Seulgi (present)

The dark-haired woman awoke from her short flashback, as the sound of Joohyun asking her something rang through the conference room. For a moment she felt a bit lost, wondering how they even got here when she remembered that they had already travelled back to Seoul to discuss how the house was going to be. The day when they visited the house again together had already been a week ago. “I’m sorry, what?” Seulgi had to ask, slightly embarrassed for not listening because that was so unlike her.

Joohyun and her colleague, a smiley woman apparently nicknamed Joy, only chuckled a bit. “I asked, if you would like the house to be like this,” she began before gesturing towards a fancy sketch of a house in front of her. It was going to represent the old home, and although it was fancy and seemed luxurious, it didn’t feel right.

Actually, not one single idea they came up with sounded right for Seulgi no matter how much she tried to wrap her head around it. “I’m not really too impressed with the size,” she began while letting her gaze study the sketch. “It seems too large.”

Joohyun stood there, a bit exasperated although she tried to hide it with a sigh. Seulgi didn’t know what to say to that, because although she had tried it didn’t feel right. “You said the previous one was too small,” Joohyun began before writing down something, the room turning a bit quiet. Then, after a minute or two of thinking, she sat down to face Seulgi. “In today’s market, most potential buyers would love designs like this,” Joohyun began slowly, showing the previous models and sketches she had done. She was right, because these modern designs were in fact outstanding, if you were to ask Seulgi herself, but she didn’t necessarily like them.

She told herself too many times that if she wanted this, she’d have to let go of the memories and everything the house used to be. It wasn’t even going to be hers to keep, and she doubted the future owners would appreciate old drawings and words she had scribbled all over the walls. “I know,” Seulgi began after a while, leaning back on the chair she sat on. “It’s just that it doesn’t feel right, for some reason,” she admitted then as Joohyun could only nod. She didn’t reply to it, however, as Seulgi could only look at the concentrated expression of the woman in front of her.

“Then why don’t you just renovate it?” Joy chirped in. Seulgi almost forgot that she was in the same room, and she drifted her lingering gaze away to see Joy sitting down beside her. “The house itself isn’t all too bad, and if you can capture the view it could sell really well.”

Then, as Seulgi turned to look over at Joohyun, there was something alike a brilliant smile coming from her lips before she spoke. “Yes, that’s also a good idea,” she began before grabbing a blank sheet of paper to draw. “If we modernize and upgrade the house, and place an extension out here to showcase the view…” Joohyun trailed off as her small hands started drawing on the white page.

Her grip on the pencil was still as loose as she always held it, something Seulgi had been annoyed with for God knows how long, but the result that comes in front of her eyes made her forget it in an instant. “Then we can keep some of the old, and add some of the new,” Joohyun concluded after a while with a sketch of the plan she had for the house. Seulgi looked at the drawing in slight awe, never really having understood how Joohyun could create things so realistically with just a pencil.

After a moment, Seulgi felt herself nodding before sitting back. “I think I like that idea,” she began, and then they both came to an agreement, which meant the end of a long day. However, it was just going to be the beginning of the coming construction.

They packed up quickly, Joohyun being done for the day whilst Joy had to go somewhere else. As the other woman exited the room, they both stood there alone. The dark haired girl, however, didn’t want the day to end that quickly. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee,” Seulgi tried to mention as casually as possible, hoping she wouldn’t seem too giddy. “Do you want to come with?” She felt her heart beat a bit faster by the sudden offer she gave Joohyun, but she hoped she wouldn’t get rejected. Wow, a grown adult can freely present huge numbers and economics in front of huge crowds, but she gets nervous asking an “old friend” for coffee? Their definition of friend, however, hung a bit loose in the air because Seulgi was never really sure how to identify their relationship to one another.

“Sure,” Joohyun agreed casually while grabbing her briefcase. “I was planning on heading down to the coffee shop anyway.” They both take the elevator to the first floor, a slightly awkward silence lingering between them. Seulgi had no idea what to say, because they couldn’t really talk to one another without mentioning themselves or everything in the past.

The conversation starts again when they actually enter the coffee shop and finally sit down with each of their beverages. Seulgi decided on her usual coffee Americano, but as she thought, Joohyun ordered one of those sweet things that she couldn’t even understand anyone could like. “Caramel syrup, milk and cream,” Seulgi tsked as they sat down by a table, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “Where’s the actual coffee in that Caramel Bruleé latte?”

