It’s chilly outside—it is the middle of Autumn—but Im Nayoung doesn’t mind. She pulls her jacket tighter around her body and curls her fingers around the spine of her worn-down black leather journal, her other hand grasping a black pen. She looks around the empty park, noticing how the wind picks up and rustles a few leafs in front of her, swirling them around in what Nayoung used to call a ‘mini-tornado’ when she was little. Her lips quirk up at the memory, a bitter-sweet feeling filling her chest as she remembers the innocent, easier days. She looks down at her lap and begins to jot down her thoughts, drawing leaves next to her cursive writing when her own thoughts are too much and she needs to take a break to recollect them.

Nayoung hears a click to her left—sees a flash, too—and looks up. She spots a girl with light brown hair pulling a black polaroid camera away from her face with a sheepish grin. She’s already walking towards Nayoung as she takes hold of the small picture that had come out of the device from the front, thumb and forefinger holding onto the polaroid’s corner.

“You looked pretty whilst writing.” the stranger says, voice a bit embarrassed. Nayoung immediately takes note of her attractiveness and feels her heart skip and neck warm up at the compliment. As an excuse to avoid eye contact, Nayoung’s eyes flicker to the polaroid picture in the stranger’s hand. It has yet to show any sort of picture, the inner frame where the picture should be is still all black. Nayoung watches as the stranger carefully slips it into her jacket’s pocket. “I’ll give you the picture once it’s all good and developed—I promise.”

The pretty stranger shuffles around with her camera and Nayoung tries to return to writing. Eventually, Nayoung places her journal flat onto her lap, unable to formulate coherent thoughts/sentences with the stranger nearby. She ends up watching the stranger who’s wandering around the park with her camera in her hand. The girl’s black beanie looks like it’s about to fall off of her head and her backpack is so low it bumps against her with each step she takes. Nayoung finds her almost childlike style endearing because she can see the passion and determination in the girl even from far away—nothing like her physical demeanor. The girl stares for a long time at one thing, probably deciding whether it’s worth taking a picture of or not, before she either walks off or snaps a picture. Rinse and repeat.

Nayoung flips to a new page in her journal. She sketches the girl’s beanie, doodles the girl’s camera, and describes her first impression of her with her penmanship that’s scratchy and thin. When the stranger comes up to her about fifteen minutes later, Nayoung quickly turns the page to avoid seeming like a creep.

(Though, she wasn’t the one who took a picture of the girl without her permission, so they’re both kind of creepy.)

“It came out nicely.” she comments with a small smile, holding the picture she had taken earlier in her hand. She pulls a pen from her pocket and flips the polaroid to the back. “What’s your name?”

“Im Nayoung.”

The girl scribbles down something on the back of the photo before handing it to Nayoung.

Nayoung takes it from her and scans her eyes over what the girl had wrote—in very bubbly handwriting, might she add.

Im Nayoung — 10.21.16

Nayoung turns the photo over to actually look at it. She tilts her head as she examines the photo, eyes scanning the large area captured in the small frame. The photo isn’t focused on Nayoung but it’s the only thing her eyes focus on—not the swirling leaves on the left side or the massive tree in the background—just… her. The picture captured the exact moment of her exhale, a transparent white cloud of perspiration exiting her lips whilst her eyes were focused on her lap.

“What is it?” the stranger asks hesitantly, almost self-consciously. She takes a seat besides Nayoung, both hands holding onto her camera. “The leaves in the corner might be a bit distracting, with it moving and looking blurry and all… but I think it adds feel to the whole picture.”

“No.” Nayoung shakes her head. She notices the stranger wince from the corner of her eyes, and she looks up to fix the misinterpretation of her response. “It’s— it’s pretty.”

“You think so?” the girl questions, eyes still wide with skepticism. “I mean… it’s just—I just like relaxing and taking pictures for my own sake instead of for work—but that doesn’t mean I like taking crappy photos.”

Nayoung can’t help the curl of her lips at the girl’s way of speaking; hurriedly and in a rush like she’s in some sort of race with her own thoughts. Nayoung can relate (with writing, not talking).

When the girl notices Nayoung’s smile, she gives her own smile and chuckles embarrassedly down at her lap, the wind rustling a few leafs off to the side.

“You said I can keep it?” Nayoung asks after a small silence.

