killing the trees, fei/jia, pg-13
written for arctictune over at kpopvalentines! the prompt was 'ransom notes'.
killing the trees
jia/fei, pg-13, 1962w
it starts with the post-it notes. jia thinks fei is contributing to global warming, and fei thinks she loves jia. one-sided conversations through post-it notes aren't all that fun, really.
don't forget to cap the toothpaste after you're done!!
Accordingly, Jia screwed the cap back on, fingers fumbling sleepily as she tried to call to mind the direction of which she was supposed to turn it. She could hear Fei tinkering around in the kitchen making breakfast and Suzy's quiet grumbling, a buzz in the background. It was a small comfort.
It was convenient, these post-it notes. Eyes still barely open, Jia stuck her toothbrush in her mouth and grabbed the distastefully yellow note from the mirror, wadding it up and stuffing it into her pocket. She'd throw it away later.
Fei nodded at her across the table when Jia stumbled out of the bathroom. Her hair was still sleep-ruffled, but her eyes were bright as always. Breakfast was a quiet affair, punctured only by the infrequent scrape of utensils against plates and Suzy's yawning. "Your comb is still in your hair," Fei mentioned halfway through breakfast, and Jia staggered back to the bedroom to untangle the comb from her hair.
The next morning found two post-it notes on the mirror. One said is your comb still in your hair? and the other was a revision of yesterday's note. Sighing, Jia took those two down as well and stuffed them into her pocket again. Why couldn't Fei say this to her face instead of wasting paper? Hadn't she heard of saving the trees?
Fei wasn't at the table when Jia came out for breakfast. Instead, she stood in front of the TV in her gym shorts and a shirt, stretching. "Is this some sort of a new morning routine?" Jia asked, slightly more awake now that Fei was bending and reaching for her toes, shirt riding up to reveal a tanned stretch of skin. In the morning light, it almost looked golden against the white of her shirt.
"What do you think?" Fei said breathlessly.
"I wouldn't want to start the day sweaty."
"Who says I'll be sweating?"
Belatedly, Jia realised that the TV was playing one of their performances of Bad Girl Good Girl; their debut stage, to be exact. Wow, her hair sure was blinding.
"Feeling nostalgic?" Suzy asked, last at the breakfast table as always.
"Just admiring us," Fei said offhandedly, but Jia saw the smile she hid into her shoulder.
The following morning came hand in hand with a bad temper, an odd taste in her mouth and a migraine. Jia was quick to realise that she wasn't in her comfortable bed, no, but on the floor in the living room, blankets draped over her body. The TV was blaring a song, and a long stretch of sunlight fell over her face so that the bright morning sun shone into her eyes when she shifted. As her mind slowly apprehended her situation, Jia grew aware of someone on the floor next to her. Fei. She was doing her exercises with a faraway look on her face again, movements slow and indulgent.
"Did we go drinking last night?" Jia asked at last.
"No," Fei said. "Yes. A little. I told you not to drink too much."
Jia sat up, groaning. The peculiar taste was still her in her mouth, and her hair felt springy and out of place. The last thing she needed was a bad hair day. Slouching off to the bathroom, Jia paid little heed to the post-it notes on the mirror (there were three of them today, good grief), focusing instead on stripping out of yesterday's clothes and entering the sh -
"What am I, invisible?" Suzy demanded, shoving Jia, naked and all, out of the shower. "Out! I'm not done yet!"
Scowling, Jia let herself out again, grabbing a towel and huffing to the living room.
"So fast?" Fei asked nonchalantly, still doing those outrageous morning stretches.
"Suzy chased me out," Jia muttered peevishly, slumping onto the couch, gripping her head. The world was turning, turning ever so quickly - or maybe that was just Fei doing twirls in the middle of the living room. "Stop that, it's making me dizzy."
Fei stopped. Careful not to jostle Jia, Fei sat beside her and touched her shoulder lightly. "Relax," she said. "Got out of the wrong side of bed today, did you?"
"I didn't even have a bed to get out of this morning, remember?" Jia grumbled, though somewhat less sullenly.
