Work Text:
“Attaque.”
Hee Do doesn’t know if the ringing in her ears are from the buzz from the scoreboard or from the sheer adrenaline pounding in her blood. She is frozen in her lunge, the end of her saber touching Julia’s chest. She hears her own ragged breaths in her ears and Hee Do swears she can hear Julia’s too.
“Touche.”
It’s as if she can see Julia’s expression through her fencing helmet from the way her saber arm slackens and she slowly retreats. Hee Do feels as if she’s waiting on a cliff, waiting for something to happen. She wants to tear off Julia’s helmet to see her true face behind Russia’s colours that she now wears.
Hee Do wants to see her.
“Point.” the referee’s hand is raised to Hee Do’s side.
She hears the ding of the scoreboard as she watches the bright blue numbers of 14 - 14 become 14 - 15. Then, Hee Do’s ears are met with a roar of cheering and applause. Somewhere in the crowd, Coach Chan Mi’s cry of approval reaches Hee Do. Camera flashes momentarily blind Hee Do in all her glory but she turns her head away.
Her chest heaves with her breath, the unadulterated emotion of her shock and joy. Hee Do feels her entire body move simultaneously with each heavy breath as she watches Julia through her Korean-coloured helmet. Watching. Waiting for something to happen.
But nothing does.
Hee Do’s feet stumble behind her. She turns around, barely puffing with the realization that she won. Hee Do numbly watches her feet move by themselves in a stiff manner, walking herself back to the end of the piste. She barely feels anything, barely can think of anything. In fact, her winning feels like the least of her worries right now. Hee Do wants to look behind. But she doesn’t. Hee Do hears Julia’s footsteps behind her, slow and hesitant. She stares into the cameramen on her end of the piste, taking a deep breath.
Everything that had happened before Madrid seemed to have passed by in a blur. Despite that, she still remembers everything. Her memories were hazy because of how much her confounded emotions overwhelmed them. Hee Do may not remember every single email she wrote to julia.ko341 but she does remember every single emotion that came from it.
Heartbreak was the most dominant. Hee Do had felt aching in her chest, heaving for air as she had sobbed into her pillows. Why hadn’t she replied? Why did she leave Hee Do? Why did she break their promise? All were questions that Hee Do never received the answers to.
Anger came next. Why hadn’t she replied? Was she ignoring Hee Do? Those words on the frontline of the article where she had been interviewed by Russia still brings a bitter taste to Hee Do’s mouth.
Sadness was all that was left of her since she had taken off from Korea to Madrid. Hee Do missed her. So badly. Hee Do missed her so badly that she turns around now, slowly. She stands on the red line on the piste, watching Julia stand on hers in front of her.
Hee Do feels wetness trail down her cheeks. That feeling again, smashing her heart into a thousand pieces. She struggles to breathe through the helmet, tears trailing down her cheeks silently.
She is so close to Hee Do now, yet so far. Standing before her, while still being worlds away. Hee Do desperately tried to break that barrier for the past few months, but to no avail. The girl of her dreams, her rival and her best friend is a world away from her.
“Salut.”
Instead of walking forward to shake Julia’s hand, Hee Do stays where she is. She’s shaking badly, tears dripping down beneath her neck. Hee Do takes a trembling breath, raising a hand to remove her helmet from her face. The harsh light in the stadium blinds her eyes but she forces herself to adjust, to not blink away from Julia. She gasps for air, breathing past the lump in her throat.
Hee Do must look like a wreck now, with tears gushing down her sweaty face and her repeated breaths. Julia’s hand follows, reaching up to tear it off her face.
Ko Yu Rim, Hee Do wants to cry out desperately.
Yu Rim hasn’t changed. Her beautiful face stays as it is, with those dark hazel eyes, swimming with emotion and shimmering with tears. Yu Rim’s crying and all Hee Do wants to do is hug her tightly and never let go. She makes something of a watery smile at Hee Do, whose heart breaks all over again.