“Yeah, totally.” the girl nods animatedly, pressing her lips together and knitting her eyebrows together into a look of certainty. Nayoung almost laughs because of how cute the girl is, almost.

She tucks the photo into her journal just as her phone rings. The stranger fiddles with her camera, putting in and taking out the film multiple times just for something to do with her hands. The familiar ringtone makes Nayoung’s heart stop because it’s Sejeong—probably calling and wondering why she isn’t home—but Nayoung remembers how she had wondered about a lot of things and how Sejeong had never answered her phone.

Nayoung silences the ringer after Sejeong calls two more times.

She sighs and picks up the photo by its corner, thumb and forefinger pressed against it. The stranger, noticing Nayoung’s low mood, pulls something out of her backpack. It’s a journal like Nayoung’s, but also nothing like Nayoung’s. Whilst Nayoung’s is a plain black journal, the stranger’s is a white one with cute little dinosaurs decorating the front cover. It’s enough to get an amused smile out of Nayoung.

The girl giggles at Nayoung’s reaction.

“Cute, right?” she asks cheekily. “I bought it specifically for the dinosaurs—but it’s a pretty neat place for me to put all my little photos in.”

She opens the journal and in the center of the inner cover is, what Nayoung assumes, her name.

Zhou Jieqiong.

“These are where I keep all the personal, personal photos.” she says, flipping through the pages. “All the photos I take are personal, of course, but these…” she trails off, stopping at one page with several pictures of the ocean taped to it. She runs her thumb over the photos and hums contently. “These are just special to me.”

“Do you like the ocean?” Nayoung asks quietly as she looks at all the pictures. They would all look identical to one another had someone not pay attention to detail. The amount of foam in the waves of some pictures are different than others, there’s a hint of a footprint in some of them, a big toe peeking out of the top left corner in another one.

“No.” Jieqiong answers with a little laugh, turning to the next page as she shakes her head. This one is filled with pictures of a city at night; billboards, food stands, streetlights. “I went there with someone who loves the ocean. I personally do not. It’s too scary.”

“Scary?” Nayoung repeats curiously. She lifts her gaze from the book to the girl’s face. Admittedly, Nayoung is more curious about the person Jieqiong had gone with to the ocean, but doesn’t want to seem too intruding considering they had literally just met. There’s just something intriguing about this girl, something that pulls Nayoung in, making her want to know more about this pretty stranger.

“Yeah.” she hums, still turning through her journal. “It’s a whole ‘nother world down there. There are creatures we’ve never seen, creatures we don’t believe exist, creatures we don’t know exist. It’s pretty scary, is it not?”

She looks up when she asks this question, connecting eyes with Nayoung.

“I guess.” Nayoung replies quietly in agreement, taken aback at the sudden eye contact. “I guess it is pretty scary.”

Jieqiong smiles, and Nayoung thinks that the Autumn winds don’t really feel all that chilly anymore.

Jieqiong writes her number in Nayoung’s journal, on the same page filled with Nayoung’s doodles of Jieqiong’s outfit.

Sejeong is asleep when Nayoung enters their apartment. She had fallen asleep on the couch, the couch that is in the direct view of the entrance. Nayoung feels her heart clench as she kneels down in front of her girlfriend.

She gently shakes Sejeong awake.

“Hey.” she whispers when Sejeong jolts up.

“You’re back.” Sejeong says, rubbing at her eyes with two fists. Nayoung’s lips curve upwards the slightest bit—a full smile hindered by the atmosphere riddled with tension between the two of them.

“Yeah.” she nods. “I’m sorry. I had my phone on silent.”

She thinks fleetingly that it shouldn’t be so easy to lie to her partner like this, but the thought scurries away before she can settle on it for too long.

“No, it’s fine.” Sejeong shakes her head. “What time is it?”

“It’s just a little before seven.” Nayoung answers. “Did you have a long day?”

“Yeah.” Sejeong laughs humorlessly. “A really long one.”

Nayoung wants to ask if Sejeong wants to talk about it but she refrains from doing so. She has a gut feeling that Sejeong wouldn’t want to confide in her. She knows she isn’t supposed to feel like this, especially not when it’s her significant other, but things just aren’t what they used to be.

She hesitantly pats Sejeong’s knee, as if she’s a stranger to the girl and not her girlfriend.

