“So he leaned in?”

“Yes.”

“And you pushed him?”

“Yes.”

“With your mouth?”

This had to be the fifth time Amira and Eunha were going through the incident, step by step, and, each time. Amira felt her face get redder under Eunha’s confused eyes and logistical pointing in the air, reenacting the scene with her slim fingers.

“For the last time, yes!” Amira pleaded for the interrogation to stop, pulling the fleece blanket over her head.

She relished in the hiding for the 2 seconds Eunha let her get away with it, before snatching the blanket off.

“You kissed him. Full on.”

“I don’t understand what else what I did could be called!” Amira jumped out the bed, frustrated and wondering how she thought she could avoid this conversation.

Once the Uber dropped them off at Eunha’s and her dad did a brief, but in depth, body inspection that was just a step below having them take a breathalyzer (which they would’ve done too, if Mr. Jung could ever get his hands on one) and her mom forced them to eat a late night snack of fruit and crackers, they’d knocked out until late afternoon and awoken for lunch, a series of board game challenges, and a walk at the park still under the supervision of Eunha’s parents, which meant Amira could begin Operation Forget Homecoming and Eunha could feed her curiosity until it was a large enough monster one question was able to swallow Amira whole. Of course, she had to wait until they were back home and already gearing up for bed.

“Well, there’s a difference between you kissing him and him kissing you and you two kissing each other,” Eunha said, like a talking Seventeen magazine.

Amira sighed.

“Listen, no matter who kissed who, I just want to forget the whole thing. There’s no reason to remember. I don’t even like Mingyu. It was just a very unfortunate thing that happened,” she brushed off with a shrug, pacing under the hanging fairy lights. Eunha’s room looked like a fairy palace of purple and blue fabrics and paints. It was very middle school, but she refused to let anyone shame her out of loving Lisa Frank due to age.

And then Eunha asked the bomb of all questions.

“But did you like it?”

Her eyebrows perked up when Amira stood there, mind blank. And then her eyes narrowed. If a face could be a loaded gun, Eunha was ready to shoot.

“Why is it taking so long to answer?”

Amira opened and then closed it and then opened in it again.

“Because I want this conversation to be over and I know that one answer will ensure that it does end and the other will only give you more reasons to branch off into more questions like a bubble map hell.”

Eunha sat up from her bedframe, mouth dropping.

“Oh my god, you liked it!” she stood on her bed hastily and pointed at Amira so powerfully with a finger, Amira was surprised lightning didn’t strike her in condemnation. But then her arm limply fell and she pulled her fingers into a loose fist as confusion resurfaced.

“But that doesn’t make sense.” Eunha climbed down from her bed to stand close to her friend. “Why didn’t you get an attack? Isn’t that why you get attacks around Joshua, internal pressure?”

“That’s what I don’t get either. I mean, Joshua was right there. Just beyond the door.”

“And that wasn’t enough to set you off…” Eunha said, conspicuously, before her eyes widened. “Do you think this means you’re cured?”
 

Both girls stood still in silence as the thought fully developed.

“Oh my god,” Amira slowly grinned, taking Eunha’s hands and jumping up and down. “No more panic attacks?”

“No more panic attacks!” Eunha screeched, hugging her friend tightly as they continued to jump up and down, squeeling. "Just wait, till Monday. It's time to show Joshua Hong what he's really been missing."