The Temptress

I stirred to feel a soft but welcome presence in my chest. I opened my eyes to see Jimin, her eyes studying my face seriously.

"Do I have eye boogers?" I joked.

Jimin nodded, a wide grin spread across her face. "Remove it yourself — you're gross." She quips back.

With my free hand, I rubbed the sleep off my eyes while the other wraps around her body, squeezing the soft flesh of her waist and pressing her tighter against my body.

"Just because you wake up already perfect," I retorted.

"You're just biased," Jimin giggled.

Once I finally removed my eye boogers, I held Jimin's cheeks and pulled her close to me for a deep kiss. "Good morning," I whispered after we pulled away.

"Good morning indeed," she smiled, her eyes still closed as if expecting another kiss — which I gave.

"Hmmm," Jimin sighed after pulling away.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Around seven," Jimin replied.

I chuckled, "How much sleep did we have?"

"Around two hours give or take," Jimin chuckled.

"You kept waking me up, you're insatiable," I teased and squeezed her waist again, relishing the feel of its softness and her full chest pressing upon mine.

"Hey! You kept poking me with your —"

"That's because you kept rubbing on me!"

We both burst out laughing — it felt good, normal, easy. We sounded like a normal couple after a great night together, but we both know only the latter is true. Once we leave the confines of her apartment, we will be back to what we were — really, really close friends.

Jimin finally rose, covering her body with the blanket. I watched her move gracefully towards her wardrobe and pulled out one towel and threw it at me.

"We need to get ready or we'll be late," she said as she walked towards the door of her bathroom. I took the towel, rose up, and followed her only to be stopped when we're finally at the threshold.

"And where do you think you're going?" Jimin teased as she stopped me with a hand on my chest.

"Shower," I replied dumbly.

"There's another bathroom by the living room, use that," Jimin responded, grinning teasingly.

"What-?"

"Just to remind you, we're not dating, Seren. Well — not officially, at least," Jimin said still grinning teasingly.

"But we just-?" I tried to protest.

"I know — and it was great — really, really great. But since we're not 'officially' dating — I still need to keep you on your toes." She pulled me close for a quick peck, winked at me when she pulled away, then shut her bathroom door close. 

"Such a tease," I muttered before leaving her room and walking for the living room bathroom. I chuckled in spite of myself, yet I hoped she didn't remind me of that.

I finished bathing and changing before Jimin did, and with nothing else to do, I raided her kitchen and decided to make both of us some coffee. The mundaneness of the chore, and the fact that I am alone, brought back chaos to my mind. Jimin and I had, arguably, the best night of our lives yet, but we're not "officially" dating. That raised more questions than answers, I thought. How long could we keep pretending this was enough? Because by what we both felt last night, we seem unable to get enough of each other.

I set the coffee cups on the counter, their brewed scent clearing up my mind a bit. As I took a sip, Jimin finally burst out of her room, wearing a black shirt that hugged her curves and exposing a little bit of her midriff, jeans, a hoodie, and sneakers. She looked great, even dressing normally, she looked great.

"You copying my fashion, Yu Jimin?" I teased as she sat down and took a sip of coffee.

"Ahhh. That coffee's good," Jimin said as she melted adorably on the counter. "And no, I'm not copying your fashion, Seren Vale. You don't have a copyright on this combination of clothes. And besides — I pull it off better."

"I was trying to say you look good, you didn't have to hurt my feelings," I joked, taking another sip of coffee.

"Don't worry. I'll make it up to you," Jimin teased with a naughty wink before slowly, almost seductively, took a long sip from her cup.

"I'll hold you to that," I chuckled before finishing my own cup.

"So," Jimin drummed her hands on the counter as she set her now empty cup down. "Ready for another day of normalcy?"

"Normalcy is what I'm praying for right now," I replied.

Jimin chuckled as we got off her counter. I snatched my bag from her couch and we walked towards her door. I paused as she held her doorknob.

"What is it, Seren? You okay?" Jimin asked in concern.

"When we leave this door, we'll be back to normal." I said melancholically.

Jimin dipped her head and nodded.

"Then one last time for this morning," I said and pressed her against her door, held her waists, and crashed my lips on her.

Jimin gasped and wrapped her arms around my neck as she reciprocated my kiss with equal passion. She tasted of coffee — and of regret. She pulled me closer and opened her mouth, inviting my tongue inside her — and the taste of coffee grew weaker while the taste of regret grew stronger — but why did regret also tasted sweeter?

When I pulled away, her face was flushed red — and so was mine probably.

"We —" Jimin panted.

"I know," I whispered as I reached for her door knob, it felt cold, and my body wanted to let it go, to stay in this bubble, this haven, with Jimin. Jimin looked at me, her eyes expectant and quivering, like she wanted me to decide for her.

Yet my brain overruled me as it commanded my hand to turn the knob. Jimin released a sigh — of relief or of sadness, I can't tell. I pulled the door open and we stepped outside the hall, back to where we started — well not exactly.

The sun was covered by the clouds as we walked towards the campus. Jimin held my arm while we walked — the gesture half wholesome half romantic though I wanted to hold her hand instead — but that would be too obvious.

As we round a corner that leads directly to the college, two figures emerged and pulled us back — Ryujin and Chaeryoung — and here I was thinking that the most difficult part of the day would be leaving Jimin's place — how pathetically wrong of me to expect, to hope.

"Wait — what is this? What are you both doing?" Jimin asked in confusion as the duo led us around the walls outside the campus.

"Yeah. Good morning to you too," Ryujin replied. She was wearing an oversized hoodie that reached down her hips, exposing her bare thighs and legs.