There have always been three things she has always been able to rely on, her family, her friends and sleep. Her family have always been there for her, always supported her. When Bomi told her parents she was gay, she half expected them to kick her out of their house but instead, her father wrapped her up in a hug as her mother burst into tears. At first she presumed her mother was disappointed in her, ashamed of her even, her perfect daughter was a lesbian and would never have the stereotypical marriage but then she managed to choke out several words through her tears, 'I am so proud of you."

The words are etched into her memory because it's one of the few times her mother has ever said she's proud of her. Most people probably take it for granted that their parents are proud of them but it still feels heart-warming to hear them say it.

When Bomi and Sohee broke up, both her family and friends were there for her. Her mother tutted and said Bomi could do much better, even though she had always said how much she liked Sohee, before buying her a pint-sized tub of ice cream and watching old sitcoms with her. Her father sat her down and told her that heartbreak is just a part of life and eventually, it will make her stronger. Hayoung ranted about how she never liked the girl anyway and Bomi was better without her and Eunji, well Eunji started talking to her again and that meant everything.

When she graduated from Yonsei University, Hayoung and Eunji took her out to celebrate and treated her to a meal before surprising her with a from a very attractive dancer.

When she's been ill or just wanted to forget about the day, she has always relied on sleep and it has never let her down.

Until now.

Sleep has always come easy to Bomi. Ever since she was a little girl, the minute her head hits the pillow, she's fast asleep. She's never needed to count sheep and she's been fortunate enough to have never suffered from nightmares. More often than not, she has a peaceful, dreamless sleep. The reliability of sleep has always been something which has provided her with a form of comfort. Every night, you end the day in the same way, in the security of sleep. Every night you fall asleep and the problems you're facing, the troubles you have, they all melt away.

At least for the night.

There have always been three things she can rely on but now, there's only one.

Her family.

Her friendships are fractured and her sleep is constantly disrupted by nightmares she never thought she'd have.

Now, whenever she goes to bed, she sees Eunji's face. Even if she does manage to fall asleep, Eunji plagues her dreams.

The problems she's facing when she's awake now extend into her dreams and the only way to avoid her nightmares is to keep her eyes open.

So that's what she does, that's what she's been doing for the past week. She stays awake until she physically can't anymore. It's playing havoc with her appearance, constant bags have formed under her eyes and she's enduring an on-going struggle to do any work.

Somehow her situation in her dreams appears scarier than it is when she's awake because in her dreams, she has no control whatsoever over what happens.

Chorong releases a murmur before rolling over in her sleep, her hand coming to rest on Bomi's chest, placed neatly over her heart. Now Chorong holds her already fragile heart in the palm of her hand and she's beyond terrified that Chorong has the power to do the one thing she's been dreading happening again, break her heart.

Chorong mumbles something before snuggling even closer to Bomi. A small smile crosses Bomi face as Chorong continues to mumble, she didn't realise the girl sometimes talked in her sleep, even if the words never make sense. Bomi doesn't think it's possible to not smile every time she sees the girl sleeping soundly beside her. Chorong always looks so blissfully ignorant when she's asleep.

Their problems keep Bomi awake but clearly they just vanish for Chorong the minutes her eyes close.

Bomi's jealous she doesn't have that luxury anymore.

"It's creepy when you watch me sleep."

Bomi smiles lazily before pecking Chorong's lips. "Sorry, I can't help myself. You look beautiful when you're asleep."

The corners of Chorong's mouth curl upwards but she doesn't open her eyes. When she doesn't speak again, Bomi wonders whether she's fallen back asleep. "You're still watching me Bbom-ah," she mutters against her pillow. "Stop it." Her tone is serious but her face still holds the shadow of a smile.

"Sorry, I just can't sleep."

"You should try counting sheep," Chorong whispers. "That normally works for me."

"Yeah, I'll give that a go."

She glances at her clock to see it's nearly half past 3 in the morning and sighs heavily. She tosses the covers aside and climbs out of bed, padding along the floor quietly until she reaches the door.

"Where are you going?"

When Bomi turns around, Chorong is now sitting upright in bed, staring at her with a worried expression.

"I'm just going to get a glass of water; I'll be back in a minute. Go back to sleep Rong."

Satisfied with the answer, Chorong lies back down and it's not long until the woman's breathing levels out. Bomi leaves the bedroom and walks towards the living room, throwing herself onto the couch before burying her head in her hands.

After a couple of days of receiving no sleep, her body started to adjust to the sudden change. She started to feel more awake at night time than she did during the day but now, lack of sleep is catching up to her.

