SinB ended her thirty-six hour shift with an eight hour heart surgery that had more complications than SinB’s fuzzy head could be bothered to remember. It had been brutal and exhausting, but it was over now, and SinB was ready to just go home and pass out for twelve or so hours. 

After a quick stop by the locker room to change, SinB left the hospital. She had just walked into the parking lot when her phone started ringing. Stifling a yawn, she answered, “Hello?”

“SinB! Please tell me you’re free,” Yerin said from the other end. 

SinB walked up to her car and leaned against it, squinting at the sun coming above the horizon. “Why?” SinB asked. 

“I want to go to the beach.”

Too tired for this, SinB irritably said, “What?”

“It’s supposed to be a beautiful day today,” Yerin explained patiently. “I want to go out to the beach and visit that amusement park on the pier.” At SinB’s silence, she hurriedly continued, “Please, I’ve been stuck at home since my surgery. I want to go out and do something.”

“Are you sure an amusement park is okay?” SinB asked.

“I already asked my doctor,” Yerin assured her. “Please, SinB.”

Sighing, SinB kissed her day of sleeping away and said, “Yeah, fine, but you’re driving. You owe me food too. Lots of it.”

“Deal!” Yerin squealed. She sounded so happy that some of SinB’s bitterness faded. “I’ll pick you up in an hour, okay?”

Just enough time for her to shower and get ready. Was it too late to just pass out right here in the hospital parking lot? “That’s fine,” SinB told her. She rubbed her tired eyes, willing them to stay open long enough for at least the drive home. “I’ll see you then.” She barely heard Yerin’s cheerful goodbye as she hung up the phone. She made sure to text her address then got into her car.

The drive home was a blur, as was the whole showering and changing part. She ended up in worn jeans and a thin sweatshirt from her college years. With fifteen minutes before Yerin was supposed to be there, SinB faceplanted onto the couch and promptly fell asleep. When she woke up, it was to her phone ringing right by her ear. She groaned into the couch and answered the phone.

“I texted you twice, but you didn’t answer. Are you good to go?” Yerin asked over the phone.

“Yeah,” SinB mumbled sleepily. “I’ll be out in a minute.” She dragged herself off the couch and grabbed her phone, wallet, and keys, throwing them into a purse she never used and throwing it onto her shoulder. 

When she managed to stumble into Yerin’s car, SinB was surprised to see Yerin was carrying a donut and a large coffee. At Sinb’s questioning look, Yerin shrugged and said, “You sounded tired over the phone, so I thought you might need a pick-me-up.”

“Oh,” SinB said as she accepted the donut and coffee. She felt oddly touched by the gift and found herself staring out the car window awkwardly. “Thanks. I needed this.”

“Anytime,” Yerin replied.

As Yerin drove, Sinb practically inhaled the donut and coffee. She’d been starving, and the caffeine definitely helped. She tossed the trash into a spare plastic bag Yerin had in her car then turned to the other woman. Like most days, Yerin was wearing a dress, but this one was a lot less fancy than her usual ones. Today, her dress was flowy and a soft pink, plain except for lace along the edges. 

“You look pretty,” SinB said without thinking. Then she realized what she said and blushed. She blamed it on her lack of sleep.

Yerin didn’t question it though, merely giving her a soft smile and saying, “Thank you.” 

“So, why the beach?” SinB asked as she curled up in her seat. They still had about an hour in the car. “You could’ve asked to go anywhere else.”

“I just like the beach,” Yerin shrugged. “I haven’t been since I was a kid either, so… It just seemed like a good time to, you know?”

SinB frowned a little then asked, “Why me? Why didn’t you ask Sowon or Eunha?” A part of her wanted to ask if Yerin even had any other friends besides those two. And her.

“They’re busy,” Yerin said, but it feels short and not like the whole story. Before SinB could press her on it though, Yerin asked, “Do you like the beach?”

“Hm? I guess?” SinB said. She yawned a little, her eyes fluttering shut. She could rest her eyes for a little bit. “My dad used to take me a lot when I was younger to go fishing. One time, I almost fell into the water, but my dad caught me. He was always good at that. Saving me.” SinB felt like she was talking without a filter. Definitely because of her lack of sleep. SinB curled more into a ball and mumbled, “Wake me when we get there.” She was done talking about this.

SinB woke up to Yerin gently shaking her shoulder. She sat up, unfurling herself as she blinked blearily. They were at the beach, the sand and ocean stretching out for miles in front of them. On the other side, little food stalls lined up and promised deliciousness based on the smell coming from them. Then, at the end where the pier was, SinB could make out the vague shapes of an amusement park.

