Their first stop was Inner Harbor.

            Inside the car, they talked about their options and decided to visit the Harbor first and then go from there. Apparently, Sojung wasn’t too worried about planning it out and it kind of surprised Eunbi. The student had thought Sojung to be at least a little methodical. And, as if to prove Eunbi even more wrong, while they made idle chat on the drive there, the older woman spoke softly, and a bit more carelessly than she had done until then.

            Of course, it’s not like Sojung was a stuck-up, Eunbi never thought about it like that. But the way she talked sounded pretty formal sometimes. Plus, Sojung’s voice was always so leveled, calm and collected. Eunbi wasn’t used to listening to that kind of tone—not even her professors’ talked like that. Hence, the student pictured Sojung as a person who liked to have everything under her control.

            Looked like Eunbi was a bit prejudiced there.

            “Car parked, everything settled. Do you want to walk around, Eunbi?”

            Sojung asked her, closing the car door. Eunbi held onto her backpack’s strap with a hand and stuffed the other inside the jacket’s pocket. Why did I forget to bring my gloves? She curled in herself, feeling the chilly wind hit her cheeks. “Yeah,” she answered with a nod, “I want to see the boats.”

            The smile Sojung gave warmly washed through her.

            Inner Harbor was beautiful. Eunbi didn’t know much about ships and boats, but they towered on the port, looking so impressive that she couldn’t help but admire them. They soon found the National Aquarium and entered the place. It was pretty crowded, but Eunbi had fun nonetheless. Sojung didn’t have much to say about the fishes and mammals, but the ghost of a smile was on her face all the time Eunbi turned to her, pointing at a funny-looking animal or a specially colorful fish.

            It was a little weird to constantly feel the woman’s eyes on her. Eunbi wasn’t uncomfortable, no, it was a different kind of weird. But she made sure to ignore it and focus on the dolphins, which were so, so pretty. Sojung stood beside her for the whole fifteen minutes she spent just looking at the creatures.

            In her defense, Eunbi hadn’t even realized how much time had passed. Her mind was too preoccupied with the fact Sojung was right there, shoulder just millimeters away from hers, looking at the dolphins swim back and forth. It shouldn’t have made her heart erratic, but it did. The proximity, the lack of words filling a silence that was too nice, caused Eunbi to feel things she wasn’t used to feeling. It made her scared.

            “Where do you want to go now?” Sojung’s calm voice contrasted with the loud beats of her heart. “It’s almost midday. Are you hungry?”

            As a matter of fact, she was. Eunbi looked away from the dolphins up to Sojung. “A little bit, yeah,” she answered with a guilty smile, the knowledge that Sojung was going to pay for her again kind of bothering her.

            But Sojung’s smile was nothing but sincere. “Let’s go then. You said Fell’s Point is close? Do you think we can walk there?”

            “I think so…,” Eunbi quirked an eyebrow, adding, with a sprinkle of uncertainty, “if eonni doesn’t mind a little walk with those high heels of yours, I mean.”

            The woman’s eyes slightly widened, surprised by the teasing, and not even a millisecond later, her lips curled up in a smile that could only be described as bright. “Ah, is that so? I think I’ll be fine, Eunbi-yah. Why? Do my shoes bother you?”

            “Huh? Of course not. I have no idea why’d you think that,” the student nonchalantly said. “Let’s go.”

            And, so, they went. Leaving the car at Inner Harbor, they slowly made their way to Fell’s Point. Comments about the stores and restaurants were made, but they mostly stayed silent.

            Eunbi wanted to strike up a conversation—ask more about Sojung’s job, how did she and Yerin became friends, did her family live in South Korea, what kind of music did she like—but unsurprisingly, didn’t move at all. Eunbi blamed it on her shyness.

            “What do you think about this restaurant?” Sojung asked and Eunbi looked up to the place’s sign the woman was pointing to.

            Her heart almost stopped.

            The words “Burger Bistro” were written in big and stylish letters, and, more than anything, the smell of meat frying took over her mind. Eunbi was stilled for a long second.

            “Eunbi-yah…? You don’t like burgers?” Sojung asked and was ready to say something else, but Eunbi promptly interrupted her.

            “No! I… I love them. Let’s eat here,” she said, biting back the excitement.

