Note: This story is a sequel to a story I wrote last year entitled Notepaper, as well as a parallel story to a story in this collection entitled Rolling Stone Pt 2. In this experiment, I really wanted to connect two seemingly unrelated fics. I played with lots of ideas from all of my previous work, but this one was my favourite. It was a bit of a challenge, but I'm very excited to be sharing it with you all. This is a gift for everyone who has followed me for a very long time, and has tirelessly read almost every single thing this one crazy mind has conjured up. I love you all :)

Questions, comments, suggestions? All of your support is much appreciated! 

 

Love That Grows Old
Max Jury

or

Notepaper II: Seven Years Later

I want a love that doesn't compromise
I want a love that hits between the eyes
I want a love like a sunrise to my dark
I want to feel something deep inside
I want to heal, don't wanna have to hide
I want to read, no just fantasize with my heart

Everybody's always saying to look over your shoulder
The grass is always greener
That should do what I'm told

I'm gonna wait for the right one
I'm gonna wait for the love to grow old

 

---

 

“Nana, it’s time for bed!”

 

A little girl in a rabbit onesie yawned, though she remained so engrossed with the video in her little hands that she could barely hear her mother’s voice in the kitchen. She swung her legs and hummed along to the tune quietly filtering through the speakers.

 

“Yoona?”

 

The little girl ducked her head, and continued swinging her legs, hoping her mother wouldn’t notice.

 

“Kim Yoona!”

 

Still the voice went unheard. A pair of slippers began shuffling around the kitchen.

 

A lock beeped. The front door creaked open and slammed closed.

 

“I’m home!”

 

“Mama!”

 

Yoona slammed her iPad into the couch cushion beside her and leapt up at the sound of her other mother's voice. She padded around the couch, only to be stopped by her mother’s disapproving look from inside the kitchen. She had her hands on her hips, and her lips pressed in a frown. Yoona ducked her head sheepishly.

 

“What did I just say?” Her mother sighed.

 

Just then, a figure emerged from the dimly lit hallway, wrapped up in a long black coat and a scarf around her pink cheeks. Her eyes, the only part of her face visible from the oversized scarf, curved into crescents at the sight of her daughter running up and grabbing her legs.

 

“Hey, Little Fart,” she said, kneeling down to embrace her.

 

“Hi, Big Fart!” Yoona replied with a giggle.

 

“Byul-ah,” came the voice in the kitchen, “you spoil her too much. Nana, I won’t ask you again—please go get ready for bed.”

 

“You heard your mother,” Byulyi said, ruffling Yoona’s hair. “Go wash your face.”

 

The girl sighed dramatically, cast her big doey eyes to her mothers’ faces—slowly, one at a time—and slinked off toward the bathroom. Only six years old and so dramatic, Byulyi thought with a grin. From behind her, her wife sighed and wrapped her arms around Byulyi’s waist.

 

“Welcome home.”

 

Byulyi’s smile broadened, as she turned around inside her wife’s arms and returned her embrace. “Did our little Yonggi miss her shining star today?” she cooed.

 

Yongsun groaned, and rolled her eyes. “Don’t be gross, you stupid dork.”

 

“Aish, so mean,” Byulyi laughed. “How was the library today? Did you and Nana have fun?”

 

Yongsun beamed. “We brought back a ton of books!” She said, excitement rising. “I picked up The Curious Incident for you too. I know you don’t have time, but you can finish it in probably less two hours, and it’s so good—you said you wanted to brush up on first-person last week, right? Well Mark Haddon is amazing—it’ll make you so uncomfortable and frustrated with the world, but it’s exactly how the character would feel, and you just get so lost in the story, and you—”

 

Byulyi grabbed Yongsun’s erratically gesturing hands, and stilled them between her own. “Slow down!” She said with a chuckle. “You’re going to spoil the whole story before I get to read it.”

 

Yongsun bit her lip, as if her thoughts were still rolling too quickly to be stopped, but—with no small amount of effort—she managed to halt the overexcited whirlwind of ideas with a deep exhale. “Also, Irene says hi.”

 

Byulyi hummed, tracing circles into the back of Yongsun’s hands, and listened quietly as Yongsun relayed her conversation with the librarian, which concluded with a dinner invitation from Irene and Wendy.

 

“Nana might like to see the twins again,” Byulyi said with a nod. Without the burden of her coat, she returned to her wife’s side and pressed a kiss to her cheeks.

