Devil on a Harley (2018) - Chapter 10
" Found: My Other Half "
The alarm went off at 6:30 am on the dot, as it did every work day.
From under the bed covers, a hand reached out to silence it.
Turning to look behind her, a slow smile crept up Yuri's face, seeing her girl still soundly asleep, spooning her, cheek pressed against her back.
Gently removing the arm that was draped around her middle, she slipped out of bed, picking up items of clothings that were strewn all over the floor. She pulled on her clothes quickly, glancing every now and then at Jessica, who was now lying on her belly, one arm above her head, the other tucked underneath the pillow, her face buried in it.
Blinds drawn back, the first rays of the morning sun streamed in, casting its pale golden glow over the girl.
Hovering over Jessica, a kiss landing on a bare shoulder, Yuri whispered against her ear, "Time to wake up, Sunshine."
ZZZ
"It's Monday. You need to go home to get changed for work." Yuri patted the blonde lightly on her butt. "Yo, Jessica?"
ZZZ
Jessica remained motionless.
As a last resort, Yuri yanked the bed covers up in one fell swoop, exposing the princess in all her naked glory, and then dove in, aiming a playful nip on that bare, royal rump.
"Arghhh." Jessica sat up, groaning and wincing in pain, rubbing her behind. "I hate you."
"That's not what you said last night," Grinning, Yuri threw some clothes at the blonde, which she deftly caught. "Come on, get dressed."
"That's not what you said last night," Jessica grumbled, copying Yuri's words. "Last night, someone wanted it all off."
"But hey, if you'd rather stay here all day in your birthday suit," Yuri fixed her gaze on two adjacent, perky mounds of flesh on Jessica's upper torso, "who's to complain?"
"I'll have to get dressed, then." Jessica blushed, pulling the sheets up to shield her modesty. "Do you mind?" She made a twirling gesture with her finger for Yuri to turn around.
"When I've already seen every inch of you?" You really are shy and I love you all the more for it. Laughing, Yuri made for the door. "I'll go fix us some breakfast. Get your butt out when you're decent."
*
Breakfast was a simple affair of coffee and toast, after which Yuri walked Jessica to her car.
Leaning against the Mini, both plagued by separation anxieties, they lingered for a bit in total silence, hands in each other's.
"Best get going," Yuri finally said, as she held the car door open for her girlfriend. "Drive safe."
"Call me?"
Yuri nodded, pulling Jessica in for a hug and a quick peck before giving the blonde a light pat on the rear to signal that she really should get going.
Getting into her car, Jessica shoved the key into ignition, and the Mini Cooper came alive, purring loudly. Yuri waved as she watched the car slowly reversing down the driveway.
Halfway down, Jessica suddenly stopped and popped her head out of the window.
"Yuri!"
"Something wrong?" Yuri ran towards the Mini.
"No, I-I just wanted to ask ..."
"Ask away."
"Was it...was it...good for you last night?" Jessica stammered, breaking into another brilliant blush.
"Couldn't you tell?" Adorning a half smile, Yuri stuck her head into the car, cupped Jessica's face in her hands and kissed the tip of her nose. "Yeah, it was really, really good for me. You were nothing short of amazing last night, Jessica Jung."
*
Just as Jessica was about to close the bathroom door, Sooyoung barged in.
"The hell-"
"Someone didn't come home last niiighttt..." Sooyoung taunted in a sing-song voice.
"I left a note on the fridge. Didn't you see it?" Jessica said as she pulled off her sweater, her back to Sooyoung.
"But you only said you were going to Yuri's. You didn't say you were staying the night."
"Kindly get your skinny ass out of here. I need to shower." Jessica wasn't about to tell.
"So, what happened?" Sooyoung pressed on, plonking herself on the porcelain throne, clearly with no intention of going anywhere.
As Jessica turned around to face her, Sooyoung's mouth gaped, eyes widened to the sight of a bright red patch on the swell of her bestie's left breast that her bra couldn't cover.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that a glorious whopper of a hickey right there?" The lanky one pointed, laughing and clapping her hands in glee. "I see someone finally got laid last night. Pop the champagne!"
Catching sight of her own reflection in the mirror, Jessica's face had turned about as red as that patch on her breast.
She swatted her sweater hard at her roommate in exasperation. "Oh, go away. I don't have time to mess around with you."
"Come on, fill me in with all the sordid details. What's she like in bed?"
Stripping out of the rest of her clothes, Jessica stepped into the shower. "So, you gonna sit there on the can and watch me shower? Well, you're wasting your time 'cause I don't kiss and tell."
"You're no fun..." Sooyoung whined as she let herself out of the bathroom, "why won't you tell me anything?"
*
Hyoyeon usually brought breakfast for Yuri in the morning.
A knowing look crossed her face when she caught sight of two coffee mugs and two plates on the kitchen counter.
Jiggling a brown paper bag of blueberry and chocolate chip muffins in her boss' face, she grinned. "I got you these but I see you've already had breakfast...with someone?"
