Chapter Text
Gil Young had little time to give a snort of disgust before she was pointing and shouting at the man, “Gyeongchal, stop!”
Unsurprisingly, the man turned tail and began running in the opposite direction but Gil Young had already anticipated his pivot, throwing the can of tomato she had just bought at his back. Her throw accurately hit the spot she was aiming for, slowing down his speed and within a few paces, she managed to catch up to him.
Fortunately, his apprehension was fraught with less issues and after cuffing him and pulling him along with her, Gil Young approached the young woman standing by the pavement, handing her her snatched handbag. “Miss, are you alright?”
“Thank you, officer.” The woman looked calmer than moments before though a slight concerned expression still marred her pretty face.
“Nothing to it. Can you come with me to the nearest station for a report?”
“Ne.”
“Sorry, Miss but do you think you can help me pick up the dropped groceries?” Gil Young gestured at the few items lying haphazardly - spilled from her carry bag - on the ground a few metres away. The bent out of shape can of tomatoes she had used as a projectile was lying about a bit nearer to them.
“Eo, ne.”
***
Su Hyeon stepped out of the police station with weary steps. It had been an atrocious evening though it ended somewhat better than she could have hoped. While she was still mildly shook, she could put the incident behind her and sleep better tonight, at the least.
Turning towards the beautiful detective standing next to her, she bowed slightly, expressing her gratitude once again, “Kang-hyeongsa-nim, gamsa hamnida.”
“It’s my job. Just glad you’re okay,” she remarked breezily, a faint quirk playing about her lips.
Kang-hyeongsa seemed like a straight arrow - not to mention heroic - and Su Hyeon could feel her estimation of the woman going up another few notches.
Before Su Hyeon could take her leave, she offered, “It’s late. If you don’t mind, let me give you a ride back.”
After only a second of pause, Su Hyeon accepted the kind offer.
*** *** ***
One thank-you-dinner turned to the occasional late dinner or supper between acquaintances and then casual friends, and before Gil Young realised what was happening, she was looking forward to the back-and-forth - regular messages and even phone and video calls - traded between themselves.
Su Hyeon was easy to talk to and for someone unused to having friends - the two men in her orbit were in a more unique category - Gil Young discovered that she enjoyed Su Hyeon’s uncomplicated company.
She was cheery and pragmatic, a ray of pretty sunshine in Gil Young’s relatively drab world.
Gil Young had even met her son and mother, and through them managed to experience a semblance of what she imagined was normal familial warmth she had little opportunity to know much about.
So it was with a sense of complex foreboding that Gil Young found herself developing the sort of unwelcome attraction to another person she had so far managed to avoid. She had always thought herself immune to those supposedly common human feelings, perhaps a consequence of her traumatic past and the sometimes crippling doubts resulting from them.
How was she to know that she was actually capable of such emotions given the right person and conditions?
Gil Young was not even certain what it was she was feeling when she felt the initial creeping of desire. That uncanny hunger for a touch, for a taste, an inhale of the scent of Jung Su Hyeon’s skin was completely alien to her.
Or the way her hands itched to hold Su Hyeon’s smaller ones in hers; hands Gil Young was sure was softer and warmer than her own.
And Gil Young finally learned what it meant to be tempted. By Su Hyeon’s pretty lips, her rounded cheeks and the silky, creamy skin she would catch glimpses of through the gaps in her clothes. It made her want to sigh in frustration and pull on her hair.
As inexperienced as Gil Young was, however, she was not an unaware ignoramus. She caught on soon enough what her feelings for Su Hyeon - whenever they met and even when they did not - meant.
The excited flutter in the cage of her chest when Su Hyeon had beamed her beautiful smile at her had given her nano-seconds of cringe when she had thought back on to the moment.
What was she? A young teen going through her first serious infatuation?
Still, once the brief embarrassing wince had passed after her recollection of that moment in time, the meaning of it all fell into place quite quickly in her mind. Her mind reminded her that she was technically experiencing her first crush.
The realisation made her want to bury her head in her hands but Gil Young resisted the impulse. Instead, she reached for the old can of beer in her refrigerator, letting it distract her for the few seconds it took to gulp down the stale tasting beverage.
By the time it took her to finish her can of beer, she managed to come to a more optimistic conclusion. She had survived unimaginable trauma and horrors, she would survive falling in love.
Right?
***
What was it about feelings that once you acknowledged them, it did not always make things better? If anything, it made Gil Young feel like she was an embarrassingly nervous wreck whenever she was with Su Hyeon, although what she was trying was to be stoic about her newly developed feelings.
She regularly felt like a dolt, unsure and sheepish, very much unlike her usual brash and blunt personality. Did catching feelings make one an idiot? A grinning idiot at that?