            “Alright, then,” Sojung opened the door and made space for Eunbi to enter first. The student felt like she would never get used to that. “Let’s get a table.”

            They ended up sitting at the back of the bistro, a little isolated from the other patrons. It was a booth—dark seats and wooden table—and soon enough a waitress was handing them menus. Sojung and Eunbi looked over the options and each chose a different thing. Sojung ordered a simple chicken burger set with a lemon soda and chips. Eunbi, on the other hand, swallowing down the guilt, because that was a really expensive order, chose the meatiest hamburger they had, with lots of chips and a Pepsi.

            Her conscience was getting increasingly heavy over the prices. Sojung was paying for everything and, even though she knew that the other had the money to spend, she couldn’t help but feel bad. It had been desserts, an exorbitant hospital bill and now burgers. How would Eunbi repay it all?

            All of her thoughts disappeared at the second Sojung called her, after dismissing the waitress with their orders.

            “Yes, eonni?”

            “You seem pretty excited,” the woman commented, “do you like burgers a lot?”

            Oh, boy. “I… I do,” Eunbi bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s actually my favorite food.”

            “Is that so?” Sojung smiled. “Well, good thing we chose this place then.”

            Eunbi nodded and noticed that it was satisfaction the emotion all over Sojung’s face. The woman was so clearly pleased that Eunbi pushed the guilt gnawing on her chest back. If Sojung was happy, then she’d at least make an effort to appreciate it all without feeling awful about it.

            “Does… does eonni like them too?” Eunbi hesitantly asked.

            “I do, yes. Not as much as you do, I believe, but yes,” she answered with a smile and Eunbi mirrored it. “I don’t think I have a favorite food, though. I try to keep my alimentation as balanced as possible and that’s pretty much it.”

            Humming in understanding, Eunbi said, “I can see it. My eating… well,” she halted herself.        Sojung quirked an eyebrow, “has a lot of room for improvement.”

            “I guess so,” Eunbi giggled and slightly startled herself. It’d be an exaggeration to say she had forgotten the sound of it, but, just the previous day she had been feeling so down and tired, that it was surprising to feel the tiny laugh so easily bubble out of her. Eunbi tried to not think about it too much.

            Their food arrived and was watering. She didn’t want to look like a troglodyte in front of Sojung, so she waited until the woman had her own plate set, but Eunbi wanted nothing but to ravish her burger. As soon as she saw Sojung take a bite off her food, Eunbi took her burger in hands and took a deep breath. The scent was nothing short of marvelous.

            The first bite was slow, hesitant even, all due to wanting to enjoy every second of it. The flavors exploded on her tongue and she closed her eyes for one long second. How long had it been? How many months not only longing for a burger but also for a generous portion of… any food had it been? For how long Eunbi had been thinking about this moment?

            The second bite didn’t come fast either, but it was for another reason. Emotions, stupid emotions, swelled in her chest and flooded her eyes. Eunbi felt simply pathetic, but her heart seemed to not give a damn to her.

            “Eunbi-yah? Is everything okay?”

            She slowly opened her eyes, blinking fast to drive away the wetness. “Yeah,” she said after swallowing. Eunbi could still feel her eyes burning, but she decided to ignore it.

            Sojung stared at her, a chip between her well-done nails, for a second and Eunbi feared she’d press on the subject. But the woman only nodded and gave her a smile before going back to eating her food. Eunbi did the same and with each bite, it became easier and she did her best to not overthink it.

            They slowly ate, talked about the food for a couple of times and left the bistro.

            Eunbi felt full and so incredibly happy that she almost missed Sojung’s question.

            “Sorry, eonni, I didn’t get that,” she looked at her, hands stuffed inside her jacket.

            Sojung repeated, “I asked where you want to go now. The Visionary Arts Museum?”

            “Hum…” Eunbi mused over it. Looking at the time on her phone, she saw that it was a quarter to two and maybe they could go somewhere else. “What about Charles Village? The houses there are seriously so pretty.”

            Sojung smiled, “wherever you want to go, Eunbi.”

            The student tried to not read between the obviously non-existent lines there, what was she even thinking? Yes, that’s right. She wasn’t thinking about anything. “We’ll have to get the car, though.”

