“You’re actually innocent and pure—a devilish charm like a lovely fox.”

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzz—

…

12:10… Crap, I’m late! I hope she doesn’t mind waiting for me!

It was a mid-summer day in a national park, and a woman named Kim Yongsun was running her way desperately to meet up with her girlfriend, Moon Byulyi. It was already ten past noon, and she overslept in her bed from the late-night planning she did—from settling down on her outfit, to styling her hair.

She wanted to look cute for her.

Yongsun kept on running until she saw a slender woman with long-silvered locks—dressed up in a light-coloured plaid shirt and white shorts. She stood around casually with a matcha-flavoured popsicle in .

“Haa… I’m sorry for being late, Byul.” She wheezed while catching her breath with her hand on her chest.

Byulyi turned around and walked up to her with a nonchalant expression on her face.

“It’s no big deal, yeba. Here,” Byulyi grabbed her popsicle and offered it to Yongsun. “You can have it. I’m not hungry anyways.”

Yongsun looked up to see Byulyi’s hand gingerly held onto the popsicle towards her lips. When she realized her girlfriend’s intention behind the gesture, Yongsun smiled and took the popsicle in between her lips while taking the popsicle stick from Byulyi.

Wait… was that an indirect kiss just now?

Yongsun blushed at the thought, but still gave out a genuine smile regardless.

“Thank you.”

Byulyi shrugged and turned mid-way to glance at Yongsun.

“Now that you’re here, let’s get going.”

It didn’t go unnoticed by Yongsun as she quickly took note of the hidden smile that was shown from Byulyi’s lips.

All more of a reason to love her girlfriend.

“Okay!” Yongsun beamed as she quickly jogged next to Byulyi with the popsicle on her hand.

While Yongsun was finishing up with her cold snack and enjoying the afternoon stroll, she recalled her first encounter with Byulyi. They first met at a local coffee shop where Byulyi was a regular while she was a part-time worker as a barista. Yongsun remembered how handsome Byulyi looked, but was peculiar in her behaviour since she rarely talks other than ordering a cup of latte. What made Byulyi even stranger to Yongsun was that she only interacts with her and not with other baristas in the shop—as if she had her eyes only on her.

Yongsun face was turning pink as she remembered the day she received a note from Byulyi, along with her number that was written on the bottom.

[‘Yongsun,

You’re probably wonder why I only address my attention to you and not to everyone else in the shop. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t waste time on anyone that emphasize heavily on looks. I only put my attention and time into you because you see something more in me that no other girls have seen.

So, let’s get straight to the point.

Would you like to go out with me?’]

She smiled from that moment. How could someone like Byulyi act so sweet and innocent with writing a confession note, let alone giving it to her in person?

It made Yongsun fell for Byulyi even more.

Yongsun was lost into her thoughts so much, she didn’t even notice her foot was stuck in between the cracks of a stone-carved path and ended up tripping herself.

“Ahh!”

She closed her eyes tightly and braced herself for an impact with the ground, but she didn’t feel it. She felt something soft and warm— protected from the brazen fall.

Confused, Yongsun slowly opened her eyes and saw Byulyi’s shirt and chest in front of her.

She was in her girlfriend’s arms.

“Are you okay?”

Yongsun looked up and saw Byulyi’s face, acting nonchalant. There was a sense of concern in her eyes.

Seeing Byulyi like that made her blushed brightly—partly from the clumsiness she displayed, but also shyness due to the amount of attention she received.

“Y-yeah! Thanks for catching me, Byul.”

Byulyi nodded and then, she casually draped her arm around Yongsun’s shoulder.

“It’s nothing,” she shrugged. “Let’s continue with our walk, hm?”

Yongsun’s face turned brighter as she eagerly nodded her head all while she leaned herself against her girlfriend. She didn’t notice a small, amused smile plastered onto Byulyi’s face.

God, Byulyi. Why are you doing this to me?

As the day continued, Yongsun started to notice her fatigue from the walking as her legs moved slower and heavier within each step. She realized they’ve been walking under the sun for approximately two hours.

Byulyi didn’t fail to notice Yongsun’s pace and glanced at her.

“Yeba, are you tired?” She asked. “Do you want to take a break?”

