Devil on a Harley (2018) - Chapter 8
" We slept... "
They had just spent Saturday evening window shopping at Myeongdong and were several blocks away from Jessica's place when it suddenly started to pour.
Lightning streaked across the sky, followed by loud clashes of thunder.
Revving the Harley a little harder, Yuri opened a little more throttle, with the intention of getting Jessica home a little faster. But by the time they'd reached the covered porch of Jessica's apartment building, they were drenched through.
"I'm not letting you ride home in that rain," Jessica said, removing her helmet, shivering a little from the cold. "It's dangerous riding on wet, slippery roads."
"I'll be all right." Yuri reassured.
"Yuri, there's a thunderstorm out there. Besides, it's freakin' cold. Let me drive you home."
"No can do. You hate driving in the rain, remember? Then, it'll be me worrying about you getting yourself home safely."
Jessica stood glaring at Yuri, one hand on her hip. "You're stubborn."
"And you're not?" Yuri glared back.
"Fine. We're both stubborn. But I'm still not letting you ride home on that thing in that rain. What I say goes," snapped Jessica. "You're sleeping over."
*
Stretched out on the couch, remote control in hand, Sooyoung was channel surfing when the pair walked in.
"You two look like something the cat dragged in," she said in jest, looking at the wet couple. Then, she decided to take a dig at Yuri, "Why are you only sending our Princess Jessica home now? Do you know how late it is? Don't you have a home to go to?"
"Ignore," Jessica said loudly to Yuri, tossing her a towel. "She's just being her obnoxious self."
"Who are you calling obnoxious?"
"Oh good, you heard. There's a storm out there, in case you haven't noticed. Yuri's crashing here tonight." Pulling Sooyoung off the couch, Jessica gave her a shove in the direction of her room. "Bedtime for you, bud."
"But I'm watching TV." Sooyoung protested as Jessica gave her another push to get her moving.
"You're only channel surfing. Don't waste electricity."
"Is Yuri bunking with you?"
"Of course she is. You got a problem with that?"
"My concern is, if you guys are thinking of getting it on, do keep the noise down, huh?"
That was the last straw. Marching up to her roommate, Jessica gave her a kick on the rear end, the impact of which sent the lanky one stumbling into her room.
"Hey, what the-" Sooyoung yelled.
"Go sleep already, Gutterbrain!" Jessica yelled back. Turning to Yuri, blushing a little, she said, "You didn't hear that, all right?"
"Are you two even friends?" Yuri was amused by the antics of the two best friends.
"Of course, we are. The bestest."
"I don't think Sooyoung thinks very much of me?"
"Oh no. She thinks the world of you, really."
"But that's totally not the kind of vibe I'm receiving?"
"Believe me. She loves you to bits. Which other twerp would bring her ddeokbokki at 2 in the morning?"
*
Some time before dawn, Yuri stirred, feeling something warm nuzzling into the back of her neck. She was lying on her side, the position that supposedly gave her the best sleep quality. She tried to move but found that she couldn't. From behind, there was an arm thrust under her armpit, holding her. A leg was thrown over her hip. AND there was the surreptitious feeling of someone's nose poking at her, exhaling breaths of warm air, tickling her skin.
The rain had stopped. Moonlight streaked in through the window where the blinds were half-drawn.
She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she?
Then, as her senses came back to her, she remembered.
She was in Jessica's room. And it was Jessica who had her face buried in her nape, nose nuzzling her, her gentle breathing warm against her skin.
Carefully, so as not to wake the entity spooning her, Yuri peeled away the arm that had kept her immobilised. As soon as that was done, Jessica's leg slid off her hip voluntarily. Yuri was free to move. Turning herself around, she gazed into the blonde's face. There was a child-like innocence about a slumbering Jessica.
How can anyone be so beautiful?
The corners of her mouth curling up in a smile, Yuri booped the tip of Jessica's nose with her finger, before smoothing the back of her hand along her jawline.
[ Several hours prior... ]
"I should've gotten you one of Sooyoung's." Attempting to keep a straight face, Jessica stifled a giggle. "Mine are way short for you."
Unfazed, Yuri looked down at the grey sweatpants that Jessica had lent her, the hems of which rode up several inches above her ankles. "Yeah, well, it's not like I'm going anywhere, so I'm good."
Jessica pointed to her queen-sized bed. "You're the guest. Your call. Left or right? I sleep in the middle most of the time."
"Why don't I take the couch outside?"
"Don't be ridiculous. It gets really cold in our living room." Jessica pushed Yuri onto the left side of the bed. "Oh, just take the left."
It was to be a long, torturously agonising night for Yuri as she lay on her side of the bed with her back to Jessica. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that the girl was already in deep slumber, one arm raised above her head, knees drawn up in fetal position, the duvet in a tangled mess around her legs.
To be in bed at such close proximity to Jessica Jung, who was as cute as she was desirable, and not being able to touch her, kiss her, make mad, passionate love to her, drove Yuri half insane. It didn't help that Jessica was braless, nipples straining against her camisole, and those barely there boxers of hers didn't cover much of her behind, either.
