sweet reprieve.
Chaeyoung visits Jaehee on her birthday, bringing her a moment that will make her day infinitely sweeter.
For day 4 of @jaeheeweek22. gay people things. also hapy birthday 2 the babygirl
title: sweet repireve
pairing(s): jaehee x mc (CMC: Chaeyoung)
rating: PG
word count: 2621
tags: birthday fluff, not established relationhsip but... around there
JAEHEE’S BIRTHDAY HAD NEVER mattered much to her. Most of the time, it was simply another day. She didn’t want it to matter much to her– in the midst of college coursework and end-of-the-year reviews, another celebration was the last thing anyone needed. Most of the time, she tried to make her birthday be just another day. She’d go to work, she’d come home, she’d check off her to-do list, and go to bed. Sometimes she’d go and get something for herself to celebrate, a drink and pastry at a coffee shop, or a nice meal, and watch her favorite musicals or movies at home.
In college, sometimes she would go out with whatever people she considered friends at the moment. At work, few people knew this was actually her birthday, but they did bother to congratulate her, sometimes getting her presents. But, at the end of the day, this was simply another day where she was reminded how alone she truly was. She did not like the feeling. She did whatever she could to distract herself from it.
Things were different now, though. Because sometime during her 24th year of age, she had met Min Chaeyoung through a failure in the RFA chatroom. There was no doubt the kind, service-oriented woman had brought joy to everyone’s lives… but to Jaehee, she had marked a before and after. Now, her days were filled with conversations and sweet company, little “Cheer up, Jaehee!”s or “Good work today^^”s that filled her with joy. In the past, Jaehee had been good at self-motivation. It seems now, her friend’s words of encouragement did the job.
Although, calling her a friend was a little… Jaehee was sure it was not common to sometimes kiss your friends, or think of them as you read romance novels. The feelings Caheyoung evoked in her were… strange and unknown and terrifying, and she knew this. When Jaehee had told her, Chaeyoung just held her hand, telling her she’d be there for Jaehee always, and that they’d figure this out together. Jaehee was not sure she realized.
“I think I’m in love with you and that terrifies me,” was what she wanted to say, what she would’ve said if it was direct. She wondered what her answer would’ve been then.
But, her words still reassured her, somehow: “ I want to be by your side and take care of you, Jaehee. I’ll carry your burdens, if they help you breathe more easily.” She was sure what Chaeyoung felt for her was love in some capacity.
But, do you want me like I want you? Do you feel this painful, burning yearning too?
The answer mattered to Jaehe but it also didn’t. The terms of their relationship didn’t exactly matter , because whatever it was… it felt nice, and it made Jaehee happy. Friend or lover or something in between, Chaeyoung was her companion, the person that had broken through the walls of her heart and filled the space that gut-twisting loneliness used to occupy.
For instance, this: she had never woken up to a happy birthday message, and smiled at it while feeling her heart swell. At least, not before Chaeyoung. But now here she was.
Happy birthday~ <3, the message read. I have a present for you… I’ll give it to you at your office later.
Ah, the days where Chaeyoung visited her office, although many times it was to talk with Jumin, were always extremely pleasant. She provided a bright sort of calm that allowed Jaehee to finish all her work with ease. And usually, she came with food she’d cooked or little treats she’d brought. Jaehee appreciated few things more than these visits.
I’ll be waiting for you, then, was her reply, and with the excitement the fact provided, she set to get ready for her day. She arrived at work with a smile on her face, cheerfully receiving all the birthday well-wishes and even the “Oh my god, it’s your birthday?”s that ensued.
“You look happier than you usually do,” said Seungwan from HR, another person who, like her, made multiple trips to the coffee station a day. “Do you have a fun evening planned? Perhaps a date?” he teased.
Which made Jaehee bashful. She looked away from his tall frame as he sipped his espresso. “No, I don’t have a date, but… looks like I’ll have a visit.”
His eyes widened comically. “Well… I guess we’ll see who he is… He is a good man, you know, visiting you at work.”
It’s not a man, Jaehee wanted to say, but she wasn’t going to… come out just now, not exactly. She only said “Yes… I do quite adore them.”
Seungwan chuckled. “You’re a lucky woman, then.”
Jaehee could not guess the intention behind his words, but she also did not care. “Yes…” she said. “I suppose I am.”
Work went by anxiously. There was much to do, but no one wanted to do anything. New Year’s was very soon and everyone was in that mindset, and for once, Jaehee found herself unable to focus either, but her reason was different. She didn’t care about New Year’s, but about today. Chaeyoung was being… cryptic. Hadn’t called her all morning (which was odd), and in the chatroom she had not said anything about coming to C&R, only running errands and going to a yoga class.
