Work Text:
“Luda-ya?”
No answer. Again. A sigh inevitably escapes her lips.
One more time.
Hyunjung raises her hand, knuckles softly rap on the door to Luda’s room. The sound uselessly floats in the air, yet again unanswered. Another sigh.
“Is Luda still mad at you?” Sojung quietly asks from the other end of the hallway, peeking to check in on her.
She takes one last longing look at the wooden door, tracing the colorful 'LudaWon' sign hanging on it, before gingerly backing up and heading towards her friend.
“Yeah. I guess she is,” Hyunjung says, close enough now to mutter to Sojung.
The leader points her head towards the kitchen, signalling at her before walking ahead, Hyunjung simply follows. She’s greeted with a whiff of fresh coffee beans, the aroma almost exactly like the cafe the girls frequent just down the block. Hyunjung feels herself naturally relax even if just a little.
Hyunjung wordlessly takes a seat at the table, choosing to watch as Sojung prepares the filter and ground coffee, the slow drip now filling the quiet of the space. As much as Sojung typically spills every beverage she touches, the girl was unexpectedly good at making them.
“Is there any bread left?” She asks conversationally.
“The kids did the groceries yesterday. They made sure to stock up on the loaf,” Sojung says without looking up from her task.
The moment she mentions groceries, Hyunjung already stands up, not even fully listening to the whole sentence. Sojung is right, their pantry had enough products to last them for at least a week. Hyunjung excitedly takes out ten slices of loaf, butters them up and finally pops them into the toaster. The two friends silently work around each other, a routine they try to keep up with during quiet days like these.
Right at the same time, the leader places two mugs of freshly brewed coffee on the table while Hyunjung carries two plates of toast, five for her and five for Sojung.
They wordlessly enjoy breakfast for a few more minutes. Hyunjung wouldn’t admit it, but she’s missed having relaxed mornings like these with Sojung. The past weeks have been a blur of switching from the van to the salon and broadcast stations. But no matter how peaceful the atmosphere is, it still isn’t enough to fully distract Hyunjung from her current musings. Of which comes in the form of a girl who could easily make Hyunjung feel like the shorter one instead.
“Why do you think she’s mad at me?” Hyunjung finally blurts out, her mug intentionally covering half of her face.
Her best friend just gives her a look, a brow cocked in question or disbelief, Hyunjung couldn’t be sure.
“Do you really not know why?” Sojung redirects back to her.
Hyunjung just shrugs, the indirect answers are starting to annoy her.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I knew, would I?”
This time, Sojung releases a heavy sigh before cracking into a smile, giving in. “Luda was right. You really are a dense block of brick.”
That mystifyingly brings out a chuckle from Hyunjung. Those were Luda’s exact words to her from last night, and Hyunjung didn’t retaliate, it was true after all. Hyunjung couldn’t deny that she was kind of… slower than the rest when it came to certain matters. But it probably took more than that for the younger girl to suddenly blow up at her with no warning whatsoever.
Yesterday was a normal evening, except the unit girls finally finished promoting Easy. For the first time in a while, they were all home together. And to everyone’s added surprise, all six girls were waiting to welcome them back. The kids even prepared a feast for them (she had the best dongsaengs) from their favorite snacks and comfort food. But even in her tired state, Hyunjung felt that Luda wasn’t like her usual self. Though the girl was quiet most of the time, her laughter was shortened to quick snorts, her smile not fully reaching her cheeks.
Hyunjung could sense something going on with the younger girl. She just didn’t expect that the cause was related to her in any way, even less that she’s directly proportional to it.
“She wasn’t wrong. But as to why, I’m still pretty much stuck.” Even throughout the night, Hyunjung just laid on her bed, thoughtful. Needless to say, it was a very unrestful night. “And now, she doesn’t even want to talk to me anymore.”
“It’s not that,” Sojung offers. “I think Luda’s just… frustrated.”
