Greener Grass [03]
Title: Greener Grass [Part Three]
Pairing(s): YoonSic
Rating/Genre: PG-13 + Language; AU Healing Romance
Warning(s): Gay stuff happens.
Disclaimer: I don't own Soshi. I don't own anyone, in fact. All Fiction.
Author's Notes: Hnnnnngggg Jessica plans to drop her solo album next year and I’m doing constant body rolls.
Part Three:
--
Jessica’s silent treatment was a blessing in disguise.
Im Yoona propped her legs frog-style upon her desk, operating like a valuable member of society. To survive the harshest waves of an existential crisis, Yoona accepted a couple gigs from the least scary clients--short articles that lacked energy more than grammar policing.
She tapped and swiped through her laptop, desktop, and smartphone as if they were one. Days of study reclusion made that possible.
Her daily tasks involved chauffeuring the offspring to numerous schedules and this--getting paid to correct others. She’d also undergone many reading sprees. Forum entries and email, specifically. With Hyelim, the other woman.
Silver lining? The messages provided a bounty of information.
Alter-Yoona and Hyelim were depressed at the same time. Met in a ‘Lonely’ online thread. Started chatting privately. And instead of facing their demons head-on, they leaned on one another. For years.
Yoona puffed her cheeks, zoning out at the ceiling lights. She didn’t have the finest history of confronting her problems, either.
Hyelim, she read, suffered a number of misfortunes in her twenty-four years. Lost two brothers to cancer. Got wrapped up in a loveless marriage with a man, though she wasn’t the least bit heterosexual. Broke ties with some friends. Infertility.
Wistfully, Yoona drew a pinky nail along her flat stomach. Alter-Yoona couldn’t conceive, either. On that front, they founded a strong bond. Hyelim related through miscarriage stories, swapped advice. Even sent inspirational quotes--the kinds bordered by pixel-y photoshopped doves.
Alter-Yoona and (mostly) Jessica poured tons of cash into clinics, therapy, books, natural healing mumbo jumbo. Bearing fruitless results. That was where the couple’s strain happened, she deduced.
Eventually, they resorted to in vitro. Doctors extracted an egg from Yoona, fertilized it with the same donor as Haeun’s, and impregnated Jessica instead. The disdain, offense at a barren body jumped from the lengthiest emails. Her alternate self really wanted to carry who became Im Minjoon.
And Minjoon didn’t meet expectations. She and Jessica already stood out as a femme lesbian couple--what more scrutiny would they receive if their son came out too...sissy? Old Yoona hated how Jessica embraced his ‘confusion’. His penchant for hair clips and sweet scents and sports and Batman and dancing on his tippy toes. On one crazy instance, Alter-Yoona hinted that ‘all the science’ poured into the pregnancy yielded adverse effects. Hyelim agreed.
This knowledge put Present Yoona in an angry stupor.
So what if he liked pink? He was a fucking kid.
It explained why Jessica got so cross about her ‘boys’ team’ joke. Or Joonie’s attitude while he and Yoona were alone. Previous ‘Yoomie’ accepted his conventionally male traits. Nothing else.
Despite that, Yoona’s heart bled for her alternate self. Via email, she emoted whenever Jessica turned evasive or withheld affection. A similar situation to Fany crushing on her therapist. This double life supplied comfort.
Yoona’s heart bled more for Jessica.
Her wife wasn’t blameless. Apparently, Jessica hung her massive income over the freelancer’s head, staking her claim to major decisions. She expected 100% from a woman mourning her unsuccessful pregnancies, sense of autonomy, and womanhood.
Yoona pitied both of them.
Hence, she focused on the present. Getting Jessica on speaking terms by bumping up the charm.
Yoona caught herself in a predicament: No official ex-girlfriends.
She pulled from juvenile experiences. As a kid who’d piss her parents off at times, she’d compensate by leaving a trail of her mom’s favorite hard candy to a gift. Usually a purchase from the five-dollar bin or a poorly-prepared dinner cooked with love.
And it gained her forgiveness.
This morning, Jessica sent Yoona a text--her passive-aggressive means of communication. Due to a senior coworker’s retirement party, her workday ended early, so she volunteered to drop the kids off at their last schedule of the day.
