“Yerin, keep quiet!”

            Sojung said as Yerin excitedly squealed with Sojung’s phone in hands.

            Sojung reached for her phone and, when Yerin took it out of her reach by stretching her arm, Sojung had to take a very deep breath, ignoring the weirded-out looks they were getting from the passersby at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

            “I absolutely regret driving you here,” Sojung hissed.

            “Oh, eonni, but I, I am absolutely delighted,” Yerin said, eyes glued to the unlocked phone’s screen. “I can’t believe my eyes. I’m seeing it and yet I can’t believe it! It’s like that dog with a hat meme, it’s super funny, not that you have seen it, but—seriously! This is the most adorable picture I have ever seen in my life. How come you never take selfies with me? Oh, it doesn’t matter, I’m sending this to myself.”

            “No, you’re not!” Sojung pushed back all the shame creeping up her neck and snatched her phone back.

            “Aw, please, eonni!” Yerin whined and got her long forgotten luggage from the floor. “I need that picture.”

            “And what for?” Sojung grunted, stuffing her mobile deep into her purse.

            A snicker came from Yerin and somehow Sojung just knew she would hate her friend’s answer.

            “Don’t worry,” Yerin sang, “I’m not interested in your bunny! I just think the two of you look absolutely adorable.”

            Almost choking on thin air, Sojung whipped her head around to look at Yerin. “What in the world you think you’re saying,” Sojung’s frown deepened as Yerin laughed, “and for heaven’s sake, stop calling her that.”

            “Why? She does look like a bunny,” Yerin said and, in a second, a smirk took over her expression, “or is that an exclusive pet name already?”

            “I hate you,” Sojung barked out, “aren’t you late for your flight or something?”

            Something flickered in Yerin’s face, but Sojung didn’t have the time to think about it, as Yerin was already chirping out a “no! Actually, since there isn’t much to do at the company today, you could drink a coffee with me and tell me exactly how it went yesterday!”

            Sojung rolled her eyes but allowed Yerin to pull her towards one of the airport’s expensive coffee spots. They soon enough found a good spot and each ordered an expresso, sitting on a table with brown stools. Sojung placed her purse on the table and duly avoided Yerin’s eyes until her friend lightly kicked her shin.

            “Hey!”

            “Start spilling it!” Yerin urged and Sojung rolled her eyes again.

            “Fine, fine,” she looked at her cup and put a bit of sugar in her coffee. The memory of the previous night, when she did the same thing while waiting for Eunbi to get used to the whole idea of a contract, invading her mind.

            “You’re smiling.”

            “What?”

            Sojung raised her eyes to meet Yerin’s. Her friend still had a teasing look, but it was lighter. “Was it that good?”

            Sojung shrugged. “It went well enough. I explained the contract to her—oh right, thanks for helping me with that.”

            “No problem! I was glad to finally use my law knowledge for something else than analyzing your boring contracts.”

            “It’s those boring contracts that pay your salary.”

            “Hey, it’s not like I’m ungrateful—they’re boring, though.”

            The corner of Sojung’s lips curled up. “Well, I explained it to her, watched her reaction to the payment, talked to her some more, set up a time to pick her up and buy her some clothes on Wednesday, then I got her to her apartment and then, I just went back to the hotel. That’s it.”

            “Aw, come on, eonni, give me more details!”

            “Fine, fine, stop whining,” Sojung rested her arms on the table, “I got out of the company and went straight to MICA. And I was a bit worried of arriving late, so I hurried up and got there just in time, but… Eunbi was already there and she was talking to a friend and…”

            “And?” Yerin quirked an eyebrow up. “What’s up with it?”

            It was getting harder to hold back her smile. “I overheard Eunbi talking about the day we met at the gallery. I didn’t hear much, but… she said she thought what I said about art was cool and I… what in the world is happening with your face?”

            Yerin had suddenly pressed up her lips, eyebrows meeting as she looked like she was going to just burst out laughing. Her friend, though, instead of answering, took a very deep breath and looked as if she was trying to calm herself down. “Nothing,” she said, “just, just continue.”

            “Alright,” Sojung decided to not press on it. She did not want to know what was going through Yerin’s head. “I made myself noticed and Eunbi got a bit startled, but it wasn’t anything bad. Oh, right, I met her friend, the one that is also from Incheon.”

