Being the daughter of an affluent businessman, Hyunjin had her life planned out for her. She had been enrolled in nothing but the most prestigious schools, signed up for after school curriculars, and had her own peers with equally affluent parents as her own. Hyunjin grew up thinking of people as assets and investments she could capitalize on for her own good. It’s why she refused to hang out with people her father told her to stay away from, why she only befriended those who could benefit her gain. Hyunjin shoulders the responsibilities and expectations her father projects on her without complaint.

 

It’s easy pleasing him. All she needs to do is stay at the top of the ranks in school, network with others, and keep her behavior in line. Hyunjin doesn’t necessarily care for breaking the rules; it just isn’t worth her time. Rules exist for a reason and Hyunjin doesn’t see the gain in breaking guidelines whose purpose is to keep everything contained and organized. All her father wanted from Hyunjin is the ability to take over the family business in the future and to keep a white as snow slate of behavior. A bad reputation is the death of success. And Hyunjin will be damned before she gets herself caught in fraudulent behavior. She works way too hard to please her father to be anything less than perfect. (More important to her than inheriting the business was keeping her father happy with her. She yearned for his praise and positive attention. If she had that, it meant that he would respect her. Hyunjin learned early on that her father couldn’t care less about love. She grew to be okay without her own father’s love, but, came to desperately need his respect to live a peaceful life. Her father is overbearing and controlling and if Hyunjin couldn’t control her life, her father would have no problem puppeteering hers. And to the extent of control that Hyunjin has, she knows it’s the most freedom she’ll ever get from him.)

 

In her junior year of high school when her father pushes her to date the sleazy boy in her class that reeked of a cocky attitude and patronized those who he deemed lower than himself (which meant everyone), Hyunjin places her pride elsewhere and accepts the boy’s half-cocked attempt at asking her out.

 

(Hyunjin had higher standards than this pig of a human being. She might be cold and lofty, but, she knew how to respect a majority of society. Or at least fake it. And being with him, Hyunjin hates every bit of it. The boy is self-centered and far too self-infatuated to think about anything but himself.

 

Her father’s business might have gained a possible branch to operate from with their new relationship, but, Hyunjin doesn’t think it’s worth listening to the boy brag about his gains and Yeezy’s. There’s more to talk about than muscles and trashy overpriced shoes.)

 

~

 

Hyunjin knows her boyfriend is cheating on her. She couldn’t care less. He didn’t give a about her, she didn’t have the same effort for him. If there was one thing they could mutually agree on, it was that their relationship works because of the beautiful orchestration their parents composed.

 

When he tries to kiss her on one of their dates, Hyunjin tilts her head and leans away. He could waste her time, make her bored enough to consider drilling through her skull to pass the time, and disgust her with his uncleanly habits, but, he is not allowed to take her first kiss.

 

(The thought comes from the romantic part of Hyunjin that she shuts away deep into the darkness. Romanticism is paired with love, and with love, vulnerability comes. She learned that from her father. And through him, he taught her that vulnerability is weakness.

 

Being weak and being Kim Hyunjin is not a thing that exists in her dictionary.)

 

“You are not allowed to kiss me.”

 

The boy groans and rolls his eyes, “Are you kidding? We’ve been on like five dates and I’ve barely even held your hand. If you were any other girl, you’d be in my bed begging for me.”

 

It takes everything in Hyunjin not to gag. She thanks her father for teaching her how to keep a poker face no matter the situation.

 

“I’m not any other girl, . I knew you were dumb, but, I didn’t think you’d be so ed to think that I was that easy. I pity the girls that get in bed with you.”

 

(Not that there was anything wrong with being easy, Hyunjin thinks. It’s just, being easy for this pig of a human is a waste of time.)

 

She gestures at his whole body and grimaces before throwing the napkin in her lap on the table, “Everything about you screams overcompensation for what you’ve got in your pants.”

 

Before leaving, Hyunjin takes a breadstick, “Also, if you couldn’t get it through your thick head, we’re over. And you’re paying for dinner. Hope I never see you again—you disgust me.”

 

When Hyunjin calls her personal driver to take her home, her father already knows how Hyunjin’s evening went.

