Winter problem

It was the beginning of winter and that meant only one thing for Kim Chaewon: cold. The temperature change wasn’t so abrupt in a way for her; at first, it was even bearable to feel the cold breeze cut through her face. The end of December always claimed the title of the coldest time of the year for the red-head.

Her body handled the mild weather well and soon spring would arrive, her favorite season. The cherry blossoms always made the walk to the university something calm and familiar in a way.

Unfortunately, her girlfriend, Huh Yunjin, wasn’t as "receptive" to winter as she was. At the start of the season, the older girl would begin to have small crises due to the alternation of sunlight on the globe, which was one of the downsides of the "North Pole" phase, as the couple lovingly called it.

It had been exactly 2 years, 3 months, and 19 days since she and Yunjin started dating. During their first year, Chaewon had the brilliant idea of inviting the red-head on a date to a park in Seoul. She thought it was romantic to play in the snow, even though they were exposed to temperatures 3°C below freezing.

At that time, Chaewon had no idea how fragile the Korean girl was to the cold air. Since Yunjin could never say no to Chaewon’s requests, she went with open arms and a smile on her face, even though she knew what would probably happen a few days later. The small adventure of snowball fights and making snow angels resulted in a problematic outcome for the taller girl.

Less than a week later, Chaewon rang the doorbell to her girlfriend’s apartment with some hesitation. The girl hadn’t responded to her messages or her calls since the morning of the day before, which began to worry Chaewon.

A few minutes later, she saw a figure lazily open the door with lowered eyes, wrapped in a fluffy blue blanket held by her left hand around her shoulders. That was when Chaewon found out that Yunjin had issues with winter, in addition to the pollution in Seoul worsening her chronic rhinitis and sinusitis. She also realized how stupid she was for being able to get sick just because she couldn’t deny anything to her "clingy puppy."

And it was from that common, yet irritating, event with Yunjin and the winter that Chaewon began to pay more attention during this time of the year to her girlfriend and make sure she took her medicine. Even if it involved some "blackmail" between them.

Now, on a Sunday in December, close to Christmas, the Korean girl stirred the eggs in the frying pan with a spatula as she heard footsteps behind her. Chaewon could smell the coffee filling her senses; she loved this warm feeling in the morning that only Yunjin could provide.

She was spending a week in the younger girl's loft, which Yunjin considered her most comforting place. In fact, anything that reminded her of her girlfriend made her feel warm, and everything in that small space screamed Kim Chaewon.

The guitar was placed next to the sheet music on a baby pink pouf in the living room, blending with the two-seater sofa in a neutral cream color, a huge spot to leave dozens of stuffed bears, which was very weird (but she never had the courage to say anything because she valued her relationship and life). Some vinyls and books were on shelves, located on the right corner, sharing the space with small plant pots that varied between succulents and cacti.

It was a feeling of a safe harbor.

The red-head smiled as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her slim waist, hugging her from behind. Yunjin had always been a "clingy puppy," as Chaewon liked to call her, but when she was sick, the taller one always doubled that need for affection. Usually, that’s why Chaewon spent so much time with her, besides practically having to force her to take pills like a child.

Yunjin started rubbing her cheeks on the back of her girlfriend and put her hands inside the hoodie pockets to warm them up.

"Hey, you're awake? It's still early, Yunjinie."

Yunjin only grumbled in response and hid her face in the shorter girl's neck, running her nose along it.

"You were never much of a morning person, were you?" Chaewon asked as she turned off the stove and turned to wrap her arms around the older girl, giving a casual circle of her fingertips on Yunjin's waist over her hoodie.

"You weren’t in bed," Yunjin replied with a slightly hoarse but soft voice, one she only used for Chaewon.

"I thought it would be better not to wake you up. Because of the medicine’s effect, I thought you’d only wake up after 10," Chaewon replied, laughing at Yunjin’s pout, then reaching out to run her fingers through her dark hair.