            “Really?” Yerin sipped her coffee, “is she pretty?”

            “Jung Yerin!”

            “Sorry, General,” Yerin laughed, “I’m just kidding!”

            “Well, I guess Kim Yewon is indeed pretty, but…”

            Yerin tilted her head to the side, a smirk playing on her lips. “But not as pretty as your bunny?”

            “I swear to all that is sacred in the world,” Sojung pinched the high of her nose as her friend doubled over in laughter.

            Truth was, Sojung hadn’t really paid attention to Kim Yewon. The student seemed polite and nice, but Eunbi was the one who Sojung had her eyes on all the time. It was a bit embarrassing, especially when Yerin, who wasn’t even there, pointed something like that out. Sojung sighed, faking annoyance as best as she could, and drank the rest of her coffee.

            “Then,” Sojung decided to just keep going, “it was really like I told you. We went to a diner, ate and talked. It went better than I expected, to be honest.”

            Yerin, still recovering from her laughing fit, nodded, “I told you so. But, still, how I wish I were a little fly on the wall to hear how that talk went,” Yerin giggled and took another sip from her coffee. Sojung nodded and, distracted by a notification sound coming from her purse, she didn’t see the way Yerin’s face fell. Sojung just heard her friend set the cup on the table and quietly add, “I hope it all goes well, eonni.”

            Sojung, looking at her phone, allowed herself to smile. “I think it will.”

            Eunbi woke up with a headache.

            She sighed, opening her eyes to the pitch black darkness of her room. It was probably early. Eunbi reached beneath her pillow, getting her phone, and after blinking a little at its bright screen, she saw that it was five a.m. Too early, she deflated, arm falling to the side. Eunbi thought that it was better to try and sleep again, but at the moment she closed her eyes, the memory of the previous night clouded her mind.

            It hadn’t been a nice one.

            Tuesday was actually fine. Eunbi was really busy on Tuesdays, she worked at the convenience store and had classes all day, so she didn’t have that much time to think about Kim Sojung. Eunbi was actually counting on just working the night at the bar and being too exhausted to think about the whole thing when she got home, but, as soon as she started her shift, Eunbi just knew it was going to be hell.

            Ever since the night she met Yerin and Sojung, the shifts at the bar had been relatively peaceful. Not many of the usual customers, one or another rude person, but overall ok. Eunbi should have expected that peace to be broken sooner or later.

            She should have prepared herself for it.

            Eunbi didn’t know his name. At some point she heard it be thrown around the bar, looked at his credit card or something, but she never cared to learn it. A person like that didn’t deserve to be known.

            He was a short man, dark hair, a patchy beard and mean eyes. Eunbi knew, from the first time he walked into the bar, that he was trouble. And she was never wrong. Every time that man went there for his cheap beer, he got into a fight with someone—another patron, a security guard or even O’Malley. The fights were bad and more often than not, he had to be kicked out of the bar.

            However, probably because he did spend a lot of money there, the owner never forbade his entrance. So, regardless of how many times he embarrassed himself, being kicked out over and over, he always came back. Eunbi had lost count of how many stories she had heard from her coworkers of the stupid things that man made them go through, and Eunbi always thought of herself to be very lucky to not have experienced one or another one of those episodes.

            But in that Tuesday night, Eunbi was not lucky.

            Eunbi was put off immediately by the man’s image when he arrived, but she got herself together as fast as she could. He was rude as always, talking in curt, gruff words, and Eunbi did her best to just not mess anything up.

            Eunbi did well, she knew she did, but there weren’t many people in the bar at that time and he got drunk way too fast. Apparently, Eunbi was just the easiest target.

            O’Malley ran to her side the moment he started yelling, but she wasn’t fast enough to stop him from throwing his glass at Eunbi. Drunk as hell, his aim was thankfully and it hit the cabinet a meter away from Eunbi’s arm. He was promptly dragged out and O’Malley was asking Eunbi if she got hurt and she didn’t, but it was just too much.

            Eunbi pressed on her eyes with her hands, memory of her words to her boss—well, ex-boss now—hammering behind her eyelids.

            I really quitted, huh, Eunbi sighed.

            It felt surreal. Eunbi always pictured herself getting fired, in her worst nightmares she would even get humiliated, but she never once imagined quitting. It didn’t feel good, no. Sometimes Eunbi read stories about people freeing themselves from jobs they didn’t like and she wondered if she’d feel like that too.

