Eunbi sighed as she rested her chin on her palm, swiping through the photos in her phone gallery. She was looking through the barrage of selfies she and Yerin took when they were at Jeju. The girl had locked herself in the study and refused to come out since morning, claiming she had some ‘really important things to finish’ and that they were ‘highly time sensitive’ so Eunbi decided to leave her be.

For a present, she had decided to develop a picture that they took together and frame it up so that Yerin could place it on her desk and always be reminded of the time that they spent together. Well, that was what she read online at least. The meaning behind it is a little cliché but the gift itself could have many meanings.

So far, she has narrowed down ten pictures. Yes, it was a lot, but she couldn’t help it. All the pictures were so good. There was the one from their first date that would be really meaningful, the one from the first trip they went on together, their graduation, another date on Namsan tower, not to forget the one where they were enjoying some street food. And of course, their most recent Jeju pictures. If Eunbi were to look through anymore, she might just develop every single one since they were all so precious.

“This is harder than I thought.” She said, scratching her eyebrow. She locked her phone and placed it on the table, opting to make a cup of tea. That should clear her head a little. She switched the electric kettle on and let the water boil as she washed a cup and teapot. Opening the cabinet, she looked through the small boxes of tea and decided to brew a nice warm cup of lemon myrtle and rose. Pouring the hot water over the tea leaves, she relaxed at the aromatic scent of the tea. With a small pump of honey and a slice of lemon, Eunbi’s tea was ready.

She placed her cup down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch, looking out of the window at the neighboring buildings. The sun was dazzling, bathing the suburb of Hannam-dong in warmth. Eunbi picked up her phone once again and looked through the pictures that she narrowed down. In the end, she decided to just go with the picture that Yerin took when they were at Jeongbang; the surprise kiss attack. The printer was in the study and Yerin wouldn't let her in, so she had no choice but to head to the shop down the road. She changed into something a little more decent and warm, throwing on a coat before leaving the house.

Eunbi stepped into the small shop and looked around for the printing machine.

“Hello, may I help?” A lady asked from the counter.

“Hi, yeah I’d like to print a photo.” Eunbi said as she approached the lady.

“Sure. Do you have it on a thumb drive?”

“No, it’s on my phone. It can still work right?” the girl asked as the lady opened a folder on the computer.

“Yes, just transfer the photo you want to print, and I’ll do the rest for you.” The lady said and stepped aside for Eunbi to connect her phone. She transferred the photo and the lady clicked print.

“Is this you?” The lady asked and Eunbi nodded nervously.

“Sorry, is it a little…”

“Oh no, that’s not what I meant. I was just going to say that you have a pretty girlfriend and that you two look cute together.” The lady smiled as she cut the borders of the pictures.

“Ah…” Eunbi said, internally releasing a breather of relief.

“It’s your girlfriend, right? Or your wife?” the lady asked and Eunbi let out a violent cough.

“Girlfriend. But ah… You know… I’m working on it.”

“Oh, good luck my dear. If you two have been together for a long time I think you could make a move.”

“Yeah, we’ve been together for 3 years now. We stay just down the road actually.” Eunbi smiled.

“Really? Well then I think it’s about time don’t you think?” the lady said as she looked back at the photo. “Would you like a frame for this as well? Or do you already have one?”

“I have a plain frame at home, but I could take a look at the ones you have if that’s alright.” Eunbi said and the lady led her to a small shelf where there were a few different frames on display. There was a frame that instantly caught Eunbi’s eye; a light brown one with two cute molded bears by the corners. She picked it up to look at the bears that were extremely detailed.

“These are hand-carved and made. You can see the little eyes and details that are painted in too yes?”

“Handmade? Isn’t it expensive?” Eunbi asked, turning it around to look at the price.

“No actually, quite reasonably priced.” The lady said and true enough, it was only a little over 20000₩.

“I’ll get these then, the bears are cute.” Eunbi smiled and the lady nodded, taking a new piece from the cabinet below.

“The total will be 12000₩.” The lady said as she placed it in a nice bag and stuck a ribbon on it.

“Wait, 12000₩? You just said the frame was 20000₩.” Eunbi said, confused.

“It’s a little discount from me, think of it as a blessing for your future. Even though I don’t know you, the people of this country can be a little close-minded. I just want you to remember that there is still some good somewhere out there.” The lady said, taking the two 10000₩ notes from Eunbi’s hand and placing the change back while the girl was still a little dazed.

“Thank you so much… Really. It means a lot.” Eunbi smiled at the lady and looked down at the change in her hands before slipping it in her wallet.

“Not a problem at all my dear. I’ll see you around.” The lady said and Eunbi bowed deeply before leaving the small shop. It was a small gesture but deep down, it really touched Eunbi.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

Yerin closed the cover of the book and fastened the little buckle. She took her glasses off and placed it on the table as she leaned back in her chair. Standing up to stretch her arms, several cracks could be heard from her knees and back.

“Must have sat too long.” Yerin muttered as she lay down on the floor to relax her back muscles, popping a couple more joints as she rolled around. She jolted up when she realized that she had completely lost track of time. She took her phone from the desk and pressed the home button, eyes widening when she saw the time.

“Uh on.” Yerin grimaced as she got up from the floor. She hurriedly swept all the scraps of paper and double-sided tapes as well as empty pens and markers into the trash can and tidied up her desk. She grabbed the book and her phone before unlocking the door. Poking her head out, she noticed that the house was quiet.

“B?” Yerin called out but received no response. She slipped out with the book in her arms as she checked her phone. It was then that she realized she had it in airplane mode and didn’t receive any texts or notifications because she had wanted to work in absolute concentration. “Curse my tunnel vision and forgetfulness.” She chuckled as she turned it off and waited for the messages to load. Yerin looked to the kitchen and noticed the pot of tea. She walked over and touched the teapot which was still warm.