“I think I already got that from her ‘stupid unnie who doesn’t understand anything’ monologue also from last night.”
Sojung laughs, almost choking on her coffee. The older girl just rolls her eyes before handing her friend a napkin for the stray liquid on her face. Such a typical Chu Sojung thing to happen.
"Well," Sojung says after sobering up, clearing her throat, "what else can you do aside from trying to figure her out then?"
"You already know how awful I am at that."
"You're awful at a lot of things, unnie." Her best friend cracks up one more time at Hyunjung's annoyed scowl. "That aside, why don't you try backtracking? There must be something you might have missed."
Hyunjung contemplates on the suggestion. It doesn't hit her right away, and that’s to be expected, she’s Kim Hyungdong for a reason. But when it does, somehow, all the things Hyunjung dismissed in the past, kind of made sense now. It makes her wonder how many more encounters has she glazed over up until recently?
Drawing back to the beginning, way back even before Luda created a whole ex-girlfriend narrative for the fans. Before the frustrated words of ‘you really don't understand anything’ from last night.
/
They are very, very close to each other, literally. Had Luda moved, even just a little, would place her body right on top of Hyunjung's. What perturbs Hyunjung more is the thought that she wouldn't mind anyway. Even as the floor of their dorm starts to hurt her back, the ignored couch just a meter away, she still didn’t mind.
Luda is also very, very drunk. And Hyunjung’s left to take care of the younger girl because-- You're Luda's favorite unnie, so you're responsible for her too.
She'll thoroughly plot her revenge against Jiyeon another time. Especially when Jiyeon's devious smile effortlessly sticks to her memory, right before she and all the other girls left for bed, enough to fuel her upcoming retribution. But for now, she has a cute, five foot two girl on her hands, who is surprisingly not too difficult to handle unlike most of the other girls (AKA Juyeon).
That is, until Hyunjung finally witnesses Luda's drinking habit in a literal first person point of view. Jiyeon’s sly warnings earlier weren’t enough to prepare her for any of this.
“Should we just start kissing each other?” Luda proposes out of nowhere.
It takes a lot for Hyunjung not to splutter too much at the suggestion.
“Wh-what?” Hyunjung stutters anyway.
Luda being Luda, laughs wholly at the dumbfounded expression that Hyunjung is definitely sporting.
“It's my personal wish, unnie. Can you grant it to me?" Luda says, her eyes glazed but instead makes her pout even more formidable.
Even drunk, Luda can still use the heck out of her aegyo. What’s Hyunjung supposed to do about that?
The younger girl grows impatient at Hyunjung’s lack of a verbal response. Then again, she always lacks patience. In the blink of an eye, Luda successfully straddles Hyunjung’s lap. Her eyes are much clearer than before, almost as if fully sober.
“So?” Luda prompts, her arms naturally wrapping around Hyunjung’s neck, fingers locking behind her nape.
This is all Jiyeon’s fault. Hyunjung isn’t thinking straight.
Luda’s face feels so close. The tips of her ears tinted red. Hyunjung notices how the flush extends till Luda’s neck and cheeks, the only indication she is still inebriated. Her attention shifts, fully captivated by the curve of Luda’s lips and suddenly, Hyunjung can't look anywhere else.
“Wh-why? I mean--” Hyunjung stumbles, unconsciously wetting her lips. “Why me?”
“Unnie, don’t you know already?” Those captivating, rosy lips curl into a smile, making Hyunjung swallow nervously. “I like you. Very much.”
The confession catches Hyunjung by surprise, practically knocking the wind out of her. This isn’t even the first time Luda’s said that to her. Heck, the younger girl spent most of the latter part of the evening drunkenly professing her love to each of the girls, even to Dayoung.
So why does this feel different?
If it was even possible, Luda’s face comes even closer. Hyunjung has nowhere else to go, her elbows pressing painfully and deeper on top of the hard wooden floor.
