Waking up to three unread e-mails and two missed calls from her parents was never a good sign, and Kahei knew it.

 

It wasn’t that she hated her parents—she just sometimes felt like they didn’t exactly understand her. Kahei really wanted to make them happy, but like all parents, they could be sort of overbearing, and Kahei sometimes struggled to live up to the expectations they had for her. Seeing her inbox flooded and her phone blowing up meant one thing for Kahei—she suddenly had more, newer expectations to fulfil.

 

Last time it had been a family gathering which Kahei ultimately couldn’t attend due to her classes in Korea. Her parents had badgered her every single day before the party took place, trying to talk her into making time for her family. She hadn’t yielded, but she knew that next time she had no chance of escaping.

 

This was most likely that next time.

 

With a tired sigh, Kahei rolled over her bed and checked all of her notifications. She now had a text message from her mother that read “Please check your mail!!!!!!!! It is very important!!!!!!!” Kahei couldn’t help but snort when she opened her inbox—just like expected, her father had sent her the same mail three times.

 

From: Wong H. ([email protected])

 

To: Wong K. ([email protected])

 

Subject: Company Event

 

Dear daughter,

Our company is celebrating its 20^th anniversary with a special event that will be held in Paris. Many important associates will attend with their families. Your siblings already have another matters to attend during those days, but we expect you to assist. Please make sure to bring a partner, or to let us know whether you will be coming alone so we can find you an appropriate date.

Additional information and your flight details—and your partner’s—can be found in the document I have attached to this mail. Please respond as soon as possible and confirm your availability. We need you here.

Loves you,

Dad

 

Frowning, she read the mail (the mails) once, twice, three times, four times. She felt low-key betrayed by her siblings—was that the price she has to pay for being the oldest? Unfair, yet understandable. Sometimes, being the eldest sister also meant being the face of the family.

 

Her first lecture started in forty minutes, but Kahei had already decided to skip it. The mails were going to be in the back of her mind for the remainder of the day (and the week, probably), and all of a sudden she had to (1) start organising her schedule so it wouldn’t overlap with the trip (2) find someone who would fall in love with her in the span of a week.

 

She could manage missing one or two classes in favour of the trip. But going to Paris on her own… that was totally out of the question. Her parents were obsessed with her finding an “appropriate partner”—“appropriate” meaning: male, Chinese, rich and/or heir to a big company (preferably both)—and constantly tried to set her up with candidates that they deemed fitting for her. Needless to say, Kahei hadn’t hit it off with any of them, for the most part because she believed that she and those men had nothing in common—the only topic they could discuss during those “dates” was, well, her family and their business.

 

So yeah, there definitely was no way she was going to go there alone and allow her parents to play matchmaker with her again. Paris sounded too good to be ruined by that.

 

Kahei stared at the ceiling of her room while contemplating the options she had. Of course she could lie and say she was bringing a date, only for them to mysteriously break up the day before the trip. Her parents wouldn’t buy into that, but at least they would have less time to find a new date for her (and hopefully, they wouldn’t even find one). However, Kahei doubted lying to her parents would do her any good.

 

It was impossible for her to find a potential boyfriend (or girlfriend), make him fall in love with her and talk him into following to an event in Paris were he would most likely be pestered with intrusive questions and forced to pretend enjoying the socialite lifestyle that Kahei’s family lead.

 

Lazily, she placed her phone on her face with a deep sigh. Her parents somehow always managed to make her life ten times harder, as if she didn’t have enough things to worry about—university, Korean, friends…

 

Friends. Maybe that was her only solution. She could beg one of her friends to be her date for the trip, though her parents would definitely not be happy about that. Not that Kahei cared, anyway.

 

That was probably her best idea yet, but she needed to find someone who was both willing to be her fake partner and free for an all-expenses-paid trip to Paris. The latter probably would be easy to find, she thought, though she knew most of her friends were already too busy with exams, birthdays and actual romantic partners to help her carry out her plan.

 

Kahei let out a frustrated groan. Why did everything have to be so complicated? If only her parents weren’t so obsessed with her getting married, perhaps… Her train of thought was interrupted when her phone started vibrating and fell off her face.

 

She grabbed blindly, doing her best not to sigh in annoyance, and prayed it wasn’t another mail or message from her parents—she wasn’t sure she could deal with that at the moment.

 

to: wong kahei

from: haseul <3

hey, are we still up for lunch today? didn’t see you at class :(

 

Maybe…

 

---

 

 

“Haseul.”

 

Kahei tried her best to ignore the tickling she felt on her stomach when Haseul saw her and shot her a warm smile. That was one of the things she liked the most about her—Haseul always seemed happy to see her. It made her feel appreciated, always welcome.

 

“Ah, hello, unnie!” Haseul greeted cheerfully. She sat at their usual table, with some books and notes spread in front of her. When she noticed Kahei approaching, she started collecting her stuff to make room for her friend, who simply smiled as she sat down. “I didn’t see you today at class, I was worried you might have gotten sick.”

 

“Don’t worry,” Kahei said, trying to sound as comforting and reassuring as she could. She knew sometimes Haseul could be too caring for her own sake. “I just—I overslept.”

 

Though Haseul obviously didn’t buy into her excuse, she just shrugged and took some papers out of her bag, offering them to her friend. “It’s okay. I took notes for you. Here, take them.”

 

“Thanks. I owe you one,” The older girl accepted the notes with a small smile—she managed to seem cool and composed even if she felt like her chest was about to burst—and put them in her own bag. “This one’s on me, okay?”

 

“Oh! You know there’s no need for that, unnie…” Haseul said worriedly, as she was one of those people who hated the idea of others owing anything to her.

 

That made Kahei chuckle a bit. “Don’t worry,” she reassured her. “Plus, I—I wanted to… Uh.”

 

For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to say it—“hey, Haseul, will you be my fake girlfriend for a few days?” She had practiced at home—more times than she was willing to admit—but the person on the mirror was herself, not Haseul, with her pretty eyes and her cute confused expression. Ugh. This trip was going to be the end of her, Kahei thought.

 

“You wanted to…?” Haseul tried to encourage her to keep talking, obviously intrigued by the older girl’s behaviour—Kahei was a naturally calm person, so seeing her nervous was pretty new.

 

“I need to ask you a favour,” Kahei said, her voice small—smaller even than usual.  The idea of scaring Haseul away terrified her. “A very big one.”

 

“Oh?” Haseul tried to hide her interest to no avail. “What is it?”

 

“I— uh…” she hesitated for a second. She knew she can trust Haseul with anything, yet the words still got stuck in . Kahei paused for a few seconds before speaking again. “Ineedyoutopretendtobemygirlfriend.”

 

Haseul tilted her head in confusion, frowning slightly. “I—Wha— What?”

 

She still had time to back out, Kahei thought as she bit her lip nervously. She could pretend she just didn’t ask her friend, who she might have had a tiny crush on, to pretend to be her girlfriend. Perhaps she could laugh it off and claim it was a joke. She could… but instead, she took a deep breath before she repeated:

 

“I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend,” she said, making sure to articulate every word correctly (she didn’t want her still improving Korean skills to play tricks on her) so there was no room for misunderstandings. Panic hit her when she saw Haseul’s expression change—brows raising, mouth forming a small ‘o’.