Yuri glanced at the clock on the nightstand, its luminous green digits glowing eerily in the dark.
02:15.
Daybreak was mere hours away.
Forcing all unwholesome thoughts out of her head, Yuri carefully pulled Jessica's duvet from around her legs and gently covered her lithe frame with it. Then, she shut her eyes tight and finally drifted off to a listless sleep fraught with constraints.
05:05
And here she was, couple of hours later, groggy, but awake and gazing into Jessica's face.
She brushed her finger fleetingly against those kissable lips, quickly retracting it when the blonde stirred.
Jessica half-opened her blurry eyes to find Yuri looking at her.
"Mmm..whyarentchasleepin'? Summin'wrong?" she mumbled incoherently.
"No. Go back to sleep."
"C'mere..." Jessica shifted closer to Yuri, snuggling her head against her chest. "Sleep..."
Seconds later, Yuri heard her snoring softly, and knew that she had fallen alseep again.
Wrapping her arms around the blonde, inhaling the wondrously soothing scent of wild lavender shower gel that lingered in the tight space between them, Yuri whispered, "I love you, Jessica Jung."
Contented just to have Jessica in her arms, she closed her eyes and finally managed to get some shut-eye.
*
At 8am, Jessica's best friend eyed Yuri as she stepped out of the bathroom.
"Hmm.... latest fad?" Sooyoung smirked, pointing at Yuri's borrowed sweatpants.
"You never know. This just might start the next fashion revolution," Yuri replied with a half-smile. "The absolute must-have in everyone's wardrobe-the girlfriend's too-short-for-you sweatpants."
"Oh. You. Crack. Me. Up."
Just then, Jessica emerged from her room, stretching her arms above her head, yawning. "What cracks you up?" she asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"Your girlfriend's non-existent sense of fashion and humour."
*
Yuri left without eating breakfast, saying that a client had booked Fotowerkz for a morning photo shoot, so she needed to get back to her studio in a hurry.
Jessica and Sooyoung stood at the kitchen sink, one washing the dirty dishes, the other drying and stacking them away.
"So, what happened last night?" Sooyoung asked, rinsing some bowls.
"Nothing," Jessica replied nonchalantly.
However, she vaguely remembered that some time through the course of the night, she had somehow, subconciously, rolled against Yuri, ending up snuggled against her back. Then, in the morning, she had woken up in a startled daze to find herself, face buried in Yuri's chest, an arm around her waist. She had no recollection at all as to how that could have happened. Embarrassed, and seeing that Yuri was still asleep, she had quickly disengaged herself and rolled back to her side of the bed, her heart thumping wildly.
"Pretty sure I heard, you know....noises." Smirking, Sooyoung nudged her roommate.
Jessica stopped what she was doing to throw her best friend that what-the-fuck look. "Noises, huh? You must've been having some dirty, perverted dream. Or maybe you fell asleep watching porn on the Internet." She reached for the bottle of dishwashing detergent and thrust it into Sooyoung's hand. "Here, your brain needs washing."
"Seriously, have you guys never done the deed?" Sooyoung looked at the bottle with disdain.
"I know you're raring to hear all about our little sexcapades, but sorry to disappoint you, bud."
"So, all you gays did last night was sleep?"
"Would I lie to you?"
"You lie to me all the time, Jess."
Jessica was flabbergasted. Maybe she had cried "Wolf" once too often.
"We switched off the lights, she slept on the left, I slept on the right, our backs to each other. Nothing happened, period."
"Are you two even in a relationship?"
"My thoughts exactly. What if I tell you she's never even tried to hold my hand, let alone make any other kind of advances?"
"No shit?"
"I shit you not."
"Maybe she's just waiting for you to make the first move, you know, after what happened the other time when she tried getting it on with you and you screamed bloody murder?"
Jessica shook her head, confused. "I dunno."
Sooyoung thought for a while.
"Hmm. Maybe she just wants clarity. On your part, that is. She wants to be sure that you're totally into this relationship..." she paused, then continued, "Jess, are you sure you want in on this? Have you seriously thought about the consequences? The complications?" Sooyooung saw the look of bewilderment on her friend's face and sighed, "At this stage you're still wavering?"
There was a period of silence, the two best friends standing beside each other at the kitchen sink, the taller one glancing at the shorter one every now and then, while the shorter appeared to be deep in thought.
"I'm very much in love with her, Sooyoung," Jessica finally said. "My mind was already made up from the very moment we started dating. Of course, I've thought long and hard about the consequences. We can't tie the knot here since it's not legal. We can't have kids and I know Yuri loves kids. My mom would probably have a fainting fit if ever she finds out her daughter's turned gay. And my dad? He just might disown me. But you know what? I don't give a fuck anymore. Yup, I'm throwing all caution out the window. To hell with all those homophobes out there."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm in too deep to back out now. Yuri's been through a pretty rough emotional patch, God knows she's broken enough. I really can't let her go through all that shit again."
"Let her know where she stands in your life. That's the least you can do. Sheesh, you guys need to communicate." Sooyoung paused for a bit before adding, "Whatever your decision, I'm with you."
"Thanks, bestie. You're a sweetheart."
*tbc