Leaving wiggle room for Yoona to tour a specialty candy store. The pushy clerk swore his life on the gift box of hazelnut Hersey’s Kisses. Jessica and Alter-Yoona shared an entire bag of the chocolate candies on their honeymoon. She paid, taking the email story into account.
Its cuteness made her jealous. That memory wasn’t hers.
She got creative with the choco-trail. Dotting putty from the outside of the front door’s knob, in little curves along a wall, ending at a handmade card that read:
Roses are red,
Lipstick is, too,
I suck.
Love, Yoong.
Terrible poetry might resurrect Jessica’s laugh. Yoona stuck a Kiss on each piece of putty before her embarrassment and use of ‘love’ changed her mind.
...
That evening, Haeun and Joonie’s wall-splitting screams (“CHOCOLATE!”) declared their arrival. She envisioned them hop-begging Mummy for sweets. They were on a strict eating regimen, after all.
Yoona paced her study like a lunatic. She could’ve done more. Flowers, a new purse, vacation tickets to a hard-to-pronounce island.
No.
She’d stick to her guns. Jessica personified costliness; why would money impress her?
Her pacing did stop, however, when faint footsteps edged outside the door. Yoona’s ass sought her chair and she simulated deep concentration on a screen’s block of text. Brow furrowed, hand to her slender chin.
Once the door peeked open, Yoona faked an, “Oh, hey.” As if the editorial on candle wicks was engrossing enough to lose track of time.
Jessica stood partway in the room. Quiet. A bit diffident, if Yoona’s eyes weren’t playing tricks. The guest flipped her hair, stating, “Haeun and Joonie ran next door. Thing Three found a dead bird.”
Hand obstructing a smug smirk, Yoona answered. “Okay.”
“Okay,” her partner echoed.
“Thanks for telling me. I missed your voice.”
The seeds of a smile sprouted right as Jessica shut the door. Yoona gave her chair a victorious spin, recalling her ‘I suck’ card nestled in Jessica’s pretty hand.
...
A second visit from Jessica surprised Yoona. Because, first of all, she knocked. That was new.
“Come in.”
“Hey, Yoong,” Jessica murmured, lingering yet again.
Nicknames. Good sign. “What’s up? You all right?”
She nodded. Silence followed.
Yoona stared, unsure how to handle this awkward version of her wife. Skin slightly colored, aimlessly browsing the wall art, brushing a grin with her fingertips.
“You’re cute, Sica.”
Jessica’s outlined eyes widened, swiftly hidden when she turned her head. “Are you busy?”
“Meh.” Yoona laced her fingers behind her neck. “I could be busier.”
“I was bored and wondered if you were, too.”
“Didn’t know you could get bored.”
Jessica dramatized a pout and Yoona deemed it the most precious thing in this universe and the last. “I’m human, I swear.”
A sense of humor, too. Mega attractive. “I have my doubts.”
“Fany’s making chicken burritos this evening. They’re organic and a first for Joonie and Haeun, so...” She drifted, near enough to bump Yoona’s bony knee with hers. “Are you hungry?”
“I could use a drink.”
“Want me to uncork a wine? It’d only take a--”
“Sica.” Yoona grabbed Jessica’s hand, beaming. “I want you...” She rose to her full height, inches above the other woman. “...to get dressed. For a date.”
“I am dressed,” she protested.
“Casually.”
“This is casual.”
“On what planet?”
Jessica stepped backward to regard her button-up blouse and skinny slacks. “It’s how I dress.”
Snorting, Yoona tightened the grip on her hand and guided them out the study, down the stairs, to their bedroom. She didn’t untwine their soft fingers until a closet door slid open. “Corporate’s poisoned your mind. I’ll remedy this.”
“I can’t look sloppy,” Jessica quibbled into the garment Yoona draped onto her face. Her hair messied as she shook it off--a hot improvement. “Yoong, this shirt has a cartoon on it. I’m not five.”
“That would be Lady Rainicorn.”
“Did you steal this from our daughter?”
“Put it on, lady.”
She muttered, hastily undoing her buttons.
Yoona paused, transfixed once more by cleavage and the creased flow of trim abs. The body of someone who chiseled herself into shape after birthing two kids. Someone who pouted, believed officewear to be casual, and drew self-conscious arms around her waist. “Jessica. Um, about last Saturday...”
“Should I lose these pants?”
Inopportune time. Understandable. “Strip, baby.”
