaza in the center of the Village.
Hee Do sees her first.
Yu Rim is standing there under the sun, loose hair swaying in the breeze as she rocks on her heels, and Hee Do is already running towards her before her shout can tumble out of her mouth:
“Go Yu Rim!”
Yu Rim barely has the time to turn her way before Hee Do is barreling straight into her and tackling her into a hug.
“Hee Do-yah,” Yu Rim laughs, right by her ear, letting Hee Do keep her from falling over with her grip before she returns the hug. “I’m-”
“Don’t you dare apologize again,” Hee Do says sternly, squeezing her tighter still and relishing on how good it feels to have her right there.
It doesn’t matter. Nothing matters now that they’re here. Hee Do knows everything there is to know about what they went through, as does Yu Rim, so there is no need for explanations or apologies. Hee Do won’t apologize for winning the gold, and Yu Rim shouldn’t apologize for ensuring that they could both fight for it.
“Okay,” Yu Rim says into her shoulder. Her breath tickles Hee Do’s ear. “Okay.”
When they pull back, Hee Do holds her by the shoulders and looks her over closely, searching for anything she might have missed since the last time she’d gotten to look at her like this. Yu Rim stands there with a small smile on her lips, letting Hee Do move her here and there as she inspects her.
Yu Rim looks good. Her face looks both exactly the same and slightly more mature - more adult, somehow, even though only a year had passed. Hee Do can tell she’s been eating well for sure, and her eyes are clear as always. She feels strong and solid under Hee Do’s grip when she squeezes her arms, and her smile still shows the same hint of the grin she’s always gotten whenever she’s indulging Hee Do.
Yu Rim tugs at the tips of Hee Do’s bangs lightly just as Hee Do decides that Yu Rim’s hair was indeed longer than it used to be. “I like this,” Yu Rim tells her, twirling the strands for a second.
Hee Do grins, ego appropriately stroked at her slight change in style. It wasn’t much, but Hee Do had grown out of her bangs by now. Of course Yu Rim had noticed.
“You’re staying, right?” Hee Do asks. Surely they weren’t taking Yu Rim back so soon.
Yu Rim nods. “Until the end of the Games.”
“No training too?” Hee Do is hopeful. If even Coach Yang had given her time off training until the end of the Games…
Yu Rim nods again, clearly relieved, and Hee Do squeals. There was still a week to go before the Games end. A whole week. Her mind goes into overdrive wondering everything they could do in that time.
One thing is sure: she doesn’t feel like sharing Yu Rim. Most if not all of the athletes in Korea's block at the Olympic Village would recognize her, for better or worse, and Hee Do still has a roommate, so there was no way for them to be alone even if they were to stay inside her room.
Yu Rim, however, has a hotel room to herself.
“Woah,” Hee Do breathes out, falling back onto the ridiculously fluffy bed once she’s done curiously poking around the amenities. “This is top tier.” The bed must be king sized, and the bathroom is huge. There were two sinks, a bathtub so full of knobs and faucets that Hee Do had to convince Yu Rim to let her try out at least once, and another entirely separate shower.
“Yeah, well.” Yu Rim shrugs, hanging her Russian uniform jacket in the spacious closet by the door. “Coach didn’t want me to have distractions at the Village.”
Hee Do rolls over in the bed and looks over at the floor-to-ceiling glass door leading to a small balcony that looks over the city view. “I’ll bet,” she says, whistling.
“It’s sponsored,” Yu Rim says, stepping over to sit on the bed with her. “They’re going to have a news spread showing where the medalists stayed, so I don’t think any of this cost as much as it’s supposed to.” She lets Hee Do tug her closer until she’s sat cross legged next to where Hee Do is still lying down. “Actually, I heard that their contract-”
“Yu Rim-ah,” Hee Do interrupts, resting a hand on her knee and looking up at her seriously. “I really don’t care.”
Yu Rim blinks at her in shock for a second before she snorts out a laugh. Hee Do laughs at the ungraceful sound, shaking her head. She’s serious though: there is nothing she wants to hear less about right now than boring contractual matters that neither of them can affect. She’d rather they enjoy whatever they can get right now.
She reaches up to take the badge Yu Rim had forgotten to take off from around her neck.
"Julia Ko," Hee Do reads pensively as she looks it over.
Yu Rim smiles down at her wryly. "I've kind of gotten used to it."
"Hmm," Hee Do agrees noncommittally. "I wonder what my name would be." She lets Yu Rim's badge fall back against her stomach and looks back up at her. "It's kind of cool. It'd be kind of like having a secret identity." She brings a hand up to her mouth and talks through a hiss in a poor imitation of a walkie talkie. "Agent Julia, move in for the kill. Bzzt. Over.”
Yu Rim’s eyes crinkle like they always have from her bunny-like grin. “What’s the target, Agent Ryder?” she asks, amused.
Hee Do mulls it over for a second. “Hmm.” Before Yu Rim can get the chance to react, Hee Do reaches around her waist and tackles her back onto the mattress. “Surprise, I’m a double agent! You could never have seen it coming!” Then: “Oof!”
Okay, Yu Rim can still knock the wind out of her with a well-placed jab, just like always.
