I've been wandering for most of my life. I've never had a true purpose and blend in with the world pretty well. I do what I enjoy and stick to what I know I’m good at. But there has always been one thing I considered myself a noob at, and it's probably the only thing I’ve never stopped pursuing; even knowing how it always ends in failure. That one thing is companionship, love. Yes I know that’s so cliché and soppy, and all the other words you can think of to describe just how sad it is—but it’s something none of us truly give up on. How many people do you know, are happy in a relationship right now? Criteria: They have been together for more than a year, they have never cheated on one another, and they still smile and look at each other the way they did on day one... yeah your list is shrinking by the second right?

 

It's something we, as humans seek and in very rare cases, stumble upon. Much like what happened to me one day, what no one ever speaks of though is how sometimes, the person you are meant for is not always someone you are able to be with. My name is Siyeon and this is my story.

 

****
 

It was a typical day in Vylke, people were populating the streets on their way to their daily jobs or tasks and Siyeon herself was heading out, on her way to her studio where she produced music. Her brown hair at medium length was blowing gently in the icy winter breeze, while her red scarf followed course. She had her slim fit black pants on and a comfortable hooded jacket. The studio was generally quiet towards the end of the week so she had no need to dress too formally.

 

She found her mind running wild again, going from dance routines to events to what she had left in her fridge to eat for dinner. Her mind was often cluttered with thoughts throughout the day and as a result she often found it hard to relax and just take time to unwind and relax. You could almost consider it to be one of her personality flaws, but she made it work for herself.

 

As she headed down the street, headphones over her ears listening carefully to a new melody she was working on, she had her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her. Her mind was ticking overtime while still managing to somehow pay attention to the song playing in her earphones. There was a sudden increase in the wind strength and as sudden as the wind lifted, she had collided with another girl heading in the opposite direction. As cliché as you'd see in a movie, the two of them had walked into one another and fallen over from the impact. Siyeon regained her focus to look up at the person she walked into and found a short and very casual looking girl in front of her, rubbing her head. She had earphones in too but those had fallen out onto her shoulders, much like Siyeon's had fallen around her neck. She then realised what had occurred and while pushing herself up from the ground, she profusely apologized to the girl. “I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking at what was in front of me and I must have been deep in thought again”, she said with a– sincere tone to her voice while offering her hand to help the girl up.

 

“Oh don't worry about it”, the girl replied with the most carefree smile upon her face. She then looked up at Siyeon taking her hand that was extended in aid. She had a gaze that most would find hard to avert from. She had piercing crystal green eyes with a very animated hairstyle, varying between long to short lengths. As she took hold of Siyeon's hand, Siyeon used what strength she could gather to pull the girl to her feet once more. “I'm Siyeon by the way”, she said hoping the girl would reciprocate with her own name. After checking herself and realizing there was no response, she found the courage to look up and make eye contact once more. She smiled at the girl but the girl did not move. It took her a minute before looking around them and realising that everyone and everything had stopped moving.

 

Was this some kind of dream? Was she missing something? A number of questions flooded her mind in confusement. She then looked down at her wrist to check what the time was and it was then that she realised her watch had stopped too. Had time frozen? Her eyes widened. The sudden realisation of the situation scared her and out of fear of not understanding what was happening she took a step back, letting go of the girls hand. “My name is Yoohyeon by the way”, the girl suddenly spoke, a sweet unaware smile resting on her face. She noticed though that Siyeon looked to be in a traumatic state so she called out to her. “Siyeon..”, her words whispered through the air, barely audible to Siyeon. “Siyeon..., Siyeon are you okay?” She called out as her voice grew gradually louder before finally breaking through. Siyeon looked over at her and realized that she was no longer frozen in time. She hurriedly looked from left to right, viewing the people in the surrounding areas. They were all continuing on as if nothing had happened. She then looked at her watch again for re-assurance and sure enough the second hand was ticking once more.

 

Yoohyeon could see she looked rather unsettled. “Are you okay Siyeon?” she asked in a concerned tone, extending her hand towards Siyeon once again. Siyeon saw her approach and stepped a few paces back looking down at her hand. “It couldn't have been that could it?” She found herself thinking while staring directly at the hand reaching towards her. There was only one way to know for sure though. She let Yoohyeon's second attempt at reaching out to her make contact and sure enough, everyone froze once more. This time she broke contact a lot faster than the first time however. As she did so Yoohyeon looked concerned but uncertain of what to do. Siyeon could see this, but was not ready to say anything on the matter and with that she picked up her bag where it fell from their initial contact and walked off briskly calling out to Yoohyeon. “S-sorry for that, it was nice to meet you Yoohyeon!” She vociferated, waving in a friendly manner.

 

She headed straight to her studio after the incident had occurred and closed the door dropping her bag on the ground to the right just under a desk before volleying herself into the wheeled chair a few feet in front of her. She tilted her head back looking up at the ceiling and turning around in circles on the chair. What had just happened? Was all of that out there real? Just a second ago time froze, that wasn't something that was even possible. Not to an average person’s knowledge at least. A hundred questions flocked her mind and she didn’t have a single answer to any of them. “Yoohyeon“, she thought to herself, finally deviating to the actual person that the phenomenon seemed centred around. “She seemed nice, and those eyes, wow!” she said smiling. She inexplicably found her thoughts running off topic and rather than thinking about what had transpired a few minutes back, she was now thinking or hoping of meeting her again.

