Work Text:
Jeongyeon's been having weird dreams lately.
It's a Monday morning, and stumbling out of bed, Jeongyeon knows she's had another one of these stupid dreams. She remembers it. Yet another scene in which she stands, surrounded by thick red fog, and a woman steps out in front of her wearing a long red dress that hugs her body perfectly. This woman always gives her a certain look, and it never fails to send chills down Jeongyeon's spine -- in a good way. If she's being honest, she prefers the dreams where this woman steps out of white fog, wearing a white suit that looks amazing on her. The look she gives? Exquisite. Maybe if she was real, Jeongyeon would date her. It'd be better than thinking she has a crush on some woman from her dreams...which she may or may not have. Then again, Jeongyeon always gets the feeling this woman is real. It's strange, but at this point, what isn't?
She hates telling Nayeon about it, but Im Nayeon is her best friend and therefore (in Nayeon's words) she's obligated to tell her everything. So, at their weekly coffee date, Jeongyeon spills. "I had another dream again," she says. Nayeon doesn't bother looking up at her, eyes fixed on her phone and nose buried in her coffee mug. "Which one? The one with the prostitute or the one with the CEO?"
Prostitute meaning red dress, CEO meaning white suit. Jeongyeon rolls her eyes. "They're the same person. But she was in a red dress this time."
"So prostitute," Nayeon concludes. She takes a swig from her cup and more or less slams it down onto the table, just as she does when they're at bars and she's drunk on beer. Except she's high on coffee. "And? Developments?"
"Well, she gave me the look as always," Jeongyeon says, hoping she doesn't sound as dreamy as she feels. Unfortunately, she does, indicated by the look Nayeon gives her -- and it's nowhere close to the look her dream woman does. "Jeongyeon, you know how fucked you sound, right. You have a crush on some girl from your dreams."
"I know it sounds fucked, okay?" Yeah, it's weird, and Jeongyeon knows that better than anyone. Maybe her love life is a bit too lacking. Nayeon would say (and has said) it's because she hasn't gotten laid in years. But it's certainly interesting, so why wouldn't Jeongyeon focus on it? "But I keep getting the feeling she's real. That's even more fucked, yeah, but seriously, it's insane. I know she's out there somewhere."
"If I wasn't your best friend, I would've taken you to a mental institute by now," Nayeon mutters. She rests her face in her hands, elbows on either side of her empty coffee mug. Within seconds, Jeongyeon can practically see the lightbulb go off above Nayeon's head as her eyebrows shoot up. "Wait a minute. You know my girlfriend, right?"
"Jihyo, yes," Jeongyeon says. "All you ever do is talk about her," she adds under her breath, but Nayeon doesn't seem to catch it, leaning towards her with a glint in her eye. "I just remembered. Jihyo's best friend has been having dreams that sound a lot like yours. It's kinda weird, but it's basically the same thing. Some girl in her dreams appears, dressed in either red or white. Do you know what your girl looks like?"
It's hard for Jeongyeon to recall, but some details have been burned into her memory. "A mole under her lip...kinda long dark brown hair. Bangs, but they're usually swept to the side. Her smile is gummy and really cute. Eyes kinda fierce, if you ask me." Shit, that was too much. Jeongyeon shakes her head, trying to get herself together, but she stops when she sees Nayeon staring at her. "What?"
"Oh, shit," Nayeon breathes. She doesn't stop staring at Jeongyeon. It bothers her. "What?" she repeats. When Nayeon doesn't reply, she leans over and flicks the other girl's forehead, jolting her out of whatever daze she was stuck in. "Fuck!" she yells, attracting glances from the people sitting around them. Jeongyeon sits back, crossing her arms. "You deserved it. Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
"Yeah, that." Nayeon rubs her forehead, eyebrows furrowed. "So that girl is Jihyo's friend. Like, you described her perfectly. Other than the fierce eyes, don't know where you got that from."
Jeongyeon blushes, but she can easily ignore it. This is more important -- the woman from her dreams is real. This really is so fucking weird, she thinks, fidgeting with the rings on her index and middle fingers. But now that she knows this girl is real...meeting her wouldn't do any harm, would it? She opens her mouth to voice the insane proposal, but Nayeon's already one step ahead of her, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger and wearing a shit-eating grin on her face. "You know, wouldn't it be crazy if you guys met? What if she dreams of you? You guys could get hitched without actually having to make the awkward introductions."