            Eunbi didn’t, she was just disappointed.

            Her cellphone chimed and, frowning a bit, she got it in hands. Eunbi almost whined.

It was a message from her mother.

            Eunbi could see from the notification preview that it was related to Christmas and, no, she could not take that.

            Throwing her blankets off, she let the cold air hit her skin as she pushed herself off the bed. Eunbi had classes that day and she had to do her part in the group project. It was better to start early. She had to.

            Eunbi did her best to focus on her schoolwork and forget about everything else and she actually did a good job of it until the hours started to pass by and she realized the daylight was dim and there would be no Sun. Sighing, Eunbi pushed to the back of her mind all her thoughts and got herself ready for college, putting on a dark sweater, jeans and her fleece jacket.

            Eunbi only remembered she was supposed to meet Kim Sojung at lunchtime.

            Yewon was busy, so Eunbi was left alone with a package of cookies she had bought the other day at the convenience store and her thoughts. There was a lot in her mind besides Kim Sojung, but she decided that if she was going to overthink something than it should be that.

            Don’t get her wrong, Eunbi wasn’t dreading it and she was honestly not as anxious as Monday, but she still felt uncomfortable and, maybe a bit excited. Sojung had texted her that she had found a good place to do the shopping and she would be at Eunbi’s college a quarter to five. Eunbi munched on a cookie, presuming that Sojung was going to make her try out a couple of outfits for that fancy party and it just seemed unbelievable.

            Someone was going to buy her clothes and it was not her mother.

            Oh my, God, stop thinking, Eunbi, a whine was held at the back of as she stuffed the cookie package in her backpack. Stop. Thinking.

            Obviously, she couldn’t. Eunbi thought about it until a quarter to five, when she was hugging her body, in front of the college’s main gate, waiting for Sojung.

            “Oh, Eunbi?”

            Eunbi looked to her side and found Derek, a nice dude who was part of her group.

            “Hey,” she smiled and felt a strong gulf of wind hit her cheeks. It was colder than she had expected. “Going home?”

            “Yeah, I am,” he returned the smile, “I received your part of the project, good job with that one!”

            “Ah, really?” Eunbi straightened her posture, a little sprinkle of pride filling her chest. “I’m glad it was nice. You guys are doing a great job too.”

            “I think Professor Patton will be satisfied,” he fist-bumped the air and Eunbi chuckled. “So, are you waiting for someone? It’s kinda cold to be just standing there.”

            “I—”

            Eunbi’s words were interrupted by a car honk. Both of them turned to see the Honda parking right in front of Eunbi.

            Eunbi blamed the cold, yeah, it was the cold’s fault the shiver that ran down her spine the moment Kim Sojung stepped out of the car, long hair gently blowing away from her face. Eunbi lips parted a little, taking in the image of Sojung resting an arm on top of the car’s roof, long fingers holding the door open.

            “Uh—”

            Whatever Derek was going to say, it was cut short, by Sojung side smile.

            Was it a smirk?

            “You ready to go, Eunbi?”

            Eunbi could feel Derek’s head snap to her and, she dryly swallowed, probably taking longer than she should to nod and step towards the car.

            “I… bye, Derek,” Eunbi weakly waved and she was a bit light-headed, sure, but it was no reason to just stop when Sojung started to walk around the car, and Eunbi would want to bury herself in the ground as soon as she got home that day.

            Eunbi just stood there, cheeks hot, as Sojung opened the door for her.

            Die, I need to die, her mind helpfully provided and Eunbi entered the vehicle without looking back.

            Seconds later, Sojung was by her side. “Seatbelt, Eunbi.”

            “Ah, yes, right,” Eunbi raised her arms and fumbled a bit with the belt before she managed to fasten it. “Done,” her voice was small and Eunbi could only hope the embarrassment wasn’t showing on her face as much as she could hear it on her voice.

            “Good,” Sojung, though, Sojung had a smile on her voice.

            And that’s what made Eunbi turn around and look at the woman starting the car.

            “Let’s head to Cross Keys, I guess that’s the name,” Sojung said, “I think it’ll close soon, but I’m sure we won’t take a long time. And it’s fairly close…,” she darted her eyes from the road for a second, typing something into the GPS, “we can go for dinner after. What do you think?”