 

***

 

Yoohyeon had watched Siyeon head off down the street before turning around herself and heading off. She didn't walk too much further when she reached a local arcade and headed inside. When she opened the door a little bell chimed and brought attention to the woman standing behind a counter on the right, who was now peering over the rim of her glasses at her. “Morning”, she greeted as she gave her a warm smile. “Good morning mom” she timidly said back smiling in return. Her mother, Bora, had owned the local arcade and even though business was not booming, it did relatively well considering the market for it was very niche. Yoohyeon spent almost every day at the arcade, not necessarily taking up shop duties, though she did occasionally step in for her mom, but most of the time she was just there to enjoy the gaming machines. She did not mind her spending her days like that as it helped her in an unusual way and she was also not the strongest person in terms of health and physicality. She had natural talent with gaming and often set a very strong high score. This often led to the more competitive group of gamers frequenting her mom’s store more often merely for the sake of trying to beat and hold the high score.

 

Once she settled in, she grabbed a few spare tokens from behind the counter that her mom would keep aside for her every morning and she headed over to a machine that had a large flat screen, about 60 inches, hanging from the wall and a joy stick platform with a mounted bench a few feet in front of it. She took a seat and popped in a few coins for the game to start up. It seemed to be an adventure game. The objective was to obtain a device known as the Tempo Continuum. Every stage and challenge was to be completed to reach that device as its powers allowed the holder to gain control over time, a crucial aspect in defeating the final boss, Chronos, who had the ability to freeze time. She set off playing and to no surprise by the end of the day she had set a new high score. Whenever this was achieved a game would always give three character spacings in which one could fill out letters or numbers to record the players personal alias for holding the high score. Hers would generally be 'Ace' . This game however, was new in all aspects and required the player to select 4 characters—it was one of the newest machine models in the arcade industry. She typed in Ace as she usually would but then found herself staring at the slots for a good while, putting serious thought into the name she’d have captured. She then hit the delete button three times and a smile started making its way across her face as she entered a new name before hitting enter and walking away. The screen briefly loaded and then a list of names appeared showing scores next to them as it revealed the top 20 from descending to ascending order, the top three names slowly making their appearance to reveal her entry right at the top of the list, it flickered “Siyeon”.

 

The following day came and Yoohyeon had headed over to the arcade as usual. Siyeon was completely unaware of her daily routine of course and was once more heading over to the studio to work on some music. She did not see Yoohyeon cross her path but she could not help have a sense of need, to see her again. She was not sure if it was merely curiosity or if there was something about the girls company that was alluring. She reached her studio and started playing around with the melody she was working on over the past few days. This time she was not alone in studio. Her manager Gahyeon, was in the office, as well as Minji the Violinist that was helping her out with a few instrumental pieces. Siyeon did all the piano work herself on her tracks. She found herself wondering about the strange occurrence with Yoohyeon the day before, and started asking herself questions once more, like whether it was something that triggered at a certain time, or something that only happened every time she made contact with someone. She looked over at Gahyeon and Minji and contemplated on how to put the theory to the test. She started thinking up excuses, to make contact with Gahyeon and Minji without it seeming strange. She was going to have to try with them both just to be extra sure.

 

She walked over to Gahyeon who was standing over the control board. They were both in the control room recording Minji as she played a piece on her Violin. She rested her hand on Gahyeon’s back while asking if she needed any assistance and looked up at Minji playing. It was easy for her to make contact with her as they had a bond similar to those of siblings. Nothing happened. Minji was still playing and Gahyeon had replied to her all the while having her hand on her back. She then headed towards the door that lead into the booth Minji was in. Gahyeon had stopped her from playing in order to take a short break. “Your music always sounds so beautiful,” Siyeon praised while reaching towards Minji's arm giving it a gentle squeeze and smiling at her—she was internally cringing at herself, knowing how forced these interactions were. Again it was not too hard to find a moment to make contact though as the two of them were music partners for the longest time, or at least it felt that way. Minji smiled back warmly, a slight blush revealing itself. “You should join me” she said while gesturing towards the piano. Siyeon just nodded and took up the offer. Again nothing happened, which meant it was either a once off experience, or there was something about Yoohyeon that triggered it.

 

The next few days passed by swiftly and Siyeon found herself wondering more and more about whether she would ever see Yoohyeon again and if the same anomaly would occur. It wasn't much different for Yoohyeon, she was completely unaware that time would freeze. She too, found herself thinking about Siyeon. Simply because there was something about Siyeon that grabbed her attention, something she could not explain, but she knew she wanted to see her again. It was just another day of the week when Siyeon walked down the same street they had first accidentally met, on her way to the studio as usual. She decided to head out to studio a bit later in the morning compared to the previous few days. The work load was a lot less these days and her colleagues were taking time off. Yoohyeon had already reached the Arcade and done her ritual gaming session by this time and was standing at the counter speaking to her mom about new machines and games that could benefit the store.