 

After all these years, she was thrilled to see the slight blush on Yongsun’s cheeks, and the almost shy “okay” on her lips.

 

When the silence finally settled, the quiet smile broadened across Byulyi’s face. “I brought you a gift.”

 

Yongsun quirked a brow. “I thought you said you had a meeting with your editor today.”

 

“Oh yes, editor-nim is a pain as usual, but we’re on schedule for once, so-o-o-o I’ve been calling in some favours, and I made something for you and Nana.”

 

“Oh? Is it a book?” Yongsun’s eyes brightened, nearly shaking with excitement once more despite how much effort she’d put into calming her love of books.

 

She breathed, appearing as neutral as she could.

 

But the disinterested act she put on failed spectacularly when, only seconds later, she clawed at Byulyi’s arm. “What is it? What is it?”

 

Byulyi, by now more than familiar with her wife’s little patterns, decided to a little by prolonging the gift. She hugged her closer, inhaling the scent she loved so much, and planting a little kiss on her shoulder. When Yongsun began to protest, she squeezed her even tighter, and rocked her from side to side.

 

“Byul-ah, what are you doing?” Yongsun cried, trying to break out of the bone-crushing hug with a fist. “Let go and give me my present.”

 

“Say please,” Byulyi teased.

 

Yongsun glared.

 

“You have to pray for your present, unnie. ‘Oh great and wonderful Moon Byulyi, please give me my present,’” she demonstrated in a high pitched voice.

 

Yongsun rolled her eyes once more, but could not hold back the mischievous grin. “Oh, my great and wonderful and amazing and perfect and y and talented cutie, Moon Byulyi,” she smirked when Byulyi’s cheeks flared pink, “please give me my present.”

 

Byulyi shook her head with a smile. “You never do anything halfway, do you?”

 

Yongsun stuck her tongue out: “Only when I married you.” Byulyi’s face—her slowly dropping jaw, wide eyes, pale cheeks, and stiff neck—it was so comical that Yongsun had to throw her head back and laugh; so genuine that she had to kiss her better, her apology dancing playfully against Byulyi’s lips.

 

By the time the banter lost its steam, they found Yoona waiting patiently in the hall, her stuffed rabbit hugged tightly against her chest. “Are you all done, mommies?” She rubbed her eyes. “I’m sleepy.”

 

“Aigo, you can’t be sleepy yet,” Byulyi said, picking her up. “I have a present for you and mama!”

 

Yoona perked up, her happy smile nearly identical to her mother’s.

 

Yongsun walked up and blew into her daughter’s round cheeks, inciting a happy giggle that washed away all the frustrations of the day. “We’ll see. This Big Fart has been hiding the present for so long, it might not exist.”

 

Byulyi puffed out her chest. “Big fart would never disappoint Little Fart,” she said, kissing her daughter’s other cheek.

 

“Don’t fight,” Yoona whined.

 

“Alright, alright.”

 

Byulyi put her daughter down and held her hand on one side, while Yongsun held the other. Happily holding both her mothers’ hand, Yoona couldn’t help skipping a little on the short walk to her bedroom. Once she was comfortably tucked into her sheets, Yongsun, sitting at the edge of her bed, leaned in for a kiss on the forehead.

 

Meanwhile, Byulyi finally peeled off her coat and draped it on a nearby chair. She reached into her bag and pulled out a flat, square object wrapped in brown paper.

 

Yongsun and Yoona watched in equal anticipation as she presented the gift to her wide-eyed daughter. “Wanna open it, Little Fart?”

 

The girl squealed and began clawing at the paper, despite Yongsun's stern warning: “Yoona, what are you supposed to say?”

 

Yoona looked up briefly. “Thank you, Big Fart,” she said with a toothy grin.

 

“That’s better,” Yongsun replied with a ruffle of her hair.

 

Yongsun and Byulyi snuggled up on either side of their daughter and watched with eager anticipation as Yoona unwrapped the present. , stuck in an “O” shape, widened, looking like the splitting image of her mother with her chubby cheeks completing her awed expression.

 

“A picture book!” Yoona squealed. “It’s so pretty!”

 

The cover was a lush green forest surrounding a meadow. At the centre of the meadow was a woman with a loincloth, her unruly black hair billowing behind her as she stood poised beside a bear and a blonde elf. Yoona tilted her head, confused. Something looked familiar.