Jaehee supposed that all she could do for now was focus on her work and wait. She could do that. It wasn’t like her to be this impatient, but only because she didn’t have any reason for being… Her work was, if anything, just a timely distraction: it was complete a task and then check her phone for updates. It never worked. She was starting to get anxious.
Her anxiety, though, was squandered by the arrival of someone coming to meet with Mr. Han at 11, a meeting which she had to audit. That would give her enough reprieve, as she’d be unable to focus on anything else, and for the next hour and a half of fervent, almost loopy discussion, she wasn’t.
“I think your sweetheart is here,” Seungwan whispered to her in passing as she walked back to her office, thinking only about the notes she’d have to review.
She’d frowned at him, but her heart also started to race, anticipation tingling in her skin to find Chaeyoung’s tall figure, those flaming curls, in her office, but instead she found nothing, and her heart sank.
Yes, her door was open, but her office was empty. Upon examining it, everything seemed to be much the same, except there now was a cupcake and a caramel latte left on her table from a bakery shop she frequented with Chaeyoung. She couldn’t help the fluttering, shy grin on her lips.
Chaeyoung was going to kill her with her sweetness someday. These little details always made Jaehee’s heart swell and do little backflips inside her ribcage. Now, she was smiling like a fool as she noticed the little message note next to the coffee. It had lyrics from Anything Goes: “You'd be so easy to love / So easy to idolize / All others above / So worth the yearning for / So swell to keep every home fire burning for.”
So… perhaps it was love, after all. She had no other explanation for this detail, the chocolate cupcake, the words on the note. If only you’d say it, then my life would be so much easier…
“Hi there,” said a sweet, tangy voice she recognized instantly, which made her heart swell even more. She turned to find Chaeyoung, hair away from her face, wearing a toothy smile. “Happy birthday!”
Jaehee didn’t need to be prompted to run towards her, she simply did, and hugged her tightly. Chaeyoung leaned her head on her shoulder like she usually did, and Jaehee basked in the feeling it gave her.
“I was wondering when you’d come…” Jaehee said.
“Missed me?” Chaeyoung cocked an eyebrow.
“You were taking too long, I was starting to get impatient…”
“Oh…” she made a face as if she’d just been told a devastating story. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I had to run to the post office.” She slid her hands to Jaehee’s waist, and she felt as if, were she to let her go, Jaehee would just melt into the floor. “But I’m here now… how was your special day so far?”
“Work…” Jaehee shrugged, fingertips trailing at Chaeyoung’s waist as well. “Absolutely nothing of importance happened, until you arrived.”
Chaeyoung smiled, inching the slightest bit closer to her. “Well, I’m here to sweeten your day, after all.” She then let go of her to grab the coffee and cupcake. “I got you these.”
“I’ve seen them,” Jaehee said. “And… the note as well.” She was blushing furiously. Chaeyoung could tell, by her slightly downturned smile.
Jaehee went ahead and took the drink first, taking a sip. It was sweet, it was rich. The caramel contrasted beautifully with the bitterness of the coffee, allowing for a flavor that was, with every letter of the word, decadent. It was also hot, but by no means scalding. She licked her lips a little afterward, wanting to get the last of the remains.
“It’s delicious…” she said to Chaeyoung’s moon-eyed gaze, who just smiled at her reaction. Her cheeks were a little pink, Jaehee noticed, and the office around them seemed to fade a little.
She bit into the cupcake next, which, like the coffee, was rich and decadent. That was Jaehee’s favorite thing about this particular bakery: their chocolate products. They were moist and intense in flavor, sweet but not overwhelmingly so. Even the buttercream, extremely dense and creamy, did not taste merely of sugar and butter.
“Sorry it’s not a cake… I’m saving that for tonight,” Chaeyoung said, to which Jaehee simply shook her head as she kept eating her cupcake.
“Still, this is a delightful birthday treat,” she said. Chaeyoung was laughing. It was her “making fun of something” laugh. “What is it?” she frowned.
Instead of answering, Chaeyoung just reached over to wipe at the side of her lip, which at first startled Jaehee, before turning her red. “You’re a messy eater…” she teased, lovingly, with a silly little lip bite.
Jaehee chuckled. “Cream does tend to do that…”
“Can I try some?” Chaeyoung fluttered her lashes as she looked down to the cupcake then her, and Jaehee could just not deny that.