“Let’s get you to bed.”

x

Nayoung meets with Jieqiong at least once a week, always somewhere in public; somewhere where Nayoung can sit and write and Jieqiong can wander and take photos. They don’t talk much about their personal lives but it’s clear that they both have a lot on their minds; with the way Jieqiong rarely talks about anything other than her photos and the way Nayoung doesn’t receive any more phone calls from the same ringtone Jieqiong had heard the first day they met, they’re in a silent pact not to delve too deep into each other’s lives. Their problems may differ, but they do have one thing in common.

It’s clear that they both don’t want to be alone.

“Here.” Jieqiong comes back to their table at the mall’s food court with Nayoung’s ham and cheese sub along with her own order of cheese fries. Nayoung is still focused on her writing, eager to get all her thoughts down before she forgets them. Jieqiong sits across from Nayoung and slides the sub over to her, bumping the girl’s journal with it in order to gain her attention. “You’re welcome.” she says, emphasizing her words.

Nayoung pauses her writing and looks up from her journal with a smile, something that comes easily when she’s around Jieqiong. “Thank you.”

Jieqiong uses her fork to insert a couple of fries into as she hums. Nayoung goes back to writing, taking bites of her sandwich here and there. Jieqiong glances around the crowded food court and itches to take a picture of the scene. She reaches down into her bag and pulls out her polaroid camera.

Nayoung glances up, notices the camera, and sets her pen down.

“Can I try?”

“What?” Jieqiong responds.

“Can I try to take a picture?” Nayoung repeats, pointing to the camera Jieqiong has in her hands. She reaches over and takes it from Jieqiong, who doesn’t bother resisting. “Just once.”

“Okay…” Jieqiong says. “Let’s see…”

She looks around to find something that Nayoung can take a picture of, something simple and easy to capture, something aesthetically pleasing, something that can—

Click!

“I think I did it.” Nayoung mumbles, looking down at the contraption in her hands. Jieqiong’s eyes are wide as the polaroid slides out of the camera with a hum and Nayoung takes it. She holds the camera back out to Jieqiong, who’s still in a state of surprise.

“What did you take a picture of?” she asks despite already knowing the answer.

“You.” Nayoung replies easily.

“But—but that was a waste of film!” Jieqiong exclaims, cheeks burning up.

“No it wasn’t.” Nayoung counters. “You were focused and you looked pretty.”

Upon seeing Jieqiong’s slacked jaw and open mouth, Nayoung giggles quietly. “Think of this as revenge for taking a picture of me without my permission when we first met.”

“But I gave you that picture.” Jieqiong says, stammering. “It wasn’t like I took a picture of you and—and kept it.”

“And you can keep this picture.” Nayoung holds up the currently-developing polaroid. “I think you’re going to have the same reaction I had to the one you took of me. You took a picture of me totally in my element—” she then points to the photo. “—and now I took a picture of you totally in your element.”

Jieqiong forms a scowl with her face and jabs her cheesy fries with her fork, stuffing some more into . Nayoung smiles at her, a smile that exposes her teeth and gums, and Jieqiong really can’t hold back her own smile because Nayoung’s just too cute (and she doesn’t usually smile this brightly).

Sejeong starts staying overnight at her cousin’s house more often and Nayoung’s usually all alone at the apartment. She can’t get mad at Sejeong because it is true that Mina’s house is closer to her university, but she’s lonely. She doesn’t have many friends and the friends that she does have are either travelling the world, are halfway across the world, or are in totally different worlds.

Nayoung thinks of Jieqiong and wonders which of the three she fits in.

(Truthfully, Nayoung feels like it’s a mix of all three.)

x

“Long time no see.” Nayoung hears a voice call out from a distance. She moves her gaze from the journal in her lap and sees Jieqiong walking towards her with a grin. The girl joins her on the bench, sliding next to her. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”

(It’s only been a day since she’s last seen the other girl.)

Nayoung hums, noting that Jieqiong doesn’t have her camera with her; she’s walking empty-handed for the first time that they’ve been around each other. She closes her journal, lightly presses it against her thighs. “What are you doing here?”

Jieqiong shrugs and kicks her legs back and forth, looking around the empty park. “I wanted some fresh air. I’ve been in my darkroom for so long I feel like a vampire whenever I exit it.” she laughs when she says this and Nayoung smiles. When her laughs trail off, she tilts her head upwards, staring at the cloud-covered sky with her lower lip jutting out. “It’s probably going to rain soon.”