 

Yongsun was the first to speak: “Oh my god.” She covered . “Is that what I think it is?”

 

“What is it, Mama?”

 

Byulyi wrapped her arm around Yoona’s shoulder, and squeezed in beside her on the bed. “Seven years ago,” Byulyi explained, casting a loving glance at her wife’s profile, “before you were born, Little Fart, I fell in love with a woman, and she was just way, way, way too good for me.”

 

Yoona scrunched up her face. “Better than Mama?”

 

Byulyi laughed. “Well, you see,” she stretched behind Yoona’s head and ran a finger down Yongsun’s jaw with a wink and a grin, “this woman was amazing. She inspired me in so many ways, and I wanted to tell her—so, I wrote a book.”

 

“Correction: you talked a lot about writing a book, but you didn’t,” Yongsun added matter-of-factly.

 

“Mama, you knew this person? Was this when you were secretly in love with Big Fart too?”

 

Yongsun blushed, and cleared . “It wasn’t a secret. Your mama was just an idiot.”

 

“Hey!” Byulyi pouted. “Anyway, Little Fart, it is your mom. I wanted to write a book for her when I realized how much I loved her—I even asked her for advice!”

 

“Except your silly Mama ended up writing a rap instead. Did you know your Big Fart wanted to be a rapper?”

 

Yoona’s eyes bulged. “Mama used to be...cool?”

 

“Nana, we need to stop having play dates with Sumi. Hyejin and Wheein are teaching you bad things.”

 

“Mama, no! Sumi is my bestest friend in the whole wide world!” Yoona cried, tugging at Byulyi’s shirt.

 

“Okay, okay, that’s enough,” Yongsun said, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a thumb and forefinger. “Byul-ah, you’re going off-track.”

 

“Fine, fine.” Byulyi pointed to the cover of the book. “The story I wanted to write for Mama No-Fun over here was about your Aunt Hyejin.”

 

Yoona followed her finger in wonderment. “That’s her? She’s even cooler than she is in real life!”

 

“Yep! This was about Hyejin the Warrior,” Byulyi said. “Didn’t your Aunt Wheein do such a good job with the art?”

 

Yongsun, who had been eying the title for a while now, wondered out loud: “Wasn’t it…?”

 

“Shhh,” Byulyi pressed a finger to Yongsun’s lips, and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “It’s not kid-friendly.”

 

“What do you mean?” Yongsun whispered back.

 

“Do you want to explain Hyejin being a wild and y barbarian to our six-year-old?”

 

Yongsun rounded her lips, and pressed her thumb and forefinger together to gesture her understanding. Byulyi often surprised her with her thoroughness. As much as she can sometimes act like a child, she was always responsible. Even when they had been discussing starting a family, all those years ago—she could still hear her friends’ and family's’ comments, sprinkled with a dash too much judgment, about the two of them having a child so quickly into their relationship—she never doubted that Byulyi would be a good mother in her own way.

 

While Yoona and Byulyi teased each other about the whispering, Yongsun reached over Yoona and opened the book to the first page. Amidst the forest green background, the white words read:

 

For the greatest loves of my life

 

She ran a hand along the picture of Hyejin below, holding a book with a heart on the cover. With a jet-black pen, Wheein had drawn herself and Sumi on one side of Hyejin, and Yongsun, Byulyi, and Yoona on the other side. Saltwater pricked her eyes as a wave of nostalgia washed over her.

 

Ten years ago, Yongsun joined a program through her alma mater and took on a mentee, the fiery Ahn Hyejin. Being a fresh graduate from law school, her mission was to prepare her mentee for the next stage of life. She was, revelling in her wide-eyed ideals, excited. Except her young mentee was in her last year of university and didn’t want to be there at all.

 

She just wanted to play music.

 

But Yongsun never quit. Despite her busyness at her new job, she was relentless in making sure Hyejin completed the goals of her program. Over time, she began to suspect that Hyejin found it fun just to watch her try.

 

At the end of the year, they became very close. Hyejin introduced her to her girlfriend of, at that point, three years, as well as her best friend.

 

Wheein was charming and sweet, but it was Moon Byulyi who caught the young lawyer’s eye.

 

Back then, Byulyi, so awkwardly charming in her own way, was in a constant state of progress. Professionally, privately, whatever it may be—Byulyi didn’t have anything fully figured out. She was a floater, having graduated a few years ago with little to no direction in life.

