Work Text:
The end of the world started when Kim Jisoo's microwave almost blew up her apartment.
I say almost because it did blow up a sizeable swathe of the kitchen and bathroom, but her bedroom was left untouched.
"Shoot shoot shoot shoot!" Jisoo knew she was in trouble, and rightly so—the kitchen was demolished with the kitchen island nowhere in sight. A large hole had been ripped in the wall, with a fresh breeze wafting in, raising goosebumps on Jisoo's arm.
The culprit in question meanwhile sat amongst the debris with its door hanging by a hinge and parts of its plastic parts melted into runny goo, which was cooling down as Jisoo warily tip-toed closer to inspect the damage and see what she could salvage. Dislodged wires spat out sparks, making her jump.
Irene the landlady was going to kill her.
She picked up the ruined microwave, wrinkling her nose at the smell of burning plastic. Mournfully, she spotted the remnants of her canned soup splattered all over the inside.
"It was my last can too....but what did I do wrong? Was I supposed to open up the lid or—oh, hello there."
A small black cat had entered the hole and hopped inside the kitchen, daintily picking its way across the rubble until it came to a stop right in front of Jisoo holding the busted microwave. The cat sat on its haunches and looked directly up at her. Jisoo had a moment to marvel at the cat's beautiful hazel eyes before it opened its mouth and spoke.
"We need to go Jisoo. The end of the world has begun."
Jisoo blinked. "Are you talking to me?"
"Yes."
"But you're a cat."
"That is factually incorrect. I am a human called Jennie who has the ability to turn into a cat. I would say I am a Human Cat. How else could I have found you and climbed in through the hole you just made?"
"A shapeshifter? You guys are real?"
"We are wasting time," Jennie the Human Cat said, "and we need to hurry to stop the world from ending. We might already be late unless we get a move on. Bring the microwave and follow me."
"The...the microwave?" Jisoo repeated. She was still cradling it in her arms like a baby.
"Yes," Jennie said patiently. "I understand this is all a shock to you. I will do my best to explain as we go along but we really must be leaving. I don't want the world to end and I'm sure you don't want to as well?"
"I er...no. No, not at all," Jisoo agreed.
There was a lot she wanted to do with her life. She was twenty-seven, she was still floundering trying to decide on which path to steer her life and she had as yet to fall in love and date someone for longer than three weeks.
She didn't want the world to end before she got herself a girlfriend.
Jennie was swiftly making her way towards the front door and Jisoo lumbered after her as best as she could with the unwieldy apparatus in her arms, trailing wires. Some screws fell out as she walked.
"Why do we need the microwave? I should put it in a bag. And where are we going?"
"No time, no time, no time," Jennie said. Her tail swished from side to side in mild annoyance. She clicked her tongue. "We have already lost two minutes of precious time. Let's go."
"But—"
Jennie stood up on hind legs and easily opened the door. "You really should lock up sometimes Jisoo. It's not safe out there." Jisoo only nodded, taking the nagging from the cat in stride.
After all, who was she to argue with a talking cat?
They took the elevator and went out into the street. Jennie hadn't said anything as they went down the storeys. She washed her face, pretty much like cats do. Two other people climbed into the same cabin as Jisoo but they only gave a her a strange side eye and gave her space. Jisoo didn't really mind; she was used to people giving her space.
"Now we must go to the station," Jennie said once outside, "I would ask you to call a taxi but the place we need to go is rather far and it would drive up an expensive fare. So...the station it is, even if it's nasty and stinky."
It amused Jisoo to hear the cat complaining about public transport. "You're so thoughtful, thank you. But...where is it that we need to go, exactly? And what do I have to do with the end of the world? And my microwave?"
"Walk with me, try to keep up," Jennie the human cat said. "I would change into a human to stay on your level so you can hear me better but now is not the time."
"Isn't it strange, a talking cat? Won't people stare? Or try to catch you?"
"They are already going to be staring at you, because of the microwave. Don't worry about me," Jennie reassured. "Folks don't like black cats, they won't bother us."
They certainly must have looked odd, Jisoo thought. A girl lugging a molten microwave walking with a black cat. As Jennie said, people were superstitious of black cats so they gave the duo a wide berth.