            Sojung was wearing a pink overcoat with silver buttons and she had a hand on the wheel, the other resting by the window and… and she just looked stunning.

            Kim Sojung was stunning.

            “Eunbi?”

            “Ah, sorry, yeah, it’s okay,” she peeled her eyes off Sojung and looked to the street, where it was safe.

            Eunbi took a deep breath and there was a beat of silence. It was like Monday, but Eunbi did not understand why she felt uncomfortable now. Looking forward, she felt her chest constricted and Eunbi knew it was irrational, but an urge of talking took over her and the words were escaping before she could stop herself.

            “How… how was eonni’s day?”

            Eunbi didn’t have to look away from the windshield to know that Sojung’s eyes were on her.

            “My day?” There was surprise on Sojung’s voice, wasn’t there?

            “Yeah…”

            “Oh, my day was… boring, to say the least,” Sojung sighed, but there was a small smile on her voice. “I’m sure you’d fall asleep if I told you about it.”

            “Hm…” squirming a bit on her seat, Eunbi hesitantly turned to look at the woman. “But… I’ll have to listen to more of it at the party, right? You could… explain it to me a little. What do you do… how you save companies?”

            At that, Sojung chuckled and it sounded beautiful.

            “Right, I forgot that’s how Yerin introduced us. Well, I guess it won’t hurt to tell you, but I apologize beforehand if I bore you.”

            “It’s okay! I… I want to hear it.”

            Sojung eyed her and, to Eunbi’s relief, nodded. “Alright, since you want it, I’ll tell you. It’s nothing really exciting. We are economists, managers, basically. Yerin has also a bit of Law education, but that isn’t the focus of our activity. We are not… company heroes,” she shook her head a bit, “we’re just incredibly good administrators. It isn’t like this is a set thing in this field, honestly. I built this up from the ground, our job, I mean,” Sojung took a left and Eunbi hummed, realizing that she was more interested than she thought. “I started as a freelancer, I guess. Of course, I did internships in good companies, but soon I realized that I’m just,” stopping at a red sign, Sojung looked at Eunbi with a smile, “not made to work for someone else.”

            Eunbi wanted her mind to shut up, for real, but now she had to agree with herself. That was hot.

            “Eventually, Yerin started working with me, because, as good as I am with my job, I’m not that good with people and it is, in the end, a particularly important part of it. It was bit weird at the beginning. We didn’t know how to separate work from friendship and it led to some serious conflicts of ideas. But we found our rhythm, I guess.”

            “You two seem to work very well together,” Eunbi leaned her head on the seat rest, still looking at Sojung’s profile as she drove. “Yerin-eonni seems very happy to work with you.”

            “You think so?” Sojung quirked an eyebrow.

            “I mean, I only properly talked with her at the bar, but she seemed happy, so yeah!”

            Sojung nodded, smile a bit wider.

            “I like working with her too.”

            Eunbi smiled. “I hope I can work with Yewonnie one day too.”

            “Oh? Is she an art student too?”

            “Yes! But her focus is animation. She’s really good at it,” Eunbi chirped, “her dream is to become one of Disney’s animators!”

            “That’s an amazing dream to have,” Sojung took another turn and they were entering an open parking lot. “And you, Eunbi?”

            “Hm?”

            Sojung took the key out of the ignition. “What do you want to do after college?”

            Her hand stopped mid-air towards the door handle.

            Oh, Eunbi took a deep breath.

            “Eunbi-yah?”

            “We have to go soon, right, eonni? The stores close at six,” she flashed Sojung a smile and went for the door handle.

            Eunbi wondered if she could just pretend she hadn’t heard Sojung, but well, that would be stupid when the woman was speaking in a perfectly hearable volume, they were the only ones in the car and Eunbi had that little meltdown which completely indicated that she had heard Sojung. Stepping out of the car, Eunbi heard Sojung’s door open and for a second her heart dropped to her feet, inexplicably scared of the woman insisting on the question.

            Sojung closed the door and walked towards her. “Come on, Eunbi-yah.”

            Adjusting her backpack, Eunbi held back a relieved sigh. “S-sure.”

            “Wait, don’t you want to leave your backpack in the car?”

            “Hm? Oh, yeah,” Eunbi’s cheeks heat up, why the hell had she got her backpack?