 

She thought she wanted to be a rapper, simply because her writing was decent and her best friend was in a band. She thought she wanted to study biochemistry, because she was good at it in high school and a teacher told her she should. She thought she should be cool and aloof, because a few girls once called her a prince.

 

All of this paralysed Byulyi. She ended up with an office job she hated, and nothing but daydreams to help her pass her days.

 

Naturally, once Hyejin convinced Yongsun that she didn’t need a mentor—“Just because I like music, it doesn’t mean I’m going to be homeless, unnie”—Yongsun turned her attention to Byulyi.

 

Casual acquaintance quickly turned into friendship. They began seeing each other without Hyejin and Wheein. Friendship turned into yearning and yearning into love.

 

The young lawyer was smitten.

 

“Are you alright, honey?”

 

Yongsun looked up and into Byulyi’s concerned face, and smiled. She’d certainly come a long way.

 

One of the best and worst decisions Byulyi has ever made was quitting her job to become a freelance writer. She had saved up a bit of money, and by then Yongsun was rising through the ranks. They had been together for about a year when they decided to get married and have a child. It was a precarious situation for the blooming writer. The beginning was filled with small jobs and meaningless words at best, and nothingness at worst. But when Yoona was born, she would not have traded the opportunity to be with her daughter for anything.

 

And on rare days like today, Yongsun would take the day off to trade places with her wife. Dropping in and out of Yoona’s life hadn’t been easy. Byulyi had established systems, and she spoiled their daughter endlessly. Yongsun often found herself playing bad cop in the early days, but as she freed up more and more time to be with her daughter, she and Byulyi both struck a balance. It hadn’t been easy, and the future was anything but certain, but she thought she was the luckiest woman in the world.

 

Here Yongsun’s eyes swept across the faces of her wife and daughter, then across the pages of the book in Yoona’s hands as they admired Wheein’s drawings in a muted whirl of laughter. If it weren’t for this story—this simple story of a girl, a bear, and an elf that came out of the collective imaginations of the bookworm lawyer and the lovesick rapper—none of this would’ve existed.

 

“Thank you, Byul,” she said, leaning behind Yoona to give her a kiss on the cheek.

 

Byulyi beamed.

 

“Can we read now?” Yoona said, flipping to the first page impatiently.

 

“Is this the original story?” Yongsun asked.

 

“You’ll see.”

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 1:

 

Hyejin, riding a big brown bear. In the background, a flock of birds fly high above them. They’re travelling along a dirt path through a clearing. Hyejin’s mass of black hair floats behind her like a cape. She wears strips of brown fur loosely around her golden body. The sun is fading from yellow to orange behind her, casting long shadows and a white glow around them.

 

“Once upon a time, there was once a warrior named Hyejin,” Byulyi began to read, “she was strong, reliable, beautiful, and everyone loved her.”

 

“This sounds familiar,” Yongsun said with a grin.

 

“Hyejin the Warrior and her best friend, Seulgi the Bear,” Byulyi went on, “liked to take peaceful walks in the meadow on sunny days.”

 

“Wait, is that Aunt Seulgi?” Yoona said, jabbing at the bear with a finger in amazement. “She’s so cute!”

 

“Oh yes, she wasn’t too happy about that when we first told her about this story, because she wasn’t a nice bear in some versions.” Yongsun said. She shook her head, recalling the poorly drawn stick figure bear she had used to demonstrate her ideas to Byulyi. While the piece of note paper was long gone, memories of that night would forever paint the walls of her mind. “She likes being a cute bear though.”

 

“Irene-unnie had a pretty good laugh too,” Byulyi added with a grin.

 

“You know, I don’t remember if I ever told you this, but Wendy called me the next day and told me that Irene printed and framed that picture and hung it in their apartment.”
 

“What, really? Wow, it’s been so long since the three of them lived together. It must’ve been before Irene and Seulgi broke up.”

 

“I wonder if they still have it. I don’t think Wendy would throw it away. We’ll have to ask them about it when we go visit the twins.”

 

“Mamas,” Yoona whined, shaking the book in her lap, “can we go back to the story now?”

 

Yoona impatiently flipped the page.

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 2:

 

Hyejin and Seulgi standing on the left page, a deep expanse of green below them fill half the page and poured onto the right page. Behind them, the sky is a watercolour ocean. On the right page, a blonde elf with short hair, pointed ears, and regal, green hunter’s garb stands with her back to the reader. Her silhouette fills the page, pushing the words around her head.

