Sudongtober 2020

“...ji!” 

Handong’s eyes flutter open. Staring into the darkness of her bedroom, it takes her a moment to recognize the sound of someone knocking on the door. 

“Minji~! Why’d you lock the door?”

Handong groans, turning her face farther into her pillow. Drunks. This is why I hate Saturday nights. The stranger whines out this “Minji’s” name one more time before quieting down, and Handong breathes out a sigh of relief. Hopefully whoever that Minji is at least lives in this building, or the stranger pounding on her door might be in for a long night.

Just as Handong’s eyelids feel heavy again, the welcoming embrace of sleep only moments away, another loud thump snaps her back awake. One that sounds much more like it came from inside her apartment. 

She sits up abruptly, wary, but it’s a small meow from her cat that reassures her. Glancing at the clock, Handong rubs the rest of the sleep out of her eyes and stands up with less urgency. 

“Really, Nannan? One-thirty in the morning and that’s when you wanna play this game?” Handong yawns as she rounds the corner coming out of her bedroom. “What’d you try to break this ti-” 

Handong cuts herself off with a small scream. 

“Ow! Minji! What was that for?” The disheveled looking woman on the floor rolls over, face scrunched in pain and holding her head. “And you say I’m the loud one.”

It takes another moment for Handong’s brain to catch up with what she’s seeing. A small woman in what’s clearly a “night-out-on-the-town” outfit - black skirt and red crop top with a stylish leather jacket. Most definitely drunk, if the lack of coordination and slurring of words are anything to go by. And apparently the same person that was knocking on her door earlier, unless there are multiple drunks wandering around looking for Minji, which is a possibility Handong does not have the energy to deal with right now. 

Finally she’s able to speak again. “What the fuck .”

Okay. Maybe not her best opening line. But in Handong’s defense, she’s a little overwhelmed right now. 

The only response she gets anyways is a groan as the woman rolls again, struggling to get to her feet. 

“Look, I don’t know who you are, but you’re obviously in the wrong place. You need to leave.”

“Minji…” The stranger whines again.

“I’m not Minji! I don’t even know who this ‘Minji’ is!”

The woman chuckles weakly, making her way to her feet. “Ha. Very funny Minji. I don’t know why you’re being like this, you said I could crash here.”

“I’m sure she did. Look at me! I. Am. Not. Minji.”

Handong leans forward with her arms out, waiting for the woman to look up at her. Surely her luck isn’t bad enough that she and Minji look alike too. The stranger brings her head up, taking in Handong’s odd pose. She’s squinting to the point her eyes are almost shut and she’s swaying so much Handong isn’t sure how she hasn’t fallen over again yet. She wouldn’t be surprised if the stranger can’t even see her at all, much less tell who she looks like.

“Yeah, yeah, Minji. You’re cute or whatever. Just help me to your couch before I pass out.”

Unbelievable.

“I’m not-...” Handong stops. The Minji battle is clearly one that she’s not going to win tonight. “Can’t you just go home? Surely you live around here somewhere, right?”

“Can’t go home. No way.”

“Why?”

“I already told you why, Minji! The pup said no-”

Handong feels a headache fully setting in. “The pup?”

The stranger ignores her, continuing on as if she hadn’t spoken at all. “-and you know what happened the last time she kicked me out, I am not planning on walking in on that again.”

Handong stares at her. “...you’re not going home so you don’t walk in on your… dog.”

“She’s not my dog! Siyeon took responsibility for that disaster a long time ago.”

“Then why-..” Handong shakes her head. At this point she doesn’t think she wants to know. “Look, I’ll even pay for your ride if you just get out of my apartment .”

The stranger whines out Minji’s name again, her face scrunching up into what Handong can only (albeit reluctantly) describe as a devastatingly cute pout. “She said that ‘under no cir-... circum-...’ ...that for ‘no reason was I to come home tonight.’” She hiccups and sways dangerously. 

Handong exhales, officially done with this whole night. But before she can think of what to reply next, the woman is tumbling towards her. 

She steps aside.

In her defense, Handong at least winces sympathetically at the loud thump when the woman reconnects with the floor.

"Ow… that was just cruel, Minji."

Nevermind. Hearing that name again instantly drains any of the sympathy Handong was feeling. 

She pinches the bridge of her nose and paces a little, resigning herself to having to call the cops. Definitely not something she wants to resort to, but just leaving this stranger on her floor is not how she wants the rest of her night to go either. 

Especially since, Handong suddenly realizes... how the hell did she get in, anyways? For this woman, to be this trashed, and successfully finesse open the locked front door? Handong isn't quite sure whether to be impressed or frightened.