Yu Rim nods weakly, dropping her helmet to the ground before her.
Hee Do takes a step before and another before raising both her arms slightly.
Please. Don’t walk away. Don’t ignore me again. Come to me.
Yu Rim does. She stumbles slowly over to her, puffy eyes and all. Then, she breaks into a run. Hee Do catches Yu Rim into a tight hug, jerking in surprise when she loses balance. They both tumble to the ground and people are gasping all over the audience but Hee Do doesn’t care. She cries tightly into Yu Rim’s shoulder on top of her, wrapping her arms around her.
It feels like coming home after a long, long, long day.
Yu Rim muffles her own tears into Hee Do’s shoulder as well, sobbing brokenly. Hee Do’s heart has been played with and torn apart for the past few months but this single embrace, breaks her apart completely. With the tightening of Yu Rim’s arms around her, her heart begins to heal. Little by little, the more Hee Do sobs into Yu Rim’s embrace.
“I’m so sorry, Na Hee Do.” Yu Rim mumbles shakily into Hee Do’s ear. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Hee Do croaks, pressing her face into the side of Yu Rim’s neck.
“I’m sorry for not replying to your emails. I’m sorry for ignoring you, I’m so sorry. You deserved so much better.” Yu Rim’s tears trail down the side of Hee Do’s face. “I’m sorry.”
Hee Do pulls away from the tight embrace to look at Yu Rim. She raises a shaky hand to cradle the crying girl’s face, to stroke her cheek. She doesn’t care for the thousands of camera flashes in the crowd, she doesn’t care for the fact that they’re both on the ground, all over each other as they cry in public.
“It’s fine.” Hee Do mumbles with a small smile, wiping Yu Rim’s tears with her thumb although she is probably just smudging them. “It’s cool. It’s chill. Don’t worry, Ko Yu Rim.”
Hee Do thinks that somewhere in her heart, she already forgave Yu Rim the moment they stepped into the piste.
“It’s not.” Yu Rim sniffles. “You’re not.”
“Who are you to decide whether I’m okay or not?” Hee Do laughs, choking back her tears to smile at Yu Rim. “I’m okay, Yu Rim. Because – because you’re here.”
“And because I love you.”
Yu Rim pauses. Hee Do’s breath hitches as their crying session slowly fades in her realization that Yu Rim’s nose only hovers inches above hers. Yu Rim’s hand closest to the ground fumbles for something near Hee Do’s head, while her other hand reaches to cup Hee Do’s tearstained cheek. Her heart flutters when Yu Rim gently touches the tips of their noses together, so gently and intimately.
Hee Do can feel her breath on her lips.
She hears shouts from the crowd and all she can focus on is Yu Rim. Hee Do’s gaze flickers down to Yu Rim’s lips. They look so soft, so full and so wanting. They part slightly and Hee Do’s heart actually starts trying to claw itself out of her chest.
Hee Do notices the thing that Yu Rim has been fumbling near her head is Hee Do’s Korean fencer helmet. Yu Rim holds the helmet in an angle so that the other side faces the crowd, shielding them from everyone and everything.
For a moment, it’s just Hee Do and Yu Rim. No one else, everybody hidden away. Yu Rim’s lips inches closer to hers hesitantly, as if unsure. Hee Do slides her hand to grab Yu Rim’s nape, pulling her down to press their lips together without another thought in her mind. It feels instinctive.
Hee Do doesn’t need anything else in the world, or anyone else. All she has and will ever need is Ko Yu Rim, from the moment she had seen her on that television. Their lips fit perfectly together and Hee Do melts underneath the girl of her dreams. She closes her eyes, reveling in how soft and gentle Yu Rim’s lips are. Yu Rim’s body is pressed against hers and there’s nowhere else in the world Hee Do would want to be.