“Hush.” Jessica wagged bare, impatient legs. “You’ve seen it all before.”
Yoona cleared her throat. Envying herself formed into habit. “Jeans for you, m’dear.”
“Thank you.”
“Last, but not least...” She closed in on the shorter woman, grinning wickedly while she clawed stalky fingers through Jessica’s mane. “Let’s sex up your hair.”
The silky tresses streamed and splashed; their owner closed her eyes at this. Purring, “That feels incredible.”
“Incredi-fingers.”
“Mm, god.” Her voice cracked into a semblance of a moan. “You’re not lying.”
Way too aware of the bed tempting her to stroke lower, Yoona slowed the fluffing movement to a tender pat. Her eyes crinkled at Jessica’s languid, blissful gaze into the ether.
“I can do this,” Yoona whispered, printing a glossy kiss to her forehead.
“Do what, babe?”
She could save their marriage.
...
As a pantser--one who improvised on the fly--Yoona buckled into their car with no plan whatsoever. Driving, fingers wrapped gently on the wheel, tapping to her own melody. Ignoring persistent “where?”-ful questions.
A place hooked her sights. It had a hip, modern signage and an exterior lit by vertical stripes of neon purple. Probably the bar Fany brought up on her first day to this life.
Yoona parked, naming that a type of birthday in her heart. A rebirthday.
It was a pretty dead weeknight. Most of the patrons--men and the occasional girlfriend--crowded the main bar. Swigging beers and intently watching a game. Baseball? Football? Yoona barely glanced at the flatscreen. What mesmerized her was the sway of Jessica’s hips as she led them to a booth. She used to glare darts at guys and girls connected by the hand to fair women.
Now, that could stay in the past.
“These are filthy,” Jessica remarked, retrieving a cloth napkin from her clutch to wipe their glasses.
“Water spots are good for you.” Yoona shied her smile behind a page-long menu. “Adds extra minerals to your diet.”
“You’re trash.”
“Would you trust this place’s cocktails? I’m feeling fruity.”
Jessica’s painted pinky nail underlined a ridiculously-named choice. “That one’s grapefruit juice and vodka. Even a monkey can make it.”
“The same monkey who washes the dishes?”
A giggle. With teeth and all. “You drink; I’ll drive.”
“You gotta have something,” Yoona stressed, turning to the server pouring them water from a pitcher. “Your wine selection?”
“Tap wine. White or red.” He lifted a notepad expectantly.
“I’ll have this.” She pointed to the grapefruit cocktail. “And a red wine. Thanks.”
Jessica bounced her brows as the server dismissed himself. “Initiative. Where’s that been hiding?”
If Yoona told the whole truth, she’d sound bananas. “I’m a new me. You like?”
“I do.”
She slid from her seat, blinding clasping Jessica’s hand. Had to compensate for lost contact. Silent treatment doubled as ‘no touch time’. “New me loves air hockey.”
“Old you loved air hockey,” Jessica whined, gingerly tapping one of four plastic strikers on a counter yards away. “You know I’m horrid at games.”
“I’ll go easy on you.”
“You lie.”
Yoona thanked the server who dropped off their drinks. Her huge smile made him blush; she couldn’t help it. This was essentially a first date. Nothing could wreck her whimsy.
“How about two-on-two?”
Okay. Almost nothing.
Yoona eyeballed the two men sauntering over, chests broad and bottles in hand. “We’re good.”
“No pressure,” the taller one claimed, crooking a grin, “Just offering to keep you ladies company.”
As if two women couldn’t keep each other company. “No, thanks.”
“Are you waiting for your boyfriends?” asked the other, a wiry dude in a polo shirt.
“It’s none of your business, to be frank.”
They chuckled at Jessica’s blunt comment, exchanging glances that soured Yoona’s smile.
“We don’t want to intrude,” wiry dude explained. “But, a fella’s gotta ask. You’re both beautiful.”
Jessica snatched the single puck from the hockey counter, dead-eyed. “You’re intruding.”
Tall guy shrugged. “Don’t be defensive. Let’s play a round; get to know each other.”
“Really,” Yoona clutched her drink, sympathizing. They were buzzed, yet harmless. “I appreciate the offer, but we’re taken, okay? Not interested.”
“In the slightest,” her wife added. Being adorable again. “Actually, air hockey’s lost its lustre tonight.”
