Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kiss Me

It’s almost known to the whole campus that volleyball player Yu Jimin—sometimes dubbed playgirl because of how many people she rejects—but it’s not some kind of ego she has that’s the reason for her rejecting, but, down to the point, it's known that Jimin has a crush.

A crush since freshman year has been on none other than fellow peer Kim Minjeong, who is also the student council president. And she also vehemently dislikes Yu Jimin.

It’s T-minus a couple weeks before their annual Valentine's Day festival and Jimin’s just heard a rumour that sent a shock wave of doubt through her body.

“Uh, Jimin.” Aeri, one of her teammates, nudges her after she starts blanking out at the cafeteria. “You good?” 

“No!” Jimin gasps so sharply that her friends and teammates flinch. 

She pushes her tray away and whips around to the table of her other peers, who have been gossiping very loudly.

“Hwang Yeji!” Jimin points at the girl (also one of her friends, as much as Yeji denies it) who had uttered the rumour. “Where’d you hear that?”
“Dunno, I’ve just been hearing it everywhere.” She says this, rolling her eyes. “Everyone’s talking because it’s like the one thing Minjeong won’t do. It’s so out of character.”

Then that leads Jimin on her mission for answers—forgoing her lunch.

Jimin stomps her way over to the student council room with steam practically coming out of her ears and throws open the door, not caring if she’s scaring all the patrons inside and near the council room.

“Pres, can I talk to you?” Jimin huffs.

“Um, do you have an appointment with our president?” Ningning asks, frowning at Jimin’s unruly entrance. “She’s quite busy.”
“Please?” Jimin almost whines. “I need to see her for a second.”

“I just said that she’s busy since we’re planning for the festival, so if you could please walk yourself back to the locker rooms, where you belong, and maybe wait like everyone else and make an appointment,” Ningning rolls her eyes. “Then maybe the president will—”
“I’ll see her.” Minjeong halts Ningning.

Ningning blinks as she turns to see Minjeong collecting a pile of papers before tapping them against the table in her cubicle to make them all match up before standing up. 

“Wait outside.” Minjeong commands and Jimin is quick to follow.

Ningning gapes at her friend and Minjeong doesn’t spare a look at her as she steps outside and closes the door.

"Speak; don’t waste my time.” Minjeong crosses her arms over her chest and Jimin stands over her with her staggering height.

“Oh, um." Jimin clears her throat nervously, being up close with her crush.

“Jimin.” Minjeong raises a brow impatiently.

“Well, I heard you’re participating in the kissing booth. Is it true or just a rumour?” Jimin asks.

“It’s true.” Minjeong answers.

“ What?!”

Minjeong flinches at Jimin’s sudden outburst, not at all expecting it, but she should know better talking to a jock, who’s often affiliated with Ningning’s loud Aeri.

“Why?” Jimin’s voice strains with disbelief.

“Well, we were short staffed because Minju, who was meant to be the kisser, has the flu, and we certainly can’t risk spreading germs like that,” Minjeong explains. “Which is why I stepped up.”

“No one else could step up?” Jimin frowns.

"No, because everyone has their own duties for the festival.” Minjeong huffs impatiently. “And, also, why am I explaining this all to you?”

“B-but you can’t do the kissing booth!” Jimin sputters.

“Why not?” Minjeong feels defensive suddenly.

“Because!”
“Because?”

“Well, because, um, b-be—just cause!” Jimin pouts.

“I don’t exactly know why you came all the way here just to waste my time, but why do you care that I’m doing the kissing booth?” Minjeong raises her brows questioningly.

“It matters," because I like you and I don’t want you kissing someone else who’s not me! “It just does!”

“I’m going back to office; do not disturb my fellow council members and most importantly,” Minjeong turns on her heels and looks back at Jimin. “Don’t waste my time.”

Jimin watches like a kicked dog as the president goes back into the student council office and her bottom lip trembles as her shoulders hunch with devastation coursing through her.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

“You look like hell,” Ryujin snorts.

Shin Ryujin is someone who Jimin sometimes shares classes with, and they’re close friends, but Jimin sees her the most at work—where they both work at a convenience store. Jimin’s decided to take more shifts than she can manage in order for her plan to succeed.

“Uh-huh. I need money.” Jimin slurps loudly on a can of energy booster.

“For what?” Ryujin asks warily.

“For my plan.”
“Which is…?”

“Tickets. Need tickets.” 

Jimin blinks like a frog and Ryujin is extremely concerned about Jimin’s dark eye bags and the ring of red around the white of her eyes.

“Maybe put the tickets to rest; you need sleep, girl.” Ryujin winces.

“Nuh-uh, I need Kim Minjeong.” Jimin slurps the energy drink down to the last drop before opening a new one. 

“Our president?” Then it clicks in Ryujin’s mind. “Oh! You’re totally trying to buy tickets for the kissing booth because she’s manning that booth on the day.”
“Yup.” Jimin nods, staring into the abyss.

“Are you planning to buy all the tickets?” Ryujin frowns, looking at their roster and seeing Jimin’s name on the morning shifts and night shifts.

“Uh-huh. Even picked up part-time at the subway near campus.” Jimin nods. “No one is going to kiss Kim Minjeong except for me.”
“Right, right…” Ryujin backs away slowly. “Well, I’m going to check stock.”
“Kay.” Jimin burps.

Jimin works laboriously, feeling the ache in her shoulders and feet after shifts on end. She finishes a morning shift at Subway, where she smells like sandwiches and when she doesn’t have class—and in the evening, she takes the night shift at the convenience store. 

When she gets home, it’s a train ride back and it’s all up to God whether or not she gets mugged, but she gets home safe and even if she falls asleep against the nasty glass window, her internal body alarm wakes her up and she gets off and walks home to her dorm, where she’ll get a couple hours of sleep before going to school or work.

Working her ass off for Kim Minjeong—it’s all worth it, she thinks.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

Jimin, more sleep deprived than usual because of her jobs and a certain girl occupying her mind, falls on her ass when she turns the corner and bumps into someone.

A textbook slaps her in the face and she clutches her nose in pain.

That’s what she gets for running.