It just feels right. The roar of the crowds, the click of the cameras and shouting all fade away. The only thing Hee Do can hear now is how loud her heartbeat is as Yu Rim kisses her. She feels her smile against her lips, pressing up harder against Yu Rim. As they pull away, Yu Rim sighs against her lips softly. It sends shivers all the way down to Hee Do’s toes. The silly grin that Yu Rim gives her along with those smiley yet tearstained eyes knock the air out of Hee Do’s chest.
“Does it help if I say I had been thinking of you everyday even if I hadn’t replied?” Yu Rim mumbles against Hee Do’s lips.
“Yeah.” Hee Do feels her lips automatically curve into a giddy smile.
…
Hee Do feels all their eyes on her as she walks alongside her national team fencers and Coach Chan Mi. She knows the other girls are exchanging glances with each other and shooting strange looks her way. Her hand tightens on her saber bag in her hand, clutching it tightly. The only person who had spoken a word to her since was Chan Mi, offering congratulations and a warm smile.
Camera lens shutter and flicker, along with reporters in the crowds shouting words at her with microphones outstretched, asking her why she wouldn’t reply to their questions.
“Na Hee Do, is it true you kissed the silver medalist Julia Ko?”
“Na Hee Do, what do you think Korea thinks of your fraternization with an enemy?”
“Na Hee Do, do you and Russian Julia Ko have a secret relationship?”
“Na Hee Do, what are your thoughts on same-sex relationships?”
Chan Mi pulls her along. Hee Do bites her tongue back, forcing her head low and to not look into the crowds on both their sides. She never thought of the consequences that could’ve happened when she pulled Yu Rim’s lips to hers. A warm tingle runs through her body at the memory as she presses her own lips together.
Her feet move by themselves, following Chan Mi’s shoes beside hers. Hee Do hears one of the fencers whisper her name behind her to another and her jaw tightens. She may be feeling a lot of things right now but shame is not one of them.
They reach the podium, where many reporters stand before them, shouting at them with microphones and cameras. Hee Do spots Yu Rim first, standing awkwardly by her Russian coach and her other fencers. She offers a shy smile to Hee Do that makes her heart flutter but lowers her head when she sees a camera behind Hee Do.
They both know how bad their reputations could get because of the cameras flashing behind them. All the national team fencers who didn’t receive medals walk off to the side, consisting of South Korea, Russia and Sweden. Hee Do hardly registers Chan Mi pull her into a hug quickly, because of her urgent whispers in her ear.
“Don’t do anything stupid.” Chan Mi says in a quiet voice in the pretense of hugging her mentee tightly. “They’re all watching.”
The hairs on the back of Hee Do’s neck rise, just like it did when she heard Yu Rim’s shrill voice through her cellphone during the day she was trapped in the training room because of the reporters. Only now, it wasn’t only Yu Rim who was trapped.
Hee Do pulls back with a nod before Chan Mi sighs with a smile. “Go get your medal, Hee Do. You earned it.”
Hee Do sees in Chan Mi’s eyes that she isn’t ashamed or disgusted by Hee Do, as shown by all the other fencers. She only looks worried for her reputation and what would happen to her name online. She grins before dashing over to the podium, where she receives her gold medal.
Hee Do’s heart races as she ascends onto the podium, placing the gold medal around her neck. She spares a glance to Yu Rim by her side, admiring her own silver medal. Yu Rim’s eyes raise and their eyes meet. A thousand words and emotions spill through the momentary eye-contact before the cameras begin to flash in the crowd.
Her breath catches in her throat as the corner of Yu Rim’s lips raise. The way she looks at her is just like the way she looked at Hee Do when they kissed in the piste. A look only Hee Do recognises.
Hee Do is impulsive. People have said negative and positive things about her impulsiveness. She remembers what Yu Rim said about her impulsiveness after a practice match back home, when Yu Rim was still in Korea. It feels like yesterday, even though it happened almost a year ago.
“I hate how impulsive you are.” Yu Rim nurses her bruise that grew from Hee Do’s aggressive lunge with a groan.
“Not my fault you stepped right into it.” Hee Do smiles unapologetically.
