“I want to return your helping hand, so you can use it again. I want you to come with me to meet my friend at this rehab center - she can help you. The world could sure use some good people like you.”

Those words sounded as familiar as the footsteps from the nearby subway entrance. The teenage girl said those exact same words.

“So you want me to go there?” I asked.

Solar gave a nod. I looked around at the city. For the past month, I had lived here. Life for me didn’t matter - it was a dark tunnel slowly closing in with the purpose of suffocating anyone within. It created all the fear and pain in my life. I needed light to find an escape from this tunnel. Suddenly, a light bulb I was holding sparked in my hand - it was with me all this time for the past month of living on the streets; it only needed to be lit. The tunnel was quickly closing in; I searched for an escape route. An escape door stood to my right - patiently waiting to be opened. Everything I needed to escape was always there. The tunnel was closing in at an exemplary rate. I ran to the door and turned the knob. It didn’t move. I kicked the door harder and harder with no success. I needed a key; and surprisingly, I had a feeling it was being offered to me right now.

“I’ll go!” I hurriedly exclaimed. I clasped Solar’s hand. “I’ll go with you.”

The cold metal doorknob in my hand started to twist. I tumbled out the door.

Solar’s face was an iceberg. Her face thawed with the release of a sunshine filled laugh.

“You will? You really will?” Solar laughed.

I nodded urgently.  

Her soft cheeks rose up to reveal eyes filled with brightness. Anyone could smile at this kind of sight - even people like me.

“You agreed! I can’t believe it…” Solar exclaimed as her speech mixed with her laughter. “You can you go now, right?”  

I lifted myself off of the ground and brushed the dirt off my backside. I looked down at what I used to sit on and do everyday. It could be a shelter for another person like me. I left it all there.

I looked at Solar and smiled. I was ready to leave.

“Ready,” I told Solar.

We walked beside each other. Solar walked in a brisk, fast, motion that was hard to keep up with. The movement of her arms and posture looked carefully planned, and her eyes moved quickly from one place to another, as if she was scanning and watching out for something. A tense atmosphere surrounded her, but at the same time, with each of her steps, the dimming sun carved out the delicate, brown hair gently bouncing off her shoulders.

“Are you okay?” Solar asked. I looked at Solar, but I realized I’d been doing it for a little too long.

“Oh...yeah,” I muttered quietly. My face was burning. I hoped the dirt on my face would mask the red flush on my cheeks. The awkwardness was almost unbearable, so I quickly asked a question. “What’s this rehab center like?” I asked Solar.

Solar came to a stop in her walking and stood in front of a run down looking two story building. The bottom floor was occupied by what looked like a shabby restaurant. There was a large, landscape window next to a brown, wooden door slowly lightening in color with age. A small green, rectangular label was stuck to the door. It read “Lion’s Rehabilitation Center.”

“This is it,” Solar pointed at the wooden door. A noise resonated from inside the rehabilitation center. The noise turned into loud footsteps. The sound continued to grow until it revealed a young woman forcefully opening the squeaky wooden door. Tiny bells jingled violently from the door, and the black, wavy hair of the young woman swished from the rough motion. Dark eye makeup and black glasses flawlessly framed her face. A mole rested on the cheek of her tanned skin. She was wearing a white, button down shirt and a pencil skirt that accentuated her curvy figure. “Hwasa!” Solar shouted at the woman. Solar tried to bear hug the black haired woman.

“Gurl. Get off me,” the woman replied with her husky toned voice. Her hands carefully pushed Solar’s puffy cheek away from her face. An expression of disgust was planted on her face. She looked at Solar’s shoes. “Are you honestly wearing those sneaker wedges?” Hwasa furrowed her perfectly shaped eyebrows. "Those things were part of the fashion trends that need to die!” Solar nervously pushed a lock of chocolate hair behind her ear. “I can’t believe High-cut even allows any of their photographers to look like you,” Hwasa stated. She distanced herself from Solar in sheer disappointment. Hwasa turned to look at me and was taken back. Probably because of my appearance. She visibly scanned me up and down with her eyes. A smile subtly appeared on her face. “So. The life saver, right?” she turned her head toward Solar.

“Yep.” Solar’s face drastically changed from disappointment to joy.  

Hwasa kept staring at me. A spark of pleased interest lit her eyes.

“I approve, I approve,” Hwasa said to Solar with a smirk.  

“Now what’s that supposed to mean?” Solar replied in an annoyed tone.

“Solar, aren’t you single?” Hwasa carefully arched a dark eyebrow.    

Solar’s red ears appeared in the corner of my eye. I felt my face becoming warm. Solar slowly turned her head in my direction. I quickly looked towards the ground.  