“Oh my gosh—I’m so sorry!” Someone gasps and Jimin waves them off.

“It’s okay! It’s okay; I was in a rush and didn’t see you.” Jimin groans, getting up. She bends down and helps the girl collect her stuff before she abruptly halts.

“Yu Jimin?” 

“Minjeong?” Jimin blinks when she raises her head and comes face to face with the president, looking slightly frazzled from the encounter.

“Are you alright? Where are you rushing— holy shit .” Minjeong curses and it almost gives Jimin whiplash. 

“W-what?” Jimin blinks, self conscious of the way Minjeong’s staring at her with her mouth agape.

“You—your nose is bleeding!”

“Huh?” Jimin brings a finger to her nose and when she pulls away to see a speck of blood, she blinks. “Oh.”

Another thing about Jimin, other than her colossal crush on Minjeong, is that she’s faint of blood.

“Wow. Blood.” Jimin faints.

The next thing she knows, she’s in the university’s hospital wing.

“Argh…” Jimin groans, squinting as she adjusts to the bright light. “What happened? Where—”

“You’re in the infirmary," Doctor Bae says.

“Joohyun-unnie?” Jimin blinks. “Why am I here?”

“Sorry…” Jimin whips her head to the other voice in the room and sees Minjeong sitting in the chair beside the bed. “It was my fault. We bumped into each other and—”
“Oh, I remember. Sorry about that.” Jimin grins. “I was in a rush for— oh crap! My class!”

“It’s okay; I excused you and Minjeong from your classes.” Joohyun says. “Your friends will help catch you up.”

“Thanks doc.” Jimin sighs. “Can you help me sit up?”

“I’ll do it.”

Jimin all but freezes when Minjeong rushes to her side, helping Jimin sit up from the bed. Jimin blinks, not used to being so close to the student council president in this kind of setting. Usually, Minjeong is trying to shoo her away with an exasperated sigh instead of this oddly docile and regretful Minjeong. 

“I’ll leave you kids to it.” Joohyun says, looking between Minjeong and Jimin. “You seem fine to go, so just tell me if you’re still feeling ill.”
“Okay, unnie.” Jimin nods.

Minjeong is still holding onto her hand and Jimin blinks at it. Minjeong notices and pulls away with a blush.

“Um, would you like some water?” Minjeong asks.

"Yes, please.” Jimin nods.

Jimin’s been to the infirmary more times than she can count, not only because she’s an athlete but also because she’s extremely clumsy and unskilled outside of the basketball court. She remembers a water dispenser being outside of the curtained beds in the infirmary near Joohyun’s desk, but Minjeong surprises her when she reaches into her own bag and presents a pink metal water bottle. 

“You can lip it; it’s fine.” Minjeong says, uncapping the bottle for Jimin.

“O-oh, um, thanks.” Jimin blinks. 

Jimin takes a generous gulp of the water, averting her gaze from Minjeong, feeling oddly shy.

“Refreshing.” Jimin smiles and Minjeong puts her water bottle away.

Minjeong stands there in front of Jimin, unusually fidgety as she stares at her shoes. Jimin’s sitting on the edge of the bed now, swinging her legs back and forth, assessing Minjeong.

“Hey, pres?” Jimin calls out to her, leaning forward and lower to catch a glimpse of Minjeong’s expression.

“Y-yes?” Minjeong looks up and Jimin smiles softly.

“It’s okay, you know. You don’t have to feel guilty.” Jimin says. “I was the one running into you.”
“Oh.” Minjeong relaxes slightly when Jimin says that. “Well, I-I just didn’t expect you to bleed—or faint! You scared me so suddenly.”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect that either." Jimin blushes, scratching at her nape in embarrassment. “But also, how did we get here?”

“I dragged you here on my back.”

“ You what?”

Jimin’s eyes widen and Minjeong nods.

“A-are you okay?” Jimin fusses. “I’m not very light, you know. And you’re quite small—but not in a bad way! Just a cute way—I mean, just, well—are you okay?”

Minjeong giggles softly and Jimin’s eyes sparkle with adoration.

“I’m fine; I’m just small, not weak.” Minjeong smiles. “And as the student president, I was worried about your wellbeing and wanted to act quickly.”

“Well, thank you and sorry for bothering you. I mean, you missed one of your classes too, right? How long have I been here?” Jimin frowns.

“You were out for two hours and it’s okay; I can catch up.” Minjeong shrugs.

“Two hours? Have you been here that long?” Jimin’s eyes widened comically.

“Well,” Minjeong says, looking at the wall shyly and Jimin finds her behaviour odd. “It was for a good cause. I–I was worried about you a-as the student council president.” 

“Well, you’re the best president we’ve ever had.” Jimin grins and Minjeong smiles.

“Thank you.” Minjeong says shyly.

“Uh, how about we get out of here?” Jimin gets off the bed and awkwardly stops right in front of Minjeong, now noticing how close Minjeong was standing in front of her. 

“S-sure.” Minjeong backs away and Jimin swallows.

They secure their belongings and head out.

“Sorry again.” Jimin scratches at her hair, her ears aflame. “I feel bad that you had to drag me all the way here. If there is anything you need or want, tell me and I’ll try my best to give back to you.”

“You don’t have to feel indebted to me; it was my duty as—”
“I–I know, but I just—I want to. Please.” Jimin smiled bashfully and Minjeong nodded slowly.

“Okay. Okay, yeah, I will.” Minjeong responds.

“Great!” Jimin beams. “Um, I’m going to go now, Pres! Have a good rest of your day!”

“You too.” Minjeong chuckles, watching Jimin jog in the other direction. “Be careful!”

Minjeong shakes her head with amusement before going on her own. She smiles to herself.

Jimin wasn’t that bad today.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

“Ning Yizhuo. Also known as Ningning. Girlfriend of my teammate and best bud, Uchinaga Aeri.” Jimin locates Ningning in one of the classes they share and slides into the seat beside her. 

“What?” Ningning side eyes her, sending a sharp glare.

Jimin sucks in a breath, not willing to be deterred by Ningning’s scary gaze and the chilly atmosphere just created, since she’s on a mission.

“I need a favour.”