 

“Why’d you break up with him, Hyunjin? He and his father are an excellent venture for us to expand with.”

 

Hyunjin scoffs before fixing herself a bowl of cereal, “He’s a tool and completely useless. He wouldn’t know what to do with an investor even if he had someone guiding him through it. Trust me on this, father. There’s better people to work with.”

 

(With respect came trust. So, he lets Hyunjin win this one.

 

It’s not often that he does, but, he knew Hyunjin knew well enough what people would be more beneficial than others and if she knew that the boy wouldn’t be an asset to their business, he simply would not be.)

 

~.~.~

 

It’s not often Hyunjin suggests things to her father. She knows he is too stubborn and too self-righteous to actually consider her opinions and thoughts. Hyunjin usually settles on drafting her ideas by herself in her notebook and imagining the benefits and consequences that could come from them.

 

But, when she is at a party keeping a watchful eye on a table full of drinks, she catches a girl dropping a white pill into a drink. Instead of leaving to wait for someone to take the drink and get drugged up, the girl pulls out something that looks a lot like a juul. Instead of smoking from it like one usually does with juuls, she dips it into the drink. Hyunjin feels her eyebrows furrow—technology and liquid was never the perfect pair. Was this girl so far gone to actually do something so stupid? A quick moment later, the girl does a dance that Hyunjin thinks means victory. Following the girl who quickly leaves, Hyunjin watches as she dumps the drink into the kitchen sink.

 

“You wasted a couple of bucks there. Not just in alcohol, but, in rohypnol.”

 

The girl startles and she puts a hand over her heart to ease the rapid beating that came with being surprised.

 

“I wasn’t planning on actually hurting someone! I just wanted to try something out!”

 

Hyunjin raises an eyebrow. There is never a good reason to be drugging a drink at a college party.

 

The girl takes the juul out of her pocket and waves it around, “Look, I’m testing this out. It looks like a juul, but, really, it gages if there’s anything sketchy in drinks. I made it because my girlfriend almost got drugged up in our freshman year and I wanted to make something that is inconspicuous and consistent in performance to prevent things like that from happening.”

 

“You invented that?”

 

The girl frantically nods, “I would never think about assaulting someone like that! Frankly, I shouldn’t have to be inventing something like this because we should be teaching people not to ing , but, we’ve got to move with the times.”

 

And the checklist in Hyunjin’s mind gets fulfilled—the girl’s invention is innovative, current, useful, and portable. In the girl’s hands, Hyunjin sees a product to invest on.

 

“What’s your name?”

 

The girl stutters.

 

“I’m- I’m not in trouble, right? I swear I don’t do things like this normally. I mean, I have been to check how consistently this thing works, but I promise the drinks go straight in the drain after! I’m not- I wouldn’t-”

 

“Don’t forget to breathe. You’re not in trouble. I want to invest in you. I have the means, for the most part. I just need your name and a proper introduction to what that thing in your hand is and I could have that product being made by the thousands daily.”

 

The girl freezes and tilts her head. She never thought about mass selling the drug tester in her hand for profit. All she wanted to do was protect her loved ones. But, she isn’t above others having the means for more safety precautions. The girl pockets the invention in her pocket before reaching her right hand out.

 

“I’m Kim Jiwoo.”

 

Hyunjin shakes her hand and the girl’s firm handshake is something her father would be proud of.

 

“Kim Hyunjin. I hope I can look forward to working with you.”

 

Before Hyunjin leaves after handing her business card to her, she hears Jiwoo stammer behind her.

 

“Wait. Kim Hyunjin. Kim Industries Kim Hyunjin?”

 

Hyunjin looks behind her and smirks, confident and satisfied with the power that courses through her veins, “You’re a smart girl, you can figure that one out.”

 

Before Hyunjin leaves the kitchen and goes back to the loud living room, she hears Jiwoo behind her.

 

“Holy ! Jungeun’s never gonna believe this.”

 

(When Jiwoo tells her later on, Jungeun boasts, “If it weren’t for me almost being in danger, you wouldn’t have Kim ing Hyunjin’s business card in your wallet.”

 

Jiwoo smacks her shoulder because that party had been a nightmare for her. Her girlfriend, as lovely and incredible she is, could be an absolute sometimes.