Yu Rim’s eyes had flicked up to hers and Hee Do forgot how to breathe. Her smile filled up all Hee Do’s senses as she spoke. “I guess, sometimes your impulsiveness is good after all.”
It was Hee Do’s impulsiveness that drove her to kiss Yu Rim without hesitation. It’s Hee Do’s impulsiveness that makes her throw her arm around Yu Rim’s waist on the podium, raising her medal on her chest for the world to see. Yu Rim’s smile grows ten times bigger and that makes everything worth it as she raises her own medal as well. The Swedish bronze medalist follows after a moment’s hesitation.
The memory burns into Hee Do’s mind fondly, marking it as the best moment of her career, when Yu Rim is right next to her on the podium.
…
“Ms. Na Hee Do, can you confirm whether you kissed the Russian silver medalist, Julia Ko, on the piste after your victory?”
Hee Do recognises this UBS reporter. He’s the one who she often sees with Yi Jin, but right now, he’s nowhere to be found in the crowd of shouting reporters. She supposes she wouldn’t have wanted him here anyway. Her eyes meet Chan Mi’s on the press conference table for a moment before her coach gives a nod.
“Why don’t you ask me about my victory as a gold medalist fencer instead of asking me to confirm a rumor?” Hee Do says loudly, earning the attention from all the other reporters who scribble in their notebooks. “Is that not the point of the Olympics? For athletes to prove themselves as individuals?”
“Yes, but…” the UBS reporter frowns for a moment before regaining his senses to push the microphone up even higher. “Do you really want Korea to have an undefined answer of whether their own Na Hee Do fraternized with a traitor?”
Fury flashes in Hee Do’s eyes for a moment, her hands tightening into fists. Her left hand in particular grasps her gold medal so hard that it hurts, the knuckles whitening. But then, she remembers what happened at her last press conference that caused her reputation to be tarnished.
Don’t do anything stupid. They’re all watching.
That includes her mother.
“Julia Ko is not a traitor.” Hee Do’s hands relax but her teeth grit. “She has her reasons for changing her nationality and we should not cast her out as a person for it. She is a human being and we should treat her as such.”
The UBS reporter seems speechless and then another reporter calls for her attention on something else, which she gratefully takes the opportunity to speak about something else.
…
“Na Hee Do?”
Yu Rim changes from Russian to Korean, speaking her name so gently and softly. Hee Do stands next to Chan Mi, a far distance back away from the crowd that is currently interviewing Yu Rim at her own press conference. The way Yu Rim utters her name so delicately has Hee Do grinning giddily like a lovesick teenager. Chan Mi gives her a nudge.
“Kiss that good, huh?” Chan Mi teases as Hee Do scoffs.
“Shut uppp.” Hee Do crosses her arms to hug herself in the frigid cold of the night, taking her eyes off of Yu Rim to decipher Chan Mi’s expression. “Are you not mad?”
“Mad about what, Hee Do?” Chan Mi seems taken aback for a moment.
“Kissing Yu Rim in front of everyone, all your colleagues as well?”
Chan Mi bursts into laughter, as if Hee Do had just said the most ridiculous thing. “Why would I be mad about that? I’m more mad about the fact that you didn’t protest more for that point with the ref.”
Hee Do is surprised, remembering the reactions of the other fencer girls. “You’re not disgusted? Don’t hate me?”
“Na Hee Do, let me tell you something.” Chan Mi places a hand on Hee Do’s shoulder as if giving her a deep pep talk. “A lot of crazy shit is gonna happen in your life, people act, work and talk differently. Who am I to judge who and how you love? I’m almost fifty years old, Hee Do. I don’t have the energy to.”
Hee Do smiles unconsciously. “That’s good. Thank you.”
“Now watch, your girlfriend’s telling the world about how great you are.”
