When Wheein woke up, she found out that Yongsun had changed positions during the night. Her head was now buried in Wheein’s neck, one arm and one leg over her. Yongsun clung to Wheein as if she were a giant teddy bear.

Wheein was surprised to be the first one awake between the two of them. Yongsun was an early riser, who hardly ever indulged in sleeping in late. Maybe she was really tired.

Wheein was wide awake now, and was debating wheter she should get out of bed or not. Because it was really conformable to have Yongsun hugging her like that. She decided to stay a few more minutes, not moving at all, simply listening to Yongsun’s steady breathing.  

It was calming.

In fact, all the moments with Yongsun were calming. Wheein had realized this in the past few days. She also realised that she was opening up more with Yongsun. Wheein had always been in her own world, keeping others at arm's length. But it was easy with Yongsun, Wheein wasn’t afraid to let her into her bubble.

Wheein suddenly had an idea. For once she was awake before Yongsun, it was the perfect moment to surprise her by bringing her breakfast in bed. She tried to extricate herself from Yongsun’s embrace without waking her, but it was almost mission impossible. She heard Yongsun mumble a few words of discontent.

‘Keep sleeping, I’ll be right back,’ Wheein said.

Wheein quickly made her way to the kitchen. The house was silent, Byul and Hyejin were probably still asleep. Wheein opened the fridge and found some eggs. She knew that Yongsun liked to eat eggs in the morning. She prepared some toast with butter while the eggs were cooking. She also found some fruits and decided to make a salad out of them. There was also bacon in the fridge, but Wheein preferred to leave it for Hyejin and Byul.

She didn’t want to deal with a hungry Hyejin.

After preparing two cups of coffee, she took everything on a tray and headed towards Yongsun’s room. When she entered the room, she found Yongsun sitting on the bed, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

‘Good morning!’ said Wheein cheerfully.

‘Good morning,’ said Yongsun in a raspy voice. ‘You seem to be in good spirits today.’

‘Yeah, I slept very well,’ replied Wheein while winking at Yongsun.

She sat down next to her and placed the tray between them.

‘I brought you breakfast.’

‘Oh, thank you,’ said Yongsun smiling. ‘You didn’t have to.’

She grabbed a piece a fruit and put it in .

‘I shouldn't still be in bed at this hour,’ said Yongsun after she let out a sight.

‘You always get up super early and do so much in a single day, but you know, sometimes it's nice to spend the morning in bed,’ said Wheein.

‘I can’t help it, if I do that, I feel like I’m wasting my time.’

‘But you’re spending time with me right now, is it wasted time?’ asked Wheein.

Yongsun chuckled at Wheein’s pouting face.

‘Of course not!’ she replied. ‘That’s why I’m making an exception.’

‘I’m flattered then.’

They ate while talking about the movie they saw last night, and Yongsun started teasing Wheein because she got scared at one point.

‘I wasn’t scared!’ Wheein whined. ‘The jump scares just surprised me.’

‘Yeah, that’s the point of a jump scares,’ Yongsun said smirking.

‘I was saying something to you, that’s why I didn’t see it coming.’

‘So, you’re putting the blame on me now?’

‘You’re not going to let me off, huh?’

‘It’s okay wheeinie, I’ll hold your hand next time so you’re less scared.’

‘Shut up’, said Wheein and Yongsun just laughed.

Yongsun was really playful today. Wheein didn't know if it was just in her head, but she felt like they were more comfortable with each other. The atmosphere was light, they were just laughing and teasing each other.

But Yongsun suddenly became serious.

‘Did you see Byul or Hyejin on your way to the kitchen?’ she asked.

‘Hmm no,’ said Wheein while chewing her toast.

Yongsun stayed silent, her eyebrows furrowed.

‘Is something wrong?’ Wheein asked.

‘It’s just…’ began Yongsun, ‘Do you think something is happening between Byul and Hyejin?’

Wheein nearly choked on her toast.

‘What? You know that Hyejin is straight right?’