Her eyelids constantly feel heavy but no matter how hard she tries, sleep continues to elude her.

She reaches around aimlessly until her fingers connect with the leather bound notebook her father bought her when she announced her job at the Hankook Ilbo. He wanted her to use it for when inspiration hit and she's been using it for her late night bursts of emotion.

Chorong glances to her right to find herself alone in the bed. This is in no way unusual, in fact its par for the course at the minute. She vaguely remembers Bomi stating she was going to get a glass of water but she can't remember how long ago that was. She rubs her eyes before glimpsing at the clock. It's a little after five and normally Chorong doesn't wake up until 6.30am, her routine is rather specific. Even if she has a difficult night's sleep, her body still refuses to wake until her alarm starts ringing. Recently she's been waking up earlier, almost as if she can sense Bomi's absence. She can hear the rain battering against the window and sighs. Seoul really has been suffering lately from terrible weather.

She flips on the bedside lamp before placing her feet on the cold wooden floor. She turns the light on in Bomi's en-suite bathroom before turning it off when she sees it's vacant. Frowning, she leaves the bedroom and smiles sadly when she sees Bomi lying on the couch, fast asleep, a notebook open against her chest and a pen still somehow in her grasp.

Chorong tiptoes towards her and removes the pen from her hand, placing it on the coffee table. She picks up the notepad and is about to set it down beside the pen when she sees Eunji's name at the top of the page.

She knows she shouldn't read it, it's private. It's something Bomi has evidently written for Eunji but her eyes betray her and Chorong finds herself scanning the words.

It's a letter of apology, filled with sincere pleads and nostalgic memories. She reads it slowly and her heart breaks a little bit more at every word. She traces the final sentence with her finger repeatedly. It's poignant and seems to be a fitting ending to Bomi's letter.

Sometimes things are beyond your control.

She can understand that sentiment because everything with Bomi has definitely been something out of Chorong's control.

Closing the notebook, she drops it against the table gently before kneeling against Bomi and lightly tapping her shoulder. "Bbom-ah, you have to wake up."

It takes a couple more taps and tender whispers for her to wake up but eventually, Bomi's eyes flutter open and she smiles sleepily at Chorong. It's certainly a sight she can grow used to, waking up to Chorong.

"What time is it?" Bomi asks, her voice husky with sleep. Chorong swallows at the sound; she loves it when Bomi's voice is husky, it makes her even ier. Bomi rubs her eyes tiredly before sitting up a little.

"A little after five," Chorong tells her. "I woke up and you weren't in bed."

"Sorry, I didn't think I'd fall asleep."

"Don't apologise Bomi, when's the last time you actually had a proper night's sleep?"

Bomi shakes her head. "I'm not sure, a few days maybe." She rubs her eyes once more before briefly looking at the closed notebook on the table. "Did you read that?"

Chorong swallows nervously; suddenly frightened Bomi is going to be upset she invaded her privacy. "I just…I couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry Bomi."

"Don't worry about it."

"Were you going to send this to Eunji?"

"I was considering it but really, what's the point? It's a load of rubbish; you may as well chuck it in the trash. It's the only thing Eunji will do when she sees it. It's not like she'll read it. The minute she recognises my writing, she'll throw it away."

"Not necessarily. You can't be sure she'll dismiss it without opening it. Sometimes people are more willing to read a letter than talk face to face with a person, it's easier that way. You don't feel pressured to act a certain way."

"Not Eunji. She's never been an avid fan of letters. She prefers talking things through rather than writing them down." Bomi explains.

Chorong curls a strand of Bomi's hair behind her ear. "How about we go back to bed?"

"You go, I think I'm going to stay here and do some work or read."

Chorong swallows hard before squeezing Bomi's hand. "No, you're not. You need some sleep. You can't expect to be productive on a couple of hours sleep."

"I can't sleep, every time I close my eyes I…I just prefer being awake right now."

In the past couple of days, she's learned that Bomi can be incredibly stubborn when she wants to and right now, Chorong knows full well that if Bomi doesn't want to go to sleep, she isn't going to, no matter how much Chorong attempts to persuade her. "In that case, I'm going to stay awake with you."

Bomi tilts her head to the side. "You don't need to do that, you need your sleep. I'm sure you told me once you need to sleep for eight hours a night otherwise you're useless."

"You're right, I did tell you that and typically I do prefer to have eight hours of sleep a night but Bomi, right now, you're more important than slumber."