“You don’t have an umbrella.” Nayoung states.

Jieqiong laughs. “Neither do you.”

Nayoung wonders if she can make it back to the apartments before the rain starts but the answer is immediately given as the first raindrops begin to fall. She places her journal into her bag and zips it up, not wanting the water to mess up her written words. Jieqiong stands from the bench and waits for Nayoung to stand with her. The rain gets harder with each passing second and Jieqiong squeals, taking hold of Nayoung’s hand and rushing them down the park’s path.

They’re both drenched and out of breath by the time they reach a phone booth. Jieqiong closes the booth door once they’re both inside and lets out a big breath.

“That come out of nowhere.” she says with a laugh, the rain pounding on the top of the phone booth. She shakes her head to get rid of excess water, much like a puppy would do. Nayoung stands in front of Jieqiong, the booth not allowing much room for the either of them to stand, obviously only meant for one person to fit in. She can feel the heat radiating off of Jieqiong’s body and feels the girl’s fingers brush against her own.

“Did you walk here?” Nayoung asks.

“Yep.” Jieqiong replies, looking up at her with a raindrop dangling on her nose.  “I took the bus.”

“Jeez.” Nayoung frowns. “Where do you even live?”

“The next town over.” Jieqiong answers with a grin. “But I grew up here, so…” she shrugs as she trails off. She then giggles and reaches up, fixing Nayoung’s messy strands of hair that are stuck to her forehead and cheeks. “What about you? Did you walk?”

“Yes.” she says, allowing Jieqiong to fix her hair for her with the tips of her ears turning pink. “I don’t live very far.”

Jieqiong looks around. “The rain might let up soon. You might be able to get home before it really gets bad if you run.”

“What about you?” Nayoung questions. Jieqiong looks back at her, her lips curved upwards.

“This phone booth is gonna be my new home for the next half hour until the next bus comes.”

The rain reduces to a drizzle a few minutes later.

“Nows your chance.” Jieqiong sing-songs, opening the booth door and peeking her head out.

Nayoung starts walking out and takes hold of the hand Jieqiong’s using to hold open the door as she passes, pulling the girl out with her.

The drizzle doesn’t last long and they end up running to Nayoung’s apartment hand-in-hand as the pelting downpour drowns out their laughter.

“I’m creating puddles everywhere I step, Nayoung.” Jieqiong’s laugh comes out as a snort because they’re both completely soaked from head to toe and every step they take causes a squish sound caused by their wet shoes. Nayoung leads Jieqiong to the bedroom and pauses at the doorway when she spots Sejeong.

“Oh, Sejeong.” she says, keeping a steady voice. “You’re home.”

Sejeong gasps and turns from her spot in front of the closet, clothes in her arms. “Nayoung, I was wondering where you were—oh, hi.” she stops mid sentence when she spots Jieqiong behind Nayoung.

“This is my friend Jieqiong. Jieqiong, this is my girlfriend Sejeong.” she introduces the two of them to each other, the word ‘girlfriend’ feeling foreign in . Jieqiong waves meekly and Sejeong gives a friendly smile to her.

Jieqiong hadn’t even known that Nayoung had a girlfriend. They never really talked about their personal lives when they were together; all they ever really did was enjoy each other’s company whilst they did their own things—it was sort of an unsaid rule between them not to ask about family or significant others. Sometimes Jieqiong would tell a story here and there about her little sister or her parents but nothing much else. So, to say the least, Jieqiong is a little surprised at the revelation of Nayoung’s (very pretty) girlfriend.

“Were you two stuck out in the rain? You should’ve called me. I could’ve gone to pick you up.”

Nayoung walks towards the closet to pull out some dry clothes for both her and Jieqiong. “I thought you were at university; didn’t want to bother you.”

Jieqiong stands awkwardly by the doorway, feeling like she’s intruding.

“I just came to get some more clothes.” Sejeong hums, going to the duffel bag set on the bed and folding the clothes in her arms into it. She zips the bag closed and picks it up. “I’m gonna get going before it gets too dark.”

“Okay.” Nayoung nods. “Drive safe.”