Yoona concurred as the hockey puck clacked into its original place. “Have a nice night.”
Then, to her delight, Jessica swung an arm around Yoona’s hip, routing them to a more secluded part of the building.
A day earlier, their relationship teetered on the rocks of uncertainty. Though, by the way those pristine fingers asserted possession, affixed to her fleece pullover in a vice-like grip--she gave her all into a cheeky grin.
...
“I can’t believe you were so cordial to those drunk assholes,” Jessica fussed, cringing at her taste of the tap wine. “God, it’s like something died in this.”
Ah. Her jealous side had mighty colorful language. “They weren’t so bad.”
Deeper through the bar’s interior, a few drinkers inhabited seats, chatting in hushed conversation. And in the back, where the second of two pool tables stood, they had complete privacy. Yoona silently praised the unimportant baseball-football game.
“They were the worst,” Jessica took took a moment to leer at cardboard alcohol boxes stacked six feet up on either side, creating a kind of cubicle around them. Two lamps suspended without bulbs, leaving a portion the area in shade. “Is this our gay section?”
Yoona snickered, racking up the balls. “We segregated ourselves.”
“Straight men bore me.”
“Man-hating lesbians are so cliché, Sica.”
“It’s not hate,” she mused, gliding nails onto the pool table’s woodgrain. “It’s overwhelming indifference. How’s your drink?”
“Strong.” Yoona stretched her eyes at her sip.
“Monkeys have a heavy hand, I guess.”
Relaxed Jessica turned Yoona on at an emotional level. For years, she’d imagined this scenario (bantering, trading cute glances with a gorgeous woman) while lying in Chanhwi’s arms.
She ‘hmm’ed out loud. She hadn’t dwelled on Chanhwi for days.
“Anything wrong?”
Yoona popped from her thought bubble, only to burst into laughter. “What the hell are you doing?”
Shocked, Jessica placed a hand on her hip. “What?”
“You’re cleaning our cue sticks?!”
“I can feel germs everywhere,” she continued, giving the wooden rods a thorough wipe-down with lemon sanitizer. “You’ll thank me when you’re not retching from the flu.”
“I won’t thank you for a hypothetical situation, fear-monger.”
“Take it. It smells good.”
She showily sniffed the cue stick and sighed in goofy rapture. “You saved my life.”
“Ingrate,” Jessica lightly grumbled, plucking the chiming phone from her clutch. Seconds later, she covered her mouth, ‘aww’-ing. “Fany’s having dress-up time with Haeun.”
Yoona stepped around the table to peep over Jessica’s shoulder. In a picture message, Haeun was decked head-to-toe like a debutante. Poofy white dress, a bouquet, black hair pinned into a pearled updo--the whole shebang. “Looks like a prom queen.”
She preferred her dinosaur-loving nerd.
“Fany takes advantage whenever she spends girl time with Haeun. Since her house is flooded with boys.”
“Ugh, the Trips.” Yoona shuddered. “How old are they again?”
“A year older than Haeun. They show Joonie the ropes while their mother acts like she has a daughter.” Jessica typed a quick text. “Sometimes, she’ll doll him up, too.”
Joonie. Yoona had been meaning to discuss him. “So, he’s fine with Fany’s boys. They don’t consider him...odd?”
Cautiously, Jessica replied, “Joon bug’s well-adjusted.”
“Sica,” Yoona smacked the floor with the butt of the stick, “does Joonie love me?”
“Why would you ask that?”
“I haven’t been the best mom to him.”
Jessica hiked herself onto the pool table, patting Yoona a spot at her side. “I didn’t understand it, either, at first. Experts say he’s genderfluid. I...I know you’re not fond of it--”
“No!” Yoona hurried out. “I had a change of heart.”
“Since when?”
Since she woke from the dead. “I just want him to be safe.”
“Our baby loves what he loves. He’s eclectic.”
“The way he behaves when we’re alone...” Yoona frowned, recalling bath time. “He should be able to lean on both of us. I can’t become my mother, guilting him to change for my own selfishness.”
Jessica swallowed, voice creaking. “This is so sudden.”
“I know. Sorry.”
“My parents aren’t open people. I didn’t have many avenues to express myself growing up; thus, I’ll give that to Joonie and Haeun.”
That clarified so much. “So will I.”
