“Okay, so I have the ice cream and the kancho and if you need anything else I’ll go straight back out and get it,” Mei said, and Summer stood in the door of her dorm blinking at her best friend and the bag she was holding up.

“What are you doing here?  It’s like two o’clock,” the blonde puzzled and Mei let out an exaggerated sigh, pushing past the girl into her room.

“Uh, because my best friend messages me from work at eleven o’clock at night making zero sense?  It’s not as if I travelled halfway across Seoul, I’m literally three doors down.”

The Japanese girl perched herself on the bed, beginning to pull the items from the bag and Summer felt her heart melt.  If this wasn’t true friendship she didn’t know what was and for a moment she ignored everything else to go and pull the girl into a bone crushing hug.  “Kancho in with the ice cream?”

“You know it.  So what happened, they didn’t fire you did they?  Because if they did I’ll march up there and give them a piece of my mind,” Mei enquired as she lifted the lid of the ice cream and Summer opened the Kancho packet, shaking her head.

“No, it’s Junhoe.”  The name caused the girl’s eyes to grow wide and Summer had to hold her still as she tried to tip the treats in amongst bouncing.

“Did he confess?!” Mei asked and the blonde quickly waved her hands around wildly, the series of ‘no’ coming from sounding like someone trying to start a lawn mower.  Mei looked at her in confused amusement, before moving to grab a pair of spoons and egging the girl to explain.

“I saw him with a girl,” she started and Mei’s reaction was instantaneous as she stabbed the cutlery into the ice cream, a murderous glint in her eye.

“Are you serious?!  Why that little!-”

“It was his sister,” Summer cut in before the other could grow too impassioned and the small girl stopped, her fist held up in a punching gesture.  Slowly it was lowered and Mei took a deep breath, as if returning to a meditative state.

“Oh, so what happened?  Did she say something to you?” Mei asked and again Summer shook her head.  This was it; this was the moment she confessed to her friend why she had sent incoherent texts and had almost jumped on a train headed towards Incheon instead of the university.  The moment where she spoke about the moment.

“I reacted just like you did before.  Well, I reacted anyway,” she murmured, focusing on plucking one of the spoon’s out of the tub, laden with ice cream and a piece of Kancho.  It was much easier compared to looking at Mei.

“I’m confused, why are you speaking so cryptically?  Why won’t you just tell me what on earth is going on?  Summer, I’m worried,” the girl urged and Summer let out a sigh, dropping the spoon again and reaching up to run a hand through her hair as she swallowed the mouthful.  Could she even say these words?

“Because I’m not saying the actual words, I refuse to.”

“What words?  About reacting - oh.  Oh!” It seemed that Mei finally clicked on and strategically moved for two mouthfuls as she processed everything.  Summer joined her, until the girl finally spoke again.  “So you like him, and he likes you, you should go out.”

“Or we don’t,” Summer said and had to move her hand out the way quickly as Mei almost stabbed her with the spoon.  “What?  It has never been confirmed that he likes me thank you very much.  Besides, I can’t even handle this revelation, let alone him.”

The girl shook her head and quiet fell as they both continued to shovel the ice cream into their mouths.  Summer usually had no problems spending hours in silence with Mei, but this one was tight with the words that were bubbling beneath the surface and she searched for another topic to shift the focus to.  “So it’s his birthday on Thursday.  He expects a present.”

Definitely not the topic she wanted.

“I have the perfect idea.  A confession!”

“Mei!” The name came out as a strangled gasp and Summer actually managed to choke on her ice cream in the process, Mei quickly moving to rub her back as she gasped for air.  When she finally calmed down the Japanese girl returned to her place, seeming to appear much less devilish.  Instead she looked thoughtful and apologetic and Summer let the girl know she was forgiven by nudging the ice cream tub towards her.

“Okay, not a confession.  But I’m sure you’ll figure something out that is totally your style,” Mei decided, holding the spoon out for the blonde to join her in demolishing the rest of the treat.

For a long time after Mei had retreated to her own dorm, Summer lay twisting and turning unable to sleep.  It was a terrible circle she couldn’t break from as she tried to come up with a gift idea for Junhoe, before telling herself it was stupid to be thinking about it this much.  Then she would turn to the night in general and she couldn’t work out whether the sick feeling was from too much ice cream, or the shock of realisation.  Finally she would tell herself to stop thinking about everything or she’d never sleep before university that morning.  And then it was back to gift ideas.

She didn’t remember falling off to sleep, or how long she remained that way before her alarm blaring in her ear woke her up again.  From the way her body fought her climbing out of bed and the dark circles under eyes though it hadn’t been for long.  At least by some form of small miracle an idea for a present struck her as she was attempting to make herself human again.  It actually made her grin and she silently congratulated herself as she collected her belongings to head down to the campus.  It definitely deserved a nap before work that night.