 

Jungeun knows what she has to do to get back on Jiwoo’s good side. It involves a lot of kisses, a tub of neapolitan ice cream, and a whole lot of pouting and begging.

 

Jiwoo crumbles the second Jungeun peppers kisses all over her face, her lips sticky from ice cream. When Jiwoo washes her face later on in the night, she is sure to stick her cold hands on Jungeun’s warm stomach and laughs at how the girl squirms away from the sudden freezing sensation on her belly.)

 

~

 

“Father! Her invention is genius! It’s innovative and new and unique! There’s not a single thing like that in the market. There’s strips and testers, but, they’re not as clever as hers is.”

 

“Kim Hyunjin! Do not raise your voice with me. This piece of machine is not worth my time or investment. And that’s final.”

 

Hyunjin knew persistence, she learned it from the man himself.

 

“Take a chance on this! Just trust me! I know this will do well! Just sponsor enough money for us to make a couple of prototypes and it will take off!”

 

Her father is cold and calculated, cool and distant. His words are pointed and sharp, “Last time I checked, I have the control and the upper hand when it comes to making decisions and executive plans. You, however, have no right to be telling me what to do. Know your place, Hyunjin. Your assertion of power is pitiful.”

 

For once, Hyunjin lets her frustrations win over her. She could deal with her father bossing her around, pushing her to date ty men, deciding every single opportunity for her, but, she could only do so much. Taking her jacket and her car keys, Hyunjin makes her way out, needing time away from him.

 

“Don’t forget that when you grow old and senile and useless, I’m the one taking over the business. It’s written in the contract and in your will. Don’t set yourself up for failure, father. Know when to step down and give me control because one day, I will be the one to have it. If I’m your investment, treat me like one.”

 

(A power-hungry man and his hubris is his vulnerability, Hyunjin knows this.

 

Her father trained her too well. She could be as ruthless and cold as he could—living with him and not knowing what love felt like could do that to her. That man had fallen in love and gotten himself hurt. He has his own sensitivity and weakness to fall into. Hyunjin barely had any experiences with love, didn’t have something tethering her humanity to lawfulness. All she knew was human capital and entertaining those who could only benefit her.)

 

(In truth, it’s tragic how her father has plucked genuine love from her.)

 

Driving to a place familiar to her, Hyunjin pulls up at the cemetery twenty minutes away from her house. Hyunjin’s mother had only been a part of her life for two years before falling ill and passing away. Hyunjin thinks that maybe she might have felt love from her parents when her mother was still living. But, at the consequence of her mother leaving, so did her father’s affection.

 

All Hyunjin knows now is being cold and callused. She knows how to succeed, but, doesn’t know how to love without expecting compensation.

 

Walking to her mother’s grave, Hyunjin sits at the front of the grave and reads the lettering on her mother’s tombstone.

 

Gone too soon.

 

Gone way too ing soon, Hyunjin thinks.

 

(If there was one thing Hyunjin wanted most, it was to know what her father was like when he was happy. Perhaps, she would know what being in love looks like on him, would know what it feels like to have a father’s genuine care and affection.)

 

It’s peaceful at the cemetery—the dead get the rest they deserve there. It’s silent and mostly lonely there with a scattered presence of individuals putting flowers by their loved one’s grave. Hyunjin doesn’t say anything and looks at the picture of her mother smiling and lets the peaceful air around her calm her down.

 

It’s just Hyunjin at the part of the cemetery she is at. That is until a flash of black catches her eyes. Looking to her right, a girl is bent over someone’s grave and taking the flowers from it. Hyunjin hears her apologize before walking away and doing the same thing to another grave. When the girl walks past her, Hyunjin watches as she takes another bundle of flowers in her hand from the grave in front of her mother’s.

 

Feeling eyes on her, the girl looks behind her to catch Hyunjin’s eyes.

 

“What’re you looking at?”

 

Hyunjin shrugs and she is more nonchalant than she is curious about the girl’s action.

 

“Oh, just, some girl stealing flowers from dead people. Nothing new.”

 

Something about the casual tone in Hyunjin’s voice makes the girl relax.

 

“Not even gonna ask why?”