Yongsun glanced back towards Byulyi and smiled sheepishly while nodding.

“Yes, please.”

Byulyi scanned around the area and spotted an empty bench that was placed under a shade, all in courtesy of a large tree.

Without hesitation, Byulyi scooped Yongsun up into her arms—bridal style.

“B-Byul!?” Yongsun yelped. She certainly didn’t expect that coming from her girlfriend’s nonchalant nature.

“It’s okay,” Byulyi said while walking the way to the bench. “You’re tired. I don’t want our day to end early.”

Hearing her girlfriend said that, Yongsun couldn’t help herself but to bury her face into Byulyi’s neck—nodded meekly while blushing.

A short moment later, Byulyi gently placed Yongsun down onto the bench and took out a piece of clean wet tissue from her portable tissue bag to wipe off excessive sweat that was trickling down upon her sunshine’s face.

“A-aah! You don’t have to do that for me, Byul!” Yongsun stammered, taken aback of Byulyi’s sweet gestures.

“But I want to,” she responded while concentrating to catch any remaining sweats onto Yongsun’s skin. “Again, you’re tired. I want to take care of you.”

…How can someone so quiet and forward ends up being ridiculously greasy?

Yongsun couldn’t come up with such response as she was too busy groaning inwardly over Byulyi’s actions, though she wasn’t complaining.

“There,” Byulyi sighed quietly as she got up. “How are you feeling?”

Bewitched. “I’m feeling a bit better. I could use a drink, though.”

“Is that so?” Byulyi looked around the area to see a local drinking shack nearby. “Then, I’ll go get one for you. What flavour do you want?”

“Hmm, how about banana milk?”

“Alright, I’ll be back.”

When Byulyi turned around and started walking off towards the shack, Yongsun took a deep breath and let out a huge sigh of relief. She swore she felt her heartbeat pounding rapidly—as if she was experiencing a heart attack from all the greasiness she felt from Byulyi.

She knew Byulyi was never the type of person that would openly express her affection towards her, since she never experienced being in a relationship with someone before.

Yongsun didn’t care about the lack of experience as she found Byulyi to be loveable from the little gestures she made. Byulyi remained attentive to her, even though she appeared to be indifferent to the public eye. There were occasions where some of the passersby came up to them and told Yongsun to find somebody else who ‘deserved better’ to be with her than with Byulyi.

It pissed Yongsun off. She remembered telling them to get out of their sights—openly claimed she loved Byulyi with all her heart. It left both the passerby and Byulyi a strong impression, especially for the latter.

Yongsun still remembered what Byulyi had said to her later in that day.

“Hey, I don’t get to say this often, but thank you for standing up for me. I’m not used to being openly expressive to anybody, including you. I don’t want to look like I’m fragile or being weak-minded so I maintain a front... I’ll do my best to be more expressive around you from now on, and only you alone.”

It made Yongsun smiled. She was happy for the efforts Byulyi did for her, and it showed through the actions she made in this very park.

“What are you smiling about, yeba?”

Yongsun broke out of her reverie as she saw Byulyi stood in front of her with a carton of banana milk in her hand.

“You.” She grinned while taking the carton off from her girlfriend’s hand and took a sip with a straw.

Byulyi raised an eyebrow and sat on the bench next to her. “What about me?”

Yongsun giggled as she stared down at her drink. “Of how innocent and pure you are. You always put me first in anything, and you make sure I was taken care of. I know you once told me you had a difficult time to express yourself to anybody, and I understand that. You showed me otherwise through your actions.

“And you know, Byulyi…” She turned around to face Byulyi. “I find you loveable that way. Please don’t change the way you are. I cherish you because you found your way into my trembling heart. I hope you and I will continue staying together, as long you have a place for me in your heart, too.”

A moment of silence happened between them.

…Oh, no. Did I say anything wrong?

Just when Yongsun was about to panic, she felt a pair of hands cupped onto her cheeks and a soft, gentle kiss on to her forehead.

“I see,” Byulyi sighed in content while pulling Yongsun into an embrace. “I will stay the way I am. I will only express my affection and love for you, Kim Yongsun. I love you, after all.”

That was when Yongsun’s soul left her body—died out of pure happiness and bliss.

Inspired by BoA's - "Fox"