Seulgi didn't know that mornings could ever be as glorious as this. The sunlight seeping through half-drawn curtains. Warm sheets and body heat. The air smelling like Seungwan and flower fields. And of course, the main attraction, the object of her affections, Seungwan herself. Wow. Just wow. Who knew that waking up to such a view can feel so intoxicating? It’s like waking up to a really great high and Seulgi never wants to get to the trip. When did reality become better than her dreams? She props her head against her hand, elbows digging into the mattress, and indulges herself to this paradise - just watches Seungwan sleep.

She looks so peaceful this way. So beautiful. Unreal but at the same time very much real. Her hair tangled up in curls. Her breathing uneven. Her slightly parted lips. Her long eyelashes that flutter with a slight movement of her delicate eyelids. Her skin that's smooth and warm under Seulgi's fingertips. This is something she's not used to and to be honest, she never wants to. She wants to feel like this every morning, every moment of every day, even, so she won't forget what she has in front of her, so she won't ever stop falling in love.

She feels her heart swell at the thought.

"Good morning," Seulgi remembers to breathe, realizes that Seungwan has opened her eyes and is looking at her.

"Hmm." Seungwan scoots closer to her, drapes one arm around her waist, burrowing her face into her neck. "Let's go back to sleep." Her voice is laden with sleep.

Seulgi chuckles, doesn't know why she's doing it but it just feels right to. She sighs, kisses the top of Seungwan's head and just holds her like that because this is still hard to believe and holding her like this convinces her that everything is in place.

"Today is a day I'd rather go through awake though." Seulgi whispers into Seungwan's ear despite herself feeling like she's in dreamland.

Seungwan sits upright and Seulgi looks at her, wonders if she said something wrong.

"It's your birthday today." Seungwan says.

"Mhmm." Seulgi smiles. "And there's a lot to do today."

Bomi and Chorong's plans of grandeur for today comes to her mind and she makes a face at the thought. Seungwan must have noticed because she laughs a little before lying back down next to her, burying into her side.

"It's still early. We'll have enough time to prepare for whatever your cousin has in store for us later." Seungwan says, yawns.

"I do wish that we can just stay in bed like this for maybe the whole day." She says, a look of longing in her eyes as she stares into Seulgi's.

"We already did that yesterday."

"Cuddling is nice. Don't pretend you didn't like it." What did Seulgi say? Unreal.

"I never said I didn't." Seulgi is smiling so wide now she worries that she's giving too much of herself away but she dismisses the thought as quickly as it came.

"Anyway, I think it's best to get up now. There's something I want to do with you before going to Bomi unnie's."

 Seulgi doesn't add that going there means going to live with Bomi and Chorong again because she doesn't want it to be sad. She wants it to be happy because she hasn't seen Chorong in a while and it's also her birthday. Maybe there's just a small part of her that's sad because it would mean less time with Seungwan and not waking up next to her like this.

"Seulgi?"

She must have gotten too absorbed in her own thoughts.

“Yeah?”

Seungwan smiles at her. Then she moves so fast, Seulgi doesn't even have time to blink, and gives her a kiss on the cheek. Simple and innocent.

“Happy birthday.”

Seulgi doesn't want to get used to this. She never wants to. Even if it feels like she got punched on the nose every time.

--

Seungwan wonders if Seulgi likes flowers a lot. Maybe it's because she's seen a picture of her as a child, holding a bouquet of flowers. Or maybe it's because they're stopping by a flower shop to get some now. Seulgi could be the type. She's a bit of a hopeless romantic so it's possible. There's still so much to know about Seulgi.

As Seulgi walks away from the counter, clutching her bouquet and smiling, it occurs to Seungwan that she should've paid for that. She shouldn't have to buy flowers for herself. It's her birthday!

“It's not for me so don't worry about it.” Seulgi says to her when she voices her thoughts out loud.

“It's not? Whose it for then?” Seungwan asks, really curious.

“I just have someone to meet before we go to the party.” Seulgi says which doesn't make things any clearer for Seungwan.

“On your own?”

“No, silly. You have to be with me. C'mon.” Seulgi chuckles, takes her hand. “I don't ever want to be anywhere without you, you know.”

She tries to ignore the fluttery feelings in her chest because she really wants to know about where they're going but it couldn't be helped. And it also feels like Seulgi's keeping her in dark about something. Still, Seulgi just smiles at her with those eyes and she keeps silent.

Seulgi leads her out the of shop and to the corner street where they find a sleek black car waiting for them by the sidewalk.

She turns to Seulgi again, eyebrows raised.

“I hope you don't mind.” Seulgi says, a little bit sheepish as the chauffeur gets off and opens the passenger door for them. “I just figured it would be difficult for us to get there by bus.”

Seungwan doesn't argue or ask and just gets in even though she’s dying to find out where exactly they're going.

The car moves at a speed comfortable to her. But, all the while, she thinks hard on where they could be going or who they're meeting. Seulgi's dad? If not, her mom? But isn't it too fast for that? And it's not like things are not complicated with Seulgi’s family either. So Seungwan starts to feel really nervous but Seulgi just squeezes her hand and gives her an assuring smile.

However, the car takes them to neither. Instead, it takes a route that is quite familiar to Seungwan - past tall buildings, residential areas, and into winding hills. It can't be what she's thinking of, right? But her eyes can only confirm what her mind refuses to believe.

The car pulls over and they get off. Seulgi thanks the driver and tells him to wait for them. She leads the way past several rows of marble stones – some with fancy engravings in gold and silver, others with flowers or wreaths or food, a sign that those who lie there are still remembered and not forgotten. Seungwan knows the way too and could very well go first if only she had the strength to and she feels like Seulgi knows this well.

When they stop in front of that particular shrine, Seungwan finally breaks the silence.

