It started raining after they drank their tea, but the heavy sound didn’t bother them as much as Sojung thought it would.

Both girls decided to watch a movie under the blankets since going out wasn’t an option anymore.

Sojung let Eunbi choose what they were going to watch and, as soon as they settled down, awkwardly sitting side by side, with the white duvet covering their legs, Sojung wondered if that was really a good idea.

Don’t get her wrong; she loved the idea of watching a silly romance with Eunbi--especially after such a… tense moment--but they were too close. Way too close. And maybe Sojung liked that a little too much--and that was what made her question the whole movie thing.

You see, Sojung wasn’t stupid. She knew what was happening to her heart and she was scared.

Sojung didn’t want to anything up. Eunbi’s past remained somewhat a mystery, but it was clear the girl had gone through some rough times and the last thing Sojung wanted was to push Eunbi away and lose the first person who had made their way into her heart.

It was, at the same time, delightful and terrifying.

“You’re staring.”

Sojung jerked, feeling her cheeks flush, and quickly looked at the laptop. She hadn’t even noticed she was looking at Eunbi. ‘Ugh, can I be any more embarrassing?’ she sourly thought and bit her lower lip. Her heart picked up a pace inside her chest, wondering if Eunbi would say something else, but the sweet voice didn’t echo in her ears until a bunch of minutes later.

“This movie is boring.”

“It is? Oh, we--we can change it if you want,” Sojung quickly said, eyes darting to the girl beside her. Eunbi slightly nodded and stayed still as Sojung took the laptop in hands and closed the movie--she wasn’t even paying attention to it, anyway. “Um, do you want to watch something else? There are a few romances that are very funny, or we can watch some drama, though I don’t like them a lot… I mean, I don’t have any problems with dramas! I just think we could go with some light plot--oh, maybe a comedy? Do you like those…”

Sojung’s voice trailed off as she took note of Eunbi’s silence. The shop owner turned her eyes to the other girl and greeting her were big, doe eyes that seemed to hide a whole universe.

Sojung was physically taken aback.

She swallowed dryly and her shoulders tensed at the unwavering attention. “Is… is everything okay?”

Eunbi kept staring at her for ten long seconds and Sojung felt as if her heart would combust when the girl finally opened .

“I’m curious… about something.”

“About something?” quirking an eyebrow, Sojung reluctantly smiled. “Well, um, you can ask me anything.”

Eunbi casted her eyes down to her lap. “Why… why did you take me in?”

Huh? That wasn’t what Sojung was expecting.

“I mean… you could have just given me some food and… that’d be it. I guess--I guess I can’t really understand why you let me stay. Did you do it because you were lonely?”

Sojung couldn’t help her frown. That question wasn’t new to her--Sojung had questioned herself before about it--but it wasn’t like she had time to dwell on that… nor did she want to. The shop owner never was the time to really analyze her feelings and even though she was aware of how Eunbi made her feel now, she just acknowledge it, she didn’t wish to find the origin of it.

“I… I guess so,” she weakly voiced after a long time. “I don’t think it was only because I was lonely, but… I think I just went with it?”

“Went with it?”

“Um, I mean that like… you see, I’m not really one to be overthinking stuff. I do worry about a bunch of things, but it’s not always that I get to interact with someone for longer than twenty minutes, let alone a shapeshifter like me and… and I just didn’t even think of asking you to leave. And you didn’t look like you wanted to either, so… ugh, sorry, I at explaining things. I…”

Sojung scratched the back of her neck, extremely conscious of Eunbi’s eyes on her. “I enjoy your company? Like, a lot? I meant it when I said that I’m happy to have you here. So… I really don’t want you to leave?”

Yeah, that was not the question and Sojung was currently freaking out at what she had just said and a low chuckle made her heart stop.

Sojung’s eyes traveled to Eunbi, finding the girl with a soft, very soft smile on her face.

“I don’t want to leave either, eonni.”

A shaky breath left Sojung’s lips.

“Then, don’t even think about it, kitten.”

*

The days after that were pretty uneventful.

Surprisingly, they quickly fell into a routine.

In the morning, they woke up--Sojung before Eunbi--and enjoy some breakfast together. At 8, Sojung went downstairs and got everything ready to open the store; around 10, Eunbi joined Sojung and she lazed around until Sojung assigned something for her (she would usually ask for Eunbi to get some records in the back, mop the floor or take care of the cashier for a while); their lunch, at 1 pm or something, was either the take out from last night or some new take out.

It didn’t take long for Eunbi and Sojung to be talking about some really domestic stuff too and that made the older feel pretty warm and fuzzy--especially when they went out for groceries a few weeks later.

It was the first time Eunbi was going out after all the mall issue and Sojung shamelessly latched on the short girl’s hand and didn’t let go until they were completely done.

Yes, she was aware of the blush painting her cheeks and how her heart was hammering her ribs, but she told herself she was doing it for Eunbi, only so that the girl wouldn’t feel bad again.

And Sojung gave her literal best to not scream when Eunbi squeezed her hand before they entered the store, though.

They had fallen into a routine, but every day seemed like the day of Sojung’s death.

And she didn’t mind it at all.