 

“What?” Haseul repeated, slightly taken aback.

 

“I—uh, you see, my parents’ company is holding an event in Paris next week and, uh—and I need a date or else they will try to set me up with someone I will probably not be comfortable with, so…” she trailed off, suddenly forgetting how to properly formulate sentences in any language she knew. Saying it out loud made it sound even worse of a plan than it actually was.

 

Haseul, however, seemed to be considering the idea for a minute, her brows furrowed and her lips slightly pursed. She didn’t want to be negative, but Kahei supposed she was just trying to find the politest way to reject her and her stupid plan. Probably trying to find the fastest way to the door, too.

 

“You know? Just forget—” The older girl tried to play it off with a nervous chuckle, but Haseul just gestured her to stop talking.

 

“I just don’t think I can afford a trip to Paris right now,” she spoke up, a sheepish smile on her lips. Had she just…?

 

“My parents already paid for everything,” the older girl shrugged, still a bit bewildered. Her voice came out a bit too eager for her liking, but she really was desperate. She knew she was telling Haseul a lie—her parents would pay once she had confirmed her assistance to the event. Haseul didn’t need to know that, though.

 

Haseul’s expression lit up. “Oh, really?”

 

“Yeah, it would be a shame if they had to cancel one of the tickets. You know how expensive those things can be…”

 

“I know,” Haseul said, nodding enthusiastically. “Well, then… I guess… I guess I should start calling you girlfriend now?” She added, a playful spark on her eyes. It took Kahei all of her composure not to faint right there.

 

“Uh, yeah—next week, but whatever.” She took her phone out and opened one of the many mails her father had sent her, so as to show Haseul all the details of the trip. She couldn’t quite believe this was actually happening, but she might as well go with it.

 

“I just want you to answer one question,” Haseul interrupted her, much more serious than she was a few moments before. Kahei nodded, encouraging her to continue talking. “Why… why me, of all people? Why not Sooyoung, for example?”

 

That was definitely a good question—a question Kahei hadn’t quite thought about. Haseul simply was the first person to pop on her mind, though she might have not been the best choice to carry out her plan. She knew Sooyoung would have loved to be part of an elaborate scheme, especially if said scheme involved being unapologetically gay and a free trip to Paris, she just hadn’t crossed Kahei’s mind that morning. She loved Sooyoung dearly, but the idea of her being her fake girlfriend wasn’t half as attractive as being Haseul being it.

 

“Well, I—you are my last hope, actually,” Kahei lied. Perhaps telling Haseul that she could only picture her as her fake girlfriend would come off as slightly creepy, so she decided against it.

 

Serious as ever, Haseul nodded, as if that was the last piece of information she needed to make up her mind. Out of the blue, she reached out for Kahei’s hand—even though she really didn’t want to, Kahei couldn’t help but wince in surprise—and smiled warmly at her.

 

“Then let’s do this,” she said, squeezing the other girl’s hand, “girlfriend.”

 

---

 

A week and a half later, Kahei and Haseul sat in a cab on their way to the airport. Their baggage had been carefully put in the trunk of the car while they still discussed the last details of their itinerary: they were supposed to arrive in Paris at 9 AM, and they had lunch with Kahei’s family scheduled for that same day. There was a small party at the hotel that same night, though they both had agreed not to attend, and the company event would take place the next day. Their plane back home left very early the following morning so they couldn’t stay up all night even if they wanted to.

 

The journey to France was as long as tedious as one would have expected, even if Kahei did enjoy having Haseul sleep on her shoulder for most of the flight. When they finally landed at the airport in Paris, their cab driver was already waiting for them to drive them to their hotel—Kahei’s parents really made sure to perfectly organize everything.

 

Haseul was the one in charge of speaking with the receptionist and getting the key to their suite—her English was better than Kahei’s and she somehow managed to understand the receptionist through his thick French accent—while Kahei simply stared in awe and handed her ID when she was told to.

 

Just like one would expect from a fancy five-stars hotel in the centre of Paris, their suite was huge, exquisitely decorated and bigger than both of their room’s back in South Korea together. Kahei was surprised—that seemed a bit too much, even for her parents’ standards.

 

Haseul marvelled at everything—from the shower, to the minibar, to the huge TV, to the silky sheets. It was like watching a child on Christmas morning, pointing everything out excitedly.

 

“This is just—this is unbelievable!” Haseul squealed, letting her back fall on the king-sized bed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bed this big and comfy.”

 

Kahei chuckled and took a seat next to the younger girl, on the edge of the bed. Haseul beamed at her.

 

“You’re okay with sharing, right?” She asked, and Kahei didn’t quite understand what she meant. “I think I kick in my sleep…”

 

Oh. She meant that.

 

“Yeah, uh, we can—uh, we can each sleep on one side of the bed,” Kahei said, suddenly a bit too self-conscious about the fact that she had to share a bed with Haseul for three nights. “If you want, we can ask to change rooms…”

 

“Another room would blow our cover, don’t you think? Your parents might get suspicious if they find out…”

 

She had a point, Kahei thought, her parents would definitely know something was going on if they discovered she and Haseul had asked for a room with two beds. It didn’t take a genius to know it wasn’t normal for a couple to do that. That meant they were stuck with sharing a bed, and though Kahei didn’t exactly mind, she knew things would get very awkward once night came—she would actually have to get in there and try to fall asleep with Haseul next to her. Sleeping on a plane was one thing, bed sharing on the other hand…

 

“You’re right,” she admitted, a sigh escaping her lips. “I hope this is not a problem for you.”

 

“It’s alright for me. I mean, it’s just a couple of nights, right? Plus, this bed is big enough for, like, four people.”

 

That wasn’t a lie—with a proper arrangement, a bunch of people could sleep there and be almost entirely comfortable. Kahei chuckled, but she still got up, grabbed some pillows and placed them on the bed so it was divided in two sides. The younger girl moved aside to make room for her, still lying on the delicate covers, and simply stared in confusion.

 

“This is my side, that’s yours,” Kahei explained, shrugging. Though it seemed Haseul was going to make some kind of comment, she ultimately just nodded and continued to rejoice in the softness of their bed.

 

They spent the rest of the morning being idle, emptying the mini-bar and watching TV while snuggling (in an absolute platonic way). Titanic proved to be less of a drama and more of a comedy when you were forced to watch it in a language you didn’t understand at all. And Haseul, in spite of being worn out from the flight, somehow still had energy to try “dubbing” the film with funny voices.

 

A few hours later they started to get ready, even if both of them would have loved to stay in, because they were supposed to meet Kahei’s parents for lunch—Haseul’s first introduction as her “formal” girlfriend—and they really needed the time to make themselves look presentable.

 

It began to actually feel real when both of them, already in their fanciest dresses, stood in the door of their suite, mentally preparing for whatever was coming their way.