There's something so incredibly domesticated about the situation she's in right now. She's sat on Bomi's couch with her feet curled underneath her, a cup of steaming hot coffee resting on the coffee table, on a coaster of course, and a book opened in her lap. Bomi meanwhile is sitting beside her, reading the comic book Chorong gave her for Christmas and occasionally pausing to have a sip of her own coffee.

It's ironic how one of the things which began to irritate Chorong about her relationship with Eunji was the normality and domesticity of their relationship, when it's now one of the things she loves about Bomi. She and Eunji started to act like a married couple long before they should have. Rather than feel comfortable and safe, it felt boring but with Bomi, everything feels right. There's something so incredibly satisfying about knowing you can just sit with another person and not even have to speak but feel completely content.

This routine is one they've fallen into since the wedding. Since then, they've spent practically every day in the company of one another. It's been a week since everything was revealed and at first, it felt like Chorong's world had fallen away from underneath her but in reality, it had only just started to come together.

She picks up her coffee before sipping it, revelling in the warmth it provides. Since Bomi has been awake since five am, Bomi's been making cups of coffee every time her mug is empty and she always makes Chorong one. Bomi loves coffee and even though Chorong isn't too keen, she accepts every mug of coffee and drinks it politely. They haven't really spoken much this morning, other than the odd pleasantry. Instead, Bomi's spent the morning writing while Chorong has flipped through the film options in the hope she'll find something other than mindless drivel.

Chorong glances to the left to find Bomi still deep in writing. She ripped the letter to Eunji out of her notebook before crumpling it and throwing it over her shoulder. Chorong's been resisting the urge to pick it off the floor from the second it landed there. Bomi's attempted to make contact with Eunji several times over the past week but every time, she has been met with a stony wall of silence. Any phone call is immediately dismissed, except the odd one which lingers and fills Bomi with false hope that maybe Eunji is going to answer. Any time Bomi has tried to visit her friend; Eunji refuses to even grant her access to the building, let alone her apartment.

Another routine they've fallen into is Bomi pretending like Eunji's rejection isn't cutting her up inside. Every night Bomi acts stoic and tells Chorong she's fine, she doesn't expect any less than what she's getting but Chorong knows different. Chorong knows Bomi is devastated and merely putting on a brave face to maintain appearances.

She's told Bomi to give Eunji more time before undertaking another fruitless mission to talk to her but Bomi seems incapable of waiting. Apparently, impatience is one of her hidden traits that Chorong is only now discovering.

Unfortunately, if anything, Bomi's only making the situation worse by constantly invading Eunji's space but she doesn't seem to want to listen to Chorong.

Unlike Bomi, Chorong has only tried to visit Eunji once since the wedding and it certainly came as a surprise, to both Chorong and Bomi, when Eunji invited her inside. Their conversation didn't last longer than five minutes because Eunji still refused to accept any of her apologies but Chorong felt comforted that Eunji had at least given her an opportunity to talk.

She only wishes Eunji would extend that chance in Bomi's direction.

Chorong stands from the couch before slowly running towards the crumpled ball of paper and picking it up. She opens it out, removing the creases and walks back to the couch, handing the letter to Bomi before sitting back down.

"You shouldn't give up on this you know," Chorong says quietly. "You'll never know what will happen unless you try."

Bomi accepts the letter before bobbing her head. "I do already know Chorong."

"Just don't give up, for me?"

"For you." Bomi smiles before nodding once more. "How about I make us some breakfast?" Bomi suggests, kissing Chorong on the cheek. "I actually did a grocery shop the other day and bought plenty of items for you. I kind of snooped around your kitchen to see what you had in your cupboards so I knew what to buy."

"You didn't have to do that."

"I could hardly let you eat meat now could I?"

"You're amazing Bomi."

Bomi blushes, an action which is uncommon for her. "I try my best."

Chorong's about to lean forward and kiss her but her action is interrupted by the sound of somebody shuffling around outside the apartment. The sound is followed by a key in the lock. The only person Chorong knows who has a key to Bomi's apartment is Eunji and surely she wouldn't be coming to talk to Bomi, let alone letting herself into the apartment. If she did, awkward would not be a good enough word to describe the situation when Eunji sees Chorong there.

Content and comfortable like she's been doing this for years.

"Good morning sunshine," Naeun comments as she enters the apartment and Chorong puffs out a breath which is a mixture of annoyance and disappointment. Naeun senses the lack of enthusiasm and closes the door. "Maybe I should repeat the greeting because you are clearly not a ray of sunshine right now."