"Of course, the end of the world didn't actually start with you. It's just human nature to think that everything revolves around you," Jennie said as they walked. "The end of the world however, is indeed linked to each and every person around the globe for the simple reason that we are all inhabiting this same hunk of rock spinning around the sun."
"But why does it have to be me to stop it?"
"Oh you're not stopping the end of the world," Jennie said, "you're stopping the end of your world. Those are two different things. There is the world and then there is your world. We are going to save the latter one, because that's all we can do right now."
By now, Jisoo was mildly confused, to put it mildly, and Jennie seemed to notice.
"There have been many End-of-the-World events before," she said as they made their way onto a train. Jisoo barely could fumble around for what little cash she had on her pocket to pay for a metro ticket and she didn't know how she was going to get back home. And maybe it would be wiser to sleep on the streets than facing Irene's wrath, but she hoped that Jennie had some concrete plan.
"All these End-of-the-World events could have been very very big or very very small. But they could have still resulted in an End-of-the-World event. But they were all stopped in time, just as we are trying to do now."
"You helped people stop the end of the world then before?" Jisoo said hopefully because she was frankly more confused than ever, to put it frankly.
"Yes and no," Jennie said. She was occupying the seat next to Jisoo. "There have been others like me who helped people stop the End-of-the-World. I'm going to do my best to help you too. And I have faith that you will be able to save your world."
"Are we talking the multiverse theory here? You keep saying my world and the world, like there's something bigger. Are their multiple worlds then?" Jisoo was growing tired, her arms locked around the bulky microwave were getting pins and needles from being in the same position for a long time.
"Again, you are thinking on a too small a level," Jennie said. "Yes, there is the bigger End-of-the-World event coincidentally sparked off at the same time as your end of the world was triggered. But that is not really of your concern since you have your world to save before even focusing on the larger End-of-the-World event that is going on. People aren't concerned with your end-of-the-world, they are concerned with the larger one so that is why you should take care of your end-of-the world first, because nobody else will."
Truly unable to grasp anymore of Jennie's cryptic words, Jisoo leaned back in her seat and tried hard not to breathe in too deeply the stench of urine on the public metro.
Seemingly hours later, Jennie announced their stop.
"Where are we going?" Jisoo asked.
"I have a friend who can see numbers on people's heads," Jennie responded. She watched sympathetically as Jisoo puffed and panted up the stairs with the microwave in her arms.
"Uh...I can see...numbers...too. I play Mario Kart, I see numbers and stats all the time."
"No. She sees numbers on real people's heads," Jennie said. "She should tell us where to head next."
"What's her name?" Jisoo asked.
The warm sunlight made Jisoo's skin tingle as they finally burst out into the open with the thronging crowd from underground.
"Lisa," said Jennie the Human Cat.
>
Jennie's friend seemed to be expecting them—the door flung open after Jennie's single soft knock.
"Oh my my my! Visitors! One, two! And three! Come in come in!"
Three? Jisoo thought. Oh, does she mean the microwave?
A beaming, gangly girl in a high blonde ponytail welcomed them into an ultra spacious minimalist apartment. She had enormous glasses perched on the tip of her nose and didn't look to be much older than Jisoo. An acrid chemical smell wafted throughout the room, making Jisoo's nostrils burn.
"How lovely, I'm glad you're finally all here. Would you like a cup of—"
The blonde girl (Jisoo assumed it was Lisa) suddenly froze and turned to face Jisoo again, squinting at the space above Jisoo's head.
"Ninety-eight. Very good." Lisa beamed widely again and clapped her hands. "You can lay down your microwave now, Jisoo. Gently. I'll take it from here."
"How do you know my name?"
"We don't have time for chit-chatting," Jennie butt in, "Lisa, what's next?"
"Oh lay off you sour-puss, do you have to be such a kill-joy? I only wanted to get to know her a little—"
"Lisa, the End-of-the World," Jennie miaowed indignantly. "Please try to be more serious about this."
Lisa waved dismissively. "She's good Jen. Look."