She brought the cupcake up to her mouth, and Chaeyoung, with a nervous smile, took a bit Jaehee could only describe as pathetic, just a few crumbs of cupcake drowned by cream. She raised her eyebrows as she ate, acknowledging the flavor. Jaehee had to cover her mouth not to laugh, because if she was a messy eater… the Chaeyoung could not compare. There was cream on her nose.
She also didn’t say anything and simply reached over to wipe it, Chaeyoung’s nose scrunching cutely as she did. “And then I’m the messy eater here?”
“At least I didn’t get anything on my lips,” Chaeyoung said, smug.
Jaehee proved her wrong by wiping the corner of her mouth, almost at the inside. “You got a crumb.”
Her finger lingered on Chaeyoung’s jaw, and she could feel her chai tea breath getting thicker. She liked Chaeyoung’s jaw. It was round yet sharp, and it seemed to have many little dimples. She pushed it out when she was being cocky, it softened nicely when she smiled,. but most of the time it gave her this chiseled, elegant look. Today, there seemed to be tiny zits below her makeup.
The kiss happened slowly, a set of subsequent moves that tumbled the tension like a row of dominoes: Jaehee’s caress led for Chaeyoung to inch closer, led for her to tilt up her chin, led for Chaeyoung’s hold to tighten and her other hand to skirt up her back, led for Jaehee to part her lips as Chaeyoung’s dreamlike eyes closed, and then she was kissing her in a soft, wet, chocolate cupcake-flavored kiss.
It was a soft press of lips, but still Jaehee’s insides turned to cloud. She placed her hand properly this time in her cheek, cupping it. It was as warm as the coffee she’d brought her. Chaeyoung then took her lips into hers, pushing further. Jaehee gave in, pressing her body closer. But just a second later, she remembered, and she turned, and the door was open– a quarter, but open.
Impossibly embarrassed and indignantly surprised, she quickly ran to close it. She’d rather not have the entire floor be witness to this intimate moment. “Sorry about that,” she said.
Chaeyoung bit her lower lip, and it looked as if she was suppressing a laugh. “I’ll forgive you if you come kiss me again.”
Jaehee did, without any reins, letting her want lead. This time, she pushed her against the desk, which drew a moan-like sound out of Chaeyoung. She took in her mouth, tasted the buttercream and the chai tea, grabbing onto her by her coat. After a second, Chaeyoung’s hands settled in her hips, holding her steady. Jaehee found herself running her hands down her body, which was covered by many layers of warmth, before settling on the table, almost pinning her to it.
When they broke apart to breathe, Jaehee could see Chaeyoung’s flushed face, something now alive and bubbling behind her blown green eyes, lips now pinker than before. She was stunning. Jaehee wanted this woman desperately.
It was a little surprising when, very tenderly, Chaeyoung ran a hand through her bangs, pushing them out of her face. The same soft touch removed her glasses, the only last obstacle in between them. Now being able to see her without the frame interfering her vision, she went in once again with a pressing kiss.
Chaeyoung was warm and her touch was tender, and she opened her way to any exploratory touch that Jaehee’s hands initiated. They went under her sweater and under the hot skin of her stomach, pressing there as Chaeyoung pressed further into her mouth, moaning into it. Her hands went further, under her pants to the small of her back. They were almost shy, stopping right where the lining of her underwear began. And Jaehee was beginning to become shy as well, a paralyzing red smoky feeling that was growing in tandem with her desire to push forward, heart pounding like a siren signal.
They both stopped then, overcome by this feeling yet hyper-aware of where their hands were. Chaeyoung but her swollen, cherry red glazed lips, and her eyes seemed to ask a question that Jaehee did not, in the very slightest, have the answer to: Can you let me in?
As much as Jahee wanted to, it was only midday, and the city bustled under the large windows of her office. And she was, admittedly, not that brave, although something had been awoken that would not subside until it was fully acknowledged.
After seconds of inaction, regarding heavy breathing lip bite that hurt, Chaeyoung retreated her hands, tucking Jaehee’s shirt back in its place. “I suppose I’ll see you tonight,” she whispered against Jaehee’s mouth.
“Yes…” she said, wistful. “You will.” And then, we’d finish what we started.
Chaeyoung let go of her slowly, hesitantly, avoiding her eyes. Jaehee regretted her separation much the same.
“Enjoy the cupcake and coffee, in the meanwhile,” she said, almost cheekily.
Ah, right. The half-eaten cupcake was still on the table, with Chaeyoung’s tiny bite, as well as the latte. “Yes…” Jaehee said, without thinking. She was not sure she was able to. “I will.”