The next week was nothing more than a blur to SinB. She spent it going in and out of surgeries with her conversation with Dr. Jung lurking in the back of her mind. It haunted her, knowing what he asked her to do. What she was expected to do.

SinB didn’t want to betray Yerin for a job. It felt cheap and cruel, but SinB didn’t make it where she was by being stupid. If she pissed off Dr. Jung, SinB wouldn’t be able to find any kind of career for herself in Seoul. If she was lucky, she’d still be able to find work in a smaller city in South Korea, but Dr. Jung was a powerful man. Who knew how far his influence reached.

After a particularly long surgery, SinB went down to the cafeteria for a snack. It was about two in the afternoon, so SinB got herself some cold leftover fries from lunch and sat at one of the outside tables. SinB leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes tiredly, thinking about Yerin.

If she reached out to her, was it automatically wrong because that was what Dr. Jung wanted? If SinB was being honest with herself, she wanted to talk to Yerin, not for Dr. Jung, but for herself. She missed Yerin and her silly jokes and her playful remarks. She missed the random anecdotes Yerin would tell her about her volunteering. She missed Yerin.

SinB stuffed a handful of the soggy fries into and sighed. Maybe even if she didn’t actively encourage the marriage and just supported Yerin through it, like a friend would, then it would be okay to talk to her again. SinB just didn’t want Yerin to get hurt, but she thought it might already be too late for that.

Eating the last of her fries, SinB stood up from the table and stretched her hands over her head with a yawn. Maybe she could take a nap before checking in on all of her patients. SinB grabbed her trash and turned to leave, only to come face to face with Yerin of all people.

“Hey,” SinB said dumbly.

Yerin stared at her for a moment before replying softly, “Hey.”

“Can we…” SinB hesitated, grip tightening around the trash in her hands. “Do you have time for some coffee?”

“Oh,” Yerin said. Her eyes go wide in surprise, but then she blinks and smiles. It’s a pretty smile, soft and shy. “Yeah, I do.”

“Great,” SinB blurted out. She rubbed the back of her neck and said, “Cool, um, if you want, you can sit here while I grab us coffee?” When Yerin nodded, SinB smiled and said, “Okay, so… Vanilla latte?”

Yerin smiled brightly at her and said, “Yes, that’s perfect.” 

SinB nodded more to herself than anything else and ducked away. She felt jittery, even without the caffeine, but she knew that was more about her nerves of talking to Yerin. She had just decided she’d talk to her and suddenly, poof, there she was. SinB barely had any time to mentally prepare. Muttering a thank you to the girl at the coffee cart, SinB walked back to the table at a slow pace.

“How’ve you been?” SinB asked as she sat down across from Yerin at the table.

Yerin took a small sip of her coffee then shrugged, “It’s been… Stressful.” She smiles again, but this time it’s strained. “A lot of wedding planning.”

“Sounds stressful,” SinB said with a sympathetic nod. She stared at her coffee for a long moment then said, “Listen, I’m sorry I just disappeared after you told me that stuff, but it was just–”

“It’s okay,” Yerin assured her with a small smile. “I needed some space too.” She reached across the table and laid her hand over SinB’s. “I have missed you though,” Yerin said. “Doing all of this stuff alone… It’s tough.”

“Sowon and Eunha aren’t helping you?” SinB asked.

Yerin shook her head, and again, her smile dimmed. “No,” Yerin said. “They... They aren’t very supportive of me doing as my father says.”

SinB wanted to say she wasn’t very supportive either, but looking at Yerin’s defeated expression, she knew that wasn’t what the other woman needed to hear. She fiddled with the cap on her coffee and said, “Well, if you ever need help, I’m here for you.”

“Really?” Yerin said quickly. SinB looked up, and for a moment, her heart broke by how eager and excited Yerin was. Yerin squeezed the hand under hers and said, “You mean it? You’ll help me?” Yerin bit her lip and said, “I just… You have no idea how awful it’s been doing this by myself, and having you there would just be…” Yerin smiles sadly. “It’d make things easier.”

“For you,” SinB said softly, “I’ll be there.”

For a second, it looked like Yerin might hug her, but instead, she just smiled and squeezed SinB’s hand again. “Thank you,” Yerin whispers. “Thank you so much.”

“Of course,” SinB replied quietly. She was in love with Yerin. She’d do anything to make things easier for her.

“Are you free tomorrow?” Yerin asked after taking a deep breath. “I have to go ring shopping.”

SinB ignored the stab of pain in her chest and nodded, “Yeah, perfect timing. Tomorrow is my day off.” She pulled her hand away from Yerin and suggested, “Lunch then shopping? We’ll make a day out of it.”

“Sounds good,” Yerin beams. “I can’t wait.”