 

The moment they stepped out of the door, Haseul’s hand found her way to Kahei’s, which startled the older of the two. However, when Haseul smiled at her and gently squeezed her hand, Kahei thought that perhaps this could work out.

 

And if they didn’t… At least she had an excuse to hold Haseul’s hand all day.

 

---

 

Albeit a bit too late to make her back out from her plan, realization hit Kahei like a truck: her parents were going to despise Haseul. She was everything they did not look in a potential partner for their daughter—she was a girl, worked two part-time jobs to maintain herself, was Korean, was a girl. It felt like she had just kicked her straight into the lion’s den.

 

They were supposed to meet Kahei’s parents at the hotel’s restaurant for lunch, and they made sure to arrive there almost 15 minutes before the appointed time, even if they didn’t really need to. Knowing her family, they’d try to be fashionably late in order to give Haseul the first impression that they were busy, popular people—which they actually were.

 

“Are you nervous?” Haseul asked, her voice soft and gentle. She wasn’t holding her hand anymore, but Kahei low-key wished she were. It made her feel calmer.

 

“Uh, yeah, kind of,” the older girl admitted, smiling sheepishly. Haseul looked at her and raised her eyebrow, as in to ask ‘why?’ “You see…I’ve told them I like girls before, but this is, uh… You’re my first actual girlfriend. Actual fake girlfriend,” she quickly added.

 

“Oh. I understand.” Haseul’s expression became more serious and her eyes fixated on the floor. It seemed she was looking for the right thing to answer, but it was hard. She leaned on Kahei, her arm softly. “You don’t have to worry, unnie. We have everything planned out.”

 

It was true. The week before the trip took place, they both had made sure to make their “love story” as detailed and believable possible. Obviously, they hadn’t actually made up a lot of it—they had been friends since Kahei arrived in Korea three years prior, so they only had to fabricate the details regarding their supposed romance. To ensure it was as convincing as possible, Kahei had also insisted on lying about them living together (“just to see what faces they make”, she had told Haseul.)

 

Even if Haseul’s words did manage to calm her down for a while, anxiety came over her again when she decried her parents approaching them, arms linked and looking as sumptuous as ever. Though Haseul hadn’t met them yet—she had only seen them in pictures—she was able to instantly recognize them. Like something inside her suddenly activated, Haseul reached for Kahei’s hand while clinging carefully to the older girl. The gesture seemed entirely natural and not at all rehearsed (which it wasn’t), and Kahei felt a familiar tickle in her stomach at the closeness.

 

“Kahei!” Her Mr Wong called, a content smile on his lips. It truly had been a while since he had last seen his oldest daughter.

 

“Father,” she beamed back at him, forgetting for a second what she was about to get herself (and poor Haseul) into. She let go of her (girl)friend’s hand and hugged her father first, then her mother. “I missed you both,” she added with sincerity.

 

“We missed you, too, darling,” her mother said, her head gently. Just then, she seemed to finally notice Haseul, who stood awkwardly behind Kahei, not sure of what to do. “Oh, we haven’t met your friend, have we?”

 

The way her mother was now smiling irked Kahei, but she decided to ignore it for the moment and gently grabbed Haseul’s hand to bring her closer. Apart from having to pretend to be in a relationship with Haseul—which she didn’t quite mind—Kahei also had to act as translator between her parents and her—this, she did mind. She was almost entirely sure that, had they spoken Korean, her parents wouldn’t even have bothered to try and speak it with Haseul.

 

“Um, mother, father, this is Haseul, she is my, uh—” The words died in while Haseul bowed respectfully to the pair. Kahei’s parents seemed pleased with the stranger so far, but it wouldn’t last long.

 

“Darling, if you were going to bring a friend, you should have let us know!” Mrs Wong scolded, a polite smile plastered on her lips while she looked up and down at Haseul. “We thought Jo Haseul was a boy’s name!”

 

“We would have booked a room with two beds for you,” Mr Wong added, staring reprovingly at Kahei. “I hope you two have asked for a change of suite, or we can take care of it after—”

 

“You don’t need to worry,” Kahei dared to interrupt, reaching for Haseul’s hand for support, “the room is fine. Haseul is actually my—uh… We’re actually…”

 

“I’m her girlfriend, actually,” Haseul finished in hesitant Chinese. The older couple looked a bit taken aback, and whether it was because of Haseul speaking their language or because of her sudden revelation, Kahei couldn’t quite tell. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, bowing politely again.

 

Kahei felt incredibly stupid for having forgotten that, to an extent, Haseul could in fact communicate with her parents. The reason they had met at university back in Korea was exactly that—Haseul had been looking for someone who could teach her Chinese and Kahei happened to be free and in desperate need of socializing with another human being.

 

Composed and posh as they were, Kahei’s parents did their best to hide the utter shock on their expressions. The way they looked at Haseul had changed after those words—from amicable curiosity to wariness within just a few seconds.

 

“Oh. Nice to meet you, too,” her mother said. She didn’t mean it and didn’t bother to hide it. “Kahei, darling, you didn’t tell us she was your, uh, you know…”

 

Without missing a beat, Kahei strengthened her grip on the younger girl’s hand and nodded. Judging by the look on her mother’s face, it was clear she hoped Haseul that had just made a mistake.

 

“My girlfriend, mother. We are dating.”

 

Her mother’s smile twitched ever so slightly—Kahei found that both satisfying and terrifying—but neither Haseul nor Kahei faltered. There was definitely no going back now, and Kahei was sure her parents knew plenty of “appropriate suitors” that were staying at that very same hotel, so she didn’t want to screw things up and ruin her trip (their trip).

 

“Y—You are dating…? You two are—?” Mr Wong asked, his voice a bit higher than usual due to shock. He had taken a bit longer to properly process everything.

 

“Yes, father. Haseul and I are a couple.” Saying that out loud definitely made her heart flutter. “And we’re very happy!”

 

Haseul, who was kind of lost in the conversation due to its speed, managed to understand the last bit and smiled warmly at Kahei.

 

“And how long—well, uh, how long have you too been, uh, involved?”

 

Not wanting to make things worse than they already were—and than they were going to be—Kahei let go of Haseul’s hand and pushed her parents gently towards the entrance of the restaurant, smiling cheerfully.

 

“Don’t be impatient! Let’s talk over lunch! Haseul and I are starving, aren’t we,” she looked at Haseul and winked at her, “honey?”

 

Haseul beamed.

 

“Yes, love, the flight has left me exhausted…”

 

---

 

The four of them awkwardly sat at the table her parents had reserved for them. Some celebrity chef was in charge of that day’s menu, and Kahei made sure she mentioned how good of a cook Haseul was at their home. (She saw her father almost choke on his drink when he realized what his daughter was implying, and she couldn’t help but chuckle slightly.)

 

After a pretentious appetizer and a couple of glasses of wine, Kahei’s parents decided that it was time they finally addressed Haseul, who they had been ignoring for the most of the starter, and pestered her with questions she most likely didn’t want to answer.