“Good nap?” Yerin asked as they got out of the car. 

“Yeah,” SinB nodded as she stretched her hands over her head. “I really needed it. A thirty-six hour shift really gets you.” When Yerin didn’t reply, SinB turned to her and found Yerin looking at her with an unreadable expression. “What?”

“You just got off a thirty-six hour shift?” Yerin asked.

SinB hesitated, feeling like she was missing something. Then she sort of nodded and shrugged, saying, “Yeah. I was leaving the hospital when you called.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Yerin asked. She walked over and grabbed SinB’s hand. SinB fought the urge to pull her hand away, staring at the way Yerin’s thumb moved over the back of it. “I would have understood.”

“It’s fine,” SinB said, finally pulling her hand away. Something about the way Yerin was looking at her made her want to squirm. She turned away and shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “Let’s go get some food. I’m still starving.”

A beat of silence before Yerin murmured, “Okay. I owe you some food.”

The two of them walked over to the food stalls with a weird tension between them, but it quickly disappeared as Yerin excitedly looked at all the food. She moved between the stalls, zipping around like a little kid on a sugar high, unsure of where to start. SinB eventually managed to get her to calm down long enough to get one of those cheesy hot dogs covered in fries. It was greasy and oozing with melty cheese, and SinB was content to munch on it as they checked out the rest of the food. Yerin eventually settled on a chicken skewer and one of those tornado potatoes.

As they ate, they headed down to the beach to walk along the shore. Like Yerin said, it was a beautiful day. It was bright and sunny with a nice breeze to keep it from being too hot. The two of them chatted comfortably with SinB asking how Yerin’s recovery was going and Yerin asking how SinB’s internship was going. 

“Dessert now!” Yerin insisted after they finished their food.

“You’re totally going to throw up,” SinB remarked as Yerin dragged her back over to the food stalls.

“I am not,” Yerin replied with a pout. She walked them over to a place serving soft serve and ordered herself a cone. When she offered SinB one, SinB declined and instead wandered over to a nearby coffee shop and bought herself an iced americano. Although the nap helped, SinB could feel her body beginning to lag from exhaustion. “Are you sure you don’t want any?” Yerin asked when SinB rejoined her, sipping on her coffee.

“Maybe I’ll get one later,” SinB said, mostly to get her off her back. She thought Yerin could tell she was just saying that, but Yerin just shrugged and suggested they go sit on the beach. SinB agreed and followed her down to an emptier part of the beach. 

While Yerin toed off her shoes and ran out into the water, SinB finished her drink then laid back in the warm sand and basked in the sun. She closed her eyes and thought about how nice a nap here would be. Just as she felt herself drifting off, cold water splashed onto her face. SinB sat up, eyes flying open, only to find Yerin giggling in front of her, hands outstretched and speckled with water.

“Come on,” Yerin said, reaching down to grab SinB’s wrist. “I know you’re tired, but I also know you didn’t come all the way out here just to sleep. Enjoy the water! It feels really nice.” She smiled when SinB rolled her eyes and stood up to take off her shoes. “We can look for seashells too,” Yerin told her. “There are some really pretty ones around here.”

This is how SinB found herself walking up and down the beach for the next hour, searching for seashells with Yerin. She rolled up her jeans, but the water still splashed up around her ankles. Despite this, SinB didn’t mind. It was really relaxing to do this, especially with Yerin who was bright and excited and always cheered loudly when she managed to find a pretty seashell. 

“Okay, I think my food is all digested,” Yerin said after they had sat down to go through all the seashells. There were about ten seashells spread out between them. Some were broken and some were shiny. All of them were pretty though. “I think it’s about time we go check out the amusement park!” 

“What about these?” SinB asked, waving a hand at the seashells.

Yerin shrugged, “We can just leave them here. I just think looking for them is really fun.”

“Oh, sure,” SinB nodded. She followed Yerin to put on her shoes, but when Yerin looked away, SinB grabbed one of the seashells, a conch looking one with a band of pink and almost gold, and slipped it into her pocket. 

The two of them walked down to the pier and bought two wristbands for all of the rides. It was the middle of the week, so it wasn’t too crowded. The lines were short, if there were lines at all, so Yerin and SinB made quick work of the attractions. 

“We have to ride the carousel,” Yerin told SinB seriously.

“I’m not five,” SinB replied.

Yerin pouted and looped her arm through hers. “Please, SinB,” Yerin pleaded. “Just once.”

“No way.”