She’s drunk.
Her lips are just a few inches away from Hyunjung’s own now, still advancing slowly. Hyunjung forcefully shuts her eyes, but does nothing else to stop the other girl.
She’s drunk.
Five, four, three… seconds pass and nothing happens. Until Hyunjung feels a sudden weight on her shoulder. She cracks open her eyes and is met by the sight of a dozing Luda, all her body weight now supported by Hyunjung. She shakily releases a sigh, all the tension along with her energy draining away.
Hyunjung has no clue what just happened. Head still in the clouds, she just fully accepts her fate and lays down on the floor, Luda sleeping peacefully on her, head over her chest.
The next morning, Luda just cocks her head in question, admitting that she doesn’t remember anything from her intoxicated night. Hyunjung isn’t sure if she should be happy about it, dodging an embarrassing talk. Because then, she’d never understand.
/
“Hold up,” Sojung dramatically exclaims. “Luda confessed to you? Tried to kiss you? And you still don’t get it?!”
“Aysh,” Hyunjung shushes her friend. “Will you keep your voice down? You’re going to wake the others.”
They both don’t hear the soft opening and closing of a door along with padded footsteps slowly approaching.
“She already did. Well, just me, but you get the point,” Jiyeon mumbles, rubbing at her eyes sleepily while walking into the kitchen. “Are we talking about Luda and her, quote and unquote, dense block of a brick unnie?”
Hyunjung grumbles beneath her breath at the same time Sojung cracks up, barely toning down her loud guffaws. This is the only day Hyunjung could be happy that her members sleep like logs.
“Are you guys ever letting that go?”
“Never,” Jiyeon amusedly says, then steals a piece of toast from Hyunjung’s plate. Not like the older girl minds anyway. What she minds is the sly smile barely hidden behind the bread. “So, unnie. You still don’t get it?”
At the nth time Hyunjung hears that same question in the same morning, she finally feels her restraint snapping.
“You guys keep saying that, but I still don’t get what I should be getting!” Hyunjung cries out in moderation, lest everyone comes out of their rooms because of the commotion. She drops her head on her palms, frustrated.
“Aigoo this unnie.” The eldest feels Jiyeon patting her head comfortingly, making Hyunjung feel like the younger one instead. But Jiyeon always knows how to comfort her, she’s the best at it. Hyunjung lets her, revels in it while she can.
“It’s like everyone’s telling me that Luda likes me, but how-- why would she like… me?” Hyunjung croaks out at the end, unable to lie anymore.
“Because,” Jiyeon starts, her tone a lot more serious but still soft, gentle, “even if you’re oblivious most of the time, you’re not hard to love, unnie.”
Hyunjung doesn’t know what to say to that. But her friends’ votes of confidence are enough to relieve most of her distress. Though maddening most of the time, she has her girls-- her family, who believes in her.
“Do you get it now?” Sojung breaks the silence, concerned frown intact. She always, always worries about Hyunjung.
A smile naturally forms, then she reaches out to flick her longest friend on the forehead. Sojung instantly shrieks, holding her bruised front with an uncharacteristic pout. At least the frown is gone now, it didn’t suit her best friend, all that worrying. Hyunjung hopes she can relieve it somehow.
She’ll have to start somewhere, and maybe this is how it unravels.
“Yeah. I think I do.”
“Hyunjung-unnie?”
“Hi,” Hyunjung timidly greets while lightly scratching her cheek.
Mayhaps she didn’t think this plan through.
“You do know I’m still mad at you and I would really prefer not to talk to you right now.” Luda immediately tries to walk past but Hyunjung stops her by the elbow. “What do you think you’re doing?” Annoyance weaves her tone but beneath that, trepidation.
Luda’s as nervous as Hyunjung.
“I-- Uhm…” Hyunjung tries again, “I actually need to go somewhere.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” Luda crosses her arms together, Hyunjung’s hand on her elbow eventually drops.
