“Why are you here so often these days?” Jihyo crossed her arms as Jeongyeon occupied herself by inspecting anything and everything in the room.

Jeongyeon placed a vase back to its position. “What do you mean? I can’t visit you now?”

The mighty goddess narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “I’m getting scared. What do you want? You want something, don’t you?”

The older one playfully gasped, “You think I have some ulterior motive? Can’t a girl visit her beautiful sister and spend time with her?”

“No.”

“Wow, I’m offended, and dejected.”

Just then, Nayeon came into the room and Jeongyeon’s face lit up at the sight of her. She waved at the goddess who in turn, waved back. Nayeon entered to give Jihyo a report of her duties, then left the way she came in. Jihyo observed the sea goddess.

“No way,” Jihyo said. “You’re not using me to get to Nayeon, are you?”

Jeongyeon quickly turned to her and frantically shook her head. “Of course not! W-why would I try to get at her? Psh, we’re not in that kind of relationship anymore.”

“Lies. You’re such a terrible liar. Did something happen between you two? She’s not acting as hostile towards you anymore. Before, she couldn’t even stand hearing your name.”

“Really? What did she say about me?”

“I swear, you’re so easy to read. Stop pretending like you’re here for me and go talk to her. You’re driving me crazy.”

This time, Sana came into the room to give her report, giving a brief description of the happenings around the town and how well they’re doing.

“Sana-ssi, how are you these days?” Jeongyeon asked, an attempt to change the subject away from her ulterior motives.

The young goddess smiled as she greeted the sea goddess. “I’m doing well, thank you.”

“How are things with Dahyun?”

“W-why are you asking me about her? I don’t- I don’t know.”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to pretend. I know you guys spend time together these days.” Jeongyeon sat down and crossed her legs. “You must be so in love with her to be beating around the bush like that. You can be honest with me.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes and muttered, “Like you’re one to talk.”

“What was that?” Jeongyeon turned to her sister.

“Nothing.” Jihyo said then turned to Sana. “You see, this woman is in love with your mother. She just won’t admit it.”

“Don’t tell her that!” Jeongyeon playfully slapped her sibling.

Sana gave a slight nod. “Is that right? Well, fighting!” She made a fist and lightly pumped it in the air. “I’ll take my leave now. I have some things to attend to,” The young goddess gave a slight bow before leaving the room.

“I bet she’s on her way to Dahyun now,” Jeongyeon smirked.

Jihyo sighed, “Nobody’s stopping you, you know. Even her daughter is all up for it. We all know Nayeon needs someone in her life to keep her in check and you’re the only one I know with enough patience to do that. Also, Nayeon’s not going to come back until later tonight. She’s probably on the field, resting. You can leave now.”

“You talk as if I’m only here to see her.” Jeongyeon rolled her eyes, then she got up. “But I guess if you want me to leave so badly, I’ll leave you alone for now.” And with that, she left Olympus.

“She’s trying so hard to be so secretive but it’s so blatantly obvious. I can’t believe I’m related to her.” The sky goddess shook her head and went on with her daily duties.

~

Sana was muttering to herself as she did her usual daily walk. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she couldn’t even fully enjoy her leisure time.

“What was she talking about? In love with her? I’m not in love with her,” she mumbled as she shook her head. “Why would I be in love with her? It’s true, I have been spending a lot of time with her, but it’s not like it’s all I do. Does she know something I don’t?”

Before she knew it, she was standing at the foot of the Underworld gates. It was as if her feet brought her there without her consent, like getting used to a routine. She continued to shake her head, “I merely enjoy her company, is all. I merely enjoy it… But, what is this, why does she make me feel certain things whenever I’m with her?”

As she was about to turn to leave, Dahyun’s voice stopped her.

“You were going to leave like that without saying hi?” the underground goddess said as she approached her. “Are you okay? You look bothered by something.”

“N-nothing, I’m fine. I was walking and somehow ended up here. I don’t really have any reason so I’ll take my leave.”

Dahyun smiled at her. “You don’t need a reason to see me. You can stay, if you’re free.”

Sana was hesitant. She already felt confused as she was, she didn’t want to perplex herself even more. And she felt that staying with Dahyun will cause her to think of things she shouldn’t be thinking.

Dubu could sense her hesitation, and in an attempt to make her feel better, she pulled out the seeds she’d been keeping with her. “You can help me plant these. You’re better at it than I am and I could really use some professional insight.”

The young goddess looked at the narcissus seeds, then looked at Dahyun. “You’re planting more?”

“Well, the ones I plant don’t live long anyways. So, I’m just going to replace the withered ones with new ones.”

“Why do you keep planting them? You know they’re going to die before they could even bloom.”

