#mcjaehee

mystic messenger!

01. i will

summary: an ode to secret end saeran, with bits and pieces of how he lives trying to pick up the pieces of who he's supposed to be.

tags: choi twins centric, mc707, saeran-focused, SE saeran character study, possible male!oc x saeran, angst

CW: implications of self harm and suicidal ideation, just a whole lotta trauma and everything that happens in the game to saeran in general

status: multichapter (ONGOING)

02. beginnings with you

summary: Jaehee and MC get a first look at their new coffee shop.

tags: mcjaehee, fluffy, drabble

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

03. your usual, sir?

summary: Reader is a barista at a coffee shop and hates their job. The only thing that entertains them is a certain blond haired customer who always brings his blind dates to the place - and this time, he's getting stood up.

tags: reader x yoosung, coffee shop au, fluff

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

04. i push up my glasses

summary: But what if I said Jaehee is the one that loves you in every route?

tags: gay pining lol, mc707, angsty yearning

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

05. silence and comfort come hand in hand

summary: A solemn moment shared between the two during 707's AE, the night before V's passing and perhaps a night Jumin will never forget.

tags: juv, angst, yearning

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

06. campus daydreams

summary: Yoosung finds out MC goes to the same university as him. A lot of fluff, teasing, and falling in love all over again ensues.

tags: mcyoosung, literally just fluff

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

07. happiness with you

summary: jaehee and mc preparing for a lunch party at their new place, and all the bits and pieces of how good it is to live a life with someone you love.

tags: mcjaehee, domestic tooth-rotting fluff

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

08. and now i see you, and my spaceship keeps calling your name

summary: saeyoung and MC embark on a mission to finally get married at a space station. unfortunately, they're now stuck in space, cut off from all contact.

tags: mc707, angst, a whole lotta lovin'

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

09. you only love me when we're all alone

summary: at night, jaehee ponders on her relationship with mc, and what it means to either of them.

tags: mcjaehee, angst, sickening sapphic situationship core

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

10. his first

summary: jumin recalls a memory from when they were eighteen, when he first realized the answer to a question he'd kept for so long.

tags: teenage!juv, insane mlm situationship yearning, angst

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

11. inevitable

summary: yoosung and mc's first meeting. one neither of them remember until the second, when yoosung was nineteen, delirious and frightened.

tags: mc and yoosung (non-romantic), angst, the first fic idea i ever wrote for ophelia back in 2021 LOL

CW: suicide attempt, suicidal ideation

status: one shot -- predecessor to tonight, i promise you (COMPLETE)

12. tonight, i promise you

summary: what if mc never joined the rfa?

this is the story of yoosung kim, and how he learns to live without rika and without a sense of direction. there are times where he can, but there are times he can't.

here, we start from the one time he just couldn't.

tags: the fic is tagged mcyoosung but i will most probably change it to zensung, a LOT of angst, a lot of healing, a yoosung-centric character study

CW: graphic suicide attempt, suicide ideation, hospitals etc. -- this entire story revolves around yoosung's suicide attempt, so deal with that as you will

status: multichapter (ONGOING)

13. the night squall

summary: jumin recalls the first and only time he managed to tell jihyun how he truly felt, under the stars.

tags: juv, angst, heartbreak, closure -- based on that scene from fleabag

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

14. love to keep me warm

summary: Mirae and Jaehee spend their first Christmas in their cafe as lovers.

tags: oc x jaehee, seasonal fluff, for jaehee week 2022

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

15. a white memory

summary: jaehee recalls a moment in her childhood with her mother, several days before her birthday, a day before christmas.

tags: baby!jaehee, based on her 2023 birthday cg

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

16. the dampness of a spark

summary: Jaehee Kang is 25 years old and chief assistant to the director of C&R International. She's blunt, hardworking, efficient – others often compare her to a robot, incapable of having loved before. But what they don't know, amongst all the other things they're wrong about, is that she tried. Several times, in fact – hidden in her youth, some in places she's too ashamed to talk about. Here, she recounts it all.

tags: mcjaehee but very jaehee-centric, coming of age, jaehee pre-canon character study, my interpretation of her past, comphet adventures

status: multichapter (ONGOING)

17. o captain, my captain

summary: Zen is casted as Neil Perry in a South Korean stage adaptation of Dead Poets Society. Some parts of Neil's character bring back memories of a time long ago.