 

As she was telling her mom of a revolutionary gaming machine that had just launched the month before, she caught a glimpse of a person pacing past the store. It immediately caught her attention and she found herself lost for words and blank in thought for a moment. She then looked towards the entrance and responded to her mom as she was still speaking to her, not realising her attention was elsewhere. “One moment mom,” she said raising her finger up in a silencing gesture while she made her way to the door, opening it and peering out left and right. She saw a familiar figure to the right, walking away from the store. It was her, the girl she bumped into a few days back. She thought to herself for a moment, willing her mind to remember the girl’s name. “Siiiiy-eon, Siyeon! That's it.” she said confidently and then called out to her “Siyeon! Siyeon!,” she called, but Siyeon seemed to carry on down the street. Yoohyeon then narrowed her eyes in the direction of the girl that had passed, focusing her vision and then managed to notice headphone cords. She had a flashback to when they first met, recalling a pair of headphones that sat around her neck that day. “Of course, that explains it!” she said while leaving the store to run after her, murmuring to her mom as she ran out “I’ll be right back mom.” She reached Siyeon fairly quickly as she didn't walk too far down the street, and grabbed onto Siyeon's arm lightly sliding hers around Siyeon's. It went without saying that it startled her at first until she saw the warm smile of Yoohyeon. She popped her headphones off and let them dangle around her neck, looking forward once more, a slight blush forming upon her cheeks. But again, time froze, and this was definite confirmation that this girl she randomly met that day was definitely the cause to her time problem. Siyeon broke the contact as naturally as possible.

 

Yoohyeon simply smiled, “I didn't think I'd be seeing you again after our first encounter.” “N-Neither did I,” Siyeon responded shyly. She never expected to see Yoohyeon, and her friendliness confused Siyeon too, considering that she ran off that day. Siyeon wasn't sure but she enjoyed the warmth Yoohyeon seemed to radiate and her smile was so inviting, she really was rather beautiful. The more she thought of these things the more she found herself staring. Yoohyeon was speaking all the while and when Siyeon finally came back out of her thoughts she found herself blushing profusely at how she was looking at Yoohyeon. She took note of the strange glow on Siyeon's face as she immediately turned away. Yoohyeon tried making eye contact, “Siyeon? Are you okay?” she asked concerned. Nothing seemed wrong, as they were both still walking. Siyeon cleared and lifted her scarf she had on, a little higher until just below her nose while nodding. “Ye-Yeah everything is fine,” she reassured, “Where did you come from? I didn't see you passing me on the– street,” she asked her curiously. “My mom owns the Arcade just down the–” she said while turning back to point at it, only to realise they had walked further down than she thought. “–Well further down this street,” she finished. “Where are you headed though?” she asked Siyeon as Siyeon came to a stop looking towards a building to their right.

 

Siyeon lowered her scarf, the blush had dissipated. “I work here,” she said with a smile towards Yoohyeon. For some reason Yoohyeon found her heart beating a bit faster. “You work at a music studio, that's so cool,” she said with a tone of admiration. “I guess you have to go now,” she said with a sudden sadder tone, but she still held her smile. “You should come visit me in the arcade when you're done okay?” she suggested in a rather rhetorical manner. Siyeon couldn't help but smile at her once more before nodding in agreement. “I shall see you there later,” she reaffirmed before heading towards the stairs that led up to her studio. Yoohyeon's heart once again started beating wildly the minute Siyeon smiled. “See you then,” she wistfully said while taking off, running back up the street towards the arcade. She found herself wondering why her heart beat so erratically every time Siyeon smiled. It was something she couldn't yet make sense of, she only just met Siyeon. She let go of the thought accepting it was most probably the excitement of encountering her again. She walked back into the store smiling warmly at her mom before saying “I'm back, where did we leave off” and getting straight back into the conversation she was having with her before fleeing the store hurriedly earlier.

 

Midday seemed to drag on for both of them. Siyeon was composing a melody on piano and Yoohyeon was doing her usual arcade sweep, setting new records here and there. Siyeon found herself extremely inspired though whenever her thoughts drifted towards Yoohyeon. It had been months since a melody had composed itself so naturally. Her fingers were playing something so beautiful in sound, she was rather happy that the others weren't around. She would not have been able to explain it or what inspired it. Despite knowing where her thoughts were.

 

It finally reached afternoon and Yoohyeon found herself focused on a particular game. She had lost track of time and was close to a boss round she had not yet reached—it was one of her favourites. Siyeon had already gathered her things and made her way into the arcade. The doorbell chimed as usual and Yoohyeon's mom looked up at Siyeon from behind the counter. Yoohyeon was so caught up in her game that she had not even heard the chiming of the bell. Siyeon gave the lady behind the counter a good look before approaching her and made the assumption that she must have been Yoohyeon's mom. She clearly had inherited her piercing green eyes and she had the odd but pretty beauty spot on her face, she appeared to have a lot of good energy about her. “Hi ma’am, I'm looking for Yoohyeon?” she said with a hesitant shake in her voice. Siyeon wasn't the most social and often did not know how to approach people, something Yoohyeon and Bora seemed to have no problems with. She greeted her with a welcoming smile and gestured towards a machine nearer to the back of the store. “You'll find her over at one of her favourites,” she advised her, not hesitant to share that bit of information. Bora watched Siyeon as she walked off and wondered if she was a new friend of Yoohyeon's. Her daughter had never been requested for before. In fact, she never really saw Yoohyeon with friends, this was a first for her but it excited her because she was happy her daughter managed to make a new friend she could spend time with. Shee often felt bad for Yoohyeon, always spending her time with her or just alone in the arcade daily.

