Yonghee stared at her sister, then at Byulyi, then rolled her eyes. It was obvious to her, and to anyone who was within a sensible distance, that something had just gone down between the couple. Why else would they be wiggling their eyebrows at each other and giving each other, well, what Yonghee can only describe as eye ?

She coughed forcefully and put down her chopsticks. Her evening meal, it seemed, would have to wait. “Well, spit it out.”

“Huh? Spit?” Yongsun blinked at her older sister, confused. Yonghee only rolled her eyes and sighed.

“You wanted to tell me something, didn’t you?”

“Yes, actually, something potentially good just happened,” Byulyi said on behalf of Yongsun, who still seemed rather out of it.  Yonghee watched warily as the younger woman took Yongsun’s hand in hers and held it tight. “Eric-sunbae had a proposition for you and Yongsun-unnie.” She laid out the premise and explained the conditions laid out by Yongsun and Eric if they did end up sealing the deal.

Yonghee mulled over it. It was very straightforward, she thought, and would benefit everyone involved. There was nothing personal Eric could gain, and he did seem very eager to help. She wondered whether he was still romantically interested in Yongsun, but even if he was, there were no conditions along those lines that he had included in his proposal, which came as a great relief to everyone.

Not to mention the fact that if he really did find a shoplot, it would be a massive upgrade compared to the older, smaller stall that Yonghee had procured for herself years ago.

“I think it sounds pretty good,” she confirmed. “What do the both of you think?”

“I think we can call him and tell him that we’re agreeing to work together,” Yongsun grinned at her sister. Byulyi squeezed her hand happily, making Yonghee roll her eyes again.

“Okay, I know there’s something else you two need to tell me, right?” Yonghee asked, her gaze pointedly fixed on the couple’s hands.

Yongsun raised her eyebrows, followed Yonghee’s gaze down, and blushed. “Ah, well, yes.”

“We’re dating!” Byulyi declared, raising their clasped hands and executing a small, triumphant dance.

“About time too, don’t you think?” Yonghee remarked.

“That’s what I said too!” Byulyi agreed, and leaned forward to high-five Yonghee.

Yonghee clapped her hands together and looked at her blushing younger sister, and then at her sister’s girlfriend with a grin. “Alright. Now that we’re all happy and satisfied, let’s start talking business, shall we?”

*

Five women gaped at the shop before them as the man standing next to them grinned, amused. “Well?” Eric asked, his hands in his pockets to keep himself from fidgeting from pure excitement.

“You have to be kidding me.” Yonghee was the first to break the shocked silence. “This is the place you were talking about?”

Eric’s brows furrowed in concern. “Is it too small? I found bigger ones, but I was worried they were a bit too far from campus, and you and Yongsun might not be too comfortable with the distance-”

This time, it was Yongsun who whirled around to goggle at Eric in open-mouthed shock. “What are you talking about? This place is huge!”

The shoplot that Eric had managed to get hold of was indeed, to anyone’s standards, quite expansive. It was still quite new, with large foldaway glass doors leading to a wide dining area. At first glance, Yongsun could see rows of tables neatly arranged, wooden chairs with soft cushions, and a long counter at the back corner of the room in an L-shape. Behind that in a separate room was the kitchen, and as Eric lead the girls through the building he pointed out the facilities already installed, such as the stoves and large industrial fridges. A quick fiddling with the taps and light switches ensured that everything was in working order.

“Sunbae, this is amazing!” Wheein clapped her hands together in delight and nearly hugged Eric out of pure joy and impulse.

“I agree wholeheartedly,” Yonghee appraised. “I still can’t believe you want to work with us, and to basically present this whole shop is more than I could ever ask for.”

Eric flashed a grin. “Hey, thank you for agreeing to be a part of my project.”

“As long as you keep up your part of the promise,” Byulyi reminded him, still eyeing Eric with some apprehension.

Eric drew a cross across his chest with his hand and held it up as if he was repeating the national pledge. “Absolutely.” 

Yongsun tugged at Byulyi’s shirt and poked her affectionately. “Eric-sunbae is a trustworthy guy, Byul-ah. Don’t worry.” 

Her face was radiating so much excitement that Byulyi had to grin. “I know, unnie.” As she reached out and tucked a stray lock of hair behind Yongsun’s ear, Eric awkwardly turned to look at Wheein and Hyejin. Both girls rolled their eyes and turned away, making Eric smother a chuckle.

“Okay!” Yonghee interrupted Byulyi and Yongsun’s moment; it had only been at most a few hours since they had officially announced that they were dating, and the couple was already being so unnecessarily sweet to each other Yonghee felt her tooth ache. “Eric, we can walk over back to the stall and see what we can shift over here, see how long it’ll take. You girls can think of ways to advertise the new shop over dinner.”

Wheein drew herself up to a salute and giggled, nudging Hyejin to do the same. “We’ll get right on it,” Hyejin assured her. Both of them marched out of the shop, leaving Byulyi and Yongsun to follow them as they waved to Yonghee and Eric.

*

“Wheein and I could illustrate some posters for you all,” Seulgi suggested as she munched her way through a sandwich. She peered over Byulyi’s shoulder at the notepad the latter was writing her ideas on, nodded approvingly at the sight of her name written next to Wheein’s. Her eyes travelled down the list of notes that Byulyi had written down so far and chuckled when she came to one in particular.

“Convince Irene-unnie to model for some photos?” she read out, amused.

Byulyi nodded and leaned back to look at Seulgi. “You’re dating her, so help me ask.”

Seulgi stared at Byulyi, disbelieving. “Seriously? She’d kill me.”

Smirking, Byulyi shrugged and returned to her notes. “Better you than me.” She glanced up at the sound of approaching feet. “Speaking of…”

Seulgi sighed as her girlfriend strolled over in her dance sneakers. Irene all but leaped to wrap Seulgi in a hug, her arms firmly around the taller woman’s waist. She raised her eyebrows at the sigh. “Something wrong?”

“Oh, no, nothing’s wrong,” Byulyi reassured her before Seulgi could speak. “She’s just got something to ask you, don’t you, Seulgi?”

Irene fixed her gaze on Seulgi. “And what is that?”

“Well. Byulyi-unnie was wondering whether you’d be willing to help advertise Yongsun-unnie’s new shop. As, well, a model for a photoshoot?”

Irene immediately smiled. “Sure, why not?”

“Wait, really?” Both Seulgi and Byulyi asked, surprised by the quick answer. Irene nodded; it turned out that Yongsun had also come up with a similar idea and had asked her for permission beforehand.

“I see girlfriends think alike,” Irene remarked.

“Your girlfriend thought you were going to kill her when she asked you about modelling for us,” Byulyi pointed out slyly. But she had to grin. It was always good knowing she and Yongsun were working on the same wavelength, and with that in mind, she picked up her phone and made a quick call to her girlfriend.

“I think we’re ready,” she started when Yongsun answered the call.

“I think you’re right,” Yongsun answered. “Shall we begin creating the advertisements?”

Byulyi felt her lips tug into a fierce smile as she looked up at Seulgi and Irene. “We shall.”