The younger girl always complained about how she couldn’t pin down the grumpy look during Chocome promotions. Well she was definitely doing it perfectly now and Hyunjung would vehemently deny that it scares her a little.
“I kind of need a ride?” she tries to sweetly ask but it comes out bashful instead.
“Are you kidding me right now?” The eldest almost backs up in fear but miraculously stands her ground. Luda just huffs out, annoyed. “Why don’t you ask manager-unnie instead?”
Hyunjungs shrugs. “She’s busy. Oh, and you can’t say no. I’m the unnie.” It takes a lot of courage for Hyunjung to say that, her chest out in faux haughtiness.
Luda raises her eyebrow intimidatingly and suddenly Hyunjung doesn't feel that brave anymore. “You’re using the unnie card? Really?”
“Yes?” Hyunjung clears her throat and rephrases, “I mean yes, yes I am. And yes, I’m the unnie.”
Hyunjung knows she’s won when the younger girl has nothing else to retaliate with. She watches as Luda grumbles ‘so unfair’ while practically stomping towards the counter to grab the keys to her pickup truck. Luda doesn’t even look back before exiting the doors and Hyunjung is left to scurry around, snatching an extra jacket just in case, before catching up.
Luda is very, very unamused. From her cold glare to the crossed arms and legs, and the biting tone of her words. She makes sure that Hyunjung is aware of it.
“When you told me you had somewhere to go, I was expecting an emergency meeting at the company or something as serious as that,” Luda pauses just to stare Hyunjung down. “Not… whatever this is.”
“This is very important, for your information,” Hyunjung adds in a rush, quick to defend herself.
“You mean eating bread?” Luda challenges.
Actually, it isn’t even bread, she’s eating pastry. But something tells Hyunjung that tiny bit of correction won’t dwell nicely with her companion at the moment.
“Uhm, yeah? Don’t you know how important bread is to me? It’s like--”
“One of the three things you can’t live without,” Luda says, cutting in. “I know that, unnie. I know you. But that question was rhetorical by the way.”
Something about Luda’s sentence catches Hyunjung off guard. Like there’s something more beneath the simple ‘I know you’ she casually throws out. Hyunjung never realized how well the younger girl actually knew her. It was to be expected, a normal development after spending so many years together. Then it hit her, how well did she know Luda?
Luda… is very family-oriented, just like herself. A sharp intellect paired with habitual forgetfulness and an awful sense of direction. She cares for her dog a whole lot despite the teasing insults she throws the pup’s way most of the time. A girl in love with crime and mystery, even if she herself is a puzzle. To Hyunjung anyway.
The basic stuff is easy, Hyunjung knows all that, but so do eleven other girls.
"So?" Luda prompts.
"Huh?" Hyunjung eloquently answers.
The younger girl shakes her head in exasperation. "What are we doing here, unnie?" she clarifies for the sake of the slow-witted girl.
"Eating uhm," Hyunjung tries to remember the name of the pastry she ordered, something in French. "A Pâte feuilletée?" she says in broken French, accent evident.
"I can see that." Luda's own plain espresso shot sits idly on their table. "But you know what I mean. I don't think you're that dense."
It’s true. Hyunjung isn’t always brainless. Maybe all she wants is enough time to prepare herself. Unfortunately, she’s run out.
"I don't know, Luda. I was… hoping this was a date." Right as the words come out of her mouth, Hyunjung swiftly looks down at her pastry to examine it, shock evident before exclaiming, "Wow, what the hell did they put in this thing? A truth serum?!"
Luda doesn't respond and Hyunjung awkwardly looks back up at her, opting to study, hoping to relieve her anxiety somehow. The sunlight bounces softly on Luda's features, making her look even more ethereal than usual despite the frown. Her dark hair blowing gently along with the wind, Hyunjung has to will her hand not to reach out and tuck in the stray strands.