The tickets are being announced for purchase and before she announces the kissing booth tickets for the president, Ningning scours the hallways for any witnesses before taping a sold out sign to Minjeong’s poster—where she’s sitting at a table in front of the office.

When the people arrive, everyone is dumbfounded.

“Hey, vice president.” A guy stands in front of her.

“Yes?” Ningning looks over at him through her glasses as she counts the tickets for the other booths.

“Is the kissing booth with President Minjeong already sold out?” He asks.

“Yes.”

“But…the tickets were just announced?”
“Too slow, too bad.” Ningning shrugs and he grumbles before walking away.

She gets the same question up until she closes the ticket booth and she’s exhausted. She packs up and checks the ticket book to see if she got every transaction right. She puts the documents safely in her cabinet before peeking over at Minjeong’s desk, finding her working hard on her computer.

“Did everything go well with the tickets?” Minjeong asks, not looking up.

“Yep! All sold.” Ningning says.

“Good.” Minjeong answers cheerfully. “You should go home now.”
“Thanks, Pres!”

Ningning steps out and looks around the hallways before turning into a dark corner under the stairs.

“Money.”

“Jeez, make it sound less like you’re mugging me.” 

“Where’s the money?” Ningning lays out her palm as she taps her foot impatiently.

“What’s the rush?” Jimin grins, taking off her backpack and unzipping it. “Gonna see Aeri-chan?”

“The rush is that I lied to a bunch of people wanting to kiss Pres, and I’m accepting a bribe in a dark corner right now.” Ningning sneers before averting her gaze. “And yes, to see Aeri-chan.”
“Cute.” Jimin snorts.

She hands over a roll of cash to Ningning, who beams at it.

"And an extra eighty for your help from my earnings.” Jimin grins.

“Thanks, Yu.” Ningning snorts, pocketing the cash for their funds in her bag and Jimin’s extra money in her pocket. “You know, you’re not so bad.”
“I’d hope so. I can’t be worse than Aeri.” Jimin smirks.

“You definitely can’t.” Ningning chuckles. “I’m going to go now before Aeri shows up late.”

“See ya!”

“Good luck with Minjeong!”

Jimin skips along to her dorm building, pocket’s empty, extremely starved but happy nonetheless with the very useful (useless) long strips of printed out tickets in her backpack.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

Jimin hadn’t gotten any sleep the entire night. She had put in her two weeks notice for Subway the night before after her shift and had gotten home, intending to get enough sleep to feel like a beauty in the morning to impress Minjeong with a wonderful kiss.

Fast forward to the morning—Jimin’s eyes are wide open and dry and her mouth feels cottony.

She tames her hair but somehow it’s still a mess, and she thinks it’s an attractive mess. She tries to style her hair in the morning to look pretty for Minjeong, but she instead burns her forehead with the curling wand and now she sports a Crayon Shin-Chan plaster that she got from Doctor Bae.

Her outfit is decent, at least, wearing baggy jeans, a grey shirt and her letterman jacket to top off the gayness of her fit.

She’ll charm the socks right off of Minjeong.

“I can't; I’m going to throw up,” Jimin gags, shoving eight mints in her hand into her mouth.

“Dude! You’ve been waiting years for this moment and you’re chickening out?” Aeri wails.

“I’m not chickening out! I’m no chicken!” Jimin whines. “I just need a second!”

“How many seconds, man?!” Aeri grabs her shoulders and shakes her violently.

Jimin’s eyes widen when she sees Ningning storming her way over to them.

“Hey, babe—” Aeri grins but it dies when Ningning abruptly grabs onto Jimin, shaking her the same way Aeri did.

“What are you waiting for?!” Ningning shouts. 

“I’m scared!” Jimin whimpers.

“Of what?” Ningning huffs. “You haven’t been scared of Minjeong since freshman year; why are you scared now?!”

“Because I have to kiss her and I can’t do it!” Jimin wails.

“Jimin, you worked hard for this, remember?” Aeri speaks more gently to her. “All those sleepless nights to get your girl, remember that!”

“Yeah, I worked hard.” Jimin nods slowly.

“Yeah, and you deserve this.” Aeri smiles encouragingly.

“I do deserve this.” Jimin nods.

“Okay, go on then. Kiss her.” Aeri leads Jimin to the booth.

“Okay, I’m doing it!”

It doesn’t take more than ten seconds for Jimin to run back to them and Aeri sighs with defeat.

“I can’t do it!” Jimin cries.

“It’s one kiss!” Ningning groans.

“Well, it’s more like—” Aeri counts silently how many tickets Jimin bought but she loses count. “Nevermind.”

“What if she punches me the moment I get close to her?” Jimin worries.

“She won't; our president isn’t violent.” Aeri says.

“Yeah, but you know who is violent? Me!” Ningning huffs and Jimin trembles.

“What if I blurt out my feelings to her and then she’s so disgusted by it, she closes the booth?!” Jimin asks anxiously. “I mean, she doesn’t like me that much anyway.” 

“She’s nice! She won’t do that.” Aeri shakes her head. “Just kiss her and tell her you like her after, so that the rejection doesn’t matter since you’ve already kissed her.”
“But I don’t just want a kiss,” Jimin pouts. “I want all of her.”

Ningning sighs, rubbing at her temples—never had she met someone as infuriating and dense as Jimin. 

“Get your shit together!” Ningning threatens to punch Jimin and she cowers. “I will not let you embarrass my friend because your stupid dumbass bought all the tickets and now you’re refusing to go kiss her!”

“I–I’m not refusing!”
“But you’re stalling!” Ningning rages. “And she’s standing there wondering why no one’s coming up, even though she’s one of the most sought-out girls on campus! And I wonder why, because someone decided to spend all her money—”
“Okay, I get it!” Jimin huffs, on the verge of crying because of how scary Ningning is.

“Then go!” Ningning shoves her and she runs all the way to the kissing booth.

She plants her feet and refuses to turn around—picturing a big, bad monster (and one that looks like Ningning) that will kill her only if she turns around.

She stands in front of the booth on a platform stage since this was the main event, yet it seems deserted. 

