Seungwan had spent nearly an hour getting ready for her date with Joohyun, carefully picking out her outfit which consisted of her nicest jeans, a button up shirt, and the necklace from Joohyun that she always wore. She had gone through nearly every shirt in her closet before settling on her blue and white pin striped button up, which she had forgotten she owned until she spotted it again. It was just past six o’clock when Joohyun pulled up outside her apartment building, and Seungwan took the steps two at a time so she could get out to the car quickly. She opened the door and slid inside, shutting the door carefully and buckling her seatbelt. She met eyes with Joohyun and then Joohyun leaned over and gave her a soft kiss on the lips as a greeting.

    “You look very nice.” Joohyun complimented her warmly.

    “So do you.” Seungwan said in reply, taking Joohyun’s outfit; she wore a knee length, flowy black skirt and a white top. She wore hardly any makeup, which Seungwan thought made her look even more beautiful. Joohyun smiled as she murmured her thanks, taking Seungwan’s hand and interlocking their fingers. She pulled away, driving down streets Seungwan had never been on, towards a part of center city that had a lot more greenery than the business district the firm was located in.

    “Have you ever been to the park up here?” Joohyun asked as she drove down a street with small houses on it, an area that seemed to be the start of the transition from the urban city to the suburbs located outside of it.

    “No, I haven’t.” Seungwan answered. “It’s a very nice day to go.” The sun had been shining all day, which was rare this time of year. It was warmer than it had been in months, and she was glad to be taking advantage of that fact while she was spending time with Joohyun. Joohyun turned down a long road leading to the park, following the signs that took them to the area where there would be trails to walk.

    “Are you up for walking the trails?” She asked Seungwan as they parked the car in the little lot. “There’s a spot I’d like to take you to.”

    “Yeah, of course.” Seungwan answered. “Do you walk the trails a lot?”

    “Whenever I need to clear my head.” Joohyun replied, turning the car off and getting out. Seungwan followed, walking around the back of the car to meet her on the other side. They began walking towards the trail entrance together, hand in hand. “It helps me think things over better.” Seungwan smiled as she watched Joohyun taking in the trees and the sky.

    “See when I need to clear my head, I sing.” Seungwan said as they stepped onto the first trail. Joohyun led them down the left fork of it, which had a lot of foliage and flowers not yet bloomed.

    “You have a beautiful voice.” Joohyun said back.

    “How would you know that?” Seungwan asked with a laugh.

    “You sang to me that night I came to you when I was crying.” Joohyun told her. Seungwan had totally forgotten about that, but now the memory was coming back to her. “I can’t quite remember the song, but I remember your voice.”

    “It’s called ‘Golden Slumbers,’ it’s by the Beatles.” Seungwan told her, remembering the song now. “I sang it really slow though, much slower than the original version.”

    “It was very pretty.” Joohyun’s voice was sweet and quiet as she looked at Seungwan. “I’d love to hear you sing again sometime.”

    Seungwan smiled shyly. “I don’t usually sing in front of other people, but for you I can probably make an exception.” Joohyun smiled at that, the crooked smile Seungwan loved. They headed onto a bridge that ran over a small stream, some remnants of the winter ice not yet melted into the running water. “Where are you taking me?” Seungwan asked as they stepped off the bridge on the other side, taking the right fork.

    “You’ll see in just a minute.” Joohyun answered, going a bit ahead but still not letting go of Seungwan’s hand. The path opened up into a grassy field, the grass just barely regaining its color after a long winter, the sky clear and uncovered by trees. The sky was already streaked with hues of pink and orange, the beginning of the sunset. “I know it isn’t that special, but…” Joohyun trailed off, seeming embarrassed, as though this might seem underwhelming to Seungwan. “I thought it would be a nice place to just talk, get to know each other more.”

    “It’s perfect.” Seungwan said, coming up behind Joohyun and wrapping her arms around the other woman. She rested her chin on Joohyun’s shoulder. “It’s honestly nice to get away from the city for a little bit. Everything is always moving so quickly. This place makes it feel like time is stopped for minute.”

    “Yes, exactly.” Joohyun agreed, turning her head to look at Seungwan. “I love living in the city, but it’s so fast paced it feels like it’s hard to keep up.”