“I love you.”
Yoona slipped from the shiny surface, lanky legs tangling until she regained balance. “I uh, I love you, too.”
That talk broke the levy to Jessica’s full-on infatuation face. Cheeks tinted, painted lashes heavy, small lips quirked in a half-smile, half-mystery.
And Yoona’s heart beat bruises to her chest.
These experiences, non-coital intimacy, and the taste of “love” on her tongue were novel. Fate exposed her to the life she’d always yearned for--one on the fast lane.
“Yoong, can I break?”
She rid her head of anxiety to dole out her snidest smirk. “I don’t know. Can you?”
Jessica pouted, indignant. “I’ve played pool before!”
“That doesn’t mean shit.” Yoona lifted the triangle and stood aside. “Protip: You hit the colorful balls with the white one.”
“Shut up.”
Everything about Jessica’s form screamed clueless. Yoona leaned onto her sanitized pool stick, entertained.
“Turn around,” Jessica grunted.
“Huh?”
“You’re distracting me. Turn around.”
“What if you fail?”
“What if you turned around?”
“Sassy Sica,” Yoona laughed as she gave in.
When the weakest clank brushed her ears, it took empathy’s maximum capacity not to cackle right in her wife’s face. “How many did you get in?”
“You suck. Like your card said.”
Yoona waved her out the way. In cool, nonchalant grace, she knocked two solids into side pockets. “You’ll be stripes.”
“First juggling and now you’re a pool master. What gives?”
“Chan taught me.”
“Who’s Chan?”
Bent for a third ball, she inwardly winced. “Ex. Back in the day.”
“Ew. Never mind.”
Yoona stood instead of taking her shot. Curious. “Tell me something about yourself. Something I don’t know.”
Jessica swished her deep red drink, puckering her lips like Joonie. “We’ve been together for eight years. Is there anything interesting left?”
God, close to a decade. Alter-Yoona, that lucky bastard. “Try me.”
“Let’s see,” she closed her eyes, head dipping back to think. Yoona fought not to kiss her. “Oh! Embroidery.”
“Excuse me?”
“I loved it as a teenager.”
“What century are you from?” Yoona wailed like a troll, hugging her own ribs. “Where’s your ID? You can’t be twenty-nine.”
Jessica swiped at her wife in vain. “I stitched some cool designs!”
“Of what, birds?”
When dead silence flowed from Jessica’s open mouth, Yoona thought she’d need a pacemaker at this point. Her poor heart couldn’t take it. “Why haven’t you bird-a-fied the linens in our closet? Show off that Im Sooyeon flair.”
“Hit your dumb ball already.”
Yoona encircled the woman, chalking the tip of her cue. “Care to sweeten our game? I’m clearly going to win, so we should both enjoy ourselves.”
Jessica was still pissed. “Whatever.”
“For every ball I get in, we kiss.” At fourteen, she’d fantasized various ‘girlfriend activities’. Gay, bored, and optimistic while somewhere, in another world, her Sica acquainted herself with needle and thread.
Bobbing her head, Jessica asked, “And when I hit one in?”
“Will you?”
“I’ll have to finish my dreadful wine to numb this pain.”
Yoona mussied Jessica’s hair, realizing she could get used to that. “Alright. When you hit a ball in...”
“You pay a random person’s tab.”
“Damn. Right in the wallet.” She liked her moxie, though. “I accept.”
They shook hands. And once Yoona targeted the green 6 ball, she rose again. “Is this deal retroactive? Can I cash in my previous kisses?”
“No.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Sica.”
To Yoona’s delight, she nailed two more, missing a third--the yellow--by a hair. Courage resonated as she backed Jessica into a corner. Hidden by the boxes from busybodies. “I’m here to collect my winnings.”
“You haven’t won yet,” Jessica mumbled, sliding her arms around the taller woman’s neck.
Gently, their lips connected. The initial press of skin ended as quickly as it started. Yet, Yoona’s entire body clicked into hot mode in time for the other kiss. More immersed, more angled to accommodate their faces. Her teeth nipped onto a slick bottom lip, determined not to release until Jessica slid a hand down her spine, patting her butt.
“My turn,” husked her petite voice.
Pool was becoming the last thing on Yoona’s mind. She licked her glass’ straw, loving how Jessica made even a Rainicorn shirt and denim worthy of any couture rack.
