It was nearly nine o’clock in the evening when Seungwan received a phone call from Joohyun. She had been playing her guitar, humming along with melodies she made up on the spot, when her phone rang from its place on the couch cushion beside her. She picked it up, knowing it would be Joohyun, and answered, “Hello?”

    “Hi.” Joohyun said softly. Seungwan could not tell if she sounded upset or not, but she figured the fact she wasn’t obviously upset was a good sign.

    “How was dinner?” She asked in as nonchalant of a voice as she could muster. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she waited for a reply.

    “It was fine.” Joohyun answered simply.

    “You’re gonna leave me in suspense like that?” Seungwan asked with a nervous laugh. “Tell me what happened.”

    “Well I told them…” Joohyun trailed off. “Sooyoung said she wasn’t surprised that I’m not straight..” She exhaled a small breath. “Seulgi said she was upset I hadn’t told her earlier, but she understands why.”

    “That’s good!” Seungwan cheered softly. “What did they say about us dating?”

    “Seulgi was very happy about it, she said she could tell you make me happy.” Joohyun replied. “Sooyoung made a few vulgar jokes I don’t care to repeat.”

    “Wait no, what did she say?” Seungwan laughed into the phone; she could only imagine what Sooyoung must’ve joked about and how flustered it must have made Joohyun.

    Joohyun laughed quietly. “Oh nothing, you .”

    “Hey!” Seungwan mocked offense at the comment. “I’m just curious.” Joohyun laughed again and she joined in this time, giggling into the receiver. “I’m glad it went well Hyun. A weight off your shoulders huh?”

    “Yes, I finally feel like I can breathe properly again.” Joohyun said. There were a few moments of contented silence, and then, “I miss you so much, Seungwan.”

    “I miss you too.” Seungwan murmured back, sighing quietly. She missed the warmth of Joohyun in her arms, the way they fit perfectly together, like puzzle pieces.

    “You’re too good to be true.” Joohyun said in a hushed voice.

    “Hardly.” Seungwan scoffed. “You’re so perfect you’re hardly even real.”

    “You’re too kind to me.” Joohyun replied. She changed the topic abruptly, asking, “Have you put a picture in the frame yet?”

    “No, I haven’t.” Seungwan answered, glancing over to where the frame sat on her kitchen table. “I haven’t found the right picture yet.”

    “I’ll have to start taking pictures for you.” Joohyun said warmly.

    “I’m going to have to come up with a really good birthday gift for you, since you got me such nice Christmas and birthday presents.” Seungwan said back. “Your birthday is next week!”

    “Yes, it is.” Joohyun sounded less enthusiastic about the matter than Seungwan had.

    “Where’s your excitement? You’re turning thirty, that’s a big deal.” Seungwan pressed.

    “I guess.” Joohyun conceded. “I feel old.”

    “Thirty is not old.” Seungwan insisted, rolling her eyes. “It seems like a good age. You’re totally settled in life, you have a stable job, a good apartment, a girlfriend.”

    “I suppose that is a good thing.” Joohyun said. “Especially the girlfriend part.” Seungwan could hear her smile through the phone.

    “You know, we haven’t gone on a real date yet.” Seungwan pointed out.

    “I was actually thinking about that on my drive home from Seulgi and Sooyoung’s.” Joohyun replied. “Do you happen to be free tomorrow night?”

    “Yes, I am.” Seungwan smiled as she spoke, the reality of the fact that Joohyun was her girlfriend settling over her once again. “What do you have in mind?”

    “Well the weather is actually supposed to be quite warm, so I thought we could go to the park in center city.” Joohyun sounded excited at the prospect. Seungwan liked the idea, though she had never been to the park in the city.

    “That would be really nice.” Seungwan replied. “It’s been so long since the weather has been nice enough to be outside.”

    “I’ve missed the warm days.” Joohyun said in agreement.  

    “Me too.” Seungwan replied, letting out a small sigh. “I’m sorry to end the call, but I should probably call Yeri and tell her what’s going on so she doesn’t feel out of the loop.” Seungwan said with a small laugh.

    “Oh yes, she would hate to be the only one in the office not to know.” Joohyun replied knowingly. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning, sweetheart.”

    “I’ll see you then. Goodnight.” Seungwan said, smiling.

    “Goodnight.” Joohyun said back, and then the called ended.

Seungwan sighed, dialing Yeri’s number and waiting for her to pick up. It only took three rings and then she heard Yeri say, “What’s up, unnie? You never call.”

“I have something to tell you.” Seungwan said, gathering her courage.

“Ooo, what is it?” Yeri asked excitedly. “You found an apartment?”

“No…” Seungwan trailed off, pacing her breathing. She was oddly nervous about telling Yeri, though rationally she knew it would fine. “I got a girlfriend.”

“Really?!” Yeri exclaimed. “Oh my god that’s awesome! Who is it?”

“It’s Joohyun.” Seungwan said quietly.

“Wait, like...Miss Bae? You and Miss Bae are dating?” Yeri asked in disbelief.

“Yeah…” Seungwan held her breath, waiting for a genuine reaction.

“Oh my god.” Yeri said. “You’re ing your boss.”

“Yerim! We’re not having !” Seungwan sighed as Yeri laughed. “It’s not like that, I genuinely like her.”

“Aw, so you fell in love with your boss.” Yeri amended herself.

“Yeri…” Seungwan trailed off in an exasperated voice.

“You’re not denying it this time.” Yeri pointed out. “How long have you guys been dating?”

“A couple days.” Seungwan said.

“And you’re already head over heels.” Yeri laughed. “You’re too funny, Seungwan unnie. Do Miss Kang and Miss Park know?”

“Yeah, Joohyun told them earlier tonight.” Seungwan answered. “They were chill with it.”

“Well I would assume so.” Yeri said. “Wait so like, have you guys kissed?”

“Yeah?” Seungwan posed it almost like a question, unsure why Yeri would ask.

“You’ve kissed your boss that’s so weird.” Yeri said, giggling

“It’s not that weird!” Seungwan replied defensively.

“I’m just joking, Wannie. I think you guys are cute together.” Yeri clarified. “So are you going to like, move in with her or something?”

“It’s only been like three days since we got together.” Seungwan said.

“Well yeah, but clearly you’re already really serious about her. And I couldn’t imagine Miss Bae just dating for fun.” Yeri replied. “To be honest, I couldn’t have imagined Miss Bae dating at all. Then again, I thought she was straight.”

“We’ll just have to see how things go.” Seungwan sighed.

“I’m really happy for you.” Yeri said in a sincere voice. “You deserve someone nice who will treat you right.”

“Aw thank you Yeri.” Seungwan said. “So do you.”

“Now I’m the only one at the office without a girlfriend, this is depressing.” Yeri said with a laugh. Seungwan laughed too. Yeri then said, “I’m gonna have to cut the call short, I have an exam to cram for. See you tomorrow unnie! Love you.”

“Love you too, Yeri.” Seungwan replied and then hung the call up. She felt as though a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders now that everyone in the office knew about her and Joohyun’s relationship. Everything went as well as it possibly could have gone, and she was very grateful things had turned out that way. She knew it wouldn’t always be that way, especially considering Joohyun would have to tell her mother eventually, but they would tackle that obstacle when they got there. For now, Seungwan was just going to appreciate everything going well around her.