Once more, Lisa turned on Jisoo, pushed her glasses closer to her eyes and squinted at the space above Jisoo's head. "One-hundred and ten. Eighty. Fifty-five. Six. Ten..."
She continued rattling out random numbers as Jisoo grew more confused but Jennie seemed to be understanding because Jisoo noticed her swishing tail gradually slow down.
"Uh...what do the numbers mean?" Jisoo asked.
Lisa laughed and tapped the side of her nose. "Now that would be telling, hm?"
"All in due time," Jennie said tersely, "can we move along?"
"Alright alright." Lisa riffled in her pocket and brought out a small dollar coin. "Catch Jisoo!" She flicked it in the air. Jisoo caught it.
"What did you get?"
"Uh...a flower?" Jisoo frowned. "What coin is this? This isn't.... like anything I've seen before." It was rather heavier and larger than a regular dollar coin, engraved with a flowering bloom. She went to check the other side of the coin but Lisa stopped her.
"It's a special coin," Lisa explained, "it determines whom you have to seek out to help you stop your End-of-the World. You cannot see the other side once you have chosen."
"She got the Rose," Jennie exclaimed, sounding very much relieved. "Good, I trust her more than the Rat. Let's go."
"What? What? Where?" Jisoo said, bewildered by the rapid change in pace. "Jennie—"
"Hold on," Lisa said, her voice suddenly sharp. Her grip on Jisoo was icy. "One-hundred. Thirty-five. Fifty-five. Fifty...." she trailed off, her eyes showing fear for the first time. "Jennie....she's running out of time!"
Jennie reacted faster than lightning but her tone stayed calm. "Alright Jisoo, then let's get moving. We need to find the Rose. Luckily enough she doesn't live far from here." She bounded towards the door.
"The...the Rose is a person?"
"Yes and she's going to help stop the end-of-your-world." Jennie led her out of Lisa's apartment, who was still screeching numbers at the top of her lungs like a demented banshee. Jisoo felt mildly worried for her but there was no time to think—Jennie was scurrying down ahead of her and Jisoo thumped down after her.
"SIXTY-SEVEN! FORTY-FOUR! ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY! EIGHTY-TWO! THIRTY-NINE!"
"Ignore her, she panics too much," Jennie grunted as they ran down the flights of stairs. "Focus on the steps. Don't fall."
"What about my microwave?"
"Lisa will take care of it for you until we're back."
"When will we be back?"
"Only the Rose will be able to tell."
>
The Rose didn't show her face when Jennie knocked at the door of yet another apartment in another condominium block. But this time, when the door opened, the mouth-watering aroma wafting from the Rose's apartment was appetising and made Jisoo remember that she had been about to eat some soup before this whole bizarre series of events started.
"Jennie, you're just in time. Come in. You too Jisoo."
Jisoo craned her neck, trying to see who was the owner of such a soft, gentle voice. The Rose sounded like a nice person and if her angelic voice was any indication, she was likely pretty as well. Jisoo no longer questioned how everyone they met knew her name—Jennie probably informed them beforehand.
"She has to hide for purposes; don't question it," Jennie muttered as she padded inside the apartment. "Come in, she won't bite. We need to get started."
"Get started on what?" Jisoo asked as she tip-toed inside the warm apartment.
"Jisoo."
She turned around, expecting to see the Rose but there was nobody. A small amused chuckle rang out. "I'm sorry you can't see me right now. But you'll be able to soon, after we stop your End-of-the-World."
"And then....what about the bigger end of the world? That other people are worried about?" Jisoo scratched her head, suddenly bashful. "See I erm...I didn't even have a girlfriend yet and I...well, it's great that I'm going to save my end of the world but I don't want it to go to waste when the bigger end of the world happens, you know."
Another heavenly chuckle and even Jennie—stiff, tense Jennie the Human Cat—seemed to be smiling.
"One thing at a time," the Rose said soothingly. Her voice floated all around Jisoo, settling over her like a warm cuddly blanket that eased all her confusion and tension, erasing all her worries and concerns.
"How are you feeling right now?" The Rose whispered tenderly in her ear. Her voice tickled a bit, making Jisoo giggle.
