The crowd was too thick for her. The noise coming from everyone talking about her friend Hyuna’s new paintings was too loud for her. The exit was only a couple meters away, and all she had to do to end this awful feeling was to go through that door.

“Are you okay, Yerim?” her friend smiled at her, and she nodded with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. To her, smiling like that was as easy as telling little white lies; over the years, she’d become a master at it. Now, she thought it’d be too troublesome for her friend if she found out. However, both of the girls knew that their friendship, which had started in kindergarten twenty-three years ago, made it impossible to hide secrets from each other.

“Don’t look at me like that,” the uneasy girl said. “I’m totally all right.” Her friend wouldn’t stop giving her the familiar look that told her ‘I know you, and you’re not okay’, but after five long seconds, she gave up trying to fish out the truth from Yerim. Just as she opened to speak, a young man in an expensive suit came up to them. He started complimenting her work, which was displayed around them on the walls, and that was when the other girl decided to walk away. This was Hyuna’s time to shine and impress the many possible buyers in the crowd; she shouldn’t have to look out for her friend for the next two hours and a half.

Although Yerim had been to many art galleries before, she felt different tonight because of how much more crowded the place was. Usually, she would be able to navigate easily to look at the framed and painted canvases, but it was the complete opposite tonight. Normally, standing still and taking in the different paint colors and brush would calm her down and make up for the disturbing and stressful factors around her, and thankfully, it was like that tonight. After walking around for a couple of minutes, her friend caught up to her.

“My brother and his friend will be here soon, so why don’t you go talk to them?” she suggested. Again, people in suits and dresses were approaching her, wanting to talk about her art.

“Sure,” Yerim lied, which made Hyuna give her the same look as earlier. Her friend wanted to say something more, but again, she was snatched away by interested buyers.

As time passed, the girl left to herself felt more at ease after drowning her thoughts in what the different colors symbolized, what each different brush meant, and what emotions and memories the various paintings awoke in her. When she looked at the clock on her phone and saw that only thirty minutes had passed, she sighed heavily. Two hours left.

***

He would describe the painting before him as lively, happy and bright. He liked the wavy and thick paint covering the white canvas; he thought they gave off a playful vibe. It reminded him of sunny days during the summer when he was a kid and could play outside with his friends after his homework was done in a haste. The title of the artwork was Life.

Around him, groups of people were mingling and discussing the art around them, and everyone had a glass of champagne to sip. His glass was half full and the bubbles were slowly fading away.

“There you are, Wonho,” a familiar voice called out from behind him. When he turned around, he was greeted with a brightly smiling friend of his, Shownu. He was a year older than him, and his smile made his eyes look like little crescents. His friend had dressed for the occasion, and unlike himself, he didn’t feel stiff in his black suit.

“How come you’re arriving thirty minutes late when you invited me here?” the boy who felt slightly out of place laughed as he let his hands slide into his pants’ pockets.

“Seoul traffic is the worst at this hour,” his friend explained. “But you weren’t completely alone here without me, though. My sister found you, right?”

“She basically jumped on me with the background stories of all of her artwork displayed here tonight, and I didn’t even get to say a word before she was gone and talking to some other people,” the younger friend told, earning a sigh and a shaking head from the other boy. “But it’s her night tonight. When she’s worked so hard, she can talk all she wants about every piece she’s made. However, if she’s talking to me, I can’t promise I’ll listen to all of her stories.” They shared a laugh, but it was quickly interrupted by the girl they’d talked about; she was dressed in a light white dress, and she looked so happy she could skip around the room. Now, when Wonho thought about how much work she had put into all of her work, and although he didn’t say it, he thought he couldn’t congratulate her enough. She had chased her dream and reached one of her top goals, and she was as old as he was, only twenty-three. He wished he’d had a dream to chase when he still studied.

“How is my big brother, who decides to show up late, and his friend doing? I hope you’re not completely bored to death already,” she laughed with a big smile showing off her white teeth.

“I was stuck in traffic, Hyuna” Shownu quickly apologized in a sigh when his sister gave him a look.

“But you’re here, so whatever,” she brushed him off. “Seeing you’re not with my best friend, I guess she didn’t listen to me, again. I don’t want her to walk by herself in here the whole night whilst I’m talking to the other guests, so could you guys look out for her a little?” The two boys looked at each other and nodded before they asked who her friend was. The girl clapped her hands, thanked them, and then looked for her friend in the big crowd of people in suits and dresses, but she couldn’t spot her. “She’s around here somewhere. I’m sure you’ll find her easily, cause she’s the only girl not wearing heels.” With that, she was gone and already talking to a possible buyer.

“Why don’t you find her? I need to go to the toilet,” the older friend said and patted the other on the shoulder.

“Come one, man, you just came in here and now you’re leaving again?” Wonho replied, but his friend was already on his way out of the crowded room. The boy left behind let out a little sigh before he started looking for the girl who didn’t wear heels tonight. However, he quickly realized the search wouldn’t be easy. The room wasn’t big, but the many people mingling around made it difficult to navigate around. He figured it’d be best if he just walked around looking for her.

Slowly, he made his way through the crowd all around the white and brightly lit room with art hanging on every wall, but without luck on his side. When he reached the spot where he’d started, he smiled to himself when he finally saw a pair of black combat boots. Bingo. When he moved his gaze upwards, he saw the back of a girl standing alone and in a little black dress. Her hair was dyed in a dark and cool-toned bro