"I can't sleep without you, Chaewonie," Yunjin mumbled, pouting her lips, practically pulling her girlfriend into her arms.

"Really? Then tell me, how did you manage to live alone all these years?" Chaewon asked.

"My brain hasn’t woken up yet, so I won’t answer that question... now. But later, I’ll have the perfect answer," Yunjin said in a husky tone and Chaewon laughed, placing a kiss on the side of Yunjin's head. "I want to lie down with you, Chaewon-ah."

"I’ll lie down with you after I eat, baby," Chaewon answered, gently stroking Yunjin's hair. Her hair was now at her shoulders, as she had cut it at the beginning of autumn, but it had grown incredibly fast. "Do you want anything?"

Yunjin shook her head, laying her face on Chaewon’s shoulder, sighing as drowsiness nearly took over her and the affection Chaewon was giving to her waist wasn’t helping her wake up properly.

"You need to eat, Yunjin," Chaewon said in a tone of warning. "You’re not well enough; you still need to take care of yourself. I’m going to make some tea."

Yunjin groaned in discontent, pulling away from the younger girl. She knew arguing with Chaewon was a lost cause, and she didn’t have the patience for it. So, she just sat down at the tiny three-seat round table, resting her head on the wood, her eyes fixed on Chaewon as she gathered the ingredients to make the tea, which she suspected was ginger tea.

The first time she drank it, Yunjin nearly spit it all out. That resulted in a lecture from Chaewon about the importance of drinking it and how the nasty, bitter ginger helped improve the throat and had other benefits, which Yunjin didn’t really pay attention to since the taste was still lingering in her mouth. Yunjin wasn’t the type of person to trust much in herbal medicine, but Chaewon was the type who followed "grandmother's remedies" to the letter. Of course, not without her regular medicine, but from time to time, she would talk about how important it was to drink certain teas or honey with something else for health. Over time, Yunjin had gotten used to it and would even make the tea herself when her throat bothered her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt Chaewon’s sharp fingers weaving through her hair again, making her release a blissful sigh. She thanked the gods her girlfriend always liked to play with her hair, especially when the cold season came. Chaewon was extra affectionate during that time.

"Why don’t you lie down on the couch? It’s more comfortable, Yunjin," Chaewon suggested, raising an eyebrow at her.

"The couch is too small for me," Yunjin replied with a shrug.

"You're not as tall as you think. You’d just have to bend your knees a little and it wouldn’t change anything about how you sleep normally," Chaewon said, brushing away a few strands of hair that kept falling on Yunjin’s face.

"Actually, you're the short one, Chaewonie. And I don’t sleep curled up!" The red-head rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s stubbornness.

"Tell that to yourself at night when you practically melt into me."

"I’m... sleepy, leave me alone," Yunjin mumbled with a whiny voice, pushing Chaewon’s hands away from her, and the younger girl just shook her head with a smile.

"You’re so stubborn."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, with Yunjin practically dozing off and Chaewon keeping one eye on the stove and the other on her girlfriend. She didn’t want another accident like a few months ago when Yunjin fell asleep and her body tipped to the side, causing a fall. Sometimes, Chaewon wondered if she was really the clumsy one in the relationship.

"Come on, Yunjin-ah. Wake up!" Chaewon gently squeezed her shoulder. "Jen, you need to drink this while it’s hot." She placed the cup slightly ahead on the table, leaned in so that her arms framed either side of Yunjin’s head, and kissed her cheek several times.

"Do I really have to drink this, Chaewonie?" Yunjin opened her eyes with a small pout, refusing to let anyone else see her like this except Chaewon.

"Yes, you know your aegyo doesn’t work on me, right?"

"Ah, no, Chaewon-ah! This is awful, it’s bitter and I want to sleep."

"Yunjin, you're already whining. It’s bad, but just drink it all at once, and I’m sure you won’t even taste it," Chaewon tried to argue, but she had to pull away abruptly when Yunjin lifted her head from the table to look at her.