“Seulgi…”

“I know it's not much but I really wanted to meet Joohyun unnie. Even if it's like this.” Seulgi says, kneels down and places the bouquet at the foot of the stone that read ‘Bae Joohyun - loved and was greatly loved'.

She remains kneeling on the grass. Even runs her hand on the stone, like she could be shaking Joohyun's hand, before looking back up at Seungwan to smile at her.

“It's not my intention to intrude. I asked permission from Taeyeon unnie and she said yes. She also gave me the directions to get here.” Seulgi explains and it starts to make sense but Seungwan doesn't know what to say.

“So if you don't mind, we'll just talk for a bit. You can stay and listen. We won't mind, right, Joohyun-nim?” Her eyes form crescents, like she could be joking but Seungwan knows that she isn't because Seulgi’s not like that.

“To start of, I think I'll introduce myself. My name is Kang Seulgi. I turn 26 on this very day, Joohyun-nim.” Her voice is cheerful, sincere. As if she's really meeting her face to face.

“I'm sorry about not meeting you sooner. I don't mean to barge in like this on my birthday. It's not for leverage or whatever. I just really wanted to meet you so I hope you understand.”

“Anyway, I'm an artist. Although I don't earn as much as I did before, I promise I won't let Seungwan go hungry.” Seulgi laughs a little. “I don't know about you but I really like her chubby cheeks and I won't like it if she loses them unless maybe she wants to?” She turns to Seungwan again, sees her holding back tears.

The mood somehow becomes more serious. Seulgi prepares herself to speak but finds that her voice shakes. She clears and tries again, slowly but surely.

“I know that you two are soulmates. And nothing will change that. But I'm in love with her.” Seulgi pauses, takes a deep breath as she's holding in her tears too. “I won't ever ask her to forget you because that's just mean but you should know that from now on, she's not just yours. She's mine too.” Seulgi stands up, smiles.

“That means that you can count on me to take care of her. I won't ever hurt her or make her cry. Instead, I'll do every thing I can to make her happy because she deserves that.”

“I know you agree with me so that's a promise I'm making you, Joohyun-nim. If it isn't too much to ask, please give me your blessing and watch over us from up there.” Seulgi finishes.

Seungwan feels like her heart would burst in her chest. She closes the distance between them and throws her arms from behind Seulgi, pressing her face into Seulgi's back.

“Aigoo. I think we made her cry.” Seulgi chuckles, pats Seungwan's arm, consoling her.

“Seulgi…”

It's funny how being here, in Joohyun's grave, Seulgi had a lot more to say than her when it's their first time meeting. The only thing she could really utter is Seulgi's name even though she wants to say a lot of things too. But what can she do when everything Seulgi does and says leaves her speechless?

“Thank you.” She figures she could start with that.

Seulgi chuckles and turns around to face her. She puts an arm around her, keeping her close to her side as they both stare at Joohyun's memorial, like they could be standing in front of Joohyun.

“Oh, I didn't do this for you. I did it for myself and for Joohyun unnie.” Seulgi says in a tone that suggests that she's joking but saying the truth at the same time.

“I know, Seulgi. I know.” Seungwan says, hugs her tighter.

Seungwan wonders what she did in her previous life to be loved this much by two amazing young women - Joohyun who showed her how beautiful life could be and Seulgi who taught her how to hope even when everything was falling apart. One had her at her best. The other during her worst. And she will always be indebted to both.

Like what Seulgi said, Joohyun is and will always be her soulmate. A person only ever has one so that means that Seungwan will always love Joohyun. And she's thankful to Seulgi for understanding that. But at the same time, she's sorry to Joohyun because Joohyun will have to share Seungwan's heart with Seulgi now.

To put it simply, she's in love with Seulgi but that doesn't mean she will stop loving Joohyun. Joohyun may be gone but she's not forgotten. She will always be remembered. As for Seulgi, she’s right here, next to Seungwan, and she will love all of her because she deserves to be loved, deserves to be happy.

It's not really a matter of choosing to move on and to forget the other. Seungwan's heart is big enough for both Joohyun and Seulgi. She thinks maybe things will get awkward if the three of them meet in heaven but the thought only makes her smile.

Seungwan leans her head on Seulgi's shoulder and smiles.

“I think you would have been great friends.” She says.

“You do?” Seulgi asks, caresses Seungwan's head.

Seungwan nods. After a moment, Seulgi replies.

“I guess that's true. We do have a lot in common.”

“Umm, no, you don't?” Seungwan says, looks at Seulgi in disbelief.

“What are you saying?” Seulgi pretends to be offended but she smiles widely so Seungwan knows she's joking. “We're both good looking, kind hearted, and awesome girls. And we're both madly in love with one woman.”

“Which woman?” Seungwan asks, humoring her.

“Mhmm.” Seulgi turns to her, hands capturing her face and eyes looking into hers. “Well, she's very beautiful and kind. She makes me feel infinite and she's called Son Seungwan.”

Seulgi closes her eyes and leans in, kissing Seungwan deeply.

------------------------------

A/N: This is Seulgi's birthday part 1. I'm really sorry for not being able to follow through. I wanted the updates to be real time -ish but I got caught up with school work and org stuff. What are your thoughts in this chapter? Please do comment on what you think. Also, I'll probably be able to finish this story in 25 chapters or less. This is me hinting that it's coming to an end. Which I think is something you already know. But anyway, wrapping up this story means I will be starting new projects. So if you have suggestions or requests or prompts (Seuldy/Wenrene/Joyri for RV ships), you can send them to me on ask,fm/Bluekimchi. (My twitter account is kind of a mess so just ask me. It's a new account too. LOL). Thanks for sticking with me and this story thus far. Always <3 - Bluekimchi