Chorong scowls at the woman. "Since when do you have a key to Bomi's apartment?"

Naeun waves the key and half smiles. "Oh this, I may have had a key copied when Bomi wasn't looking, I'm sure she doesn't mind."

The comment is made so unabashedly Chorong has to gather herself for a couple of seconds. She stares at Bomi, waiting for the woman to hurl an accusatory rant in her friend's direction but nothing happens. "I'm sorry, you did what?"

"Stop messing with her Naeun," Bomi reprimands gently before placing her hand on Chorong's thigh. "Just ignore her. She came round the other day when you were getting some stuff from your apartment. She went out to pick up a takeaway and I gave her the key so she could let herself back in. I guess I forgot to take the key back."

Naeun throws the key towards Bomi who catches it one handed, earning a somewhat impressed look from Chorong. "You're such a spoil sport Bomi; I could have had at least a couple more minutes of fun. Quite possibly even longer."

Chorong runs her tongue over her teeth before pouting petulantly. She really doesn't appreciate Naeun's sense of humour. Granted her feelings of distain aren't as strong as they used to be, and if she's being entirely honest, she only really disliked Naeun because she thought the woman had feelings for Bomi and that stirred up jealous feeling Chorong had wanted to suppress. That being said, she's still in no way her number one fan.

Even if Naeun did give her the push she needed in Gwangju.

"You must understand how flattered I am that you feel you can use me as the of your jokes Naeun," Chorong announces sarcastically, standing from the couch and brushing past Bomi when she tries to stop her. "I'm here whenever you need another punch line."

Naeun grins widely. "How generous of you."

Bomi puffs out a breath as Chorong disappears into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. "Was that really necessary Naeun?"

"Oh come on, you have to admit it was a little funny."

"She didn't find it amusing Naeun," Bomi comments as she follows Naeun towards the kitchen.

"That's not my fault," Naeun replies. "Here I am bringing you both breakfast and this is the response I get. Honestly, you try and do a nice thing."

"You brought us breakfast?" Bomi replies, her stomach growling on cue. "You do know Chorong's lacto-vegetarian though right, she can't eat meat like you and I."

"I know that. I bought her those vegan blueberry pancakes you said she liked." Naeun starts removing the food from her bag. "I was only having a bit of fun with her Bomi, I didn't realise she was so touchy."

"She's not touchy; she just doesn't appreciate your sense of humour as much as I do."

"That's a crying shame; I have been known to be pretty hilarious when I want to be."

Bomi tries to stop herself from cracking a smile. "Just lay off her a little bit."

Naeun holds up her hands in surrender. "Alright, I'll apologise to her but I don't think it will do much good. She doesn't like me."

"She'll grow to love you," Bomi states. "I'm going to make sure she's alright, be a doll and dish up the breakfast," she tells her friend with a cheeky wink.

Bomi grabs Chorong's cup of coffee from the table before walking towards her bedroom. She knocks lightly on the door and enters once she hears Chorong offer her an invitation inside.

"This is your bedroom, you don't need to knock."

"That's true but whenever you're here, this is as much your bedroom as it is mine. Mi casa es tu casa," she tells her with a grin, handing Chorong her cup of coffee. "Would you rather I left you alone?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"I wasn't entirely sure whether you wanted some space."

"I'm fine."

"You shouldn't let Naeun upset you," Bomi pleads lightly. "She has a similar sense of humour as me and she doesn't realise she might offend some people. She's harmless when you get to know her."

"I'm not upset and I'm sure that's true Bomi, I just don't like her very much," Chorong announces.

"I know you don't." Bomi brushes some of Chorong's hair behind her ear. "But she's been my port in this whole storm; she's been somebody I can talk to. About everything." She cups the woman's cheek. "About you and about us."

"I realise that and that's part of the reason I don't like her," Chorong replies quietly. "She knows about us, intimate things. More importantly, she was there for you when I wasn't."

"Let's get one thing straight, she doesn't know intimate things," Bomi clarifies. "I don't talk to her about with you, if that's what you think."

"I should hope not Bomi, what we do in the privacy of our own homes is nobody's business but ours."

Strictly speaking not much has been happening in the privacy of their homes recently. The issue of  hasn't actually been brought up since her relationship with Eunji ended. She hasn't had the confidence to start the conversation, expecting Bomi would have. After all, she doesn't imagine Bomi has ever gone this long without being intimate with another person.

"I'm aware of that."

"Do you think we should talk about the issue of ual ?"