"Who said I can’t taste it?"

"Yunjin."

"Kim Chaewon." The red-head leaned in close to the older girl, so their lips brushed her ear. She saw the hairs on Yunjin's neck stand up and smiled inwardly, knowing that even after all this time, she could still make her girlfriend feel those sensations.

"If you don’t drink it and keep spitting that nasty thing out, I’ll kick you out," she said with a smile, planting a kiss on Yunjin's jaw.

"That’s blackmail, woman."

"Call it whatever you want."

"You’re bluffing; you wouldn’t let me get sick."

Chaewon narrowed her eyes, and the younger girl just laughed at Yunjin’s reaction. "You know I don’t bluff, Yunjin. Now drink it already; it’s probably lukewarm."

As she ate her scrambled eggs, Chaewon observed Yunjin’s disgusted face with every sip of the ginger tea, smiling. With or without blackmail, she knew Yunjin would drink it because, even after all the whining, her girlfriend always did what she asked.

"You like seeing me like this, don’t you?"

"You’re so dramatic, Yunjin," Chaewon answered, rolling her eyes.

"Look who’s talking; you almost had a heart attack when you saw a guy dressed up in that haunted house we went to."

"The makeup was so realistic, okay?" Chaewon replied, shrugging, ready to get up and put the plate in the sink.

"You cried... 2 times. That reminds me to never listen to Kazuha again," Yunjin grumbled, hugging herself. "Chaewonie, let’s lie down now."

"After you called me scared-cat, I shouldn’t lie down with you," Chaewon replied, and Yunjin rolled her eyes. "But since you’re cute and sick, I’ll make this exception."

"I didn’t lie about what I said."

"It’s very risky for you to say that to the only person who can take you to the hospital."

"Why go to the hospital? I have a personal nurse, a.k.a. you," Yunjin replied, getting up to place the cup with a phrase Chaewon thought was cheesy, but she loved it because it was a gift from her, in the sink.

Chaewon also noticed that, with the cold, in addition to Yunjin becoming more whiny and clingy, she also became slower and more sluggish. You could tell just by watching her walk slowly from the table to the sink, her steps sluggish and her coordination not at its best. But Chaewon found it cute, especially with the sleepy look mixed with the fuller cheeks of the Korean girl.

Yunjin wrapped her arms around Chaewon’s waist, practically resting all her weight on her, with her cheek on her shoulder and her lips pouting.

"I know you’re usually like this, but today you’re extra clingy," Chaewon commented, tracing her fingers along Yunjin’s shoulders. "Pick something for us to watch, and I mean me. No horror movies."

"I only did that once, Chaewon. Get over it!" Yunjin’s voice faded as she saw the red-head walk out of view toward the living room.

After a while, the Korean girl found the older girl with some movie paused on the TV, wrapped in a blue blanket with shark-like figures, which she vaguely remembered was a gift from Sakura.

As soon as Chaewon set her eyes on Yunjin, the older girl stood up so Chaewon could lie down first, and then she would be the "human pillow," also because the couch wasn’t big enough for them both to lie down without being right next to each other.

Chaewon sighed, letting out a nasal laugh as she adjusted on the couch, feeling the older girl settle between her legs, her head resting on her chest and her hands around her waist under the hoodie.

"What did you pick?"

"Ponyo."

"No Shin-Chan? It’s a miracle."

"Shut up, I picked it because you like this one," Yunjin replied, and Chaewon let out a loud laugh, covering her mouth with one hand.

"What are you laughing at, Kim?"

"Yunjin, you’re so... beautiful. I think it’s cute how you scare people, while here at home, you just watch animated movies."

"Animated movies are art too," Yunjin grumbled, now staring at her girlfriend with a frown. "Okay, you have a point."

"Now, while I sleep, you watch ," Chaewon said, closing her eyes.

"Okay, baby."

She could hear Sakura's voice in her head saying "WHIPPED."

