Monday morning was rain filled, and Seungwan had to run from the door of her apartment building to Joohyun’s car to avoid getting totally drenched. As she settled into the passenger seat, wiping the rain droplets from her hair, she looked over at Joohyun, who was smiling warmly at her and watching her. “You look beautiful.” Joohyun said as she merged into traffic, her voice quiet and level.

    “Thank you.” Seungwan smiled back at her. “So do you. You always do.” She could see Joohyun’s cheeks become rosier even in the dreary light of the rainy day. Joohyun drove with her left hand, reaching her right hand to intertwine with Seungwan’s, running her thumb over Seungwan’s skin gently.

They arrived at the office ten minutes early, us usual, and once the car was in park Joohyun turned to face Seungwan. “I’m going to tell Seulgi and Sooyoung soon.” She said, taking both of Seungwan’s hands in hers. “I just have to work up the courage.”

“You don’t have to tell them so soon if you don’t want to.” Seungwan reminded her.

“I want to tell them.” Joohyun assured her with a smile that made her eyes light up. “I’m not ashamed of being with you, or of…” She trailed off, and Seungwan thought for a moment she was going to say loving you, though she did not. She sighed and then went on, “I know they’ll be happy about it, but I’m still a little nervous.”

“Nerves are understandable.” Seungwan said. “It gets easier each time you do it, but the first time is the hardest.”

“Well technically my first time was to you, and I wasn’t nervous at all telling you.” Joohyun replied.

“Why weren’t you nervous with me?” Seungwan wondered aloud softly.

“Because I trust you more than anyone.” Joohyun answered, which made Seungwan’s heart feel warm in her chest. Seungwan smiled, wanting to kiss her but knowing that would have to wait until later. Joohyun gave her hands a delicate squeeze and then let go to get out of the car. Seungwan followed suit, trailing behind her as they went into the building. As she followed Joohyun up the steps, she thought back to the weekend, to the way Joohyun’s lips felt, to what waking up with Joohyun in her bed had been like. She would cherish those memories forever, and she knew she would cherish every memory they were yet to make together. Even walking with Joohyun was pleasant and calming, being with the woman she so adored made her feel at ease. They reached the top of the steps and went inside the office, Joohyun calling out, “Morning everyone!” In a bright, cheery voice.

“You seem happy today.” Seulgi commented from where she was standing by Yeri’s desk.

“I am.” Joohyun answered simply. “Am I not usually?”

“Well yeah, but you just seem...extra happy today in particular.” Seulgi clarified.

“That’s what I said about Seungwan unnie yesterday.” Yeri added, and Seungwan quickly glanced to Joohyun.

“Seungwan must be passing her good spirit around.” Joohyun commented, looking back at Seungwan and grinning. The younger woman held back a laugh at the oddness of the situation. They made their way to Seungwan’s desk and as Seungwan sat down, Joohyun said, “I’ll get you your coffee.”

“You don’t have to.” Seungwan said back, but Joohyun was already walking to the kitchen. Sighing, Seungwan settled in her chair and opened up a file she needed to reorganize that she had started the previous Friday. She had barely begun when Joohyun came by and set her drink down, running a hand over her shoulder before disappearing into her office. She smiled to herself, continuing her work. About an hour into the morning, a client came in through the door, looking around. Seungwan walked over to her and asked, “Who are you here to see, ma’am?”

“Park Sooyoung.” The woman answered. Seungwan nodded and pointed over to the far left office.

“She’s right in there.” She said, and the woman thanked her and walked off.

As Seungwan was about to go back to her desk, she heard Yeri call out, “Unnie, come over here for a second.”

So she her heel and went over to Yerim’s desk, asking, “What’s up?”

“I have your graduation ticket.” Yeri said, passing her a long slip of glossy paper.

“Oh, thank you.” Seungwan said.

“Can you give Miss Bae her ticket too?” Yeri asked, holding up another glossy slip of paper.

“Sure.” Seungwan said easily, taking it as well. She walked over to Joohyun’s office door, checking the tickets as she went. Her ticket was labelled Seat H23 and Joohyun’s was labelled Seat H24. She was glad they would be sitting beside one another. She tapped her knuckles lightly on Joohyun’s office door.