“Y’all gonna stay outside forever?” Hwasa barked, unsuccessfully masking a suspicious smile on her face. She went inside and slipped off her shoes near the door. Solar let out a loud sigh and did the same. I slid off my ragged sneakers on a large, black rag with a pair of black heels and outcasted white sneaker wedges. Inside, surrounding the entrance area, there were dry looking, faded brown walls. Another slightly opened door was positioned next to the entrance door. A scrunched up flower printed curtain hung from a narrow doorway a medium distance away from me, most likely leading to a bedroom. To the right of the plastic curtain, a calendar was marked with several red words around several dates that appeared to be random. An unusual still and quiet aura, hard to find in the city, filled the area. The cleanness and peaceful shabbiness of Hwasa’s place made my body feel light.                                                       

I carefully stepped on the scratched, faded wooden floor to face the right side of the rehab center. On one half of the right side there was a small, stove top and small, round table with a few chairs around it. On the other half of the right hand side, there was beige carpeting, and a spotless brown, leather recliner with a white armless chair across from it. A slightly worn out brown, fabric sofa rested against the wall.

Solar and Hwasa made their way to the wooden chairs around the table and plopped down in the squeaky chairs. I carefully sat in the last chair around the table. The window next to the table showed the sun weakening as the sky slowly became darker. On a usual day, I would have still been outside. A calm and quiet air surrounded all of us. The only sounds heard were the small hums of the refrigerator struggling to get through the soft blankets of silence.

“Hwasa-” Solar started.

“Yep, I’ll treat her,” Hwasa interrupted. “She’s your lifesaver after all. That means it’s on me.” Hwasa casually glanced at the people passing by outside, their orange outlines gliding across her window.

Solar nodded in understanding as if accepting that Hwasa was telepathic. Solar looked at my shocked face. She let out a laugh.

“Hwasa has a really good sense of intuition. It’s a little creepy at first, but you’ll get used to it,” Solar directed at me. She glared at Hwasa. “Can you stop being a creep?”

Hwasa gave no response that she heard Solar and continued to stare at her manicured yellow nails. She suddenly looked up.

“Brief me,” Hwasa sighed at Solar. Solar’s face turned dark.  

“Well, they said they’ll decide who gets to go to the U.S. in about 3 months,” Solar mumbled. Her eyes reflected the stress she felt. “I really need to be that person. I just keep having that feeling.”  

Hwasa’s eyes visibly softened.

“Don’t worry. You’ll be the one,” Hwasa said comfortingly. “You’ve put continuous effort into being chosen, and it won’t fail you.” Hwasa rubbed Solar’s back.

“Hwasa, you’re the best, you know that?” Solar said quietly. A small smile grew on Hwasa’s face. Hwasa loudly cleared .

“Okay, listen. From now on, don’t come here for your lunch break unless you eat something beforehand. So stop coming here everyday because it’s annoying. And you need to dress better from now on. High-cut is a fashion magazine after all,” Hwasa commanded. She made a shooing motion towards Solar’s face.

“Okay, okay, I’ll leave,” Solar sighed. There was a moment of silence. “Guess I should go now,” Solar stood up. A whiff of peach reached my nose. “Sorry Moonbyul,” she laughed, “you must have been so confused. We were talking about things you didn’t even know about.”

“No it’s fine, really,” I voiced back.

Solar’s face visibly relaxed. She smiled widely.   

“Thanks for taking Moonbyul in,” Solar shouted to Hwasa. She was putting on her sneaker wedges.

“Yeah, yeah. Bye,” Hwasa drawled while opening her refrigerator, a tiny smile playfully hidden on her face.

The sound of bells chimed throughout the shabby area. Hwasa was digging in her refrigerator, looking for something.

“Looks like I’ll need to go shopping for some more food,” Hwasa muttered while continuing her search. Her digging stopped to reveal a pastry bread wrapped in a plastic sleeve. Hwasa threw the bread towards my direction. I clumsily caught it. Hwasa cocked an eyebrow in surprise.

“So, not drunk today,” Hwasa put her hand to her chin. “The question is why,” she spoke while looking out the window next to me. I stared at her in surprise. “You should eat. You’re probably hungry,” Hwasa remarked while closing the refrigerator door and sitting in the chair in front of me. The chair made a slight scraping noise on the floor. Hwasa motioned for me to eat with her hand. I carefully opened the plastic sleeve and sniffed the bread. The smell of vanilla cream floated up from the soft, golden brown bread. I lifted it towards my mouth and took a bite. A memory of Wheein eating this surfaced. We would always smile and look at the cream hidden in between the pieces of bread happily. My eyes fell to my emerald ring, sparkling in the orange, evening sun. The bread suddenly tasted bitter. Sweet at first, then bitter; just like every thought about Wheein. I set the bread down on the wooden table. My stomach was already full; it must have been because I had eaten so little on the streets, my stomach couldn’t handle big portions of food.

“You miss her, don’t you,” Hwasa said suddenly. I looked at her. “Your fiancée.” Hwasa’s eyes were calm and welcoming. My vision suddenly blurred.

“Sorry,” I breathed in and out, “but how exactly did you know?” I asked quietly, my voice slowly breaking. I couldn’t look at Hwasa right then, and I didn’t need to ask that question because the fresh tears that fell on my emerald ring reflected Hwasa’s empathetic eyes.

“If you’re wondering how I knew your fiancée was a woman,” Hwasa