For Eunbi, Yerin's injury surely brings her some advantages that she does not think of. 

After checking up in the physical therapy centre, the physiotherapist said Yerin had her shoulders dislocated again, and this time she even twisted some of the muscles. The girl needed to plaster her shoulder for at least 2 weeks and halted all of her sports activities. To her luck, the team still has one month's time to prepare before the elite tournament starts, therefore there are still chances that the soon to be graduated setter to rejoin the squad and play on court before she ends her school team career.

Now that Yerin does not have to practise in the morning, lunch and after school period, she has more time to spend with her girlfriend. Eunbi buys the girl breakfast every morning and they usually have the food in the school playground, while Yerin watching her teammates training. Although she could not train with them physically, the young captain won't leave her team to do the drills alone. During lunch times, the two of them usually eat in the school canteen, then to the library to catch up with their studies. It's near December and their public exam that determines whether they can enrol into the university will be taking place in late March. Yerin has been putting her studies aside for the semester as this is her last semester being an athlete in the school teams, she has a deal with her parents that once the elite tournament ends, she will fully concentrate on academics. Since Yerin's results are always in the top stratum in school, her parents agreed to let their daughter to enjoy herself for the last few months. After school, Eunbi always accompany Yerin to the physical therapy centre to do her daily check-ups and muscle trainings. Yerin is familiar with the place since junior years as in she has often visited the centre since she is young. However, not only Yerin, now even Eunbi knows the place so well that the nurses and therapists could recognise her and let the girl to wait in their resting room while doing homework.

Once when Eunbi has finished her assignments for the day, she walks out from the staff's room and leans onto the glass windows to watch Yerin. She meets the one person that she has come across with just a slight second but played an important role in her life.

"Hey."

"Oh hi there, I haven't seen you around last week." Eunbi greets politely.

"Yep, I had my annual leave last week, and I've heard my colleagues gossiping about a cute young girl who is always here to accompany our Yerin this morning when I headed back, I knew that it will be you."

Eunbi's cheeks turn red. "Yeah, she hurt her shoulders weeks before in a match, so I'm here again. I never thought that you would recognise me after all these months."

"I've been watching Yerin to train here since she was a kid, beside her dad, you are the only person who comes here with her. How could I not recognise you, my young lady?"

Eunbi smiles sheepishly. "Eunbi, Hwang Eunbi. And thanks for giving me advice last time, if it has not been you, I don't think we could get along that well now."

"Your welcome Eunbi ssi.” The nurse smiles back at the girl. “So I guess you two are together now?"

Eunbi nods and turns back her stare to the girl how sweating hard, trying to life up the weights in the training room. “Yeah, I told her how I feel that day after talking with you.”

The nurse does not reply afterwards, she keeps her smile and hums. Just then, the therapy room’s door bursts open and the girl that they have been talking about skips her way out.

“Yerin ah, how are you feeling?” The nurse pats the girls head gently.

“Hello Miss Park, long time no see!” Yerin grins. “Dr. Soo said I could take off the plasters by tomorrow! So I guess that is great progress!”

“Good for you Yerin, please don’t hurt yourself anymore, I don’t want to see you so often here, you know.” The nurse chuckles, “And seeing you get hurt it pains the ones who care for you too.”

Yerin locks her eyes with the girl standing next to her, busying wiping her sweats away with the towel and nods, just when she is going to speak, something chimes in, Miss Park takes out her pager and waves at the two. “Gotta get back to work, see you guys later.”

After Miss Park walks away, Eunbi grabs Yerin’s backpack and intertwines their hands while making their way out of the centre.

“I am having my competition the day after tomorrow, would you like to come Bi?” Yerin asks.

“But doesn’t every participant could only have one guest? You are not going with your dad this year?” Eunbi stares at her same heighted girlfriend.

It is not that she does not want to accompany Yerin, but she knows that whenever the girl joins the speech festival competition, she always reserves the seat for her father to watch her giving the speech on stage. Yerin has a lovely family, but she does not have a sound relationship with her mother, some of her childhood incidents with her mom still bothers her till nowadays, family is a highly sensitive topic with Yerin. But Yerin gets alone really well with her dad, they do not look like fathers and daughters, they look like friends instead. Yerin tells her father what she thinks and how she feels often, and her father always supports her daughter’s decision. Even when once Yerin told him that she no longer wanted to stay home after a fight with her mom, her father patted her back and told her that he would help her to move into dorms once she got into universities.