"Good uhm...sleepy..."
"Jennie, help me."
Jisoo's eyelids were slowly slipping shut. But although she had to save the world, she couldn't really bring herself to care at the moment. The exhaustion of lugging around a microwave and completing goodness knows how many laps as she ran with Jennie from destination to the next was catching up to her.
Strong hands caught her as Jisoo staggered and swayed. She sagged into a soft body as lean arms wrapped around her waist holding her upright. The person smelled really nice, like vanilla. It reminded Jisoo of the warmth and cosiness of a bakery and she burrowed deeper into the person's pillowy chest.
"Jisoo?" Her name sounded nice in the Rose's sweet tone, like it was an endearment.
"Hmm?"
"Stay with me okay? I got you."
"Whatever you say...angel..."
Another breathy chuckle and everything went dark.
>
"Is she waking up?"
"I think so. Ssh, give her time."
Jisoo stirred at the faint voices, still cosily wrapped in a haze of warmth and comfort. But soon, a jumble of confusing images and broken phrases started a procession in her head and she could not ignore them.
Black cat. Fried microwave. Hole in the wall. End of the world. The Rose. A coin. Lisa. Jennie. Numbers. Big glasses. Bakery smell.
Bakery smell! It was here! Very faraway and distant but here.
Jisoo sniffed, picking out the distinctly familiar vanilla smell.
"Jisoo? Can you hear me?"
That commanding voice....where did she know it?
She was struggling so hard to remember but her mind was stubbornly slow right now.
"Jisoo?" The voice was closer now. "Time to wake up now."
Obediently, Jisoo's eyes fluttered open. She blinked, her vision bleary but she could make out two distinct smudges. She blinked again and everything swam into focus.
There was a girl in a high blonde ponytail and huge glasses, wearing a white lab,coat. She beamed down at Jisoo and saluted. "Good afternoon, Jisoo. I'm you anaesthetist. How's it going? Think you feel up for moving yet?"
"Dr Manoban, she's just woken up. Keep the questions simple for my patient please. She's probably gonna be confused as it is." This was the middle girl, somewhat shorter and with a surgical mask hanging below her chin, like Lisa's. She was however wearing blue scrubs, with a small black cat pin and a watch dangling from it. She knelt level with Jisoo, squeezing her arm softly. "How do you feel?"
Jisoo squinted at the girl, noting her feline features and gasped in disbelief. "Jennie?"
The girl smiled, nodding in approval. "Hi. Glad you're awake." She held up her hands. "Pain one to ten?"
Jisoo frowned, her brain still buffering. "Pain...?"
"She's still high,"Dr Manoban noted and jotted down something on a clipboard she was holding before passing it to Jennie. "Monitor her. I wrote her down some lignocaine but I doubt she'll need it much. I'll send in Doctor Park. Good work, Jennie." She winked playfully. "Catch you later?"
"Maybe," Jennie said nonchalantly. Jisoo noticed her cheeks looked rather pink.
"You're pink," she said helpfully. "Do you like her?" She pointed at Dr Manoban.
Jennie flushed harder and Dr Manoban chuckled, darting away before Jennie could swat her.
"Okay, seems like you're one of the honest types when you're high, hmm?" Jennie said as she adjusted some tubes and wires connected to Jisoo's arms. The haze that enveloped her was slowly dissipating and Jisoo was growing more lucid. Her head felt heavy when she tried to move it and when she reached out to hold it, Jennie stopped her.
"Ahh no, no don't touch it yet, needs to heal."
"What?" Jisoo was dumbfounded. She suddenly grew scared, her heart thudding in her chest. The monitor spiked, beeping urgently.
"Didn't I succeed? Didn't I save the world? Where...What happened exactly....I, the microwave—"
"What's going on?"
The vanilla smell intensified in the room and Jisoo turned her head just as a new figure came around the curtain.
It could only be one person—
"The Rose..." Jisoo whispered.
The Rose laughed. She was every bit as beautiful as her voice and Jisoo suddenly felt very self-conscious. She wanted to curl up into a ball and hide but her eyes refused to do anything but appraise the gorgeous blonde standing in front of her bed. A dopey smile took over Jisoo's face the longer she stared.