tags: zensung, angst, zen has to confront his past, mini zen character study

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

18. CODE 143

summary: You are a secret agent currently stationed in South Korea. Though you're already quite skilled in your field of work, you always tend to butt heads with a redhead hacker slash secret agent, codename 707. However, in your rivalry, there's a flicker of something else that could grow: something equally dangerous, strange and forbidden. Something that just might become love -- whatever that means for the both of you.

tags: reader x 707, rivals to lovers, sickening situationship/fwb to lovers, action and mystery, some smutty/nsfw elements, choose-your-own-adventure

status: multichapter (COMPLETE)

19. CODE 143: after hours

summary: this is basically just a purely nsfw extension of code 143 lmfao

tags: reader x 707, same tags as above but if you read this first before the entirety of code 143 this is just PWP, teasing, dryhumping, edging

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

20. mirrorball

summary: You're a struggling highschool student in your senior year, on the cusp of breaking free from intense bullying and apathetic parents. One day, someone unexpected comes to your rescue... your pale haired, crimson eyed knight in shining leather. And you can't help but think about how familiar he is.

tags: reader x zen, a whole lotta angst, pre-canon zen when he was still in a gang, choose-your-own-adventure

CW: graphic depictions of violence (reader is a bullying victim), implications of SA, suicidal ideation, they're both roughed up kids fucked over by the adults

status: multichapter (ONGOING)

21. The RFA Spins the Bottle!

summary: At one of your get-togethers, Seven oh-so boldly declares that you should all play Spin the Bottle. If you don't do the truth or dare asked of you, you end up in the closet with the person who asked you for 7 minutes. But considering the person that's asked you is someone you've had a crush on for ages... well, you could say it's more a reward than a punishment.

tags: literally everyone except rika and vanderwood x reader, choose your own adventure, seven minutes in heaven nsfw (with a sfw route), college au

CW: choking (saeran route), implied virginity (yoosung route)

status: one-shot (COMPLETE)

22. delicate

summary: on his birthday, he waits for the one person that never comes, though he always hopes that he will.

tags: jumin x v, for mystictober day 5 // jumin's birthday, rain

status: one-shot (COMPLETE)

23. all eyes on us

summary: zen and mc are on we got married, a reality tv show where idols must act like a married couple for the cameras. but off-camera, both of them realize that maybe not everything is for show.

tags: zen x mc, idol!au, for mystictober day 4 // zen x mc, idol

status: one-shot (might possibly add on to this inshallah)

24. you're going to be okay

summary: saeran wakes up from a nightmare. you and seven help him go back to sleep.

tags: 707 x gn!reader, for mystictoper day 3 // family, cozy

status: one-shot (COMPLETE)

25. my girl, my girl

summary: jaehee and you are having a date at a pumpkin patch, and you are also both incredibly cheesy with each other.

tags: jaehee x reader, for mystictober day 2 // after ending, autumn date

status: one-shot (COMPLETE)

26. red wine supernova

summary: what happens right after jaehee's good end, and you coming to terms with how you feel about jaehee... just a little bit more.

tags: jaehee x reader, for mystictober day 1 // favorite character

status: one-shot (COMPLETE)

blooming panic!

01. a second chance (hello and goodbye)

summary: Three months after the server was taken down, fate plays a cruel trick on two people who believed that they would never find each other ever again.

tags: oc x nakedtoaster, post bad end, angst, yearning, maybe not all hope is lost, fateful encounters, time skip, second chances

status: multichapter (ONGOING)

baldur's gate 3!

01. a trick of the light

summary:

You are the head librarian at the University of Waterdeep. Passionate in anything literature, you're one of the few people in the world that are actually in love with your job. But while you live your dream, you still feel like there's something missing -- something only admitted in drunken, lonely nights...

And maybe that something is in an ambitious, argumentative English Literature professor. What was his name again? Professor Dekarios?

tags: librarian!reader x professor!gale, modern academia au, fluff, two nerds just nerding it out, a lot of literary references and yapping, choose-your-own-adventure

status: multichapter (COMPLETE)

hades the game!

01. there she goes (again)

summary: icarus is doing his part on the surface -- safe to say he's proud of it. but one flight through the rifts of thessaly takes him back to a place he wishes he could forget, looking into the eyes of the demigod he once loved. and perhaps still loves, too.

tags: waxwitch, second chances, yearning, angst, slight canon rewrite, icarus' pov

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

date everything!