What if this woman dreams of Jeongyeon? That's too good to be true, she knows it. This could just be one strange coincidence. Maybe she saw whoever this person is back in high school or university, and her image stuck with Jeongyeon. It would make sense; Jeongyeon is a photography major, and beautiful things tend to stick with her throughout the years. Or this could get even more weird and the other woman could be dreaming of her. She shrugs, feigning indifference. "Sure, I guess."
Obviously, Nayeon sees right through her, cackling. "You're totally excited and you're bad at lying. Just say you want to meet her already."
"Fine. I do," Jeongyeon huffs. Nayeon pulls out her phone, fingers flying over the screen for a few seconds before she puts it away and gives Jeongyeon another shit-eating grin. God, Jeongyeon hates that grin. "Done. Just set something up with Jihyo. You're meeting Miss Myoui Mina tomorrow, at this cafe. Sounds good?"
"Yeah," Jeongyeon says absentmindedly. She's hung up on the woman's name. Myoui Mina. It's a pretty one, definitely prettier than Yoo Jeongyeon, in her opinion. It suits her. Now she has a name to match with the face. Nayeon's dramatic "What would you do without me?" is lost in the background, hidden by Jeongyeon's swirling thoughts. Considering she's been dreaming about Mina for months now, it makes sense they should finally meet. She's excited and scared she'll turn into a blubbering mess tomorrow, but mainly excited.
She also hopes she dreams of Mina again tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They're supposed to meet at 2:30, but Jeongyeon decides to show up at 12:15, hoping her outfit isn't too tacky (you can't go wrong with a leather jacket and jeans, right?) and anxious beyond belief. So maybe she's an idiot and way too early, as Nayeon screams at her through text, but at least this gives her an excuse to try the new drinks her barista friend Chaeyoung has been constantly promoting. Or, more like she'll get drunk on black coffee and end up making a fool of herself when Mina comes. But Mina is already there, sitting upright in the seat Nayeon had claimed yesterday, leg bouncing nervously. Her eyes brighten when they land on Jeongyeon and all Jeongyeon can think is that she's fallen in love.
Mina is dressed conservatively, completely unlike her outfits in Jeongyeon's dream. Her attire is comfortable and not too attention-grabbing; a simple black off-shoulder sweater and faded skinny jeans completes her look. Jeongyeon doesn't know what she was expecting, but this is cute. Mina is cute. Her eyes aren't fierce, more soft, but Jeongyeon knows she's capable of that look. (Jeongyeon kind of wants to see it.)
"You're Jeongyeon, right?" Mina says as Jeongyeon approaches her. Jeongyeon's tongue is already tied, so she nods silently, a dumb bitch move but it's fine, everything's fine. She sits down, trying to discreetly rub her sweaty palms on her jeans as Mina continues, a little bashfully. "I thought so...you look exactly how I see you in my dreams."
Mina? Dreaming of her? Too good to be true, and yet here Jeongyeon was, hearing those very words slip out from behind Mina's lips. (But why is Jeongyeon focusing on her lips?) She laughs shakily, mentally berating herself immediately afterwards. "So you're real."
"And you're real," Mina says, awe in her voice. It's cute. She suddenly laughs; a melody Jeongyeon could listen to forever streaming into the air. "Tell me why I expected you to show up in that white suit."
"I thought you'd be dressed in that red dress," Jeongyeon blurts out before she can stop herself. She's stupid, so stupid, but Mina laughs again and it's all worth it. Her laugh disappears and Jeongyeon thinks she's done something wrong before she looks at Mina's face and has to stop herself from squealing because of how red Mina's face is. It's cute -- everything about Mina is cute, apparently. "You looked good in the suit and the dress," Mina says. Jeongyeon has to strain to hear it, Mina's voice has lowered considerably, but when she registers the words she feels her face heat up and she knows she looks as red as Mina does. "You did too. You're, uh, really beautiful."
For a second Jeongyeon thinks Mina's going to get up and run out of the cafe, her face is so red, but the blush disappears within moments and Mina's slipping her a piece of paper. Her eyes aren't soft, they're fierce, just like the ones Jeongyeon is used to gazing into at night. "I have to go, I have work. But text me later?"
