So that afternoon, Mina knocked on Seolhyun’s front door. When she stepped outside, she found her standing near the steps, rolling back on the heels of her wedges. Not what she would consider ‘gardening’ attire, though. The sun cast a halo around her head. In that moment, she reminded Seolhyun of a fairy princess. Or maybe a lit version of Tinker Bell, considering how hyper she was.

“Hey.” Seolhyun stepped out onto the porch, closing the door quietly behind her. “My mom’s sleeping.”

“Oh, your mom is back?”

“Yeah, she’s staying. After telling her what happened last night, she’s been activating her Mother Mode on instead of Mom Mode.”

Mina leaning her elbow on her knee, then resting her chin on her hand. “Uhm, am I supposed to guess the difference?”

“Well, she said that your sister emailed her last minute application, although that really wasn’t necessary according to her, and although your sister is a hottie, still according to her.”

“Wait, she’s saying ‘hottie’?”

Seolhyun nodded.

“I hope I didn’t wake your mom,” Mina whispered.

“She would sleep through a hurricane or tsunami. It’s happened, actually.” Seolhyun shook her head. “The hurricane, I mean. She would be swimming if it’s tsunami. I don’t know, Mina.”

Mina grinned as she sat on the swing. She looked timid, hugging her elbows. “As soon as I came home with groceries, Hyejeong ate half a bag of my potato chips, two of my popsicles, and then half of the peanut butter jar.”

Seolhyun started laughing. “Wow. How does she stay so...” Hot. “Fit?”

“She likes running. It’s amazing.” Mina pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them. “Although she eats so much. I guess I shouldn’t be endorsing. My envy is almost painful.”

“I am not blessed with a fast metabolism, so I do running too. My hips and could prove to that. That’s so not fair, Mina. I eat a bag of chips and gain four pounds.”

Her easy grin seemed tighter. “Anyway, you must tell me all about Seoul. Never been there.”

Seolhyun propped herself up on the porch railing. “Think nonstop shopping malls and parking lots.”

“Wow,” Mina said, her gaze darting next door as if she were waiting for someone. “It’s going to take a lot for you to get used to living here. Adapting can be... hard.”

Seolhyun shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem that bad. Of course when I first found out, I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me. I didn’t even know this place existed.”

Mina laughed. “Yeah, a lot of people don’t. We were shocked when we came here.”

“Oh, so you guys aren’t from here either?”

Her laugh died off as her gaze flicked away from Seolhyun’s. “No, we’re not from here.”

“Did your parents move here for work?” Although Seolhyun had no idea what sort of jobs were around this place.

“Yeah, they work in the city. We don’t see them a lot.”

Seolhyun had the distinct impression there was more to it. “That must be hard. My mom is rarely here either.”

“I guess you understand then.” A strange, sad look filled Mina’s eyes. “We kind of run our own lives.”

“And you would think our lives would be more exciting than this, right?”

Mina toed the swing back and forth, neither of them rushing to fill the uncomfortable silence. Dark clouds seemed to roll in out of nowhere, casting a shadow across the yard. “Oh no! I guess we better plan to garden tomorrow instead. Are you available?”

“Sure thing.” Seolhyun shivered in the suddenly chilly air. “Wonder where this storm came from. It seemed to come out of nowhere, didn’t it?” she asked.

Mina jumped up from the swing, wiping her hands on her pants. “Looks that way. Well, I think your mom is up, and I need to wake Hyejeong.”

“Sleeping? She’s so baby.”

“She’s weird,” Mina said, skipping down the steps and twirling around. “I’ll tell her you said hi!”

Seolhyun felt her cheeks turn a flaming red. “Uhm, that won’t be necessary.”

“Trust me, it is!” Mina laughed harder and then sprinted to the house next door. Full of joy.

Mrs. Kim was in the kitchen, coffee in hand. As she faced her daughter, steaming brown liquid sloshed over the counter. The innocent look on her face gave it away.

Grabbing a napkin, Seolhyun walked over to the counter. “She lives next door, her name is Mina, and I ran into her while I was at the grocery store.” She swiped the napkin over the splotches of coffee. “She has a sister. Her name is Hyejeong. Gosh, as if you didn’t know, Mother.”

Mrs. Kim smiled. “Is Mina nice, dear?”

“Yes, she’s very nice.”

She blew softly and then took a sip, eyeing Seolhyun over the rim. “I’m so happy. Did you make plans to hang out with her tomorrow?”

“You would know. You were listening.”

“Of course.” Mrs. Kim winked. “I’m your mother. That is what we do.”

“Eavesdropping on conversations?”

“Yes. How else am I supposed to know what is going on?”

***

Pressing her forehead against the glass, Hyejeong cursed under her breath, mainly because she was staring out the window, at that house. Waiting. She was waiting.

She forced herself away from the window, yawning as she rubbed her palm along her jaw. Damn, near three days later and a part of her still couldn’t believe people had moved into the house next door.

With an ignoring wave of her hand, Hyejeong the TV and flipped through the channels until she found a repeat of an episode of Korean variety show. She had seen this episode before, but it was always fun watching the humans run out of the house because they thought they saw something glowing. She lounged on the couch with her legs on the coffee table and tried to forget about the girl with tan legs and a killer .

Before Hyejeong knew it, she had stalked across the room and ended up right in front of the window. Again. She didn’t want to examine why too closely.

She brushed the curtain aside, scowling. Hadn’t even spoken to the girl since last night and she felt like a stalker staring out the window, waiting once more... waiting for what? To catch a glimpse of her? Or to better prepare herself for the inevitable meeting?

Returning to the living room, she wasn’t at all surprised to find her sister standing in front of the TV, her arms crossed and gray eyes burning. Hyejeong gave her a heavy sigh as she headed to the couch and dropped down on it. “You’re blocking the screen.”

“Why?” Mina demanded.

“It’s a damn good episode.” Hyejeong knew that wasn’t what Mina was talking about. “The on