            After getting the car, putting the address on the GPS and parking it again, Sojung and Eunbi stepped out of the car. The student went ahead, guiding Sojung through the streets with more or less confidence.

            It was pretty to see it, though. The image she’d had of Eunbi up until that point was of a very insecure and shy girl. While that was obviously true, there was a lot more to the student than the eyes could see. Sojung had a glimpse of it when they talked about art before, but only now she could see that Eunbi again.

            Explaining the neighborhood’s story to her, Eunbi sounded contended. Maybe it was because she had eaten that whole burger set—plus some of Sojung’s chips—that she looked a little livelier. Her skin had more color to it, her steps were stronger, and her shoulders were straight. Eunbi still spoke softly and without gestures, keeping her hands inside her jacket all the time, but it was clear the difference from the previous days to Sojung.

            Again, it was pretty to see.

            The houses were pretty too. The colors and the architecture was chin-dropping. It was sincerely mesmerizing to see the quiet neighborhood under the shy Sun. Sojung was, then, overcome by something she never had really felt before. Of course, she had taken photos of places before, but… she wanted to take a picture of Eunbi. Sojung wanted to register that moment.

            “Eunbi-yah,” she called, a few steps behind the girl who turned to look at her. Sojung held up her phone. “Can I take a picture?”

            The student looked confused for a moment, head tilting to the side, and then her cheeks were colored by a faint rose that only made her look cuter. Sojung thought that maybe the request had been too weird, but Eunbi was already making her way towards her. It was her turn to be momentarily confused as the girl stood beside her.

            “Won’t you take it, eonni?” Eunbi quietly asked and Sojung understood it.

            Fighting back a smile, she opened the phone’s camera and turned it to frontal. Stretching her arm up, she stepped closer to Eunbi and saw the girl smile on the mobile’s screen. Hitting the white button, Sojung watched the picture appear at the bottom of the screen, replacing a boring photo of a document.

            She knew that it wasn’t rational to make a big deal out of it, but her heart was going off on its own. Sojung could, however, ignore it and that’s what she did.

            “Done. Now, where should we go? I think we’ve seen pretty much all of it.”

            Eunbi nodded and looked at her own cell phone’s screen. “Maybe we could go to the Dell.”

            “The Dell?”

            “Wyman Park Dell,” Eunbi explained. “It’s a green area. It’s a nice to place to sit and—to be honest, I’m a little tired of walking,” the student gave her a guilty smile that Sojung couldn’t help but adore.

            “Is it far?”

            “Not at all! It’s actually pretty close to where you parked the car,” she said and Sojung nodded.

            “Let’s head there then.”

            Eunbi was right. The place was really nice. Even under the Winter weather, it still looked nice. They found a bench and sat down, shoulders lightly brushing, silence immediately settling in. Sojung allowed it to happen, but she also allowed herself to look at Eunbi’s profile. The student looked lost in thought, she quickly noticed, and Sojung wondered if it was a good idea to ask what she was thinking about. Her mind provided that it was none of her business, but her heart remembered how Eunbi reacted to the burger and Sojung couldn’t stop herself.

            “Eunbi-yah,” she said as softly as she could, afraid of startling the student. She waited for Eunbi to have her eyes on her to continue, “a penny for your thoughts?”

             That drew a tiny small out of Eunbi, but the girl seemed restrained. It set a minor alarm in her head, but Sojung decided to wait.

            Eunbi held her eyes for a second longer before looking away, leaning back on the bench and sighing. She was silent for some time and through it all Sojung waited. She made sure to make her posture as relaxed as possible, her expression as calm as possible. If there was one thing Sojung was starting to get about Eunbi was that she was easily distressed—and Sojung was set on showing her that there was no reason for anxiety. Not between the two of them.

            Eunbi’s lips flickered in a smile that didn’t last. “I’m just… thinking about these last days.”

            “Is that so?” Sojung raised her eyebrows and joined Eunbi, leaning back on the bench. “What about them?”

            “Just…” Eunbi trailed off and said in a quieter voice, “thanks.”

            That took her by surprised. “What do you mean?”

            Eunbi uncomfortably squirmed. “It’s just that… you’ve been doing so much for me. Even though we don’t know much about each other… you still did a lot of things. So, thanks, eonni.”

            Sojung mused over the words for a moment, wondering what to say. “You’re welcome, Eunbi.”