Fei laughed. "Funny," she said drily, getting up. "I'll go chase Suzy out."
After much cajoling, Suzy finally emerged from the bathroom, grinning. Steam billowed out after her, and Jia had to squint upon entering.
don't leave the post-it notes in your pockets!!
Jia rolled her eyes. Fei had had ample time to tell this to her face just moments ago, why didn't she rely on her mouth for these things?
i have painkillers outside, just ask for it
and
i hope you've learnt your lesson >:(
There was another one from Suzy, handwritten on the foggiest part of the mirror. It said hahaha you shouldn't need so much babying at this age! Jia rubbed it off with her palm and threw the rest of the post-it notes into the dustbin, stepping into the shower with a mounting sense of relief.
The alarm rang indecently early the next morning. It was only through an extraordinary display of willpower that Jia managed to roll out of bed, seize the prewritten note from her table, and tiptoe to the bathroom, nearly walking into the bedroom door in the process. Pasting the post-it note on the mirror, Jia stood back and looked at it. She tilted her head. Then she reached over and adjusted it, so that it stuck out at an odd angle.
the next time you leave me a post-it note, i will throttle you. and maybe stick it down your shirt. I MEAN IT.
Pleased, Jia went back to bed.
The mirror remained (almost) disappointingly empty for the rest of the week. Jia certainly did not miss it; at least Fei had learnt the art of going green.
Their manager had finally arranged a much-needed day-off for them, a reprieve from all the schedules. Min had arrived at their dorm at 11 in the morning, yawning and tousling Jia's hair, of which she’d returned. She'd brought along a collection of DVDs that had not stopped growing throughout the years and instant popcorn. "It's our day off!" she announced, flopping onto the couch. "Gotta spend it well."
Spending the day well turned out into spending the day lazing about in bed with Suzy while Min and Fei chatted outside. Except they didn't talk; Suzy snored while Jia closed her eyes and convinced herself that she was asleep.
Apparently convincing herself did not work in terms of convincing Fei, for she came in and headed straight for Jia. "Come on," she said softly, so as not to wake Suzy, "Min wants to watch a movie."
"I'm asleep," Jia mumbled, waving a dismissive hand above her head. She hit Fei on the chin.
"Sure you are," Fei said tolerantly. "I'll just assume you're sleep talking then, shall I?"
Jia nodded her agreement and just as she thought Fei had finally left, her blanket was whipped away, leaving her legs cold and exposed. The frosty temperature of the room froze her to the bone. "Give it back!" she cried, sitting up and attempting to snatch her blanket back.
"Rise and shine!" Fei sang, holding the blanket just out of reach. Suzy only grunted and rolled around so that her back faced Fei.
"Why don't you disturb Suzy instead of me?" Jia demanded, curling her legs to her chest.
"Suzy needs her sleep," Fei said.
"I do too!"
"Are you filming a drama?"
"... no, but -"
"No buts. Come on, Min isn't going to wait forever."
"But I - fine! I'll be there!" Fully intending on not appearing, Jia stood up and feigned wakefulness. She stretched her arms and yawned, pulling an outfit from the closet. "Are you just going to stand there and watch me change?"
"No," Fei muttered. Jia was surprised to see her cheeks colour a shade of pink, but before she could better examine this bizarre occurrence, Fei had turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Great. Jia could go right back to sleeping now. She had at least five minutes before Fei suspected anything.
Padding over to her bed, it dawned on Jia that Fei had taken her blanket with her.
Fantastic.
It wasn't like she was sleepy anymore, anyway.
"Where are you going?" Fei asked, as Jia toed her shoes on and wrapped a scarf around her neck.
"Going to take a walk," she replied, opening the door. "It's too stuffy in here."
Min had left a while ago. Spending the whole day in the dorm was supposed to be relaxing, but to Jia, it felt like the complete opposite. She felt trapped; she wanted to get out, move around. The living room was littered with popcorn kernels and the remnants of their last food fight; it also stank.
"I'm coming with you," Fei called, disappearing into the rooms.