And that's the story of how Jeongyeon got her first number from a girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not surprisingly, it doesn't take long for the two of them to start dating. They were already attracted to each other before, weird as it was, and Jeongyeon thought she couldn't get any more attracted. She was wrong. They're dating, they're girlfriends, and Jeongyeon has finally seen Mina in the red dress and the white suit in person. It beats any of her dreams. There's something different about seeing something in reality. Eventually, she does the same for Mina -- making dreams come true, she figures -- and the look on Mina's face is worth it.
Their friends aren't surprised, either. Lying in bed, Mina breathing softly next to her, Jeongyeon has to combat all of Nayeon's teasing texts for the third week in a row. Jihyo's more subtle about it, but Jeongyeon can see why Nayeon fell for her. They both share the same relentless teasing qualities. At least Jihyo isn't as persistent, Jeongyeon thinks, shooting another insult in retaliation to Nayeon's suggestive paragraphs.
Mina shifts beside her, eyes slowly opening. "You're still up?" she murmurs, leaning over Jeongyeon to glance at the time on Jeongyeon's phone. It's one-thirty a.m. Jeongyeon smiles at her. "I was just about to sleep. You should go back."
"Not until you sleep first," Mina mumbles, arms tightening around Jeongyeon's torso and face nuzzled into the crook of her neck. It's cute, oh so cute, and Jeongyeon has never been able to get enough. How is it possible that she's dating Myoui Mina, girl of her (literally) dreams? She doesn't know what she did to deserve Mina, but she's thankful for it. She places her phone screen down on the bedside drawer. "I'll only sleep if you give me one thing."
"Anything for you." God, Mina's voice is so silky. Jeongyeon bites her lip, losing her own voice for a second before she can talk again. "A kiss."
"I thought I gave you enough of those today?" Mina laughs, but she raises her face up anyways, and Jeongyeon closes her eyes and waits to feel Mina's lips against hers, but there's nothing but empty space and cold air blowing against her face, and when she opens her eyes she's in an unfamiliar bed with crisp white sheets (hers are black), birds chirping outside and sun shining through the windows and oh dear god Nayeon is in bed with her.
Jeongyeon is, at the very least, speechless. She quickly straightens, running her hand through her hair and looking around. The room they're in resembles Nayeon's room, except the bed is bigger and the framed photos of her and Jihyo are nowhere to be found, replaced by photos of her and Jeongyeon. Where the fuck is she? What the fuck happened?
Nayeon stirs, slowly rising and giving Jeongyeon a wide, warm smile. It's the same one she shows Jihyo, and if Jeongyeon thought her dreams were weird, this is worse. "Good morning, love," Nayeon whispers, kissing Jeongyeon on the cheek. This is wrong, Jeongyeon thinks, so wrong. "Where am I?" she says, tone heavy with panic. She's sweating and her heart is practically leaping out of her chest. This situation, first of all, would not go down well with Jihyo, and secondly, shouldn't be happening at all. She was just next to Mina, and it was night, so how'd it become morning and why is she with Nayeon? "Where's Jihyo? I thought you were dating her!"
The loving look on Nayeon's face melts to one of sadness. The corners of her lips tug downwards, eyes cast in the same direction as she moves away from Jeongyeon to grab her glasses from the bedside drawer -- the same one Jeongyeon had placed her phone on. "Right, I forgot. Another year has passed...it's the anniversary."
"What anniversary?" Jeongyeon asks, feeling like she's about to cry any moment now. Everything is overwhelming her. "What are you talking about?"
Nayeon takes a deep breath. "Jihyo is my ex."
"So you decide to sleep with me?" Jeongyeon says, anger creeping into her tone. Nayeon only sighs that stupid sigh again. It's not making anything better. "Nayeon, where the fuck is Mina?"
Nayeon meets Jeongyeon's eyes, and Jeongyeon knows something's wrong, really wrong, before Nayeon can even say anything. So when Nayeon speaks, it doesn't hit as hard as it should.
"Mina is your ex, Jeong. She died today six years ago. It was a car accident...she drove through thick red fog and couldn't see anything..."
A lie. Nayeon's words hit harder than Jeongyeon expects. And when she dreams that night, there's white fog and there's red fog but no Mina. Just Jeongyeon, sitting aimlessly, surrounded by fog.
If she looked hard enough, she'd see a red dress and a white suit, folded neatly and laid on the floor beside each other.