Hee Do’s eyes immediately flick back to Yu Rim at the press conference, sitting next to her towering and muscled man of a coach. Compared to all the other Russian fencers, Yu Rim is considerably smaller and more softer in all her edges. But that makes her twice as strong and fast with her blows, Hee Do’s experienced it first-hand.
“Na Hee Do and I… you can say we’re closer than most best friends.” Yu Rim’s coach isn’t bothered by her vague response. He didn’t seem even bothered by what she had done on the piste from what Hee Do had seen, giving her a gruff pat on the shoulder and congratulating her.
“She is a strong opponent and I am honored that she thinks of me as her rival.” Yu Rim speaks into the microphone.
Hee Do’s pride glows, so does her smile grow bigger.
“What do you say about the allegations that you and the Korean gold medalist Na Hee Do kissed on the piste?” A reporter forces a mic to her mouth.
Yu Rim’s stunned into silence for a moment by the question before she opens her mouth to reply. However, she’s interrupted by her coach with a loud clearing of his throat.
“No personal questions.” he speaks roughly into the microphone with a heavy-accented English. “My fencers do their job and you interview them only about that and that is all.”
Hee Do is immensely grateful for Yu Rim’s coach, because his booming words shut the reporter up as another reporter comes in to take up the opportunity. Hee Do’s eyes gleam as she watches Yu Rim speak animatedly into the microphone. She looks excited and happy, despite only receiving the silver medal.
A fierce blush washes over Hee Do’s cheeks when Yu Rim catches her eye from the back of the crowd and her pretty smile grows even bigger. She keeps the reporters entertained but keeps sending glances to Hee Do every-so often with those smiley eyes.
God, you’re so beautiful. Hee Do almost says aloud dreamily.
Chan Mi has to call her three times to get her attention to tell her it’s time for them to return to their apartment in the Olympics Village.
…
OLYMPICS WOMEN FENCING; KOREAN GOLD MEDALIST NA HEE DO AVOIDS QUESTION OF WHETHER SHE AND RUSSIAN SILVER MEDALIST JULIA KO KISSED?
RUSSIA OLYMPICS WOMEN FENCING; SILVER MEDALIST JULIA KO SAYS ‘YOU CAN SAY NA HEE DO AND I ARE CLOSER THAN BEST FRIENDS.’
LATEST OLYMPICS WOMEN SABER FENCING SPARKS CONTROVERSY OVER SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS.
ARE NA HEE DO AND JULIA KO MORE THAN FRIENDS? UBS REPORTER BAEK YIJIN DIVULGES.
…
It’s been a few days since the women’s individual saber fencing event ended for the Olympics. Hee Do has done almost nothing except sleep in, polish her saber and daydream about Yu Rim for hours on end. She wonders if Chan Mi telling them to do whatever they wished until the end of the Olympics meant they could even step outside their own part of the Olympics Village complex, let alone outside.
Hee Do, having stayed inside with her whispering and gossiping fencers who keep giving her weird looks, is antsy. Hee Do leaves their apartment room and finds herself wandering the Olympics Village. She meets a few familiar faces along the way, memorizing the different countries she finds on her way.
Hee Do’s looking for a particular country.
It seems to come to her first, however. A group of fair-skinned, tall and mostly-blonde girls bump into Hee Do. They all seem to recognise her immediately, not by her Korean colors on her jacket but by her face. They all whisper excitedly in their native language while Hee Do stands there awkwardly.
They’re wearing the Russian colours. Hee Do realizes this when the first girl speaks to her with a wide grin.
“You are Julia’s Подруга?” she says excitedly in accented English, sticking out her hand good-naturedly. “I’m Anna, one of her teammates.”
–You are Julia’s girlfriend?
“Yes! Hello, very nice to meet you!” Hee Do speaks in English.
Hee Do doesn’t recognise the Russian word from trying to learn Russian at home for Yu Rim but nods anyway, shaking her hand with a big grin. She cranes her neck to try and see if Yu Rim’s in the group but one of the other girls seems to see what she’s doing.
“Julia is in her room. She’s glued to that computer for days now, reading all these Korean emails.” the girl shrugs.
