Eunbi glances again at her wristwatch, before urgently looking up and out of the windows of the bus. She grips tightly onto her clarinet case and bites her lower lip in anxiety. Just why must it be today that the conductor was in such a terrible mood to keep the whole orchestra back for almost an hour, and on top of that summon a few problematic sections to stay back for extra sectionals? And Eunbi had to be an unlucky one to be in a problematic section.

Her phone beeps with a notification showing a message from Yuna. Attached is a selfie, captioned [I came early! This is where I am]

Eunbi sighs. According to her original plan, she could've gone home first and dropped her baggage before heading to the park. Now, she's on what she hopes is the shortest route from her practice grounds to the park with shortened breaths and a mind in unrest.

Finally, she reaches the park bus stop and she makes a run for where Yuna is. When she catches sight of Yuna, Eunbi slows down and pants with her hands on her knees. Nonetheless, her lips wear a bright smile pure of the excitement of seeing Yuna.

Yuna frowns, giving the younger girl eyes of concern, “Why did you run?”

Taking the initiative, Yuna walks over and helps Eunbi with her clarinet case. Eunbi tries to catch her breath amidst a burst of innocent laughter. “I wanted to see unnie quick,” Eunbi grins. Nobody questions what she has just said.

Instead, Yuna breaks into a soft smile and asks, “Why did you have me come here?”

As they rest on a bench, Eunbi answers with a rather chirpy tone, “I got this idea after watching you on Saturday. I am very grateful for your presence this summer, for making my summer such a magical one I wished it wasn't just a dream. So I want to spend the last of my summer with you. I want to watch the last sunset of summer with you,” her tone drops to a more solemn one, and so does the expression on her face.

Yuna recalls her own experience this summer, from moving in with Eunbi, a day of fun at the amusement park, watching each other perform for the first time, to this very moment. With tears forming at the corners of Yuna's eyes, she stifles a chuckle (or a sob?) and says, “Can I give you a hug?”

Eunbi scrunches her nose up. “No!”

Yuna laughs and does so anyway.

Eunbi breaks into a small smile with her face in Yuna's sweet-smelling hair when Yuna gives her a few pats on the head and she actually feels good. Shrugging away the warm fuzziness from the hug growing inside of her, she says, “Another seven more minutes, unnie.”

“Another seven minutes of the hug?” Yuna entertains herself with her own jokes.

“No! I meant, till the sun sets!”

Yuna’s laughter echoes in Eunbi's head like a light melody of bells.

The sun glows above the water surface, its reflection right below with brightness equally blinding. It resembles a shining pearl as it sinks into the glistening waters, the sky in its background a spectrum of hues. Eunbi squints into the horizon, her hands over her eyes, with Yuna right by her side whose eyes are similarly narrowed. Their standing shadows depict an enlarged height difference between their heads, before they slowly fade along as the sky darkens.

“It’s beautiful,” Eunbi whispers, her eyes sparkling.

This time, Eunbi takes the initiative to place her arms around Yuna’s waist to give the taller girl a hug.

Eunbi releases a sound that reveals her anxiety, frustration and urgency all at once. Am I going to be late? She asks inwardly as she goes through her clothes once again. Settling on a simple blouse and a skirt she seldom ever wears, Eunbi grabs the girliest bag she has, throws in her essentials and rushes out of her room.

She freezes when she feels Yuna's hard stare on her.

“Do I look weird?” she mutters, brow furrowed.

Yuna blinks. “No, you don't?”

As a silence that surrounds them grows awkward, Eunbi feels beads of sweat forming on her forehead. She clears and says, “I'll get going.”

“Okay,” Yuna does not look at Eunbi nor show any form of emotion.

When the door shuts and the electronic lock sounds, Yuna then realises why things seemed slightly out of place: it's a pastel blue skirt that Eunbi is wearing.

Eunbi stops herself before the entrance of the cafe for a few deep breaths upon her arrival. She briefly neatens her hair with her reflection in the glass window. She spots a pimple near her chin and wonders, should she have at least put on some makeup even though her products are rotting away in a drawer since she last used it for her previous housemate’s wedding?

When she enters the cafe a face she has learnt from the photos her mother sent her greets her with a welcoming smile. “Hwang Eunbi ssi?” his tone is careful yet polite. He walks over and pulls a seat out for Eunbi.

“Yoon Jeonghan ssi?” Eunbi does not show an equal amount of enthusiasm but finds his gesture well.

“Please have a seat,” he beams. Eunbi seats herself on the chair, as Jeonghan helps her with pushing it in before he takes his seat. The way Jeonghan’s eyes lie on Eunbi gives her uneasiness yet an unprecedented sense of being appreciated. Flattered, she feels her heart flutter within her as her cheeks start to heat up intensely.

He begins by asking, “Was it difficult finding this place?”

“No! I’m fine,” Eunbi smiles, much delighted by his graciousness. Catching on her breath from the fluster, she then asks, “Were you very early? I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

“I didn’t arrive very much before you either,” he shakes his head, the warm smile plastered on his lips. “Let’s order, shall we?”

The two proceed to have a good meal and Eunbi finds Jeonghan to be cordial and amiable. She does not realise it until midway that she does actually enjoy meeting Jeonghan. At least umma found someone nice, she tells herself with an internal smug.