            After putting her backpack on the passenger seat and watching Sojung lock the car again, Eunbi took a deep breath. Just calm down, Eunbi.

            Sojung offered her a smile and showed her the way with a stretched arm.

            Eunbi decided to push all of those annoying thoughts to the back of her head. She had more to worry about now. Like, keeping herself sane while Kim Sojung bought her clothes.

            I’m overreacting, she thought, side-eying Sojung as they made their way towards the stores, Sojung-eonni looks like she has done this already, we’re… probably just going to buy a dress and that’s it. Eunbi nodded to herself and looked around.

            The Village of Cross Keys was somewhat famous among her classmates. They said it was a pretty place, albeit expensive, and Eunbi was always a bit curious about it, but it wasn’t like she would ever have the money to shop there. Actually, just standing there was a bit weird and… intimidating. Eunbi was never surrounded by such expensive things.

            The whole atmosphere made her feel small, unfitting, less.

            If she shifted a bit closer to Sojung, nobody needs to know about that.

            “Where do you want to begin?” Sojung asked, feet stopping before a store that looked more expensive than Eunbi’s whole apartment building.

            “I… I don’t know?” She sincerely answered and Sojung smiled.

            “Let’s start with this one and go from this.”

            Eunbi nodded and waited until Sojung was a step ahead of her to follow her into the store.

            It was a clothing store decorated with bricks and beautiful chandeliers, comfortable and surely expensive couches. Eunbi inhaled and there was a sweet but light scent in the air. She noticed that there was a lady by the cashier, getting a huge paper bag from the woman behind the counter. How much was that, Eunbi absent-mindedly wondered.

            “Good afternoon.”

            She startled a little, looking to her right to find a young woman wearing a neat shirt and social black pants. She was pretty, Eunbi thought, hair perfectly tied up and make-up beautifully done.

            Again, intimidating.

            “Good afternoon,” Sojung slightly dipped her head, “we’re looking for clothes for her.”

            “Oh, perfect. We have a new collection that will surely look amazing on you!”

            Eunbi swallowed and looked up to Sojung who gave her a small, but encouraging smile. When Eunbi looked back at the employee, she seemed to be measuring her and Eunbi wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with that. But Eunbi told herself she was acting like a kid and she didn’t want to embarrass Sojung.

            “Ah,” Eunbi nodded, “ok.”

            After that, Eunbi allowed the employee, Reagan, as she had introduced herself, control the situation. Of course, Eunbi had gone to buy clothes with her mom before, but it was never like this. It felt foreign and she caught herself looking at Sojung every time a new piece was put into her arms.

            “Why don’t you go try them on, now?” Reagan suggested and Eunbi nodded, heading to the fitting room.

            “Eunbi?”

            “Hm?” She turned to look at Sojung.

            The woman smiled, “come out for me to see it, alright?”

            It was stupid, but Eunbi’s face felt hot under those words. It made sense, Sojung had to approve it, after all, she was the one who knew what kind of clothes were adequate for the party. “Alright,” and even though it was stupid and Eunbi knew it, her voice still came out small.

            Eunbi hurried into the fitting room and closed the door behind her. Putting the clothes on the hooks, she took a deep breath.

            Eunbi took the first piece in hands and put it in front of her body first. It was a black dress with pink details and it was beautiful, but it didn’t actually look formal. Eunbi liked it, though.

            This is ok, right? She sighed, putting it on the little stool while she took off her clothes, it’s fine that this is happening.

            She put the dress on, struggling a bit to zip it up, and took a second to look at herself in the mirror.

            Eunbi didn’t put make up that day. She wanted to, but she was so out of it, that she forgot it completely. Her eyebags were pretty bad normally, but since had barely slept that night, they were a tad darker, the skin of her lips was slightly chapped because of the cold too and suddenly she felt ugly, especially in that beautiful dress.

            It was a mid-length one, with a tulle skirt all in black, the sleeves were short, with the hem and the pointed flat collar in a soft pink and it was beautiful.

            I’m not.

            Eunbi held back the sigh and tried for at least a neutral expression when she came out of the room.

            Sojung was sitting on the couch, purse by her side, her phone in hands and her eyes immediately shot up to Eunbi. She straightened her posture and Eunbi nervously put a hairlock behind her ear. Sojung’s eyes felt scrutinizing, as if she were studying every single piece of Eunbi and suddenly she was acutely aware of how her socked feet felt above the hardwood flooring.

