. . . 

The feeling of guilt towers over Wheein as her gaze casts over to the wall mounted clock in the living room of their apartment, for the umpteenth time. She sits on the couch with her abnoxiously thick biochemistry textbook balancing on her lap, opened on a chapter about a topic that she does not recall ever learning about, despite having attended all of her lectures. She contemplates slamming the textbook shut; studying for the upcoming midterms was the furthest thing from her mind. Rather, Wheein finds herself sifting through all the possible locations that Moonbyul would go to in order to 'clear her head'. She lightly bites on the nail of her thumb; a habit she has yet to shake - no matter how many times her mother scolds her -it was a soothing mechanism for her when she is faced with worrying thoughts. 

The day had started off relatively normal. Like the rest of the students, Moonbyul and Wheein were studying non stop for their exams, so much so that the days slowly merged into one. Wheein, however, was finding it particularly hard to concentrate that evening; perhaps it was due to the fact that the exams were just 48 hours away, she reckoned that she had done as much as she could in order to prepare for the dreaded paper. Moonbyul, on the other hand, was a meticulous student. Despite knowing the entire curriculum off the back of her hand and even beyond what was covered in her lectures, she still studied earnestly. They had sat at their kitchen table, with their textbooks laid out on their side of said table. Whilst Moonbyul's books had mathematical formulas sprawled across the pages, Wheein's books were littered with colourful diagrams of molecular mechanisms; a complete contrast.

It had been Wheein who had suggested that they take a study break and go get ice cream, to which Moonbyul had reluctantly agreed on the condition that they buy the chocolate brownie flavour. Fast forward fifteen minutes later, the two girls were running from aisle to aisle, playing an impromptu game of tag, getting in as much movement as they could, before having to be shackled back to the kitchen table.

Their gleeful smiles and laughter was cut short however, when they come across the one person Moonbyul had wished to avoid at all costs. Her father. Ever the stoic man but at least he had acknowledged her presence with a slight nod. The feeling of hope starts to lift up Moonbyul's spirit as she watches her father smile warmly in her direction but it wasn't long before she is anchored back down to reality when she spots a little girl zoom past her side and into his open arms. She swallows as she observes the scene unfold in front of her; a doting father, her father. She berates her moment of weakness. She feels Wheein's comforting presence beside her, who says nothing and instead, squeezes Moonbyul's wrist, in a way that was both soothing and an attempt to steer her away from further sadness. 

"Mina! I told you not to run," came a voice from behind her. The woman fusses over the little girl first before noticing the presence of the two outsiders. Her eyebrows shoot up in recognition and steps towards Moonbyul with her arms open. She hesitates when she sees the girl visibly stiffen. She steps back slightly and brings her arm down to give her a light pat on the shoulder instead, "It's good to see you," she says with a smile.

"Hi Eleanor." Moonbyul says, thankful that her voice doesn't tremble.

"How have you been?"

"Good."

"And how is university going?"

"Good."

"You're graduating this year, right?"

"Yeah."

"Your mother must be proud," Eleanor says with a hint of admiration 

Moonbyul meets her father's gaze and gives him a steely look, "Yeah. She is." 

He looks away.

Eleanor senses the awkward atmosphere and smiles warmly at Wheein, who up until that moment, was standing idly in the background, "Hello, are you a friend of Moonbyul's?"

Wheein nods, "We live together."

"Ah, I see." Her gaze drops down to the tubs of ice cream in both their arms momentarily before returning to Moonbyul, "Are you looking forward to Christmas?"

"Not really."

"Oh? Are you not spending it with your mom?" she asks but then hastily gives her an apologetic smile, "Forgive me, I don't mean to pry." 

"She's in Canada for the time being. With my gran. I can't take too many days off work so . . ." Moonbyul trails off and finishes with a shrug.

"I see. You should spend it with us! Right, honey?" She elbows her husband lightly. He grimaces ever so slightly but Moonbyul isn't sure if it is due to him being in pain or him being disgusted at the idea of having her under the same roof. 

"I . . . She probably has other plans," he says quietly. 

Coward, Moonbyul thinks to herself.

Eleanor looks expectantly at her. 

Wheein steps forward and throws her arm over Moonbyul's shoulder (she teeters on her tippy toes to do this), "She's spending Christmas at my house." 

Eleanor does little to mask her disappointment at this revelation, "Oh, that's a shame. But I'm glad you have plans, even though they're not with us. Nothing worse than spending special days by yourself." 

Moonbyul thinks back to the numerous birthdays she had spent by herself (due to her mother working long shifts), "I'm pretty use to it by now." 