“Come on in!” Joohyun called out brightly. Seungwan pushed the door open and stepped inside, letting the door fall shut behind her. Joohyun looked up from her computer and noticed Seungwan, smiling. “Oh, what a pleasant surprise.” Her round rimmed glasses were slipping down her nose and she quickly slipped them off and set them down as she stood up and came around the desk. “What do you need?”

“Yeri gave me your ticket to her graduation.” Seungwan answered, passing the ticket over. Joohyun took it in her small hands, looking over the paper.

“Oh, it’s at the nice theater.” She commented quietly. “That’ll be wonderful.”

“Yeah, it’ll be cool to see her finally graduate.” Seungwan said. “She might not stay working at the firm though.”

“Really?” Joohyun asked, looking back up at Seungwan. “What is she planning on doing?”

“She wants to start a business.” Seungwan answered. “But she hasn’t totally decided yet.”

“Hm.” Joohyun responded, lost in thought. “We’ll have to figure something out if she does leave.” Seungwan nodded as Joohyun turned and set her ticket on her desk.

“I’ll let you get back to work.” Seungwan said, turning to go.

“Wait.” Joohyun said and Seungwan turned back around. Joohyun pulled her closer, kissing her. The kiss felt different than any of the others before; this was deeper and warmer. It seemed to set Seungwan on fire as she kissed back, her hands gripping Joohyun’s waist. She felt the older woman’s fingers card through her hair.

She pulled back, her breath leaving in soft gasps. “Well I wasn’t expecting that.” She whispered. Joohyun smirked a little, which made Seungwan feel as though she couldn’t breath suddenly.

“Go on back to work.” Joohyun said in a low voice, kissing Seungwan’s cheek. Seungwan looked at Joohyun for a moment, half smiling, and then she let herself out of Joohyun’s office, feeling mildly dazed as she sat back down at her desk. She could still feel Joohyun’s lips ghosting her own as she tried to focus again on the file at hand, and she worried someone might be able to tell what they had been doing. She resisted the urge to touch her lips and make sure they were not kiss swollen. Her fingers settled on the keyboard as she began typing, trying to find a way to focus when all she could think about was Joohyun.

Seungwan spent her day going through the court files, re wording things here and there, organizing them more efficiently. She was still typing, focused intensely, when five o’clock rolled around. She was glancing back and forth between a PDF file of the court reports for a case and her own file as she transcribed the information, and she didn’t notice Joohyun’s office door opening and Joohyun stepping out. Joohyun stepped up behind her, leaning down to peer over her shoulder at what she was working on, placing her hands on Seungwan’s shoulders. Seungwan jumped a little, turning back to look at Joohyun.

“You scared me.” She said with a laugh.

Joohyun smiled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to see what you’re working on.”

“Same old thing as always.” Seungwan scrolled back up to the beginning of the case summary she was typing. “I’ll email you the finished file when it’s done.”

“Thank you.” Joohyun said, straightening back up. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah, let me just close things up.” Seungwan shut the computer down and stood, slipping on her coat.

“I’m going to go and let Seulgi and Sooyoung know we’re leaving.” Joohyun gestured for Seungwan to follow her, so they walked together to Seulgi’s office door. As they passed by Yeri’s desk, Joohyun said, “Just over a month until you graduate, right Yerim?”

“Yep!” Yeri said brightly. “My cap and gown should come in sometime this week.”

“That’s exciting.” Joohyun replied, smiling warmly. “I’m very happy for you. We’re all very proud.”

“Thank you, Miss Bae.” Yeri grinned as she spoke.

“I’m gonna cry when I see you on the stage.” Seungwan chimed in.

“I’m not dying!” Yeri laughed. “I’m just graduating college.” Seungwan rolled her eyes jokingly as Yeri stood up, readying to leave. She hugged Seungwan and said, “I’m heading out, I’ll see you tomorrow unnie.”