 

“So,” Mrs Wong started, a brash smile on her lips, “how did you two exactly meet, Haseul?” She spoke almost too slowly, making sure the girl understood her question—she didn’t do it as an act of kindness, though.

 

“Oh, well…” Haseul took a few seconds answer. “I was looking for someone who could teach me the basics of Chinese—I didn’t, uh… have much money, but I met Kahei in one of my classes and she offered to do it.”

 

“We have been inseparable since then,” Kahei added, leaning slightly on the younger girl, who grinned.

 

“I see,” the older woman nodded. “You have been together quite the time then, huh?”

 

She glared pointedly at her daughter. The smile on her lips had sharp edges, Kahei knew, and was more of a warning than an affectionate gesture. It meant a lot of things: you have been dating this girl for so long and you never told us? You have been dating this girl? You thought that bringing this girl here was a good idea?

 

“Not really! It took me a while to gather the courage to ask her out, so we’ve been only together for a few months…” Haseul explained with terrifying confidence. It was surprising to see her like that—in a fancy dress, a glass of expensive wine on her hand, shamelessly lying like it was nothing. Kahei made a mental note to never think of Haseul as a goody two-shoes ever again.

 

Kahei’s mother nodded, glowering at Haseul. She seemingly had decided that she had learnt enough about Haseul, so she didn’t address her again. What Kahei didn’t like nor trust was the way her mother kept smiling—at least her father didn’t bother trying to hide his discomfort.

 

Having Haseul hold her hand under the table—even if no one, not even her parents could see—did make her feel a bit better, though.

 

---

 

Lunch had been as awkward as expected, but way more fun than Kahei had bargained for. Though her Chinese was hesitant and imperfect, Haseul managed to hold a full conversation with Kahei’s parents, who seemed both horrified and perplexed as they realized that their daughter and some Korean girl were, in fact, romantically involved and it wasn’t some kind of sick joke. (It was a joke, or more of a deception, but they didn’t need to know that.)

 

It became evident, however, that Haseul was just not so easy to dislike. Perhaps having a soft spot for Haseul was something that ran in the Wong family, Kahei thought. When lunch was finally over, she was surprised to discover that her parents didn’t give Haseul any of their scornful looks nor they acted passive-aggressively when they said goodbye.

 

The idea of having their daughter date another girl did not make them happy, though, and Kahei knew it. Even if they weren’t completely disgusted by everything Haseul was, that didn’t mean they approved of her. She was on thin—very thin—ice.

 

Not that any of that mattered, anyway—in a couple of days, Haseul and her would stop pretending they were a thing and be back to being friends. Kahei wasn’t sure she would be able to bear that, especially now that she was getting used to having Haseul’s hand constantly wrapped around hers and her soft hair brushing her cheeks and her laugh tickling her ears.

 

“I think that went well,” Haseul said, a content grin on her lips, as they walked back to their suite.

 

If only she knew...

 

“I think so, too.” Kahei smiled back. If her parents were going to disown her—she doubted it, but one was never sure when it came to the Wong family—at least she had Haseul to comfort her.

 

---

 

Paris was a big city and half a day was not enough to even start enjoying it, but Haseul was so utterly thrilled about just being there that Kahei couldn’t even complain when the younger girl literally dragged her out of their hotel room so they could go sightseeing.

 

Haseul had made sure to make a small itinerary the could follow—of course she had—but it wasn’t like they could actually complete it, so they ultimately decided to visit the Eiffel Tower and its surroundings and enjoy dinner back in their hotel. After all, Kahei’s parents were still going to take care of everything. They had given them a card they could use at the hotel restaurant so they could eat there without a reservation.

 

Their hotel was located in a pretty central area, so they didn’t lose a lot of time on public transport. Haseul tried to talk the older girl into just walking around the city, but Kahei’s puppy eyes seemed to convince her otherwise.

 

“I can’t believe it’s even prettier in real life!” Haseul exclaimed excitedly when they finally reached their destination. It was true—all those pictures of the Eiffel Tower didn’t do the real thing justice. “Look at it, unnie!”

 

Even though Kahei was way more interested in how cute Haseul looked when she smiled like that, she made the effort to act like the tourist she actually was and marvel at the beauty of the Parisian scenery. Despite being surrounded by hundreds of other tourists, for a split second Kahei felt like it was only her and Haseul and the Eiffel Tower there. The thought was a bit too cheesy for her liking, but Haseul always managed to have that effect on her.

 

“It really is gorgeous, yeah,” Kahei nodded while she stared at Haseul. The younger girl was busy taking as many pictures as she could—“to make Yeojin as jealous as possible”, she had said—but she stopped for a moment to shoot Kahei one of her blinding smiles.

 

“Thank you,” Haseul said, looking weirdly embarrassed about it.

 

Kahei tilted her head and asked, “What for?”

 

“You know,” the other girl moved her hand vaguely, “for all of this. The trip, the hotel…”

 

“No need to thank me,” Kahei said with a chuckle. “In fact, I should be the one thanking you for helping me with this stupid plan. Without you, this trip would have been unbearable.”

 

“Well, I’m having a lot of fun, plus…” Haseul trailed off, staring at her own feet. She seemed to rethink what she was going to say next. “Anyway, I’m really glad nobody else could help you.”

 

Right. Kahei had completely forgotten about that. Telling Haseul she was her last hope wasn’t meant to hurt her feelings, just to persuade her to join her in the trip. However, Kahei (who considered herself quite the expert in the field of Jo Haseul) knew that her expression—eyes fixated on the ground, fiddling with her hands, a smile that wasn’t really a smile—meant that she wasn’t pleased about having been Kahei’s last choice.

 

For some reason, even if Kahei was dying to tell the younger girl the truth, the words just wouldn’t come out—it felt like everything she tried to said simply got stuck on .

 

“Let’s take a picture together,” Haseul suddenly said, interrupting her train of thought. She grabbed her friend by the elbow, forcing her to move. Kahei followed her while mentally kicking herself for being such a big moron.

 

Haseul approached a young couple who looked like they were also tourists and, with her cute English accent, asked them to take a picture of her and Kahei at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The guy, a blond and rather tall young man with handsome features, nodded enthusiastically.

 

Gentle as ever, Haseul took Kahei’s hand and walked her to the spot she found most appropriate for a good snapshot. The tourist guy was already prepared, holding Haseul’s camera carefully and waiting for them to pose for the picture. Without warning, Haseul put her arm around Kahei’s waist—she did so shyly, as if it wasn’t something she had done hundreds of times before—and the older girl rested her head against Haseul’s. (Apparently that made a good pose, because tourist guy took it as his cue to start taking pictures).

 

After a long series of camera “clicks”, they decided that they had enough shots to choose from and tourist guy returned Haseul her camera, an amicable grin on his lips.

 

“Thank you,” Haseul said politely.

 

“No problem,” the guy shrugged while smiling. “You two make an adorable couple. Have a good trip!”

 

“You too!” Haseul replied cheerfully, waving goodbye at the couple.