“Jesus, woman!” Hee Do groans exaggeratedly, rolling back onto the bed next to Yu Rim, hands clutching her stomach.
“Oh, please,” Yu Rim laughs. “You’re not the one with a bruise on your chest from yesterday.”
Right. She’d hit Yu Rim right on the boobs in that last strike. “Okay, okay, we’re even now. Sheesh!”
They lie there next to each other, looking up at the ceiling in companionable silence. After a beat, Yu Rim reaches out and takes her hand, intertwining their fingers. Hee Do squirms her feet happily.
“Tell me something,” Yu Rim says, still staring up at the ceiling. “Anything.”
Hee Do thinks for a second. “I broke up with Yi Jin.”
“Oh.” Yu Rim’s voice is small when she admits: “I know.”
Oh.
Hee Do closes her eyes for a moment. That means Yu Rim had talked to him while she had needed to stay away from Hee Do.
He never told her.
“Are you okay?” Yu Rim asks tentatively, still quiet.
She is. Hee Do can’t resent Yu Rim any bonds she could maintain while she was a world away, and she won’t. She’d told Yu Rim that she didn’t need to apologize for doing what she needed to do do and that Hee Do understood - which she did. She does.
But he never told her. While she missed Yu Rim every day, Yi Jin never told her that he still spoke to her.
“Mm,” Hee Do lets out at last with a nod. She can feel Yu Rim’s eyes on her, so she shrugs. “It didn’t feel right.”
When Yu Rim turns over to lie on her side and look straight at her, their hands still intertwined, Hee Do doesn’t need prompting to keep going.
“I thought that that’s what we were supposed to be, you know?” She says. “Yi Jin and I. Dating. It made sense, everyone thought so too.” She glances over at Yu Rim. “Didn’t you?”
Yu Rim has a small frown as she looks over Hee Do’s face like she’s trying to figure out what exactly Hee Do is feeling. She doesn’t answer Hee Do’s question, but Hee Do keeps going anyway.
“I guess it stopped making sense.” Hee Do wonders how much she could even say. She hadn’t really stopped to think about it after they’d broken up. “We were boyfriend and girlfriend, and I guess it was nice. You know, doing couple stuff. But…” She mulls it over. “It changed everything else.”
“In a bad way?” Yu Rim asks.
“Mm.” Hee Do plays with Yu Rim’s fingers mindlessly. “I guess not bad, bad. But not better.”
“You deserve to have better,” Yu Rim says resolutely, and Hee Do smiles over at her in thanks.
“Do you ever think we’ve just read too many romance comic books?” Hee Do asks then.
Yu Rim takes a moment to prop her head up with an elbow and look down at her. “What do you mean?” she asks.
“You know,” Hee Do says, scooching closer to her on the bed and bringing their joined hands to rest on her own stomach. “Did it raise our expectations too much?” She sighs and waves vaguely with her free hand. “Maybe I want some grand thing that doesn’t even exist. I want to feel the way they always make it seem like. Like… when you’re with someone, and it takes your breath away, and you can’t wait to be together, you know? And like you can’t get enough of touching them, and-” She stammers, realizing how foolish she must sound. “And kiss them and- stuff.”
God, this is embarrassing.
“Agh,” Hee Do groans, throwing her wrist over her eyes to hide behind. “It’s dumb.”
There’s a beat of silence, but thankfully Yu Rim saves her from her own embarrassment by breaking it.
“It’s not.” Yu Rim takes her wrist and forces her to lower it from her eyes. “Hee Do-yah, it’s not dumb to want that.”
“If you say so,” Hee Do allows.
“I know so,” Yu Rim stresses. She looks down at where she’s still holding Hee Do’s wrist, and seems startled for a second. Hee Do looks down too and watches as Yu Rim runs her fingers over the old scar. “It hasn’t faded.”
“Ah.” Hee Do lifts Yu Rim’s other hand and brings their wrists together, scar to scar. “Of course it hasn’t.”
Yu Rim’s small smile is so precious to Hee Do right then. She doesn’t need to hear Yu Rim tell her she missed her, or that she’s glad she’s there, or anything else: that smile says it all, as do her eyes when she brings them back up to meet hers.
Hee Do yawns, and Yu Rim breaks their grip so she can push Hee Do’s face away when she doesn’t bother trying to cover her mouth.
“Sorry,” Hee Do mumbles through another jaw-breaking yawn, not sorry at all.
“Were you up all night celebrating?” Yu Rim asks, taking off her badge at last and throwing it aside.
Hee Do rubs her fist over her eyes as she shakes her head. “No, just couldn’t sleep. I guess ‘cuz of too much excitement, my head just wouldn’t shut off.”
And it’s true - despite all the exhaustion, she’d stared up at the ceiling for what had felt like all night. She’d spent a long time writing in her diary to try and make sense of her feelings, plus going over yesterday’s matches, then by the time she was done there were still hours to go ‘til dawn and no sleep in sight.
Now that she’s here, though, all the tension she didn’t know she was still holding has been melting off her body and leaving her bleary eyed with sleepiness.