 

Siyeon headed over to the machine that Bora gestured to and true to her words she was there, sitting on the bench playing a game tentatively. Yoohyeon never realized that Siyeon was there and Siyeon did not interrupt her either. Instead she watched Yoohyeon play, on the screen that was mounted to the wall. It was the same game she had played a few days back, with the character that had to get the tempo continuum. She seemed to have made progress in obtaining the device and was heading to the final boss, Chronos. Siyeon scanned the control panel for a logo or game title. She found one that read “Timer”. This made Siyeon's heart race a bit. She brought her eyes back up to the screen and noticed that Yoohyeon was using the equipped device to freeze her opponents before smashing through them. Her heart raced, as it reminded her of what happened whenever she would make contact with Yoohyeon. Why was she playing this game, was there something about this game that influenced the time freezing phenomenon. She did not know what to make of it, but soon found herself drawn back to focusing on Yoohyeon again. She was pretty good at it, going through enemies like they were all easy mode level one goons. It was great to see Yoohyeon doing what she loved. It gave Siyeon a feeling of fervency. Not too long after Siyeon’s arrival, Yoohyeon got a tingle through her body. Wondering what it was, she decided to take a look around the room. It took her a whole of 2 seconds to spot that Siyeon was standing directly behind her.

 

“Siyeon!” she called out in excitement before flinging her entire body towards her. Siyeon panicked and stepped to the side avoiding Yoohyeon's incoming hug, at least that's what it seemed to be, or rather what she hoped it was. Yoohyeon fell face first onto the ground with her arms stretched out in front of her from her attempt. “Hi Yoohyeon,” she said with a guilty look after avoiding her attempted hug, a sweat drop forming. Yoohyeon didn't think much of it, giving a giggle after toppling over. She hopped straight back onto her feet with an equally happy expression. They spent the remainder of their time playing all sorts of games, from shooting Zombies, to racing and even the crane machines, which Siyeon seemed to have good skill in, ironically catching herself a plush of a caricature that was popular and loved amongst the youth. She spent the day getting as close to Yoohyeon as she could while avoiding contact and felt that she really did find herself having a great time. Yoohyeon seemed so natural in her approach too, as if they were the best of friends for the longest time. They both just wanted to continue spending time with eachother. Both were unable to put reason towards their desire to be in each other’s company but it was undeniable.

 

The next day came and it was weekend so Siyeon did not have work at the studio as usual. She remembered the night before, making a promise to Yoohyeon that she would visit the arcade again so she got herself cleaned up and dressed before grabbing her coat and heading out. The sun was shining brightly between the gaps of cloud cover, however, there was a chill in the air. It was about 11h00 in the morning as Siyeon took a leisurely stroll down the main road towards the arcade. She looked up at the clouds as a gentle breeze blew against her. All she found herself thinking about was Yoohyeon and she knew that it could only mean she had feelings for her. She tried avoiding thinking that way though, as she barely knew her and despite not understanding her sudden feelings, she had to admit that she liked the way Yoohyeon made her feel. She shook her head as if clearing the smoke of thoughts that clouded her mind, before reaching the arcade and walking inside. The door chimed but no one was at the desk. She peered inside and found that there were two people in front of her, but further into the store. They were staring back at her. It was Yoohyeon and her mother. Yoohyeon waved frantically calling out eagerly, “Siyeon! Over here!” Her mom let out a groan of distress as Yoohyeon quickly dropped her hand back under the machine. They were lifting it onto a trolley they were going to use to cart it over to an open space on the right hand side of the store.

 

“You got a new machine?” Siyeon asked curiously as she tilted her head to the side to read the label. “Timer 2,” it read, and Siyeon recalled Yoohyeon playing the first instalment just yesterday and finishing it. “Yeah, it’s the sequel to the game you saw me play yesterday. But this version is really cool. It’s a Virtual Reality machine! It allows you to be encompassed by the game”, she answered. Her exuberant passion for her games was admirable and Siyeon loved seeing her express it. It only made her feel that much fonder of Yoohyeon. The two of them set the machine down and managed to get it set up, and thereafter her mom returned to the counter at the front. Siyeon seemed to become a little more relaxed when she found herself alone with Yoohyeon. With that, Yoohyeon wanted to take hold of Siyeon's hand and pull her along to join in on trying out the game, but Siyeon instinctively pulled away out of fear of time standing still again. Yoohyeon gave a slight frown as that was the second time she seemed to avoid contact. She could not help but wonder why. She had feelings for Siyeon too, but unlike Siyeon, she knew what she felt and knew that she liked Siyeon and wanted to be around her and embrace her whenever possible. She did however understand that it was not normal and was definitely frowned upon in the city of Vylke. She then thought that, perhaps that was why Siyeon seemed to withdraw from her.

 

She had no idea what the true reason was, and Siyeon was not ready to tell anyone about the time freezing occurrence. The fact that Yoohyeon played a game that had a similar happening, would only make her story seem that much more unbelievable. She was not sure anyone would believe her, she didn't expect anyone to. Heck she wouldn't have believed it if someone came to her with such strange stories. The only reason she believed it to be real was because she experienced it. That was the problem. No one else could experience this but her; she couldn’t prove what was happening to anyone. For that reason, she decided to keep it to herself.

