She can vividly remember sitting at the top of her stairs when she was younger, listening to the music and chatter that floated towards her from the dining room, her only glimpse into her parents' frequent dinner parties. They had a tendency to invite guests over and cook for them, it was just their nature. She can remember the next-door neighbours coming round, friends of the family, her mom Chrystal's work colleagues and her dad Jongin's work colleagues, including his boss who constantly made inappropriate jokes.

She would sit at the top of the stairs and watch as the guests walked through their front door, the women dressed elegantly and the men wore suits. These glimpses gave her a look into an adult, formal party rather than the parties that children her age had, not that she had prior knowledge of them since nobody ever invited her to any.

Her parents' always thought she was sleeping soundly but she would creep out of bed and listen to the party occurring downstairs, occasionally hearing raucous laughter and jokes, most of which she didn't understand at the tender age of 8 but found herself mesmerised by the collective laughter that would follow and although nobody could see her, she would laugh along, just to feel involved.

When she asked once why she couldn't sit down and join them, her dad had told her it would be boring for her, lots of stuffy old people whose interests differ significantly from Chorong's interests.

Still, after seeing her parents' dinner parties, she decided that she would do the same once she was older. She would be a part of the infamous dinner parties that she was never a part of growing up.

Now staring at the round table in Eunji's apartment, five place mats delicately set out, each with a wine glass and the appropriate cutlery; she has a sense of being grown up for the first time.

It's her first dinner party.

Yet the sense of excitement that filled her each time she watched her parents decorate their dining room table in preparation is missing.

"Does this look like I'm trying too hard?"

Chorong turns her head away from the meticulously laid table to see Eunji folding some napkins.

"It's too fancy for dinner isn't it? I should have just kept things simple and not gone crazy overboard turning this into some sort of formal dinner party."

"I like it."

And she does, something just feels off and she doesn't understand why.

"It shows how much effort you've put in," Chorong tells her. "Besides, I highly doubt that everybody is going to focus on whether you've set the cutlery out correctly. I think it's safe to assume that everybody is going to be more concerned and interested in the food and if it's edible."

Eunji bumps her girlfriend's hip as she starts to place the napkins underneath the cutlery. She laughs heartily before placing a free hand over her chest, feigning hurt. "My cooking is not that bad."

This time it's Chorong who laughs. "You attempted to cook for me on our third date and we ended up ordering a takeaway because you burnt the food and set the fire alarm off. I'm also pretty sure that you were seconds away from starting a fire."

"I was nervous," Eunji informs her with a toothy smile. "I wanted to make a good impression and the more I realised I was out of my depth, the more nervous I got hence the whole burning debacle."

Chorong gives her girlfriend a chaste kiss. "Well you needn't have been nervous, even though you didn't fulfil your promise of a home-cooked meal; it was still one of my favourite dates."

"Really? Why?"

The brunette shrugs as she walks towards the fridge and takes out a bottle of white wine, unscrewing the cap. "It showed that you weren't perfect, that you were flawed and capable of making mistakes. It made you human."

Eunji wraps her arms around Chorong's waist from behind and drops a kiss on her shoulder. "Still, that was a one-off," she whispers. "I decided that next time I cooked for you, it would be lovely which is why I've been taking cooking lessons."

Chorong spins around in her girlfriend's arms. "You've been taking cooking lessons?"

The other woman nods. "It was going to be a surprise. I didn't want to have to have the fire extinguisher at hand every time I tried to cook you a romantic meal."

The brunette brings their mouths together and she feels Eunji smile into the kiss. She chuckles as Eunji kisses the tip of her nose and Chorong squeezes the auburn-haired woman's hips.

"That's really sweet."

That's one of the things she loves about Eunji, her ability to make her swoon like a love-sick teenager over simple things like cooking.

She's always been able to warm Chorong's heart.

Eunji releases her hold on Chorong and moves towards the oven, checking on the two casseroles. "Wait until you taste it, it's entirely possible that I might need to ask for a refund."