“I get like that after winning a hard medal too,” Yu Rim says, fluffing up a pillow and tugging Hee Do upwards on the bed so she can rest her head on it. “Sleep for a bit.” Before Hee Do even opens her mouth, she continues: “Yes, I’ll wake you up for lunch.”
Hee Do grins and reaches out to squeeze Yu Rim around her waist. “Don’t you go anywhere, Go Yu Rim. You hear me?”
Yu Rim pats her hair. “I wouldn’t dream of it. Who do you think is paying for lunch? Because it’s not going to be me.” She tries to pull back then, gently, but Hee Do refuses to let go of her hold around her waist.
After another fruitless attempt to pull away, Yu Rim sighs in that “I am annoyed at you but not really” kind of way, and Hee Do knows she’s won.
She slackens her hold on Yu Rim just enough to allow her to lie down with her own pillow next to Hee Do’s before tugging her back closer. “’M warm,” Hee Do mumbles.
“I don’t like sleeping on this side,” Yu Rim responds, and Hee Do groans loudly - she was just about to fall asleep.
“Then turn around!” Hee Do complains.
“You have to turn!”
After a brief struggle and a knock of a knee that knocks the wind out of Hee Do, they’ve switched spots and Hee Do huffs as she rests her cheek against Yu Rim’s shoulder. She can feel the warmth of the sunlight streaking in from the window onto her back and a pleasant breeze with it every now and then.
It’s nice, but Yu Rim’s warmth by her side is nicer.
July 28th
Y si la vida es una rueda y va girando y nadie sabe cuándo tiene que saltar
Y la miro
¿Y si fuera ella?
y si fuera ella - alejandro sanz
And if life is a wheel and it turns and no one knows when they have to jump
And I look at her
And what if it were her?
The cobbled streets seem to reflect the shine of the yellow streetlights above as they walk arm in arm along what seems to be a historical part of the city center. The night air has cooled considerably from the earlier stuffy heat. It feels refreshing against their cheeks, and they enjoy it thoroughly as they walk past open bars and restaurants that spill the sound of laughter out onto the street.
The mood is bright wherever they go, and it’s infectious.
Whenever Hee Do looks down at Yurim next to her, she is smiling widely. Her expression is light too as she looks around in open happiness, and Hee Do is just glad she can witness Yu Rim get to have this moment. She’s grinning herself as well as she takes in how many different types of people pass them by, all seemingly sharing the infectious mood brought by the Games.
There seems to be music playing in every corner, yet it somehow never feels jarring. As soon as a song fades from hearing as they pass street artists plucking at guitars and crooning into the night air, another takes its place as music escapes from the next bar over, and so it goes.
Hee Do of course never recognizes any of the songs, but every now and again the two of them stop so that they can watch someone perform before a small crowd. They’ve been listening to a girl sing what Hee Do would guess are love songs when Yu Rim rests her head more fully against her shoulder and Hee Do is hit by the smell of her perfume. If Hee Do happens to nuzzle closer, it’s purely a coincidence.
Hee Do makes sure to drop a bit of the currency she’d exchanged with Coach’s help the other day into the girl’s guitar case lying on the floor before they move on.
As they do, they end up taking a turn into a suddenly calmer street. Unlike the main streets, not every establishment here is open, and there’s what seems like a quaint bar just ahead. It houses a few conversing groups of people as well as free tables and chairs out on the cobbled street, so they take a seat to rest their feet.
Yu Rim's English is way better than hers now, so Hee Do has a convenient excuse to have her order for them. As soon as someone comes out to take their order, she gestures to Yu Rim and rests her chin on her hands to watch as Yu Rim reads over the small menu she's handed.
"Wine?" Yu Rim suggests, meeting her eyes over the menu and lifting her eyebrows.
Hee Do nods, content to go along with whatever Yu Rim feels like, and that's how they kickstart the rest of the night.
Unbeknownst to her, Yu Rim is apparently interested in trying out all sorts of different wines while she’s in Madrid, and she’s decided that there is apparently no better night than tonight. Hee Do isn't about to deny her when it means she also gets all of the cheese, bread, and ham boards to enjoy with the drinks.
She hates pretty much any wine Yu Rim ends up loving. They’re too sour for her taste, and Yu Rim’s laugh is loud any time Hee Do’s face scrunches particularly hard after a tentative sip. The bar fills up slowly but surely as well, so Hee Do pulls her chair closer and closer to Yu Rim to make space for people grouping tables up around them.
Their knees press together tightly under the table as they crowd together, and Yu Rim savours the second glass of Merlot she'd ordered. Hee Do, for her part, tries to wash away its taste by gulping down a glass of something-or-another that is blissfully sweet and tastes great with the last of the cheese.
She reaches out and offers Yu Rim the last piece of sausage from the board, and Yu Rim accepts it with a hum. Her lips barely brush Hee Do’s fingertips, but she doesn’t seem to notice. Hee Do’s fingers tingle when she brings her hand back, probably from the alcohol.
“Dessert?” Hee Do asks hopefully.
Yu Rim’s cheeks are flushed. She giggles, barely audible over the conversations that have grown louder around them, and nods.
Yu Rim can have her fancy wines (and she does, actually, filling up a paper cup to take with her as they pay). Hee Do, though, will take some churros instead - no questions asked.