"We'll just keep them for later," Yuri said with a straight face as she pushed the bag away.
"Would that someone be blonde and sweet-one, Jessica Jung?" Hyoyeon continued to probe.
"Stop making assumptions," snapped her boss.
"But I saw her driving off just now...wooot! "
"Did you forget your contacts?" Yuri pulled at Hyeoyeon's eyelid and peered into her assistant's eye. "My grandma has better eyesight than you."
Hyoyeon smacked her boss' hand away. "You guys are together. Admit it."
"You need to get your eyes checked. Leave granted to go to the optician's."
"Boss, any fool will be able to tell there's something going on. Geez...all those meaningful glances exchanged between you two whenever the magazine people are here to do a shoot. Oh, totes sappy." Grabbing herself by the throat, Hyoyeon made some gagging noises.
"Hey, I pay you good money to do serious work, not make useless observations about other people's...uh...meaningful glances."
"But you guys just make it so obvious, everyone knows. Anyway, I always knew Jessica was sweet on you right from the very first shoot we did for the magazine. Her eyes never left you."
"And your point is?"
"Come on, you don't really want me to spell it out for you?"
"So she couldn't resist my charms, deal with it."
"Oh, you charmed the pants off of her all right." Hyoyeon winked, nudging her boss with an elbow. "I'm so proud of you, Boss."
"I see you approve?"
"Honestly, I've never seen you happier. You really were rather reclusive before and didn't seem to have much of a life. So, yeah, I more than approve. Good on ya."
*
It had been a hectic day in the office for Jessica.
When she finally had a free moment, it was already late afternoon. Throwing back her head on the head rest of her highback swivel, she recalled the night she had spent at Yuri's, a tiny smile on her face.
Jessica had had several boyfriends in her lifetime, but had never once thought she would lose IT to a woman. Her virginity, that is.
The previous night, she had been shy, hesitant to take the initiative, but Yuri had been a considerate lover. Patiently, Yuri had led the less experienced Jessica throughout their lovemaking. Soft butterfly kisses, gentle fingers, lightly touching her, caressing her, bringing her to peaks of excitement, new heights of euphoric pleasure which she didn't think was possible to reach. In return, Yuri had guided her lover's novice fingers to zones where she herself wanted to be pleasured.
Jessica put her hand on that tender spot on her breast, next to her heart, where Yuri had possessively marked her territory.
"From now on, your heart belongs to me and only me." Jessica recalled what Yuri had said in a hoarse whisper.
Her thoughts were rudely disrupted when her colleague, Tiffany, suddenly popped her head into the room.
"Yo. Can I have a word with you?" Tiffany Hwang flashed Jessica her infamous eye-smile, that everyone who knew her agreed could light up a starless night sky the way Helen of Troy's face could launch a thousand ships.
"You can have more than a word. C'mon in. I like to know that the head is attached to a body?"
Tiffany sidled in and sank into the couch in a corner of Jessica's room.
"What's up?" Jessica joined her colleague on the couch.
"Taeyeon's driving me up the wall," Tiffany whined.
"Driving people up the wall is a Kim Taeyeon specialty, didn't anyone tell you? Those slave driving antics of hers have reached a new epic level. So, what'd she do this time?"
"It's what she did and didn't do, actually."
"Huh?"
"First, she gave me this near impossible deadline to finish an editorial she was supposed to be doing herself but for various reasons beyond me, didn't. Then, she didn't approve my leave application. It's like she just wants to work me to death. Never mind, I'll spare you the details. I'm just being whiny." Then Tiffany gave her blonde colleague a toothy grin. "What's with you, huh? You're literally glowing these days. There's an aura about you."
"Hmm...glowing is good. Wait...what kind of aura?"
"Tch. The radiant kind, naturally."
"Thanks a fat lot. I thought I look like crap with that shitload of work Taeyeon dumped on me recently."
"Then you look like a gorgeous heap of glowing crap." Tiffany winked, poking Jessica in the tummy. "I hear you're dating someone?"
"What the...how the..."
"Jess, it's all over the office. Everyone knows. We've been observing you with that groovy babe of a photographer who vrooms around on a Harley Davidson. Whoa....she's hot." Tiffany fanned herself with her hands to put her point across.
"Dear God..." Jessica slapped her forehead. My Devil on a Harley.
"Come on, it ain't the dark ages. We're already years into the new millennium, the 21st Century, darlin'. Gay is IN."
"Get real, Tiff. 21st century or no, we're in homophobic South Korea. Gay is freakin' taboo."
"Whatever." Tiffany shrugged. "But who gives a rat's crap what those fuddy-duddies out there think, anyway? I would totally go gay for Harley Chick. No qualms, absolutely."
"Pppffftt...you don't even swing that way. You're a man-eater, Tiff. You have dudes queueing all the way from Jongno sam-ga to Myeongdong, and then up Namsan, all waiting to get in your pants. You really haven't time to be gay."
"Funnyyy. But seriously, I really didn't think you were anywhere close to being gay."