When Eunji had suggested dinner, she fully expected a phone call or a text giving her a time and a restaurant to meet her and Chorong. What she didn't expect was to be told that instead of visiting a restaurant, Eunji was cooking for them.

A paleo chicken thighs and red-wine casserole for everybody bar Chorong, who would instead be eating memil-buchimgae.

It's effectively the start of their tentative friendship and friendships are all about learning about one another. That's the first thing she's learned about Chorong tonight, she's lacto-vegetarian.

Something else she didn't expect was for there to be more guests.

Although technically the extra guests had been her fault. Hayoung had asked her yesterday if she wanted to go out with her and Namjoo to the new bar that had opened a couple of blocks away from the engaged couple's building. Rather than just declining, she had made the mistake of informing the tall girl that she already had plans for Friday night which consisted of her having an uncomfortable dinner with Eunji and Chorong in an attempt to get to know the brunette better, even though considering she's seen the brunette , she already knows her better than Eunji thinks.

Okay, so she didn't tell Hayoung anything apart from the fact that she was having dinner with the couple.

Before she knew it, Hayoung declared that both she and Namjoo would join them. Apparently, the bubbly redhead wanted to reconnect with her old high school friend and since Eunji was already excited about hosting a dinner party, she was more than happy to accept two more guests.

The more the merrier.

Bomi feels that by the end of the night, that statement will prove untrue.

Being a third wheel to Eunji and Chorong would have been bad enough but being a fifth wheel to Eunji, Chorong, Namjoo and Hayoung is even more unbearable than she imagined.

Sandwiched between Hayoung and Chorong on a couch whilst Namjoo sits on the armrest talking animatedly to Chorong, Bomi contemplates whether it's too late to feign an illness.

Hayoung hands her a glass of wine and she sends a grateful smile in her friend's direction before taking a large gulp of the drink.

Maybe she can just fall back on good old intoxication to help her survive the evening.

"Take it easy Bomi-ah," Hayoung admonishes briefly. "I'm planning to stay sober till at least the meal is over then I'll be joining you. It's not going to work if you're off your face before dinner."

"It's one glass," Bomi tells her. "Anyway, I'm just thirsty."

Hayoung places her own glass of wine back onto the coffee table.

"Can you please use a coaster Hayoung? This coffee table is mahogany and it would be a shame to stain it."

Hayoung rolls her eyes at Chorong's comment, muttering why she minds since it isn't even her apartment, and brings her attention back to Bomi.

Chorong looks rather shocked at the blatant disregard for her request but Bomi just shakes her head, its usual behaviour for Hayoung. Chorong will soon learn that Hayoung doesn't mean any harm by it; it's just the way she is.

A lovable "bad-".

Bomi slides a coaster underneath Hayoung's glass and she doesn't miss how Chorong beams with gratitude at the simple gesture. She grabs an extra coaster from the edge of the coffee table for when she sets her own glass down in the hope that she'll see Chorong's face light up again.

Hayoung shuffles slightly before whispering quietly into her ear so neither Chorong nor Namjoo will be able to hear her. "You know, she's not how I pictured her."

"Who?"

"The Park girl."

Bomi simply frowned, concentrating on keeping her gaze on the fireplace in front of her rather than glance at the brunette beside her whose leg is neatly pressed against her own. "Who's the Park girl?"

"Eunji's girlfriend," Hayoung explains, pointing towards the brunette. "Her name is Park Chorong."

She didn't know that, that's the second thing learned about Chorong.

"So naturally you call her by her surname rather than her first name?" Bomi questions and Hayoung shrugs.

"I haven’t fully warmed up to her."

Bomi tilts her head at the logic. "Why isn't she how you pictured it?"

"Namjoo gave me a description of her from high school and she is not how Namjoo described. Apparently she used to wear giant sweaters and knee high socks," Hayoung tells her. "I didn't imagine her to be as hot as she is from that description; I was fully expecting a nerdy girl. Eunji's done well for herself."

Bomi kicks her friend in the shin as discreetly as she can, jealousy seeping through her as Hayoung's eyes rake appreciatively over Chorong. "Don't ogle her, Lie."