 

Hyunjin hums and shakes her head, “Nah. Couldn’t care to ask. They’re all dead anyway. A couple of missing flowers isn’t going to bother them.”

 

The girl quirks her eyebrows. It’s not often she’s met with such indifference. She has been scolded, yelled and cursed at, and even chased. But, with this girl, it seemed like she barely even lifted an eyebrow.

 

It’s odd how the girl simply does not care.

 

Either way, it makes her day easier. It’s nice to not hear people yell at her. Even more nice not having to run away from people shaking their fist at her.

 

“Well, I guess I’ll just be on my way then.”

 

“Have fun with that, Flower Thief.”

 

The girl smiles, clicks , and shoots a finger gun towards Hyunjin, “Sure will, Cemetery Girl.”

 

Watching the girl walk away, Hyunjin feels more at peace than normal.

 

Odd.

 

When Hyunjin drives home, she ignores the part of her that tries to reimagine the girl’s face.

 

Hyunjin isn’t blind. Flower Thief is more than just cute. Honestly, she is perhaps the most beautiful person she has ever seen, but, she would rather leave it at that. This would probably be the last of Flower Thief and it isn’t worth her time to dwell on the girl, no matter how charming and bright her smile was.

 

(A part of Hyunjin wishes to see her again.)

 

Arriving home, her father is sitting at the dining table, a glass of whiskey on the table and his evening glasses sitting on his nose. (The ring of water around the glass tells Hyunjin he has been nursing the drink for a while.)

 

Silently, he gives her a contract and a note on top of it with a number carrying a decent amount of zero’s to kickstart Jiwoo’s idea.

 

Hyunjin wins the battle once again.

 

She’ll be sure to win the war.

 

Even if it’s against the man who taught her how to fight, she won’t be the one waving a white flag.

 

Vulnerability is weakness and there’s nothing to be vulnerable over if there isn’t a weakness to exploit.

 

~

 

When Hyunjin contacts Jiwoo on the phone, the exchange on the latter’s part is unintentionally informal.

 

“Who’s this? I don’t appreciate people calling my girlfriend during our date night.”

 

“It’s Kim Hyunjin, but, if I’m interrupting something, I can always call later.”

 

In the receiver, she hears a gasp and the girl’s voice is harder to hear, presumably because she takes the phone away from . Still, Hyunjin hears her, “Oh . Jiwoo, it’s Kim Hyunjin.”

 

Hyunjin hears a slight scuffle and a quiet squabble that abruptly gets caught off.

 

“Hi Hyunjin! Sorry about that. Jungeun’s just ridiculous like that sometimes. Don’t mind her. In fact, pretend our conversation starts right now. What’s on your mind?”

 

Something about Jiwoo (and Jungeun) makes her laugh. Not vindictively or cruelly—it’s genuine and kind-hearted.

 

“I’ve got the funds to get you started, Jiwoo. What’s a good time for us to meet and properly discuss this little invention of yours?”

 

Hyunjin hears a gasp on the other line and something that sounds a lot like contained screaming from disbelief.

 

“Oh my God, are- are you serious?”

 

“I wouldn’t waste my time pranking you, Jiwoo. I’m as serious as I ever could be.”

 

“Holy ! Wait. Excuse my language, I’m sorry—it’s so unprofessional of me to curse in front of you; I promise I don’t normally cuss like-”

 

Before the girl spirals into a mess of rambles and apologies, Hyunjin cuts her off. (Oddly, she isn’t annoyed or frustrated at the girl’s chaotic tendencies—Hyunjin is rather bemused.)

 

“Jiwoo, you could say every bad word under the sun and I wouldn’t care so long as it’s not directed towards me. Just tell me, when are you available?”

 

At the end of a fifteen conversation that should have only taken five minutes at most, Hyunjin schedules a meeting with Jiwoo at the coffee shop two minutes away from their college on a Thursday afternoon after Jiwoo’s class.

 

(It’s the first time Hyunjin feels like she is truly in control of her life. It’s the first time she gets to go with her gut and follow through with who and what she believes in.

 

Jiwoo means more to her than she would care to admit.)