Nevertheless, behaving in a silly manner at times did have its pluses, especially when her gaffes would bring sweetly blooming smiles and laughter onto Su Hyeon’s already captivating face.
Unexpectedly, seeing Su Hyeon happy gave her a glow of contentment too.
Gil Young wanted more but was also content to continue their friendship as it was, knowing the chances of achieving anything more to be negligible at best. She was not going to spook away a treasured friend just because she had developed inconvenient feelings.
It was not always easy but neither was it a complete hardship. She would be fine.
*** *** ***
One late autumn evening, as they arrived at Su Hyeon’s apartment complex after a casual supper, she suddenly piped up, a note of hesitancy in her soft voice, “Gil Young-sshi, do you think we could talk for a bit?”
“Sure. Do you want me to park and go up?”
“Ani. This won’t take long.”
Gil Young stopped at the visitor’s parking, turning off the engine before turning towards Su Hyeon.
“What’s up? Anything you need my help with?”
Gil Young did notice that Su Hyeon had been a bit more reserved the last couple of times they had met but when she had voiced her concerns, Su Hyeon had given her a tiny if tired smile and said she simply had things on her mind, and would open up once she was ready.
Perhaps Su Hyeon was finally ready to confide in her.
Su Hyeon’s hands were tightly gripped in her lap, nerves radiating off of her. Her gaze was downcast.
“Is everything alright?” Gil Young was getting a bit edgy just by looking at Su Hyeon’s demeanour. She hoped it was nothing too serious.
Slowly, Su Hyeon raised her gaze to look at Gil Young, “Oh, ye.”
She seemed to be steeling herself before gazing intently at Gil Young. “Gil Young-sshi, do you mind if I ask you a deeply personal question?”
Confusion assailed Gil Young. She was quite the open book and Su Hyeon already knew a part of her past. What personal question could make Su Hyeon appear so skittish?
“If you want.” She offered with little hesitation but a half-thought had formed in her own mind, ratcheting up the tension already building along her spine.
Su Hyeon parted her lips, closed it again and then averted her gaze. Just as Gil Young opened her mouth to reassure Su Hyeon that she could ask her anything she wanted, Su Hyeon faced her again, blurting out, “Do you like women?”
The question was both expected and not, but it still made Gil Young speechless for a few heartbeats as Su Hyeon stared at her, eyes wide with anticipation.
Where was this going, exactly? Gil Young was not certain what to expect. She was intuitive and quick on her feet when it came time to take action during investigations but for something like this, she was stuck waffling. And she was not sure she wanted to be presumptive given the feelings she did have.
“Erm… as in how?”
Su Hyeon appeared taken aback by her need for clarification but this time she answered without dallying, “Romantically?”
Gil Young did not immediately answer.
Before the atmosphere between them could grow heavy with incipient discomfort, she replied, as smoothly and lightly as she could, “Ye.”
In an instant, the tension she had observed in Su Hyeon seemed to leach out from her, her expression brightening.
“Are you seeing anyone now?”
Gil Young nearly sighed. Her? Seeing someone? She imagined she could hear Hwa Pyeong sniggering at the back of her mind.
“Ani.”
Something indecipherable glinted in the depths of Su Hyeon’s gaze and then she looked a tad nervous again.
“What would you say if I suggest that we date?”
Huh? Date?! Did she hear correctly?
Gil Young felt as if her brain had temporarily short-circuited. Before she could formulate a proper, measured response, her mouth had run off, “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard.”
Did she just say that?
They stared at each other for a few thundering heartbeats before Su Hyeon began to giggle, her smile turning impish, “Okay.”
Suddenly, Gil Young felt self-conscious, her right hand reflexively reaching for the back of her neck to scratch at it out of habit.
In an instant, the air around them seemed to turn electric but Su Hyeon deftly cut in with a sparkling, “I need to get back now. Let’s arrange for that date soon.”
“Eo.” She answered automatically, excitement flooding through her at the reaffirmation from Su Hyeon.
Su Hyeon reached out to clasp her left hand, gripping it gently before releasing it to open the door, a tender smile on her face.
“Jalja.”
Gil Young nodded mutely, words failing her at the buzzing in her heart and mind. She was still processing the tinkling warmth clinging to her skin from Su Hyeon’s grasp moments before.
At the steps of the entrance, Su Hyeon turned back to wave at her. She waved back. Once she could no longer see Su Hyeon, she thumped her head back against the car headrest, exhaling loudly.
She was not dreaming, was she?
Before she could ruminate longer, she heard a ping of notification from her mobile. It was a message from Su Hyeon.
Her heart leapt up, lips curving into a tiny grin. It would seem she was indeed awake.