 

“One day, Hyejin the Warrior came across a beautiful elf,” Yongsun read. “She saw them approaching and gripped her bow tightly in her hands.”

 

“Stop!” Byulyi read, mimicking Wheein’s voice in a higher pitched tone. “Who goes there?”

 

“Mama, I’m telling Sumi’s mama that you think she sounds like that,” Yoona snickered.

 

“Aish, you’d betray your Big Fart like that?” Byulyi gripped her heart as if wounded.

 

“Sumi is my best friend,” she replied matter-of-factly.

 

Byulyi gasped. “Do you love Sumi more than your own mamas?”

 

“Of course!”

 

“Yoona, you should at least hesitate,” Yongsun said, patting down her daughter’s brown curls with a snicker. “You’re going to hurt Big Fart’s feelings.”

 

Byulyi stuck her tongue out at her Little Fart and crossed her arms, pretending to be as cross as possible. Yoona, by now no stranger to her mother’s theatrics, wrapped her arms around Byulyi and planted a wet kiss on her cheek.

 

“Big Fart is smiling now,” she announced. “You can keep reading, Mama.”

 

Yongsun cleared . “Hyejin the Warrior, who had never seen such a beautiful girl before, decided right there and then that she wanted this girl to be her wife.

 

She did not notice the girl draw her bow, or the venomous caution in her tone. She did not notice how nervous the girl looked at the sight of the fearsome warrior, and the enormous bear. All Hyejin saw before her was the love of her life.”

 

Yongsun paused. “Wow,” she said. “This is different. Very strong. And very Hyejin.”

 

“The essence of Hyejin is very important,” Byulyi said, nodding sagely.

 

Yoona looked up at Byulyi. “What does that mean?”

 

Byulyi crossed her arms and squinted at Yoona with a critical glare. “If I tell you, you’ll tell Sumi. And if you tell Sumi, she’ll tell Hyejin, and Hyejin will definitely kick my .”

 

“I won’t tell Sumi!” Yoona whined.

 

“Promise?”

 

Yoona opened but stopped when she met Yongsun’s skeptical expression. “Yoona,” her mother gently chided, “you remember what we said about promises, right? You have to keep them.”

 

Yoona pressed her lips together and pushed them out in a signature pout. Foiled, she said quietly flipped the page.

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 3

 

On the left, the blonde elf points her bow at Hyejin. On the right, Hyejin smiles, casually leaning on Seulgi.

 

Byulyi continued to read: “‘Your Highness,’ Hyejin said, noting the intricate details of the elf’s royal embroidery as she approached her, ‘I am just passing through.’ Hyejin smiled, for she was so brave that she was not intimidated by the elf’s status or the tip of her bow.

 

‘Stand back!’ the elf cried, pulling her bowstring taut. ‘Don’t come any closer!’

 

‘Oh, but Your Highness, you are so beautiful up close!’ Hyejin the Warrior smiles a bright smile. Seulgi the Bear gives a little growl, and shakes her fur, knocking Hyejin the Warrior to the ground. Seulgi the Bear did not like Hyejin’s comment.”

 

“That really sounds like Sumi’s mama,” Yoona commented with a giggle.

 

“The elf princess did not move for a moment,” Yongsun read, “then she lowered her bow slowly in disbelief. Suddenly, she burst into laughter! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”

 

“Mama, that’s not how Sumi’s mommy laughs,” Yoona chided. She demonstrated with a high-pitched cackle that sent her mothers’ hands flying to their ears.

 

“Kim Yoona!” Yongsun said sternly. The little girl stopped laughing at once. Her mother, seeing the wide-eyed response to her tone, relaxed into a smile. “It’s a little more like this.”

 

“No, it’s like this!”

 

Byulyi watched with a resigned smile as her daughter and wife took turns laughing, louder and more maniacal at each turn. At the end, she simply shook her head. “You do realize I have to tell Wheein about this, right?”

 

Yongsun leaned back against the headboard, and, behind their daughter’s back, stuck her tongue out at Byulyi, who simply blew a kiss in reply.

 

Yoona turned the page.

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 4:

 

An amulet shaped like a yellow flower glows warmly inside the elf’s palms. A gold chain, wrapped around the yellow stone, is wrapped around the archer’s hand.

 

“‘I see now that you are more foolish than you are dangerous,’ the archer said. ‘Excuse my manners. My name is Wheein. I am on a journey to see where this amulet leads me.’