 

Time passed fairly quickly and before she knew it, it was dark outside and the arcade was empty. Only the two of them and Yoohyeon’s mom were left inside the arcade. Siyeon was astounded at how long Yoohyeon could play a game for; she did stop earlier in the day for a short break, but it was only for Siyeon's sake and so that the two of them could have lunch together. That was also when Yoohyeon had asked Siyeon to stay for the whole day. Siyeon didn't mind, even if Yoohyeon played the game all day and they hardly spoke, she was still happy that Yoohyeon just wanted her around. Yoohyeon's mom came over to where they were playing Timer 2 and since she was encompassed in the game still, Bora looked over at Siyeon to let her know he was going to leave the store for a few minutes to go deposit the money that was made for the day, at the local bank. Siyeon re-assured her that she would watch over her daughter and Bora nodded before taking off, locking the door behind her as an extra precaution.

 

Siyeon found herself staring at Yoohyeon again—there was something captivating about her beauty, even when she was completely absorbed in a game. A thought had crossed Siyeon's mind, it was the first time the two of them were completely alone with no one else around or nearby. Before she knew it, she found herself swivelling around to face Yoohyeon who had no idea of what Siyeon's movements were at the time, due to being in game. Siyeon did not know what she was doing either, but couldn't bring herself to stop as she felt herself draw closer and closer to Yoohyeon. Their faces were super close at this point and their lips inches from one another's, so much so that Yoohyeon got a strange feeling in game which caused her to stop moving her head along to the movements of the game. She kept the VR headset on though, remaining in game but she was trying to figure out what the strange feeling was that she was experiencing. It suddenly came to her, she felt Siyeon's breath upon her lips, she was not sure if it was Siyeon but the feeling she felt was undeniably the presence of someone inches away from her. Before either of them came to realise what was happening, Siyeon moved in and placed a light kiss upon Yoohyeon's lips. Time froze once more and once it had, Siyeon raised her hand placing it on Yoohyeon's cheek gently before kissing her again but this time with more feeling. She slowly withdrew her lips, opening her eyes, her hand still on Yoohyeon's cheek. That was when she realised her true feelings for Yoohyeon. Her eyes widened as she then understood what she had just done. She moved a few steps back, kneeling in front of Yoohyeon breaking contact as time returned to normal once more.

 

Yoohyeon was still motionless, but that feeling from before had disappeared and she found herself reaching up with her right hand, resting her fingertips upon her lips as if she still felt the kiss upon them. Her eyes were widened in her confusion but Siyeon could not see this due to her still wearing the headset. The words “Game Over” were boldly displayed on the screen behind Siyeon. This was due to Yoohyeon's attention leaving the game and a common enemy attacking her character during that time. This made Siyeon realise too, that Yoohyeon’s concentration and thoughts were focused elsewhere. Yoohyeon was not sure of what just happened and removed the headgear, finding Siyeon looking up at her with a strange look of bewilderment upon her face. Yoohyeon dropped her hand from her lips and looked towards Siyeon questioningly. It was as if Yoohyeon experienced the kiss but Siyeon knew that couldn’t have been possible. The next minute there was a familiar doorbell chime and Yoohyeon leaned back to see who it was. Siyeon used that opportunity to grab her bag and coat and hustle towards the door. “Siyeon wait, where are you going,” Yoohyeon asked with a hint of worry trailing in her tone. “I-er-well, I have a thing,  I have to go I'm sorry,” She said hastily while bowing and taking off, almost throwing Yoohyeon's mom off balance as a result when passing her on the way out. “What was that about?” she asked Yoohyeon, gesturing towards the door. “I have no idea,” she said looking concerned at Siyeon's actions.

 

After that day, Siyeon had distanced herself from the arcade and would leave earlier in the mornings and later in the afternoons as a way to avoid seeing Yoohyeon again. It was mainly due to the fact that she felt extremely guilty for her actions on that day. Not only did she kiss Yoohyeon without considering Yoohyeon's feelings but it was also something forbidden. Two girls being together was unspoken of, in fact in the history of Vylke, there was never a single recording or story heard of two girls having a relationship together. To Siyeon's knowledge, theirs would be the “Adam and Eve” of same relations in Vylke, and that scared her. For Yoohyeon though it was all very confusing. She had no idea why Siyeon had not visited again since that day or why she even ran off the way she did. She never knew of the kiss, despite having the feeling upon her lips and due to that, did not know Siyeon's reasons. She was sad but at the same time she was mad at Siyeon. Sad because she really liked Siyeon and wanted to be around her more, and upset because Siyeon had left without a word. She felt like it was something she did, even though she knew she did nothing in particular to drive Siyeon away. For Yoohyeon, the feelings she had for Siyeon did not scare her at all and she embraced it, but she grew up with games and stories where it was not looked down on, for Siyeon it was often the opposite, it was always avoided. Days past with the two of them filling their minds with reasons why they could not see each other.