"Ha ha...me neither. But love works in mysterious ways. Fate has it that our paths should cross and whambam-POW-I'm instantly LesSica, and insanely hooked on Harley Chick. It's our destiny, so to speak, and destiny is something beyond our control."
"That's downright cheesy."
"Aristophanes once said that we're always stumbling through our lives desperately searching for our other half-"
"Wait- Aristophanes who?"
"He's an ancient Greek writer or something."
"Really, now you're quoting some ancient Greek geezer?"
"It's just a book I've been reading where this ancient Greek...geezer...as you put it, was mentioned by the author."
"Oooh, someone's getting literary. I thought you only ever read fashion magazines and manga."
"Not funny. Anyway, ancient beliefs were such that people weren't just simply male or female, but male/male, female/female and male/female."
"Interesting theory, that."
"Meaning each person was made out of the components of two people, until God split everyone in half with a knife."
"Why would God do that?"
"He's God, so, He can do anything He wants."
"That's blasphemy. Continue."
"From then on, the world was divided into just male and female. The outcome of which meant people were always running around trying to find their missing half."
"And what you're trying to say is...?"
"Kwon Yuri was my other half before God split us up. I've probably been searching for her forever but was just not aware till now. But that's just my take."
"Whatever floats your boat. Anyway, I'm just ecstatic that you found your ... other half. You girls have my blessings. Rooting for ya, so, hang in there, Lovergurrrl."
"Thanks, Tiff. You're a sweetheart. Big hug?" And Jessica gave Tiffany a big bear hug, glad to hear some encouraging words from a well-meaning friend.
*
Date - December 4
Time - Close to the witching hour
Location - Some fancy ski resort outside of Seoul.
They were out on the balcony of their luxury ski lodge suite, naked and comfortably immersed in their own private hot tub, drinking red wine, and conversing in low voices, while looking out of the ceiling-to-floor glass panes that enveloped the balcony. Below, the ski slopes were deserted, being almost midnight. A fresh layer of snow had fallen on the mountains and it shimmered under the moonlight.
Setting down her wine glass, Yuri drew Jessica closer to her. Taking this as a cue to the start of another round of love-making, Jessica straddled her lap, sitting facing her other half, sliding her arms around Yuri's neck. Slowly, their lips moulded into each other's, eyes closed, tongues entwined, as they explored the warm caverns of each other's mouths. Lips soon found their way to the soft spot under Jessica's ear, kissing, sucking and nibbling, hands gently massaging the small of the blonde's back.
"Don't leave a mark," Jessica murmurred incoherently, amidst moans of pain interspersed with pleasure.
"Wear a muffler."
"Sooyoung saw the one you left on my breast the other time and laughed."
Frowning, Yuri pulled away abruptly, apparently annoyed. "How'd she manage to see that?"
"She was in the bathroom with me when I was about to shower."
"You were...naked?" Still frowning.
"We see each other in various states of undress all the time, like, when we're pressed for time and need to share the bathroom, and we do go to the mogyoktang together at times, too. It's not a big deal."
"Why'd you let her see you naked?" Yuri demanded to know.
"Why the sudden animosity? We're used to seeing each other like that. Nothing to it."
"From now on, no one gets to see you without your clothes on, except me, Jessica Jung."
"You're jealous of Sooyoung, who doesn't even have a single gay bone in her and who has absolutely no perverse thoughts about me?"
"Well, you were straight, too, or at least you thought you were, until you met me."
Jessica let escape a big sigh. "I can't believe we're having an argument about this in the middle of a make-out session. Fine. All right. Naked Jessica Jung is only for Kwon-with-the-raging-hormones-Yuri to see. Will that do for you?"
"You hiding anything else from me?"
"You know, you're cute when you're jealous like that." Pinching Yuri's cheek, Jessica pretended to think for a while. "Hmm...I have a confession to make. Remember when you were drunk in Jeju?"
"Oh no, not that again." Yuri groaned, loathing to be reminded of her embarrassing drunken ordeal in Jeju. "What did you do? Molest me while I was out and my defences down?"
"Close. I kissed you. On the lips. You were too darn pissed then to even notice."
Yuri lost her frown, replacing it with a lopsided smile. "You would take advantage of a poor, drunk girl? Hold on...you were already in love with me even way back then?" Snaking her arms around Jessica and drawing her closer, she whispered, "You just made me kick all my raging girl hormones into overdrive."
"Corny use of words. Just say 'I'm horny', it's more like you," Jessica teased.
Glancing down at her watch, Yuri hinted with a smirk, "It's past midnight. And officially my birthday. So, what are you giving me?"
"What do you want?"
"You know what I want..."
Outside and up above in the clear night sky, the stars twinkled and the moon shone bright for two who have found their other half.
*Fin*
Footnotes:
1. mogyoktang (목욕탕) - bathhouse
2. The book Jessica supposedly read - Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami ( Yours Truly had been reading this at the time Devil on a Harley was being written.)
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