After a while, Chaewon had lifted the shirt Yunjin was wearing to slide her fingertips up and down the older girl's back, but she hadn't noticed something... until now.

“Yunjin?”

“Hmm?” She purred, the Korean girl hadn't slept even though she was drowsy from her girlfriend's affection.

“You're not wearing a bra.”

“Yeah, did you notice now?” She asked, laughing softly and running her nails along Chaewon's waist.

“I'm wearing a sweatshirt; I can't feel much.” She shrugged, swallowing hard, feeling Yunjin's nails dig a little above the waistband of her pants.

“Why don't you take them off?” She replied, taking her attention away from the movie to give the younger girl a somewhat malicious look.

Chaewon choked, feeling her cheeks burn and bit her lip. Even though she was very tempted by the proposed idea, she couldn't forget that Yunjin was sick.

“Yunjin, you're sick.”

“I'm better now.” She answered, getting as close as she could, feeling Chaewon's lip lightly brush against hers and the red-head's breath held, the sound of the TV was now something distant for Yunjin.

The red-head had to say, it was very difficult to stay away from Yunjin, especially when she tested her limits by teasing and saying things with ambiguous meanings at the most unusual times. Taking a deep breath and thinking about something other than Yunjin staring at her with her unfathomable eyes, she turned her face so she could somehow get away from the older girl.

“Yunjin, put out that fire; it's a fever.” She subtly pushed the girl's shoulders back. “I'm missing the movie, Yunjin-ah.” The brunette snorted and laid her head back on Chaewon, taking her hands off her.

Later, almost at the end of the movie, Chaewon felt Yunjin more rigid in her arms and very quiet; she always liked to make sarcastic comments about any kind of scene.

“Yunjin?”

“Hm?” She murmured almost inaudibly.

“Do you think Kazuha fulfilled her promise?”

“I doubt it; Kazuha can’t even see Saki without stuttering and saying something coherent. She’d probably pee in her own pants; the good thing is that Saki is one of the most patient and calm people I know.” She replied without looking at Chaewon. “It’s like you and me; those were days of struggle.”

Chaewon rolled her eyes and gently pulled Yunjin's face towards her, peppering kisses starting between her girlfriend's eyebrows to ease her frown, moving slowly down her cheek and the corner of her mouth. Yunjin felt Chaewon’s lips slowly descend; it was almost painful as they slowly went from her jaw to the pulse point on her neck, from where she ended up giving her an open-mouthed kiss.

"Are you angry?" She asked with a pout.

“No, Chaewon-ah. You’re right; it was just my sick alter ego talking.” She let out a laugh. “But you doing that doesn’t help me.”

“I just wanted to get your attention.” She shrugged. “By the way, it’s time for your medicine.”

“No.”

“Yunjin, get off me.” She tried to push the older one away but unsuccessfully; the position they were in gave Yunjin more control of the situation.

“I’ll get off only if you give me a kiss.”

“No, you’re sick.”

“But you almost kissed me two seconds ago.”

“I didn’t kiss you; it was just on the corner of your mouth. Now get up; you need to take it.”

“I’ll take it if you give me a kiss after; if not, no deal.”

“If I get sick, it’s your fault.” She warned, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

“So, is that a yes?” She asked excitedly. Even with the extra care Chaewon had for her, there was one thing Yunjin hated about the "North Pole" season of the year, and that was the lack of kisses when she was sick. She had to settle for vague affection and rarely, a few pecks until she got 80% better from the flu.

“Yes, but you know, if I get sick, it’s your fault.”

“I’ll take care of you.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Replied and Yunjin opened her mouth in fake shock.

“You.” She shook her head, standing up to make room for Chaewon to leave. “Let’s go, Chaewon.”

In the kitchen, Yunjin stared at the pill in one hand and the glass of water in the other. Chaewon looked impatient; it had been several minutes since she handed the pill to the Korean, who was just analyzing it as if she were about to savor wine.

"Are you going to take it or...?"