“Well, he has been watching me for 8 years already, and this time I wanted you to be my audience.” Yerin’s eyes turn into a crescent. “So will you come with me?”

“Of course.” Eunbi squeezes their holding hands, “I will be there to support you. But have you written your script yet?”

“Yep, typed it last night after the call with you, so don’t worry.” Yerin winks at her girlfriend.

Eunbi is sitting at the corner of the hall while waiting for her girlfriend, Yerin goes up to the register counter and draws the 20^th cut, so she will be the last one among all competitors to give her speech. The girl comes back after using the washroom.

“Nervous?” Eunbi whispers.

Yerin shakes her head and puts her hands on top of Eunbi’s which are resting on her lap. “Not when you are with me.”

Eunbi smiles. “So are you going to tell me what is the topic of the day?” Yerin has refused to tell her the theme of the competition, the girl claims to be a surprise for her.

“Just listen to the first speaker then you will know the title, you impatient girl.” The said girl sticks her tongue out and squeezes the hands she is holding onto. “Now you enjoy the speeches, I have to prepare myself.”

“All right, fighting Rinnie ah.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 69^th inter-school speech festival, today we are in the girl’s public speaking session…” the MC of the day announces the start of the competition. “Our theme for the day is: Love, or being loved?”

After nearly 2 hours, finally it’s Yerin’s turn. The girl walks to the center of the stage slowly, and she bows before she begins.

“Love, or being loved. Before I tell you my choice, what is in your mind yeoreobun?” the girl smiles and starts her speech. This is the first time for Eunbi to watch her girlfriend giving out speeches as they are not in the same class when it comes to oral speaking. Eunbi has always known her girl is good at public speaking, persuading people by giving out solid examples, that’s why she has never once talked over her girlfriend when they are into some heated discussions, the girl is too good with her words. But only until now Eunbi knows Yerin could be this convincing and shining when she is standing on stage giving out her speech.

“To conclude here, I do not think that we could put love in a timeline, to measure being loved first or loving someone after, also, we could not weight love on a balance, to count the love you receive or the love you give out. Love, is not a countable variable that could be quantified by units.

Love or being loved are not in causal relation, and we do not use numbers to justify the portion of love in a relationship, we feel it with our hearts.

Being loved is when you see the worrying looks on their face when you hurt yourself, loving someone is when your heart fluttered upon seeing their worried looks. Being love is when you see their eyes light up when you hang out, as if you are the only ones living in the world, loving someone is when your own world lights up upon seeing them.”

Yerin halts, she looks around the audience from left to right, there she finds a certain someone who has been locking eyes with her since the beginning of her speech. Her lips curl up and she returns the favor before continuing her sentence. “Being love is when you could feel their eyes on you wherever you are, as if you are the only person in their eyes, loving someone, is when you no longer need words to deliver your feelings towards each other, your eyes do the communication.  Being loved is when you feel like you are the best person on earth, and loving someone, is when you wanted to be a better person for her.

We love to be loved, and at the same time, we are loved to love others. Love is not something that you could find or search, love is something that finds you when time is right.

What is love? You may not have the answers now, you might be confused. But love is the answer for itself, once you feel it, it will shed light in your mind and tell you the answers of what love is. This is the end of my speech, thank you.”

The girl bows down, the audience starts to clap. When Yerin stands back up, she sees the audience all standing up clapping, she sees the girl that she has been thinking of when she wrote her script, standing in the corner applauding for her with tears in her eyes. Yerin shows her infamous eye smiles before bowing again for her standing ovation.  

When the competition comes to an end, the two of them walk to the metro station and head to the physical therapy center hand in hand.

“I’ve never thought I could get the champion this time, my speech is not competitive at all.” Yerin says out of nowhere.

“What means by not competitive?” Eunbi looks at the girl.

“I was just thinking about you when I wrote my speech, I just wanted the chance to tell the world how I feel for you, I did not do this for competition purpose.”

“Guess the judge was touched by your words then? I swear I saw him pulling out tissue papers after your speech.” Eunbi says softly.

“Guess that your love moves the audience as well.” Yerin smiles.

“Rinnie ah, it’s you who motivated me to be a loving person, it’s you who made me into a better me.” Eunbi goes on. “It’s always you.”

“Didn’t you pay attention to my speech just now Bi?” Yerin looks at her girlfriend in amusement, “We cannot put love in a timeline because they are not coming in a causal relation, love and being loved happen at the same time,

It is not me and it is not you, it is us.”