"I'll have you know I was staring at Namjoo," Hayoung defends. "Anyway, don't think I didn't notice the way your eyes lingered on her and legs when she went to the bathroom a while ago, I'm pretty sure you were drooling."

Her cheeks flush. "I wasn't looking at her and legs," Bomi whispers. "I was appreciating her shoes."

"If you say so."

"The food is ready now guys," Eunji states from the kitchen and Chorong jumps up immediately to help her girlfriend with the plates.

"I can see what you mean. Her shoes are really nice."

Bomi follows Hayoung's gaze to see the brunette wearing a dress with no shoes in sight. She hears Hayoung chuckle beside her and kicks her once more before swallowing another mouthful of wine.

It's rather surprising how even though the conversation is flowing and never stopping, she finds it more uncomfortable than if they were eating in silence. Still, whenever a question is directed her way, she smiles and answers it politely, silently hoping that nobody notices she's not really paying attention to the conversation.

Last time she re-focused her attention on the conversation, Namjoo was telling everybody about the recital the children in her dance studio are doing in the run-up to Christmas and it's adorable how focused and determined they are.

Hayoung was of course staring at Namjoo with pure unadulterated love as she talked and Bomi had smiled when Namjoo returned Hayoung's look, it's heart-warming to see that after three years they still look at each other as they did the first day they met.

She thinks that was about ten minutes ago but she can't be sure. She brings her attention back to her food and pushes some of her vegetables around her plate, tuning everybody else out. Out of the corner of her eye, she can't help but notice how Chorong doesn't seem to be paying attention either.

At least she's not alone.

She feels a sharp elbow in her ribs and the shock causes her to jump ever so slightly. Glaring at Hayoung, her eyes narrow. "What was that for?"

"Joo was talking to you and you were ignoring her."

Her face relaxes and she sends an apologetic look in Namjoo's direction.

"It's okay Hayoung-ah; she must have been enjoying her food too much because she looked really concentrated." Namjoo places a hand on her fiancée's knee and starts rubbing soft circles with her thumb.

"What were you saying Joo?" Bomi asks quietly, feeling scrutinised as all eyes fall upon her.

"That you should go on a date with Naeun."

"Naeun?"

Namjoo nods. "She teaches a dance class with me and she's really lovely, I think you'd hit it off with her. She also teaches hip-hop to the children and you should see her, she's really flexible. It's y."

"I'm not really interested in being set up on a date Namjoo but thank you for thinking of me," Bomi replies, bringing her attention back to her food as she scoops some vegetables onto her fork and eating them.

She's pleasantly surprised by how delectable the food is. Eunji could never cook whilst they were growing up. Maybe Chorong taught her?

"You need somebody though Bomi-ah," Namjoo states, taking a sip of her wine. "Then instead of sitting there like a sad panda, you could have somebody to talk too and play footsie with like Hayoung and I are doing."

Eunji frowns at them before chuckling whilst Chorong glances underneath the table in order to decipher whether Namjoo is telling the truth.

"I'm not a sad panda Joo."

She feels a foot hers and her eyes dart around the table but nobody is acting out of the ordinary or looking at her. A foot hers once more and her gaze falls to Chorong, wondering if it's her.

But why would she be flirting with her when she just wanted to be friends?

She shakes her head when her eyes fall on Eunji who is currently sending flirtatious looks in Chorong's direction.

Eunji must have been aiming for Chorong but since Bomi is sitting beside the brunette, she incidentally became the mistaken target. Eunji has always had poor aim.

Bomi crosses her legs before swallowing a large mouthful of wine at the knowledge that Eunji is trying to playfully flirt with her girlfriend and indirectly flirting with her.

She feels stupid for thinking it could be Chorong.

Of course it wouldn't be her.

"Did you ever hear back from that Lea girl?" Eunji asks as she eats the last bit of her chicken before placing her cutlery on top of her plate. "You could have invited her tonight."

"Who's Lea?" Both Hayoung and Namjoo ask at the same time and it's still incredibly creepy how in tune they are with one another. Namjoo giggles quietly at the simultaneous speaking with her fiancée.