Jia nodded, yawning. It was nearing dusk, but she felt as drained as ever. Movie marathons tend to do that. After Fei came out wearing a bulky sweater and armed with a hot water bottle, they left the building, making sure not to step under the street lights. The day was still bright, but it wouldn't do to draw attention to them.
"I want to go back to China," Jia said wistfully, digging her hands into her pockets. "I miss talking in Mandarin."
"You talk to me in Mandarin all the time," Fei reminded.
"It's not the same."
The walk to the Han River was spent in silent companionship. Jia felt a little bad for leaving Suzy behind, but she figured Suzy would never know, since she'd spent the better part of the day in bed, sleeping off her exhaustion. In fact, she didn't think she'd seen the poor girl even leave her bed for anything else other than toilet breaks and meals.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Fei asked quietly.
"Thinking about poor Suzy, and how lucky we are that we don't have dramas to eat our souls alive.”
"Ah," Fei said. "At least her efforts aren't going to waste."
"And what about you?" Jia asked. "What are you thinking about?"
Fei turned. The reflection of the river shone in her hair, her eyes were dark as the waters. "You."
"Oh." It was then that her brain cleverly decided to stop all input sent to her mouth. Jia felt an unfamiliar warmth creeping up the back of her neck, and suddenly she was far too aware of how closely they were walking together, elbows nudging, hands brushing. Fei looked calm as ever, but inside Jia was a thunderstorm.
Fei was only thinking about her welfare, surely. There couldn't be any hidden meanings in it, could it? Of course not. Jia was reading too much into one monosyllable.
"It's getting late," Fei finally said. Was it just Jia or did her voice waver?
"Yeah," Jia said brightly. "Yeah, it is."
The walk back was just as quiet as the walk to the river, but somehow the silence spoke volumes. It was far from comfortable.
The next morning, Jia found her vision impeded by the offensive neon colour of a yellow post-it note, glaring at her from the mirror.
i'll accept a hundred won if you want your blanket back n__n
The traitor.
Jia was about to step into the shower when the fine print on the bottom right of the note caught her attention. Leaning towards the mirror, Jia peeled the note off the mirror and squinted.
i'd give my heart in exchange for yours.
killing the trees
jia/fei, pg-13, 1962w
it starts with the post-it notes. jia thinks fei is contributing to global warming, and fei thinks she loves jia. one-sided conversations through post-it notes aren't all that fun, really.
don't forget to cap the toothpaste after you're done!!
Accordingly, Jia screwed the cap back on, fingers fumbling sleepily as she tried to call to mind the direction of which she was supposed to turn it. She could hear Fei tinkering around in the kitchen making breakfast and Suzy's quiet grumbling, a buzz in the background. It was a small comfort.
It was convenient, these post-it notes. Eyes still barely open, Jia stuck her toothbrush in her mouth and grabbed the distastefully yellow note from the mirror, wadding it up and stuffing it into her pocket. She'd throw it away later.
Fei nodded at her across the table when Jia stumbled out of the bathroom. Her hair was still sleep-ruffled, but her eyes were bright as always. Breakfast was a quiet affair, punctured only by the infrequent scrape of utensils against plates and Suzy's yawning. "Your comb is still in your hair," Fei mentioned halfway through breakfast, and Jia staggered back to the bedroom to untangle the comb from her hair.
The next morning found two post-it notes on the mirror. One said is your comb still in your hair? and the other was a revision of yesterday's note. Sighing, Jia took those two down as well and stuffed them into her pocket again. Why couldn't Fei say this to her face instead of wasting paper? Hadn't she heard of saving the trees?
Fei wasn't at the table when Jia came out for breakfast. Instead, she stood in front of the TV in her gym shorts and a shirt, stretching. "Is this some sort of a new morning routine?" Jia asked, slightly more awake now that Fei was bending and reaching for her toes, shirt riding up to reveal a tanned stretch of skin. In the morning light, it almost looked golden against the white of her shirt.
"What do you think?" Fei said breathlessly.
"I wouldn't want to start the day sweaty."
"Who says I'll be sweating?"
Belatedly, Jia realised that the TV was playing one of their performances of Bad Girl Good Girl; their debut stage, to be exact. Wow, her hair sure was blinding.