 

‘A journey? That sounds fun. Let me come too.’

 

Hyejin didn’t know why she wanted to go. It sounded like a lot of work! But she was curious and bored, and Seulgi could use the exercise.”

 

Yoona giggled. “Obviously Sumi-Mama is in love.”

 

“Oh?” Byulyi raised a brow. “Somebody already knows the full story, I see. Guess we don’t need to keep reading.”

 

“No!” Yoona screeched. She tugged at her mother’s upper arm, but Byulyi crowded her arms and remained unmoved. When pleading didn’t have the immediate effect she’d intended, she turned and tugged at Yongsun’s sleeve. “Big Fart is mean to me,” she said matter-of-factly.

 

“Byul,” Yongsun said simply, flipping the page without looking up.

 

Byulyi pouted. “You always help the Fart Princess.”

 

“Just read the next page.”

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 5:

 

A yellow map, browned at the edges, mark the continents. Along the left, there are islands adorned by volcanoes and strange, furry creatures with curled horns and striped tails. The rest of the map shows a large piece of land, decorated with various mountains, lakes, and other fantastical creatures. Across the map are three sets of footprints traversing with no fixed path. The footprints cross over each other, and other times they stop and retreat in a web of patterns.

 

“And so Wheein and Hyejin travel the world together,” Byulyi read. “They travel across land and sea, and they meet all kinds of scary monsters and fantastic creatures. They had the most wonderful adventures together.

 

There were fun times, like when they bounced on bubbles in the mermaid kingdom. There were sad times, like when they had to deliver sad news to the baker’s wife. Then, there were hard times: times when they were hurt, when they starved, and times when they didn’t know what to do.

 

Still, it was the most wonderful adventures that they could ever ask for. Together, they thought they could do this forever.”

 

Byulyi cast a quick glance at her daughter, who stared at the page, for once too enraptured to speak.

 

They turned the page.

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 6:

 

On the left, Seulgi and Hyejin are fighting off a swarm of small, dragon-like creatures. On the right, Wheein has her bow drawn, but she is distracted. A big grin is plastered on her face.

 

Yoona pointed a chubby finger at Wheein. “Look at her face, mamas! She looks so happy!”

 

Yongsun snuggled into Yoona, rubbing her cheeks against her daughter’s to earn a happy squeal from the little girl. “Because she’s in love!” Yongsun declared. She wiggled her fingers into Yoona’s sides.

 

Byulyi looked on, quietly smiling as she took in the love they’d cultivated over the years, wondering how she’d gotten so lucky. Yoona’s shrieks pierced the air once more, shaking her out of her thoughts.

 

“Help me, Big Fart!” her daughter whined, amplifying Yongsun’s mother’s mischievous laugh to a full-blown cackle as she wiggled about in her grasp.

 

Byulyi huffed and pretended to be left out with a puff of her cheeks. “When you two mochi-cheeks are done, maybe we can finish reading the story.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Yongsun said, still softly snickering when Yoona deflated into her.

 

Byulyi continued to read: “Having had so many adventures, Wheein began to realize something. She was so happy that she no longer cared about the amulet.

 

Just then, having driven off the curious wyrms, Hyejin approached her. “Are you okay?” She asked.

 

Wheein looked at her worried face, her shy smile, and her brave soul. Yes, this is it, she decided with a smile, the amulet wasn’t leading her a place. It was leading her to Hyejin.”

 

“Aish, so cheesy,” Yongsun added.

 

“Shhhhh!” Yoona said. “You’re ruining the best part, Mama!”

 

Yongsun chuckled, and watched as Yoona hurriedly flipped the page, practically bouncing with anticipation.

 

---

 

ILLUSTRATION 7 & 8:

 

Inside a yellow-bordered box on the top left of the page, Wheein is on one knee. She is holding her feathered cap to her chest with one hand, and is holding up the amulet outstretched with the other. Hyejin receives the amulet, her expression pink and surprised.

 

On the bottom right of the page is a wedding ceremony. Confetti is in the air, and the people of the kingdom rejoice all around. In the middle are two brides in white dresses walking down the red carpet with bouquets and happy smiles.

 

ILLUSTRATION 9 & 10:

 

Inside a small, circular panel on the top right, a baby is bundled up in her mother’s arms. She is smiling, and her other mother is kissing her cheek.