01. bed chem

summary:

You're not into one-night stands.

But when your rambunctious friend group -- all named Hank, for some reason -- drag you into the bustling nightclub called The Breaker Box, you find yourself immediately entranced by a woman with massive pink curls and freckles that leave you curious for more.

Only problem is, the next day, you find out she's your reading partner at book club. Awkward, huh?

tags: afab!reader x betty, nsfw, some fluff and angst, probably weird slow burn

status: multi-chapter (ONGOING)

genshin impact!

01. my jolly sailor bold

summary: In which you're a siren who tries to lure the uncrowned queen of the ocean, Captain Beidou. Except... she's more beautiful, and more daring, than any of your previous victims.

tags: siren!reader x beidou, also fem!reader x beidou. sapphic and gay and yearning somene PLEASE kiss that pirate woman!

status: multi-chapter (ONGOING)

02. asleep among endives

summary: your affliction is foreign to you -- flowers in your throat, petals in your spit. and the priestess of watatsumi island still holds your hand like it means something to her. you try to find a cure in bubu pharmacy's owner, which embarks you on a journey that can save your life... and maybe even your heart.

tags: kokomi x gn!reader, baizhu x gn!reader, hanahaki au, lotsa angst

status: multi-chapter (ONGOING)

dispatch!

01. a rather wet affair (and other possible HR violations)

summary: as one of SDN's dispatchers and an ex-superhero, you're no stranger to having your team piss you off on the regular. at least the janitor, waterboy, is always nice to you...

tags: waterboy x gn!reader, ocs included, optional nsfw

status: multi-chapter (ONGOING)

chainsaw man!

01. cigarettes out the window

summary: years after you ended things with aki, your paths cross again. in this bubble of cigarette smoke and booze, you allow yourselves to reminisce.

tags: aki x gn!reader, nsfw, major csm spoilers

status: one-shot (COMPLETE)

asian dramas (misc.)

01. shall we dream together now, you and i? (weightlifting fairy kim bokjoo)

summary: five moments in the life of bokjoo and joonhyung years after they graduated.

tags: bokjoonhyung, domestic fluff, post-canon, only like a miniscule amount of angst

status: one shot (COMPLETE)

02. the devil and her almost-lover (girl from nowhere)

summary: TK, in the perspective of nanno.

tags: tknanno, angst, pov swap, during canon, slight canon rewrite

CHRISTMAS EVE WAS IN FULL SWING, and Chaeyoung had to admit, she was feeling more festive this season than she’d had in a while. 

Perhaps the ongoing Holiday promos at the café had something to do with it. She had spent her entire week huddled in the kitchen with Lily, baking order after order of cakes and cookies. At this point, she was dreaming of gingerbread and elf hats and Santa and reindeers. The movie sessions with Jaehee, she thought, were another addition. 

Perhaps Jaehee was the biggest change from last year’s Christmas to this one, she thought. Back then, it would’ve been hard for her to imagine she’d be spending her holiday season sleeping over at Jaehee’s house more than once a week, cuddling and watching their favorite Christmas movies, baking their favorite things in the morning, stealing kisses between it all. 

They had started dating recently– it’d be a month soon– and every single romantic Christmas song had acquired a new meaning. She dedicated every single one she heard to Jaehee, as well as every Christmas movie, every little moment. This was their season, their month: they had confessed to each other on a cold night the first of December, and all of their kisses tasted of peppermint and cocoa. 

Work had wrapped up for the day– only a half day before their Christmas break for people to wrap up orders– and now they were headed for lunch at one of their favorite restaurants. This would be one of their first ever actual dates, not counting the many nights they’d already spent at each other’s houses. It made Chaeyoung giddy. With enthusiasm, she closed everything on the café, even taking Jaehee’s hand as she closed the door like she was picking her up from her house, an instance that made them both giggle. 

They drove, gossiping about the chatroom and the people of the café and whatever would happen tonight when Jaehee went to dinner with Chaeyoung’s family, an instance they were both nervous for but looked forward to. Jaehee’s fingers found Chaeyoung’s in stoplights, and they laced their fingers together, and Chaeyoung would look up and smile until Jaehee dis that shy little laugh that always gave Chaeyoung butterflies. 