"Feeling nostalgic?" Suzy asked, last at the breakfast table as always.
"Just admiring us," Fei said offhandedly, but Jia saw the smile she hid into her shoulder.
The following morning came hand in hand with a bad temper, an odd taste in her mouth and a migraine. Jia was quick to realise that she wasn't in her comfortable bed, no, but on the floor in the living room, blankets draped over her body. The TV was blaring a song, and a long stretch of sunlight fell over her face so that the bright morning sun shone into her eyes when she shifted. As her mind slowly apprehended her situation, Jia grew aware of someone on the floor next to her. Fei. She was doing her exercises with a faraway look on her face again, movements slow and indulgent.
"Did we go drinking last night?" Jia asked at last.
"No," Fei said. "Yes. A little. I told you not to drink too much."
Jia sat up, groaning. The peculiar taste was still her in her mouth, and her hair felt springy and out of place. The last thing she needed was a bad hair day. Slouching off to the bathroom, Jia paid little heed to the post-it notes on the mirror (there were three of them today, good grief), focusing instead on stripping out of yesterday's clothes and entering the sh -
"What am I, invisible?" Suzy demanded, shoving Jia, naked and all, out of the shower. "Out! I'm not done yet!"
Scowling, Jia let herself out again, grabbing a towel and huffing to the living room.
"So fast?" Fei asked nonchalantly, still doing those outrageous morning stretches.
"Suzy chased me out," Jia muttered peevishly, slumping onto the couch, gripping her head. The world was turning, turning ever so quickly - or maybe that was just Fei doing twirls in the middle of the living room. "Stop that, it's making me dizzy."
Fei stopped. Careful not to jostle Jia, Fei sat beside her and touched her shoulder lightly. "Relax," she said. "Got out of the wrong side of bed today, did you?"
"I didn't even have a bed to get out of this morning, remember?" Jia grumbled, though somewhat less sullenly.
Fei laughed. "Funny," she said drily, getting up. "I'll go chase Suzy out."
After much cajoling, Suzy finally emerged from the bathroom, grinning. Steam billowed out after her, and Jia had to squint upon entering.
don't leave the post-it notes in your pockets!!
Jia rolled her eyes. Fei had had ample time to tell this to her face just moments ago, why didn't she rely on her mouth for these things?
i have painkillers outside, just ask for it
and
i hope you've learnt your lesson >:(
There was another one from Suzy, handwritten on the foggiest part of the mirror. It said hahaha you shouldn't need so much babying at this age! Jia rubbed it off with her palm and threw the rest of the post-it notes into the dustbin, stepping into the shower with a mounting sense of relief.
The alarm rang indecently early the next morning. It was only through an extraordinary display of willpower that Jia managed to roll out of bed, seize the prewritten note from her table, and tiptoe to the bathroom, nearly walking into the bedroom door in the process. Pasting the post-it note on the mirror, Jia stood back and looked at it. She tilted her head. Then she reached over and adjusted it, so that it stuck out at an odd angle.
the next time you leave me a post-it note, i will throttle you. and maybe stick it down your shirt. I MEAN IT.
Pleased, Jia went back to bed.
The mirror remained (almost) disappointingly empty for the rest of the week. Jia certainly did not miss it; at least Fei had learnt the art of going green.
Their manager had finally arranged a much-needed day-off for them, a reprieve from all the schedules. Min had arrived at their dorm at 11 in the morning, yawning and tousling Jia's hair, of which she’d returned. She'd brought along a collection of DVDs that had not stopped growing throughout the years and instant popcorn. "It's our day off!" she announced, flopping onto the couch. "Gotta spend it well."
Spending the day well turned out into spending the day lazing about in bed with Suzy while Min and Fei chatted outside. Except they didn't talk; Suzy snored while Jia closed her eyes and convinced herself that she was asleep.
Apparently convincing herself did not work in terms of convincing Fei, for she came in and headed straight for Jia. "Come on," she said softly, so as not to wake Suzy, "Min wants to watch a movie."