As expected, Jessica missed her shot.
“Want another protip?”
“Go, Yoong. I want to kiss you again.”
This beat anything booming from the TVs up front. Yoona sank only one in her next rotation, earning a heated third kiss she could feel in her belly. Rather than a pat, Jessica seized Yoona’s ass, leading her hips into an arch.
Ideally, she’d own the game in a quick flurry of skill. However, her senses had been heightened and ball-hitting ability dulled considerably. She even scratched on the following turn; which--after a short argument--resulted in no tab-paying penalty.
“I can’t concentrate,” Jessica breathed, watching Yoona down her second vodka.
“Why’s that?” Yoona peeled her pullover off at a snail’s speed, making sure the fabric of her shirt rode up with it before chucking the fleece onto a stool. “Am I too good?”
Jessica held nothing back in her stare. “Mm.”
Hotter than hell, Yoona pointed to the table. “Four ball. Corner pocket.”
“Do it.”
They didn’t wait for a new shot once she sunk it. Jessica trekked her nails under the player’s shirt, causing her abs to flex into steel. Yoona sucked wine from Jessica’s tongue and whined for those hands to go north. She dragged her knuckles along the center of the Jessica’s jeans, hungry to spread her, rub her, forge a wet new home for her digits. Or to feel the coolness of bedsheets on her back with Jessica poised above, delegating the stress of work and social life into Yoona’s core.
“You can’t imagine how much I need you right now.”
Jessica’s sad smile reappeared. “Is that true?”
“Yeah.” Yoona blinked away a fraction of arousal, head tilted. Three years-worth of an emotional affair, emails, Hyelim, crossed her mind as cruel shadows. Intent to steal her sunshine. “I could touch you all night.”
“Should I let you?”
“God, please.”
They shared a warm, hesitant breath.
If only Yoona died sooner. She would’ve solved their issues sooner. “Sica, I’m sorry for--”
“L-let’s...” Jessica wiggled from Yoona’s hold, receding to her pool position. “Let’s see if I can make you pay.”
“Hey, listen.”
Yoona hicked as the striped 13 skated into a pocket.
“In your face,” murmured the shorter brunette, eyeing an easier shot. Yoona found herself two tabs poorer.
“Are you hustling me?”
Jessica scoffed. “No. Don’t be a spoilsport.”
Perturbed for a growing number of reasons, Yoona stomped to the more occupied chunks of the bar, eyes keen for lightweights or new arrivals. Fuck ‘random’.
She yielded a bank card to the least busy bartender after pointing to her choices--a young thing whose foundation weighed more than her and the most sober-looking dude two seats over. As he charged her, Yoona mentally retraced her steps.
So much as apologizing made Jessica cower away. Did she prefer to ignore their hangups, to falsify a healthy marriage?
Yoona hated that.
When she returned, Jessica was speaking into her cell.
“Yoona.” She covered the receiver with her hand. “Tiffany has a date tonight?”
Yoona eyed the wall for a clock. 9:42 pm. “Oh, shit. Escaped my mind.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, re-locked into adult world. “We’re on our way.”
“Fany hadn’t mentioned a date to you?”
“Not, when.” Jessica slipped into her jacket.
Date over. Yoona’s smile fell.
Though, stealing a minute or so, she grabbed her lemon-y cue stick and knocked several balls--both solid and striped--into any pocket within reach.
In response to Jessica’s raised eyebrow, Yoona crooned, “For later.”
...
The ride home was short, quiet. Jessica parked along the street outside townhouse #19, conscious not to block her car for the morning commute.
To think less than a week ago, Yoona had been totally lost. And in The Void.
“Sooyeon,” she urged, stopping Jessica from leaving. “Give me a sec?”
“Yoona, not tonight.”
She batted unhappy eyelashes. Depleting her pride to mumble, “Thank you for the lovely night. We make a great couple, don’t you think?”
Jessica nodded. “Yes.”
“I’d like to go out again.”
Giggles Yoona hoped for filled the car’s cabin. “To a restaurant with clean dishes and palatable wine?”
Their back-and-forth could cause seasickness. Yoona grinned. “Sure. I’ll call you.”
“Feeling ten years younger?”
“Kinda. You like it?”
“You don’t have to ask if I like everything.”