They find the local dessert being served from a street stand back on the main street and stand nearby for Yu Rim to finish her wine and Hee Do to enjoy her treat.
Hee Do moans happily as she enjoys the crunchy sweet crust giving way to the gooey warm chocolate filling inside. How can something be this good?
She wolfs it down in no time and licks her lips to try and catch the remaining sugar from the churros, wondering if she could go for another one. She's sucking the tips of her fingers delightedly when she happens to look at Yu Rim.
Her eyes are on Hee Do's mouth, and Hee Do's stomach feels funny all of a sudden.
Hee Do pops her finger from her mouth and lets out a sudden laugh to distract from her hurried wiping of her hands with the crumpled napkins in her hand. Yu Rim blinks, seemingly brought back to herself, and meets her eyes. She doesn’t say anything though, and Hee Do’s mouth feels dry as they hold their gaze even as Yu Rim takes the last sip of her cup.
There’s a loud laugh from someone nearby, and Hee Do is startled back into motion.
"Come on," Hee Do says, reaching over to grab Yu Rim by the wrist and tug her along.
They decide to take the walk back to the hotel - it’s close enough, and they can enjoy the end of the night as it winds down.
“I’ve never done this,” Yu Rim says as Hee Do swings their hands idly between them as they walk. She’s not really drunk - she’s always been better than Hee Do at taking her alcohol - but she’s talking slower than usual, like she has to think over her words to make sure she’s saying them right. It’s kind of endearing.
“Hm?” Hee Do asks, guiding them along a huge fountain and glancing up at the peculiar statue within it. “Done what?”
Yu Rim gestures around them and is about to answer when she stumbles on something on the ground. Hee Do holds her elbow to steady her easily enough, but she still frowns. “Careful, Yu Rim-ah.”
“I am,” Yu Rim says, very seriously, “always careful.”
They’re a couple blocks from the hotel now, and Hee Do really cannot wait to bury under some covers and have what she knows is going to be a great sleep. “Sure, but still,” she tells Yu Rim.
“I want to do more of this,” Yu Rim says then, thankfully walking closer to Hee Do now. She sinks against her side, and Hee Do wraps an arm around her waist to prevent any more stumbles. “I want to discover things. New things. Could we?”
“We could,” Hee Do says, smiling at the notion. “Like what?”
“Like the things they say.” Yu Rim seems to know she just made absolutely no sense, because she adds: “I mean… The cities. I want to actually get to see them.”
“And drink all of their wine?” Hee Do chuckles, teasing.
“Na Hee Do,” Yu Rim admonishes with a pinch to Hee Do’s waist. “I’ll have you know I drink vodka in Moscow.”
Hee Do groans, and Yu Rim giggles.
“But yes,” Yu Rim continues. “Drink their drinks. Eat their foods. See their buildings.” She says the next part quieter: “Step outside the piste for once.”
Hee Do remembers when Yu Rim had told her yesterday that she hasn’t actually gotten to see much of Moscow at all, her time too taken up by training and competing. Yu Rim had said she was tired of people asking her about Europe because she had run out of ways to make it seem like she had experienced any of it beyond her apartment, the bus, the training center, and, at most, a teammate’s house.
“We will,” Hee Do promises then. And she means it. “You just get ready. We’ll experience all the things you want to.”
Hee Do intends to carry that promise all the way back home and into the future. For now, though, the hotel will do, and she squeezes Yu Rim’s side as they make the rest of the way back through moonlit streets.
July 29th
Hee Do is woken up by a shaking of her shoulder.
“Whaaat,” she croaks miserably, head pounding.
“Hee Do-yah,” Yu Rim’s voice calls from beyond her closed eyelids.
Forcing a peek through scrunched eyelids, Hee Do finds Yu Rim standing there fully dressed in her Russian leisure uniform, leaning over her slightly in bed to shake her shoulder. “You forgot to put your hair up,” Hee Do informs her before closing her eyes.
Wait.
She shoots up in bed, barely avoiding hitting Yu Rim’s forehead with her own as she does. “Why are you dressed like that?” Hee Do asks urgently, eyes wide open now. Is she leaving? Are they taking her back already?
“Yah,” Yu Rim calls soothingly, pushing Hee Do’s messy hair out of her face. “It’s nothing. I’ll be back after lunch.”
Lunch. Hee Do’s eyes search wildly for the clock, and she notices it’s barely 8AM. “Oh,” she says, and then her headache hits her full force. “Ow,” she whines, bringing a hand to her throbbing temple.
“We’re doing some,” Yu Rim hesitates. “Team Russia stuff.” She turns away from Hee Do and comes back with a bottle of water in hand. “Take these,” she orders, taking Hee Do’s hand and depositing two pills in it. “I’ll be at the Olympic Village, we can meet there after.”
“Okay,” Hee Do says, only somewhat miserably. How can Yu Rim look as good as she does when she must’ve drank at least three times more than Hee Do had last night? Hee Do decides that she hates wine. Beer treats her much better than this.
“Or you can stay here until I come back… if you want.” Yu Rim offers while Hee Do swallows the pills down with a mouthful of water. Her mouth feels like cotton.