 

~.~.~

 

Waiting for Jiwoo at the cafe, Hyunjin is there an hour early after her class ended to prepare for her debrief with the girl. It’s peaceful—there is a mild chatter around her, but, Hyunjin doesn’t mind it. (She has always liked white noise anyway; it made her feel a little less alone). The sweet smell of coffee beans waft through the air and it’s a scent that she basks in. Her peace of mind is disrupted when a smack against the glass window beside her startles her. Shocked, Hyunjin looks outside to see a girl bracing herself against the window. The girl bends down to pick up a longboard and when the girl outside looks inside the shop, her eyes widen too.

 

Not just because she nearly longboarded into a window because she was too preoccupied with Snapchatting the dog across the street from her and disturbing a patron in the coffee shop but also because she recognized the face looking back at her.

 

It shocks Hyunjin too.

 

In what world would Flower Thief be right outside of her window with an embarrassed smile on her face?

 

The girl starts mouthing words at Hyunjin, but, she has always been bad at lip reading. Moving her ear closer to the window, as if that would help her see what the other girl was saying, she fails to understand what she is saying. Suddenly, Flower Thief abandons the window she is at and makes her way into the coffee shop. Hyunjin’s eyes trail after her movements and when she comes inside, she makes an immediate beeline towards the Business major.

 

When the girl stops at Hyunjin’s table, she casually slides into the seat across from her and rests her chin in her hands.

 

“Just wanted to say sorry.”

 

“For what?”

 

“Looked like I scared you. And I don’t like being scared so I wanted to apologize in case you don’t like being scared either.”

 

Hyunjin furrows her eyebrows, “You came all of the way in here just to say sorry?”

 

The girl leans back into her seat and closes her eyes to take a deep whiff of the coffee-scented air.

 

“Yup!”

 

Getting out of the seat and picking up her longboard, the girl waves behind her before leaving, “See you some other time, Cemetery Girl. Grey looks great on you, by the way!”

 

(It confuses Hyunjin how Flower Thief makes her feel so at ease. There’s something about her that makes Hyunjin forget about how ty and cutthroat the world is.)

 

(It’s alarming how disarming she is.)

 

As the hour ticks away, Jiwoo runs in two minutes early, panting and her bangs in a disarray.

 

She looks disorganized and mussed up, but, Hyunjin appreciates her effort in being prompt.

 

Jiwoo might be chaotic, but, at least she had the decency to be respectful—Hyunjin is more than capable of paying the respect back.

 

The girl adjusts her hair and tries to calm to her breathing, “I’m not late, am I?”

 

Hyunjin feels her the corner of her lips tug up. With someone as wholesome and genuine as Jiwoo, how could she not take a liking to her?

 

“You’re right on time, Jiwoo. Let’s get you a drink and we can start.”

 

While nursing a black coffee (Hyunjin) and a caramel frap drowning in sugar (Jiwoo), the two establish a procedural guide on producing the girl’s invention.

 

(After signing the appropriate contracts, Jiwoo is more ecstatic in brainstorming names than she is about the financial aspects of the drug-testing looking juul.

 

“I think we should call it a Chuul!”

 

“A Chuul? Why?”

 

The girl beams her boxy smile and Hyunjin is already considering the name despite finding it ridiculous.

 

“Just because!”

 

“Just because?”

 

Jiwoo nods her head rapidly. Hyunjin sighs and writes the name down, “Chuul it is then.” )

 

When their meeting ends, Jiwoo pulls Hyunjin into a hug and it’s the first hug Hyunjin receives in an awfully long time.

 

(Hyunjin doesn’t hate it. In fact, she likes it. She’d never admit it though.)

 

~

 

Hyunjin never really believed in destiny, but, a part of her starts considering the coincidences occurring in her life when she sees Flower Thief the next day.

 

After studying for her economics exam, Hyunjin leaves the library to head home. Her walk isn’t alone, however. Behind her, someone calls for her, “Hey Cemetery Girl!”

 

There was only person who called her that and she freezes when she hears Flower Thief’s voice. Looking at her, the girl has a lollipop in and her longboard in her hand.

 

“Random question, but, do you ever smile?”

 

Hyunjin looks at the girl beside her quizzically. “What?”

 

“I’ve been watching you and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile.”