Her unabashed staring gets broken when Luda suddenly takes a hold of her espresso, raises it to her lips and downs the whole thing like an actual shot.
"Wow." Luda winces as she swallows the coffee down.
"Luda-ah. You just ordered a plain espresso… Right?"
Luda waves her hand in the air dismissively. "Irish coffee," she casually answers.
"Ah. Wait. THAT HAS WHISKEY IN IT!"
"I know, unnie. I just needed the extra shot of bravery too." Luda heartily laughs at Hyunjung's confused reaction.
"For what?" Hyunjung asks, voice uncontrollably unstable, she faintly hears her heart pounding.
At that, Luda smiles at her, one full of mischief. And that makes the pounding even louder, daring to break out of her chest.
"So I know this isn't a dream," Luda straightforwardly says.
Pink instantly colors Hyunjung's cheeks at the words. So maybe her friends were right after all and she was getting the right cues. Maybe Luda does like her. Maybe she does have a chance.
"But before that," Luda suddenly says, an amused smile still in place, "you have to properly ask me out first, silly."
Oh. Right.
Hyunjung prepares herself, she's practiced this in her head and in front of Jiyeon and Sojung the entire morning. She's got this. Maybe.
"Uhm, Luda-ah," Hyunjung timidly starts. "I, Kim Hyunjung, am officially asking you to spend this day with me on a date. A real one," she emphasizes before rubbing the back of her neck. "And by the end of it, if you still want to be with blockhead unnie, then I'll leave it up to you." She ends it looking away from Luda's intense gaze.
Hyunjung doesn't expect the bubbly laughter and applause right after. "Wow, unnie. Did you write that down yourself?" Her smile teasing.
"Yah! Sojung and Jiyeon told me it was good!"
Well actually, at first, they laughed too. So much so that Hyunjung had to shove toast into their mouths to shut them up. Even then, they just conceded and told Hyunjung to go for it, Jiyeon adding the blockhead unnie part herself. She should have known. She'll get back at them soon, she had vengeance pent up now.
"Of course they did," Luda chuckles before taking a hold of Hyunjung's hand, tugging her upwards. "Well, if you're done with that, we should get going. We still have a whole day ahead of us and you have a lot of making up to do."
Hyunjung doesn't waste any more time and shoves the rest of her pastry down her throat, choking after but still standing up and interlocking their hands together. She doesn’t fail to notice how smaller Luda’s hand is compared to hers. Cliche as it sounds, she thinks they fit perfectly.
"Let's go."
They have an old promise, or more like Luda requested and Hyunjung agreed, sealing the deal with a ‘we’ll go for it soon.’ Which, regrettably, soon happens much too long after. 141 days to be exact. Fate is truly a fickle thing, making them go through so much. Or Hyunjung’s just been slow for the longest time, that too.
“I thought we’d never be able to do this,” Luda says from beside her, eyes excitedly scanning the bakery’s display case for her third confectionary goodness.
Hyunjung chuckles. “Same, actually. But… I always hoped we could. And well, here we are.” She gestures to the virtually empty bakery in the middle of Seoul, a corner tucked away at Itaewon.
“Here we are,” Luda repeats, flashing Hyunjung a smile before turning back to the counter and ordering a blueberry muffin.
Once outside, Luda snorts at Hyunjung’s choice, teasing her for being the bread and coffee addict she is. The epitome now made concrete with her order of coffee bread. The eldest huffs and grumbles while munching, only easing up when Luda cutely asks for a bite. Needless to say, Hyunjung hides her blush as her cute date leans closer, overwhelming Hyunjung with the scent of cinnamon that stuck to her. Hyunjung doesn’t mind, she likes it a lot.
Being the nerd she is, Luda takes a hold of Hyunjung’s hand again, before walking and exuberantly yelling, “Onwards!”
Being the whipped dork she is, Hyunjung just smiles, an easy and assured one, tightening their hold and following along.