 

Behind the circular panel, in an image spanning the entire page, is a sunset. The silhouettes of Hyejin and Wheein hold the hands of their daughter, who is sitting on Seulgi’s back. They are walking down a path lined with trees, their destinations unknown.

 

“It’s Sumi!” Nana cried, jabbing the baby on the page excitedly.

 

“Yes, yes, let’s finish reading,” Yongsun said. “Mama is getting sleepy.” Byulyi raised a brow at the obvious lie but did not comment. Instead, she squeezed Yoona close and rested her chin on her daughter’s head.

 

“Mama, it’s hot!” She complained, squirming in her mother’s arms.

 

Byulyi continued to read, ignoring Yoona’s cries: “Wheein gave the yellow amulet to Hyejin. ‘All this time, I had been looking for you all along.’ She professed her love on one knee, bringing the brave warrior to tears.”

 

Yongsun nodded along. “Hyejin is a softie,” She added.

 

“Soon, they were due to be wed,” Byulyi continued. “Everyone knew the famous tales of Wheein and Hyejin’s bravery. The entire kingdom arrived to wish them happiness. Even the Elf King and Elf Queen, Wheein’s parents, came with their loyal subjects. It was a big party and everyone was very happy.”

 

Yongsun continued from the next page: “Soon, they had a little girl of their own, and they named her—”

 

“Sumi!” Yoona shouted with a happy giggle.

 

“That’s right!” Yongsun smiled. “This little girl was the most important thing in the universe to the warrior and the elf, and they loved her with all of their heart.

 

New adventures awaited the Hyejin and Wheein’s family beyond the horizon. They might not always be fighting dragons and trolls, but, equipped with love, they were ready to face anything.”

 

“The end!” Yoona concluded.

 

Byulyi grinned. “Just one more thing.”

 

She flipped the page.

 

ILLUSTRATION 11:

 

The same sun sets at the centre of a white page. Before it is the same path lined with trees on either side. Silhouettes, hand-drawn with jet-black ink, are walking into the sunset: Byulyi and Yongsun on either side of Yoona, holding her hand.

 

“Oh!” Yongsun’s hand flew to her lips. “Is that—”

 

“It’s Nana!” Yoona picked up the book and leapt out of her place between her mothers, bouncing briefly on her bed before kneeling in front of them with the book open. “It’s Nana!” she repeated with a little giggle.

 

“Aish,” Yongsun pointed at the picture, “your mamas are here too. Look!”

 

“Yea-a-ah, but Nana is here,” Yoona insisted.

 

Yongsun shook her head, chuckling softly. “Aigo, Byul-ah, what have you done to our daughter?”

 

Byulyi dove forward and grabbed the shrieking Yoona by the waist, then dragging her over to her lap, where she proceeded to pinch her cheeks. “Our Princess Little Fart is so cute!” she gushed, kneading her daughter’s cheeks in spite of her cries. “Look at her, Yonggi! Can you blame her?”

 

“Mama, sto-o-o-o-o-p!”

 

“I can’t stop when Nana is so, so, so, so cute,” Byulyi said, nuzzling her cheek against the top of her daughter’s head.

 

“Mama, save me-e-e-e!”

 

Yongsun shook her head with a resigned sigh, though her smile continued to glow at the sight of her wife and daughter. Her gaze strayed to the book, which laid open on the bed where Nana had dropped it, and the silhouettes. True enough, there were years before them, adventures unknown, challenges waiting to be conquered.

 

Yoona was still young, but she was growing up faster than she liked. Yesterday, she was just a bundle. Soon, she was going to move through school, experience love, heartbreak. She was going to someday move beyond the shelter she and Byulyi had crafted so carefully around her.

 

But today... today she was here. Six years old and still full of love for her two mothers.

 

Her heart swelled, and her eyes began to well.

 

“I think it’s time to sleep, you two.”

 

---

 

An hour later, Byulyi and Yongsun sat in the living room with the book in Yongsun’s lap. Byulyi rested her head against Yongsun’s, and watched her idly flip through the pages for what must’ve been the twentieth time.

 

“I thought you said you were sleepy.”

 

“This book is incredible,” Yongsun said, ignoring her. Byulyi had long stopped counting the compliments, grinning instead whenever she spoke. “You’re incredible.” Yongsun turned her head slightly to plant a kiss on her wife’s head, inciting the shy giggle she loved so much.

“So, I guess you just wanted your private Byul time?”