“I do.” Yoona leaned forward, unbuckling herself. “May I redeem my pool points?”
Jessica bruised her lips while they made out, nibbling them raw. Short fingernails scraped, massaged tension from Yoona’s neck. Jessica’s hair cascaded into loops around hands clutching, searching for the missing pieces. Finding the round of Jessica’s head instead.
Yoona pulled them in deeper. To banish negativity. Like knowledge that they’d be babysitting three spawns of Fany/That Man within the next five minutes.
“Yoong,” Jessica punctuated with a suck, “it’s time to go.”
“That’s fine.”
Yoona switched gears once they stepped out. She chose to roll them onto the side of the car, shuddering from cold windows permeating their layers. Shudders changed course as they wedged their thighs onto each other’s heat. Yoona didn’t mind being candid, rocking her hips for friction in the heart of a sleepy community.
Anything to make Jessica feel wanted.
Blinking, Jessica traced Yoona’s slight jaw with a thumb. Astonishment crystal in her dark brown eyes. “What’s gotten into you, Yoong?”
“Hm? This isn’t normal?”
In the haze of street lamps, they stared. Absorbing the rhetorical question.
Until Tiffany winked her porch light on-and-off like a protective, impatient parent. They headed to her house, giggling at an obscene joke about Fany’s sex starvation. And when Jessica recalled an early Hwang memory, Yoona laughed even harder.
Somehow, it fit. Like she’d been there from the beginning.
...
The dark recesses of a gun barrel woke Yoona from her nap. Wiping her forehead with the back of her wrist, she cursed the vodka. For, she hadn’t suffered a dream--nonetheless a nightmare--since her first night.
Yoona dried her dribbled jaw into her shoulder, panting.
Easy, easy.
She was on the living room couch. Safer than safe.
Not far from her feet stood a sturdy fort erected in sheets, pillows, and chairs.
Jessica’s meticulous handiwork. From a string of lights for the night-fearers to the double curtained entrance. An Im Sooyeon creation. She should have it embroidered.
Yoona extended a lanky limb, toeing it open to view its inhabitants. Four boys were tangled in heavy sleep, bent in angles only children could achieve without needing a chiropractor.
Yawning, she ducked her head inside. To check on Joonie, in particular.
Unkempt hair cloaked over his face, swishing as his tiny nose and mouth exhaled. Light as air, Yoona flicked the fringe from his moist lips. Then, she brushed her nose over his hair, smiling. Strawberry shortcake.
He stirred the tiniest bit, hugging the dirty Batman plush to his chest. It needed a spin cycle. Badly.
‘What’s up with you?’ she’d ask if she could. What had Alter-Yoona done for him feel like a burden?
She ached to peck his chubby cheek.
One day, she’d be so lucky.
After crawling out and stretching, she tip-toed upstairs. To Haeun’s room, where nightlights glowed a peaceful green to her walls of drawings, maps, and tropical stickers.
Haeun received her very own fort situated as an arc over her bed. How did Jessica have the power? Yoona hardly watched her partner gather armfuls of blankets before she pissed off to dreamland.
She glimpsed underneath and blushed.
Jessica lay on her side, a popup book about griffins on her lap. Beneath her, Haeun curled into a ball, face mashed into her Mummy’s chest. A chest bearing a cartoon character.
Yoona leapt from the scene and returned with her phone. Heart going gooey at her new favorite picture, an alert caught her eye.
Hyelim.
She’d been messaging Alter-Yoona at least twice every night. Yoona ignored it, hoping she’d get the gist, but that wasn’t working. Someone had to break it off. That someone being her, the brunette palming warm tears from her chin.
The only one awake at that hour.
In a messed up way, she wished to thank Hyelim. Without their emails, it would’ve taken ages to catch up on the Im household’s conventions or shine light on a very torrid past. This unhappily married person supplied solace, long distance-style treatment, and much more. Ultimately, she and Alter-Yoona vetted a three-year relationship. It counted for...something.
So, how else to properly split up?
She’d have to contact Hyelim herself.
[Eye Candy A/N]
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That chapter didn’t destroy y’all, right? In celebration, here’s some beauty. May cause swooning, heavy eye-watering, memory loss, euphoria, and/or death:
Btw, if you're not hip to Lady Rainicorn--she's the Korean-speaking rainbow/unicorn character from Adventure Time.:333