“Can I use the bath tub,” Hee Do asks, letting herself flop back down onto the mattress.
“You can,” Yu Rim agrees easily enough. Damn, she should’ve asked her that sooner if it was that easy.
“And order room service?”
“… If you pay for it.”
“Sweet, I’ll stay here then,” Hee Do decides. “Good luck with your stuff.” She lifts her wrist, eyes already closed to go back to sleep, and Yu Rim touches her own to it before grabbing a backpack and leaving the room.
Hee Do falls asleep soon after, snuggling into the leftover warmth in the fluffy duvet. By the time she wakes up, the sun is high in the sky, and she has little over an hour until Yu Rim gets back.
“Guess that’s goodbye to breakfast,” Hee Do groans as she forces herself to get up.
The room feels empty without Yu Rim there, even with her things strewn about here and there. Hee Do checks her own bag and finds she has no clean clothes left other than a last pair of underwear. If she’d woken up earlier, she could’ve stopped by the Olympic Village to get more… and now Yu Rim is coming back from there anyway, so Hee Do should stay put.
She opens a couple of the drawers in the closet - hastily closing the one Yu Rim had apparently chosen for her own underwear - until she finds one with what looks like workout clothes. She figures she’ll at least borrow a t-shirt so she doesn’t feel smelly, and pick up something else at the Village later.
She’d left the bathtub filling after pouring a generous amount of whatever bath products were next to it, and by the time she brings her things into the bathroom, there’s so much foam and bubbles that she has to run over to shut off the water before they spill over.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Hee Do groans happily as she sinks carefully into the tub and shivers as the warm water envelops her. “I should’ve used this after the finals.” She happily gathers a bunch of foam and deposits it on her own head, blowing at what remains in her hands after.
She’d also brought her diary into the bath with her, and once she is done playing around with the different knobs and finding a way to get the massage jets hitting her perfectly right by her lower back, she carefully picks it up and holds it up by the side of the tub.
She’s happily swirling her toes through the bubbles while she writes about yesterday, but comes up short of words as she ponders about last night for some reason.
She can try their drinks, and I’ll be in charge of desserts, she writes after a moment of thought. She could take Yu Rim around Paris someday. She thinks Yu Rim would like it, and Hee Do could take care of everything with her French.
She wonders back to the sweet taste of the churros and the sight of Yu Rim’s eyes peeking at her from over a cup of wine, and adds another line to the page:
She might be used to all the sourness, but I can take care of bringing the sweetness.
She hears the hotel room door click open then shut. She pauses, relaxing when Yu Rim’s voice calls out for her.
“Just a minute,” Hee Do calls back, closing her diary and reaching out to put it safely by the sink.
“Oh, you’re in there?” Yu Rim’s voice says from right beyond the door. “It’s okay, I already showered in the gym. Take your time.”
Hee Do melts back into the water, though it’s lukewarm by now. She doesn’t want to take her time - it feels like time is the last thing they can afford to waste right now. No fancy bathtub is worth it, even if the massage jets on this one are out of this world.
She finishes her bath quickly with no regrets, then tugs on the black t-shirt with something written in Russian on the back that she’d taken from Yu Rim’s drawers. She notices as the collar pops over her head that it smells like Yu Rim, but thankfully the size isn’t exactly fit for Yu Rim’s. That girl’s appreciation for oversized clothing serves Hee Do well as the hem of the black tee still falls below her thighs.
She doesn’t bother drying her hair yet, tugging at it hastily instead with a towel to take most of the water out then padding over to the door so she can ask Yu Rim what it is they’re going to do.
“Hey,” Hee Do calls when she steps into the room and sees Yu Rim bent by one of her suitcases looking for something. “I need to stop by the Village for some clothes, but then we can do stuff.”
“Oh, that’s…”
Yu Rim turns towards her then seems to forget what she was about to say, because she stops on her tracks and just stands there staring at Hee Do.
“Um.” Hee Do looks down at herself when she notices Yu Rim looking at her t-shirt. “I had to borrow this,” Hee Do admits, tugging at the hem of the tee then flicking her wet hair strands from her shoulder. “Figured it was a post workout shirt.”
When she looks back at Yu Rim, Yu Rim is still standing there staring at it.
Hee Do is starting to worry that she shouldn’t be wearing this for some reason when Yu Rim blinks back up at her with a startle. “Fine!” She blurts out. “It is. Mine. I work out. I mean, that’s fine.”
Hee Do laughs. “Did they work you that hard today? I thought it was just supposed to be a team activity or something.”
Yu Rim turns away with a laugh. “Yeah, no… It, no, it was fine. We did some team exercises.” She takes something from her suitcase and zips it back up. “Olympic Village first then?” She looks back at Hee Do. “Do you also need pants?”
“Oh! I guess these are too short?” Hee Do asks, pulling her shirt up so they can look at the shorts she’d put on underneath.
“Oh.” Yu Rim doesn’t say anything else, so Hee Do looks at her and sees Yu Rim dragging her eyes back up to hers. “Yeah,” Yu Rim says finally. “Pants.”