Joohyun only rolled her eyes, but in good nature after taking a sip of her drink. “It’s good, and I don’t drink my coffee as black as my soul,” she retorted as they sat there.

“Some things never change, Joohyun,” Seulgi said while drinking her coffee, the other hand tapping on her thigh as she looked over at the said woman.

Her eyes were gazing right back at her, her rose-painted lips luring a playful smile. “You are the only one who still calls me that,” she began and Seulgi felt her eyebrow quirk in surprise. “Most call me Irene now.” Seulgi let out a small chuckle by that, not because the name was funny or anything, but rather because she just didn’t understand why. It was a weird habit she possessed; sometimes she laughed when she was confused.

“Why exactly Irene?” she began to ask, removing a speck of dust from her black blazer. “I don’t remember you using that before, how come?”

Joohyun shrugged a bit, but Seulgi had a feeling she had an answer to that. “I had to start getting used to not being called Joohyun anymore,” she began slowly, but although she sounded normal, there was something lying beneath that.

“Well, Joohyun, I have no plans on calling you anything else,” Seulgi said as a matter of fact. Joohyun, or Irene as she suddenly was called, let out a laugh that felt so comfortable that it set Seulgi in ease. She didn’t know why, because she had heard her laugh so many times before when they were younger, but the slightly huskier tone she had made her sound both different and the same all at once. Seulgi wondered then, if the woman right in front of her ever thought of the same. Did she miss her as well? Were there still some lingering feelings somewhere?

“There you are!”

Joohyun turned around, breaking eye contact with Seulgi and she didn’t know why she almost felt a bit sad about it. She decided to follow where Joohyun’s gaze went and over to the person who called out for her, who was sporting a lovely smile on a pretty face. “What are you doing here?” Joohyun asked, and even if Seulgi couldn’t see her expression she sounded surprised, but in the good kind of way. Joohyun was about to get up, but the other woman simply sat down before she could even see who it was.

“I was walking down the neighborhood, because someone here managed to mess up the order again,” the stranger said towards Joohyun, but there wasn’t any harm in her voice, just a melodious tone that ringed through her red-painted lips. Then she let her gaze drift toward Seulgi, who seemed to gain her attention just now. “Oh, you must be thinking I’m a total impolite klutz; I’m Wendy,” the woman, who was previously nameless, apparently had one, as Seulgi only shook the hand that was offered to her.

Her eyes twinkled in something that seemed so free and playful, her fair skin complimenting the dark locks falling down through her narrow shoulders. There wasn’t a single blemish to spot on her face, and she almost looked a lot younger than them judging by her voice and appearance. Seulgi couldn’t deny it though, Wendy was beautiful, and that was all there was to it. She wondered if she was a friend of Joohyun, but before she could ask she felt something cold lightly touch her skin as their hands met. “Kang Seulgi,” she introduced herself politely with a smile. “It’s nice meeting you.”

Wendy smiled in return, a friendly aura arising throughout her entire expression. “I’ve heard so much about you, but I only get to meet you now,” she began before her kind gaze went over to Joohyun. “You’ve got to stop being so secretive.” Joohyun only shrugged, taking another sip of her coffee. Wendy only took the opportunity to speak further, and her voice almost sounded as if she was singing through every sound. “You guys were childhood friends, right?” she asked such an innocent question, and albeit true, Seulgi felt that her gaze awkwardly darted away for a moment.

Yes, they probably were friends… or they were something more, but she wasn’t too sure. Everything about them was so hazy and cloudy that she couldn’t really judge anything clearly. They were both on two different sides of their lives and plans; they didn’t even confirm anything. “Yes, you can say that,” Seulgi replied after a moment with the best casual smile she could muster, not wanting to really think about the memories of them two together.

However, whoever owned the coffee shop they were sitting at didn’t seem to care about what Seulgi thought. The minute the soothing jazz music switched to something else, was the minute Seulgi unconsciously met eyes with Joohyun’s slightly larger ones. It was a bad turn, almost desperately bad, because she could tell that they were probably thinking about the same thing. A familiar song rang through the walls of the coffee shop, back to days when things were so much simpler and tougher at the same time. “Do you remember this song?” Seulgi wanted to ask, wanted to confirm it, but she couldn’t get herself to utter the words of what used to be the closest to something called their song.

For a thousand days, I had believed that our love would last forever.