She the small card. Her name was there, in perfect calligraphy. A classic design that she had chosen. Her fiancé’s name was printed under hers. She heaved a heavy sigh and closed the card.

“I’m just visiting a friend.” she said into her mobile.

“When are you going to be back?” the voice returned. 

“I’ll be back tomorrow.” she answered.

“And she’s your friend?”

“Yes; a very good friend.”

“Okay then, come back soon.”

“See you tomorrow.”

She then hung up. Walking through the familiar town, a wave of nostalgia washed over her. Even if it had been ten years, the buildings were still the same. The roads which she had walked over her entire childhood remained unchanged. The cherry blossoms were in slowly disappearing, waiting for the true summer heat to hit, and the petals fell around her like bits of candy floss. If only all her memories were as sweet.

Shortly, she entered the quieter part of the town. She came across the small workshop. She never thought she would ever see the place again. She breathed in deeply and nearly entered the building. However, she stopped when a gaggle of girls came out of the open door. She quickly stepped aside, allowing them to walk past as they spoke amongst themselves.

“That was really fun.” said one of the them, to which all of them agreed.

“I can’t wait to pick up my painting next week.”

“We should come back again.”

“The teacher was really nice.”

“And really pretty.”

When the girls disappeared, the area became quiet again and the sound of her pounding heart echoed in the silence. She had never thought that this place would be somewhere people wanted to go. Never would she have thought that she would be nervous to step in the place again.      

As soon as she walked through the open door, she was hit by a scent of fresh and drying paint. The strong odour was enough to take her back to the past. However, the small workshop was completely different from what it used to be. Art pieces decorated the walls entirely. It was hard to believe that there were even walls underneath the canvases in the first place.

Then, she was there.

She was carefully placing the wet canvases on the side of the room. Her back was to her, but she could already tell this person was different from the young girl she used to know. Her hair was short, it was brown, and her frame slimmer than before. She wondered if the front had changed. The desire to see her face was overwhelming.

“Wheein.” she called out, her voice suddenly seeming loud in the serene place.

The other woman froze and then she turned around.

Hyejin felt a hand on her head, a delicate finger brushed her hair from her face.

“How can you sleep on a desk like that?”

The low voice made Hyejin’s eyes flutter open and she saw Wheein’s face, smiling gently at her. That expression made her heart buzz.

“Let’s go home Hyejin.”

“Are you finished with art club?”

Wheein nodded and Hyejin sat up. However, she cringed as she felt a shot of pain in her neck. Suddenly, Wheein’s hand is on the side of her neck, her fingers carefully digging into her skin. Hyejin did her best to remain composed.

“This is why I told you to just go home.”

“But I wanted to hang out more.”

“Don’t we see each other enough?” Wheein laughed.

“No. I want us to be together all the time, forever.”

Wheein stopped and slowly withdrew her hand. Hyejin didn’t know how to read her expression, but she heard the familiar buzz and missed Wheein’s touch.

“Then let’s go to the place.” Wheein suggested.

The place was the small abandoned workshop they had fallen across when they used to play around. It was relatively clean but fairly empty. However, it was the perfect place for two teenagers to escape the outside pressure and worries. Wheein drew and Hyejin played around. It was their spot. Their place.

“Hyejin?” Wheein muttered.

It was a statement rather than a question. A fact that she had to say for herself to hear it – that Hyejin really was standing in front of her.

“So, you made it your workshop?” Hyejin asked, doing her best to remain laissez-faire. “I didn’t know this place could look like this. Did you extend it? It looks bigger.”  

Wheein watched as Hyejin walked around the workshop, looking at the different pieces. She gradually made her way to the drying pieces from the recent class. Hyejin stuck out her finger to poke the canvas, to see if it was yet dry, but she was stopped. Wheein’s hand grasped her wrist. It reminded Hyejin that under that slim frame, held a strong woman. A woman who was much stronger that herself.

“It’s not ready.” Wheein said, putting Hyejin’s hand down.