This was really quite the feeling. They felt like a real couple now that they were doing couple stuff, going to lunch dates after work for quality time like the grown women in their mid-twenties that they were. Chaeyoung found it hard to describe, but she quite liked it. 

The place was not too crowded– an elegant Italian restaurant in a culinary district of Seoul, and a decently popular date night spot, though Chaeyoung figured, to their luck, that most couples would choose to go out at night. This was good, they’d get their food faster. 

“I think we should try the pizzas this time around…” Jaehee mused as they approached the place. “I have heard great things about them.”

“I wanted to do that, as well,” Chaeyoung said. “How about a margarita?”

The frown Jaehee gave her was sudden and comical. “I believe it’s a little… early for such a drink, Chaeyoung.”

Chaeyoung snorted. “I mean the pizza. It is way too early to have margaritas… I was thinking something like wine would be better for now…”

Jaehee scoffed, the ghost of a smile on her lips. “I still believe it is a bit too early for any drinks at all… I’d rather not be drunk at midday.”

“Well, it’s not my fault you get drunk with half a bottle…” Chaeyoung cocked an eyebrow. 

Jaehee’s eyebrows were on her hairline. “Alright, rude.” When Chaeyoung laughed, more irritated, she said, “Okay, first of all, I am not that lightweight. Don’t exaggerate.”

“Baby,” Chaeyoung looked down at her, softening her approach. “Are you going to forget Wednesday’s events?”

“Oh, please, Chaeyoung, that was Pinot Blanc…” she scoffed, an indignant frown on her face. “I was bound to get at least tipsy.”

“You were much more than tipsy, let me tell you…”

“Alright…” she said. “I suppose I could use some wine… it’s Christmas, after all. But I will go light.”

Chaeyoung nodded. “Sounds good to me.” She wondered, silently, if tonight would be any similar to Wednesday… She figured not. Jaehee would’ve learned her lesson after that quite… revealing and eventful evening in the chatroom. She would not want to repeat it again, though Chaeyoung would be amused. 

They had finally arrived at the entrance, having parked a few blocks away. “There’s a mistletoe…” Jaehee said. 

Chaeyoung looked at the door. There was one indeed, hanging right above it. “Would you look at that, there is one…” she said, thinking of how many kisses had been shared under it this season. The waiters would surely be amused by them, just as she was with every kiss at the door of their café. 

Jaehee didn’t move, so Chaeyoung decided to, going ahead and opening the door for her girlfriend, who regarded her with a somewhat dumbfounded look. 

“Go ahead, my darling,” she said with a playful tone, and Jaehee gave her a little smile and stepped inside, without meeting her eyes. 

It was only when Chaeyoung had closed the door and they were walking to their table that Chaetoung realized her grave, grave mistake. 

Oh. Her face was suddenly as red as her hair. 

She did not talk at all once they sat down, to embarrassed with herself to even get a good look at Jaehee. Sometimes, Chaeyoung could be very stupid. She knew this. She was keenly aware of this character flaw, evidenced by the many times Jaehee had, though also without knowing it, flirted with her, and that she had not caught. “Women have to be much more careful when approaching other women…” She had attributed that quote to anything but a romantic intent– misplaced misogyny, the emotional carefulness women were known for that men usually lacked, literally whatever except attraction, until she thought about it months ago, when she was starting to realize her feelings for Jaehee. 

Well, at least now she was slightly faster at picking up the clues. A couple seconds later in comparison to a couple months was quite the development, wasn’t it…?

“We’ll be having the medium margarita with a chardonnay, please,” Jaehee said once the waitress had come to take their order. Chaeyoung ordered water for herself, and the waitress was off. 

“I didn’t know what to get your mother for Christmas…” Jaehee said after a while, and Chaeyoung understood that they were dropping the matter of earlier. “I got her a perfume… I hope she enjoys floral scents.”

“I don’t think they allow that at the hospital, but her perfumes are usually… light and sweet.” Chaeyoung said. It was funny, actually, how well Jaehee seemed to get along with her mother. She had met her when the café opened, and ever since Chuseok, they seemed to have hit it off quite well. Sometimes Jaehee and her would casually talk on the phone about matters that had nothing to do with her. 

Chaeyoung was, all in all, happy to see it, although she did find it confusing, as anyone probably would. She treated Jaehee like a friend and sometimes like her own daughter… which was probably why Jaehee leaned onto her. Chaeyoung knew of her turbulent history with older female figures after her own mother’s death and, with that in mind, was happy to see her have this. And perhaps it might make the revelation of her relationship– and of her own self– easier, when the time came to do it. 