"Check out those heart eyes, Doctor," Jennie chuckled. "Jisoo, this is your surgeon, Doctor Park Chaeyoung. And let me tell you, you're lucky you got her, she's miles better than Professor Yang."
"I wonder where she heard my name?" Doctor Park mused. She bent closer, her kind gaze making Jisoo's gut burn. "How are you feeling Jisoo?"
"I...I..." Her tongue felt so heavy and the drug-induced fog in her head had still not cleared away completely. She struggled some more, her brain conflicted, alternating between the pretty doctor and her own state.
Just say okay. She's pretty. I'm okay. Is she gay? I'm okay.
"I'm gay," Jisoo blurted.
Jennie snorted and hid her face behind the clipboard while Doctor Park pressed her mouth in a thin line but she couldn't stop the gust of mirth escaping.
"Gosh, if it wasn't for that data protection thing, this would be TikTok gold—"
"Jennie please, she's still high—"
"High and very gay for you, Rosie, clearly."
"Let's...let's try to keep things professional right now okay?"
"Roger, Doctor Park," Jennie winked.
Doctor Park cleared her throat, trying very hard to maintain her professional approach. "Jisoo would you like to drink some water?"
Jisoo nodded, growing suddenly aware of the acute thirst. "Water..." she croaked at last, her throat scratchy.
"I think she can drink some now, right? It's been more than an hour post-op. Here, let me."
Doctor Park carefully helped guide a straw to Jisoo's mouth and Jisoo drank all the water in the cup greedily. She had been utterly parched.
"Food?" Jisoo said hopefully.
Maybe once she had something to eat she'd be able to understand more what the hell was going on. Last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the Rose's arms while trying to stop the end of the world. So what happened in between? How did she end up in a hospital? And how come Jennie was a human nurse now? And the Rose a surgeon? And Lisa a doctor of something as well?
"Jisoo Jisoo, hey. Hey. It's okay. Listen to me," Doctor Park clutched her hand as the monitors started beeping fast again. Jisoo's eyes collided with the doctor's calm gaze. Now that Jisoo was slightly more lucid, she spotted what looked like a melancholic glaze in those beautiful orbs.
"You're safe, you're in hospital. There was an explosion at your apartment but we got you out fine. You got a nasty gash to the head but you pulled through. And you also electrocuted yourself." She spoke softly and soothingly, just like Jisoo remembered when she and the black cat visited the Rose.
"Wha....but the end of the world....there was...my end of the world...and..and the bigger end of the world...." Troubled, Jisoo tried to sit up. But Doctor Park's firm push had her lie back against the pillows, blinking up at the golden locks framing round cheeks.
Doctor Park continued talking as though she hadn't been interrupted. "Ah, you must have heard the radio broadcast we were listening to in-op. Some excited broadcaster proclaimed the end of the world because America or China or Russia or someone fired a missile like they usually do. If the end of the world is coming, there's not much I can do to stop it."
Jisoo's mind ran havoc as the pieces fell into place. "And you're...you're...Rose?"
"Rose, Rosé, Rosie, Roseanne. You must have heard Lisa, I mean, Dr Manoban, calling me that. Or Jennie, your nurse. But my Korean name is Chaeyoung." She nodded at Jisoo. "I should leave you to rest now. You had us all worried in there at one point, even Dr Manoban was on the verge of a meltdown. But I can tell you're a fighter—Dr Manoban had to give you quite high doses of anaesthesia before we could start our work."
She straightened up. "I'll have Jennie bring you some toast to nibble on. Is there any family members you'd like to call? I could talk to them for you and let them know of the situation."
"You even know my parents' phone numbers?" Jisoo gazed up at her adoringly. "You're the smartest doctor ever, Doctor."
Doctor Park giggled. "We have your medical file here with emergency contacts, sweetie. So, who's it gonna be? Mom? Dad? Oh, and I think your landlady is here to see you as well and—Jisoo?!"
At the mention of her demonic landlady and the memory of the hole in the wall, Jisoo's eyes rolled back and her head dropped on her chest.
