“Hey, can you please pass me some nails?” Seulgi looked down to Irene from the top of her ladder, stretching her left hand out for the said item while her other hand gripped a hammer steadily.

It was a clear, sunny day outside and Seulgi was nestled on their leaky roof, trying to do Grandma Jeong a favor by replacing all the defected roof shingles.

On the rooftop deck below the ladder sat Irene, finally free of her restrictive arm cast and peacefully writing something on her little notebook. The sun cast a pale light over her.

Irene lifted her gaze from her page and the tiny, concentrated frown between her eyebrows disappeared as she looked at Seulgi.

“Here.” She went on her toes and raised the pack of nails to Seulgi, watching the younger girl work with a lazy smile. “Is this how housewives feel when they watch their husbands do home repair? Kind of attractive, I’m not going to lie.”

Seulgi snorted and took out one of the nails to start hammering it in. “Please. Lesbians are way better at this.”

“Yeah, right.” Irene drawled, smirking. “Which was why you watched DIY home repair videos secretly on your phone all day yesterday, am I right?”

Seulgi winced, grinning slowly. “One can always be an expert overnight. I’m sure I have exceeded many men in history.”

She replaced the remainder of the shingles and hopped off the ladder once she was done. Throwing the hammer aside, she walked over to Irene and pulled her towards herself with a big smile.

“You are all sweaty.” Irene laughed, wiping her face with the end of her long sleeve.

Seulgi rose an eyebrow. “Hot kind of sweaty or ugly kind of sweaty?”

“Hot kind of sweaty.” Irene nodded decisively.

Seulgi chuckled and dipped in to plant a quick kiss on her smiling lips.

“What are you writing about?” She motioned with her chin at Irene’s notebook, which was hugged protectively in her arms.

The older girl had been writing something continuously for several days now. Seulgi was happy that she seemed to have a good time with her newfound hobby.

“Oh, just random notes here and there. About how I first met you and how we got together. I try to jot down how I felt during every moment because they are all precious to me. I don’t want to forget them five years later.” Her cheeks colored pinkish. “It ends up longer than I expected, though. It’s probably going to be novel length at this rate.”

“Well, we do have quite a story, don’t we?” Seulgi grinned. “Can I read it?”

Irene’s eyes widened immediately. “No.” She hid the book behind her back in a heartbeat.

“Aww, why not?”

“Just no.”

Seulgi tried to grab the notebook playfully from her but she scurried backwards hurriedly. “Not until it is finished!”

“Okay, okay.” Seulgi threw both hands up in surrender, laughing before bending down to peck her lips again because it was impossible to not do so while she was sporting that adorable frown. “I will wait until you are done.”

“Good.” Irene breathed out. She raised a warning finger at her after a while, though. “And don’t you try to read it secretly when I’m not around.”

“When are you not around though? You are always all over me.”

“Maybe like, when I’m showering?”

“Oh, then you should be all over me while doing that too.” Seulgi batted her eyelashes innocently. “You know, to keep me from committing mischief and all.”

Irene smacked her on the arm and earned a happy squeal. “Clever excuse, but that will just lead to a wholly different kind of mischief.”

Seulgi was about to banter her back about it when her phone suddenly rang. She reached into her pocket and signaled Irene to wait for her a bit. “Hello?”

Irene watched Seulgi’s expression change to a more serious one as the person on the other end spoke.

“It’s Seungwan.” Seulgi mouthed slowly, somewhat asking for her permission to talk.

Irene nodded almost immediately. “It’s okay.”

She meant every bit of that statement.

It wasn’t easy, but Irene had been working on her trust lately so she could triumph over her irrational insecurity and fear. It took her a lot of effort but here she was, slowly succeeding in telling herself that Seulgi wouldn’t just leave her for anyone ‘better’ because she truly loved her.

Wendy was her long-time best friend and Irene was not going to ruin a precious friendship for her, again. Seulgi deserved good things in life.

“Oh? Is it true?” Seulgi’s voice chirped higher as she listened to something Wendy said, her eyes glimmering with delightful surprise. “Wow, that’s…really nice. Thank you, Wan. Thank you really. You are doing so much for her.”

She looked at Irene then, who stared back at her curiously.

Seulgi’s gaze softened at the last few words Wendy said before she hung up. “Okay, I will ask her. You don’t have to worry. And Wan, take care of yourself, okay? Don’t forget to rest.”

With that, she tapped her phone off and slid it back into her jeans’ pocket.

“Something good happened?” Irene wondered.

Seulgi beamed and scooted closer to her. She reached a hand out to tuck a strand of hair behind Irene’s ear and her cheek with the back of her fingers. The wind breezed on them just as gently. “The legal guardianship switch is done. It’s official now, your stepmother no longer has any control on you. As of now, Seungwan has everything in her hands. So, your transfer to Japan has been cancelled too.”

Irene looked at her with mouth slightly agape and eyes slightly wider. For the first time in many years, she felt some part of the phantom weight resting on her shoulders finally lift.

“That’s nice. That’s really…really nice.”

Seulgi’s grin was nearing her ears. “There is something even nicer. She said she found out that your mom had left behind some assets under your name. It’s completely separated from your dad and stepmother’s wealth. It is completely yours.”

Irene blinked at her with an inexplicable expression, as if she was in disbelief at the influx of good news.