‘Yeah, yeah’, said Yongsun, ‘but have you noticed how she’s been acting lately?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘She always wants to be with her, sometimes she just drags Byul with her, saying that they have to do something together, but she’s vague when I ask her what they did. And last night, she suddenly wanted to sleep with her? I don’t know, that’s strange, no?’

Wheein finally realised why Yongsun thought that. She hadn’t seen it because all of this was part of their “plan”, but it was true that Hyejin’s behaviour was really weird and unusual. Wheein understood Yongsun’s confusion but she couldn’t help but laugh. The situation was pretty ironic.

‘Are you making fun of me?’ asked Yongsun

‘No, no!’ Wheein replied. ‘I see why you’re saying this, but I can assure you Hyejin is not interested in Byul. I think she just wanted to change our group’s dynamic.’

Yongsun nodded.

‘And honestly’, Wheein continued, ‘I can’t imagine the two of them being together, it would be a disaster.’

This made Yongsun laugh.

‘Yeah, you’re right,’ she said. ‘How long do you think their marriage would last?’

‘Shorter than Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries' marriage.’

‘No, I know’, said Yongsun still laughing, ‘Less than Britney Spears and Jason Alexander’s.’

‘Oh, I don’t know this one. How long did it last?’

‘Fifty-five hours.’

Wheein burst into laughter.

‘Surely they wouldn’t last as long,’ she said.

They continued to joke about it while finishing their breakfast.

‘But to be honest,’ Wheein said suddenly, ‘I don’t really mind that Hyejin is spending more time with Byul.’

‘Why, are you sick of her?’ Yongsun asked with a smile.

‘No, but I can spend more time with you.’ said Wheein, looking Yongsun in the eyes. ‘And it’s actually really nice.’

‘Ah, yeah it’s nice,’ said Yongsun in a whisper.

Wheein wasn’t sure, but she thought she saw Yongsun blush.

After finishing their breakfast, they decided to go see if Byul and Hyejin were awake. Before leaving the room, Yongsun took the book that was on her bedside table with her.

‘New book already?’ Wheein asked.

‘Ah, yeah, but it’s not a novel this time.’

‘What is it?’

‘It’s a book about the different forms that justice can take,’ Yongsun explained.

‘Different forms that justice can take?’

‘Yeah, like, you know, justice is not dispensed in the same way everywhere. Us for example, we send people to prison, but there are peoples who don’t do that.’

‘What do they do then?’ asked Wheein, curious.

‘Some communities, instead of punishing, prefer to restore broken relationships. It’s quite interesting.’ Yongsun replied.

‘Do you think it’s better?’

‘I think the idea of having a less punitive system could be a good thing. Prison doesn’t solve all the problems.’

‘Hmm, I never thought about it, but it’s really interesting,’ said Wheein.

‘Want me to pass you the book when I’m done with it?’

‘Well, I don’t think I will read it. Give me a summary when you finish it.’

Yongsun chuckled.

‘Alright,’ she said.

They found Byul and Hyejin in the kitchen, eating the bacon that Wheein had left for them. They were already bickering.  Byul was complaining, saying that Hyejin had taken all the space during the night.

‘Definitely less than fifty-five hours,’ Wheein whispered to Yongsun.

The rest of the morning was calm. They just watched cartoons on television. Without Hyejin having to do anything, Yongsun and Wheein sat down next to each other. The same thing happened later, when they settled on the terrace to play games. It was like a new unspoken rule had been decided: Yong and Wheein had to sit side by side.

‘What game are we playing?’ Yongsun asked.

‘Hmm, do we have any plans this afternoon?’ asked Byul.

‘Nope, we have nothing to do,’ Hyejin replied.

‘We can play monopoly then,’ said Byul.

After two hours of playing, it was war between them. Well, it was mainly between Byul and Yongsun, as Hyejin and Wheein were almost bankrupt. Yongsun and Byul were taking the game way too seriously, both determined to beat the other. Hyejin and Wheein preferred to stay out of it. When Byul and Yongsun were like that, it was better not to try to get between them. After another thirty minutes of play, Byul eventually managed to ruin Yongsun.

‘Finally it’s over!’ said Hyejin while letting out a sight.

Please log in to read the full chapter