            Reagan opened to say something, but she snapped her lips shut, suddenly looking at Sojung.

            “You look amazing, Eunbi,” and those words almost made her knees weak. “Did you like it?”

            Eunbi forgot to see the price tag of that dress and she was hesitant. But, well, she couldn’t lie to Sojung, could she?

            “I liked it… a lot,” she quietly answered.

            “Great,” the smile Sojung gave her was stunning. “Set this one aside, then, go try the others.”

            “The others…?”

            “Well, this dress does look gorgeous on you,” Sojung said, “but I think a more social one will be better.”

            “So, why set it aside,” Eunbi asked and she tried her best to not sound upset, because the last thing she could do was sound like a kid when Sojung was doing all of this.

            “Because we’re getting both,” Sojung said as if it was a matter of fact, “or however many you want.”

            Eunbi didn’t know if her brain short circuited because of Sojung’s tone or words.

            Either way, she was blushing and she knew the employee was looking back and forth to the two of them and she didn’t find it in her to argue with Sojung. Eunbi her feet, heading back to the fitting room and was very angry at herself seeing that even her ears were red.

            Getting out of the beautiful black dress, she reached for one of the opposite color. It was another dress, but this one was straight, with a sailor feeling to it, with the black stripes and pockets. It was pretty and Eunbi liked it, but it surely wasn’t social. A small part of her mind told her to put it on and show it to Sojung, but she knew that if she did it, the woman would buy it for her. And, no, she wasn’t going to do that. Eunbi tossed it aside, looking over the other clothes and finding a hanger with three pieces.

            It was a brown skirt and blazer with a beige shirt and it looked formal. It also looked warm. Eunbi put it on, buttoning the shirt up to the collar, and she took one good look at herself. This one looked big and it looked odd. Eunbi had never worn anything like that. Let’s see what Sojung-eonni thinks, she mused, maybe she’ll like.

            Eunbi left the room and this time she was a bit more prepared for Sojung’s eyes.

            Or at least she thought so.

            “This looks ok,” Sojung said, but quirked an eyebrow, looking at Eunbi’s face, “you don’t look like you liked it, though.”

            Uncomfortably shifting on her feet, Eunbi looked at Reagan, who seemed to be looking her over. “I… I like it, it’s just that it’s the first time I wear something like this. It feels a bit…”

            “Different?”

            Eunbi nodded.

            Sojung tilted her head to the side. “Try something else, you can’t be uncomfortable there.”

            Eunbi opened to protest, but Sojung shook her head once and she pouted. There was something fond in Sojung’s eyes that Eunbi decided to ignore as she made her way back to the room.

            Still pouting a bit, Eunbi got the next outfit and studied it a bit. It was a long-sleeved blouse with a black ribbon and a black skirt. They were beautiful and she decided to try them on for once. It didn’t take long and they fit well, Eunbi thought, smoothening the skirt’s creases. She combed her hair with her fingers for a second and, yeah, it was comfortable.

            Sojung seemed to think it was good enough, as well, by the way her lips curled up.

            “Good?”

            Eunbi bit her lower lip. “Good.”

            “Perfect,” Sojung stood up from the couch. “Let’s go, then, we have to look at the shoes.”

            Silently nodding, Eunbi went back and put on her clothes, carrying the clothes she wanted on one arm and the others on the other. Reagan approached her with a smile and took them off her hands, going to the cashier to meet Sojung.

            Eunbi stood there for a second, a couple of meters away from Sojung. She watched them talk about something, look over the clothes, and Eunbi looked away. Part of her wanted to know how much all of it would cost, but the other, the one that she listened to, didn’t. Eunbi settled for taking a better look at the store.

            There wasn’t much else to see. What really caught Eunbi’s attention was its atmosphere. Eunbi took a deep breath and tried to push her thoughts to the back of her head. It wouldn’t do her any good to be overthinking, not when Sojung was there.

            “Eunbi?”

            Startling a bit, she turned around and saw the woman in question a few steps away from her, hand occupied by two big paper bags with the stores logo. A fleeting thought of how that looked like too many bags for what they—Sojung had just bought crossed her mind and she raised her eyes to look at Sojung.

            She was smiling.

            “Everything ok?”

