“Even before we went on our first date, I was so into you… you barely knew who I was, but I thought you were perfect. It took me almost a year to work up the courage to ask you out. ”

    Seungwan watches the two girls as they walk, hand in hand, across the courtyard below. She knows that it’s a bad habit, knows that it’s creepy, knows that it just hurts her in the end; but she can’t help herself.

    “Do you remember our first date? It was last August. We went to the beach. It was nighttime. Probably around eight. There was no one around, so we got high. Come to think of it, any time we were together after that, we got high...”

    They stop in front of an ice cream cart, their hands still intertwined. There’s a line, but the couple doesn’t seem to mind. They’re too engrossed in each other to notice. The taller girl’s monolidded eyes crinkle up as she laughs at one of her partner’s jokes. The shorter girl moves closer, wrapping her hands around Seulgi’s arm, and resting her head on her bare shoulder. The sight sends a shock of pain through Seungwan’s chest. Up until recently, she’d had no idea that heartache could feel so real.

    “We sat on this weird metal box. It wasn’t very comfortable. I was afraid to sit too close to you, so I sat on the further end. You made fun of me for that later...”

    Joohyun pays for their ice cream cones. She’s always been generous like that. She insisted on paying the bill for everything, even when it was absolutely outrageous. It’s one of her many amazing qualities.

    “I can’t even remember what we talked about. Probably school-related nonsense. Maybe we talked about your job. You work so much. I wonder if you still work as much as you used to. Eventually, I worked up the courage to move over, to sit by you. You immediately put your arm around me. The moon was rising at that point.”

The two girls walk together to the edge of the courtyard, settling down on a bench in the shade. Seulgi has an ice cream cone, one that’s already dripping down onto her hands. Joohyun has a cup. Surely she’s already jokingly scolded Seulgi for being so foolish as to request a messy dessert on such a hot day. Joohyun’s always been a little motherly in that regard.

“We were both too high to remember that the moon is naturally red when it first rises. We were so scared… like, we thought we were gonna die. We didn’t recognize that glowing crimson object as the moon. I think we freaked out for like ten minutes straight. I was genuinely terrified.”

As they eat their ice cream together, the Seulgi and Joohyun share many more laughs. Seungwan can almost hear Joohyun’s laugh each time. It’s a softly pleasant sound, one that’s quiet but mirthful