            By the student’s smile, that had been the right answer.

            They were quiet for a minute or so, just looking to the trees when Eunbi gave an exasperated sigh.

            “What’s wrong?”

            The girl pouted. “I… I’m tired. I mean, I’m not saying this because I wanna go home or anything,” she quickly added and Sojung held back a smile, “I just don’t really want to go to the bar today. I wish I could just… enjoy my time, you know? Without looking all the time at the clock, afraid to be late for my next job or whatever.”

            There was a chuckle at the end of her sentence, but Sojung knew it wasn’t a happy one. She was ready to say something about it—comforting words, some practical advice, anything—but Eunbi wasn’t really done.

            “And… and I really can’t afford to lose any jobs now, especially a stable one like the bar,” Eunbi quietly said and it sounded like an after-thought, as if that wasn’t supposed to come out.

            Sojung’s heart quickened. Eunbi was opening up to her.

            There was a long pause, but she didn’t say anything, she just waited.

            Eunbi bit her lower lip, looking at her lap. “Now that I don’t have a roommate anymore too… I mean, it’s not like she made a huge difference, but still.”

            “You don’t have a roommate anymore?” Sojung gently asked and Eunbi shook her head.

            “She hadn’t come to the apartment for weeks and didn’t help with the rent, but, I mean, her stuff was still there. Yesterday, though, I got home from the bar and I found her packing up to leave. She gave me some money to cover her part of that month and that was it. She left.”

            Sojung couldn’t pinpoint what, but there was something else in that story. Eunbi sounded sad.

            “I see… will it be hard to make ends meet this month?” Sojung asked, not sure if pressing on the subject was a good idea.

            “Not this month,” Eunbi gave her a small smile. “You helped a lot, eonni.”

            Sojung half-heartedly returned the gesture. What Eunbi said implied that even if this month was okay, the ones to come weren’t. Sojung couldn’t ask about her expenses without making the student uncomfortable, she knew that much. But, even without knowing it, she understood that Eunbi needed to have all of those jobs.

            It was frustrating. She wanted to help Eunbi but couldn’t do it without having the girl upset with her. Sojung felt powerless and how did she hate it. Looking at Eunbi, rosy cheeks and small smile, she knew that it was only temporary. At the moment she dropped Eunbi at her workplace, the girl would slowly wither back to the pale and lethargic self from when they first met.

            If only Eunbi could have one job that paid her enough and didn’t demand as much from her…

            Oh.

            “Eonni? Are you okay?” Eunbi reluctantly chuckled. “You stopped breathing out of nowhere.”

            She wasn’t sure if she was alright. Sojung just had had an idea—one that could possibly solve things, but… it could very well sit badly with Eunbi. Who am I kidding? Eunbi will not accept it, she swallowed, but, still. She’s been so tired and, and I could definitely help her that way. She’d still be working, so it wouldn’t be a favor. Besides, I really don’t want to go to that party alone. Maybe, maybe if I explain it to her—

            “Eonni…? You’re starting to scare me,” Eunbi half-heartedly joked.

            Sojung turned to look into her eyes.

            “Eunbi-yah. I… I have this business dinner the next week.”

            “O…okay?”

            Oh, , am I really going to do this?

            “And I absolutely hate it, you know? Socializing with a bunch of snobs isn’t my favorite thing, but it’s part of the job, so… nothing we can do about it.” The student looked at her with both eyebrows raised, certainly waiting for her to get to a point. “Yerin… Yerin always comes with me to them. It makes things a lot easier for me, but… she’ll have to go to Manila soon and I…”

            “You…?” Eunbi prompted her.

            I should forget about this, that’s what I should do, Sojung swallowed, but if I don’t even suggest it… I’ll be martyrizing myself over it forever. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with offering, right?

            “I’d like a companion, just someone to be by my side while it happens. I was going to, uh, hire someone from around here,” Sojung lied before she could even stop herself. But the berating would have to come later, “but, I’d feel a lot more comfortable if it was someone I know.”

            Eunbi blinked at her. “I’m not… I’m not sure I get what you’re trying to say, eonni.”

            Sojung straightened her back and tried to say it as casually as she could.

            “What would you say about being hired to be my companion, Eunbi-yah?”