Regardless, the woman doesn’t seem like she’ll even be capable of being a threat anytime soon, so Handong pulls out her phone to search up the police department’s non-emergency number. She makes it all the way to having the numbers punched in and ready to hit call, when she suddenly stops. 

Is Nannan… purring?

Handong looks down. Sure enough, there’s her antisocial little furball, sniffing curiously at the stranger and purring. He gets bolder and starts rubbing up against the woman’s face, getting a weak protest from her before she turns her head the other way. He then continues rubbing his cheeks on the back of her head, still purring contentedly.

Don’t get her wrong, Handong is still very confused, very wary, and most of all very done with whatever this whole situation is, but the sight drains a lot of the fight out of her. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to leave her for the night? Handong really doesn’t want to have to deal with everything that would come with having the police show up, this night is already long enough as is. 

On top of that, now that she’s had time to process the face, Handong’s about 95% sure she’s seen this woman around before. It lends a bit more credence to the fact that she probably was just genuinely trying to get to her friend’s apartment, and that she’s over often. Or maybe even lives here as well. 

Handong looks at Nannan again, still keen on showing the woman his affections. Fuck it, she thinks. Nannan’s okay with her, Handong’s tired… she’ll deal with this mess in the morning. She’ll just make sure she wakes up early. Judging by the woman’s state, she’ll be out cold for a while, and Handong can see her out. Hopefully the stranger will be a bit more capable of holding an intelligent conversation at that point.

Putting her phone away, Handong crouches and gives her cat a couple pets (doing her best to ignore the stink of alcohol coming off the woman from this close) and then starts heading back to her bedroom. She makes it all the way to the doorway before another meow makes her stop. 

A beat passes of Handong staring at the floor, fighting the urge. It's bad enough she's just gonna leave this stranger in her apartment, surely she's not-...

A sigh. Handong gives in and goes back to the woman, who's still awake but barely. Maybe Handong's just too much of a softie, but she'll give the woman the benefit of the doubt that this isn't exactly typical of her. If Handong were to have an off night as bad as this one, she'd want some understanding too.

"Alright, whoever you are, c'mon." She gets low again, grabbing the short woman by her shoulders and attempting to lift her up. 

The drunk woman grumbles a bit in protest, but her body does cooperate as best it can despite her words. “One more minute, Minji.”

Handong stops wrangling for a moment to let out an amused sound. “Just a minute, huh? Think you’ll be all sobered up in a minute?”

“Mmh…” The woman hums, staying planted on the floor as her mind slowly tries to process. “Just give me a minute…” Handong’s little laugh makes her correct her course. “...or an hour.”

Handong rolls her eyes. “I’ll give you more than that once we get you to the couch, come on.” She resumes her attempts to muscle the woman off the floor, and mentally thanks her for at least being small, since Handong is doing pretty much all the work. 

With much more effort than Handong expected to put in for this stranger when she first saw her on the floor, they finally make it and the woman collapses unceremoniously onto the couch. Handong’s ready to call it a night at that point, but she catches a view of her outfit again and sighs. Helping her change into something more comfortable is definitely off the table, but that skirt… 

Handong rummages through the closet to grab a throw blanket, and returns to find the stranger seems to have fallen asleep already. Hardly unexpected, she supposes. Leaning down, Handong drapes the blanket over the woman. It’s done with a gentleness that Handong doesn’t really want to think about the origins of. For now, she’ll just call it a fluke. The stranger got lucky and caught her on a good night.

It’s definitely not because Handong’s spent who knows how long staring at her face. Up this close, leaning over to finish tucking the blanket over her, the Chinese woman is struck by just how stunning the small woman is, even despite the disheveled look from what must’ve been a long night. 

She shakes her head, finally pulling away. Bad Handong. Not the time or place to be attracted to someone. Standing up, she stares again but for a different reason. It hits her again that she’s about to go back to sleep while a stranger who broke into her apartment sleeps soundly on her couch. Is she really about to do this? Why, because she’s cute? 

Almost as if he senses her having second thoughts, Nannan makes his reappearance.

Incredulously, Handong watches as the cat hops up onto the couch and curls up with the stranger. He’s still purring happily, and seems just entirely too content with everything that’s happened tonight for Handong’s liking.

No fucking way.  

She still can’t believe she’s doing this… but he’s never let her down yet. He hated both her last boyfriend, and the girlfriend before that. At first she’d been annoyed about it but he’d proven his dislike had been with good reason once they’d both turned out to be jerks by the end. Not to mention he’d adored each and every one of her best friends since the moment he’d met them - except the one that had recently revealed her true colors and was no longer a friend at all.