The wine arrived, the waitress pouring it on their glasses. Although they were very much in a casual setting, neither of them bothering to dress up for the occasion, Jaehee still looked very elegant with the browns and golds of the restaurant behind them, her cream turtleneck, the red wine, her slightly pinkened cheeks. 

Chaeyoung had an idea, and raised her glass. “A toast,” she said. Jaehee, with a cute, eye-smile grin, did the same. “To us.” 

“To this… blissful and beautiful new beginning,” she said, “And to many more Christmases together.”

They clinked their glasses and Chaeyoung found herself reveling in this moment, the normalcy of it, the cliché of being a couple lunching together on Christmas, toasting their relationship over a glass of Chardonnay. She wanted to have many more of these moments: couple trips, dinner dates, strolls along the bay, shopping for an apartment and furniture for it. 

It brought her this calm, peaceful happiness to think about it. She was never the sort for clichés, never desired a romance that looked like everyone else’s. Never was the black tie date night, white dress bride sort. With Minhyuk, they had wanted to do love their own way, craft their own version of romance and see what that looked like. But with Jaehee, she was eager to do love the way everyone else had done it, because it would still be irrevocably theirs. 

Shuffling on Jaehee’s purse took her out of her thoughts. Carefully, she pulled out a small box. “I wanted to give you your present…” she said, honey eyes regarding her earnestly, and holding out the small blue box. 

“Oh my goodness…” Chaeyoung was grinning widely when she took the box. She recognized the store, and knew it was not a cheap one. “This is…” 

“Open it,” she said, playfully in a way where Chaeyoung couldn’t help but indulge her. 

With as much care as Jaehee pulled the box out, she opened it to reveal a rather dainty rose gold necklace, with a pink stone etched in a frame that looked kind of like a sun. Chaeyoung couldn’t help but gasp lightly, drawing her fingers through the stone. “Jaehee, this is gorgeous…”

She couldn’t say it fit her jewelry style, as she preferred thicker chains and bracelets, but she could not deny its beauty. Aesthetics be damned, she wanted to wear it forever, simply because Jaehee had gotten it for her.

“It’s a rose quartz,” Jaehee explained. Her cheeks were a similar shade of pink. “Associated with tenderness, comfort, and joy. I figured it was the appropriate stone to represent who you are to me.”

Chaeyoung had a giddy, lovestruck grin on her face, and if they weren’t in the middle of a restaurant, she would pull Jaehee in to kiss her right now. This woman and her attention to detail always touched a very special part of her: the way she made sure everything had a place, a meaning, an intention. She left no stone unturned, and it marveled Chaetoung, making her heart smile every time. 

“And.. lift it up,” Jaehee said, so Chaeyoung lifted the little foam piece. There was another necklace identical to it. “It’s a set of two…” Jaehee said. “I don’t know if I should have consulted you about this, but I wanted to–” She huffed, the way she always did when she was flustered. “I wanted us to have something… that– bonded us, if you will, and I’ve always liked the idea of matching pieces.”

Chaeoung’s smile wasn’t going away anytime soon, and now she was closer and closer every second to damning the restaurant and just going over to Jaehee and kissing her. “No, I love it,” she said. “That way, I’ll always carry you with me… it’s adorable.”

Jaehee was now smiling like a fool as well, turning away just slightly, as if she didn’t want Chaeyoung to see. This woman was too cute in every single way a person could be cute. She was going to make Chaeyoung melt one day. 

“Will you help me put it on?” she asked, having taken out the necklace. “I’ll help you with yours.” It only felt right. 

Jaehee nodded and got up, and Chaeyoung did as well. She turned, pulled up her hair, and Jaehee very carefully placed the necklace around her neck and clasped it. “There you go,” was her cue for her to turn around, as well as Jaehee’s hands ghosting over her hair. Only then did she realize how heavily her heart was drumming.

She parted Jaehee’s hair softly away from the nape of her neck, although her layered haircut made the task a bit more challenging. But, with all the tenderness the stone symbolized, she managed to do it after one failed attempt that resulted in giggles, and when Jaehee turned around, the necklace fitting her like a glove, the pink stone shining bright and that same brightness reflected in her eyes, Chaeyoung felt her breath stop. 