*
[One Year Later]
The doorbell rang just as Jisoo was carefully easing out the dish of baked macaroni from the oven.
"Just a second!" she called, she had been heard. Blowing air on her fingers because of the hot dish, she ripped off her apron, gave a glance-over at the dinner table all set and with a satisfied nod went to answer the door.
"Hi," Chaeyoung said brightly when Jisoo opened the door. Her cheeks were flushed a ruddy red from the cold but she was all wrapped up in a coat and the scarf Jisoo had gifted her for Christmas. She held up a bottle of red wine. "I thought this would go well with dinner?"
"Perfect, love," Jisoo said happily as she tugged Chaeyoung inside and kissed her long and slow. "Now go shower. Dinner's ready."
Chaeyoung left the bottle in her hands and pecked her one more time on the lips before she made a bee-line for the bathroom. Humming tunelessly, Jisoo made her way back to the kitchen and started setting out the plates.
>
In the aftermath of the nearly fatal explosion, Jisoo decided to stay at her friend Seulgi's place until she found somewhere else to stay and paid Irene for the damages. She picked up two jobs and worked herself to the bone to make up for her stupidity and lack of common sense.
"Bruh, microwaving a can of soup? I may be stupid, but I'm not dumb," Seulgi had told her friend. "Ever heard of home economics?"
"I...was trying to cook...for a change..."Jisoo muttered sheepishly. Growing up waited on hand and foot until she was booted out of the house to "get a life and learn how not to be a disappointment" didn't help prepare her for the finer technical points of sustaining oneself. Even Youtube videos couldn't save her.
"You're almost thirty and you nearly blasted yourself to the sun because you're a walking disaster in the kitchen." Seulgi shook her head. "Not while you're living here, not on my watch. We're starting cooking lessons tomorrow or my name ain't Kang Seulgi. I want to come back and find my place still in one piece if you're gonna be staying here, and that's final."
Suffice to say, despite Jisoo's moans and groans and complaints, Seulgi kept her word and Jisoo learned to cook fairly well, even whipping up a plate of pasta with simple sauces that she made from scratch.
This skill came in particularly handy when it came to winning over Doctor Park Chaeyoung and Jisoo used it as motivation whenever she ended up scrubbing the burnt frying pan for the third time in a row. But it was well worth it when she surprised Chaeyoung at her workplace with some cooked lunch that the blonde doctor enthusiastically gobbled up down to the last morsel.
But that came much, much later, well into the year after she had the courage to ask the doctor out.
Three days after she was released from hospital, Jisoo was back prowling the white corridors with a bunch of lilies clutched tightly to her chest and even though she stuttered and stumbled over her words from acute nervousness, she jumped and punched the air with glee the moment she stepped out of Doctor Park's office.
Because incredibly enough, Chaeyoung had giggled, accepted the flowers and said yes to a lunch date.
Scoring more dates after that successful first lunch, Jisoo grew determined to get her life in order when things seemed to be going steady and serious with Chaeyoung after they had passed the third week of being together and eventually celebrated one month of being a couple.
Chaeyoung had long shifts and Jisoo worked practically around the clock to earn money yet both never could get enough of the other. Jisoo always found time to call Chaeyoung and catch up a bit and vice-versa for the blonde doctor. If either was too tired, a quick goodnight text or voice mail greeting was always in order. Jisoo had never found herself so committed before but for Chaeyoung, she was willing to try.
Even Seulgi commented on the change.
"Change?"
"Yeah. I dunno man, you were kinda....just floating around without anything really, like, giving you that motivation and drive to do something with yourself. I think you got something good going with this doctor Park. When do I get to meet her?"
Seulgi, a streetwise foster kid, had been Jisoo's friend and practically her big sister since grade school. Initially thinking Jisoo was a snobby, privileged rich brat, Seulgi's perspective quickly changed when Jisoo stood up for her against some school bullies. It was many weeks later that Seulgi learned Jisoo was actually taking the blows for her behind the bike shed at school and put a stop to the torture by beating up the cowards herself. Seulgi earned herself detention for the trouble, but also struck up a life-long friendship with the clumsy shy girl who behind her preppy looks was a wickedly cool gamer like herself.