"I'm asleep," Jia mumbled, waving a dismissive hand above her head. She hit Fei on the chin.
"Sure you are," Fei said tolerantly. "I'll just assume you're sleep talking then, shall I?"
Jia nodded her agreement and just as she thought Fei had finally left, her blanket was whipped away, leaving her legs cold and exposed. The frosty temperature of the room froze her to the bone. "Give it back!" she cried, sitting up and attempting to snatch her blanket back.
"Rise and shine!" Fei sang, holding the blanket just out of reach. Suzy only grunted and rolled around so that her back faced Fei.
"Why don't you disturb Suzy instead of me?" Jia demanded, curling her legs to her chest.
"Suzy needs her sleep," Fei said.
"I do too!"
"Are you filming a drama?"
"... no, but -"
"No buts. Come on, Min isn't going to wait forever."
"But I - fine! I'll be there!" Fully intending on not appearing, Jia stood up and feigned wakefulness. She stretched her arms and yawned, pulling an outfit from the closet. "Are you just going to stand there and watch me change?"
"No," Fei muttered. Jia was surprised to see her cheeks colour a shade of pink, but before she could better examine this bizarre occurrence, Fei had turned on her heel and walked out of the room. Great. Jia could go right back to sleeping now. She had at least five minutes before Fei suspected anything.
Padding over to her bed, it dawned on Jia that Fei had taken her blanket with her.
Fantastic.
It wasn't like she was sleepy anymore, anyway.
"Where are you going?" Fei asked, as Jia toed her shoes on and wrapped a scarf around her neck.
"Going to take a walk," she replied, opening the door. "It's too stuffy in here."
Min had left a while ago. Spending the whole day in the dorm was supposed to be relaxing, but to Jia, it felt like the complete opposite. She felt trapped; she wanted to get out, move around. The living room was littered with popcorn kernels and the remnants of their last food fight; it also stank.
"I'm coming with you," Fei called, disappearing into the rooms.
Jia nodded, yawning. It was nearing dusk, but she felt as drained as ever. Movie marathons tend to do that. After Fei came out wearing a bulky sweater and armed with a hot water bottle, they left the building, making sure not to step under the street lights. The day was still bright, but it wouldn't do to draw attention to them.
"I want to go back to China," Jia said wistfully, digging her hands into her pockets. "I miss talking in Mandarin."
"You talk to me in Mandarin all the time," Fei reminded.
"It's not the same."
The walk to the Han River was spent in silent companionship. Jia felt a little bad for leaving Suzy behind, but she figured Suzy would never know, since she'd spent the better part of the day in bed, sleeping off her exhaustion. In fact, she didn't think she'd seen the poor girl even leave her bed for anything else other than toilet breaks and meals.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Fei asked quietly.
"Thinking about poor Suzy, and how lucky we are that we don't have dramas to eat our souls alive.”
"Ah," Fei said. "At least her efforts aren't going to waste."
"And what about you?" Jia asked. "What are you thinking about?"
Fei turned. The reflection of the river shone in her hair, her eyes were dark as the waters. "You."
"Oh." It was then that her brain cleverly decided to stop all input sent to her mouth. Jia felt an unfamiliar warmth creeping up the back of her neck, and suddenly she was far too aware of how closely they were walking together, elbows nudging, hands brushing. Fei looked calm as ever, but inside Jia was a thunderstorm.
Fei was only thinking about her welfare, surely. There couldn't be any hidden meanings in it, could it? Of course not. Jia was reading too much into one monosyllable.
"It's getting late," Fei finally said. Was it just Jia or did her voice waver?
"Yeah," Jia said brightly. "Yeah, it is."
The walk back was just as quiet as the walk to the river, but somehow the silence spoke volumes. It was far from comfortable.
The next morning, Jia found her vision impeded by the offensive neon colour of a yellow post-it note, glaring at her from the mirror.
i'll accept a hundred won if you want your blanket back n__n
The traitor.
Jia was about to step into the shower when the fine print on the bottom right of the note caught her attention. Leaning towards the mirror, Jia peeled the note off the mirror and squinted.
i'd give my heart in exchange for yours.