She’s reading all my emails! Hee Do understands and her smile widens.
“You want to come back with us? I think Julia would like a surprise.” Anna lets go of Hee Do’s hand and glances back to where they came from. “She has not been very happy since those articles came out.”
Hee Do’s stomach sinks. After seeing the front pages of all the articles, UBS in particular, she banned herself from reading articles for the next month. She doesn’t want to upset herself anymore than all those fencer girls have made her in the past few days. Hee Do’s glad that Yu Rim hasn’t completely been alone her entire time in Russia with these really nice girls.
“Yes, please.” Hee Do doesn’t stop smiling. “Thank you so much!”
…
“Please, Ji Woong.” Yu Rim held his hands, tears in her eyes. “It’s something I have to do.”
Ji Woong swallowed, shaking his head stubbornly. “No. I can’t. I don’t want to. Can’t we – can’t we do it? I barely see you for weeks sometimes and we always manage to bounce back! C’mon, Yu Rim, we can do this.”
“No.” Yu Rim croaks, on the verge of tears. “I can’t. This is different, Ji Woong, it could be months, years even! I don’t know when I’m coming back.”
“I can’t live with the thought of holding you back from being happy, Moon Ji Woong. You mean too much to me.” Yu Rim whispers.
“It’s not just that, is it?” Ji Woong mumbles after a moment’s silence.
Yu Rim froze.
“It’s Hee Do, isn’t it?”
Yu Rim stared at Ji Woong, her boyfriend. He rubbed his head, sighing.
“You know, we used to fight so much for your attention back when you and I weren’t dating yet.” Ji Woong pressed his lips together. “And when you told me yes, I thought – I thought that I won, in a way.”
“What are you talking about, Ji Woong?” Yu Rim shook her head. “Hee Do and I, is something different. We don’t… have what you have with me. Either way, I’m separating from all of you.”
“You’re right.” Ji Woong nodded. “I don’t have what you have with Hee Do.”
“I’m sorry, Ji Woong.” Yu Rim said softly. “I’m really sorry.”
At that time, Yu Rim hadn’t known what Ji Woong meant by that. She merely thought that he had thought she would put more effort into maintaining her friendship with Hee Do than her relationship with him.
…
JI WOONG <[email protected]> (read 6 days ago)
to me >
You were right. Who am I kidding, you’re always right. I think I would’ve driven myself mad if I waited for you. I met this girl while I was starting my new website, did I tell you about it? It’s for fashion. Her name’s Sunwoo.
I hope you’re doing well.
—
ME <[email protected]> (read 4 days ago)
to MOON JI WOONG >
I’m glad. I’m glad that you’re happy as your friend and hope you’re doing well. I’m not doing too bad but I think it’s gonna be a long time before I come back to Korea. Tell Seung Wan I miss her and I hope she does well on CSAT.
I think I understand what you meant about Hee Do now.
…
YOUR INBOX > 27
4 PRIMARY – 1 COACH, 2 MADRID Olympics, 1 RUSSIA NTC
23 SOCIAL – 21 NA HEE DO, 2 UBS NEWS ARTICLE
…
VOICEMAIL (14)
HEE DO — 02.16
HEE DO — 17.45
HEE DO — 08.23
VOICEMAILS FROM HEE DO - XXX XXX XXX
— Please answer me, Yu Rim. I’m so worried. I’m sorry if I made you upset or anything, just talk to me. I love you. The Olympics are coming up soon.
…
VOICEMAIL (0)
INBOX (0)
…
ME <[email protected]> (drafting…)
to NA HEE DO >
I read all your emails. I’m so sorry for not responding to you, even in your worst times. I’m so, so sorry Hee Do, for everything. I should’ve been there for you, I should’ve replied. You were all alone, I should’ve responded when Yi Jin broke up with you. But I was selfish.