Seulgi did get to meet Chaeyoung on a double date with her own girlfriend, Wendy. Wendy and Chaeyoung got along very well which made for an easy-going night out for the girls.
"Well?" Jisoo asked eagerly when they were back at Seulgi's flat. "What do you think of her?"
And Seulgi smiled, giving her blessing. "I think you actually hit the jackpot for once, Chu."
She nearly puked up the pizza she had just eaten when Jisoo caught her up in a tight bear-hug.
>
"You've come a long way from heating soup cans and blowing up microwaves," Chaeyoung smiled as she sipped on her glass of wine after cleaning up her plate. "The pasta was lovely Soo, thank you."
She gave a tiny burp and covered her mouth in mortification but Jisoo only smirked.
"Jennie may or may not have told me that the way to your heart was through food," the proud chef said. "I took her advice very seriously."
"Of course you did," Chaeyoung giggled. Her cheeks were tinged pink and she rested her chin on her elbow propped up on the table, looking at Jisoo with a heated gaze that set Jisoo's nerve endings tingling with want.
"So, it really was a year ago when I realised I have a thing for confused dorks....time flies."
"Stop it, if I hadn't blown up my apartment I wouldn't have met you." Jisoo laughed.
"Oh I think we would have. Maybe sooner or later, but I believe we would have."
Jisoo looked up with interest at Chaeyoung's thoughtful comment. "You think so?"
"Mhm..." She didn't elaborate further. Her eyes were fluttering almost shut.
Jisoo enjoyed seeing her girlfriend tipsy and carefree, a sign she was relaxed and goodness knows, her precious princess deserved some downtime after saving people (and the occasional idiot like Jisoo) all day.
"Go put a movie on for us love, I'll just wash the dishes," Jisoo told her as she collected their plates. She pecked Chaeyoung on the forehead, savouring her favourite vanilla fragrance.
She had bought the perfume bottle for Chaeyoung to use whenever she stayed over and it still remained her favourite scent of them all. After getting her own apartment around a month ago, Jisoo often invited Chaeyoung to sleep over ("it's closer to the hospital anyway," she had told a smirking Seulgi.) and her girlfriend readily took her up on the offer. In the near future, Jisoo was planning on asking Chaeyoung to move in with her—she had plenty of room for two and Chaeyoung slept over so many times that Jisoo really should give her the key to the place as well.
When Jisoo entered the bedroom later, Chaeyoung was already huddled up beneath the blankets, wearing an old band shirt of Jisoo's.
"Not in the mood for a movie?" Jisoo asked, spotting the laptop still in its place on her desk.
Chaeyoung simply reached out with grabby hands towards Jisoo. "I just want you," she pouted.
Jisoo chuckled and climbed in, relaxing as Chaeyoung wound her arms around Jisoo's middle and buried her face in Jisoo's neck, planting tiny kisses on the patch of skin there. Jisoo stroked Chaeyoung's head in return, savouring the warmth and weight of her girlfriend half on top of her.
A year ago, Jisoo was living paycheck to paycheck, having the occasional one-night stand and living on takeouts and junk food. Now, she had her own place, she had upgraded her culinary skills and she had a gorgeous smart girlfriend to boot.
"Chaeng, how did I get lucky like this?" Jisoo wondered.
Chaeyoung lifted her head. "I got lucky too," she said quietly. "I'm glad you came to me like that, You saved me, you know? And you saved us both the time wasted searching for each other." Her tender gaze held Jisoo's sceptical look. "Soo, I told you how I lost my Mom like two years ago, right?"
Jisoo's arms instinctively tightened around her girlfriend's waist. Yes, she had learned of the devastating traffic accident that robbed Chaeyoung and her sister Alice of their mother so abruptly. She had learned of how Chaeyoung soldiered on for her sister who broke down and wasn't the same anymore afterwards—Alice became a hollow shell and quickly wasted away despite Chaeyoung's desperate attempts to save her. She had learned of the long nights when Chaeyoung would sometimes drink and drink to forget the raw pain in her heart. She had learned of how dangerously close to the edge Chaeyoung had been.