She takes a deep breath, admiring Minjeong for a second. She curses herself silently. Minjeong looks bored out of her mind and maybe a little sad. She’s resting her chin on her palm, looking around. Her gaze comes to a stop when she spots Jimin.

Jimin swallows before walking up the stage to stand in front of Minjeong, with the makeshift wooden booth as a barrier between them.

“Are you here to waste my time?” Minjeong huffs quietly.

“No.” Jimin inhales as she raises her shoulders with confidence. “I’m here to k-kiss you.”
“What?” Minjeong blinks, her elbow almost slipping off of the booth’s edge.

“I’m here to kiss you…” Jimin says softly, slightly unsure.

“O-oh.” Minjeong blinks.

“If you want me to, of course, because you don’t have to, even though I like you and you don’t like me,” Jimin rambles. “Because it might be burdensome and I don’t want to make you feel like that or uncomfortable either and—”
“Where’s your ticket?” Minjeong halts her.

“Oh, here,” Jimin reaches into her jacket pocket and feels where she folded and arranged each ticket together but she freezes.

It would be off-putting if she threw all the tickets out at once, right? And maybe Minjeong will be pissed if she knows she bought all the tickets. She discreetly tears off one ticket from the bunch with her skilled fingers and hands it over to Minjeong.

“One?” Minjeong questions. “I thought you would've bought more,” Minjeong chuckles and Jimin blinks.

“W-well, I had a, uh, tight budget.” Jimin’s voice cracks.

“Are you not getting paid at where you work?” Minjeong asks with a joking demeanour.

“H-huh?”

“At that convenience store," Minjeong says.

“You know I work there?” Jimin blinks; she works the morning shift and night shift and she’s not sure if she’s seen Minjeong there before.

“I talk to Ryujin.” Minjeong shrugs.

“O-oh. I get paid fairly okay…I think.” Jimin blushes.

“Take a seat.” Minjeong says and Jimin nods dumbly.

She sits down on the provided stool without looking and almost misses it, and she recovers, but she doesn’t miss the way Minjeong giggles under her breath.

“So, how’s the day been so far for you?” Jimin taps her fingers against the table. 

“We’re having a conversation first?" Minjeong raises a quizzical yet amused brow. “Alright. The day’s been okay but slow.” 

“Did you get the flowers I sent in the morning? I ordered them yesterday.” Jimin asks bashfully.

“Baby’s breaths.” Minjeong says, blushing slightly but Jimin doesn’t notice. “How’d you know it was my favourite?”

“Oh, I didn’t.” Jimin beams. “They just looked really nice and reminded me of you when I bought them.” 

“Well, thank you.” Minjeong says.

“You didn’t throw them away, right?” Jimin humours. “I didn’t put my name on the card just in case, like the years before.” 

“You’re the one that’s been sending me flowers all this time?” Minjeong blinks.

“Well yeah. I didn’t want you to know because you might’ve thrown them away.” Jimin shrugs shyly.

“I wouldn’t throw them away, even if they were from you.” Minjeong is quick to correct.

“Oh.” Jimin blinks. “Well, um, I'll know to write my name next time.”

“I’ll be waiting.” Minjeong grins.

Jimin rocks on her stool and Minjeong watches her with amusement. 

“What happened to your forehead?” Minjeong points to the plaster on her ace.

“O-oh. I burned myself with the curling iron.” Jimin blushes and Minjeong fights not to laugh. “You can laugh; it’s okay.”
“Sorry.” Minjeong stifles her laugh. “Are you alright?”
“I’m all good! It wasn’t that bad.” Jimin refrains from informing Minjeong of how she cried and whined to Aeri over the phone for twenty minutes.

“It’s cute. The plaster.” Minjeong smiles.

“Oh, thanks. Doctor Bae gave it to me.” Jimin beams.

“You must be a favourite patient of hers.” Minjeong says.

She recalls when she brought Jimin into the infirmary and Joohyun didn’t even react to the kid. She greeted Minjeong and threw Jimin onto a bed before inspecting her with a sigh, mumbling under her breath.

“You bet I am!” Jimin grins.

“I’m not sure it’s something to be proud of; how often you are there.” Minjeong giggles and Jimin blushes. 

Jimin still can’t stay still as she fidgets and Minjeong looks down at her fingers shyly.

“Sorry, this is kind of awkward.” Jimin clears her throat. “I’m making it awkward.”

“It’s okay; I'm not making it any better.” Minjeong chuckles. “But it’s bearable.”

Jimin and Minjeong stared at each other shyly before they burst into laughter.

“This feels like a blind date,” Jimin says offhandedly.

“Does it?” Minjeong asks.

“Well, uh, maybe not! Not a blind date at all! I’m kidding…” Jimin fumbles through her words.

“Relax,” Minjeong giggles. “I was just asking; I've never been on a blind date.”

"Oh, me too, but really? You’ve never been on a blind date?” Jimin asks.

“Yeah. Is that not normal?” Minjeong asks.

“No, no! It’s totally normal!” Jimin blurts. “But I just thought, you know—for someone as smart and as beautiful as you are, a lot of people would’ve—I dunno, asked you out on dates.”  

“Oh. I just never had the interest.” Minjeong blushes. “But this is close enough, right?”
“I’d totally take you on a better date than this, though.” Jimin says.
“Really?”

“I mean, not me! But, like, you know, someone could take you on an actual better date!” Jimin’s ears are red and Minjeong notices. 

“You have a terrible way with words, Jimin.” Minjeong giggles.

“O-oh, sorry.” Jimin smiles sheepishly.

“Don’t be. It’s charming.” Minjeong smiles and Jimin’s heart stutters in her chest.

“We’ve been talking for a while.” Minjeong comments.

“Well, yeah, I like talking to you. When I get the chance to, I mean.” Jimin admits bashfully. 

“You’re not too bad either.” Minjeong smiles. “But how about you do what you came here for?”
“What I came here for?” Jimin blinks.

“To get a kiss?” Minjeong chuckles at Jimin’s sudden amnesia. “This is the kissing booth, remember?”

“Oh! Right, right!” Jimin blushes.

Minjeong laughs behind her hand and Jimin blushes so brightly that she thinks she might die.

“Um, so…” Jimin swallows.