I hope you can forgive me, Na Hee Do. You mean so much to me, you don’t even know. I lov
—
Yu Rim immediately closes the tab at the sound of the door opening to the front of their apartment room. Were the fencer girls back already? She wonders how they could’ve possibly crossed the road to get those cinnamon donuts they craved so badly in the small period of time that they had been gone but the way Russians worked is very different from how Koreans do. Yu Rim knows this from her time in Russia.
“Julia!”
Yu Rim smiles fondly. After some time, these girls have become family, just as Ji Woong, Seung Wan and Hee Do have with her back in Korea. Nothing ever seemed to faze them, even after what happened on the piste a few days ago. She turns off her computer, sighing. She stands up, walking over to her door to open it.
“Your girlfriend is here!” Anna calls in Russian, multiple footsteps echoing in the living apartment room.
Yu Rim freezes.
Anna doesn’t mean what Yu Rim thinks she does, right? Her hand freezes on the doorknob. It’s been a few days since Yu Rim’s seen her. If she does mean what she means, then–
Yu Rim swings the door open without hesitation, making eye contact with Anna immediately. The Russian girl grins at her before jerking her thumb back to the dining table.
“Yu Rim-ah!”
Hee Do jumps up from her chair before breaking into a run. Yu Rim throws her arms wide to catch the girl in a tackle hug, laughing. All her past frustration at the press conference questions and the articles fade in an instant at the sight of Hee Do’s beautiful face.
The force of her hug throws them both against the wall. Hee Do hugs her so tightly she swears her intestines are displaced. The feeling of those arms wrapped tightly around her waist make Yu Rim feel dizzy with giddiness.
Hee Do buries her face into the side of Yu Rim’s neck, making her face flush. She feels sensitive, laughing as she tilts her head.
“Hee Do-ah!” She laughs.
Hee Do pulls back with such a big grin Yu Rim wonders how her face hasn’t split in two. Her face is flushed and her eyes are lit up with this adorable sparkle.
I want to kiss you, Yu Rim doesn’t say.
“Hi.” Yu Rim smiles. “How are you?”
“Mmm.” Hee Do pretends to think. “Way better now that you’re here.”
Yu Rim is glad. She’s glad that all those nights she spent wondering if Hee Do wasn’t coming to see her because she hated her. She wondered if Hee Do would ever look at her the same.
The way Hee Do’s looking at her right now makes her breath hitch.
Yu Rim forces herself to pull away because she knows if she spends a minute longer in Hee Do’s arms with Hee Do looking at her like — like that, then she would never let go. She doesn’t see how Hee Do’s face falls before quickly changing back.
“She’s not my girlfriend.” Yu Rim says exasperatedly in Russian to Anna, who's picking stuff from the fridge.
“Not your girlfriend and you opened the door as soon as Anna said she was?” Maria pokes an accusatory finger in the air at Yu Rim. “Mm, yeah right.”
Hee Do looks back and forth between the smug Russian girls and Yu Rim, wearing the cutest confused face ever. Her brows furrowed in such an adorable way that just makes Yu Rim want to kiss her again.
At Yu Rim’s silence, Maria’s smirk grows even bigger.
“Ugh.” Yu Rim scoffs, switching to Korean as she turns to Hee Do. The words feel foreign on her tongue after not speaking it for the past year or so. “Come on, Hee Do-ah. Let’s go.”
She grabs Hee Do’s arm and leads her into her room. She doesn’t miss Anna’s wiggling eyebrows before she slams the door, sighing.
“I hate those girls so much.” Yu Rim groans, throwing herself onto her bed.
“Really?” Hee Do frowns. “I think they’re very nice. What did they say to you?”
Yu Rim blushes and rolls to her side to look at Hee Do, who stands by the door awkwardly. She’s hidden enough truths from Hee Do for the past months, it doesn’t do her any good to keep doing it.
“They called you my Подруга.” Yu Rim hopes Hee Do can’t see her blush.
—They called you my girlfriend.
“What does—”
“It means girlfriend in Russian.” Yu Rim brings her hands up to hide her face.