Chaeyoung noticed and smiled, shaking her head. "I'm alright now, but I wasn't really back then. I nearly gave up being a doctor. I could have become an alcoholic like...like Alice. I couldn't stand facing some patient to inform them they were going to die of this or that. I couldn't stand doing it. My job didn't bring me pride or satisfaction anymore. I was on the verge of a breakdown. Thank goodness I had Jennie and Lisa to back me up when they could, keep me sane as long as they could. I...I nearly broke down and asked Lisa for some pethidine once, just to forget everything for a while. But then...I met you."
Jisoo held her breath as Chaeyoung 's fingers roamed the side of her head, delicately tracing the path of the scar hidden beneath Jisoo's velvet black hair.
"They paged me about this casualty that apparently blew up her apartment because she tried microwaving a can of soup—
"Not one of my best moments, I admit..."
"—she looked very pretty and I was glad her face was undamaged because it would have been a real shame. Jennie had been the nurse in charge of her. Lisa was worried we'd be too late to save the girl—she has a habit of yelling out the numbers she sees on the monitor, you know like the blood pressure and heart-rate and oxygen saturation.... Honestly it's very disruptive but she's brilliant at what she does so....we just let it slide and try to work around her."
"I had heard her I think. She was in my....dream hallucination thing that I told you about."
"The one where you were going to stop the end of the world," Chaeyoung chuckled. "Anyway with the help of the team, we patched up the girl. I met her when she woke up and she was adorably dazed and confused and practically confessed to me—"
"Don't get too ahead of yourself now, I only said I'm gay, as Jennie said—"
"Yeah but you said it to me, soooooo...." Chaeyoung winked before resuming her story. "And then this same dork showed up in my office shaking at the knees and gave me some flowers and she asked me for a lunch date. I said yes because for the first time in a long time, I wanted to give myself a chance. A chance to feel normal and distract myself from everything that happened to Mom and Alice. After what happened with Mom, I had turned down countless other invites to dates....but something about this girl had me intrigued. Something....told me to give her a chance."
Chaeyoung smiled broadly now. "She was funny, quirky and warm. She was clumsy, awkward and a geek. She helped me fall in love with living again, bit by bit. She helped me help myself, get professional help too. She wasn't ashamed of my weaknesses and problems. Of course, it wasn't always smooth sailing. We both had long shifts that kept us away from each other. But she was patient like no one else before and more over, she vowed to work on herself and be worthy of me. So I did the same. We gave ourselves the chance and we worked on being better, worthy people individually."
And Jisoo smiled, because she had noticed the small efforts Chaeyoung put into improving herself individually, taking inspiration from Jisoo's trials: booking herself for therapy sessions, trying to be less hard-headed and competitive, injecting more humility and tolerance in her everyday interactions with other people, being more open to criticisms, being assertive to her bosses when they pressured her to work extra even after she did overtime....
"The geek won, then," Jisoo teased but she was fighting hard to keep her tears at bay—it would take great effort to stay unaffected when she recognised just how much she meant to Chaeyoung. Her girlfriend seemed equally emotional if her bright eyes were anything to go by.
"We both won." Chaeyoung kissed her softly, tilting her head to fit their mouths better. She pulled away just as bodies grew heated and fingers strayed under shirts.
"Chaeng?" Jisoo whined a little desperately. Wine-tainted lips beckoned her tantalisingly but Chaeyoung wasn't finished. She rested their foreheads together.
"Just one last thing: happy one year, baby. I'm proud of you...of us."
"Me too," Jisoo murmured, cupping Chaeyoung's face. "Happy one year. Here's to more years of us...of this." She gazed deep into Chaeyoung's eyes, hoping to bare her entire feelings for the blonde.
"Love you till the end of the world and beyond," Jisoo said. It was their own private little love declaration that held significant meaning for them. Jisoo tried not to say it too often to keep it special.
Chaeyoung's eyes crinkled into crescents. "Love you till the end of the world and beyond," she answered as Jisoo connected their lips back together, smiling against her mouth.