On Friday night, Irene entered her kitchen, shrugged into a long cardigan sweater, and found Seulgi standing in front of her refrigerator, studying the myriad of random snapshots. “Yuri should be ready in just a minute. Are you all set?”

Seulgi looked back at her and nodded happily. “Is this your friend Tiffany?”

Irene leaned in over Seulgi’s shoulder and followed her gaze to the photo in question. “Yep. That was taken right after high school graduation. Please ignore my looks. it's the kooky candid shots ”

Seulgi shook her head in amusement and pointed at a photo near the center of the group held to the fridge by an Immaculate Home magnet. “How old is Yuri in this one?”

Irene frowned in concentration. “She would be 3 years old there. You can’t tell, but she burst into tears moments after that photo was taken. Santa kind of freaked her out until she was about 5.”

“Her and me both.” Seulgi chuckled, turned around, and took Irene’s hand. “I like that you have all of these photos up here. It just feels so, I don’t know, homey.”

“Is that a secret word for lame?”

“Nope. I like your place. It feels happy and vibrant, like you.”

While that was true, Seulgi was also aware of just how strange it felt to her.

She tried to imagine herself living in such a bright little busy world, but she was stalling out.

She wouldn’t know how to go about creating “homey” if she tried.

It was a problem.

“It’s excruciatingly small next to yours.”

Seulgi had to agree.

The place was tiny.

She was guessing less than 900 square feet, but Irene had definitely made use of the space.

There were potholders dangling from the oven, magnets of the alphabet on the dishwasher, and framed photos of family and friends all over the place.

Organized chaos was a good word for it.

“No, it seems perfect for you two.”

Irene beamed back at her.

Her smile could end wars.

Unable to help herself, Seulgi leaned in for a soft kiss, lingering a bit longer than she meant to and sighing internally at the tingling sensation Irene always seemed to leave her with.

“You know, I’ve missed you,” Irene told her quietly.

She brushed Seulgi’s cheek ever so softly with the back of her fingertips. “Is it mandatory that we wait a week to see each other? I know you’re busy but —”

Seulgi placed a gentle thumb to Irene’s bottom lip, quieting her. “I can find more time. I’ll buy it if I have to.”

For some reason, when she was with Irene, the rest of the world seemed less important.

It was an illusion, she reminded herself, but lately that was getting harder to remember.

Irene kissed her thumb. “Good. Now that that’s solved, we have some vampires to watch. Let me rustle up my kid.”

Once at the theater, Yuri bounded to the concession stand.

Seulgi followed casually behind her as Irene paid for their tickets, a condition she insisted upon.

After settling on popcorn and Junior Mints, they found their seats in the theater, Irene sitting in the middle.

“I guess I should update you on what’s happened so far in the series,” Irene said.

Seulgi stared back at her blandly. “If you feel it’s important.”

“It is,” Yuri chimed in.

She leaned across Irene in all seriousness. “Very.”

“Got it. Inform away.”

As Irene recounted the trials and tribulations of Edward and Bella in precise detail, Yuri waved to a boy a few seats in front of them, who waved enthusiastically back and continued to steal glances at Yuri throughout the next few minutes.

“I don’t mean to interrupt,” Seulgi said. “But I think the child has an admirer.”

Yuri blushed and shook her head emphatically. “That’s just Brant. He’s my friend. Can I go talk to him, Mama?”

“Sure,” Irene answered, seemingly amused at Yuri’s sudden shade of red. “Be polite to his parents.”

Seulgi watched Yuri scamper down to the front of the theater.

As soon as Yuri was out of earshot, she turned to Irene. “How’s she been?”

“She’s had a great week, actually. Hasn’t mentioned camp once, and invited Sooyoung over to play, which from what I hear, I have you to thank for. I’m glad she felt she could talk to you.”

“I hope it was all right. I think she just wanted an outside opinion.”

“You are the cooler one, after all.”

“Well, obviously,” Seulgi replied. “What about the cardiologist? Tell me again what he said.”

“He doesn’t love that she had a second episode, but thinks it’s nothing to get too alarmed about, as fainting can be a symptom of this particular condition. But he did recommend we consider a pacemaker so Yuri can live a more active lifestyle without worry of similar spells in the future. He wants to implant it over her Christmas break so she has time off from school to recover.”

“That sounds a little scary. Are you going to do it?”

“I think so. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t terrify me to have her operated on, but maybe it’s for the best when you think about it in the scheme of her entire life. I’ve talked to Yuri and she’s all for it, but then she’s always been a little too fearless.”

“It sounds like you’re doing the right thing.”

Irene elbowed Seulgi softly as the lights in the theater dimmed. “Shhh, vampires are about to make out.” Irene snuggled down into her seat and smiled up at Seulgi. “Hand me the popcorn.”