“Oh.”
“They’re so…” Yu Rim struggles to find a word to describe her stubborn friends. “Restless. Relentless, even. Ever since the individual saber’s event ended, they’ve been egging me on about—”
Yu Rim pauses. She swallows before continuing warily. “The kiss.”
She closes her eyes in embarrassment and shame, hearing Hee Do’s footsteps grow nearer. Hee Do lies down by Yu Rim’s side on the bed, facing her. Yu Rim can hear her breathing. She tried to match hers with Hee Do’s to try and even hers out.
“Are you ashamed?” Hee Do asks quietly after a few minutes of silence.
What?
“Look at me.” Hee Do takes Yu Rim’s hands in hers, away from her face.
She cradles Yu Rim’s hands gently, rubbing her knuckles on her left hand with her thumb. Yu Rim’s filled with this fuzzy feeling in her chest as she stares at Hee Do’s pretty eyes in the dim lights of her room, watchful as ever.
“Ko Yu Rim?” Hee Do repeats.
“H-huh?” Yu Rim snaps out of her daze. “Sorry, what did you say? I spaced out.”
Hee Do smiles in the darkness. That same silly smile she always wears that seems to light up the world. She shuffled closer to Yu Rim and her breaths slowly grow faster than Hee Do’s.
“Are you ashamed?”
Yu Rim doesn’t need to ask about what Hee Do’s asking. She swallows thickly, averting her gaze to their intertwined hands. Yu Rim touches Hee Do’s wrist, rubbing her scar in the same place as Yu Rim’s own.
Is she ashamed? Being grateful that her coach directed the questions away from her, unable to look the reporter in the eye when he asked that question and being too scared to go look for Hee Do after the games?
Is she?
“No.” Yu Rim replies. “I’m just scared of what they’ll think of us. Are you?”
“Nope.” Hee Do grins, exaggerating the pop of the ‘p’ in her voice. “I think I would’ve ran up there and kissed you during your press conference after what you said if your muscular scary coach wasn’t there.”
Yu Rim blushes furiously. “Really?”
Yu Rim’s lungs refuse to let air in when Hee Do shuffles even closer, pressing her body against Yu Rim’s. Their noses stray only inches away and the way she rubs Yu Rim’s knuckles so lovingly keeps distracting her.
“Yeah.” Hee Do presses the tips of their noses together affectionately, causing Yu Rim to blush even harder. “Tongue and all.”
Yu Rim starts laughing. Her ribs begin to hurt and Hee Do keeps smiling stupidly at her like an idiot. She loves it. She loves Hee Do so much. Yu Rim doesn’t remember the last time she laughed this hard except for when she was in Korea but even then, Hee Do had to be there.
It was and is always Hee Do.
“God, even your laugh is pretty.” Hee Do whispers, that same look filling her eyes when they kissed on the piste. “It’s not fair.”
“Stoppp.” Yu Rim presses her hands up to her face again to cover her embarrassment and blush.
“Why should I? It’s the truth, Ko Yu Rim-ah.” Hee Do pulls Yu Rim’s hands away from her face again.
Her lips are there again. They’re so close, so pretty with that heart-shape. This time Yu Rim doesn’t hesitate. She leans in, pressing her lips against Hee Do’s.
It lasts only a moment and Yu Rim’s amused when Hee Do’s lips form the cutest pout.
“That was nothing.” Hee Do complains.
“Want another then?”
“I love you, Ko Yu Rim.”
Yu Rim is taken aback, stunned for a moment. Then she recovers, smiling. “I know. You told me that in your voicemail.”
Now, it’s Hee Do’s turn to blush prettily. “Oh. I didn’t know you listened to those too.”
“I do.” Yu Rim’s lips are inches away from Hee Do when she whispers. “I love you, Na Hee Do.”
It must have been at least half an hour when Anna knocks on the door, asking if they want donuts when they finally break away from each other’s hungry kisses.