Wheein stepped away, to continue cleaning up after the class. Hyejin watched as Wheein washed the dozens of brushes, the dozens of colours mixing into one colour. It reminded her of how people are made – the dozens of colours expressed inside one being. Each colour represented a different aspect of life, a different memory. Hyejin wondered what colour Wheein held against her.

“Can I draw something?” Hyejin asked.

The way Wheein looked at her, Hyejin couldn’t understand that expression. However, how could she think of being able to read her now, after so many years of being separated.

However, Wheein nodded. She prepared a blank canvas and a set of brushes, with a palette of paint. She gave an apron to Hyejin, and once she put it over her head, Wheein came around the back of her and tied the ribbons. The unexpected action caused Hyejin’s heart to stir. It made her think the unthinkable – that Wheein could possibly still care about her.

A couple of hours passed, with Wheein simply cleaning up, while Hyejin continued to paint. She didn’t really know what to draw, only that she wanted to be here with Wheein for as long as possible. Once Hyejin was done, she had realised she had painted a memory. A desolate path through a park of cherry blossoms, where the both of them had ridden through after school, to get to this place as quick as possible, to celebrate Wheein’s birthday. Hyejin had almost forgotten about that night. She had told herself to forget a lot of things – it was just that she couldn’t.

Wheein came and peered at Hyejin’s work.

“I think I’m done.” Hyejin announced.

She doesn’t say anything. Wheein just stared at her work.

“When will it be ready?”

“Tomorrow.” Wheein finally said. "You should sign it." 

"How?" 

Wheein took a thin brush with black paint and held it in Hyejin's hesitating hand. She guided it back to the canvas and Hyejin allowed her instinct to draw. She signed it Maria. Her Christian name. 

When Wheein let go of her hand, Hyejin realised that she had held her breath. She cleared . 

“You don’t have any more classes, right? Should we go for a walk?” Hyejin suggested. “It’s still bright.”

Again, Wheein gazed at something Hyejin couldn’t see. She wished she could understand what Wheein saw.

They ended up somewhere that the both had not been in years. It was the lonely bench on top of a small hill that looked over part of Jeonju where they both lived. The mild sounds of summer surround them as they sat on the same bench.  

“Why did you come here Hyejin?”

Wheein finally asked the question that was bothering the both of them. Indeed, what did Hyejin expect to find back here.

“We shouldn’t hang out anymore.” Hyejin said.

Wheein stared at her, confused.

“What do you mean?” Wheein asked, unsure what her best friend was saying.

Hyejin sighed exasperatedly and it was one of the few times Wheein had felt this frustration directed at her. 

“People have been saying stuff about us. Like we only hang out together, that we’re too close.”

“So? What does that matter?” Wheein demanded.

When she held Hyejin’s hands, Hyejin pulled back. It was like she was burnt, but Wheein was the one that was hurting.  

“Stop doing that. Don’t touch me anymore.”

All of what Hyejin was saying made Wheein want to cry.

“I don’t want people to think I’m strange.” Hyejin mutter. “Let’s not hang out, just the two of us, anymore.”

Since then, the dynamic of their friendship changed, to say the obvious. Eventually, Hyejin moved to Seoul, while Wheein remained in Jeonju. However, the distance didn’t affect their relationship, it just made it literal, the distance they felt.

“I wanted to visit my hometown.” Hyejin muttered. 

“Why did you come here?”

“I just… I wanted to see you.” Hyejin truthfully answered.

This made Wheein furious. She stood up from the bench, unable to deal with the situation anymore. Hyejin got to her feet, watching as Wheein messed up her hair in a fury, as if trying to fix the muddle in her head.

“I wanted to find out you still cared.” Hyejin said.

“Are you toying with me?” Wheein yelled.

“I’m sorry.” Hyejin exclaimed.

“I don’t want you here. Why did you come back?” Wheein retorted. “Why are you making me be like this?”