Seulgi’s grin softened. “She has always looked out for you, hasn’t she? Your mom?”

“She has…” Irene muttered slowly, her heart warming up at the new piece of information and her lips curving up in a smile. “She always has.”

Seulgi kept on caressing her cheek and decided that it was probably time to tell her what she had been keeping to herself. “Seungwan asked me to tell you that she wants to meet you when you are ready.”

Irene’s form grew rigid instantly. Seulgi cupped her face with both of her hands before she could back away. “Hey, it’s not a must. You don’t have to stress about it. She said she has a lot of things she wants to say but she will wait until you are ready. She will come down here to Yeosu only if you say so.”

Irene hugged her notebook closer to her chest, looking down slowly. “I will think about it.” Her voice was small and nervous, but she was being serious. “I – I have been thinking about talking to her again too since a few days ago. There are so many things that need closure between the two of us. But I – I think I need more time to ready myself for it.”

Seulgi nodded and stepped forward to wrap her in a hug.

“You can have all the time you need.” She placed a soft kiss on top of Irene’s forehead, squeezing her gently in her arms. “I’ll be here if you need me along the way.”

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

Irene was busy making dinner when she noticed that concentrating on what she did was getting more and more difficult.

It had been a few days since Seulgi first relayed the offer, but her mind seemed to always fleet back to it and constantly deprived her of the ability to focus on anything else.

She tried to pay attention again to what she was cooking and shook the intrusive thoughts off her head, but somehow, she managed to space out again in under five minutes.

As an unfortunate result, the knife she was holding accidentally sliced into her own finger and not into the green onions it was supposed to chop for their boiling pot of ramen.

Irene winced and let out an “Ouch!”

“What’s wrong?” Seulgi, who was sitting on the floor and previously immersed in drawing something on her sketchbook, immediately stood up and rushed towards her.

Irene held up her bleeding index finger and assessed it with a small frown. “Nothing. I just cut my finger by accident. It’s just a shallow cut, though. You don’t have to worry.”

Seulgi examined her hand carefully nevertheless and thin creases appeared between her eyebrows. “Yeah, it’s nothing deep. But I’m going to get disinfectant and band-aid just to be safe.”

Irene laughed as the younger girl turned around to grab a first aid kit from the top of the fridge. “I thought you were going to put my finger in your mouth and start like everyone in every romance book and movie ever.”

Seulgi took out a bottle of disinfectant and a band-aid from the kit and gave her a slow look. “I may not look like it but I’m a medical student, excuse me. Why on a wound when there’s a much more effective kit nearby.”

Irene snorted. “So romantic, dating a med student.”

Seulgi cleaned her cut and wrapped a band-aid around it thoroughly before putting the kit away. “All done. Can I dip into dinner now? Whatever you are cooking smells amazing.”

“It’s just ramen and some grilled meat from Grandma Jeong.” Irene scooped the chopped green onions into her hands and poured them into the hot ramen. “Get the table ready.”

Seulgi set their small table on the floor and helped Irene carry their meals onto it. Once it was all settled, they both sat cross-legged facing each other and rubbed their hands in anticipation.

“I’ll eat well!” Seulgi dipped into their shared pot of ramen gratefully, lifting and slurping the spicy noodles with relish. She let out a deep, satisfied noise.

Irene chuckled and picked at the grilled meat to plop one into . “Grandma Jeong is so funny. Whenever I go downstairs, she keeps giving me all this beef and tells me that it’s for my lanky girlfriend upstairs.”

Seulgi laughed and picked one for herself too. “She is odd, but in a good way. I wish my actual grandma was that cool.”

Irene nodded in silence, fully appreciating her meal. “Hey, what was it that you were drawing earlier?”

Seulgi followed her line of sight and stopped at her closed sketchbook. “Oh, I was drawing you cooking, actually. Well, until you cut yourself and shocked me.”

“Oh, me?” Irene’s eyes widened and the surprise in them morphed into delight. “Can I see it?”

“Sure.” Seulgi handed the sketchbook over, watching Irene look through the pages with childlike excitement. She chuckled.

“I don’t realize that I frown while I’m cooking too.”

“You always have that tiny frown between your eyebrows whenever you focus on something or think hard about something. It’s cute.”

Irene hummed, appreciating her work with gleam in her eyes.

Seulgi slowed down chewing as she stared at Irene for a while. “What were you thinking so hard about earlier?”

Irene lifted her gaze and looked at her with confusion.

“You cut your finger because you were distracted, I suppose.”

“Oh.” Irene lowered the sketchbook, slowing down munching. She swallowed quietly after a while. “I was thinking about Wendy actually. About meeting her again.”

Seulgi watched her fidget for a second. “I’m anxious, but I’m aware that I need to do it sometime soon. She is not the only one with a lot of things to say. Mostly, I want to…apologize for how I treated her in the past and for how I treated her when we finally met again.”

She sat back completely and drew in a breath. Eyes fixing on Seulgi, she tried to speak honestly. “Wendy – Seungwan – was a really, really good kid. When she moved into my house, she was so excited to learn that she got a new older sister. She had treated me with nothing but kindness ever since. In fact, she was the most caring person to me in my childhood, second only after my mom.”

Irene’s nostalgic smile waned a bit as she recalled what she had done to pay her earnest little sister back. “But I was too bitter and hateful to really see who she was. I shooed her away, treated her horribly, and lashed out a