Pouring herself a cup of tea, she walked back to the living room and placed her cup down beside Eunbi’s empty one along with the book. Checking her phone again, she saw that she had received a text from Eunbi saying that she was going to print something down the road and that she would be back in 15 minutes. It was sent 15 minutes ago. As if on cue, the front door opened and Eunbi walked in with a small bag in hand.

“Oh hey, you’re out. Finished what you were doing?” Eunbi smiled as she shut the door and took her padded coat off.

“Yeah. Sorry about that I was just really trying to finish it on time.” Yerin scratched the back of her head. “And here, this is what I was doing.” She said, taking the book from the coffee table.

“What’s that?” Eunbi asked as she walked to the kitchen to get the teapot. She refilled her cup before sitting down beside Yerin, making herself comfortable.

“It’s a… Well, you’ll know when you see it. Actually, open it now.” Yerin said, placing the book on Eunbi’s lap.

She watched as the younger girl touched the navy-blue cover of the double-looped wire bound book.

“The adventures of Sinrin.” Eunbi read off the cover, smiling at the name. “You still remember that name?”

“Of course. The legendary SinB that garnered the attention of the entire school and had a huge fan club following her around and showering her with all the love and attention she deserved.” Yerin giggled. Eunbi laughed at Yerin’s description of her college days. As the president of the dance club back then, she had a stage name so that she and Eunha could be distinguished since they were in the same club. She liked the nickname and it stuck throughout college but after their graduation, the name SinB graduated along with them. It was only but a fond memory of the past now and Eunbi had always preferred people calling her by her real name. In fact, she rarely addressed Eunha as Eunha too. Within their group of friends, both girls were addressed by their given names even if it caused some confusion sometimes. For the laughs, it was great.

“I remember how people used to ship us back then.” Eunbi chuckled at the many fangirls that would hold up banners at her performances chanting their ship name. Sometimes Yerin too would receive gifts from Eunbi’s fan club. It both flattered and embarrassed her from the sudden attention since photographers weren’t meant to shine as bright as the performers and they were supposed to remain in the dark to do their work in silence.

“Power couple Sinrin. How can I ever forget?” Yerin smiled. Eunbi opened the book and unconsciously let out a small gasp. There was a picture attached to the first page of her very first performance. She remembered the outfit and how the crowd cheered, even chanting for an encore. There was a small note at the bottom of the picture with the date it was taken as well as a short sentence.

“16 Jan 2015, a talented dancer has emerged.” Eunbi read and laughed at the embarrassing statement.

“What? It’s true!” Yerin exclaimed as Eunbi read the next page.

“17 Jan 15, has she always been this pretty?” she read. Below was a picture of her sitting on a bench under the shade of a tree with a book in hand. “Wow, a stalker.”

“I wasn’t stalking, I was on my way to the club room to return the camera when I saw you, so I just snapped a picture. Actually… Yeah, that doesn’t sound too good,” Yerin winced.

“Relax, I’m just teasing you.” Eunbi bumped her shoulder against Yerin. She continued reading the scrapbook of pictures. Each photo came with a little note that grew longer each day. Eventually, there were pictures of them together as well as little heart shapes drawn across the page. Flipping through the pages, Eunbi realized that she was walking in Yerin’s footsteps, following the girl’s thoughts and feelings back then and seeing how the older girl had fallen for her. There were also little items that were taped to some pages. Like an autumn leaf to go with the picture of them jumping around in a pile of leaves in Eunbi’s backyard during fall just last year.

Each page seemed to refresh Eunbi’s memory and she realized how far they had come. There were days that were happy, days where they fought and ignored each other for days, days that were filled with grief, days where they had so much fun together they wished it would never end. It was a book of every single memory, up or down.

“Yerin…” Eunbi said when she reached the final page. It was a collage of the pictures they took in Jeju.

“I want to give this to you so that you will always have faith in us. To remember that I will always be here for you no matter what. To support you and love you unconditionally because to me… You really deserve nothing but the best.” Yerin smiled, cupping Eunbi’s face. “I promise that the only tears I make you shed will be tears of happiness.” She said, wiping a tear that fell from the girl’s eye.

“You’re so sappy.” Eunbi sniffled, allowing Yerin to pull her in for a tight embrace.

“There’s honestly so much more I want to say. So much more I want to tell you so that you know exactly how much you mean to me but it’s so hard. Words just can’t seem to do these feelings justice.” Yerin whispered, combing her fingers through the younger girl’s soft brown locks.

“I know what you mean. I can feel your sincerity. Some things just don’t need words, Rin.” Eunbi smiled, nuzzling her face into the girl’s neck. “Thank you.” She whispered breathily.

Yerin said nothing but pressed her lips against Eunbi’s head, rubbing soothing circles on the girl’s back.

“By the way.” Eunbi said as she pulled away and rubbed her eyes. “I went out to prepare something too.” She handed the bag to Yerin.

“A photo?” Yerin asked as she looked inside. She pulled the frame out and cooed when she saw the cute bears. “Oh, this picture!” she burst into laughter when she saw it.

“It took me so long trying to choose a picture but seems like you got a better idea by combining them all into a tear jerking book.” Eunbi laughed “This one was my favorite one out of all the selcas we took in Jeju.”

“Thank you, B. It’s sweet of you too.” Yerin smiled, running the pad of her thumb across their faces. “I will never forget this moment.”

“A kiss you will never forget.” Eunbi giggled, leaning forward to push Yerin down onto the couch. She kissed the girl, pouring her sincerest emotions. Yerin smiled and kissed back with equal fervent, not wanting to back down.

It was definitely a kiss neither of them would forget.