“Tell me, what exactly is your relationship with that girl from the café?”

“Eunseo… ssi?” It took several seconds before the weight of her question got to me.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how politely you call each other.”

I saw Umji raise her head, probably sensing the tension in our movement... or the lack thereof. And as soon as she saw the anxiety in my eyes, she pulled her earphones off.

“Yeah… I mean Eunseo...”

“You haven’t answered my question. Who is she.” A lot of Yerin's questions sounded more matter-of-factly than actual inquiry.

I took a slow, deep breath trying to kill all the time I had to formulate a response while cautiously looking at how Umji reacted. I saw from a few feet away that she kept tapping the edge of her laptop, I thought that maybe she was using Morse code but then she mouthed ‘best friend.’ I knew something might have happened that made Yerin become suspicion of the odd and undisclosed familiarity I have with Eunseo.

“Uhhh... Since I want you to be my girlfriend in the future, you should probably know about it. Eunseo is the daughter of Boss JD. She didn’t want anyone to know.” I had no choice but to tell her something. And there was no way in hell I could sugarcoat that information.

“How long have you known each other?”

“Since Boss JD took responsibility of me. I mean, the recruitment.” In my case, recruitment meant being included in his family registry. It caused a discomfort in my chest saying that to her. 

“Why do you ask all of a sudden, eonnie?” I continued.

“She guarded this with her life.” She handed me a hard envelop and I knew exactly what was inside and it made me smile, but it made Yerin’s expression turn from stern to pissed.

“Eonnie…” I tried to help her with the brown bags she was carrying. “… Eunseo has become like a best friend to me since I don’t have siblings.”

“You’ve answered my question, you can stop explaining.”

“But you’re upset about some-”

“I said, you can stop explaining.” She gave both bags to me and disappeared to the bathroom.

“Umji-yah! I just showered and she's gone back to menopause mode! What happened?!”

“I just know she was at the door, but I was wearing my earphones the whole time.”

“I’m certain, something happened. Urgh! I will kill Eunseo.” I immediately searched for my phone and found it off. I remembered clearly that its battery was not even half-consumed; Yerin would have turned it off for some reason.

ES: I didn’t know that your girlfriend was such a

SB: Don’t call her that! Something triggered her for sure! I told you she could be cold

ES: and a colossal

SB: TSK!  I think she might have read your messages while I was in the shower! But what exactly happened??

ES: Oh, you don’t shower together anymore?! Tired of each other already??

SB: Shut up. And for the record, we haven’t showered together YET. So, what happened??

ES: Nothing. I just gave her a taste of her own medicine.

SB: EUNSEO! What did you do???

ES: Calm down, I didn’t do anything. She was the one who was rude. I knew she could be like that, but boy, I realized now that my expectation of her level was so low. You really sure about dating her?!

SB: She’s not at all like that if you get to know her. And again, don't call her that

ES: Right. Tell that to the wall.

SB: You’ll never get to know her if you don't give her a chance!

ES: I was willing to. I even invited her for coffee. I think she got more pissed. ㅋㅋㅋ

SB: I had to tell her you’re the boss’ daughter!

ES: Oh . That’s how bad it turned out?

ES: EEEWW! Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself!

SB: Tsss… So, yeah, I felt she suspected something. I had to even tell her we’re best friends.

ES: Oh man, she really got pissed at me huh

SB: But how? Why? What did you tell her??

ES: Nothing that wasn’t true! I said that I thought she might not recognize me since she never practiced in the shooting range… That she was doing a whole-body inspection of me... That we could be besties and I could teach her some manners, like handshaking… And probably something more. I did not record our conversation, you know.

SB: EUNSEO!!! Why did you say those?! You know how sensitive she could be when it comes to shooting practices! I almost got shot, remember?! And handshaking? Really?!

ES: Oh yeah… That must have slipped my mind.

SB: Geez… With all the guts to say all those, no wonder she asked me how I was related to you. I almost peed my pants, you idiot.

ES: C’mon! I’m sorry. Anyway, it’s your fault for leaving your phone!

SB: I know. But… You could have been kinder. That’s my future girlfriend you insulted there.

ES: I’m sorry, okay? I’ll make it up to her when we get the chance to meet again.

* * *

After the confrontation, I ceased existing inside Yerin's fragile bubble again. So, I kept a respectable distance which I thought would be the best thing to help her calm down. I couldn’t decipher from her body language if she was jealous or just upset of whatever happened between her and Eunseo. Whatever it was, I was not in the most advantageous position to approach her.