“Did you need me to start off?” Minjeong teases.

“Uh, if you want, b-but I could take the lead too.” Jimin stutters.

“Whatever you want, Jimin.” Minjeong chuckles.

Minjeong leans forward on her elbows and Jimin leans close too. She hesitantly brings a hand up to cup Minjeong’s cheek and they share a slightly intimate moment of eye contact.

“I-is this okay?” Jimin asks.

“Mhm.” Minjeong nods, not trusting her voice right now.

She blinks. Why is her heart beating so fast?

Jimin comes closer, her eyes half-lidded and Minjeong’s eyes flutter close when she feels Jimin’s lips brush against hers. They’re not moisturised, but they’re not dry either. Minjeong recalls Jimin’s anxious habit of chewing on her bottom lip, which might be why the texture of her lips is like that.

Not that Minjeong pays that much attention to Jimin.

“I’m going to kiss you, Minjeong.” Jimin whispers and Minjeong nods.

Inhaling shakily and she closes her eyes.

Jimin’s lips touch hers and Minjeong feels butterflies in her stomach. Jimin kisses her gently and her nervous system goes haywire. Jimin shuts her eyes tightly, trying to stay sane because Minjeong’s lips are so soft, like marshmallows.

Jimin pulls away, her hand still on Minjeong’s cheek. Her eyes search Minjeong’s face for any distaste, but Minjeong’s lips are parted and her pupils are dilated.

“Was that—”

Jimin’s eyes widen when Minjeong curls a hand behind her neck and crashes their lips together quickly with desperation. 

“Mm, Minjeong—”
“Shut up.”
“Mkay.”

Jimin kisses Minjeong fervently, cupping her jaw as she licks into Minjeong’s mouth. Minjeong eagerly parts her lips, opening her mouth for more access and she mewls under her breath when Jimin’s tongue slips into her mouth skilfully.

Minjeong shuts her eyes, both arms curled around Jimin’s neck, bringing her as close as she can, even though there’s a small table in between them. 

Jimin is on cloud nine—Minjeong tastes as sweet as she looks and maybe that’s because of the gloss on Minjeong’s lips, but she doesn’t care because Minjeong is kissing her back! She initiated another kiss!

Minjeong sighs into the kiss, her body betraying her swarming thoughts. Since when did Jimin make her feel like this? When was Jimin not annoying to her anymore? How can Jimin kiss so well?

Maybe Minjeong’s always felt like this towards Jimin since the beginning. All the annoyance and bickering was pent-up tension and now Minjeong is unleashing it all because, God, Jimin looks amazing and she’s such a sweet loser.

The heated kiss becomes sloppy as Minjeong’s gloss spreads completely all over Jimin’s mouth, and Minjeong wonders when she’ll come up for air, but she’ll endure her shortness of breath for now. 

“Jeez, they’re going at it.” Ningning grimaces from a distance since she was prepared to murder Jimin, but she never expected this kind of outcome.

“That's my girl!” Aeri beams and Ningning rolls her eyes. “...Hey, want to do what they’re doing?”

“Not in the open like those two idiots.” Ningning snorts.

“Oh.”

“Come on.” Ningning smiles, intertwining her hand with Aeri’s before dragging her off.

“Oh.” 

Minjeong pulls away from the kiss, very much dazed, although she still has her conscience intact; otherwise, she wouldn’t have just made out with Yu Jimin out of all people (but she’d rather no one but Jimin).

Jimin’s seeing stars and she’s breathing deeply, staring at Minjeong’s dishevelled state. Minjeong is breathing heavily too and they’re still holding on to each other. Jimin smiles and Minjeong bites her lips, swallowing her smile as she looks at Jimin’s swollen lips, covered in her gloss.

Minjeong then notices sometimes poking out from Jimin’s jacket pocket and she smirks.

“You wouldn’t have anything to do with why all the tickets were purchased yet no one came to kiss me other than you, right?” Minjeong raises a brow at the way Jimin’s eyes are glued to her lips.

“Uh-huh.” Jimin doesn’t blink, numb by the way Minjeong kissed her back and now she still wants to kiss her again, over and over again.

“ Uh-huh, like you did or didn’t?” Minjeong questions.

“Totally did.” Jimin grins.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

“Minjeong?” 

Jimin scratches her head, not sure why she’s followed Minjeong all the way to her dorm just to receive the silent treatment. Minjeong had left the booth after the kiss, saying “follow me” and nothing after. She went to the student council room, picked up some stuff, including Jimin’s flowers and continued on her way. 

They walked in silence to Minjeong’s dorm and Jimin followed behind like a puppy.

Minjeong went inside her dorm and instructed Jimin to stand outside, which she has been doing for the past fifteen minutes. She’s still not entirely sure what Minjeong is thinking.

The door swings open abruptly and Jimin perks up.

“Hey—”

She’s winded when something is thrust into her hands and the door closes again.

Jimin blinks, looking down at the bouquet of flowers she got for Minjeong.

“Huh?”

The door opens again and Jimin’s eyes widen. Her jaw drops at how much Minjeong shines in her eyes. She’s so beautiful. She’s changed into a dress with a cardigan and comfortable shoes. Her make-up is brighter and her hair is styled in loose waves. Jimin wonders how Minjeong did all of that in less than twenty minutes.

“Wow, you got me flowers?” Minjeong gasps.

“Oh, uh, yeah, I did.” Jimin frowns in confusion. “But I already— oh, I see now.”

Jimin grins and Minjeong smiles at her with pride written all over her face.

“Do you have something to ask me?” Minjeong asks.

Jimin clears her throat before getting down on one knee, holding the flowers in front of her.

“Kim Minjeong, who I’ve liked since freshman year,” Jimin says clearly. “Will you do me the honours and let me take you out on a date as my Valentine?”

“I will do the honours.” Minjeong giggles, taking the flowers. “Now get up, silly.”

“Okay.” Jimin grins, bouncing up.

Minjeong pulls Jimin into her dorm.

“I thought you were mad at me for buying all the tickets.” Jimin says, leaning on the kitchen counter.

“Well, I was mad for a little bit since you made me think no one bought tickets to kiss me.” Minjeong says.