This is how SinB found herself in a ring shop the next day after an awkward lunch. The food was good and so was the company, but it was almost painful how carefully they avoided talking about Yerin’s wedding. It was the reason they were meeting, but neither of them wanted to talk about it. Besides the glaring elephant in the room, it was nice seeing Yerin again. 

“Fancy place,” SinB muttered as she held the door open for Yerin, eyeing the jewelry store with trepidation. She absently rubbed her hands over the rips in her jeans and tried to reassure herself that her sweater was at least decent enough. “Like, one of those tiny places where you have to own at least three mansions to get an appointment with.”

Yerin giggled and said, “Don’t be silly. You need at least five mansions.” When SinB’s jaw dropped, Yerin laughed loudly and said, “I’m kidding! You’re right though. It is an expensive store.”

SinB made a disgruntled noise as she followed Yerin into the store. She made sure to hover behind her as they walked up to the owner, an older man with greying hair and thick-framed glasses. 

The old man smiled when he saw them, softening his looks, and said, “Yerin, it’s so good to see you. Still the spitting image of your mother. She was just in the other day.”

“Yes, she complimented you as always,” Yerin replied, but SinB picked up on the way Yerin’s tone was tense. As Yerin made small talk with the owner, SinB watched her from the corner of her eye. Come to think of it, where was Yerin’s mom? Isn’t this usually the kind of thing that moms dream of doing with their daughters? SinB couldn’t recall a single time Yerin ever talked about her mom.

The owner clapped his hands together, startling SinB out of her thoughts. “Well, let’s get to looking then, shall we?” he said. 

For the next two hours, SinB stood there and watched the poor man show Yerin ring after ring. Every single one, Yerin found something wrong with it. This one had a band that was too thin. This one didn’t have a big enough diamond. This one wasn’t sparkly enough. This one didn’t have enough detail. This one had too much detail. SinB really wasn’t the type to know much about jewelry, so she felt like she couldn’t say anything. She wanted to say something though. It was awful to just watch Yerin turn down every ring.

When it looked like the owner was going to cry, SinB finally said, “How about we come back another day? It doesn’t look like you’re in the mood to pick out a ring today.”

“Alright,” Yerin agreed easily enough, and SinB watched the owner sag in relief. “I’ll make an appointment for another day. I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time,” Yerin said.

The owner shook his head, “Not at all. Just give me a call. I’ll clear my schedule whenever you need.”

“Thank you,” Yerin said. 

The two exchanged a little bit more small talk before SinB and Yerin left. As they got into the limo Yerin had picked SinB up in, SinB leaned in and said to the driver, “Could you take us to the park that we passed by earlier? The one with the lake?” The driver glanced at Yerin, in her own world as she stared out the window, and gave a small nod. “Thank you,” SinB whispered.

SinB didn’t talk to Yerin on the short drive to the park. The other woman seemed to be in her own world, staring out the window idly. SinB settled back in her seat and let out a soft sigh. It was kind of exhausting doing this. She loved getting to spend time with Yerin again but having all of the wedding stuff in her face really .

The car eventually slowed to a stop, and the driver announced, “We’re here.”

“Where?” Yerin asked in confusion. “We can’t possibly be at SinB’s apartment already.”

“Because we’re not at my apartment,” SinB replied simply. She climbed out of the limo and waited for Yerin to follow. She smiled when Yerin’s face brightened as she took in where they were. “You looked like you could use a break,” SinB told her softly. 

The two of them walked towards the lake, stopping briefly to buy oats from a vendor to feed the ducks. They sat down at the edge of the water and silently threw food for a while. SinB slowly felt some of her tension fade as they just took their time feeding the ducks. After a while, Yerin rested her head on SinB’s shoulder. It made SinB tense at first, but it felt nice so she didn’t move. 

“I’m sorry for dragging you out here for nothing,” Yerin said eventually.

“It’s okay,” SinB replied. “I liked hanging out today.”

This made Yerin sit up, turning to look at her. “I wish things were different,” Yerin said.

“Different how?” SinB asked, turning her head to meet her gaze. As soon as she did though, she regretted it. Their faces are close. Too close. SinB opened to say something then closed it when nothing came out. She couldn’t focus with her so close. “Yerin,” SinB murmured.

Almost in slow motion, Yerin leaned in, but just before their lips met, SinB jerked away with a sharp gasp.

“SinB,” Yerin tried to say.

“What are we doing?” SinB all but shouted. She ran a shaky hand through her hair and said, “You’re getting married!”

“SinB,” Yerin tried again.

“We can’t… I can’t,” SinB stammered. She climbed to her feet to leave, but Yerin caught her wrist. They stared at each other for a long moment, but when Yerin said nothing, SinB pulled away and ran.

She didn’t know where she was going, but that didn’t matter. She just ran.