But it has been two hours of just watching Umji stare at the computer and Sowon fall in and out of sleep in between her worried checks on Eunha. The silence was crippling and it only enflamed my yearning to persist in her planet again, no matter how frightening.

I was foolish to think that it was inconceivable to long for someone who was just reading across the room. The emotions Yerin made me feel were all admittedly foreign. They were only movie plots and song lyrics which I’ve always ridiculed as either juvenile or just completely preposterous. I thought I would never be the sappy, overly attached kind of [future] girlfriend. But now, I couldn’t stop cringing to every thought I have of her. It was undoubtedly the romantic kind of love and it was overwhelming me. And it was not helping that the daily unpredictable turn of her volume was causing my emotions to go in a state of chaos- a beautiful chaos.

It didn’t come as a surprise that she was back to her ultra-premature menopausal tendencies toward me. This push-pull relationship with her is definitely aggravating my love hormones. But that day, I resigned myself to accepting that it would take more than a kiss and a hug to soften Yerin and break all her walls, especially that my best friend just drastically lowered my odds of another late-night lip tasting session with her.

Another hour has passed and my body was now terribly itching to be close to her. So, I cut a small section of what was left of the brown paper bags and scoured for a pen. Then I remembered the envelope Eunseo brought and decided to take it with me. It took an extra ounce of bravery to walk toward the sofa where Yerin was. I sat and started writing.

After a few seconds, she returned the note to me without even lifting her head.

The only reply I got was a proofread version of my note to her. She wasn’t in the mood to talk; and I was equally not in the mood to get scolded. So, I decided to give it another hour before I tried my luck again, probably with a more grammatically correct note.

But after thirty minutes of quietly sitting inches away from her, I fell short at restraining myself again. Now, I was desperate to make some contact. I searched my phone, and while looking at her with my most heart-melting puppy eyes, I made her listen to a song.

She reached for my phone and pressed the pause button. But I was not ready to back down yet, so I searched for another song that was more intense, moved cautiously closer and cutely pouted at her while it played.

She scowled at me, took my phone and muted it. Even my brazen showcase of cuteness was futile in changing her mind. That was the ultimate cue to steer clear for the next hour or two and continue to mull over what had happened earlier. I concluded that at that rate, I would most definitely sleep alone that night with only the cold tiled floor to kiss me.

Defeated, I just tore the envelope open so I can be reminded of the thoughtful, non-scary version of Yerin.

It was the most adorable thing- Yerin’s drawing of a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant. She painted the one where you can see the actual elephant inside the hollow boa. This precious drawing was what Eunseo had to guard with her life. She blew up on me when I told her she had to find it in my room and bring it to the hospital. She protested to the last minute declaring it would just be an utter misuse of her energy and time, but she did it anyway.

I wanted to ask Yerin what went through her mind when she was preparing that gift for me. I wanted to know how she felt. I wanted to know how apprehensive she was, considering she had to drag Umji out the apartment to finish it in secrecy. It was something I’d never imagine her do.

I can’t help but smile while studying the faint sketch marks that remained after she ran an eraser through the errors she made. I was happy just knowing how determined she was to make it perfect. I pictured her vigorously scraping the paper with the eraser tip and growing impatient when the shades of grey didn’t go her way.

I don’t know if it was my careless handling of the envelope or that while in my dreamy state that I have unknowingly made a noise, because when I unconsciously turned to her, she was already looking at me, distracted. And her eyes were in their usual indecipherable expression.

“I’m sorry, eonnie. I’ll just go sit by Umji.”

* * *

“Urgghmm...” There was a hesitant clearing of throat.

“Umji-yah, eonnie and I aren’t even making out, yet you’re still getting sick??” I jokingly asked her while restively scanning through the songs on my phone just to see how fast they moved up the screen.

I felt a reckless nudge. That made me automatically look up and then I saw Yerin fidgeting in front of me, looking at random lines on the floor.

“Eo-Eonnie?”

“I nd tbuy—som--ng-dwnstrs.” I’m sure Yerin said something sensible and I just didn’t catch it.

“Huh?”

“I… ndtobuysomthngdnstairs.” She mumbled and briskly moved to the door.

I looked at Umji, anxious to draw some meaning from our brief and confusing encounter.

“Did she just curse at me?”

“I’d be overjoyed if she did, but no. She just said she needs to buy something downstairs. There’s a convenience store in the first floor.”

“Ahhhh…”

“What are you still doing here?”

“Talking to a diabolic nerd, bored.”

“What will I do with you...” Umji seemed to have suddenly developed a headache.

“What did I do now??”

“SinB-yah, she said, she. Needs. To. Buy. Some. Thing. Down. Stairs.”