“Okay hold on then, I can wear mine. Yours are too short for me.” Hee Do picks up her own pair of uniform pants from where she’d thrown them over a chair and sniffs at them. “Eh. I’ll just change in my room when I get there and then we can go out.”
Yu Rim mutters that she’ll get changed in the bathroom and locks herself in there after grabbing some clothes, so Hee Do pulls her Korean uniform pants and jacket on by the bed, then hastily shoves everything she’d left around the room into her backpack.
“That book guide from the hotel says there’s a huge park next to this zoo by the city center,” Hee Do calls out loudly so Yu Rim can hear her. “Do you wanna go there?”
“Sure,” calls Yu Rim’s muffled voice from the bathroom.
When Yu Rim comes out in a fresh outfit, Hee Do smiles. “Pretty,” Hee Do tells her, because she is. Before Yu Rim can say anything in reply, she brushes by her to enter the bathroom. “Just gonna comb my hair then let’s go.”
The taxi ride to the Olympic Village is short - there’s a big soccer game happening right now, so it seems most people are too busy watching it to fill up the streets, and soon enough Hee Do leaves Yu Rim waiting for her by the Athletic venue near the Village since Yu Rim isn’t wearing her uniform and badge to enter.
Hee Do tries to be quick: as soon as she’s let inside the Village, she rushes up to her room and messily turns her backpack over on her bed to empty it. She can worry about the dirty clothes later - she just gathers them into a bundle and puts them into a laundry bag in the closet so that they’re out of sight. She grabs some fresh clothes without much thought, more worried about underwear and pants than anything else since the rest she can just borrow from Yu Rim.
She remembers to get out of the uniform she’d put on as well, hastily stepping into a fresh pair before taking the time to gather up all the pins that had fallen on the bed from the mess in her backpack. She’s collected a good amount of flags by now, and she makes sure to gather them all into the goodies bag she’s been using to store them. She can’t wait to hang them by her medal back home.
All said and done, it must’ve only taken her some minutes to be done, and she hurries to leave the apartment so they can go have lunch by the Zoo.
“Na Hee Do.”
Hee Do freezes with one foot out of the door, wincing. Maybe if she stays very, very still, she won’t notice her there. It works with T-Rexes.
Coach doesn’t sound amused when she orders: “Back inside.”
Hee Do takes a second to sigh in silence before she turns around with a forced smile. “Coach! How are you!”
Her face isn’t amused either. “When I gave you time off until the end of the Games, did you take that to mean I gave you permission to go off and do anything you wanted?”
She sounds eerily similar to Hee Do’s mother. “Coach! I was just with Yu Rim!” Hee Do says. Damn it, Yu Rim should’ve come along with her. Coach always listened to her better.
Coach narrows her eyes at her like she’s sussing her out. Hee Do gasps, offended at the suspicion.
“Who else would I even be with?” Hee Do asks. “We haven’t seen each other in over a year!” She says, waving her hands around. “And then we win medals and have the first week off in like, our entire lives and like, what, I’m going to hang around with all these people that I will be with for the next four years too? Coach! I even went to a museum because Yu Rim wanted to see some old as hell statue or something! And you think I’m just doing-”
Coach Yang lifts her hand to interrupt Hee Do’s rambling. “Alright, alright, calm down.” She rubs at one temple. “I forgot how silent it is without you around,” she grumbles, and Hee Do pouts.
“Yu Rimie’s waiting for me, so…” Hee Do twists her hands. “Can I go now?”
“You!” Coach Yang points a finger at her. “Don’t you get yourself or Yu Rim in trouble, you hear me?” At Hee Do’s aggressive nodding, Coach sighs. “Not a word to your mother that I let you out of the Village at night. If she finds out, the truth is that you escaped and I knew nothing of it - no, I actively tried to stop you and you still ran off.”
There is nothing Hee Do wants less than have her mother find out that Hee Do is resting during the Olympics, without supervision, so she has no problem agreeing. “She won’t hear a thing!” Hee Do promises, motioning to zipping up her lips.
Coach Yang crosses her arms. “Okay. I reckon you’re not too occupied with Go Yu Rim to forget the women’s team sabre finals are in two days?”
Shoot. She’d forgotten. “Not at all!” Hee Do says regardless. “I’ll be here.”
“Good. Now,” Coach says, “go. And be careful, Na Hee Do.”
Hee Do grins. “Even if I’m not, Yu Rimie is always careful, Coach.”
“That much is true,” Coach agrees, then waves her off. “Go, I want to watch the volleyball game.”
Hee Do whoops and runs off to drag Yu Rim to the biggest lunch of their lives if Hee Do's ravenous stomach is any indication.
Once they’ve had their fill, Hee Do has a very important question:
Why the hell does she keep getting so sleepy?
They’re at a park, lying on the grass under the shadow of a tree to escape the afternoon sun. Hee Do’s eyes are starting to get heavy as she rests her head in Yu Rim’s lap and stretches her legs out.
Hee Do’s stomach still feels full after their incredible lunch, even after all the walking around the zoo that was so crowded Hee Do hadn’t even managed to look at the penguins.