“When is your birthday?” Jeonghan asks as he wipes his fingers a little with a serviette.

Eunbi blinks at the unanticipated question. “June 3, 90,” she answers anyway, plainly.

A momentary stillness probes Eunbi to return the question. “You?”

Jeonghan appears to be slightly surprised by the question. “October 4, 87,” he says after clearing his throat.

“Heol,” Eunbi accidentally mutters. She catches herself before checking if Jeonghan has. That's unnie’s birthday, Eunbi tells herself, alarmed. A feeling that was unlooked for now threads in Eunbi’s heart; is that guilt? Baffled, Eunbi frowns. The reminder of Yuna makes Eunbi feel bad for being on a blind date, but she does not find any fault in it.

“Should you like to catch a movie together? I saw a cinema along the way from the train station,” Jeonghan raises the suggestion, unbothered.

Eunbi blinks, her soft, pink lips spreading into a sweet smile. “Sure.”

Yuna listens for once how still the house is when she lies down alone on the couch. Her eyelids softly flutter when she blinks, her eyes on the ceiling yet her mind seeing only emptiness.

That is before thoughts of Eunbi being on a blind date start to cloud her mind upon the reminder that on a usual Sunday, it would be the two of them making the home rowdy and lively. Yuna sulks. She has never explicitly admitted it, but she knows she looks forward to Sundays with Eunbi.

Yuna recalls the mess of feelings after meeting Seokmin to which she still has not found an explanation to; she still has yet to reason why Eunbi should be involved. Something tells her it's all about Eunbi, despite seeing no clues nor where any should come from.

A question does give her a hint about her incomprehensible emotions: should there be any differences between the two of them if other people were to enter their lives?

Yuna doesn’t want anything between them to change.

She pauses her train of thoughts. Why would anything between them change if Eunbi’s blind date goes well? Right, she then answers herself, “Maybe she’ll really get married and she’ll move out and I’ll lose her-”

Yuna freezes when she hears her own words.

That is when it dawns upon her, that her greatest fear is to lose Eunbi. It all makes sense now: Eunbi is an important presence in her life that Yuna wants to keep for a long time.

The stillness of the house and Yuna’s inactivity causes her to notice that she’s been unconsciously waiting for her housemate to return home. It’s taking a while; are they working out well?

Yuna sits upright in haste when she hears the sound of the electronic lock, her eyes the widest, and the most alert, they have been that afternoon, but when Eunbi emerges from with a warm smile plastered on her face, Yuna slumps back into her seat. All life in her seemingly disappears; if waiting for Eunbi was her only intention then now that she's home, Yuna doesn't know what she wants to do anymore.

“Unnie, I'm home,” her sweet smile remains plastered on her face.

Yuna does not look at Eunbi. With an expressionless face and her eyes landing on nothing in particular in the distance, she mutters, “Oh.”

Eunbi slightly sticks out her lower lip as she puts her bag down, confused with the response she is receiving.

“Unnie, you know, I haven’t had dinner, should we cook for the first time in a while?” Eunbi smiles again, approaching Yuna at the couch and bends her back to reach the latter's eye level.

Yuna’s lips purse together and curve into a small smile. “Should we?” she mutters very softly, rolling her eyes over to finally look at Eunbi.

Eunbi’s mouth opens as she forms an ecstatic smile. “Wait here, unnie, I'll go change,” she softly chirps, giving Yuna's lap (as she sits before Eunbi with her legs crossed) a gentle pat before walking off to her room.

Yuna's last sight of Eunbi is of the girl still wearing her placid, warm smile, and she thinks, Eunbi does look pretty when she's dressed up. She stifles a small giggle.

Yuna brings her knees to her chest and hugs her legs close, her chin sinking between her knees as she retreats into her own world once again.

Eunbi appears to be in a good mood; did it go well?

The thought does not trigger any more emotion in Yuna, as if her emotions were exhausted when she was home alone with her thoughts earlier on. Eunbi comes back out to see Yuna’s blank stare at the ground.

“Unnie,” Eunbi pouts, concerned, “what's up?”

“Nothing, Eunbi yah,” she answers, touched, “Just thinking about things.”

Eunbi takes Yuna's hand in hers and gives it a grip that is comfortingly secure, “You have me beside you, unnie yah,” Eunbi smiles sweetly a smile that allows warmth to flow into Yuna's heart.

Yuna looks down and lets her lips form a smile. At least for now, Eunbi is right beside her.

a/n: oof now our girls are comfortably touching each other. HAHAHAHA but what a terribly long chapter zz but i know, my chapters are considered short bc many writers on here like to have their chapters at 2-3k or more or even 5k words. i prefer shorter chapters tho, because it means quicker updates and less skipping of scenes. well but, it won’t be uncommon for upcoming chapters to be at this length as well. im sorry for the late update! im really busy after im back and i have a performance this coming wednesday. i promise ill update for a second time this week after my performance! im actually done w the next chapter, i just need a lot of tidying w the plotline. anw i hope you liked this one, i don't think i did a good job w it so i may still edit it tho i don't know what to edit anymore so i'm putting it out so you guys can finally read it. i missed you guys hehe xoxo i'll be back soon when i can