 

It was a good thing that Haseul was looking through her camera so she couldn’t see the way Kahei’s entire face turned red at those words. Had she heard correctly? They weren’t even pretending anymore—they didn’t need to, only when Kahei’s family and their company was around—yet the guy still had called them a couple. An adorable one, on top of that.

 

“Look at these, unnie. They all came out so pretty!” Haseul commented, a chipper smile on her lips, moving her camera so the older girl could see all the pictures they had taken. “I think this one if my favourite.”

 

Though most of the pictures looked pretty much the same, that one in particular did stand out a bit—Kahei had her eyes closed, and the way her body leaned against Haseul’s made it look like she was completely calm just being with her.

 

“Yeah, it’s definitely my favourite, too,” Kahei said, humming happily. They did make an adorable couple, if she herself said so.

 

Maybe it was because it was starting to become a habit, but Kahei didn’t even flinch when Haseul’s hand found her way to hers and gently intertwined their fingers together. Haseul stared at her in a way that Kahei couldn’t really read—she had never seen that look on her eyes before.

 

“Come on,” Haseul said, tenderly squeezing the older girl’s hand, “let’s explore a bit more. I want to take pictures of everything so I can brag when we’re back home.”

 

With a smile, Kahei just nodded. She would have followed Haseul to the end of the world, anyway.

 

---

 

 

After buying souvenirs for all of their friends and taking an ungodly amount of selfies, they managed to get back to the hotel without getting lost.

 

(They actually did get lost, because Haseul turned out to be terrible reading maps and Kahei didn’t have the heart to tell her they had already passed the same building five times.)

 

The hotel restaurant was crowded when the girls arrived— after all, it was one of those five-star, fancy only places where companies and bigwigs went to celebrate their meetings. Kahei’s parents were the prime example of that.

 

“Excuse me, do you two have a reservation?” A young guy asked them in polite English. His accent made it a bit difficult to understand what he was saying.

 

Kahei’s face fell—they did not have one. They had the card her parent’s had given them, though the restaurant seemed to be full, and she doubted there would be any free tables. Still, she hesitantly showed it to the boy, in hopes that it would be of any use.

 

“Oh, I see!” The guy’s face lit up and he quickly grabbed two menus. “Please, follow me,” he said.

 

He led them to a table in the back of the restaurant, a pretty private spot, next to three or four other tables. It was evident that he had sat them there on purpose—they were surrounded only by couples sharing a romantic meal.

 

They were given a menu each and informed that a server would be with them soon. Haseul sat opposite of Kahei, siling with a certain sparkle in her eyes.

 

“This place is beautiful! It feels like we’re in a movie,” she said, a grin on her lips and excitement clear in her voice. An old woman sitting on a nearby table turned her head and glared at her, apparently bothered, and Kahei made sure to glare back just as intensely. If Haseul noticed, she didn’t show.

 

Kahei took a quick look around her. Haseul was right, the place was beautiful, in a classic, fancy way. She realized that she had been so nervous during lunch with her family that she hadn’t even taken the time to even look at the place. Being there with Haseul, however, was different—she felt relaxed. (And even though her heart still beat faster than usual, it had nothing to do with her parents.)

 

“Yeah, it does. I’m not sure I can pronounce any of these, though,” Kahei said, flipping through her menu, and the younger girl nodded in agreement.

 

“We should have brought Heejin. After all, she’s the French expert…”

 

Although she tried not to—she really did—Kahei couldn’t help but snort, trying to restrain her laughter. The memory of Heejin saying “je m’appelle Heejin” on loop was simply hilarious. Seeing her friend burst into laughter, Haseul started chuckling, too.

 

The old woman from before turned her head again, and this time both Haseul and Kahei glowered at her so intensely that she had to look away, fuming and mumbling something under her breath. Apparently, having fun with your girlfriend—no, with your friend—was considered rude.

 

A waiter appeared out of nowhere to ask for their order. Kahei just randomly chose the first dish she saw on the menu, while Haseul chose one with a name impossible to pronounce out loud. The fact that the waiter didn’t laugh at her poor French skills was very appreciated.

 

“Without my parents here now I can actually enjoy this,” Kahei said, once the server had come back with their food. Saying that out sounded quite mean, but it was the truth. With her parents around she had to pretend and that didn’t make her comfortable.

 

Haseul nodded, humming, a huge bite of food on . It was surprising, hearing her agree—she seemed so composed during lunch, one would have thought she had lunch with her (fake) in-laws every day.

 

“Your parents are very intimidating,” Haseul commented after having swallowed her food. “Especially your mother. I get the feeling that she doesn’t like me much”, she added, chuckling. It was an empty laugh.

 

“Well, she’s not an easy woman.” That was an understatement. Getting her mother to like Haseul would be mission impossible. Getting her mother to like practically any person for that matter would be mission impossible, in fact.

 

“Yeah, definitely. Lying to her was hard,” Haseul said with a sigh. She seemed worried about it, which Kahei found stupidly endearing. “I felt like she was seeing right through me.”

 

“If you think about it, we didn’t actually lie. Not that much, at least,” she smiled, trying to be as encouraging as she could. The last thing she wanted was Haseul feeling bad for telling a stupid lie to her parents, who most likely either didn’t care or would never find out.

 

Haseul chuckled awkwardly again, playing with her food. “Uh, yeah, I guess I’m not used to lying…”

 

Perhaps that was the truth, but it hadn’t shown during lunch—Haseul proved to be a very convincing liar. Kahei wasn’t sure how to put that in words without making it sound somehow like an insult, so she decided not to add anything. She didn’t want to ruin dinner by thinking too much about her family, anyway.

 

The both continued eating in silence—a strangely uncomfortable silence, especially for the two them, who were used to sitting together in silence for hours without feeling awkward. After a few long minutes, Haseul seemed to find the will to speak again.

 

She cleared before she started—it made Kahei worry because Haseul usually only did that when she was about to talk about something very serious.

 

“I—I also lied to you,” Haseul said, blushing, staring at her plate instead of at Kahei. The older girl was surprised to hear her words. What was that supposed to mean?

 

“Huh? You lied about what?” It was an honest question—apart from the things they had agreed on, she couldn’t quite remember Haseul telling any lies.

 

“Well, when I told them—when I told you that I approached you because I wanted to learn Chinese…” The tip of her ears were now an impossible shade of red, and Kahei could feel her own face getting warmer. “That was a lie. I—I did it because I wanted to talk to you and I didn’t know how.”

 

Okay. Now Kahei definitely did not know what to do with that information. She wasn’t sure what Haseul wanted to imply by telling her that. Her brain was going a million miles a minute and she couldn’t even formulate a proper answer to the younger girl’s words.

 

Instead, she just reached and grabbed onto Haseul’s hand, curling their fingers together in a warm, familiar way. Judging by her expression, the gesture seemed to surprise Haseul, but she didn’t move her hand away.

 

“I’m very glad you did,” Kahei said softly. As stupid as it sounded, that was all she could think of as an answer. She hoped Haseul understood all the things she wanted to tell her but couldn’t bring herself to say out loud.