Her father doesn't fail to acknowledge that her comment was directed towards him. He clears his throat and says, "We should probably go. Their ice cream is going to melt soon." He bends down, scoops Mina up into his arms and throws his wife a furtive glance.

"Right." Eleanor gives her one last smile and squeezes Moonbyul's shoulder lightly and affectionately, "It was lovely seeing you." 

She speed walks up the aisle to catch up to her husband, leaving Moonbyul with the familiar sight of her father walking away without a second glance. 

Wheein says something but she doesn't register it. 

"Hey."

She feels a slight tug on her sleeve, which pulls her away from her thoughts.

"You alright?"

Moonbyul doesn't answer her question. Instead, she hands Wheein her tub of ice cream and musters a small smile, "I'm not really in the mood for ice cream anymore," she says quietly, "I'm going to go on a walk, I'll see you back at the apartment."

. . .

Wheein startles at the sound of a key unlocking the front door. A moment later, Moonbyul walks into the living room, looking much better than she did when Wheein last saw her. Must've been some walk, Wheein thinks to herself.

"Hey."

Moonbyul makes her way over to the couch and flops down beside her, "Hey."

"You feeling better?" Wheein asks gently

Moonbyul recalls her phonecall with Yongsun with a smile to herself, "Yeah."

She smiles at this, "Good." She nods towards the kitchen, "I know you said you didn't want ice cream but I bought you it anyway. You'll definitely need it after your exams." Wheein tilts her head slightly and taps her chin thoughtfully, "On second thought, you'll proabably do great in your exams so I'll probably need it more than you."

Moonbyul says nothing and pulls her into a tight hug, "I'm so thankful to have you as a friend."

Feeling bashful, Wheein playfully hits her friend's shoulder as way to break out of the embrace, "What's gotten into you? Are you high?"

This only spurs Moonbyul to hold her even tighter, "I don't say this often but I really appreciate you. I love you Wheein."

Wheein snorts but gives into the embrace, "You're going to love me even more."

Moonbyul pulls away so that she can look at her, "Huh?"

"I called my mom earlier and well, you're spending Christmas at mine."

"Oh, I . . . it's fine. I appreciate what you said earlier but honestly, it's alright."

"This isn't me asking. This is me telling." 

Moonbyul blinks at her friend's authoritative demeanor, "You know, you're really scary when you're serious."

Wheein scoffs, "This is nothing. You should try and call up my mom and tell her you won't be spending Christmas at ours."

"Okay, I get your point."

"Good."

"Thanks."

"What kind of friend would I be if I let you wallow in self pity during the happiest time of the year?"

Moonbyul pulls her into another hug, hoping to convey all her feelings through this gesture.

"You're not really claustrophobic, right?" Wheein mumbles against her shoulder

"Why are you asking?"

"No reason."

. . . 

Moonbyul had spent the last 20 minutes being introduced to Wheein's family members and she is pretty sure that she will not be able to recall any of their names later on. 

"How are you holding up?" Wheein asks after her great-aunt is wheeled away by another family member following brief introductions.

Moonbyul nods, "Good. I'm just happy to be here," she says truthfully

Her friend smiles at this and gives her arm a reassuring squeeze, "Good. You won't be saying that later."

"Wait . . ." She gives her an incredulous look, "Are there more people coming?"

"Maybe."

"Dude, how big is your family?"

"To be fair . . . some," she gestures at a random cluster of people, "aren't family, they just don't have family so my mom, being the angel that she is, invites them for Christmas dinner. It's become somewhat of a tradition." she says with pride

Moonbyul suddenly becomes aware that her situation is not too different and feels a tinge of guilt for not wanting to socialise too much, "That's really cool," she says honestly.

Wheein scans the room and tsks in disapproval, "Guess she hasn't made her entrance yet," she mutters audibly.

"Who?"

"My lovely cousin." She smiles mischievously, "Me and a few other people have an ongoing game of bingo dedicated to her. You want in?"

"I don't know her."

"Five minutes is enough to get the gist of her." She nods towards the door, "Speak of the devil."

Moonbyul looks over to see a young woman, probably similar age to the both of them, squeeze through the small opening of the front door. She hastily throws her high heels to the side and is immediately dwarfed by the slightly taller people in front of her. "I see shortness runs in the family," Moonbyul comments with a grin, to which Wheein nudges her sharply in the stomach with her elbow. 

"Is that Jiwon?" The two girls watch as Wheein's mother pushes past the crowd of people with much gusto and pull her into a tight hug, "Have you lost weight?" she asks with concern as she pats her cheek affectionately

Jiwon smiles, "Hi auntie. Sorry I'm late . . . my boss had a few things she needed me to take care of before leaving the office." The girl's smile fades when she sees her aunt's eyes narrow at the mention of her boss, "There is to be no discussion about work during the next few days, understood?" she says sternly.