 

“You- you’ve been watching me?”

 

Flower Thief raises her hands in defense, “Only just today and in a completely non-stalkerish way! You’re really pretty and interest me! So, do you? I think the most emotion I’ve ever seen from you is confusion.”

 

Hyunjin stammers, caught off guard by the odd question and stuck on the breezy compliment the girl gave, “I mean, yeah, I smile. I smiled yesterday at the coffee shop.”

 

Flower Thief’s jaw drops, “Only yesterday? You mean you didn’t smile at all today?”

 

Hyunjin takes a moment to recall her day, “Nope; not to my recollection.”

 

Hyunjin watches as the girl beside her has a mental warfare.

 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Cemetery Girl, but, what the ? How could life disappoint you so much in one day that you don’t smile?”

 

Hyunjin shrugs, “Guess there’s not much for me to smile about.”

 

The other girl stops and balks. “There’s plenty of things to smile about! I’ll show you. Maybe not today, but, someday, I’ll find something that’s gonna make you smile.”

 

When Flower Thief starts departing from her, she lifts her pinky, “I promise, Cemetery Girl, there’s reasons to smile!”

 

Hyunjin watches as the girl shakes her pinky in emphasis and points at her hand with it.

 

Hyunjin thinks, “Oh. She wants me to promise too.” When Hyunjin raises her pinky, she feels ridiculous, but, she doesn’t have it in her to care.

 

Seeing the other girl’s pinky finally coming up, the girl with the lollipop is content with the promise made and starts picking up her pace to get a start on her longboard.

 

“I’ll catch you later, Cemetery Girl!”

 

As she parts, Hyunjin yells behind her, “My name’s Hyunjin!”

 

Hyunjin barely hears the other girl’s reply back, her body’s orientation away from her, “I know!”

 

Hyunjin furrows her eyebrows.

 

If she knew then why did she keep calling her Cemetery Girl?

 

And what the hell is her name? Frankly, it’s exhausting referring to her as Flower Thief. Hyunjin tires of not having a name for the girl that keeps running through her mind.

 

This time around, her mind doesn’t need to reimagine the girl’s face like it had to the first time she met her. Yesterday at the coffee shop, she felt her eyes tracing the girl’s face in an attempt to remember her sharp features. Today, looking at her, Hyunjin tries to remember the beauty marks by the girl’s eye and cheek.

 

The more the girl comes into her life, the more Hyunjin wants to dwell on thinking about her. This is unlike anything Hyunjin has ever experienced. But, she thinks she likes it.

 

(When Hyunjin doesn’t have to feel like there’s a battle for power, she already feels more at peace.

 

For someone that Hyunjin has only spent a slight moment of time with, it’s remarkable how free the girl makes her feel.)

 

Watching her longboarding not too far away from her, Hyunjin observes as the girl halts to a sudden stop at a staircase, her hands coming down at the rails to stop her from toppling over and eating cement.

 

Clumsy and odd, Hyunjin feels her lips tugging up into a smile.

 

Flower Thief doesn’t have to look far if she needs to find reasons to make Hyunjin smile. Her goofy smile and whimsical tendencies are enough, but, Hyunjin thinks it’ll be entertaining to see what the girl has in store for her.

 

~

 

Hyunjin doesn’t see Flower Thief until two weeks later.

 

The weather is fair and perfect—the sun is out, but, it is cloudy enough that its rays don’t beat down on her. She was working with Jiwoo outside, testing the Chuul out with a variety of other drugs. So far, it has a perfect track record, lighting up each time it is placed in a laced drink and staying unlit when it is placed in their control variable.

 

Today, Jungeun had asked to tag along to see the progress the two have made and if Jiwoo was chaos, Jungeun was mayhem. Absentmindedly, Jungeun has mistaken her water for laced up drinks more times than she should and if it weren’t for the labels placed on the cups and Jiwoo smacking her hand when she grasps the cups, Jungeun would be passed out on the courtyard table.

 

“Jungeun, I don’t get it. Your water bottle, first of all, is steel, second of all, has a cap on it, and last of all, it’s right next to you. Why do you keep going for the cup that’s going to knock you out?”

 

Jungeun whines and petulantly tries to excuse herself.