“Um. Ji. Yah. I. Know. I. Heard. You.” I replied with the same singsong manner. “I just didn’t get it… when… she… said… it… to… me.” OHHHH… “Oh! She wants me to go with her?”

“Is this the part where I hiss in disappointment and ask why you’re even asking?”

“Umji-yah, she wants me to go with her! She can't go anywhere without me! She’s talking to me!”

“This is definitely the part.” She, in fact, hissed before she massaged her temples with one hand. “Why are you still here?! She’s already out the door.”

“Wait! My wallet.” I almost jumped to the other side of the room and searched for it. Sowon could only shake her head to the sudden commotion before returning to caress Eunha’s forehead pushing the stray hair off her face.

“Take this to her.” Umji threw in haste the yellow hoodie I wore the previous day.

“But red is hers.” I halted before opening the heavy door.

“I know, cheeseball. But we don’t want her to standout, do we?” Yellow was lesser evil, that was what Umji wanted to say. She just could not refrain from adding a dash of insult to her reply.

When I scampered out of Eunha’s hospital room, Yerin was nowhere in sight. I ran flustered across the hallway to the elevator but she was not there. She could not have gone down that quick, so, I instinctively ran to the other end, zigzagging my way through the nurses’ stations, waiting benches and a few emergency carts resting along the quiet halls.

“Eonniiiiie…!” I could win an Olympic medal for the way I bolted through the entire floor like I was running for my life- Yerin.

By the elevator door, a few rooms away, she heard me and turned around. With the way she curled her lips, I knew she muttered “Hmm?” -that quizzical hum that never failed to enkindle warmth within me.

I halted a foot away from her. The anxiety and sudden sprinting caused me to gasp for air and hold my knees in exhaustion. “Eon-nie… I’m co-ming...”

Through the disheveled hair that kept annoying my face, I saw her bite her lips before responding. “Really…?”

That’s when I realized that in my failed attempt to hold in the panting, my throaty words slipped out with labored breaths. YEAH, I KNOW! I always sound so wrong lately! It’s not me, it’s the freaking hormones!

Fine. Maybe it’s also me.

“Ahhmm... I mean…” I was still gasping. “… I’ll go down on you… WITH YOU! I MEAN WITH YOU!”

.  If Umji heard me, she would have said I had another Freudian slip. 

“In the elevator...?” She said as the elevator door opened. At that point, I didn’t know if she was asking about down on her or with her because she had that amused smirk on her face. Nevertheless, I was already so discomposed to clarify.

I stood quietly behind her unconsciously nibbling my lower lips while following the light that travelled through the numbers on one side of the metal panel as the lift descended. I almost forgot to even hand her the hoodie to wear.

“Hmmm… Eonnie, wear this.”

She just looked at me with furrowed brows.

“I just grabbed that one, I couldn’t find yours. I’m okay, so, just wear it.”

“Okay.” She took the sweatshirt and moved closer to my side before she wore it.

“You’re… going down to the convenience store?” I asked just to allay the awkwardness.

“Yeah… With you.”

“Y-Yeah… I’m coming with you.”

“You mean, going.”

“Y-Yeah, yeah I'm going with you...”

I guess it was just an afternoon of correcting my verbiage and grammar but I couldn’t stop the adrenaline from making me blush. But when I decided to just focus my attention to the metal floor underneath, I felt her fingers slither swiftly between mine. My cheeks passed the warm stage, because they started burning.

We entered the convenience store, which seemed like a gift store more than anything, and circled the racks and refrigerators over and over like she was looking for something only a hardware store would have.

“Eonnie… Why don’t you just find another job aside from this?” I asked out of my preoccupation with wanting to take Yerin out of the danger zone she is in.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re very smart. You can get any job, I mean within your credentials. Have you tried?”

“I did once. Applied to some clinics to assist or whatever they need. But they said my resume didn’t contain anything.”

“Did you write that you are a really good student?”

“That’s the only thing I could write.”

“Maybe you should have written something more eye-catching on your resume.”

“What should I write then? Jung Yerin, straight-A university scholar slash assassin-for-hire? That wouldn’t look nice on my resume, would it?”

“Sounds hot to me…”

“Pardon me?”

“Huh? Uhh… I said it’s hot… in… here...?”

“You are a really a lousy liar…” But she smiled when she said that.

“Your resume just really… caught my eye.” It wouldn’t change my reputation as a lame liar but I knew that my words caused warm inconvenience to her cheeks.