    “I didn’t know anybody else felt like that.” Seungwan said softly as their eyes met easily.

    “Neither did I.” Joohyun murmured in reply. “Do you want to sit?”

    “Sure.” They sat side by side, looking up at the sky, watching the clouds change colors as the sun dipped lower and lower below the horizon.

    “I love looking at the sky.” Joohyun said in a hushed voice. “It’s so different everywhere you go.” Seungwan looked away from the sky and watched Joohyun, seeing the excitement on her face, the golden hue of the sunset bathing her features in a sweet, honey-like light, illuminating the rosiness of her cheeks and the different shades of brown within in her eyes.

    “I never thought of it like that.” Seungwan said back. “I’ll have to pay more attention to the sky.” Joohyun grinned, looking over at Seungwan and sighing in a content way.

There was a few moments of silence where they both watched the sky, Joohyun’s head on Seungwan’s shoulder. Then, Joohyun whispered, “Can I ask you an odd question?”

“Of course.” Seungwan said easily. She would tell Joohyun anything.

“Why did you get fired from your last job?” The question surprised Seungwan; she had not expected it, she had in all honesty forgotten she had even told Joohyun that she’d been fired.

“Damn, well,” She said, the unpleasant memories from her previous job coming back to her. “The store owner had a weird thing for me. He was way older than me, first of all, and second of all I don’t like guys so obviously I turned him down every time he’d make an advance towards me. At first I kept it casual, just saying I wasn’t interested, but he kept persisting so then I brought up the gay thing, hoping that would make him back off.” She exhaled a shaky breath. “It didn’t. He tried to kiss me after a shift and I smacked him away, so he fired me for ‘violence and misconduct.’”

“I’m so sorry, Seungwan.” Joohyun said softly. “That’s such bull.” Seungwan gave a half smile at the profanity, for Joohyun hardly ever cursed. “You could take him to court.”

“You’re such a lawyer.” Seungwan teased. “Nah, it’s not worth it. I’m much happier with the job I have now, so maybe it all happened for a reason.”

“Maybe.” Joohyun agreed in a quiet voice.

“What made you bring that up?” Seungwan wondered.

“I’d been curious ever since you told me you’d been fired, because I couldn’t imagine you doing anything to warrant you getting fired.” Joohyun explained. “I just didn’t want to seem rude by asking. It’s a personal thing.” Seungwan admired how much Joohyun considered other people and what they were feeling or what would make them upset. It was a trait she absolutely adored about Joohyun, how compassionate and thoughtful she was.

“Can I ask you something now?” She said with a smile. Joohyun nodded and she continued, “Why the hell did you hire someone with no experience as a secretary, or any desk job at all for that matter, to work for you?”

Joohyun laughed, and said, “Well honestly when you put it that way I don’t know.” She kept giggling as she went on, “I just had a gut feeling, I guess. I don’t know why but I just knew I should hire you.”

“Life works in funny ways sometimes.” Seungwan commented.

“That it does.” Joohyun agreed. There was a moment where they did not speak and then, “It feels as if we’ve known each other much longer than only five months.” She looked at Seungwan, brushing a piece of the younger woman’s hair behind her ear and caressing her cheek in her hand. “I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

“The first day we met feels like a lifetime ago.” Seungwan said, leaning into the warmth of Joohyun’s hand.

“When did you know?” Joohyun whispered, and Seungwan gave her a quizzical look.”That you had feelings for me, I mean.”

“Oh.” Seungwan thought for a moment, not really sure herself. It seemed as if they had always been there, waiting until she noticed them and decided to act on them. From the first time she met Joohyun she had been enamored with the woman, even before they had met she’d been fascinated with her and how she would be as a boss. Seungwan thought it would be impossible not to love Joohyun, she was so wonderful nobody could resist enjoying her company. But truly she had not acknowledged the feelings until just after New Years, when she’d been forced to confront them. “I guess right after you kissed me on New Years Eve I kind of had to make myself realize that I liked you much more than as my boss or as my friend. But the feelings had been there much longer than that.” Seungwan took Joohyun’s hand, smiling as she did so. “When did you know?”