The goddess of the Underworld gave a slight chuckle. “You’re the last person I expected to say that to me. It would be like saying humans shouldn’t live at all if they were going to die either way. Don’t you think these seeds at least deserve the chance to live?”

Sana thought about her words and nodded. “I completely agree. I just didn’t expect you would even care about such things outside of your realm.”

“I didn’t. That is, until I met you.” She gestured for her to follow her to the bed of withered flowers.

Dahyun crouched down and slowly dug on the soil to take out the old stems. Sana crouched down right beside her and watched her place the dead on the side, piling up the flowers she’d planted before. The pile was slowly getting built up, but barely any of them grew a petal.

Gently taking a hold of her hand, Dubu placed the seeds on Sana’s hand. The younger one looked at it for a moment before she got up and ran to the lonely narcissus, all the while gesturing for Dahyun to follow her. “It’s better if they’re all together, so it creates a more vibrant atmosphere,” she said. “Also, so that this one has some company.”

“I’m always so scared to go near it, for fear that it might die upon my touch.”

“Then...” Sana crouched down and dug holes around the flower, far enough from each other for them to bloom comfortably. “If ever a time comes when they start dying, I’ll come. I’ll take care of it.”

“Really?” Dahyun crouched down beside her and watched her plant. “Then, if I call for you, you’ll come?”

After gently planting each seed, Sana turned to her and smiled. “Without a doubt.”

Dahyun felt her spirits rise from its depths. Such simple words gave her so much happiness that she didn’t know how to respond to it. However, amidst her joy, the feeling of confusion couldn’t help but surface. For why was Sana being so kind to her then when she was the one that left? Dubu still didn’t get an explanation to her sudden change of preference, and the assumptions her mind had concocted were starting to drive her crazy. It was then that she decided to set her fears aside and ask.

“Why did you leave me so suddenly?”

Sana paused. Although there were still some things she wasn’t sure about, for some reason the young goddess seemed to understand what she meant. “I don’t know…” was all she could utter.

“Then, tell me this. Were the times we spent together all a ruse? Did you say all those things to play me, or were they truly your sincere feelings?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know what this is I’m feeling. It’s like they’re all tangled up and I don’t know which one to pull to untangle them. It’s like whatever string I grab, they end up becoming even more complicated.”

“Don’t think about anything else right now. Don’t think about anyone else. Look at me,” Dahyun inched closer to her, not letting go of her gaze. “And tell me how you feel when you’re with me.”

Sana looked into her eyes, a deep shade of black that somehow pulls her in and reveal the stars. Whenever the young goddess looked into them, she always felt like she’s falling. But she was never scared, because she believed with all her heart that this woman was going to catch her. However, such feelings, she couldn’t interpret what they meant. Do other beings feel the same way when they gaze into such eyes? Were they the work of some mysterious power that Dahyun beheld, a power that causes beings to pay attention to her? She didn’t know.

The spring goddess didn’t move for a good moment, and neither did Dahyun. As they remained there, gazing into each other’s eyes with shaky nerves, a drop of water plopped down on Dahyun’s nose. The silence was broken between them and they looked up to see the rain starting to fall. They both got up and ran inside for shelter, leaving their conversation stalled.

“Why is it raining all of a sudden...” Dahyun muttered.

“Jihyo must have some reason. I’ll get going and see if she needs anything.”

As Sana made her way to leave, Dahyun grabbed her hand. “Wait.” The Underworld goddess wanted to pry more with her curiosities. Not knowing was making her crazy, however making Sana feel uncomfortable was the last thing she wanted. I shouldn’t rush it, she thought. “I’m sure Jihyo can handle any situation by herself. If she needs him, she’ll call. Why don’t you stay until the rain stops?”

~

Instead of walking around the fields, Nayeon decided to make her luxury rounds by the sea shore. It was where she usually spent her time before Sana was born because she knew that if she did, Jeongyeon would, without a doubt, show herself before her. And like clockwork, the sea goddess did.

Jeongyeon spotted the older one and casually walked beside her. “Of all the places you could’ve gone, this is one I least expected.”

“Really? Wouldn’t this be what you should’ve expected the most?”

“It’s been a while that I’d almost forgotten.”

“I always did love it here, you know. The breeze feels so good and the water looks so calm. It soothes me.” She looked at the horizon as she walked along the shore.

The younger one looked in the direction of the horizon, but her eyes remained on Nayeon’s side profile. “If you visit more often, it would be less lonely.”

Nayeon chuckled, “Just call up one of your girls to entertain you.”

“They’re nothing like you though. You’re the only one that gets me.”

The harvest goddess turned to look at her. “Stop flirting.”

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