"She hasn't told you about her?"

"Meungji," Bomi warns quietly but her friend doesn't hear her.

"Does our Pabomi have a crush?" Hayoung teases and it takes all her strength not to kick her friend for the third time that night. If she wasn't worried about missing her target and kicking somebody else underneath the table, she would.

Apparently it's easily done.

A quick glance at Chorong shows the brunette deeply fascinated with aligning her cutlery properly. "No, I do not have a crush."

"That's not what it seemed like the other week," Eunji continues and Bomi knows she's only trying to be nice but she really wishes the conversation would end. "You looked rather smitten when you were telling me about her."

Bomi blushes profusely whilst Chorong raises her head.

She clears and takes a sip of her wine. "I was not smitten, how could I be? I barely knew–" She shakes her head. "Barely know the woman."

"I thought you wouldn't have minded seeing her again?"

"Meungji, this isn't really dinner conversation," Bomi says. "Joo, why don't you tell us more about your dance recital?"

Namjoo opens to speak but Hayoung beats her to it. "On the contrary Bomi-ah, I'm finding this conversation fascinating."

Bomi swallows another mouthful of wine and suddenly she feels a foot hers again, but not in the playful sense, this time in a comforting gesture. She doesn't need to look up to know its Chorong, a silent gesture that indicates Chorong feels for her.

Almost as quickly as her foot had appeared, it disappears.

"The reason you find this conversation fascinating Hayoung is because you take pleasure in making other people uncomfortable."

"Don't you want Chorong to know about your ual escapades?" Hayoung replies before directing her attention to the aforementioned brunette. "She's not normally this cagey when it comes to her one-night stands; she usually tells us all about them. Your presence must be making her shy."

If anything, her cheeks flush even more.

It's ironic how right Hayoung is but for the wrong reasons.

"What was she like in bed, Bomi-ah?"

"Hayoung!" Bomi admonishes her sharply and finds herself craving the sympathetic gesture from Chorong once more.

"It's okay if she wasn't very good," Namjoo tells everybody and Chorong darts her attention towards Bomi to gauge the blonde's reaction but Bomi simply ducks her head. "Hayoung wasn't very good when we first started having –"

"Namjoo!" Hayoung shouts her fiancée's name before shaking her head and whispering quietly so only Namjoo could hear.

"You interrupted me before I finished baby, I was going to say you're mind-blowingly amazing now," Namjoo says, a little upset that she has offended her fiancée. She kisses Hayoung's cheek and whispers a tender I love you and Hayoung's features soften although Bomi knows her ego will be bruised and when the engaged couple get home, Hayoung will probably seek approval from Namjoo with regards to their life. "I'm sure if this Lea girl wasn't very good, she'll get better."

Bomi drinks more of her wine, gulping it quickly before speaking. "Fine, if you really want to know, she was as you put it Namjoo, mind-blowingly amazing."

The wine had just been sliding down Chorong's throat when Bomi had announced loudly that she was amazing in bed. She starts to cough and splutter and Eunji quickly rubs soft circles on her back, asking her if she's okay repeatedly.

Once her coughing fit has subsided, Chorong gives her girlfriend's knee a comforting squeeze. "I'm fine. The wine must have just gone down the wrong way," Chorong tells her, her eyes finding Bomi's for only a second before the other woman blushes and ducks her head.

"Mind-blowingly amazing...hey Bomi-ah," Hayoung repeats. "You don't usually throw that word around; she must have been something special."

"Can we please change the subject?" Bomi pleads, knowing how much pleasure Hayoung will be gaining from this.

Normally she wouldn't mind these conversations, they're standard for when the foursome get together but when her one-night stand is, obliviously to everybody else, sitting at the same table, an air of tension settles around her and she doesn't feel right talking about their night together.

She doesn't want to divulge dirty details.

"I agree," Chorong chimes in. "Hearing about Bomi's ual escapades is hardly polite dinner conversation."

Bomi sends a grateful smile in the brunette's direction.