The best place on Earth, Hyunjung has just found out, is Luda’s lap. A 5/5 rating on Google Maps for sure. She snuggles deeper, curling into Luda’s tummy and adjusts her legs to fit the space at the back of the pickup truck, a cushion protecting them from the rigid metal. She feels rather than hears Luda’s deep chuckle at her cat-like behavior.
“I’m stuffed…” Hyunjung trails off, too exhausted to finish a whole sentence after her sugar rush expired.
“Well, we did eat all types of baked goods. I think we’ve practically ticked all the bakeries on our list in just one afternoon.” Luda’s hand starts to stroke through Hyunjung’s hair, tempting an actual purr from her lungs. “Oh my god. You really are just a cat in human form aren’t you, unnie?”
Hyunjung stirs, looking up at Luda with a pout. “Juyeon already calls me a cat everyday, you don’t have to remind me. And of course, I made a promise to take you out on a bakery tour, so…”
The younger girl beams, Hyunjung tries not to stare. “Such a dutiful unnie. Always making sure to keep her promises.”
“Is this why I’m your favorite?” she jokes.
Something soft dawns on Luda’s face, her hand cupping Hyunjung’s cheek warmly. “It’s one of the reasons.”
She holds Luda’s hand, pressing closer into the warmth of the sleeves of the jacket she hastily took from home. Then she remembers something she’s always wanted to ask the younger girl ever since her drunken confession to which Luda indirectly admitted through a live broadcast that she didn’t actually forget.
“Luda-ah,” her eyes are bright, gleaming with curiosity, “why do you like me?”
The answer, she finds out, is simple, concise, but weighty.
“Because you can’t choose who you fall for.”
It takes a moment for Hyunjung to act, but when she does, it’s significant. Reluctantly, she leaves the warmth of Luda’s lap, but rather quickly finds an even better place. Right here, along the planes of Luda’s mouth, she pulls her in for a proper kiss. The second Luda’s lips touch hers, Hyunjung knows nothing else will ever come close to this. She feels Luda’s hand grip tightly onto her oversized white tee-shirt, Hyunjung puts her own hand over it, once again interlocking them together.
Hyunjung kisses Luda just like how she treats her, soft and simply tender. Luda kisses Hyunjung with the urgency and passion of her feelings that were kept under the wraps for the longest time. Hyunjung keeps up, understanding, matching Luda’s pace and pulling her even closer.
Midway through the kiss, Hyunjung feels the warmth of the afternoon sunset, and suddenly, she understands. Their hearts beating wildly but in sync, finally in sync.
/
Outtake:
The dorm looks empty, but Hyunjung knows better than that. She decides to ignore it anyway, putting her suspicions in the back of her head. For now, as the dutiful girlfriend, Hyunjung walks Luda to her bedroom, which is sadly only a few meters away from the front door.
“So this is me,” Luda teases, picking up on Hyunjung’s melancholy at them separating for the night. A pathetic whine is all Hyunjung manages. Luda giggles, playfully pinching Hyunjung’s cheeks. “You’ll see me tomorrow, unnie. You can let me go.”
She lets out another whine but now enhances it with the killer Ddeola pout. Luda doesn’t die, she just laughs again.
“Aigoo. Who knew you were this clingy, unnie?”
As Hyunjung is about to answer (more like retaliate), hushed squeals and giggles can be heard from the other rooms, namely Jiyeon and Sojung’s, and… from her own room too? Her questions are answered by a voice that’s definitely Juyeon, yelling from behind the EunSeol door.
“Dawon-unnie says she’s staying with me tonight!”
Another series of chuckles and giggles.
“You can stop whining like a big baby now, unnie!” This one is definitely Jiyeon.
She has the worst friends, period.
“Well then, what are we standing around here for? Ludie needs her sleep and cuddles. Come on, unnie.”
But at least she has the best girlfriend.