3.4 Being Honest

Irene took Sakura for a car ride around the town as she was calming herself down. She insisted that she didn’t want to let Eunbi know that she had been crying stupidly just because of her jealousy. She still remembers how Eunbi thought she was childish when she got jealous over Chaewon when they were dating. They had a huge fight because of it. Turned out that Chaewon was only a junior colleague and that she was dating someone else at the time. Sakura didn’t want the same thing to happen again this time. She should trust Eunbi, and try to keep herself calm.

After driving around the streets of Seoul for almost 20 minutes, they had arrived back at the boutique. Irene parked her car in front of the building, turned off the engine and turned to the passenger seat. She lets Sakura calm herself down, gave her all the space that she needs. The younger girl had stopped crying, and she was wiping her eyes with a piece of tissue carefully not to mess up her makeup.

“Are you okay now?” asked Irene, breaking the silence between them.

Sakura let out a heavy sigh.

“I think so.”

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

The Japanese girl hesitated but then she turned her body to her side.

“It’s Lee Sian,” she said, slow.

“Sian? Why?” asked Irene, raising an eyebrow.

Sakura sighed, “I got jealous. I mean, she’s being too friendly with Eunbi! What’s with that?”

Irene gulped. Sakura’s face was fuming red.

“I know that they were best friends in college and whatever but Eunbi is married, to me! Shouldn’t there be some kind of boundaries between them?”

“It’s not just Sian, I mean Eunbi too. Was she that insensitive towards me? Would she be okay if I’m that friendly with other woman? With you, for example?”

“Me?”

Sakura nods, “She goes crazy if I’m alone with you. She still is. But that’s not the point.”

Irene gulped.

“I know this is some stupid jealousy but I’m a woman too, I get jealous easily. She’s so tight with that girl, like they have their own world going on and I can’t even enter it. Eunbi seems like a different person when she’s with Sian!”

Sakura sighed again and looked at Irene, “Am I reaching here? Am I overreacting? That Sian girl may be straight, right?”

“Well…”

“Wait, do you know something about her?” asked Sakura.

Irene looked away, “Maybe it’s better if you ask Eunbi about it.”

“You do know something.”

The older girl gulped, “N-No I don’t, I’m just saying that it’s better if you discuss it with your wife-

Sakura cuts in, “I know it when you’re lying, Irene-san. Can’t you just please tell me?”

Irene looked at Sakura and their eyes met. The younger girl was staring at her with a slight pout, and it made her weak inside. That works back then, and it works even now.

“Fine,” said Irene, defeated.

Sakura leaned closer, waiting for her to begin.

“I know that Sian… isn’t straight. She’s really gay, probably gayer than both of us combined, you know what I mean?”

Sakura blinked her eyes, “W-What? So how did you know that?”

Irene took a deep breath and looked away, “Eunbi didn’t tell you about her college days?”

Sakura gulped, “Well, she told me once that she realized that she likes girls when she was in college and she had her first girlfriend there-

She paused.

She looked at Irene and their eyes met.

“Y-You mean, it was her?”

Irene nods.

Sakura gasped, “L-Lee Sian was Eunbi’s first??”

Irene nods again.

“So she wasn’t a best friend but her ex-girlfriend?!”

“They were best friends but then they dated briefly, but it was a whirlwind romance, it was over before I could even blink. They were more comfortable as friends, rather than lovers,” replied Irene.

Sakura leaned her back against the seat, trying to take it all in.

“So she was lying to me.”

Irene gulped, “Come on, it wasn’t a lie, they were technically best friends. I mean she probably didn’t think of it much, it was a short-lived thing-

Sakura scoffed, “Not telling the whole truth is the same as lying!”

“Calm down, please.”

“I hate liars.”

“Saachan, calm down,” she said in Japanese.

She reached for her hands and held it. Sakura felt calmer upon her touch.

Irene continued, “Think of it calmly. I’m sure Eunbi didn’t think much of it. Don’t get angry too much. She loves you.”

Sakura exhales and then she nodded, “I’ll talk to her when we get home.”

“Calmly,” Irene added.

The younger girl nodded, “Okay, calmly.”

They looked at each other and smiled.

Suddenly Irene’s phone rang.

“Oh, it’s Wan,” she said, as Wendy’s photo appeared on the screen.

She picked up the phone immediately.

“Yes, babe?”

“Where are you? I’m waiting for you at the boutique.”

“I’m in the car with-

She paused.

“I just parked my car. I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay, hurry up.”

“Hmm.”

She hung up the phone and looked at Sakura.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Sakura sighed, “Let’s just go. I don’t want to keep Wendy unnie waiting for you.”

She opened the door and was already one foot out, but she turned and looked at Irene.

“Thanks, Irene-san,” she said, smiling.

The older girl smiled back, “Anytime.”

**

Irene joined the dress fitting soon and she looked great alongside her fiancé, Wendy. The bridesmaids also get their dresses size sorted out. Eunbi rushed to Sakura as soon as she saw her.

“Where were you?” she asked, worried.

“You were looking for me?”

Eunbi scoffed, “Of course! I tried calling too but you turned off the phone.”

Sakura gulped, “I-I stepped out for a bit, for fresh air.”

Eunbi grabbed her hands, “Don’t go missing on me again, Kkura-ya.”

Juri was passing by them and she chimed, “She almost call the cops, you know?”

Sakura snorted, “I thought you didn’t even realize I was gone.”

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