The blonde gently wrapped her fingers around the brunette’s wrist and slowly pushed her hand away.  “Miya...” she said softly, catching the brunette’s eyes briefly before looking down, her face flushed.

“Seulgi-ah, “ the other girl said, suddenly running her other hand through Seulgi’s blonde hair. “Your new color,  so nice.. “ she whispered, before adding mischievously, with a wink: “like mine last time..”. Seulgi bit her lip shyly and turned even redder. She hadn’t really thought about that; she just knew she wanted to try blonde, and suddenly felt intensely self conscious realizing why.  A few awkward moments later, while Sunmi was gently flattening the hair she had ruffled, Seulgi realized her hand was still grasping Sunmi’s wrist. She quickly let go and instinctively covered her own nose and mouth instead. “So much for my plans for a smooth entrance”, she thought to herself exasperatedly.

Sensing Seulgi’s shyness, Sunmi gently put her arm on the blonde’s shoulder and led her into the living room.  She flopped down on her soft black leather couch and patted the pillow next to her. “Seulgi-ah, come, sit.. “ she said, with a shy smile that Seulgi could tell wasn’t quite as confident as she was pretending to be. But this was her apartment, so she clearly had the upper hand.  Seulgi sat down, slowly, turned slightly towards Sunmi, her hands clasped awkwardly in front of her, not knowing where to put them. Sunmi looked deeply into her eyes and put both her hands on Seulgi’s. “I am happy you actually came” she said, with a big smile and a twinkle in her eye. Seulgi could feel the heat rising in her cheeks again, and resisted the urge to look away, but lost for words all she could do was nod.

But when Seulgi looked up, she noticed Sunmi was blushing too, and she could feel a surge of confidence building up inside her. “How did I let her make me so soft” she said to herself, shaking her head slightly before staring intently back into Sunmi’s eyes, while intertwining her fingers in hers.. Her confidence back, she remembered what she had meant to say.. “Sunmi-ssi, why did you want me to come?”

For a Moment Sunmi kept gazing back, seemingly lost in her eyes, until a moment of realization spread across her face. She let go of Seulgi’s hands and reached over for something on the table next to them. A feeling of momentary sadness washed over Seulgi until she noticed Sunmi was holding a familiar cassette player.  Sunmi smiled widely and handed it over.. “To remember when we knew..” she said softly, before resting her hands on Seulgi’s knees.

Seulgi fumbled awkwardly with the buttons for a little bit before finally hitting play, and heard the same sound of a cassette player starting, and some gentle guitar, before a familiar voice, albeit slightly distorted, said “Can I show it just a little? Your time, it won’t take long, this feeling of awkwardness..”  Seulgi looked up and noticed that Sunmi had covered her nose and mouth with one hand shyly, but failing to hide the redness that had spread across her face.  In a moment of sudden realization, Seulgi gasped involuntarily, realizing that Sunmi had actually written this for them. “Sunmi-ah!” she exclaimed, with a big smile, feeling her awkwardness dissipating.  Sunmi, noticing the reaction, relaxed visibly, and let her hand slide down and clasp the front of her dress instead, with her smile turning mildly emotional. “Don’t go and tell anybody, even if we get a bit drunk, and say all kinds of stuff..” the lyrics, now clear, continued.. “That’ll stay as our memory, even if we talk nonsense, it’s between us two only, don’t tell anyone, promise?” Seulgi nodded. “Of course!” she said happily, a feeling of warm fuzziness spreading through her body.

After the tape stopped, the two just looked at each other for a while, neither seemingly wanting to let the feeling of connectedness go. “I am so glad I got to the opportunity to get to know you.. “ Seulgi started, shyly, before Sunmi interjected playfully: “Seulgi-ah, silly, don’t be so serious!”. She stood up quickly and grabbed a bottle of soju from her fridge. “Maybe this will help,” she said with a wink. She found two glasses on her counter and put them on the table in front of them, and then sat down behind Seulgi, who was still turned towards where Sunmi had been sitting. Sunmi wrapped her left arm around Seulgi’s waist, and rested her chin on her right shoulder from behind.. “You are special to me, Seulgi-ah” she whispered softly into her ear.  Seulgi turned her head slightly and felt Sunmi’s warm breath on her neck, making her involuntarily bite down on her lower lip.  

Realizing she was letting herself fall under Sunmi’s spell, she grabbed the bottle of Soju, filled the two glasses, and handed one to Sunmi, “To what we have!” she exclaimed, and downed her drink in one gulp. Sunmi leaned back and drank hers slowly, watching Seulgi with a mischievous expression. “To us!” She added. Seulgi suddenly noticed the warmth of Sunmi’s hand through her shirt, and rested her hand on top.  Feeling more relaxed, she leaned back against Sunmi’s chest, looking up at her with a smile. “I feel safe with you, Miya”, she said quietly. Sunmi, looking back down at her with a caring expression, carefully brushed Seulgi’s bangs away with her fingertips, before leaning forward and gently kissing her forehead. Seulgi let out a content sigh and closed her eyes, wishing that this moment could be frozen in time forever.

While feeling herself get more and more relaxed,  Seulgi suddenly remembered why she had come here today, and sat up suddenly. Feeling emboldened by the Soju, she turned around, grabbed both Sunmi’s wrists and pinned them firmly but gently against the back of the couch behind Sunmi.  She heard her gasp and saw her face blush brightly. “”Miya,” Seulgi started.. “Are you playing with my heart?” Sunmi shook her head vigorously. ”So you mean what we have here is something real?” she continued, still with a serious expression on her face.  She was almost certain she knew the answer, but she had to take full advantage of her upper hand before Sunmi saw right through her. Sunmi nodded, a slightly worried expression on her face. Seulgi could see her starting to bite her lip, so she gave her a big smile that evaporated the look of concern. She took Sunmi’s arms and put them together in front of her; “You are special to me too, Miya!” she said happily, kissing Sunmi’s hands gently. Seulgi felt happy and content, but in the back of her mind she couldn’t help think that they were facing a challenging future together, given the world they lived in.   But in this moment, she felt they could do anything.