“Sorry.” Jimin smiles.

“Well, you made up for it. It’s endearing that you spent all that money just to be the only one to kiss me.” Minjeong chuckles, busying herself with the flowers.

“Well, if this date goes well, I hope I’m the only one to kiss you forever.” Jimin beams and Minjeong rolls her eyes.

Minjeong fills a vase she found in their cupboard with water and puts the flowers in the vase before setting it down on their dinner table and Jimin doesn’t think to look around—her eyes are solely glued to Minjeong. 

“I hope you’ve planned a good date, Jimin.” Minjeong teases.

“Of course I have.” Jimin grins, winging it. “I’ve been thinking about this for years. But, um, are you sure I’m date material right now? These aren’t date clothes and my plaster—”
“You look fine. You look nice.” Minjeong reassures her. “And the plaster’s cute.”
“Oh.” Jimin blushes. “A-alright, then.”

“Shall we?”

Minjeong closes the door and naturally links her arm with Jimin’s, who stiffens slightly but grins so hard that she looks like she might explode. 

“Hey, Minjeong.” Jimin asks.

“Mm?” Minjeong nods, watching the cars as they cross a road. 

“Do you like me like I like you?” Jimin stops on the other side.

Minjeong turns to her with a strange face and it looks like she might laugh, but she softens when she realises Jimin’s being serious, despite the blush and stupid face she’s making.

She thinks she might’ve always liked Jimin, even if she used every chance to annoy the life out of her. Freshman year and Jimin and her weren’t close, but she was one person who wished her happy birthday instead of the New Year’s, and that meant something to her for the next few years to come because Jimin never failed to keep doing the same thing every year.

Then it was stupid flirty remarks and cheesy compliments every time they’d bump into each other. That part was annoying but sometimes Minjeong looked forward to watching Jimin get flustered when she didn’t respond, just to tease her. Then came the flowers that came with any special occasion. Sometimes Jimin would give them to her in person and sometimes they’d sit on her desk without a clue to trace back to the sender, but now she knows.

“Yes, dummy.” Minjeong answers

Minjeong lifts an open hand and Jimin grins, dropping her hand into hers before Minjeong intertwines their hands together.

“So, kiss me.” Jimin smiles and Minjeong rolls her eyes.

On her tiptoes, she kisses Jimin softly.

Lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling
So kiss me

THE END <3

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Chapter Text

“No, you can’t be mad at me anymore! I’m using a ticket!” Jimin slams the tiny, crumpled, yellowing piece of paper onto her dinner table with a triumphant expression. 

“That doesn’t work anymore!” Minjeong yells.

"Yes, it does! I have about fifty left!” Jimin grins.

It’s been a blissful handful of years for them—a random relationship that oddly works very well. Besides their close friends, the student body had already known of Jimin’s little (big) crush on student council president, Minjeong, but they hadn’t known Minjeong would grow to like Jimin back enough to be in a relationship. Visually, they were the perfect couple and many envied them, knowing Jimin would do anything for Minjeong, and Minjeong would only have her eyes on Jimin.

It was perfect, so why are they fighting again?

Minjeong had recently gotten into contact with a friend of a friend who works at a publishing firm that she’s trying to aim for an internship and later a full-time job at. The problem which Jimin has is that the friend of a friend is a man, a few years older than Minjeong, who is a supervisor at the publishing firm, who, as Jimin puts it, apparently fancies her. Minjeong thought it was blasphemous and a crazy accusation because Minjeong isn’t privy to revealing her relationship status. Her nails are painted blue because her girlfriend Jimin’s favourite colour is blue. Her phone screen is also a picture of them on Valentine's Day a few years ago, and she even has a Polaroid of them kissing behind her phone. The point is, there’s no way in hell the guy likes her and Jimin is being irrational.

Even more irrational when Minjeong first introduced them because she was meant to discuss the publishing firm with him over coffee and Jimin invited herself to it because she didn’t want Minjeong alone with a guy. Minjeong didn’t really mind, but she also explained that she wasn’t going to be in danger in a busy café in broad daylight, but that’s not what Jimin was worried about.

And so it leads them to now, after arriving home from the disaster of a meeting and not wanting Minjeong to be mad at her, Jimin pulls a dirty and mildly overused trick from her sleeve. Neatly kept in a box on one of her shelves are strings of printed tickets that Jimin once bought because Minjeong was manning a kissing booth and there was no way in hell she was letting her crush kiss other people other than herself. So she bought all of the tickets and after they got together, when they sometimes had disagreements or arguments, Jimin would pull out a ticket and cancel out the argument in exchange for a kiss to calm Minjeong down. At first, Minjeong thought it was cute and romantic in the beginning, but it kept happening again and again and frankly, it felt like she wasn’t being taken seriously.

“You didn’t shake his hand!” Minjeong says exasperatedly.

“He hugged you before offering his hand to me! Why is he embracing you in the first place?” Jimin rasps with horror.

“It wasn’t an embrace, you dunce! It was a pat on the arm!” Minjeong groans.

“He shouldn’t be putting hands on you in the first place.” Jimin pouts.

“And you were being really rude, Jimin." Minjeong sighs. “I need this job and I didn’t need you to be passive aggressive and dismissive of him. Lee could be my boss in the future, but not with what happened earlier.”

“I didn’t mean to jeopardise your opportunity, but you don’t see it, Minjeong,” Jimin says. “He likes you! He looked as stupid as me when I liked you back then!”

“Don’t call him stupid! He’s a respected publisher.” Minjeong shakes her head. “Whatever, I can't deal with you right now.”

Minjeong spins on her heels, slipping on her coat.

“Minjeong, you’re not seriously leaving right now?” Jimin flounders. “We said we’d have dinner together!”

“Eat it on your own, asswipe!” Minjeong growls, pulling her shoes on with great force. 

“Wait, I don’t want you to leave mad, just—”

“I want to leave mad!” Minjeong whips around with fury in her eyes. “Talk to me when you’re not jealous anymore!”

The door slams and Jimin flinches, staring at the framed pictures of Minjeong and her swaying on the walls.

