“But Hyejinah, I really loved her.”

Wheein settled down next to her best friend. It had been a couple of months since the two of them met properly. Most of the time they would just have lunch together or a quick coffee before going back to their respective jobs.

Hyejin was a chef in one of Seoul’s most famous restaurants. Wheein was a photographer’s assistant in one of South Korea’s best selling magazines. Needless to say, both of them hit the jackpot at a young age.

They both decided to go back to their hometown for christmas.

“Let it be a road trip, it’ll be great opportunity for us to catch up,” Hyejin suggested, “I can get us a car.” She confidently said through the phone and Wheein cheered silently.

“Man I know you’re cheering right now, there’s no point from doing it silently!” Hyejin regretted her words the second loud screams broke through her earbuds.

Wheein reached for the cup of blueberry milkshake carefully placed in the cupholder. She took a sip, passed the drink to her best friend who was driving. “Keep your hands on the wheel and just drink.” She ordered.

“Anyways, it just didn’t make any sense, you know? The first day of work she invited me to lunch, and I thought, well it’s probably just to get friendly since we will be working together and as her assistant we will be around each other all the time, so we shouldn’t be awkward. I wouldn’t deny that I felt attracted to her the instant I’ve seen her during the job interview. She had ash khaki brown hair, long, straight unlike me, and bangs to hide her forehead.” Wheein chuckled remembering the first time she saw her boss’s forehead.

“I’m happy that you can laugh about it now,” Hyejin commented, paying attention to the road, by that didn’t stop her from flashing a warm smile.

“She would bring me coffee on daily basis, she walks in holding two cups of coffee, and she would hand one of them to me. The first time it happened, she had that cocky smile on her face, and said ‘it’s sweet, just like you,’ and I couldn’t even ask her how she knew I like my coffee sweet. She just left me speechless. She is cheesy, that’s for sure, and no matter how many times I cringed at her words, deep down I liked them, missed her corny sweet tongue -not literally- when she holds back these cheesy comments.”

Wheein took another pause, holding the cup with both of her hands, before bringing the pink straw up to her lips, taking a sip of the fruity drink, before leaning closer to her best friend who took the straw between her lips not minding it being shared.

Wheein glanced at the red stain from Hyejin’s lipstick and smiled. “This reminds me of that one time when we were twelve and our mothers made us wear pink and red matching outfits for christmas.” Hyejin clicked her tongue, “I hope that they don’t have pictures of that time because not only did we look ugly, but the colors surely didn’t go well together.”

Wheein nodded, placed the cup in the cupholder again, pulling her legs up, crossing them beneath her.

“I always looked forward to work, to meet her, to be around her. I loved our chitchats, lunch dates, and coffee pauses. You know, though, I always liked her, like just liked her, it never got intense enough to be called love, or to make her keep me up all night, until that one thing she did.” Wheein paused, and Hyejin thought it’s another milkshake-sip pause, but Wheein stayed motionless, lost in memories.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” The older girl asked, feeling her best friend’s eyes linger on her. “Pay attention to the road, please, I don’t want to die yet.” She joked punching the other girl’s arm playfully.

“Please, do not disturb the driver while driving.” Hyejin rolled her eyes, before focusing on the road again.

“Keep going though, what made you fall for her?”

“It was in June, after one of our most important photoshoots. I was sick, my typical summer cold, and thanks to my bad luck, we finished late, super late, that day, around 2 in the morning. I held it in, and didn’t want to burden the staff with my sickness, but once we were done with the models, I excused myself and headed to the changing room. I had a secret spot in there, it was in the back of the huge closet, covered with all the different outfits and accessories we had in there. Our designer, Jessica unnie, had told me about that place once, and it had a comfy couch all the way at the back. Anyways, so I excused myself and knowing that I totally had no energy left to grab my things and leave, I decided that a nap will not harm anyone. The staff and Byulyi unnie were still cleaning up, and I thought that by the time they’re done I would have gained some energy to take me home. I threw myself on that couch and fell asleep right away. When I woke up, it was almost too dark to see in the room, and I knew that I must’ve slept for longer than planned, and I must be left behind, alone. I started to panic, not that I’m afraid of the dark or anything,”

“Yeah as if I don’t know that you your pants in the dark,” Hyejin interrupted, earning another slap on the arm, one that hurt.

“So I was slowly sitting up, when a familiar voice asked ‘you’re up? Are you feeling better?’, and if not for my sharp mind, I would’ve started screaming so loud, but I knew whose voice that was. She the flashlight, and I looked around hazily, spotting a pot with a rag in it. I turned to look at the girl, and I became conscious of our position. What I understood is that she slipped next to me, and put my head on her lap, after she used a thin blanket to cover me. She told me that I had fever, and she used some cold water to cool it down, decided that it would be better to let me have some sleep before waking me up and taking me home.”

“Even I would fall in love with her if she had done that to me,” Hyejin commented, “such a gentlewoman,” she added, watching Wheein nod.

“Thoughts of her started keeping me up all night. Her touches burned and lingered till hours after letting go, and her lips seemed to lock me in an alternative universe where there was only me and her.”

“And me!!!” Hyejin interrupted and her best friend giggled.

“I started feeling things that I have never felt before, and I was sure I can call it love. Then few weeks later we had this photoshoot with South Korea’s hottest model,”

“Kim Yongsun,” the driver cheered, being a fan of the former, herself.

“Yes, Kim Yongsun. And the first thing I hear when I go to work that day was ‘she is our Byulyi’s girlfriend, the love of her life.”

“Holy , Wheeinah, seriously?” Hyejin asked rather loudly.

“Yes.”

“That she hit the jackpot!”

“Hyejinah!! Which side are you on?”

“I’m always on your side, Wheein my love, but I like to state facts.”

Wheein rolled her eyes, “so that night, I drunk my sorrow down, something that repeated itself for a month on two, before I decided to let go.”

“I know you did that, I picked your up from the bar every single night, remember?”

Wheein nodded, smiling, “and that’s why I love you the most in the entire world, Hyejinah!”