 

Haseul smiled, holding tighter onto the older girl’s fingers, and the silence went back to being comfortable.

 

---

 

 

They argued for a bit too long when the server came back with the bill—this earned her another disdainful glance from the old woman, but they decided to ignore her—because Haseul kept insisting that she didn’t want to let her friend pay for everything, and Kahei kept insisting that her parents would take care of everything so they didn’t have to worry.

 

(Kahei was kind of lying, but only because she didn’t want Haseul to react like that when she whipped out her card to pay for both of them. It hadn’t worked as smoothly as she had originally expected though. They ended up splitting the bill because that was the only way both of them were willing to give in.)

 

Next day was the big day, and neither of them wanted to mess it up. They decided to go back to their suite and call it a day, because they needed to be perfectly rested for the company event. The more she thought about it, the more scared Kahei felt about what was going to happen.

 

She had also other things to feel scared about, though.

 

It had been quite a while since Kahei had last shared a bed with another human being—let alone another human being that she may had romantic feelings for—so that could explain why her hands were shaking while she put on her sleeping shorts.

 

Haseul was already on her side of the bed, wearing cute pyjamas and checking all the pictures they had taken that day on her camera. Seeing her like that—a bit sleepy, being comfy in their bed—only made Kahei’s chest tighten even more. She started to doubt that she could survive the night.

 

“Is something wrong, unnie?” Haseul asked, her head tilted slightly. The older girl hadn’t noticed, but she was kind of standing in the middle of the room, staring at the bed like it was some kind of wild animal.

 

“W—What? No! Everything’s fine. Totally fine!”

 

To prove her point, Kahei crossed the suite in two swift steps and got into her side of the bed, making sure she did not dismantle the pillow barricade she had built that morning. Like that, things were pretty awkward—the two girls, one on either end of the bed and a bunch of pillows increasing the distance between them.

 

Kahei cleared and shot a sheepish smile to the younger girl, who just stared in confusion. Neither of them were sure of what to do next. How were you supposed to act when you shared a bed? Kahei had no idea, and as for Haseul… It was hard to tell what was going on inside her head.

 

“Well. Today was fun.” Kahei tried her best (but failed) not to sound terribly awkward. Her smile twitched. “Let’s—let’s just go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.”

 

Haseul just stared at her, a blank expression on her features. It looked like she was expecting something, but she wasn’t willing to wait much longer. She sighed tiredly (and it made Kahei panic a bit because she wasn’t sure whether Haseul was tired due to the trip or she simply was tired of her.)

 

“Goodnight, Kahei”, the younger girl finally said, stretching her arm so as to turn off the lights. That was a relief—at least Kahei could feel embarrassed without having Haseul see her.

 

The size of the bed didn’t really matter, because Kahei felt completely aware of Haseul’s presence on the other side of the mattress—she seemed to be curled up against the pillow barricade, and Kahei’s body reacted by moving away until she was almost on the edge of the bed.

 

that bed. It was going to ruin everything.

 

Long minutes passed before Kahei’s eyes got used to the darkness. Scared that she might fall off during the night, she dared to move near the centre of the bed, careful not to bother Haseul. They weren’t asleep—they couldn’t possibly be. Kahei wondered how people ever fell asleep next to each other all the time, when all she could feel was her heart pounding so loudly that anyone could have heard it.

 

Was the gloom of night a good place to stir up a conversation? It probably wasn’t, but it was also the only place where words didn’t seem to die in Kahei’s throat whenever she wanted to say anything. So she decided to give it a try.

 

“I lied, too,” Kahei said, or rather whispered, hoping that Haseul was not awake enough to hear her. A shift of blankets on the other side of the bed quickly proved her wrong.

 

“Hm? What are you talking about?” Haseul asked, her voice low and a tad sleepy, but interested nonetheless.

 

“Y—you told me during dinner that you lied to me…” she trailed off, and Haseul made a noise of acknowledgment. Clearly, she was trying not to fall asleep.

 

“Well, I… I lied, too. About why I asked you to come here,” she answered. Saying that out loud was way harder than she had originally expected, but the knot on her chest loosened up a bit. Lying to Haseul did not make her feel good—especially knowing that the younger girl might have felt bad about herself because of that.

 

“I don’t think I understand what you mean.”

 

“I mean that—that…” God, why was it so difficult to find the proper words? “You weren’t my last choice. You were the first, actually…” She laughed awkwardly. That had come out way worse than she had originally expected it to. “I asked you to do it because I—I wanted to come here with you.”

 

“Oh.” That was all Haseul said. Though she didn’t want to get her hopes up, Kahei could have sworn she heard her laugh quietly. It was a happy laugh that made Kahei’s breath hitch for a split second.

 

Underneath the (stupid) pillow barricade, Kahei felt Haseul’s hand moving and, almost instinctively, she started reaching for her. An abrupt wave of embarrassment stopped her midway. What was she even doing? Maybe she was overstepping certain boundaries she wasn’t supposed to overstep. Maybe she was inferring feelings and gestures that weren’t even real. Maybe all of this had been a terrible idea on the first place. Maybe—

 

Haseul, ever so thoughtful, seemed to notice the sudden change in Kahei’s attitude, and she simply moved her hand so it was brushing the slightest against the older girl’s fingers. It felt like she was saying “it’s okay”, “I understand”, “don’t worry”, “I’m here”. Even without speaking a single word, Haseul always found the way to make Kahei feel safer.

 

They both ended up falling asleep like that, their fingers gently brushing against each other under a bunch of pillows. Although they were barely touching, the contact seemed extremely intimate—even more than all those times they had held hands that day. It wasn’t much, but they both felt a closeness to the other they had never felt before.

 

---

 

The following morning was as awkward as Kahei feared it would be. She should have expected it, Kahei thought as she forced herself out of the warmth of their bed. She should have known better than to say things that would make Haseul feel uncomfortable.

 

They were supposed to attend brunch with her parents—as they had let her know in a number of very passive-aggressive text messages—and they had no chance of skipping it. Kahei kind of wished they could have just spent the morning sleeping in and mentally preparing for the party. After the moment she and Haseul had shared the previous night, she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to walk around holding hands without having a .

 

Once they were ready, both girls met Kahei’s parents on the hotel lobby. Just as expected from the Wongs, they entered the room where brunch would take place fashionably late. Her parents didn’t introduce them to anyone (something Kahei felt very thankful for) and simply told them to sit in their designated spots—at the corner of one of the tables, strategically separated from the most important guests, who sat on the opposite side of the room. Had she brought a date that her parents actually deemed appropriate, Kahei was sure she would have been seated in a very different place.

 

“Hey.” While they waited for the first course to arrive, she felt Haseul softly nudging her shoulder. “Look. The woman from yesterday is here,” she whispered, pointing with discretion to a spot near Kahei’s parents.

 

She was right—it was the same old lady from the previous night. Now that Kahei thought about it, she seemed familiar. If she and her parents were acquaintances, that’d explain why she kept staring at them while they had dinner. Maybe Kahei’s family had told her about their daughter and her no-so-appropriate plus-one. It was good she saw them having dinner together, though—it only helped to strengthen their lie.