Bomi bursts into laughter at the word before resting her forehead against Chorong's. "Don't worry about that. It's not exactly the most pressing issue we have to face. We can talk about that some other time."

"Okay."

Bomi tilts her head to the side. "What's wrong? There's something you're not saying."

"Have you talked to Naeun about Eunji?" Chorong questions suddenly. "About how you're feeling with everything."

Bomi doesn't answer, she merely shakes her head.

"You're not talking to Naeun and you're not talking to me," Chorong clarifies. "Do you remember when we first met; I bet you only had a few people you were truly yourself around. Was that Eunji and Hayoung?"

"Yes."

"You can talk to me you know," Chorong admits. "I want you to talk to me. I want you to be yourself around me."

"I know I can talk to you Chorong but I'm not great with feelings, I told you that." Bomi runs her fingers through her hair.

"I understand that but you cannot keep everything bottled up, it's a recipe for disaster."

Bomi runs her fingers through her hair. "It's not like you've talked to me about how you're feeling."

Chorong ducks her head before nodding slowly. "Then maybe we should set aside a time to have this conversation. Up until now, the topic of Eunji has become almost taboo but it's obvious we both need to talk about her."

"We do." Bomi rubs the back of her neck, not liking the way this conversation is heading. "Naeun's brought you some breakfast."

"I'm not particularly hungry."

"She's got vegan blueberry pancakes."

Chorong's eyes widen ever so slightly. "In that case, I may be able to manage a small portion of breakfast." She stands from the bed and starts walking towards the door but Bomi's fingers around her wrist still her.

"I love you," Bomi says suddenly and firmly. "I know we need to talk and there are a lot of things that need to be said but right now, that's the only thing you need to know."

Chorong hands the final plate to Bomi to dry before turning the faucet off. Naeun apologised to her over breakfast and because she's polite, Chorong accepted the apology. In Naeun's defence, the pancakes were delicious.

"You do realise I have this invention known as a dishwasher for jobs like this."

Chorong grins. "Everybody relies too much on technology nowadays; I prefer to keep some aspects of my life simple. Besides, it's not as if washing dishes takes up much time."

Bomi places the plate into her cupboard before grabbing Chorong's jacket. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"I thought we could go for a walk," Bomi states. "Unless you'd rather stay in."

"No, a walk sounds lovely Bbom-ah."

Bomi pecks Chorong's lips quickly. "I'm just going to grab my coat and we can go." She disappears into the bedroom just as somebody knocks on her front door. "Can you get that for me please, Rong."

Chorong shrugs her jacket on before heading towards the front door. She opens it slowly and comes face to face with an unfamiliar woman. "May I help you?"

The woman frowns before clearing awkwardly. "Oh, I'm sorry; I think I may have the wrong apartment. I'm looking for Yoon Bomi. I was told she lived here but I've never been one for directions so there's a high probability I've become lost somewhere along the way."

"No, you have the right apartment," Chorong tells her. "I'm a –" She pauses quickly because she doesn't really know how to characterise her relationship with Bomi. They haven't given it a label yet. "I'm a friend."

"That's great to know but is she in or have I missed her?"

Chorong furrows her brow. This woman isn't giving off the best first impression. "You haven't missed her." She closes the door slightly before calling Bomi. "Bomi, you have a visitor."

"Who it is?" Bomi shouts from the bedroom.

"I'm sorry; I didn't catch your name."

"I didn't give it to you."

Chorong's brow furrows even more. This woman is being just a little bit too rude for Chorong's liking. Bomi emerges from the bedroom, fastening her coat and keeping her eyes on the floor.

At the sight of Bomi, the woman steps past Chorong and enters the apartment.

Looking aghast, Chorong attempts to block the woman's passage. "I'm not entirely sure if you're aware of this but you must wait for an invitation before entering a person's home and unless I'm mistaken, neither of us actually invited you inside."

"I'm not a vampire sweetheart, I don't require an invitation."

The voice causes Bomi to whip her head up. It's a voice she's incredibly familiar with. After all, it's pretty difficult to forget the voice of your first love, the voice of the person who broke your heart, no matter how hard you try.

"Hello Bomi."

Bomi swallows hard. "What are you doing here?"

Chorong casts her eyes between the two women. "Who is she Bomi?"

Bomi blinks quickly at Chorong's question but doesn't remove her eyes from the woman in front of her. "Sohee."

That one word is enough to cause worry to shoot through Chorong's body.

They're already dealing with enough issues without adding Bomi's first love to the mix.