Yuri returned and the screen lit up with action, adventure, and romance.

Seulgi, as hard as she fought, found herself actually into the vampire storyline.

About halfway through the movie, Irene climbed over Seulgi for a quick trip to the restroom.

It was less than a minute before Yuri leaned across the empty seat between them.

“Can you keep a secret?” she whispered.

“Usually,” Seulgi whispered back, curious.

“It’s important.”

“Okay. I’ll do my best.”

Yuri leaned in a little closer. “I think my Mama likes you.”

“I like her too. I like both of you.”

“No. I mean, I think she has a crush on you.”

It was all Seulgi could do to not choke on her mouthful of Diet Coke.

She was fairly certain this was not information Irene would have shared with Yuri. “What makes you say that?”

“She smiles a lot more when you’re around or when she talks to you on the phone, and it’s not like with her other friends. I’m telling you, it might be a crush.”

“All right, I’ll keep that in mind.”

She leaned back into her own seat, still trying to process Yuri’s very surprising revelation.

And then in a much louder whisper, audible to almost the entire theater, Yuri asked her final question. “You are a lesbian, right?”

Seulgi didn’t have a chance to answer and pretended not to notice the several curious heads that turned her way because luckily, Irene chose that exact moment to return to her seat, planting herself between them. “What did I miss?” she asked excitedly, looking from one of them to the other.

Seulgi offered her a wry smile.

****

“Are you sure she actually used the word lesbian?” Irene eyed her skeptically 2 and a half hours later.

They sat on the stairs in front of the door to Irene’s apartment so Yuri, now asleep for the night, would not overhear.

“I’m fairly certain, yeah.”

“Wow. Just when I think she can’t surprise me any further.”

“She’s a very intuitive little person.”

“Apparently, more than even I realized.”

Seulgi stood. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. She didn’t seem distressed at all. Strangely, quite the opposite. I have a feeling she’ll come around and talk to you about it sooner rather than later.”

“If she waits too long, I think I’ll have to broach the subject with her first. I want to make sure she’s not full of some wild notion she saw on television.”

Standing up and joining Seulgi, she shook her head. “I could just kill my father, by the way. I’m pretty sure this is straight from their afternoons of CNN.”

“Don’t be too hard on him. At least he’s spending time with her. I can’t imagine what it would be like to watch television with my parents growing up, not to mention my grandparents.”

Irene nodded and seemed to study Seulgi for a moment longer than usual.

“What?”

Irene shook her head. “You’re so beautiful. Sometimes it just hits me.”

Seulgi didn’t know what to say.

There were times when Irene rendered her speechless, and this was one of them.

All she knew to do was kiss her, Irene, who could make her feel so many things.

And she did just that, leaning in, and then sinking into that wonderful flood of pleasure that kissing Irene always led her to.

But what was meant to be just one kiss turned into much more as the always present spark between them took hold and caught fire.

Irene kissed Seulgi back eagerly until she found herself pressed up against the brick wall of the stoop.

Seulgi was kissing her now with what could only be called skilled precision and she was getting lost in it all.

She must have a master’s degree in kissing.

Irene felt a weakness creep into her body that could only be cured by pulling Seulgi closer to her, up against her, so she could feel her all over.

She allowed her hands to drift lower from around Seulgi’s neck where they rested, until she caressed the small curve of her hips and even lower until she was cupping Seulgi’s tightly, all the while their mouths continued to dance.

Sighing deeply, and warring with her body’s natural instinct, Irene reluctantly slowed the pace of the kiss and pulled be grudgingly from Seulgi’s.

She took a moment to catch her breath and right herself.

When she raised her gaze, there was a new look in Seulgi’s eyes.

There had been so many times Irene had asked herself how Seulgi was feeling, but in this moment, she knew.

She could see the sincere emotion clear as day.

Irene lifted her palm to Seulgi’s cheek and caressed it softly.

“I might be in trouble here,” Seulgi finally whispered. “Doesn’t feel casual.”

Irene shook her head slowly in agreement. “Maybe trouble’s okay.”

“I didn’t plan on this.”

“You’re not the only one.”

“It’s like no matter how many barriers I put up, you’re able to decimate each and every one.”

Seulgi moved away, and when she did, her eyes flashed a vulnerability Irene had never seen in her before.

It was clear she was uncomfortable and it pulled at Irene.

“Don’t run from me, Sseul.”

“I’ll probably screw up.”

“It’s possible.”

“But I want to try.”

Irene leaned in and kissed her softly. “Then we will.”

Seulgi took a deep breath and smiled.

She took Irene’s hand as they walked the short distance to her car. “Let me know how it goes with Yuri.”

“Okay.”

And then a terrifying thought occurred to Irene. “What if she says something to my parents?”

“I get the impression she’s protecting you a bit, so I don’t