 

A day finally came where Yoohyeon could not take it anymore and took initiative to go to Siyeon's studio. She headed down the road, vaguely remembering the building from when they had walked there together in the past. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and simply waited. She waited up to 40 minutes outside before the door had opened. Out walked Siyeon with her laptop bag and satchel around her shoulders as she looked down the stairs to descend them. Her eyes fell upon Yoohyeon standing in front of the staircase leaning against a lamp post. Both of them froze for a brief moment unexpectedly. Yoohyeon scanned over Siyeon, looking for an injury or some reason or explanation for why Siyeon would not have been able to visit but upon realising Siyeon seemed perfectly fine, tears welled up in her eyes. “You idiot!” she yelled out at her, swiping her hand across her blurred vision of Siyeon before taking off and running back towards the arcade, fighting the tears from falling down her face.

 

Siyeon found herself calling out and raising a hand in Yoohyeon's direction as if wanting to take hold of her. “De-melza,” she called out but in a hushed tone before slumping down on the nearest stair. She felt her heart ache, seeing Yoohyeon like that. She knew that she was right; she was an idiot for what she did. She fought with herself mentally back and forth as to why she had to do it but at the same time why she couldn't stay away from her anymore. She had eventually reached the conclusion that, in keeping her feelings hidden and avoiding Yoohyeon, she was hurting the both of them. And that it would be a worse pain to face than to admit her feelings to Yoohyeon. If she knew, then at least she could understand and it would make it a lot easier to handle. With that she got back to her feet and walked off home, making the final decision to head to the arcade the following day and confess her feelings to Yoohyeon.

 

The following day came quicker than she had expected and Siyeon found herself lying in bed simply staring up at the ceiling for a good few minutes. Her mind flooded with thoughts of how and when to tell Yoohyeon everything. She eventually found the courage to get up and take a shower after realising it was a waste of time trying to play out the confession in her head. After she got out of the shower and got dressed, she headed over to the arcade in a comfortable hoodie and a fitted pair of jeans. She walked in and as usual the doorbell chimed at her arrival. Yoohyeon's mom looked up and seemed rather happy to see her. She figured it must have been because Yoohyeon never mentioned anything to her about her absence. If it wasn't pointed out, it would just seem like she was too busy, that she was unable to come around. She returned a warm smile. “Hello. Where is Yoohyeon today?” she asked in the most polite and curious way possible to avoid seeming abrupt. “She's at the back at the moment having lunch. You are welcome to join her if you would like, just pass through that door,” Bora said generously while pointing towards a door in the far back left side of the arcade. It had a 'No Entry' sign stuck on it. She looked back at Bora hesitantly and she simply smiled, encouraging Siyeon to go.

 

She headed through the door at the back and closed it behind her, seeing Yoohyeon sit on the sofa in front of a small coffee table. Yoohyeon looked up, expecting the presence to be her mother and had a mouth full of food. It took her a minute to realise it was actually Siyeon and not her mother. She was surprised to see her. To avoid any further embarrassment, she quickly swallowed the food she was eating as fast as possible, wiping immediately after. “Siyeon! What are you doing here?” she asked, realising soon after that her tone could have come across as rude. “I'm sorry, I know I have no right to be here and that I was horrible to you, but I came here to fix that,” she replied with a tone of hope in her voice. Yoohyeon was not sure how she planned to do that but she was extremely happy to see that Siyeon was herself again. “Why did you just leave, was it something I did or said,” Yoohyeon asked sceptically, knowing that she never did anything wrong, but she still wanted to hear it from Siyeon directly. “No, not at all,” Siyeon confirmed, “it was me, you were right, I was an idiot,” she continued, looking at Yoohyeon with apologetic eyes. She then sat down next to Yoohyeon and took her hands in her own, only to let go shortly after, realising it would not help confessing when the world was frozen in time. Her words had to reach Yoohyeon. “The truth is,” she started, while giving a hesitant pause, “I–I really like you Yoohyeon,” she finally confessed. “I like you too Siyeon,” Yoohyeon responded with confidence and without hesitation. “No, you don't understand, it’s the other like,” she tried explaining but was not sure how to phrase it. Delemza simply gave a light giggle. “No silly, it's you that doesn’t understand,” she said while reaching her hand to Siyeon's cheek but did not touch it as she felt like Siyeon wouldn't want her to, never breaking eye contact all the while. They both started feeling a warmth upon their cheeks, slightly blushing as they seemed entranced with one another. Before getting any closer however, a sudden realisation washed over Yoohyeon, something that strangely never bothered her before.

 

The law forbids two girls to be together. This never really bothered her as she wasn't really the patriotic type and considered herself to be a rather free-spirited person. It now suddenly crossed her mind, because she had Siyeon's feelings to consider. She finally broke eye contact and her happy demeanour became one of concern. “I really do like you,” she confirmed, looking to the ground, unable to face Siyeon without wanting to embrace her. Siyeon was confused at her sudden change in body language and tone. “But you know that we can't truly be together right” she questioned. “Why? Is it because of that stupid law? I don't care about that” Siyeon defended. But it was more than just that, there was another reason, a reason Yoohyeon had kept secret for the longest time, something only her mom ever knew. ”Siyeon,” she pleaded. Siyeon just shook her head not wanting to listen. “You were right to abandon me, I was the idiot for thinking otherwise,” she concluded. There was a sorrow in Siyeon's eyes after that. She wasn't sure how to react or what to do and in her confusion and desperation to express her feelings, she leant forward, getting really close to Yoohyeon but stopped right in front of her face, remembering that time would freeze if she did that. After a few seconds of consideration she figured that it might not be such a bad thing, and without any hesitation, she proceeded to reach for Yoohyeon's hand, holding it in hers. Without fail, time froze once more and Siyeon found herself staring deeply into the crystal green eyes that had captivated her attention the first time they ever met. She let out all her feelings about how she felt about Yoohyeon, their relationship and their situation. Siyeon then slowly let go of her hold on Yoohyeon, still inches from her before slowly retreating. Yoohyeon could hear her own heart thump as she felt it beat through her chest. For some reason it was as if during those times she was frozen, she could still experience every moment, she was just missing the memories of it.

