There sits a green police box in a corner of the park, between the main campus of university and rows of shops. Well camouflaged in summer, but very obviously standing out in winter, it is an outstanding landmark in busy lives. In the mornings, the shutters are down, and the only people there are those walking back and forth to go to work or lectures. Byulyi was just another one of those people, running past to get to her all-important hip-hop dance practice that, for some insane reason, started at 9 in the morning. But there was no time to grumble; she had already overslept, and Seulgi was sending text after text message telling her to hurry up.

Arriving at the dance campus 15 minutes in, her teacher just shooed her into one of the practice rooms, where her dance partner was tapping her foot impatiently.

“Honestly, one’d would have thought that you would be the one arriving earlier. Considering that you’re two years older than me, shouldn’t that make you more mature?” Seulgi asked, fiddling with her phone, not bothering to look up.

“Age has nothing to do with it. People like me need their beauty sleep, you know,” Byulyi retorted, chucking her bag in a corner of the studio. Walking forward, she started stretching, twisting and turning her body to maximise flexibility.

Seulgi snorted. “Doesn’t work, that beauty sleep of yours.” Byulyi shot her an offended look, only to have the other girl raise an eyebrow at her, grinning. 

“Hurry up and finish your stretches already, let’s start practising!”

A few hours later, Byulyi’s stomach started growling. “Jeez, unnie, did you not have breakfast or something?” Seulgi sighed. The two girls were lying down, exhausted after practice — well, or more like, a while of fooling around followed by an intense dance battle.

Byulyi shook her head, appalled by her friend’s ignorance. “Woman, it’s lunchtime already, lunchtime!” Enticed by the idea of getting delicious food, she hopped up. Grabbing her bag, she started to dash out the door, stopping briefly to call back: “Get your own food with someone else if you’re going to be this slow!” Seulgi could only shake her head in return, before attempting to reach out for her phone at the other end of the room. She ended up rolling on the floor, then grabbed the device. Scrolling through her contact list, the dancer quietly wondered to herself whether anyone was up for lunch.

Meanwhile, Byulyi’s mad rush out of the building nabbed her what she thought was the best place for lunch; a good spot in front of the green police box, where a queue was already starting to form. Why green though, I’ll never understand, she thought to herself while standing behind a few people, while the crowd behind her buzzed with hungry excitement. At least make it blue, like the TARDIS.

Just then, her surroundings descended into a hush. It was starting. Byulyi always anticipated the show, remembering every single detail, like how the crêperie’s day would start when the overhead basket of apples and potatoes started oscillating with a simple rhythm. The top half of the police box doors swung downwards, stopping halfway to form a flat surface at waist-level. Hot plates appeared out of nowhere, and combs of bananas were hung around the open window. With the ring of a bicycle bell, the stall owner hauled ingredients and batter into the little box that was the crêpe shop, and clipped menus onto the display surface with lightning speed. A quick scratch on the chalkboard for the day’s special pancakes, and for the finishing touch, the stall banner unfurled from the roof, displaying the name for the whole world to see: ‘Suzette’.

The crêperie was officially open for business!

“Wait, hold on, everyone,” Yonghee, the stall owner, announced. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet. She’s my younger sister, and she’ll be helping me here. Yongsun?”

Byulyi turned her head at Yonghee’s gesture, and her jaw almost dropped. A woman with breathtaking beauty shyly walked towards them. Her hair, dark brown, cascaded down in waves, framing her fair face. She wore a simple crop top with a white skirt, and her flats shuffled awkwardly, not used to the attention. Taking her sister’s outstretched hand, she bowed towards the crowd. “Hello, my name is Yongsun. Please take care of me,” she said, her voice quiet.

Everyone roared with approval, making Yongsun turn red with embarrassment. Over the din, Yonghee shouted, “Hey everyone, I know she’s pretty, but keep your hands to yourself!” Tugging her younger sister into the cramped stall, she proceeded to continue with a: “Queue up and start ordering! We haven’t got all day!”

After much jostling around, Byulyi finally got to the front of the queue. In front of her, Yongsun was furiously writing orders down on a notepad, while next to her Yonghee was flipping pancakes like a pro. “Um,” Byulyi started, “A magherita crêpe, please.”

Writing her order down, Yongsun queried, “Would you like any extra cheese with that?” Byulyi nodded affirmative. “That’ll be 5 dollars, please.” Rustling through her pocket, she withdrew a crumpled bill, and handed it over, her fingers accidentally making slight contact with Yongsun’s waiting hand.

Whether it was just her that felt a spark upon receiving that touch, she couldn’t tell. But when Yongsun’s eyes widened and looked up at her, the sunny smile that reached the girl’s eyes made Byulyi’s heart beat just a bit faster.

“Your order will be ready in 15 minutes.” Yongsun couldn’t stop smiling at Byulyi, even after she pocketed the note. She wasn’t doing a science course nor did she pay much attention in her physics classes, but Yongsun was certain that the tingling feeling she had when their fingers made contact wasn’t just a simple static shock.

Stepping back, Byulyi let the tide of hungry people behind her push her aside, all the while staring at Yongsun. She almost ignored her name being called, almost forgot her hunger or the crêpe she ordered, her gaze so fixated on the young woman that went by the name of Yongsun.

That day, on the 18th of June, Byulyi met the girl who would change her life.