 

“Nice. Now everybody probably knows we’re together, then,” Kahei hummed cheerfully. Her parents were pretty nosy and loved gossiping about their colleagues and their families. She was sure that woman was just like them, if not worse, judging by the panic in her mother’s eyes when she talked to her. Well. Definitely everyone knew that the Wongs had a gay daughter. Great.

 

“Your parents must really hate me,” Haseul said in a rather gloomy manner.

 

“Who cares? I like you.” She blurted it out without really thinking about it, but the moment she realized what she had just said, Kahei felt her face heat up. If she had made things awkward the previous night, she was now only making it even worse.

 

Haseul smiled at her—one of those smiles she couldn’t quite read—and leaned on her, gently resting her head against the older girl’s. “Yeah, maybe you’re right, who cares?” she whispered, her soft voice against her ear making Kahei’s stomach flip.

 

Everyone was staring at them, they knew. Kahei could feel her mother glowering at her from the other side of the table, she could hear her father let out a sigh of defeat, she could see people whispering into each other’s ears while discreetly pointing at them.

 

Who cared, anyway? If it meant she got to be like that with Haseul—if it meant being with Haseul in any way—she definitely didn’t care.

 

---

 

The event would take place in a large ballroom in the hotel that the company had made sure to book especially for that evening. Over 300 guests were expected to attend throughout the afternoon, and everything had been planned to run as perfectly as possible.

 

A few hours after sneaking out of brunch (it had become too awkward for them to bear so they fled as soon as they had the chance), Kahei and Haseul stood in the elevator on their way to the “party”. Wearing matching gowns, they looked like some fancy rich couple straight out of a TV show.

 

“Are you alright? You look kind of… pale,” Haseul asked, her voice soft and a worried expression on her face.

 

“Uh? I—uh, yeah, I’m perfectly fine,” Kahei said, trying to gather all the confidence she lacked at the moment. Truth was: she was terrified and hoped her parents didn’t try anything weird. “Are you alright?”

 

“Sure,” Haseul said with a relaxed smile. It didn’t seem like a lie. “We got this, remember?”

 

When Haseul’s hand wrapped around hers as they exited the elevator, Kahei realized—she was right, they got this. Not even the funny feeling in her chest and in every place where Haseul’s skin brushed against hers could stop the sudden rush of confidence she felt in that moment.

 

They entered the ballroom hand in hand, and they place was already crowded. Kahei couldn’t really recognize anyone and her parents didn’t seem to be around, so she and Haseul decided to walk around to try the canapés the celebrity chef was serving, making sure to avoid every person that Kahei thought might want to strike a conversation with her. If she wanted the evening to pass smoothly, she couldn’t let herself get caught in a conversation with one of her family’s conceited associates.

 

The first half an hour or so went better than expected. Kahei and Haseul managed to found a corner of the room that wasn’t packed, and they were in the middle of a pleasant conversation about their university duties when they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

 

“Kahei, darling! We have been looking for you everywhere!” Mrs Wong appeared out of nowhere, yanking her husband to make he was following her.

 

“Ah, hello. I’m sorry, we couldn’t find you with all these people around,” Kahei apologized with a shrug. She was lying—she and Haseul had been actively avoiding her parents. “How is everything going?”

 

“A lot of people have asked us about you, darling! You need to come with us and introduce yourself,” her mother said, grabbing her by the elbow. She didn’t even look at Haseul, who was staring blankly at them, trying to make something out of the conversation.

 

“Wait, what about Haseul? Shouldn’t she come with me? After all, she’s my date,” Kahei asked, trying to sound innocent. Her mother looked at her pointedly and sighed, shaking her head.

 

“She can stay here. Your father is dying to get to know her better.” Mr Wong stared at his wife with wide eyes, looking lightly panicked. Kahei resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “Right?”

 

Well aware that there was no use in fighting, Mr Wong simply nodded, glancing awkwardly at Haseul, who seemed to be completely lost. With her mother’s strong grip on her elbow forcing her to move, Kahei could only mouth “I’m sorry” to her friend before she was dragged between the crowd, far away from the safety of their corner.

 

When her mother said that many people had asked about her, it had been an understatement—Kahei spent the next forty minutes introducing herself to associates, colleagues and old friends of her family. After the first six people, her face started to hurt from forcing a smile. Still, she couldn’t leave—her mother kept her in place with a hand strategically placed on her shoulder.

 

She managed to sneak away from her mother to a nearby table after she had started a passionate debate about the stock market in Europe with one of her youngest associates. Kahei knew it was the perfect chance to escape and look for Haseul. The poor girl must have been having a terrible time, having to stir up a conversation with Mr Wong. It was very likely that he had already abandoned her by now.

 

While stealing a glass of champagne from one of the tables, Kahei felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned around, beaming, as she expected to find Haseul behind her. Maybe the girl had found her before she did. However, it wasn’t Haseul—it was a guy she didn’t recognize. He wasn’t one of the many people her mother had introduced to her, that was for sure.

 

“Hello. You are Wong Kahei, right?” The guy asked, smiling politely. He spoke Korean without an accent, so he was either one of the Korean associates of the company or related to any of them. The latter seemed more likely, as he looked too young to be a CEO or anything—he must have been around Kahei’s age.

 

“Uh, yes, I am,” she nodded, her eyebrows furrowed. “I’m sorry, do I know you or…?”

 

“Oh! My bad, I haven’t introduced myself,” he said. His smile irked Kahei. “My name is Jung Jisung. My father and yours have been business partners for years. It’s actually surprising he haven’t met before.”

 

Of course they were business partners, Kahei thought. She knew exactly why this guy was talking to her—he was the appropriate date her mother hoped she’d brought to the party. That was why she had made sure to keep Haseul away from her, so they wouldn’t scare this guy off. Kahei felt her face get red with anger. Did her mother really think she was going to dump her girlfriend—fake or not—for some random guy she had just met?

 

She snorted. “Yeah, nice to meet you. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really need to find someone,” she said, still holding a glass of champagne in her hand, and tried to push him away.

 

“Wait!” He grabbed her shoulder so as to stop her, which only earned him a scowl. “Your mother told me you needed a date for today. Where are you—?”

 

“You see, I couldn’t care less what my mother told you, to be honest,” Kahei groaned. She didn’t even try to be polite this time—the sooner she got rid of this guy, the better. “And I don’t need a date.”

 

The guy, Jisung or whatever his name was, didn’t seem to take that well. He probably wasn’t used to rejection. His grip on her shoulder became stronger, forcing her to completely turn around so she could free herself.

 

“Okay, look, I’m just trying to be nice, but if you’re going to act like a I—” He started, his voice rather irritated. There was no trace of the polite smile from before. This guy was really getting on Kahei’s nerves.

 

She was about to bite back—because nobody had the right to call her a , especially not some bigoted she had just met—when a familiar voice interrupted her. The fluttery sensation she had been feeling in her stomach came back.

 

“Kahei!”