 

Her excuses don’t amount to much. Childishly, the girl pouts and crosses her arms, “Fine! I’ll just hang out with Heekkie then!”

 

When Jiwoo kisses her goodbye, she tugs at the girl’s shirt before letting her go, “Please don’t try doing parkour again. I don’t need the both of you coming to me with broken arms again.”

 

“That was one time!”

 

“One time enough, Moomin! Just please, don’t do anything that will make me cry.”

 

Jungeun kisses her once more before smiling adoringly at her, “I’ll do my best, Jiwooming. I’ll see you later for dinner.”

 

Waving goodbye, Hyunjin watches as Jiwoo’s eyes follow her girlfriend. Hyunjin doesn’t know what love is, but, she has a feeling it looks a lot like Jiwoo and Jungeun together.

 

“You really love her, don’t you?”

 

Jiwoo’s big and innocent eyes pop up. Hyunjin rarely talks about things outside of business—it’s odd for her to ask a question so personal. Jiwoo welcomes it, thinks that this could be a chance for her to open the other girl up more.

 

“Endlessly. Jungeun and I, no matter the universe that fate puts us in, no matter the people that we are and where we are, I think we’re meant to find each other. We get each other. Being with her, it feels like everything fell into place for us.”

 

“And she makes you happy?”

 

“More than words could ever describe.”

 

Hyunjin nods and drops her eyes, focusing back on the Chuul, “Good.”

 

It’s not much, but, Jiwoo sees a flash of longing in Hyunjin’s eyes. It’s not the kind that is jealous, it’s more like the kind that is melancholy.

 

(Jiwoo is only beginning to understand how lonely Hyunjin feels.

 

Being surrounded by a greedy man and being forced into a world so vindictive and cold cannot foster a home of comfort and love.

 

Hyunjin wishes she had felt something like that to ache for, but instead, all she has is the burning drive to succeed and triumph.

 

Winning isn’t everything, but, to her, it’s all she has.)

 

After working on the Chuul for an hour more, Jiwoo invites Hyunjin to dinner.

 

“Our friend Heejin is gonna be there and she’ll be bouncing all over the place. She whines about third-wheeling all of the time. But honestly, it’s her fault for being friends with a couple and being too shy to get a girlfriend.”

 

Hyunjin would usually refuse such an offer, but, Jiwoo smiles at her and Hyunjin gets why Jungeun lets her get away with so many things.

 

It’s hard to say no to a smile so genuine and happy.

 

~

 

Arriving to Jiwoo’s apartment, the first thing Hyunjin hears is yelling.

 

“Heejin, the rice is burning! Get the rice! Get the rice!”

 

Hyunjin didn’t think it was possible for one to burn rice. But, seeing the absolute mess that Jungeun is, and God forbid this Heejin, Hyunjin thinks that they might be able to do the impossible.

 

Hyunjin knows that much like misery, mayhem likes company.

 

Walking in, Jiwoo leans over the couch to kiss a dark-haired girl on the cheek before kissing Jungeun’s as well. (She’d normally go for the lips, but, the girl was dialed in on the screen and Jiwoo wasn’t up for hearing Jungeun screaming into her ear about messing her up.) When Hyunjin steps further in, she sees that Jungeun and Heejin are zeroed in on the screen, screaming at each other.

 

On the screen, two critters are running about, cutting fish and vegetables, and serving dishes to a conveyor belt.

 

“Just in’ yeet the cucumber over—we don’t give a damn about sanitation in this restaurant!”

 

Hyunjin knows that voice.

 

Flower Thief.

 

Hyunjin thinks that fate is deciding to play its hand in her life.

 

Her thoughts are interrupted by Jungeun’s screeching, “I need plates! Heejin, wash the ing plates!”

 

Hyunjin watches as a raccoon in a wheelchair rushes over to a sink to wash dishes, “Don’t tell me what to do, Jungeun!”

 

Hyunjin thinks one of her greatest achievements of the day is finally learning Flower Thief’s name.

 

Heejin.

 

(Hyunjin chooses to ignore the butterflies that flutter about when she thinks about her name. A name shouldn’t be enough to make her nervous, but, it does, and Hyunjin loathes how weak it make