The weather in Seoul was usually unforgiving in December, but on this night the crisp atmosphere was perfectly suitable for a short stroll in the park. Yonghwa held on to his girlfriend’s hand tightly from the inside of his coat pocket. They had just come back from a humble dinner at her favorite local restaurant and she insisted they end the night with a little exercise. It was very much like her to suggest this type of activity. Only the sound of their boots crunching the thin layer of snow on the ground could be heard. It was just cold enough that they could see their breath form tiny smoke clouds each time they exhaled. Yonghwa hoped that she didn’t notice the sweat dripping off his palm or the sound of his heart beating faster with every step they took.

When he couldn’t bear the silence any longer, he stopped cold in his tracks and turned to face her. He had trouble looking this beautiful being in the eyes. She was especially stunning that night, having styled her hair exactly the way he liked it. Her gently waved, brown locks were loose and fell perfectly beneath her shoulders.

“Seohyuna…”

Her large, bright eyes shone in the moonlight as her facial features formed an adorably puzzled expression.

“Why are you acting this way?” She giggled nervously the same way she always did when she suspected he was going to say something important.

“We’ve been dating for over a year and… I… I want you to move in with me.”

Her expression was stiff. The offer had caught her completely off guard.

Yonghwa continued. “I can’t stand being apart from you any longer. I want to wake up to your apple & ma smoothies each morning. I want to come home to find you reading a book on my couch. I want to be near you all the time."

She quickly cleared and attempted to give a rational excuse.

“Yonghwa, you know I don’t believe in living together before marriage. I’m flattered at the offer, but I just don’t think…”

Yonghwa hastily interrupted.

“Seohyun, do you really think I could have spent an entire year with you without knowing how you are? Of course I knew what your response would be. But I can’t take it anymore. We rarely have time to see each other as it is with the way our schedules are. I want to at least be able to share a bed with you at night. Heck, I would even sleep on the couch if that meant getting to see you at least once a day.”

“Yong, I just don’t know about this.”

“Look, why don’t you have a talk with Hyoyeon when you get home tonight. She’s one of the people you trust the most and I’m certain that she’ll be able to give you some good advice. And if your best friend is on my side, well then, you’ll just have to give in.”

Yonghwa flashed a devilish grin.

“Hyoyeon."

As she muttered the name her heart began to feel uneasy. She pictured her roommate at home by herself, probably skipping dinner because she hadn’t been home to cook for her.

“That’s right. Now let me walk you home so you’ll have plenty of time to talk this over with her before your bedtime.”

Yonghwa grabbed her hand and began walking towards the edge of the park, picking up his pace. Ever since he began his relationship with Seohyun, Hyoyeon had been an avid supporter. Whenever he messed up, Hyoyeon was there to talk Seohyun into answering his calls. Hyoyeon was the one who encouraged her to begin initiating skinship. She was one of the people who had always believed in them from the start. He knew he could count on her this time as well.

The walk home had been mostly silent as either party was unsure of what to say. When they reached the outside of Seohyun’s apartment building, Yonghwa gently placed a kiss on her lips.

“Think about it, please.”

She felt herself melting on the inside but remained firm on the outside.

“I will. Take care.”

She walked inside and decided to take the elevator up to her apartment for once. Hyun hated taking short cuts, but she felt a little dizzy and decided against climbing the steps up to the 5^th floor as usual. As soon as she stepped off the elevator, Hyoyeon came to mind. She began walking briskly towards their door and quickly fumbled with the keys. She entered and found her roommate asleep on the couch with wide open, arm hanging off the side and cell phone in hand.

Seohyun sighed deeply and smiled. If it had been any other time, she would have woken the blonde haired girl and forced her to eat a quick snack and go sleep on her bed. But on this night, she wouldn’t dare disturb such an innocent face. She grabbed the nearest blanket and started to unfold it when Hyo suddenly began to stretch. Her eyes slowly blinked open.

“Oh, Seohyuna! How did your date go?”

“Did you eat?”

“Did you guys kiss?”

Seohyun let out a whimper. “Unnie, don’t try to change the subject.”

The older girl rolled her eyes.

“Who cares if I ate or not. I want to know how far you guys got tonight…”

“Unnieeee!” Seohyun wailed.

She knew that Hyoyeon loved to push her buttons. Maybe if she stopped whining so much, the girl wouldn’t be so persistent. But she always gave in, perhaps because she loved the way Hyoyeon’s head would fly back as she roared with laughter. Even if she had to constantly be the of the joke, she didn’t mind as long as she could make her friend happy.

Hyoyeon sat up and Seohyun took a seat next to her. She linked her arm into Hyo’s.

“What the heck?”

Hyoyeon scrunched her face up and attempted to unlink her arm.

“Unnie, I have to talk to you about something important. It’s about Yonghwa.”

As soon as Hyoyeon heard his name, she stopped fidgeting. A sly smile crept upon her face.

“I’m listening.”

“Well, you know how Yonghwa took me out to dinner, right? He took me to the place we always go to that’s down the block. Afterwards, I suggested we take a walk, and well we walked to the middle of the park and…”

Hyoyeon made a loud and obnoxious snoring sound.

“You really don’t know how to tell a story properly. Just get to the point already. Did he ask if you wanted to go to bed with him?”

Hyoyeon instinctively brought her hands up to her face but she didn’t feel Seohyun’s wimpy little hands smacking her arm. Instead, she looked back to find her with a very solemn expression.