“Hm.” Joohyun took a few moments to reply as well, clearly thinking how to word it properly. “Well, I suppose when we went to the trial together was the first time I thought about you as something other than just an employee, but still as just a friend. It was when we weren’t speaking that I realized my feelings were more than friendly because I missed you so desperately. I just didn’t want to be honest with myself about the fact that I could love a woman.”

Seungwan caught the word love as it left Joohyun’s lips, before Joohyun caught it, and as she saw the horror registering on Joohyun’s face as she realized her slip up, Seungwan said, “Well I’m glad you were honest with yourself.” Joohyun smiled in an embarrassed way, not looking at Seungwan. Seungwan tried to change the topic. “Did I ever tell you I googled you before my first day at work?”

“You did?” Joohyun asked in an amused voice. Seungwan nodded. “What came up?”

“A lot of Center City News articles, detailing your cases.” Seungwan answered. “There was also quite a few articles from some website called The Center Spot that made me nervous to meet you.”

“Ugh, The Center Spot.” Joohyun rolled her eyes. “They’re a gossip site pretending to be news. Why did they make you nervous?”

“They made you sound mean.” Seungwan said with a soft laugh. “Clearly that isn’t the case though.”

Joohyun laughed a little too. “That website is horrible.” She said with a sigh.

“I guess I can understand how if they only knew how you were in a courtroom they might think you’re intimidating.” Seungwan commented.

“Oh, but they’re always so dramatic.” The remark made Seungwan smile, and Joohyun smiled too, resting her head back on Seungwan’s shoulder. “Did you find anything else of interest in your search?” She giggled softly as she asked. “I’m curious.”

“I will admit I mostly looked at pictures of you.” Seungwan said unabashedly. “Because you’re so damn pretty.” Joohyun sighed and shook her head. “It’s true!” The sky had darkened and a full moon glowed above them, stars glittering in the sky.

“Look at the moon!” Joohyun gasped, pointing up to it.

“You’re so cute.” Seungwan remarked with an affectionate grin.

“Why?” Joohyun asked, sounded a bit sheepish.

“It makes sense that you’re a ‘look at the moon’ person.” Seungwan went on. “It’s cute how much you like the sky.”

“Why do I have a sneaking suspicion you’re teasing me a little?” Joohyun narrowed her eyes at Seungwan jokingly.

“I would never.” Seungwan replied with a smile, slipping an arm over Joohyun’s shoulders. Joohyun sighed in a content way.

“Do you think we should head back?” Joohyun asked in a whisper.

“Maybe. We do still have work tomorrow.” Seungwan whispered back. They stood together, linking arms as they walked back to the trail, following the path they came quickly. Soon they were back out into the parking lot, which was illuminated by streetlights. Joohyun’s car was the only car left in the lot and they went over to it, getting in their respective seats. Joohyun drove out of the park and back up the suburban streets towards the city.

“Thank you for tonight.” Joohyun murmured as they drove.

“Why are you thanking me?” Seungwan asked.

“This all feels too good to be true.” Joohyun remarked, her voice small and hushed. Seungwan took her free hand, rubbing her thumb back and forth over the skin of her hand. They arrived outside Seungwan’s apartment building shortly after that, and Seungwan leaned in to kiss Joohyun. The kiss was sweet, and Seungwan could feel Joohyun smiling against her lips. When they pulled apart, Joohyun whispered, “Can we see each other again tomorrow? Outside of work.”

“Of course.” Seungwan answered softly. She kissed Joohyun again, feeling as though she would never get enough of the feeling. “I’ll take you somewhere tomorrow, my treat. Since you pay for things all the time.”

“I don’t mind paying.” Joohyun pointed out.

“I know, but I want to pay. You deserve it.” Seungwan replied. She continued, “I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight, Joohyun.”

“Goodnight, Seungwan.” Joohyun said in return, pressing a gentle kiss to Seungwan’s cheek. Seungwan got out of the car, hesitating before closing the car door. “You’re the sweetest angel.” Joohyun murmured to her. Seungwan felt as though she could cry at the comment, and she gave a teary smile of thanks before shutting the car door and reluctantly turning to go inside her apartment building.