Yu Rim is looking off into the distance of the lake nearby, and Hee Do watches from below quietly, content to let her think. She can see the redness on Yu Rim’s cheeks, flushed from the heat and the sun, and her hair brushes over her face every now and again from the wind. She truly does look lost in thought, but she’s clearly not forgotten about Hee Do: she brings her fingers down to run through Hee Do’s hair, threading easily through the strands before fixing them and running her fingers through them again.
Hee Do shivers, eyes closing of their own volition.
A light breeze washes over them and Yu Rim’s fingers keep moving on her scalp, scratching lightly now. Hee Do’s entire body moves in a shiver this time, and she squirms in place. Yu Rim’s fingers pause, but resume their movement soon enough.
Hee Do tries to imagine for a second that they’re back home: fresh out of practice and lying on the grass by the training center, resting together just like old times.
She tries and fails.
Yu Rim’s light caresses feel too nice, and the warmth from the sun is only second in warmth to the feeling that blooms inside Hee Do at the knowledge that this, right here, right now, is just too nice to try and wish away.
July 30th
I'll say your name, just listen
Doesn't it sound different?
Never whispered it this way
camila cabello - used to this
Hee Do finally manages to convince Yu Rim to let her order them room service tonight.
Hee Do really wasn’t feeling like going out for dinner, a bit overwhelmed from all the crowds, and she’d noticed Yu Rim flinch earlier when she’d taken a wobbly step, so she was absolutely decisive about it.
It did take some coddling and some whining to convince Yu Rim, plus Hee Do pointing out that the hotel had an entire restaurant that would bring dinner for them upstairs, and that Yu Rim should well try it out if they asked her about it for the sponsor segment later.
Hee Do isn’t sure if it was that or her refusal to let go of Yu Rim’s leg from the small couch of the room where they’d been watching the Marathon broadcast in Spanish, but eventually Yu Rim does agree. Hee Do decides not to push her luck and even calls from the hotel room phone to order it, nervously reading out from the menu herself.
Their meal arrives while Yu Rim is in the bathroom, so Hee Do takes it upon herself to bring the dishes out to the small balcony of the room, barely fitting them onto the small iron table there and putting the chairs next to each other so that they can look out over the city while they eat.
“It’s here?” Yu Rim asks from behind her, and Hee Do turns around with a grin.
“Yup. Look at Madrid at night,” she says, pointing over the balcony railing. “Nice view, right?”
“You’ve seen it before you know,” Yu Rim says with a tilt of her head.
“Doesn’t make it less pretty,” Hee Do shrugs, then reaches to tug at her hand. “Come on, let’s eat. I ordered you some wine.”
“You shouldn’t have!” Yu Rim gasps. “It’s too-”
“Stop, please,” Hee Do says before Yu Rim can finish complaining about the price like she had earlier when she’d managed to look at the menu from over Hee Do’s shoulder. “I wanted to, for you. Please?”
Yu Rim visibly bites back her words, then softens. “Okay,” she agrees quietly, finally letting Hee Do bring her fully out onto the balcony and sitting down at her prompting.
They eat quietly straight off the serving plates they’d been brought, their legs pressed together under the table so that they can both share and reach everything on the table. The only light on them is what filters out from the room behind them, and it serves them well, bathing them in its soft yellow ish glow.
Hee Do hums every now and then at how good the food ends up being, and grins when she notices Yu Rim visibly enjoying a few sips of her wine.
Yu Rim happens to catch her eye then, and smiles back as if by reflex. “What?”
Hee Do shrugs, taking her final bite and putting down her cutlery before answering. “You know,” she says vaguely, looking out onto sea of lights of the city below. “I just like seeing you happy.” She knows Yu Rim has had a hard time, just as Hee Do has - more than she has, actually - and she also knows Yu Rim deserves more happy moments. She wants her to have that. She glances back at Yu Rim. “Aren’t you?”
Yu Rim’s smile grows, and she puts her wine glass back on the table. “I am,” she confirms with a slow nod. “Very happy.”
Hee Do grins, leaning over slightly to bump her shoulder with her own. “Awesome.”
Yu Rim bites down her smile and turns her head to look out at the city for a bit, her fingertips running mindlessly around the rim of her glass. Hee Do lets her have her minute of silence, content to watch her profile from the side.
“Hee Do… You do know why, right?” Yu Rim asks eventually without turning to look at her.
“Hm? Why what?”
Yu Rim turns to meet her eyes. She tilts her head and her hair cascades down from over her shoulder. “Why I’m so happy,” Yu Rim says, taking Hee Do’s full attention. “Why I’d be so happy even after getting a silver medal.” Hee Do goes to argue, but Yu Rim shakes her head, and she stays quiet instead, letting Yu Rim continue. “Even if it’s for another country. I’m the happiest I’ve been ever since I don’t know how long despite knowing what’s waiting for me once this is over.” She laughs softly, shaking her head again but this time seemingly at herself. “Don’t you know why?”
This time when Yu Rim meets her eyes, Hee Do is the one who needs a moment.
Hee Do is the happiest she’s been in a long time, too. She knows without a doubt in her heart that she’d be this happy even if she’d lost, even if she had to go back home empty handed, and she knows that it’d be because she’d still be right here, right now, finally, with Yu Rim.