“I’m sorry.” Hyejin repeated. She deserved this. She deserved all of it.

“It wasn’t fair that you get to inflict all that pain onto me.” Wheein wept, finally unable to control the tears that ran down her cheek.

All throughout the day Wheein had been trying to remain composed, not wanted to crumble under Hyejin’s presence. However, all the fury and despair that bubbled under the lid, overflowed.

“I was young, stupid. I didn’t know how to react properly.”

Hyejin reached Wheein and held her hands desperately, wishing with all her might that Wheein wouldn’t brush her off like she did those years ago. Wheein didn’t pull back, but she wouldn’t look at Hyejin.  

“I want you in my life.” Hyejin beseeched. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

Unable to contain herself anymore, Hyejin pulled Wheein into an embrace. She tucked her head into Wheein’s neck, grasping her slim back, pressing them as close together as possible. She didn’t care if she was making Wheein’s neck wet with her tears, Hyejin just didn’t want Wheein to let her go.

“Please forgive me.” Hyejin whispered.

The words entered Wheein’s ear. Perhaps it was the sincerity, having Hyejin in front of her, or that she was holding onto her so desperately, but Wheein accepted them. She held onto Hyejin’s sobbing shoulders, comforting the friend she thought she lost. Love was never easy.

Wheein faced the wall while Hyejin pressed into her back. With Hyejin’s thigh over her body, and her breath at the back of her neck, Wheein didn’t dare move. She couldn’t remember the last time someone was in the same double bed as her, and she would have had never expected it to be Hyejin. She had forgotten what the warmth of someone else felt like. It was hot.

Suddenly, Hyejin shifted. Her leg was no longer over Wheein, and Hyejin rolled away from her. Wheein finally dared to face Hyejin. Underneath all that makeup, she was still the same person she had known. Wheein edged closer, examining the sleeping face. Her eyelashes were just as long as before. Her skin was clear and her lips were moist. Wheein swallowed. Maybe because she shouldn’t sleep and she was becoming delirious, but Wheein leaned in. Before she could think, Hyejin’s lips were under hers. It was brief, but Wheein felt the rush of feelings reach the surface, from where she had them bound and hidden away.

However, when she leaned back, Wheein didn’t expect Hyejin to face her, with her eyes wide open. Wheein stared at her, unable to say anything, the ball of shock stuck in . As Wheein tried to force words out of , Hyejin placed her lips on hers. Wheein’s eyes widened as she was swallowed her shock and allowed Hyejin’s tongue to slip pass her lips. They didn’t have to say anything more.

They sat in the car, while Wheein drove Hyejin to the bus stop for coach home. They drove in comfortable silence, as Wheein held Hyejin’s hand. The would exchange glances and smiles, and soft words. Hyejin couldn’t believe happiness could feel so good.

All too quickly, they arrived at the bus stop. Hyejin got out and through the open window, they looked at each other.

“I’ll come back and visit you again.” Hyejin finally said.

“Even if you don’t say that, I know you will.” Wheein said with a smile.

Finally, unable to prolong the exchange, Hyejin stuck out her hand through the window. Wheein took her hand, holding it one last time. Feeling the reassurance, Wheein drove off, while Hyejin sat on the lonely bench. Hyejin watched as Wheein’s car disappear.

She pulled out the card, tucked away in her bag. She stared at it, her name that was printed perfectly in the calligraphy that she had chosen, and her fiancé’s name underneath hers. She bent it in her hands, distorting the writing. She placed it on the bench, unable to look at it anymore.

The coach soon came and she got on. Hyejin headed back to Seoul, with the card still on the bench. The coach drove further and further away and she left behind her best friend, her first love, and the wedding invitation.  

A/N: 

Another little angsty one-shot because I'm filled with angst these days OTL

Based on this short film that randomly popped up on my YouTube and bless the Moo gods that it did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt09aHqAgGs

P.S. 

Happy Belated Birthday to Wheein! I'm in love with 'Easy' - it's such a good song!