Spending Time

The morning came, Aeri scrunched her brows together as she was stirring awake, but the feeling of a comfortable warmth softened her expression and she cuddled closer. Yizhuo was so soft, and she loved it.

Guess this was the thrill she asked for. It was exciting, it made her heart race, and maybe the reason why she enjoyed it so much was because Yizhuo also knew how to make her heart slowdown in soft beats. Like everything was frozen, nothing else was moving but just them.

Aeri knew that this thing she had with Yizhuo wasn’t just shameless flirting and dinner dates. She was starting to see that it was more than that.

Subtle touches, deep conversations, being vulnerable, the cute and endearing nicknames. The way Yizhuo would hint that she just wanted to be held and she wanted to be kissed. Her way of telling Aeri that she’ll miss her when they part, or to remind her to be careful at work.

It had only been months since the two started dating, and Aeri was already scared to let this woman go.

Yizhuo was her beautiful mornings, her lazy afternoons, and her peaceful evenings. And she would want her to be like that for a long time.

When Aeri hugged her a bit tighter, it stirred Yizhuo awake, and she turned her head to look back at her.

“Mornin’,” Yizhuo greeted groggily.

“Good morning,” Aeri greeted back with a smile, cuddling her closer and laying a soft kiss on her cheek. “You feel soft.”

Yizhuo hummed happily, nuzzling closer to her. “Do I?”

Aeri nodded, enjoying the warmth she was getting from Yizhuo. “Yeah, and you’re beautiful.”

She scoffed this time. “You’re hung over.”

“I could be, I could also be sober, but I’ll still think you’re beautiful,” she said, looking over so she could get a view of Yizhuo’s face. “And soft,” she quickly added.

Yizhuo suddenly pushed her face away, she shifted her position, they were looking at each other now. Yizhuo raised a brow. “Are you like this with all the girls?”

“I haven’t been with anyone for a while. So… no,” Aeri said after much thought. But it was true anyway.

“Really?” That seemed to have shocked the younger woman. But then her expressions softened and started to trace small circles on Aeri’s collarbone. “Must be a busy police officer protecting the city from reckless drivers who go over the speed limit.”

Aeri blushed. Yizhuo could flirt so easily. “And who drives cars with broken tail lights.”

Yizhuo then stopped for a moment. “Am I like the first one you’ve ever hit on?”

She blinked at the question but nodded. “Actually, yes. You are.” Again, it was the truth. Then she narrowed her eyes at the younger woman. “You have interesting topics so early in the morning.”

“I like to be interesting,” Yizhuo said playfully, she rests her head on her hand and then pokes Aeri’s nose. “Especially for you.”

Aeri blushed again.

Then Yizhuo suddenly grabbed her arm. “Wait—“

“Hm?”

“Do you know what happened to Jimin and Minjeong last night?”

“Oh—“ Aeri stopped twirling Yizhuo’s long brown hair in her finger. A bit taken aback by her question. But she tried to remember. “Actually, no, I don’t. I mean, the last thing I remembered was them going to the balcony.” She suddenly smirked, hands running down to her waist to pull her in. “Then you got frisky and asked to go home,” she said in a low voice, lips ghosting over Yizhuo’s.

Yizhuo seemed to not mind, hands running through Aeri’s shoulder and tilted her head a bit. “You weren’t complaining.”

Aeri felt like she couldn’t contain herself, she moved forward to kiss her, lips moving languidly as hands started to card her hair and caress her jaw.

But Yizhuo pulled back when Aeri snaked out a tongue to lick her lips. Maybe she wanted to continue the conversation.

“No, I wasn’t.” Aeri finally gave her response, kissing her cheek one last time before settling in with their conversation. She flipped herself so she was lying on her back, staring up at Yizhuo’s ceiling. “Do you think Minjeong likes Jimin?” She asked this time, curious as well.

“Funny, I was gonna ask if Jimin likes Minjeong,” Yizhuo immediately replied, lying on her back as well and scooting closer to Aeri. “I think the bigger question is if they’re ever going to confess that they like each other because it’s obvious that they do.”

That made Aeri look at her. “I thought Minjeong was straight?”

Interesting. Because she was aware than Minjeong’s ex was a man and Yizhuo hadn’t said anything about her liking girls. Then again it never came to mind when they set up the blind date.

Maybe Jimin underestimated the situation. Or herself. Again.

“She’s bisexual,” Yizhuo said. “And yeah, people were like, how can she be bi when she’s only been with one guy?” She narrated but using a dumb sounding voice. Then she raised a finger. “What they don’t know is that Minjeong has had girl and boy crushes since she was in elementary school.”

Aeri blinked. “Oh, okay. I didn’t know that.”

“Sure, she’s only ever been Jeno since she was in high school, but she’s always known she liked women too. Jeno just came first,” Yizhuo added, her hand found Aeri’s and now she was playing with her fingers.

“So, Jimin might have a chance?”

Yizhuo snorted, placing her hand back down on the blanket gently. “Babe, she had a chance the moment Jimin said she loved Minjeong’s cookies.”

That amused Aeri. She recalled the reaction Minjeong had when Jimin complimented them. “Really now? Is that like… a test or something?”

Yizhuo was quiet for a bit, like she was trying to think of the right thing to say. But Aeri didn’t want to rush for an answer, they were talking about Minjeong anyway, it felt like she was invading her privacy, in fact.

But Yizhuo did bring up the topic.

“Not really?” Yizhuo finally replied, then she sighed. “But her cookie baking is… a personal thing. And Minjeong is kinda insecure about it. She would make some just for us to try and constantly asked us if it was bad. Not if they were good, but always asked if they were bad.” The younger girl sighed; her voice lowered. “Minjeong’s baking has something to do with her broken family. So that’s why it kinda means a lot to her.”

Aeri nodded in understanding. “I won’t pry then. But it’s enough to know that Jimin’s words have an effect on her,” she added, hoping to lighten up the mood.”

Then Yizhuo looked up at her, hugging her arm now. “But Jimin isn’t interested in anyone right?”

“If you can keep a secret then I’ll tell you,” Aeri said, wanting to tease. But before she could even turn her head to look down at Yizhuo, the brunette immediately climbed on top of her, straddling her hips, the blanket falling off gracefully from her naked torso and Aeri felt like she was starting to fall in love with this feeling Yizhuo was doing to her.

Then, she lowered herself, planted her lips fully on Aeri’s and the two sank into it. Their kiss was needy, forceful but not enough to bring a certain ache they liked. It was just enough to know that they both definitely wanted each other.

When Yizhuo pulled back, her hair draping down, cheeks flushed with pink; Aeri felt her heartbeat pick up. But she kept a facade and smirked at her. “You drive a hard bargain, Miss Ning.”

“I can give more,” she said in her usual sultry voice. But then she leaned in, whined cutely and kissed Aeri’s chin. “But tell me first.”

Aeri couldn’t help but giggle at how she could flip her mood like a switch. “Are you that interested in our friend’s love life? We could be doing other things, you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m also painfully curious about Jimin.”