 

Byulyi didn’t miss the pinkish hue on her cheeks, and the almost inaudible “shut up.” She laughed, sending gentle vibrations all the way to her wife’s heart. She rested her hand on Yongsun’s stomach, snuggling further into her shoulder. Finally, Byulyi replied: “Wheein made it so much more special than I could’ve imagined for myself. The beauty of art and literature coming together…it’s really something isn’t it?  

 

“You changed so much of it,” Yongsun observed.

 

“Yeah, I’d never written a children’s book before, so I tried to make it a bit more concise. I can’t say it’s perfect, but I think I got my feelings across.”

 

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

 

Byulyi laughed. “Do you think Idiot Moon would work again?”

 

“Idiot Moon always works,” Yongsun said, nudging Byulyi’s head with her own. “Did you...ask anyone else?” Byulyi lifted her head. Yongsun returned her studious gaze with expectancy. “What? Why are you smiling like that? Stop it, it’s gross.”

 

“Nothing,” Byulyi replied, wrapping an arm around Yongsun’s middle and pulling her closer.

 

“What?” Yongsun repeated, slapping her lightly. “Stop smiling!”

 

Byulyi grinned widely into the side of her neck. “Nothing!” she murmured. “I just love it when you’re jealous. For the record, I didn’t ask anybody for help. I figured you’d forgive my mistakes because I’m a great author now, and you love me.”

 

“You’re stupid.”

 

“Stupidly in love with you.”

 

Yongsun shoved her away, playfully shouting, “You’re so greasy!” Byulyi laughed, and dramatically fell back onto the couch. As she played dead, she heard her wife huffing on the other side of the couch: “How do you still have so much grease after seven years?”

 

Byulyi sat back up, and, taking the book from her lap, she laid her head down in its place. “Yongsunssi,” she said, “how are you still so pretty after seven years?”

 

“You’re gross,” Yongsun laughed. “But I’m stupidly in love with you too.”

 

Seven years and those words still made her giddy, Byulyi thought with a lopsided grin. She reached up, touched Yongsun’s chin gently, and said, “The Idiot Moon and the Idiot Sun. Sounds like my next bestseller.”

 

Yongsun smiled softly, bending down for a comfortingly familiar kiss. “Thank you,” she whispered, as she pulled away.

 

“It was nothing,” Byulyi replied. “You should really thank Wheein.”

 

Yongsun shook her head. “Not just this,” she said, gesturing to the book on Byulyi’s stomach. She ran her hand across Byulyi’s jawline and poked her on the nose. “For everything. The last seven years, this house, our baby, our happy memories—thank you for sharing it all with me.”

 

Byulyi sat up again slowly, careful not to move too far from Yongsun’s warmth. Knee against knee now, with Yongsun’s hands in hers—it was times like these when little gestures of intimacy spoke far more than their wildest nights. Times when it was just quiet enough to admire the way her wife’s hands fit inside her own, and the way her eyes shone just for her. “What are you thinking about, Yongddoni?” Byulyi asked. “The sunset?”

 

Yongsun nodded. “And Yoona,” she confessed, “she’s getting so big, so fast. You saw her today when you came in—she’s getting rebellious too. It’s just...so much has happened...and so much will happen. Walking into the sunset and not really knowing where to go...it’s a bit scary. At the same time, this story makes me think about who I was before I met you, and the adventures we had just to get to the starting line. It’s nostalgic.” She laughed lightly. “It’s a bit stupid to think about this, isn’t it?”

 

Byulyi lifted the book between them. The picture of her family against the sunset glowed quietly under the lamplight. “It is a bit scary, I guess. It scared me just hearing that Yoona loved Sumi more than me,” Byulyi said, shaking her head. “One of these days, she’ll be the sun, and we’ll just be an orbiting outer planet. But you know what? The last seven years isn’t enough for me. I want the next ten, twenty, thirty, sixty, eighty years too. I kind of decided that by myself when I first met you. I thought, ah, if I could grow old with this girl, I’d die the happiest woman on earth. Is that selfish?”

 

“Not when you’re grinning at me like that, you big dork,” Yongsun said, laying her head on Byulyi’s shoulder. “I want that too. I want to get wrinkles and cry about Yoona and I want to fight about stupid things and make it up. All the things that grumpy old people do after they spend a hundred years together.”

 

“Good. Because you’ll always be my sun, and I’m going to keep orbiting around you forever and ever and ever.”

 

END

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