 

This time it was Yoohyeon that was unsure of how to handle the situation and she found herself turning away. She wanted to be with Siyeon more than anything but she tried to consider Siyeon's feelings and the future she would have too. She didn't want to cost Siyeon anything and as a result she closed off her feelings. Siyeon felt a pain in her chest. As much as she wanted to be with Yoohyeon, she couldn't. It only left her confused and doubtful that Yoohyeon reciprocated her feelings. She was more likely to believe that Yoohyeon was afraid of getting close to her, uncertain of her intentions. It was nothing like that but Siyeon struggled to see past the generic belief that it was sinful. She got up and looked over at Yoohyeon with a sad expression that she tried so hard to hide. “I understand,” she said in a soft tone before turning and walking out of the room and heading back to her apartment. Yoohyeon simply reached out her hand wanting to stop Siyeon from leaving but couldn't, and as the door closed she felt tears stream down her face. It tore her apart to have to do that to Siyeon. Her right hand clutched to her chest, where her heart was beating erratically. She tried calming it down to a stable condition once more. Her heart wasn't the strongest for someone of her age.

 

A few days had passed. The two of them never saw each other again since the confession, but both of them were thinking of each other every single day and it was getting progressively harder for the both of them to not see each other like they used to. Siyeon couldn't bare it any longer and being the one that had admitted her feelings that day, she decided to go back and not give up as easily as she had. She left the studio early in a rush and made her way straight to the arcade running in, the doorbell chiming in the distance as she headed right to Yoohyeon's usual machine. But she wasn't there. Come to think of it, her mother wasn't at the till either. She rushed in so fast she hardly took note but there was a blonde slender lady with glasses standing at the front counter. Siyeon scouted the arcade and even peeped into the back room while the woman at the front was distracted. There was no sign of Yoohyeon or her mother. Siyeon had no choice but to head over to the lady at the front desk. She would have preferred not to as she looked very strict and not too friendly. She approached her in the most cautious way possible. “Hi there ma'am,” she said while trying to be polite and not be too direct. “Good day young lady, how may I help you?” the lady questioned in the most friendly and professional way possible. Siyeon was taken aback as her appearance had suggested otherwise, it made her feel more relaxed though. “I'm a good friend of Yoohyeon's and I was wondering if you knew where she was?” Siyeon asked without raising too much suspicion. The lady looked at Siyeon with an unfavourable look before advising her of where they were. Siyeon rushed out without further word or hesitation. She ran down the street and took a few corners before coming to stand in front of a huge building and ran inside. She passed an embossed sign on the outside of the building that read “Vylke IC Hospital”. She headed straight for the receptionist and asked for Delmelza's room. Unlike most hospitals, Vylke fully allowed their citizens to visit patients regardless of whether they were family or just friends. However the nurse did call the room first, to confirm that Siyeon was indeed a friend before she gestured her in the right direction and advising Siyeon of the room number. “Thanks,” she said with a sincere tone before rushing off in the direction she was pointed. She reached the room and peered through the room window, she could barely see through it though as there were blinds on the other side that had been half drawn. She could tell it was the right room though as she caught a glimpse of Yoohyeon's mom. She hesitantly entered the room after taking a deep breath.

 

“Siyeon!” a surprised yet happy voice called out. It was Yoohyeon's mom. “You came! Yoohyeon has been asking for you non-stop and I did not know how to reach you. I asked Handong to let you know if you happened to come by the store,” she explained. Handong was the lady that Siyeon met earlier in the arcade, looking after the store for them. Siyeon struggled to find words to reciprocate how she felt after her eyes met Yoohyeon's. She didn't look well at all and Siyeon had no idea what was going on. Bora could see Siyeon's confusion and waved her hand in front of her vision to gain her attention once more. “Can I speak to you for a moment outside?” she asked her. Siyeon suddenly found it difficult to swallow and nodded before turning to follow Bora out the door while the nurse in the room did her check-ups.