She wanted to kiss her– do something, her lips were aching for a part of her body. Her lips, her hands, her forehead that was so easily accessible. But Chaeyoung stayed frozen in place. She didn’t know how Jaehee felt about public displays of affection, she got nervous even when Chaeyoung stole cheek kisses from her at the bakery. But there was this burning fire of expectancy, and oh, she wanted to… 

She eyed the mistletoe, where a couple had just shared a quick, chaste kiss. Perhaps she would kiss her there once they left. Perhaps then she’d be brave enough. 

“Let’s sit back down,” Jaehee said, and with that, the moment was gone. Chaeyoung meekly went back to her seat and took a sip of her wine. 

The pizza came not long after that, and it was delicious. Thin and with pools of mozzarella that made a delightful combination with the green leaves characteristic of this flavor. She would admit, though, that it would’ve been better with a rosé or sparkling white, the Chardonnay a bit too… punchy for the meal.

For dessert, they had tiramisu, one of Jaehee’s favorites, with espresso. The one this place made in particular was creamy and sweet, which made Jaehee, between pink cheeks and laughter, wipe cream from Chaeyoung’s tinted lips. Yes… Chaeyoung was going to kiss her later. 

The wine was left half-drunk, the bill was split, and they both left the place, breath tasting like coffee and cream and grapes, spirits high for the rest of the holiday– the fact it was their first as a couple just added to the giddy mood– and new matching pendants on their necks. 

Chaeyoung found herself freezing when she got to the door, movements suddenly jittery and heart suddenly racing. She remembered everything that had happened in the past hour and a half: the indirect, her obliviousness, Jaehee’s disappointment, the necklace, her hands, her eyes, her breath as she was close to her. She craved her, the brutal softness of her ministrations, and the mistletoe was right there and so was Jaehee, she could literally just pull her by the lapel of her coat and kiss her, but…

Still, something stopped her in place. The great monster that was insecurity, that sometimes precaution could be. As much as she wanted to wrap Jaehee in her arms and take her as hers in this very place, at this very moment… it would be selfish. She didn’t know if Jaehee wanted this, if she was or was not going to be made uncomfortable by her moves, by a display of them where anyone could see. 

For now, until they were sure, until they were comfortable… it would be better if these moments remained only between them, in the corners of their spaces where few people could see. This thing with Jaehee was something precious and sacred, something that could not, by any measure of the imagination, be ruined, and if she had to swallow her desires at times, she would. 

So, with heavy regret that was exposed in her steps, she began to move away from the door, leaving this moment and its many doubts behind, there would be another one, it just wasn’t meant to happen now, it was fine. 

But then, “Wait…” she heard Jaehee say, brightly. 

Chaeyoung turned to see her, still under the door, a wide, closed-lip smile on her face. 

“What…” she said, frozen, expectant. 

“...Come here for a second.” Jaehee’s words were an open-armed invitation, exuding a sort of calm confidence that pulled Chaeyoung in like a magnet. 

Slowly and very nervously, with her heart drumming in her chest, she approached the door, never breaking Jaehee’s gaze. She had always loved her eyes. Big and honey-colored, they sparkled from within with wonder and glee, like there were sparks dancing behind them. 

She was now standing face-to-face with Jaehee, close enough to feel her coffee-and-cream breath, aware of the plant right above them. 

And then, very carefully but without a smidget of hesitance, she brought her hand to cup her cheek, got on her tiptoes, and kissed her on the lips. It was perfect, sweet, as tender as the stone that had come to now symbolize their love prescribed. 

And Chaeyoung was beaming.

Rushing with an adrenaline that to her was not very well-known, euphoric, powerful, she could swallow the world entire. She cupped Jaehee’s face with one hand and wrapped the other around her waist, pulling her closer, and kissed her back. Really kissed her, making sure to taste the tangy sweetness of her mouth that by now she knew so well. And she did not care at all about the holiday or the restaurant or who was looking. Whoever looked would look. 

“Merry Christmas,” she said after she pulled away, a few seconds later, still holding Jaehee close to her. 

With her thumb, Jaehee caressed Chaeyoung’s cheek, and she closed her eyes, leaning into her touch completely, pressing her forehead to hers. She wondered, for the millionth time perhaps, how she had gotten so lucky to trip upon this woman.