“Please!” Yerin exclaimed. “I’ll buy dinner too. Please!”

SinB tried to ignore her, but eventually she caved with a heavy sigh. “Just once.”

Yerin ended up on a unicorn looking thing while SinB slumped on a dragon. She fought back a yawn as the repetitive movement of the carousel threatened to lull her to sleep. After that, SinB insisted on choosing the next ride. All the ones Yerin had chosen so far had been so boring. SinB led them through the park before coming upon the main attraction, a twisting and turning rollercoaster. 

“This one,” SinB grinned.

“This one?” Yerin repeated nervously, and her eyes were wide when SinB turned to look at her. “O-oh okay.”

SinB’s smile became a frown as she asked, “Are you afraid?” She looked kind of pale. “We can ride something else,” SinB offered. Sure, they’d been riding what Yerin wanted all day, but SinB wasn’t about to give her a heart attack or something.

“No, we can ride this one!” Yerin said, a bit too loudly judging by the strange looks a passing family gave her. “I can do it!” Yerin was the one to lead them up to the ride’s entrance, even as her face got paler and paler.

“Are you sure?” SinB asked as they were getting into the car. When Yerin just wordlessly nodded, she clasped her seatbelt and pulled the safety bar down for them. She eyed the other woman. For someone so exuberant, she would have thought something like this would have been right up her alley. “Here,” SinB said begrudgingly. She reached out and held Yerin’s hand. At Yerin’s surprised stare, SinB explained awkwardly, “So you aren’t so scared.” She coughed and looked away. “Just squeeze my hand. You’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Yerin nodded.

Then the rollercoaster took off. It was the exact kind of thing SinB loved. She laughed her head off as the rollercoaster sped through the tracks, dropping suddenly and jerking around wildly as they took the twists and turns. SinB was having so much fun that she hardly noticed the death grip Yerin had on her hand. It wasn’t until they slowed back down in the loading station that SinB looked at the other woman.

To her horror, Yerin was silently crying, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Oh my god,” SinB mumbled. She quickly got them out of their seats and helped Yerin back down to the main area of the park. She sat her down on a bench and rubbed her back as she tried to comfort her. “You’re fine,” SinB told her. “It’s over.”

“I’m sorry,” Yerin wailed. “I’m just bad at rollercoasters.”

“Why did you go then?” SinB scolded.

Yerin just cried harder. “Because you wanted to!”

SinB softened and poked her cheek hard. “You big cry baby,” SinB murmured. “Stay here. I’m gonna get you some water.” She got up and walked over to the nearest food stall. She purchased an overpriced bottle of water, but as she was walking back, she slowed near a gift shop. Biting her lip, SinB ducked in and took a look around. A lot of it was useless junk, but eventually her eyes were drawn to something. Without thinking too much about it, SinB bought it and brought it back with her to where Yerin was waiting on the bench.

“Here,” SinB said, holding out both the water bottle and her other purchase.

Yerin stared at her speechlessly for a moment before she carefully took both. “What is this?”

“What does it look like?” SinB scowled. “It’s one of those dumb headbands.” In Yerin’s hand was a headband with a small plush chick in the middle. “I felt bad because you cried,” SinB mumbled.

“You shouldn’t have,” Yerin told her, and it sounded like she was trying to be admonishing but the effect was ruined by the pleased smile she wore. She set the water bottle aside and placed the headband on top of her head. She looked up at SinB and smiled brightly, and it did weird things to SinB’s heart. “How does it look?”

“It looks stupid,” SinB lied.

Yerin laughed and stood up. She gave SinB a quick hug, short enough not to make her uncomfortable but long enough that it made SinB feel jittery. “Thank you, SinB,” Yerin said. “For everything. For coming with me today, for the headband, for… everything.”

“Yeah, whatever,” SinB shrugged. “You still owe me dinner.”

“I know, I know,” Yerin giggled. She linked their arms as they started walking again. “You know, I hope I have this much fun on my birthday.”

“Birthday?” SinB echoed.

“Yeah,” Yerin nodded. “It’s in two weeks, on the nineteenth.”

“Oh,” SinB said.

Yerin grinned and bumped their shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’m just having a small thing at my place, and you’re definitely invited.”

“Cool,” SinB replied, bobbing her head. Whatever else Yerin said to her was lost. All SinB could think about now was that Yerin’s birthday was coming up and she had no idea what to get her.

a/n: hello! i hope this was worth the wait!! sorry it took so long but every time i tried to write this it never turned out right. i definitely haven't given up on this fic, so thank you for your patience :)