Eventually after tugging me aisle after aisle, she decided to get a two noodle cups and bottles of cold brew coffee. I thought it was not the best combination, but whatever. She juggled the cups with one hand because she continued to lock the other hand with mine. That made it the perfect combination.

We went to the counter and she gave her card to be charged. It took a brief daydream and a few heavy breaths before I realized what mistake almost happened. For that delay in my mental process, I blame Yerin’s fingers that playfully my hand.

“NO MISS!” Even Yerin was startled by my sudden interruption that she let go of me. “I’m paying!” I dropped my wallet to the floor before I managed to get a few bills. The only good thing about that rattled moment was when I bent down in my attempt to catch my wallet, my head bumped into Yerin’s behind. Haaaaa…. When will I be able to touch those…? Yeah, I know I already did! But I mean, consciously.

The lady behind the counter, who was equally stunned by my anxiously amplified voice, just nodded and returned the card to Yerin.

“Kamsahamnida!” I took the plastic bag and tried as calm as possible to pull Yerin out of the store.

“SinB-yah.”

There was an impending interrogation in her tone but I tried to act as casual as I could. “Yes, eonnie?”

“Is someone tracing my digital print?” Yerin knew everything I guess- through telepathy, Chi-Chi sticks, tarot cards, stars, face reading, body language, who knows?!  It was borderline paranoia if you ask me; but she’s so smart that I cannot make myself lie anymore and get into trouble again.

“Eonnie.” I dropped all the calm pretenses. “I just want to be safe. I don’t think it’s a good idea for any of us to be making our identities conspicuous online.

“You know something that I don’t about the shooting.”

No, Princess, you kind of know everything. She is really scary. If her allegations didn’t side on the truth, I would have thought that she was just delusional. But she was not. I knew it would come to a point where she’d ask about the incident, especially now that she knows how close I am to the “boss’ daughter.”

“We better go up.” I held out my hand so she can take it again. “We need to talk to Sowon-eonnie about it.” That was when she took it just in time for the elevator to open in front of us.

* * *

But just when we got inside the room…

"Yah, I'm sure the first aid for gunshot is to apply pressure over the wound so I don't bleed to death, not rattle my shoulders and confess your love over and over." Eunha said almost whispering the very moment she woke up.

“Eunha…!” That was all Sowon could say and it still came out nervous.

“By the way… I still love you too, Sowon-ah.”

That was the first time our leader did not attempt to answer cleverly. She just stood up and smothered Eunha with hugs like they were a long-distance couple seeing each other after years of separation. She was crying, she could hardly kiss her but she still did with so much desire and aching. That scene would have grossed me out on an ordinary day, but it was a different Sowon who was there beside Eunha, even Yerin held my hand tighter when she saw what happened before us.

Eunha started crying; she was barely breathing that the monitor alarms started beeping. Even when Yerin pulled me toward the bed so we could mute the alarms, they were unbothered in their exchange of I love yous. They had their own world where it’s only them and their longing existed.

It was a good thing that it was Umji’s time in the bathroom because the next several seconds would have caused her projectile vomiting.

.

.

.

But shower wasn’t long enough to prevent her from having a glimpse of it.

“PLEASE! Someone has to warn me if I’ll be seeing a giraffe SHAMELESSLY canoodling a wounded bunny!” Umji immediately turned around splattering water from her drenched hair onto the floor.

“OH MY GOD! You’re alive!!!” Yuju’s voice caused Yerin and I to discreetly pull away from each other. That explained why Umji decided it was time to shower, she knew Yuju was safe and about to return.

In spite Yuju’s overenthusiastic return, we could not get the two to separate. I didn’t have to convince Yerin to set aside her wanting for an explanation, she knew and just went back to reading. Umji and I spoke but we could not get Eunseo to reply. It was night time and the café was probably swapped again.

At least three hours have passed before we received a phone call from Uncle JD. Sowon put him on speaker immediately like she knew exactly that it was what she was supposed to do.

“We have to remove you immediately from the hospital. You need to move quick. They've found your location.”

There was a hard knock on the door.

“SINB-YAH!” Yerin yelled and tossed me handgun.

We both immediately aimed at the door.

A/N: I apologize for not having the time to update. I was so distracted lately. And just when the promotions ended, they're coming back in two weeks. WTH SouMu. I feel happy and sad about it. But like always, the story goes on, literally.  After this brief connecting chapter, things will go faster (and hotter) in the next chapters, so hold on tight. And for the 200+ subs and the upvotes, WOW... THANK YOU ENDLESSLY FOR YOUR SUPPORT! :)

⁺ “Breathing” by Lifehouse

⁺⁺ “Something I Said” by Safetysuit