Eunji pecks her girlfriend's cheek and sends a small smile Bomi's way before mouthing the word sorry. Bomi shrugs it off because she's not to know why the blonde is praying for silence right now. "So who wants dessert?"

"You didn't need to lie before."

Bomi pours herself another glass of wine as Chorong comes to rest beside her, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Lie about what?"

"When you said I was mind-blowingly amazing," Chorong replies, shaking her head as Bomi offers the wine to her. "I know you were just trying to bring the conversation to an end but nevertheless I appreciate the compliment, even if it wasn't the truth."

Bomi tugs her bottom lip between her teeth. "What makes you think I'm lying?"

Chorong shrugs her shoulders as she tidies some plates away. "I distinctly remember you assuming that I wasn't very experienced when it came to ual and you weren't wrong. I'm not. You, on the other hand, are very experienced so I'm sure I didn't live up to your expectations."

"I thought you wanted to forget what happened between us. Why do you want to know whether I was lying?"

"I never said that," Chorong tells her. "I said we should try and be friends but it is impossible to forget what happened between us since it has impacted both of our lives. I'm not trying to reminisce here; I just wanted to offer you my gratitude for the compliment."

Her right hand reaches for Chorong's left before she can stop it. "I wasn't lying Chorong, I meant what I said."

Chorong's features light up for a moment before she collects herself and sends a soft smile in Bomi's direction.

Something about this just feels right, the way Chorong hasn't pulled away from her, the way Bomi felt to need to quash Chorong's doubts, the way theirs hands fit together perfectly.

It's overpowering, the desire to keep Chorong's hand in her own but the appearance of Eunji walking out of her bedroom causes her to release the other woman's hand as if she'd been burnt.

"You didn't need to tidy up love," Eunji states as she leans across the kitchen counter to kiss her girlfriend's cheek. "I would have done it."

"You cooked, it's the least I could do."

"I love you."

Bomi blinks before looking towards the ceiling. She tells herself that the unsettling feeling which has suddenly appeared in the pit of her stomach is due to the fact that she is intruding on a personal moment.

"I love you too."

When Chorong sends the statement of adoration back, Bomi can't lie to herself anymore.

The unsettling feeling is not due to discomfort, is jealously.

Bomi picks up her glass of wine and shuffles past Chorong before heading towards Namjoo and Hayoung who are currently occupying the entire couch as they cuddle whilst watching whatever movie Namjoo has chosen.

"Hey Bbom-ah," Eunji shouts, rushing up behind her. "I didn't mean to upset you earlier."

"Upset me?"

"When I asked you about Lea, it was through genuine curiosity because you did seem happy when we talked about her and I want you to be happy Bomi. I didn't think it would upset you; you're normally more than willing to disclose information about your one-night stands."

"Meung, it's fine, you were just asking a question," Bomi tells her, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I guess Hayoung was right, I didn't want Chorong to know about my ual escapades. I didn't want her to get the wrong impression of me."

Eunji nods in understanding. "When she helped me with dessert she told me off for probing. She said she felt sorry for you and I needed to apologise."

Bomi's heart swells with adoration at that knowledge.

Eunji looks over her shoulder briefly. "Now you've got to know her a bit better, what do you think?" She asks. "Bear in mind that I really love her so I'm not going to appreciate negative comments."

Behind Eunji, Chorong is busying herself in the kitchen, humming to herself whilst she moves around the room sorting out plates and cutlery. The domesticity of it warms Bomi's heart and she finds it hard to tear her attention away from her but regretfully she does.

"She seems lovely Eunji, I'm really happy for you."

"You know, I think she might be the one."

"Isn't it a little early to be saying that?" Bomi questions quietly. "I mean you've not even been together a year, who knows what might happen in the next couple of months."

Eunji frowns. "You could have tried to be a bit happier there Bomi rather than focus on the negative possibilities."

"Sorry, I just–" Bomi pinches the bridge of her nose. "If you think she's the one then that's great."

It's not technically a lie, it is great for Eunji.

Just maybe not for her.