“I will.” Sejeong replies, heading towards the door. Jieqiong tilts her body to the side so the girl can pass by. Sejeong flashes her a smile before leaving and Jieqiong releases the breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. She has half the nerve to comment on the tension between the couple but thinks it’s not her place to do so. So, instead, she says:

“Do you smell like wet dog, too?”

x

Nayoung knew it was going to happen—the breakup between her and Sejeong—it was inevitable, really, but that doesn’t mean that it hurts any less. The type of pain Nayoung is dealing with isn’t the type of pain you see described in movies—not at all. It hurts, but it doesn’t feel like her heart is being ripped out. Instead, it’s more of a numb feeling—the way you feel in a dream that feels all too real. Nayoung doesn’t beg for Sejeong to stay with her and Sejeong doesn’t do that to her, either. They stare at each other through their tears because they know that there aren’t many options left for them.

Sejeong packs her things that evening and leaves that night.

x

[Nayoung] (9:47 PM): hey. are you free?

[Jieqiong] (9:48 PM): are u?

[Nayoung] (9:48 PM): yea

[Jieqiong] (9:48 PM): then, yes, i am free

[Nayoung] (9:49 PM): bring food to my place?

[Jieqiong] (9:49 PM): kk. chinese or pizza?

[Nayoung] (10:00 PM): neither. i want a sub.

[Jieqiong] (10:01 PM): yes, ma’am. i’ll be over in a bit!

As soon as Nayoung opens the door, Jieqiong walks in with words already coming out of .

“You’re lucky the place you like your subs from is open until ten-thirty. I swear, all of them hated me for going in and ordering five minutes before their closing time.” she places the food on the kitchen counter and is still talking when she turns around. “They were all looking at me like—woah, what’s wrong?”

Nayoung, who shakily settles herself on one of the stools, lets out a shuddery breath.

“I broke up with Sejeong.”

There’s a few seconds of silence with Nayoung’s last sentence hanging in the air.

“I’m sorry.” Jieqiong’s voice is quieter now, softer compared to earlier—and Nayoung hates it. She doesn’t like that she has the ability to change the usually excited and happy girl into someone who’s cautious and quiet. (It reminds her all too much of Sejeong.) She gulps down the lump in .

“I saw it coming.” Nayoung shrugs, trying to act nonchalant. Jieqiong brings the bag of food over to Nayoung as she sits next to the girl. She pulls out the subs from the bag and unwraps them for Nayoung and her. “She left a little before I texted you.”

Jieqiong studies her carefully with sad eyes.

“I just don’t want to be alone right now.”

“You won’t be.” Jieqiong places a hand on Nayoung’s knee comfortingly. “Do you want me to stay over?”

“She might come back in the morning to get the rest of her stuff…” Nayoung trails off, voice barely above a whisper.

Jieqiong gives a small smile. “I’ll leave before she comes. You don’t want to be alone right now and, truthfully, I don’t want to leave you alone right now.”

“Thank you.” Nayoung whispers.

“Don’t thank me. I’m sure you’d do the same for me.” Jieqiong pats her knee. “Let’s just eat, yeah?”

That night, the two of them sit next to each other on the couch until the early morning as Nayoung writes her heart out and Jieqiong uses Nayoung’s laptop to drowsily watch animal documentaries.

The front door opening is what wakes Nayoung (who wasn’t even really sleeping) up that evening. Sejeong enters silently and Nayoung watches as she stares at Jieqiong who’s on the couch next to her before looking at Nayoung. Her eyes switch over to the leftover sub sandwiches on the coffee table in front of them and she clears .

“Mina’s coming up with some boxes I can use to move my stuff.” she whispers, not wanting to wake Jieqiong up. Nayoung nods tiredly.

“Do you need help?”

“No, it’s okay.” she replies, eyes flickering towards Jieqiong. Nayoung bites down on the insides of her cheeks at the sadness in the girl’s usually bright eyes.

“It’s not like that.” she says quietly, knowing what’s running through Sejeong’s mind. “She’s just a friend.”

“Yeah, but for how long?” Sejeong replies, and Nayoung doesn’t even have time to process a reaction as Mina walks in with an armful of boxes.

Sejeong walks pass her to the bedroom and Mina’s eyes narrow at Jieqiong’s sleeping figure. Nayoung just shakes her head and sighs, hoping that Jieqiong is a heavy sleeper.

(She isn’t.)

“You should’ve woken me up.” Jieqiong hisses as Nayoung closes the bathroom door behind the both of them. Nayoung hands her an extra toothbrush as Jieqiong turns on the faucet, hands reaching for the toothpaste and squeezing a good amount onto it before starting to hurriedly brush her teeth.

