Work Text:
9:19 PM
Ryujin heard the click of a doorknob and slowly looked up from the book she had been reading. She smiled when she saw her—a mane of sleek, dark brown hair and the pursed cupid's bow lips that were so prominent that she could even tell them apart from Yeji's side profile. For dance practice, Yeji always chose simple and casual clothing; today was no exception. Dressed in a baggy pair of sweatpants and white shirt, the love of her life entered the room with a small bag and her usual purse, leaping onto the bed and tackling Ryujin almost immediately. Unwillingly, she gave a feeble attempt at being sulky, trying to push Yeji off but eventually let go, choosing to let Yeji bury her face into the crook of her neck, sighing and taking in a few, deep breaths before getting up.
"Hi," said Ryujin rather breathlessly, feeling truly as if the air had been knocked out of her lungs from the charming, lopsided grin Yeji gave her while taking off her cap. It was days like this, sometimes, that truly made her appreciate the extent of Yeji's beauty - that even with sweat clinging to her hair and clothes rumpled by a hard day's worth of work, her stunning cat eyes always sent thrills down to her stomach. And Ryujin, who after all, was just human, acknowledged even more the fact that even if it was a day or twenty thousand days later, she would always, irrevocably be in love with Hwang Yeji.
"Hi," said Yeji back, stripping herself of her shirt and pants and moving across the room to ransack Ryujin's closet for clothes. Sometimes, when Chaeryeong was already asleep and Lia's hiatus weighed on both of their minds, sometimes Yeji would allow herself to sleep in Ryujin's room and take some comfort from their closeness. Sometimes, they would take a bit more...
"You're staying here?" asked Ryujin, sitting up straight and sending her blanket flying to the floor. "In my room?"
"Uh, yeah?" said Yeji, having chosen a pair of olive green sleep shorts and a shirt. Turning around before heading to the bathroom, she fixed Ryujin with a look. "Why, is there a problem?"
"Of course not," said Ryujin smiling at her. "You really should, you know. More often."
Yeji chuckled and swung the door open. "Sooner or later, Ryeong will be getting her single room back again. I didn't see you this eager when we were already sharing a dorm."
"Well, sometimes, humans tend not to appreciate what they have until they lose it."
"I figured that much," was the muffled response Ryujin got from the bathroom, and with a much lighter mood, she returned to her book.
Once changed and clean, Yeji returned from the bathroom, her hair still wet and the water from the towel creating a dripping sound on the floor underneath. Phone in hand, she smiled and sat down again on the bed, plugging the dryer in and running her fingers through her wet hair. Ryujin, long having given up on her book (the main character was once again showing signs of wanting to go back to her ex) simply took her time and watched Yeji put various products on her face and in her hair while also attempting to text somebody back. Yeji always had a habit of biting her lip while texting. While normally quite distracting - Ryujin had caught herself wanting to touch those lips herself one in too many times, she only felt a warm, almost caramel-like buttery feeling of nostalgia. She'd known Yeji so, so long, and yet, the leader's little quirks and mannerisms always amused her to no end. Yeji would always be Yeji.
And then slowly, a sinking feeling went through her stomach. It had been bothering her recently, how with each and every song sung, every concert and episode shot, they were coming closer and closer to the topic of their contract renewal. For Ryujin, it had only been yesterday when the members were informed in JYP's office that they would debut, together. Only yesterday that Yuna and Chaeryeong's shrill screams of pure happiness racked through the room, and Lia's expression of relief mirroring Ryujin's. Just yesterday, when Yeji had turned around to face Ryujin, a smile so dazzling that the sun itself might have been blinded, and said, "I guess we were meant to be together, Ryujin-ah."
Would she still think the same, if Itzy chose to break up?
"Ryujinnie?" said Yeji in a concerned voice, knocking Ryujin out of her trance. She was staring at Ryujin worriedly, hair now completely dry. It glinted silver under the light.
"Yeah?" said Ryujin, nervously biting her lip, wondering if Yeji saw through her expression.
"You-you okay? I had called you once or twice before, you know."
"No, I'm fine... I'm just..." said Ryujin, trailing off into nothingness, feeling her heartbeat race as Yeji came closer and sat down near the foot of the bed, stretching her legs in a way not unlike that of a cat, and then propping her head on her arm and staring at Ryujin inquisitively.
"Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing, I'm fine."
"You know I don't believe you, right?" She replied unsmilingly, reaching up to the top of Ryujin head and ruffling her jet black hair.
Ryujin would have given anything right there, to know what was going through Yeji's head. Did she, perhaps, feel as though ITZY had been tying her down? Did Yeji, maybe, want to go somewhere further, far away, and had simply been too polite to let Ryujin know?
What if she was the only one who had wanted all of this?
"Yeji..." she tried once again, and the hand messing around with the crown of her head stopped at once.
"Yeji-yah...what would you want to do after ITZY?"
Yeji took a deep breath and dropped both her hands. Ryujin looked down quietly, afraid that she may have pushed the line. But when she looked up, it was to find Yeji staring at her intently—her brown eyes alight with the glow of Ryujin's bedside lamp—and Ryujin had never really seen her look so confused.
"I don't really know."
She was still staring at her - tilting her head and boring into her eyes. Slowly, Ryujin felt the tight strings of worry dissipate from her chest.
"What if - what if ITZY breaks up?" she swallowed, "Next year?"
Yeji's lips curved up. "Ryujin-ah, ITZY can't really break up. Not when we all still owe each other money." Attempting for levity, she dove under the covers and scooped up Ryujin in her arms, tickling the sides of her stomach until Ryujin finally started laughing, helpless against the leader's vicious attack.
"Pabo, always thinking about these difficult topics, come here and I'll give you something to really be mad about," teased Yeji smirkingly, when Ryujin finally collapsed on the mattress, unable to hold her own any longer.
"Ahh, so you give up now? After all your talk about sportsmanship and such? That's low, Shin Ryujin."
Ryujin chuckled under the covers, feeling Yeji's weight on top of her, and Yeji's slow, even breathing mimicking her own heartbeat. Hwang Yeji really did feel like a cat sometimes, thought Ryujin. Her fear of mice only added to this cuteness. And the way her eyelids softly shut and a happy smile puffed her cheeks up was really too much for Ryujin to bear. She lifted her hands to Yeji's soft cheeks and squeezed them, and Yeji's eyes were open again, and Ryujin had never seen so much beauty in one face. Yeji simply pressed herself closer to the black-haired woman and said, "Ryujin-ah, you know that I can't control the minds of the members. And neither can I predict what I might be feeling in a year or so. But let one thing be very clear: ITZY will always be at the deepest part of my heart, and I am sure that all of us will only do what's best for the group. I can promise you this much."
"And..." said Ryujin quietly m, though after the tickling match with Yeji, she no longer felt particularly worried or scared. "What about us? You and I? If ITZY does break up?" She closed her eyes, not quite sure of what she was anticipating.
Yeji laughed, and Ryujin could hear the blissful sound echo around all four walls of her room, wishing she could record and replay it again and again, just to hear Yeji. And then, she felt the ghost of Yeji's finger trace from her mouth to her jawline, and up again to the area of her would-be dimples, which soon appeared as her face broke into a silly smile that she couldn't control - not that she had ever quite managed to hide under the leader's intense, watchful eyes. And when she opened her own, she was met with the sight of a smiling Yeji, staring at her as if she was the most precious thing in the world. She brought herself closer, and Ryujin felt their noses touch.
"Yeji-yah..." she said desperately, but Yeji didn't seem intent on her speaking quite then, because she opened her own mouth.
"Ryujinnie, remember the first time we kissed?"
How could she forget?
After ending one of their vlives, they had been chatting in the exact same spot. Then suddenly, as if she couldn't help herself, Yeji mentioned rather casually that their dating ban was now lifted. And Ryujin, even back then smitten with Yeji, stared at their leader-nim dazedly, and Yeji had simply stared back, neither quite intent on speaking just yet. And like a woman starved, Ryujin was the one to lean in, and the euphoria she had felt when Yeji reciprocated was like nothing she had ever felt.
Of course, the story of Yeji and Ryujin stretched way longer than just that, but that was simply a story for another day. Maybe not today, because Ryujin was drowning in Yeji's eyes, Yeji's smile, and Yeji's scent, and really, all she could do was impatiently bring her closer, and kiss the living daylights out of the woman she loved the most in the world, her one and only, Hwang Yeji.