So… that didn’t work.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

Minjeong just really can’t believe Jimin. For most of their relationship, she had known Jimin was a jealous person and it never really bothered her because, honestly, she was a jealous person, but she had some subtlety to it, as opposed to Jimin, who has absolutely no subtlety to her actions. 

She’s been fine with jealous Jimin but being petty in front of a person who could secure her a job is a no-go zone for Minjeong. 

She had to set up another coffee meeting with Lee because she wanted to apologise for Jimin’s actions, but she’s glad he was willing and didn’t leave her hanging as he set up another day.

So Minjeong arrives at the café, ignoring how her phone is blowing up , just like how it has been for the last three days that she’s been ignoring Jimin. It’s Valentine's Day tomorrow and she hopes Jimin is going to give her a big gesture and grovel because hopefully she’ll forgive Jimin when she secures this spot.

She spots him immediately, dressed in a crisp white button-up shirt and black slacks. His hair is kind of annoyingly perfectly gelled up and Minjeong grimaces slightly, watching him check his teeth on his laptop screen. 

She pushes open the door and the bell at the top jingles. Lee looks up and finds her immediately, beckoning her over.

“Lee, hi! Thank you for meeting with me again.” Minjeong smiles, sitting across from him.

“No worries, I’m glad you wanted to see me again.” He says bashfully.

“Are you working on anything at the moment?” Minjeong asks.

“Oh, just a magazine column. One of our interns wrote it and I’m overseeing it.” He says. “Here, take a look. This could be you soon.”

Minjeong takes a look and nods as Lee explains his notes and what the concept of the magazine is. 

“Are you not busy today? I’m surprised you found time to see me.” Lee says.

“I only have one evening class so my whole day is practically free right now.” Minjeong says. “I wanted to make time to meet with you again because I want to apologise for Jimin’s behaviour.” Minjeong says, winching slightly.

“Oh, your friend?” Lee blinks. “It’s alright! No harm done.”

“My girlfriend just really cares about me and sometimes she’s jealous, but I know she’s just a little bit overprotective.” Minjeong says. “She has no ill intentions, so I just wanted to make sure it doesn’t hinder the foundation we have.”

“Of course! It’s lovely knowing people have your back. And I can see the kind of person you are. You're hardworking, detail-oriented, kind and not to mention beautiful.” Lee chuckles and Minjeong chuckles along awkwardly. “I think it’s guaranteed your friends and loved ones would be overly protective of you,” he smiles greasily and Minjeong feels her heart drop.

Fuck.

Jimin was right.

How did she not see Lee liking her?

She feels chills throughout her body and forces herself to say still and not react, even though she wants to gag. If anything, she saw Lee like another older brother, and in her mind, everything was strictly professional.

How the hell did this guy manage to like her?

“...and I know we might be working together in the future,” Lee begins and Minjeong already feels sick. “I know it’s unprofessional, and pardon me if I’m overstepping, but you really are a wonderful girl. Knowing that people around you protect you like this, I want to be a part of that too.”

“I–I’m sorry, I don't follow…?” Playing dumb is safe, right?

“I like you, Minjeong-ssi.” He says and Minjeong blinks.

“What?” Manners begone. 

“I want to date you. I think we’d be the perfect match and we’d be working together too.” Lee says. “I think it’s the perfect arrangement.”

What the…

“I’m going to be frank and pardon my French, but are you daft?” Minjeong furrows her eyebrows, not believing the audacity of this man.
“D-daft?” He leans back as if Minjeong had offended him. “But I thought we clicked!”

“I have a girlfriend! You met her!” Minjeong’s eyes widened. 

“I thought she was your best friend!” Lee says.

“She kissed me on the lips and was clearly jealous and annoyed of you!” Minjeong is horrified. “What part of that is platonic to you?”

Minjeong stands up, slipping her bag onto her shoulder and pushing back her chair.

“I’m sorry for wasting each other’s time, but we did not click. This set-up was purely professional, as I wanted to secure a job where you work. But clearly your priorities are messed up!” Minjeong says it with conviction. “So, thank you for your time and don’t try that with me ever again—scratch that; don’t ever do that to anyone!”

Lee’s mouth remains agape as Minjeong spins on her heels and leaves the joint. She screams silently as she walks away, heading back to her dorm to prepare for her evening class. Is she blind? She did not know he had a crush on her; it’s disgusting! She shudders, wanting to walk into oncoming traffic. She can’t believe she defended him against Jimin either. How could she do that to her loving girlfriend? She’s another kind of evil and now she’s the one overreacting.

She dials Yizhuo’s number.

“Hey girl!”

“Yizhuo, give me another publishing company! The guy you said was god and nice was a freaking nutjob!” Minjeong huffs into the phone.

“Do we need to kill him? What did he do?” Yizhuo gasps.

“I think I would rather kill myself right now.” Minjeong groans. “He confessed to me! And I argued with Jimin because they met each other and she was being a dick, but a rightful dick! I didn’t know he liked me and I even defended him!”

“Oh man, that’s rich.” Yizhuo snorts. “But I will help you find another place; I got you, bestie. Also, I have an idea on how you should make it up to Jimin! I did this to Aeri when I made her upset.”

Minjeong, in the middle of destressing from her evening class and preparations of making it up to Jimin, is distracted when there’s a knock on her dorm door. She heads towards the door and her eyes widen when it’s Jimin.

“Minjeong…” Jimin stands there in the doorway behind a big bouquet of roses as she speaks with a pout on her lips. “Baby, I know you’ve been mad at me but tomorrow is Valentine's, and that’s our day and I don’t want to spoil the occasion. So I'm sorry for upsetting you and I promise to keep my personal feelings a little more kept together. Please don’t break up with me?” 

Minjeong smiles softly, reaching out and pulling Jimin in.

“I’m not breaking up with you, dummy.” Minjeong chuckles softly.

“You aren’t?” Jimin perks up.

“No. I love you, Jimin.” Minjeong smiles and Jimin grins.

“So I don’t have to use another ticket? I brought a handful just to make sure.” Jimin reaches into the pocket of her jeans and holds the little papers up.