            “Yeah,” Eunbi simply nodded, wary of her own voice. The employees must have put both outfits in each bag. Even though it was unnecessary, it was probably the case.

            “Perfect, let’s go.”

            Eunbi waved to Reagan and the cashier lady and the both of them got out of the store. “Are we…”

            “Buying shoes next.”

            “Huh?” Eunbi picked up the pace, walking besides Sojung, who seemed to be searching for something.

            “We need to buy you a pair of shoes to go along with your outfit,” Sojung eyed Eunbi before stopping before a bright store with equally expensive pieces. Maybe even more expensive, which was something Eunbi never understood—how could a pair of shoes cost more than a dress? It made absolutely no sense. “We don’t have to buy something fancy,” Sojung opened the glass door, leading the way into the store, “just something fitting and comfortable, ok?”

            Eunbi nodded and this time, when she looked around, she was bit intimidated.

            The store was white and golden, that’s the only way Eunbi could describe it. There was faint music, probably jazz or something equally fancy playing on the background, and, contrary to the store they had just been into, the employees didn’t look that cheery.

            Eunbi was a few steps behind Sojung and, when a woman, tall and dark-haired, looked at her, she wanted to hide behind Sojung. She could feel the employee measuring up like Reagan had done it, but it didn’t feel like she was wondering about Eunbi’s size.

            Sojung cleared .

            “Excuse me?”

            “Good evening, ma’am,” the woman’s face immediately acquired a polite expression, “how may I help you?”

            Eunbi knew this was probably the standard treatment and she didn’t have experience when it came to this, but she couldn’t help comparing the employee’s tone with Reagan’s. Especially because the woman wasn’t even acknowledging Eunbi.

            Eunbi didn’t think she could feel any more uncomfortable.

            “We’re looking for a simple pair of shoes,” Sojung said and if Eunbi wasn’t so distracted, trying to get out of her own thoughts, she would have noticed the shift in Sojung’s voice tone. “Eunbi-ya, why don’t you seat there?”

            Eunbi didn’t actually want to, the couch Sojung was pointing at was way too close to the employee. But she nodded, slowly making her way towards it and seating on the edge of that purely white furniture. A irrational fear of her clothes being dirty and somehow dirtying it crossed her heart and she didn’t realize how tense she was until Sojung was beside her, a hand on her shoulder.

            “What’s your size, Eunbi?”

            “Um,” right, she had to talk, “seven, I think.”

            Sojung nodded and for a moment, she was just looking at Eunbi. Probably noticing the absence of movement, she turned to the employee. “Can you bring me low heels, seven, cream, black and ?”

            Eunbi blinked.

            Sojung’s voice tone was different.

            Was it impatience? Was she getting annoyed?

            But why? Eunbi hadn’t done anything, right?

            And when Eunbi raised her eyes to the employee, she thought that, no, maybe it wasn’t her who had annoyed Sojung.

            “Oh, of course,” the employee visibly swallowed and exchanged looks with someone before leaving.

            Eunbi looked up at Sojung. “Eonni?”

            Sojung’s expression was indecipherable, she didn’t look angry or upset, but she was serious. Eunbi wonder once again if that was how Sojung looked when she was working or when she didn’t approve of something. Eunbi wouldn’t voice that even if someone paid her college debts, but, even though she was extremely glad it wasn’t directed at her, she thought it was a very… breathtaking sight.

            “Yes, Eunbi?” Sojung’s featured relaxed a little and, oh, this looks better.

            “Aren’t you going to sit?”

            Shaking her head, Sojung said, “I think it’s better for me to be standing.” Sojung’s hand was still on her shoulder and Eunbi wouldn’t lie about it—it felt nice. “Don’t worry, we’re going to be out of here soon.”

            Eunbi couldn’t possibly be sure about anything, but whatever made Sojung use curt and forthright phrases with the employee, making her work as fast as she could and without directing a single look to Eunbi, she was thankful for it.

They were out of the store with two pairs of shoes—Eunbi protested a bit, saying that there was no need for it, but Sojung reasoned that they weren’t sure which pair would be more comfortable—in the span of twenty minutes.

            Outside, Eunbi inhaled the night air, and, albeit cold, it felt refreshing. It had also gotten pretty dark, Eunbi noticed, walking forward to look at the sky while Sojung closed the glass door. It’s winter, after all, Eunbi thought, I don’t think it’ll snow though.