There’s a reason she trusts Nannan’s judgement. She just hopes his flawless record holds for tonight. Giving one last look at the two resting on her couch, Handong allows herself a small smile before finally making her way back to bed.

And setting her alarm a little earlier than normal. She figures she should at least still pretend to be cautious.

-----

Handong slaps her alarm to shut it off. Why so early? It's way too early to be getting up on a weekend.

Her head snaps up suddenly. Right, the strange woman on her couch. The random person she might have seen around before, who broke into her apartment in the middle of the night… and Handong not only let her stay but put her on the couch with a blanket and proceeded to go back to sleep.  

This is exactly why she shouldn’t be allowed to make decisions when she’s sleepy. It’s just not fair, really. 

Quietly, just to reassure herself that she is indeed a responsible adult that can exercise at least basic caution (it’s an empty reassurance but she still feels the need to try), she scrambles to get dressed for the day. 

Easing the door open, she carefully makes her way around the corner to find… the woman is still fast asleep in exactly the same spot on the couch. 

Nannan too. The same spot, right on top of her.

Letting out a breath, Handong allows herself a small laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. He didn’t even take this much of a liking to Gahyeon - Handong’s former roommate and easily her closest friend - for months. The furball has really thrown all his chips down on this one. Despite his perfect track record so far, if this morning doesn’t go well, Handong doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to trust his judgement again. Not when he’s this sure.

Regardless, she’s comforted by the fact she’s the first one awake. Deciding to make the most of being up abnormally early on a weekend, Handong sets about making some breakfast. 

-----

Lost in the familiar actions and smells of making one of her favorite comfort dishes, Handong almost forgets that there is in fact someone else in her apartment. 

Until, that is, a startled yell breaks through her quiet humming. She freezes, hearing a light thump and an indignant meow immediately following. Handong waits a few beats but nothing else happens. Luckily, the timing is pretty good since the food is done, so she covers it up and sets it aside.

Well, time to see how her middle-of-the-night decision making pays off.

She turns and peeks around the divider wall that sticks out, separating the living room half of the room from the kitchen half. 

And smiles.

Handong can’t help it. The woman is still in disarray, her hair all over the place and her expression scrunched as if the very act of existing is hurting her head. Yet she still manages to paste a glare over the top of it, directing her clear displeasure at the cat who is staring right back at her from a few feet away on the floor.

Leaning against the divider wall, Handong waits to see if one side will give, but neither seems willing. Despite one obviously struggling to think clearly and the other, well, being a cat.

Handong resists the urge to laugh and instead crosses her arms. “I wouldn’t look at him like that, he is the one who saved you from having the cops called on you.”

The staring match finally ends as the woman jumps, her head snapping over to look at Handong. Her eyes widen and Handong thinks she can almost see the gears in the woman’s head turning as her muddled brain struggles to catch up with everything.

“Who are you?”

Handong raises an eyebrow. “I think I should be the one asking that, considering you broke into my apartment.”

“What? No, that can’t be right, I-...” The woman trails off as she takes a good look around the room and the unfamiliarity sets in. “...Fuck.”

The laugh Handong’s been holding back finally breaks through, only added to by the way the woman looks equal parts both embarrassed and relieved at the reaction. 

Calming down, Handong decides she better assuage any worries. “Relax, if I was going to get mad, it would’ve been last night. Get yourself settled in, I’ve got some breakfast ready.”

She fills a couple plates, heading back to see the woman sitting up a bit stiffly, like she’s not quite sure what to do with herself. Handong offers her a smile, trying to reassure her as she hands her a plate and sits across from her. “Here, hope you like steamed buns.”

The woman looks down, smiling slightly at the food and peace offering. “Kim Bora,” she says, returning her gaze to Handong. “And thank you. For this and for… taking this in stride. I probably freaked you out last night.”

Handong nods, offering up a smile. “Handong. And… true. Though like I said, much of your thanks goes to him.” Handong gestures to the windowsill, where Nannan had retreated to watch their interactions unfold.

“The cat?”

Handong hums an affirmative. “The cat. Nannan. He’s never been wrong about someone he takes a strong liking - or disliking - to.” Smirking, she adds on, “no matter how bonkers they seem, or if they won’t stop calling me Minji.”

Bora groans, setting her plate aside and dropping her head into her hands. “Fuck, I didn’t say anything too embarrassing, did I?”

Pretending to think hard about it, Handong lets Bora look up at her in concern, her worry clearly growing the longer Handong has to mull over everything that happened the night before. “Nah,” she says finally, “just something really weird about wanting to give your dog privacy and that being your excuse to not leave my apartment when asked.”

It’s quiet, but Handong still catches the shorter woman’s immediate response. “She’s not my dog.”