“See you tomorrow.” Seungwan said, hugging her back tightly. Yeri went to the door as Joohyun and Seungwan went into Seulgi’s office.

“Seulgi-ya?” Joohyun said as she stepped in. Seulgi looked up from the file on her desk, smiling when she saw Joohyun and Seungwan.

“Is it really time to leave already?” She asked, checking her wrist watch. “Time is flying by recently.”

“It is.” Joohyun agreed. “I just stopped in to say goodbye.” She hesitated before continuing, “Oh, by the way, I have something to tell you and Sooyoung. Later.”

“Oh?” Seulgi said as she stood up, sliding on her coat. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine.” Joohyun assured her.

“Well now you have me nervous, Hyun.” Seulgi responded as the three women left her office to go to Sooyoung’s.

“Don’t worry about it, it isn’t bad.” Joohyun said.

Seulgi stepped closer to Joohyun and whispered, “It’s not something with your mom, is it?”

“No, no. Not at all.” Joohyun whispered back. They all stepped into Sooyoung’s office and found Sooyoung already preparing to leave, coat on and purse over her shoulder.

“I thought I was going to have to come and get you.” She said to Seulgi, smiling. “Usually that’s the case.”

“Usually.” Seulgi agreed, going to stand by her girlfriend. Seungwan thought it was ironic that now there were two couples at the office. “Joohyun said she has something to tell us.”

“Oh really? What is it unnie?” Sooyoung asked as they all made their way to the exit.

“I’ll tell you both later.” Joohyun said with a small laugh. “I regret bringing it up now that you’re both so curious about it.” They all went out the door and filed down the stairs towards the main exit to the parking lot. Sooyoung and Seulgi went to their car as Joohyun and Seungwan went to Joohyun’s.

“When will you tell us?” Sooyoung pressed.

Joohyun sighed. “When are you both free?”

“You can come over for dinner tonight.” Sooyoung suggested. As the conversation continued, Seungwan opened the passenger side door and climbed inside. She could hear faintly the plans of dinner being made and it made her a bit nervous, knowing that after tonight Seulgi and Sooyoung would know. She trusted both of them and knew they wouldn’t react badly, but she was nervous for Joohyun. Telling the first couple of people is a huge step and she hoped Joohyun wouldn’t regret telling them so soon.

Soon after the plans were made, Joohyun got into the car and started it up. She let Sooyoung and Seulgi pull out first, following behind them. “I’m glad Sooyoung is such a planner, I needed a set date and time to tell them.” Joohyun said quietly.

“Are you still really nervous?” Seungwan asked.

Joohyun nodded. “The only time I’ve been more nervous than this is when I took the bar exam.” Seungwan smiled.

“Well the stakes are much lower than the bar exam, so you’ll be fine.” She said in a comforting voice.

“The thing is,” Joohyun started. “I know they’ll be okay with it, I’m just scared they’ll be upset I kept it a secret so long. Especially Seulgi, she tells me everything and I know it hurts her feelings terribly when I keep things from her.” She sighed. “They’ll be overjoyed that we’re dating though, they both adore you.”

“Really?” Seungwan didn’t know that, but it made her feel good. She was glad that both Seulgi and Sooyoung liked her, as she liked them very much.

“Oh yes, they tell me all the time about how wonderful you are. Sooyoung made it very known that she’ll be extremely upset if I fire you.” Joohyun said, which made Seungwan chuckle. They reached Seungwan’s apartment building then, and Joohyun asked suddenly, “How has looking at apartments been going?”

“Oh, it’s been fine.” Seungwan answered, knowing this meant Joohyun wanted to move on from such a serious topic. “I haven’t found the one yet but I will soon, I can feel it.” Joohyun smiled at her, seeming to admire the liveliness in the way she spoke. “Good luck tonight, I’m sure it’ll be just fine. Call me if you need to.”

“I will, thank you.” Joohyun said softly. She leaned over and hugged Seungwan lightly, pressing a quick, chaste kiss to Seungwan’s cheek. “Have a good night, sunshine.” The term of endearment made Seungwan smile as her cheeks heated. She got out of the car, waving goodbye as Joohyun drove off.