"But if I take it now, when I kiss you, it’ll taste like medicine," Yunjin retorted, and Chaewon couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

"You think you’re talking to Kazuha, who believes in those things, Yunjin? This is a pill; just swallow it, it tastes like nothing, and our deal is only after."

"What I don't do for you, right?" She said before swallowing the pill and drinking the entire glass of water. "I still hate these fucking pills," she complained with a grimace.

"Yunjin-ah, you're so dramatic," Chaewon laughed and took the opportunity to get closer to her girlfriend so she could grab her cheeks, tracing circles with her fingers and a smile on the corner of her mouth. Chaewon leaned in so she could get close enough to Yunjin's lips.

"Now do I get my prize?" She asked, staring at the red-head's full mouth.

Without answering, the Korean girl placed her lips against Chaewon's in a calm and loving way with a peck. Until their mouths came together again, this time in a more desperate way. The older girl no longer had the patience to wait; it had been two days since she had kissed or had any more intimate contact with her girlfriend.

It was a matter of necessity.

She bit the red-head's lower lip, and as soon as she gave in, stopping to slowly wet them and finally insert her tongue in Chaewon's mouth. The two girls' tongues danced between each other, while Chaewon's hands entered Yunjin's dark hair and Yunjin had her arms around the shorter girl to bring her closer.

The lack of air made itself felt, and the couple separated with a crack echoing through the room; Yunjin had barely separated and was already behind Chaewon's lips, but she dodged.

"The deal was one. Come on, now I get to choose what we watch."

"You're not funny, Chaewon-ah."

"Meh! Come on, I have a movie in my mind right now."

"No black-and-white movies, I beg you."

"It’s a real shame."

"Chaewon!" She threw her head back in complaint, but Chaewon had already disappeared into the living room.

One week later, Yunjin was almost 100% better. She had stayed just a few more days at the red-head’s house. She was trying to call her girlfriend because apparently, Kazuha had really had the courage to ask Saki out, even if it was on a couple's date. It was more than just a "Hi!" and running away from the Japanese girl.

After the fourth ring, Chaewon finally answered.

"Hey, baby," Yunjin said, smiling.

"Yunjinie?"

"Don’t recognize your girlfriend’s voice anymore? Were you sleeping?" She asked, laughing.

"No, I was just lying down. I’m tired," she said, sniffling into the phone and with a low voice; Yunjin raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Tired, huh? I was going to invite you to go out with Kazuha and Saki today for a double date, but I see you’re not feeling well." She pointed out, worried.

"She finally had the courage to ask? Did she pee her pants?"

"No, but I’d pay to see that," she answered, laughing. "I need to ask Saki how that Yizhuo proposal went. Anyway, don’t change the subject; what’s wrong with you?"

"Who?"

"Chaewon."

"Nothing, I’m just a little sick."

"I knew it; Kazuha can carry her date on her own or call Ryujin and Yeji to be third wheels. I'm cancelling it."

"No."

"Yes."

"Fine, but you’re staying here."

"What a sacrifice."

"You know this is YOUR fault, right?"

"I don’t remember; my memory is terrible," she answered with her tongue between her teeth, and she could picture Chaewon rolling her eyes on the other line.

"Cynical, hurry up. I’m cold."

"Anything for you, baby. I’ll make that tea you love," she said with a tone of double meaning.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, the ginger one. Kisses, love you." She heard a "YUNJIN" from the other side of the line as soon as the call ended.

If she said she regretted that exchange from a week ago, she’d be lying. Some runny noses are worth the chance of a kiss. It was the beginning of winter and that meant only one thing for Kim Chaewon: cold. The temperature change wasn’t so abrupt in a way for her; at first, it was even bearable to feel the cold breeze cut through her face. The end of December always claimed the title of the coldest time of the year for the red-head.

Her body handled the mild weather well and soon spring would arrive, her favorite season. The cherry blossoms always made the walk to the university something calm and familiar in a way.