 

“You seem a bit confused at all this, so I take it Yoohyeon didn't tell you anything,” she started with a worried expression upon her face. Again Siyeon remained silent. “Yoohyeon has a serious heart problem, she's had it from a very young age,” she explained. Bora took a short pause before she continued, “any excitement or stress can set it off.” As she said that, Siyeon's eyes widened from realisation. Just the day before, she admitted her feelings to Yoohyeon and could see then that it had put strain on her. She looked through the window in Yoohyeon's direction, suddenly feeling responsible for the state she was in. Yoohyeon's mom couldn't quite read Siyeon's demeanour. “Look Siyeon,” she continued, but Siyeon suddenly interrupted her. “Why would you let her arcade and game every day?” she asked Bora. She looked shocked at her question and retorted, “Excuse me?” “You know how those games excite her! All that time, every day you were putting her at risk!” she stated clearly. She was blaming Yoohyeon's mom, she refused to believe it was due to their talk the previous day and she had to find a reason for Yoohyeon's state. She had to put the blame on someone for keeping them apart. Yoohyeon's mom then looked at her with a more understanding expression; she could see she was in pain. “You're right,” Bora said admittedly. She felt just as responsible as Siyeon had for Yoohyeon's condition. Bora knew that there was some truth in what she said. “But it was what she wanted, she insisted daily on coming to the arcade and I just wanted her to be happy. It was either that or she would spend the rest of her life in the house alone most times,” she said while looking at Siyeon sincerely the entire time. Siyeon realised afterwards that Yoohyeon must have only had her mom and just wanted to be around people she loved while she could. This gave her an ache in her chest, she felt even worse now, for walking away from Yoohyeon, than she had before and she finally understood why Yoohyeon had said what she said.

 

Yoohyeon's mom’s voice started to fade out as she found herself gravitating back to Yoohyeon's side—she entered the room and stood next to the bed. She took Yoohyeon's hand in hers and said sorry. Her lips moved but no sound came out and she let go again. Yoohyeon's eyes slowly opened. “You're here,” she said gently and a smile crept across her face weakly. Siyeon returned her smile, “why didn't you say anything?” she nudged her playfully, bunching the blankets inbetween them in order to avoid contact. “I didn't know how, I'm glad I got to see you once more though,” she answered lovingly. “I'm sorry that we couldn't be together longer, my heart couldn't handle it, literally” she said jokingly giving a giggle. Siyeon couldn't help but giggle too and Yoohyeon's mom came strolling into the room at the same time. Bora did not understand the relationship between the two girls, but she was happy to see her daughter smiling again. Siyeon didn't fully grasp the situation though and reality hit shortly after. Yoohyeon clutched at her chest and seared in pain as the nurse called for a doctor and ran to the machines to monitor it. Siyeon took a step or two back to give them space as the doctor came in to try comfort Yoohyeon but her heart was failing. Siyeon felt a tear stream down her face unexpectedly and wiped it off with her hand looking at it as if not believing it was tears. The room fell silent but everything around her still seemed chaotic. She reached out her hand towards Yoohyeon's, it felt like she was moving in slow motion.

 

As she made contact time froze once more with everything else around her freezing too, including Yoohyeon and her condition. “I wish I could cure you like this,” Siyeon said. “Keep you frozen for eternity so that I always have you by my side,” she continued as she held onto Yoohyeon's hand with both her hands and put it against her chest. She let out a few more tears as she realised this would probably be the last time she'd get to be with Yoohyeon. As suddenly as she had entered Siyeon's life, she was leaving and it was painful to accept but Siyeon knew she would have to let go at some point. She leaned forward and softly said, “You will never leave my thoughts,” before giving her one last kiss and slowly letting go of her hand and stammering a few steps back again. As they broke contact, their eyes met, both of them smiling at each other amongst the chaos. Yoohyeon started to relax and a few seconds after, she closed her eyes as if going to sleep. Siyeon walked out of the room straight after that not saying a word or looking back, she knew that was their goodbye.

 

***

Sometime after that on a clear summer’s day, a girl lying in what seemed to be a field of grass, opened her eyes looking straight up at the sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight. She found herself blinking a couple of times as her vision was blurry. She lifted herself up after a few minutes and headed to the top of the hill just behind where she was lying. A huge city emerged and the girl simply scratched the back of her head. The place seemed familiar but she was sure she had never been there before. She descended the hill shortly after, heading into the town. She tried recollecting her memories but could not remember much at all. Did she have a family? Where did she come from? What was her name, all these questions circled her mind. She looked up at a nearby store-like building just to the right of her. It read “Valke Studios”. She suddenly remembered what her name was. Whether it was the name of the store, the town or just a familiar smell in the air, a part of her memory re-surfaced.

 

Not too long after, a masked person walked by, seeing the lost expression on the girls face. “You seem lost,” they said, with a friendly smile that made her feel more at ease than usual. “Y-yeah I'm not too sure where I am,” she confirmed. “Well you could always make use of this map,” the stranger said while handing her what seemed to be just a transparent card. She took it from her hand and upon applying a pressured touch; it illuminated and expanded to reveal a street view map. At the top of the hologram, it read “Guide through Valke”. She lifted her prints up again and the map receded back, forming a transparent card once more. She didn’t want to seem rude in the company of the stranger that handed it to her, but when she looked up she noticed the masked figure was already walking off in the distance. Just before parting, they said, “by the way my name is Yubin, maybe we'll meet again miss...” she said in a suggestive way which encouraged her to share her own name in return. “Yoohyeon,” she said willingly, “My name is Yoohyeon.” There was something that made her trust her and she couldn't understand why. “Well then, I shall see you around Yoohyeon,” Yubin said smiling at her before turning back around and heading towards the field that Yoohyeon had just come from. Once Yubin was no longer facing her, she opened up the map once more trying to determine her next course of action. A sinister smirk crept across Yubin’s face as she walked away.