            “Eunbi-ya?”

            Turning around, Eunbi found Sojung carrying the bags and, before she could offer help, Eunbi took a second to take in the view.

It was probably weird, thinking about it, but she couldn’t help it. It just didn’t feel real, to have someone like Kim Sojung right before her, calling her name so softly for the nth time that day, to have Sojung, Sojung-eonni be real. And, honestly, though it felt like dream and Eunbi wasn’t exactly certain this wasn’t all it was, she felt like it was real.

            When Sojung took a few steps closer, entering her personal space, not that Eunbi minded it that much, she really felt like it was real.

            “The stores will be closing soon, but we still have enough time to buy the remaining items.”

            “Buy…?” Eunbi frowned. “But… but you bought everything already, even more to be honest,” and if Sojung’s smile at her pout made Eunbi’s heart skip a beat, there was no one to notice.

            “We’ve bought the basic things, but I think a few accessories would be good too. Do you like necklaces, Eunbi?”

            Eunbi wanted to reject that idea right away, but with guilt biting on her heart, she thought that she didn’t want it to end, not just yet. Sojung also had that satisfied look in her eyes when she got the bags and Eunbi liked that look the best. She really did.

            While they walked around the stores, Eunbi talked a bit more, this time opposing more often to some ridiculously expensive items, wanting nothing but to have Sojung understand that she didn’t need all of those things. But honestly, all her resistance was soft-spoken, and Sojung won most of the time, getting her a bracelet of an awfully expensive stone Eunbi didn’t even remember the name of, together with earrings and a necklace.

            Sojung also only allowed her to carry the small bags and Eunbi pouted about it for a second or two, until her eyes fell on the window of an already closed store.

            It was a store of handmade items, Eunbi guessed. There was a range of pieces there—little purses, frames, a couple of paintings. Eunbi approached it, taking a better look at the details and smiled a little. Sojung called for her and she just pointed at one of the prints laid out there. “Look, eonni.”

            Feeling Sojung approach her reminded her of the aquarium and the woman was by her side in no time. “Yes?”

            “Isn’t it beautiful?” Eunbi asked. “You can see the so clearly, but it doesn’t look crude, it’s just beautiful,” she turned around to look at what she expected to be Sojung’s profile.

            What Eunbi encountered were Sojung’s eyes, way closer than she expected them to be. Their faces weren’t exactly near each other, Sojung was slightly leaned in the direction Eunbi was pointing to, but her eyes were completely turned to her and there was a fair distance between them, but it was, it felt intense. Suddenly, Eunbi hoped Sojung would say something, anything, but no sound was made and she thought that she should be the one saying something, then.

            But she wasn’t.

            Eunbi justified it to herself as a reaction to how gorgeous Kim Sojung was, how she had reacted to everything concerning Eunbi up until that point and Eunbi didn’t care that it didn’t make sense. She was reaching a point that any excuse would do.

            “I haven’t seen anything you’ve done yet,” and even if that was Eunbi’s so desired interruption, it didn’t actually feel like it. If anything, there was tension growing in the air. “Would you show it to me someday?”

            “Show?” Eunbi breathed out, “I’m… not that good, to be honest.”

            Sojung tilted her head. “Let me decide that, ok?”

            And, somehow, that felt like it meant a lot more.

            Eunbi found herself nodding before she could even think of an answer.

            “Good,” there it was, that satisfied smile. Sojung straightened, “it’s getting late and I think we’re done with shopping. What do you say about dinner?”

            Fingers clutching on the straps of the bags she was carrying, Eunbi’s heart sank in her chest.

            “Ok, eonni.”

            It sank and she felt as if she was sinking too.

            Eunbi knew that her own phrase meant a lot more. Eunbi knew, she knew and, oh, no.

            “Come on,” Sojung smiled.

            This couldn’t be happening.

            Dryly swallowing, Eunbi said, “where are we going to eat, eonni?”

            “Trust me,” Sojung answered, “I feel like you are going to like it.”

            Eunbi shook her head, willing away all the frightening thoughts taking over her mind and got closer to Sojung. “Okay, eonni.”

            If Eunbi didn’t think about it, then it was all good. She would have dinner with Sojung again and everything would be good.

            There’s all that it had to it.