“You don’t have to rush, they already know you’re here.”

“They?” Jieqiong asks in surprise, toothbrush held in her right cheek, eyes wide. Despite the ache in Nayoung’s heart and the suffocating tension of everything, she finds it in herself to smile at the girl’s preciousness.

“Sejeong’s cousin came to help her pack.” Nayoung states as Jieqiong angrily brushes her teeth, eyebrows adorably furrowed together. “Relax. It’s not like we’re dating—I told Sejeong we’re just friends. Am I not allowed to have friends?”

Jieqiong spits into the sink before she holds the toothbrush in her hand and leans back against the counter. “It’s not about whether we’re dating or not—you’re in a vulnerable situation and things can be interpreted differently. I just don’t want to cause more drama for you than necessary.”

Nayoung lets her weight rest on the door behind her as she shrugs. “You’re not—and you have toothpaste on your chin.”

Jieqiong sighs with burning cheeks, wipes at her chin, and then returns to brushing her teeth. Nayoung opens the door and leaves just as she spots Mina exiting the bedroom with a now-full box of things.

“I can help carry the boxes.” Nayoung says, closing the bathroom door behind her.

“We got it.” Mina replies coldly. It stings, admittedly, because Nayoung had once seen Mina as a cute younger sibling whose smile nearly outshined Sejeong’s. She gulps down the bile in .

“Mina.” Sejeong scolds as she walks out of the bedroom. She looks at Nayoung and gives a small smile. “It’s fine, Nayoung. There are only a few boxes.”

“Okay.” Nayoung says dejectedly.

When Jieqiong comes out from the bathroom, Sejeong and Mina had already left. She spots Nayoung sitting on the couch with an empty expression and she plops herself down next to the girl.

“You know what I learned?” Jieqiong breaks the silence. Nayoung merely hums.

“Orcas have their own languages.”

Nayoung’s lips twitch upwards. “Seriously?”

“Hell yeah.” Jieqiong nods. “It was in the documentary I watched last night.”

“You watched a lot of documentaries.”

Jieqiong’s shoulders lift and fall in a shrug. “Sue me.”

Nayoung chuckles and shakes her head, thankful for the girl next to her.

x

The duo spends the day cooped up in Nayoung’s apartment, the winter cold getting to them as they share Nayoung’s favorite fluffy blanket. Jieqiong leans her head on Nayoung’s shoulders as the girl starts up on an article needed for her job. She falls asleep eventually and Nayoung notices because her body relaxes even more than it already was, and she can’t help but feel so comfortable and at home with the girl.

“What do you want for dinner?”

“Cookies.”

“That’s not actual food, Jieqiong.”

“It is food. You eat it, therefore it is food.” Jieqiong retorts.

Jieqiong sleeps over again and Nayoung lets her wear some of her clothes. She’s in the bathroom taking a shower when Nayoung sees her phone light up on the coffee table. It’s more noticeable considering the whole apartment is dark with an absence of light, and Nayoung leans forward from the couch to check the notification, assuming it was just from one of the many games Jieqiong has downloaded on her phone.

[EunWOOF] (11:43 PM): hey bb :( sorry about what happened. come over tmr?

Nayoung furrows her eyebrows for a moment, leaning back against the couch. What had happened between this person and Jieqiong? She doesn’t want to be nosy and ask, but she can’t help the plummeting sensation in her stomach.

When Nayoung hears the bathroom door open, she pretends to be focused on her laptop despite her mind wandering.

“Hey.” Jieqiong says, sitting down next to Nayoung and sending a waft of the shampoo Nayoung uses into Nayoung’s nostrils. Despite the familiar smell, it seems so foreign. “How’s the book going?”

“It’s going.” Nayoung murmurs as Jieqiong reaches for her phone. She studies Jieqiong’s reaction to the text and finds that the girl doesn’t reply to it. She tosses her phone beside her on the couch and leans on Nayoung’s shoulder.

Nayoung wants to ask—wonders if she even has the right to ask—and then she decides to keep quiet.

Jieqiong’s hair is still wet so it leaves a dark mark on Nayoung’s shirt where she’s resting her head. Nayoung knows the mark will dry up soon enough and go away, and she briefly wonders if the same thing will happen with Jieqiong, too.