“What’s wrong with you? Did he really say that? Just stop looking at me that way. You’re scaring me.”

“Unnie, he asked me to move in with him.”

Hyo’s eyes became wide. “Jeongmal? What did you tell him?”

Seohyun felt blood rushing to her face and she turned and looked towards the ground.

“I told him I’d think about it. He told me to ask you.”

Hyo forced out a giggle. “Well, what would you have to ask me for? You can do whatever you want. Who am I to stop you?”

Seohyun twisted one of her brown curls around her finger, continuing to avoid making eye contact.

“I don’t know. Maybe because I always listen to what you say.”

An awkward silence fell upon the room and Seohyun wished she knew what her roommate was thinking. It wasn’t like her to react this way. Usually she’d immediately begin dishing out advice and pushing Seohyun towards whatever her boyfriend’s wishes were.

“Maybe you need to learn how to start making your own decisions. I can’t be following you around all your life and making major choices for you. I’m tired. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Hyoyeon walked off to her room and shut the door. Her final statement completely unveiled her true feelings. Both girls knew that their schedules never coincided to where they were both free in the morning. Seohyun would wake up bright and early to prepare a healthy breakfast for herself and head off in order to make it to school on time. She would always leave an apple & ma smoothie in the fridge for Hyoyeon, who didn’t wake up until noon.

Seohyun began to breathe air heavily through her nostrils and she felt warm tears begin to gather up in her eyes. Sometimes she resented being the weak one in the friendship, but she just couldn’t help becoming emotional whenever it came to Hyoyeon. A million thoughts were running through her mind and she felt torn.

She thought back to all the times she had with her boyfriend, Jung Yonghwa. It had been an amazing year. She went from barely being able to look him in the eye to finally receiving her first kiss from him a few months ago. He was a little stubborn from time to time, but an overall warm and caring person. She felt butterflies whenever she thought of his face and never left the house without the silver couple ring he gifted her on their 100^th day anniversary.

She then reminisced on all the years she spent with her best friend, Kim Hyoyeon. They were such an odd match, but ever since they met they had been inseparable. Back in high school, Ms. Kim was a hot commodity. She was captain of the dance team and even had a fan club of good looking guys , dedicated to making her life easier. She would often skip classes and on a day that she felt like showing up, she would usually joke around with her friends. It wasn’t until the day she needed answers to a difficult math assignment that she sought out the tall and timid little girl always sitting by herself in the lunchroom. The girl was obviously younger than her, but word had gotten around that she was one of the smartest students in school. That day the two opposites got into an argument over cheating on homework. Over time, the bickering soon grew into affection and the girls bonded closer than anyone could have ever imagined.

There was no doubt that Hyoyeon was a strong girl, but Seohyun worried about her none the less. Hyo was the girl who wouldn’t let anyone talk back to her or take advantage of her, but who couldn’t get around to eating regular meals. She was the one that worked hard to choreograph some of the hottest dance groups in Korea, but frequently lost track of what day it was. Nope, she needed Seohyun in her life. And Seohyun needed her as well. They were great together, regardless of their constant arguing. Seohyun knew where Hyoyeon’s heart was at the end of the day.

As she continued to sit in the same spot, analyzing the situation, she became angry at her boyfriend. Why had he suddenly intruded upon their friendship this way? He knew how fond she was of Hyoyeon. How dare he suggest she move in with him after witnessing everything she does for her best friend. She cared for Yonghwa, but she couldn’t imagine a life without Hyoyeon.

It was getting late. She wanted to finish a chapter of her book before going to bed at her usual time, midnight. She began walking towards her room when she imagined what the next day would be like. Whenever she got into a fight with her roommate, her entire day became unbearable. She would get distracted in class, daydreaming over scenarios of how she’d get Hyoyeon to speak to her again. Usually, they fought over silly things that would be forgotten by Hyoyeon when they met up in the evening. But this time, she wasn’t so sure of the outcome.

She let go of her doorknob and began walking towards Hyoyeon’s bedroom. She gently turned the knob and slowly creaked the door open, just enough to slip inside. It was dark, but the moonlight that shone through the window revealed a hint of Hyoyeon’s messy blonde hair peeking out from underneath her blanket. One foot stuck out over the edge of her bed.

“She must be knocked out by now,” Seohyun thought to herself.

She slowly tiptoed over to Hyo’s bed and sat down. She peeled the covers back to find Hyo’s porcelain face streaked with black tears. She was awake. After seeing Seohyun’s face, the girl began to sob quietly. Seo’s heart felt like it was being ripped out of her chest.

“Get… out..”

The tears the younger girl had been holding back began to flow down furiously.

“Unnie…”

“I didn’t want you to see me like this. Seohyun, just get the hell out of my room.”

Hyoyeon began pushing the younger girl off the bed, but Seohyun pulled her arms down forcefully and began embracing her unnie tightly. After fighting it for a few seconds, Hyoyeon decided to just let it be and hugged her right back.Seohyun pulled away and wiped the tears off of her roommate’s face.

“I can’t do it, unnie. I love you." She then whispered softly, "I'll never leave your side.”

And with that the young girl became bold and placed her hands on the older girl’s face. Hyoyeon rested her arms by her side and the sound of her sobs began to subside. From the living room, Seohyun’s phone began to go off. Yonghwa’s assigned ringtone could be heard, echoing loudly throughout the apartment.

Both girls remained still. Hyoyeon closed her eyes and Seohyun moved in closer.

The phone continued to ring.