“No, you don’t have to use them.” Minjeong shakes her head with amusement. But I have something for you.” Minjeong says and Jimin is already vibrating with excitement. “Will you wait for me on the couch with your eyes closed like my good girl?”

“Yes!” Jimin wastes no time as she places the flower down before vaulting over the back of the couch and landing in the cushions unceremoniously. 

Jimin hears some rustling as she sits on the small couch, fingers drumming against her lap as she keeps her eyes tightly shut.

“You can open them now.” Minjeong says.

Jimin opens her eyes and her jaw drops when she sees what’s in front of her.

Minjeong is wearing a puppy-eared headband, a white t-shirt with the text “I love my girlfriend” printed on it and she has a board of card paper hanging around her neck with the words “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

“Yizhuo put me up to this.” Minjeong blushes. “Apparently it worked with Aeri.”

“Uh—wha—um—” Jimin malfunctions.

“It’s stupid, right?” Minjeong’s neck flushed with embarrassment.

“No!” Jimin springs up. “It’s cute! So cute—my brain is melting!” 

Minjeong giggles at her girlfriend's antics before getting back on track.

“Right, anyway, the point of this is I’m sorry because you were right about Lee and I’m not mad about losing that job anymore. I’m sorry I doubted you.” Minjeong says, taking the sign off and advancing towards Jimin before she’s clambering onto Jimin’s lap. Jimin stares at her wide-eyed pupils, blown as her mouth remains agape. She wraps her arms around Jimin’s neck and leans in. “Forgive me?”

“Forgiven.” Jimin smiles before tugging Minjeong closer by her waist and connecting their lips together.

Minjeong sighs in the kiss, and a passing thought drives by her mind. She’s so glad Jimin had a crush on her and decided to buy every single ticket to the kissing booth she was manning. When Yizhuo told her about Jimin’s desperation and how she bribed Yizhuo, it made her feel really strange about Jimin, but it also made her swoon. She never knew the kind of idiot Jimin was—could be so sweet as a lover.

And Jimin never fails to gift her flowers, even if it isn’t a special occasion. She always says the same thing when she shows up with a handful of flowers.

“Pretty flowers for my pretty girl.” Jimin would grin proudly.

“What’s the occasion?” Minjeong questions but takes the flowers with a lovesick smile nonetheless. 

“I just thought of you when I saw them.”

So it’s not difficult at all to love Jimin. What felt like puppy love and easy flirting to her became something she wants forever. She wants to be able to show their kids how wonderful Jimin is as a person and mother. It makes her shy when she day-dreams about it, but she hasn’t told Jimin, but she’d know Jimin would practically blow up if she told her about her future fantasies.

Jimin’s hands run up her sides, slipping under the shirt as she caresses the soft skin of Minjeong’s waist and tummy. It makes Minjeong shudder and lean into the touch as Jimin’s lips never leave hers. 

“I love you,” Jimin whispers in the tranquility of their passion. 

“I love you too,” Minjeong smiles toothily.

Minjeong reaches up to take off the fluffy puppy ear headband, but Jimin’s hand stops her.

“Can you keep it on?” Jimin giggles. “You look really cute right now.”

“Weirdo.” Minjeong snorts but she makes no further move to remove the headband. 

They kiss and cuddle for a while longer before Minjeong remembers something and pulls away from the kiss, which has Jimin whining loudly.

“Just one sec,” Minjeong laughs, pulling away from Jimin and trying to escape from her lap.

“No, don't go!” Jimin pouts, clinging onto Minjeong’s waist with the unnerving grip strength of a toddler.

“If you don’t let go, I won’t kiss you until tomorrow.” Minjeong threatens and that has Jimin letting go immediately.

Minjeong heads to her desk drawer and pulls out a mini book of terrible ticket coupons. For each one, she has handwritten something good for Jimin. 

“I was planning on giving you this tomorrow, but I want you to have it now.” Minjeong returns to Jimin and sits back onto her lap like it’s where she belongs. 

“What is it?” Jimin blinks, smiling at Minjeong's familiar handwriting and doodling on the cover to the stack.

It’s them drawn in pen doodles, outlined with a big red heart that looks like crayon and underneath, Minjeong’s handwriting says “Jimin’s love coupons.”

“Look through it.” Minjeong tells her.

Jimin secures Minjeong in her lap before using both hands to flick through the tiny checkbook. On the inside cover, it says, “Two tickets per week for use!” Jimin smiles before looking through each ticket. 

Unlimited kisses ticket x 5

Kiss Minjeong even if she’s mad ticket x 10

Stay home and cuddle ticket x 5

Breakfast in bed ticket x 5

Excused from chores for one-week ticket x 5

Minjeongie’s special massage x 5

Minjeong says yes, all-day ticket x 5

Romantic dinner x 5

Uninterrupted day without Minjeongie x 5

“Uninterrupted day without Minjeongie?” Jimin looks up with a strained expression. 

“Yeah. Don’t you want to spend a day by yourself and do whatever?” Minjeong chuckles, a little confused. “Why are you looking at me like I just told you the worst thing ever?”

“This is the worst thing ever! I never want to spend a day without you.” Jimin pouts, hugging Minjeong tightly.

“Okay, lover girl." Minjeong chuckles, patting Jimin’s head. “Then don’t use those tickets. Do you like the other ones?”

“Yes, I love this; I love you. I want to use one of the breakfast in bed tickets tomorrow.” Jimin smiles cheekily. “I want to use it before our date tomorrow.”

“You’ve already planned a date?” Minjeong chuckles.

“Yes, I’ve been planning since last year's Valentine’s.” Jimin grins and Minjeong laughs.

“You’re so cute, Jimin.” Minjeong smiles, kissing Jimin’s nose.

Jimin grins before suddenly hoisting Minjeong up—hands securely under her thighs as Minjeong yelps at the sudden lift, an arm gripping onto the back of Jimin’s neck and the other clutching at her headband.

“We’re going to bed.” Jimin smirks and Minjeong’s eyes widen.

While the day of love is tomorrow, and Jimin’s already planned an extensive itinerary starting with Minjeong’s breakfast in bed, then a date at the aquarium, and then dinner by the beach with a violinist she found on TikTok—Valentine’s day starts early for them.

THE END <3

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