 

Haseul popped out from behind a group of people standing next to a nearby table. Her face lit up when she saw the older girl, and her smile made Kahei forget her anger for a second. The guy just stared at them in confusion.

 

The next minute happened in slow motion for Kahei—Haseul approached them, deliberately ignoring the guy, wrapped her arm around Kahei’s waist and kissed her. It wasn’t more than a peck, but the softness of Haseul’s lips against hers almost made Kahei drop the glass of champagne she was holding.

 

“I couldn’t find you with all these people around! I was starting to miss you,” Haseul said, leaning against the older girl affectionately. “Where have you been?”

 

“I—uh—I’ve been… around,” she managed to answer, even though her chest felt like it was about to explode and her lips tickled and ohmyGodHaseuljustkissedher. “Y—you know my parents,” she added, letting out an awkward chuckle.

 

Haseul giggled and turned her head to Jisung, who was just kind of standing there without saying a word. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I interrupt something,” she made a dramatic pause, “babe?”

 

With an annoyed grunt, Jisung turned around and walked away, ignoring Haseul’s question. His face was red, either from embarrassment or from anger, but it didn’t matter anyway. They had finally gotten rid of him.

 

Haseul stopped clinging on Kahei, a mischievous grin on her lips, and let out a loud chuckle. Kahei felt her soul leave her body.

 

“Did you see his face? He was fuming!”

 

Kahei tried to laugh, but she instead let out something that sounded more like a whimper. “Y—yeah, totally…”

 

Noticing the change in her friend’s behaviour, Haseul furrowed her brows, as if she had suddenly realized what she had just done. “God, I’m so, so sorry about that. I—I saw you with him and I thought he was trying something weird with you so I just—it was the first thing that crossed my mind. I’m so sorry, oh my God. I shouldn’t have done that without asking. I’m so—”

 

“You don’t need to apologize, Haseul,” Kahei interrupted her rambling, and rested her free hand on her shoulder, trying to be reassuring. “That was—it was okay. I’m—I’m thankful you did that,” she said, blushing wildly.

 

Haseul squeezed her hand. It made Kahei’s stomach flip, and instead of trying to ignore it like she usually did, she grabbed Haseul’s hand with all the determination she could gather.

 

“Let’s ditch this party,” she said. Haseul smiled like she had been waiting all night to hear her say that.

 

Once they managed to leave the room and while they waited for the elevator, they heard an ominous sound of footsteps behind them. Kahei couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips.

 

“What do you think you are doing?” Her mother yelled, loud and angry, not even trying to feign composure anymore. Behind her, Mr Wong looked as enraged as his wife, if not worse.

 

“I hope you are aware of how utterly humiliating that has been for us, Kahei!” He said, pointing a threatening finger at his daughter. “You need to go back there and apologize immediately!”

 

That was the last straw for Kahei, who had been doing her best not to snap. She let go of Haseul’s hand and stood menacingly in front of her parents. They seemed a bit taken a back—it was probably the first time that Kahei had ever confronted them like that.

 

“Oh, so now I need to apologize? For what am I supposed to apologize, exactly? For doing what you told me to do? For bringing a date just like you asked?” She felt her face get red with anger, but she didn’t care anymore.

 

“You know why, Kahei, so don’t act like—”

 

“No, I don’t know why,” she cut him off. “In fact, you should be the ones apologizing. I’m so tired of you two trying to force me into relationships, only because you’re desperate for the approval of those bigoted s that work with you. I’m your daughter, not your puppet, in case you have forgotten.”

 

Her father gaped, his eyes wide, no words coming out from his mouth. He definitely hadn’t expected Kahei to tell him off like that.

 

“We are doing this for you,” her mother intruded, clenching her jaw. “You need to stop acting like a child, Kahei! We want you to have a happy life, and this little…” She pointed at Haseul with her head, glowering at her. The girl seemed completely lost, not understanding a word from the conversation. “This little nobody is no good for you, Kahei. You deserve an appropriate parnter, not some—”

 

“Don’t even finish that sentence, mother.” Kahei stood protectively between Haseul and her family. “If you really wanted that for me, you’d accept that Haseul makes me happy and that she’s the person I want to be with. I couldn’t care less about money or social status or—or whatever if I’m with her.”

 

She offered her hand to Haseul, who took it despite being completely dazzled. The elevator opened just in time for them to escape that conversation.

 

“Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a plane to catch very early in the morning,” Kahei said, glaring pointedly at her parents—they seemed both defeated and dumbfounded. “Call me when you decide to actually start caring about my happiness.”

 

She smashed the button and the doors closed, leaving Mr and Mrs Wong staring in awe at their daughter. They didn’t try to stop her, probably too shocked to know what to do. Kahei knew she’d have a lot of missed calls to answer when she went back to Korea.

 

Letting out a defeated sigh, Kahei rested her back against the elevator wall. She felt both exhausted and relieved after finally saying out loud all the thoughts she had been bottling up for so long. Having Haseul next to her did make her feel a bit better, though.

 

“You know,” Haseul said, her voice small and her eyes fixated on the floor, squeezing her hand, “you make me really happy, too.”

 

Kahei stared at her with wide eyes, feeling her cheeks warm up. She didn’t expect Haseul to understand any part of her conversation with her parents—especially not that part. Still, she was low-key glad she did.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Kahei asked, because it seemed like the only proper answer to that. Haseul smiled, completely flustered, and, without letting go of her hand, she leaned in, closing the gap between them.

 

She could have sworn her chest was about to burst when Haseul’s lips finally brushed against her, first a bit hesitant, then gentle and delicate. Even the way Haseul kissed her managed to make her feel safe.

 

Kahei couldn’t help but giggle against , remembering all those times she had daydreamed about kissing Haseul. And now there they were, in an elevator somewhere in Paris, finally kissing the girl of her dreams and she was just so, so happy.

 

---

 

After a long night of cuddling, kissing and just being together—without Kahei’s stupid pillow barricade, of course—they raided all the fancy shampoo samples they could find around the room, grabbed their luggage and called a cab to take them to the airport.

 

They spent most of the journey snuggled together, both too sleepy and too smitten with each other to care what the taxi driver (or anyone for that matter) would have thought about them. Kahei felt a little stupid, not being able to stop her lips from smiling every time she so much as glanced at Haseul, but when Haseul looked at her with her beautiful eyes and bright smile she just forgot about everything.

 

“We should go on a date,” Haseul said once they were sitting on the plane, waiting for it to take off. Her fingers had been curled together with Kahei’s since they left the hotel, and her head was resting against the older girl’s. “You know, like a real date,” she added with a chuckle that tickled Kahei’s ear.

 

“Sure,” the older girl nodded as she caressed Haseul’s hand with her thumb. A date without her family around sounded wonderful. A date with Haseul sounded wonderful. Anything that involved being with Haseul in any way sounded wonderful. “I’d really love that.”

 

As Haseul leaned to kiss her again, a shy smile on her lips, Kahei thought that, after all (and no matter what her family had to say), she had definitely found the appropriate partner for her, and that was the only thing she cared about.