-

    The figure of a petite woman walks through the large glass doors of the city building, her dark tresses trailing behind her through the slight breeze, expression virtually blank.

    A girl greets her from the front desk, her face still glowing with childhood innocence, most likely an intern.

    “Welcome back Miss! The doctor is already ready for you, you can just walk in.”

    “Didn’t she tell you that she hated being called ‘the doctor,’ the same way I hate being called Miss, it makes me feel old.”

    The younger girl leans onto the desk, cupping her face with her hands as she gives the older woman a sly grin, “She’s my mentor, it’s a sign of respect. As for you, you are old.”

    The other woman brushes her ebony locks from her face as she gives the younger an eye roll, scoffing under her breath, “You little .”

    She leaves behind a cackling blonde as she makes her way towards the office she had become familiar with.

    The scent of warm vanilla and jasmine overwhelm her senses as she opens the large wooden door to the office, peeking her head inside and grinning when she finds the other person in the room.

    The other girl in the room is immersed in the paperwork set on the coffee table in front of her. Thin wire frames slide to the tip of her nose as she mumbles incoherently to herself, her coffee colored tresses falling over her shoulders slowly.

    “Ahem,” the woman at the door clears as she knocks on the doorframe to gain the distracted girl’s attention.

    Startled, the brunette’s glasses fall slightly off her face as she quickly looks up to see who her visitor was, noticing the time on the clock above the doorframe, eyes widening comically, “Oh! It’s time for your session already! I’m sorry let me clean this up right away.”

    The taller woman stays standing by the door as she watches in amusement, the smaller scrambling to clear the papers on the table. She reaches into her jacket pocket, pulling out a neatly folded paper, “I decided on going through the exercise you suggested before. I brought it with me here,” she brings attention to the paper in her hand.

    The other puts the last of her papers in the files on the other side of the room, looking back at the woman’s statement, “Oh? You were so against it before, but if that’s the case, please sit,” she motions to the longer couch as she herself settles into the armchair adjacent.

    The woman strides towards the couch gestured to previously and takes her place, unfolding the paper she took out earlier, she looks up nervously at the therapist, who is eyeing her curiously, “Should I just read it?”

    “Well, tell me who it is for first. Or what it’s about. The exercise was to write a message to a person who is important to you, correct?”

    “Uh, yes, but I moreso wrote it for a person I never said enough to, is that alright?”

    “Yes of course, you can start whenever you feel comfortable Irene.”

    Irene shifts slightly in her seat, leaning onto her knees, her grip on the paper tightening slightly, crinkling it’s edges. She breathes deeply, whispering something just quiet enough for the other girl in the room to be unable to hear, “Here goes nothing.”

***************

     “We met on a brisk Sunday afternoon in autumn. Through a mutual friend. At the time, I had no idea how big of an impact someone so much younger and smaller than me could have on my life.

     If I had been aware, maybe, just maybe, I would have ran.

     ...

     Or maybe, I would have relished our time together that much more.”

*****

    “Hey Joohyun!” A small girl with monolid eyes ran towards the girl reading on the bench.

    At the sound of her name, Joohyun looked up at her friend, noticing she was seemingly dragging an even smaller girl behind her, one of them looking as happy as ever, and the other with a look of puzzlement and panic.

    “Hi Seulgi,” she tucked a strand of ebony hair behind her ear as she set down her book, missing the distracted stare she was receiving from the smaller girl behind Seulgi.

    Seulgi, distracted by the movement of Joohyun setting down her book, forgot her original intent for interrupting the older girl, “Whatcha reading?”

     Joohyun released a small giggle as she covers with the back of her hand, “Seulgi you don’t like reading, plus I believe you were about to introduce me to someone?” She looked over at the girl behind Seulgi, giving her a small smile, the other girl looking downward and shrinking even further behind Seulgi. Despite her fringe covering her face, Joohyun noted the tinge of red at the tips of the girl’s ears, her smile widening slightly.

     “Oh!” Seulgi’s eyes lit up with the excitement they had held initially, “Joohyun I want you to meet Seungwan, she’s my age! She’s new to the school, so I told her I would introduce her to my friends!” Seulgi stepped aside and gestured to Seungwan like she was showing off her new toy at a show and tell, a proud smile donning her face.

     “Hello there Seungwan,” Seungwan raised her head and looked at Joohyun, awestruck at the small smile that the older girl had on, mirth dancing in her chocolate irises, “I’m Joohyun, it’s nice to meet you. I look forward to getting to know you!”

     To Joohyun’s surprise, Seungwan’s face, that had been frozen in panic just minutes earlier, lit up as stretched into an excited smile, her eyes crinkling in joy, “It’s nice to meet you too, Unnie!”

     Joohyun stiffened as her eyes widened slightly. Distracted, she does not catch their words of goodbye as they headed back to class. The image of Seungwan’s smile searing into her mind, her hand half raised in a wave as she watched the two younger girls leave.

*****