Her breathing starts growing heavy as Yu Rim holds their gaze. Her mind flashes back to eating churros by a street corner, and to the way Yu Rim had smiled at her all night.
Hee Do manages a nod, for once having trouble coming up with what to say. Yu Rim’s gaze is heavy, and it breaks from hers for a second as it drifts down.
Hee Do isn’t dumb. She watches as Yu Rim licks her lips and swallows, then brings her eyes back up to Hee Do’s.
Attack in preparation, Hee Do's mind says idly, and she pushes forward.
Their lips touch.
"Hee Do-yah--" Yu Rim whispers shakily when Hee Do pulls back slightly. Her eyes are wide, and she looks overwhelmed.
"I know,” Hee Do murmurs, looking back down at Yu Rim’s mouth and having a really hard time looking away. “Don’t tell me you don't feel this too.”
Yu Rim licks her lips again, and this time they meet in the middle.
And then again.
Hee Do's heart has gone haywire. Surely, she thinks, it would not be great for her to die of a heart attack in a hotel room in Spain. The thought doesn't stop her from cupping Yu Rim's face and parting her mouth over Yu Rim's, even as her heart lurches in her chest when Yu Rim parts her mouth under hers, and even as Yu Rim lets out a small sound at the brush of their tongues. The soft strangled hum feels like it jolts Hee Do down to her core.
She needs to hear that again. Let the media have the headlines if she dies.
"If I die don't be mad," Hee Do sighs dazedly against Yu Rim's lips when they part again slightly, already moving back in to hopefully take Yu Rim's bottom lip into her mouth.
She doesn't get to see how nice that'd feel because she gets pushed back, hard.
"What?" Yu Rim exclaims, startled, holding her at arm's length.
"Huh?" Hee Do asks, blinking in confusion at the abrupt change. "What?"
"What are you talking about, dying?"
"Oh." Hee Do scratches her head bashfully. Crap. "It was just a dumb thought. Sorry."
Yu Rim promptly smacks her shoulder, hard. "Don't joke about stuff like that!"
"Sorry!" Hee Do repeats, grabbing Yu Rim's hand before she can hit her again. "It was just because my heart was beating so fast," she says simply, pulling Yu Rim's hand with hers until it presses against her chest, right against her heartbeat. "See?"
All fight seems to drain from Yu Rim at that, and she looks at their joined hands. Hee Do smiles, figuring she can probably indeed feel her heartbeat given the slight awe on her face.
"You can't just say stuff like that," Yu Rim mutters at last, blinking back up at her with a frown.
"I know, I know, it was a joke," Hee Do sighs. Great. She'd ruined the mood.
"No, not that," Yu Rim interrupts. "The- the other bit."
"Huh?"
Yu Rim's blush is really cute.
It takes Hee Do a moment. When it dawns on her, a slow smile spreads on her lips. "What, that you almost made my heart beat out of my chest?" she asks with a grin.
"Stop!" Yu Rim whines endearingly, trying to pull her hand back but being kept in place by Hee Do's grip.
"You don't want me to tell you that?" Hee Do laughs, reaching over to pull Yu Rim into her in a semi hug. She presses a loud kiss to her cheek. "Yu Rim-ah, if you kiss me again I promise I won't."
Yu Rim groans, but Hee Do sees the turn of her expression when Hee Do doesn’t pull back all the way and hovers instead. She never thought she could make someone look like that, especially not Go Yu Rim, but that expression registers in her mind as wanton right before Yu Rim stops biting her own lip so she can take Hee Do’s instead.
Hee Do thinks she finally understands why the stories always make first kisses into such a big deal.
She hasn’t felt quite like this before: buzzing with energy, uncertain about how and where to touch Yu Rim so doing her best with abandon instead and paying painfully close attention to how Yu Rim reacts. She feels restless, unable to wait at all when they part for air before taking Yu Rim’s mouth again, wondering if Yu Rim can feel how hot Hee Do feels under her skin.
It must be something about the way her heart lurches when Yu Rim buries her hands in Hee Do’s hair and presses impossibly close. Surely that’s the feeling everyone can’t get enough of, because Hee Do certainly can’t: she tingles all over as she cradles Yu Rim close and runs her hands up her back, then tingles more still when Yu Rim mumbles her name in a shared breath.
She’d never heard Yu Rim sound like that when saying Hee Do’s name.
“Yu Rim-ah,” Hee Do calls quietly, voice coming out hoarser than she’d expected.
Yu Rim sighs. Their foreheads rest together, and Hee Do smiles as they share panted breaths. Yu Rim tangles her fingers behind Hee Do’s neck and closes her eyes, seeming to try to pull herself back together.
“In case it’s not clear,” Hee Do says, quietly, “I’m really happy too.”
Yu Rim chuckles for a second, then pulls back and bursts into laughter, shoulders shaking with mirth as she shakes her head fondly. “Yeah, I think I got that.”
“Just making sure!” Hee Do says, laughing in delight as well. “C’mere,” she says, grinning as Yu Rim lets her tug her back in close.
Previous chapter: Chapter 2
Next chapter: Chapter 4