Handong barely stifles a snort. “Yeah, you told me that last night too.” At Bora’s look of confusion, she continues, “I believe you said, and I quote, ‘Siyeon took responsibility for that disaster.’”

“Oh my god,” Bora groans again. “She’s not-... she’s my roommate. I was talking about my roommate. My drunk self is incapable of calling her by name a lot of the time.”

It finally makes sense, but Handong can’t help herself. Her teasing look returns. “Yeah, most people I know do tend to live with their dogs.”

A blush rises on Bora’s cheeks to match her incredulous look. “No! No, she’s a person she just-...” 

Handong’s laughter finally breaks through and Bora realizes what happened, trailing off and rolling her eyes playfully. It’s just too easy. Handong already knows she’ll have a lot of fun riling her new friend up all the time if they do stay in contact.

“But no, really.” Bora continues. “Trust me, if you met her you’d understand immediately. She just is a dog. She’s like those big lanky dogs that still think they’re tiny puppies and will take you out trying to act like the lapdog they used to be.”

“Ah.” Handong says, still unconvinced but willing to go along with it. More important to her is the opportunity presented. “Does that make you the little dog that thinks it’s bigger than it is and will bark louder and louder to prove it?”

She only just barely holds her expression - a taunting little smirk - in the face of the way Bora’s jaw drops open. Handong manages a couple more beats before she breaks, busting out laughing while Bora can only continue to look at her incredulously, a comically offended look still on her face.

The shorter woman shakes her head. “Unbelievable. We’ve known each other for minutes now and I’m already getting played, and dissed for my height.”

“Hey now,” Handong starts, still chuckling, “it’s not just that. I’m just going by context clues.” 

Bora scoffs, playfully indignant. “Like what?”  

“Well, you also mentioned something about Minji saying you’re the loud one. To be honest, I’m inclined to believe her.”

“You’ve never even met her!”

Handong shrugs, maintaining her smug look. “I don’t know, something just tells me this Minji is a woman who has sense.”

Bora rolls her eyes and leans back in her seat, a smile quirking up her lips despite herself. “You… are a menace.”  

“Thank you.” Handong’s tone is completely genuine and it draws another sharp laugh out of Bora. It’s such a strange sound, but the Chinese woman can’t help but find it… endearing. 

God. Is she really about to tip right over from “cautiously open to meeting” into “utterly whipped for” this woman already?  

“You know, the worst part is I can’t even deny that you’re completely right. It’s Minji after all.”

Handong takes in the way Bora’s expression softens a bit, affection lighting up her features as she speaks again to admit that. It’s obvious how much she appreciates her friend, and that she isn’t afraid to show it honestly. And Handong again finds herself involuntarily drawn into just how gorgeous this woman is, messy hair or not, especially when her big smile lights up her whole face like that.

Yeah… Handong’s going right over that edge already, no doubt about it.

“Speaking of… I should probably get going. Minji’s probably wondering where I am, and knowing her I’m getting a full dose of a motherly scolding when she sees me.”

“See, I told you it sounded like that woman has sense.” Handong says, partially to acknowledge the statement and partially to cover up the disappointment she feels at their conversation getting cut short.

Regardless, she knows Bora is right, so she walks her to the door. The shorter woman stops just outside and faces her again.

"Thank you. For everything. I definitely didn't deserve… well, any of that, considering you could've had my ass taken away as soon as you saw me."

"Well, like I said, you can thank my cat for a lot of that. But you're welcome."

A beat passes but Bora doesn't move, looking like she's trying to figure out how to say something. "Could I make it up to you somehow? Maybe… coffee sometime?"

Immediately feeling better about the morning ending too quickly, Handong takes advantage of the surge of confidence. She leans against the doorframe and pretends to think it over.

Handong gives her a quick once over, enjoying the way the tips of her ears turn red and how she subtly shifts her weight, despite not showing any nervousness on her face.

The Chinese woman hums before putting on a playful smile. "Hmm, I don't know. After everything I dealt with… getting woken up in the middle of the night…not to mention I made you breakfast… I think I at least deserve dinner."

Handong delights in the way Bora brightens up with excitement, immediately washing away all the concern that had started to brew as Handong gave her the runaround. She's so animated, unafraid to express her emotion even around a relative stranger, and it's impossible to resist. Handong really does want to know her more.

"Dinner it is then! Maybe Tuesday?"

"I'm free after seven." Handong throws in a wink just to seal the deal. "You know where to pick me up."

Handong turns around as she shuts the door, unable to stop from grinning to herself. Until she notices Nannan staring at her, that is. She knows she's projecting, but, she'd swear up and down he's got an insufferably smug look on his face.

"Oh, shut up."