Beside her, Moonbyul watches Wheein dig out a scrap of paper and a small pencil from her pocket and cross off two large squares that read 'uses her boss as an excuse for being late' and 'gets scolded for mentioning her boss/work'. She smirks as she observes a few other people doing the exact same thing, "Two down, twenty three more to go." 

Moonbyul steals a glance at the neatly drawn bingo grid and is surprised to see that all of the boxes are somehow job-related. She raises her eyebrows, "She a workaholic or something?"

"The worst. She's literally in love with her boss. Mom hates the woman."

Moonbyul tenses, "Wheein . . . is your mom okay with me . . . ?"

Wheein frowns for a moment before realisation hits her, "Oh, no it's not like that. Mom doesn't care about that. Even if Jiwon did like girls it wouldn't matter to her, to us but it's her liking her boss . . .  that's the problem."

"I see you still enjoy gossiping about me."

Both girls flinch. They had been so preoccupied in their discussion that they hadn't noticed Jiwon making a beeline towards them. The newcomer's gaze falls onto Moonbyul, who fidgets uncomfortably (for a such a small person, she sure was intimidating), "Who's this?"

"This is Moonbyul." 

Moonbyul gives her an awkward smile, "Hi."

To her relief, Jiwon throws away her intimidating facade and breaks into a smile, "Relax," she throws Wheein a glare, "It's not the first time this one has badmouthed me."

Wheein wags her index finger while shaking her head, "Technically, I was badmouthing your boss. What'd she make you do this time? Pick up her dry cleaning?" She snorts with laughter and when Jiwon remains quiet Wheein gapes at her, "Are you serious?"

"It's my job."

"So glamorous." she replies in a sardonic manner

Jiwon groans, "You can't last one minute without talking about what I do," she jabs her finger below Wheein's collarbone which causes the girl to stumble backwards ever so slightly, "We can't all be scientists you know,"

Before their argument can escalate any further, the two girls yelp in pain and rub the back of their heads. They turn to see Wheein's mother glaring at the both of them, "You two better behave. I will not have another repeat of Christmas 2018, do you understand?" she warns.

Both girls hang their heads low and mumble, "Yes."

Ms. Jung turns to Moonbyul with a warm smile, "You must be starving. Dinner will be ready in half an hour," she points to a table right by the door, "I've put out some snacks over there. Help yourself."

Moonbyul smiles gratefully, "Thank you so much, if you need any help at all . . . "

Ms. Jung pats her back affectionately, "Thank you dear. Just keep an eye on these two." She gives one last glare at both her daughter and niece and makes her way back to the kitchen. 

Jiwon throws Wheein an accusatory look, "I hope you're happy."

Wheein rolls her eyes and spins round, pulling out the piece of paper again and crosses off another box, "So worth it." She lets out a maniacal laugh and waves her arms frantically at someone across the room, "Hey Hyuk, guess who's winning?"

. . . 

A little while after dinner, Moonbyul finds herself standing outside on the balcony. She leans on the railing and takes in the stars lighting up the night sky. She wonders if such a sight can be captured on her phone.

It cannot.

Not with her phone camera anyway. 

Her phone buzzes.

She peers down at it.

Yongsun [8:43pm]: merry christmas.

Moonbyul tries to fight off the small smile that tugs at the corner of . It was fairly uncommon for Yongsun to be messaging her first so she takes a moment to revel in the feeling of elatedness. Although Yongsun's lack of emojis irked her at the start, Moonbyul has slowly come to realise that she prefers it this way. It made it seem like every message that she sends her is honest and direct and real. 

"It's quite crowded in there, eh." 

Moonbyul looks over her shoulder to see Jiwon stepping out the sliding glass door. She makes her way over and stands beside her, "I'm not disturbing you, am I?" 

"No," she smiles, "I just get a bit overwhelmed sometimes with big crowds."

Jiwon pulls a face, "Yet Wheein still suggested you spend christmas here?"

"It's not like that," Moonbyul quickly says, attempting to nip the misunderstanding in the bud. It seemed like Jiwon was looking for an excuse to criticise Wheein. "It's a long story but if she didn't invite me, then I'd probably be by myself right now, either crying or drinking, or both." She turns to face her, resting her forearm on the railing, "I'm really happy to be here." 

Jiwon blinks in surprise but then guffaws, "You're so sincere."

"Of course."

"It's refreshing."

"She means well, you know." 

"Huh?"

"Wheein. Her digs about your job . . . she doesn't . . . you know that's her way of caring."

Jiwon gives her a pointed look, "You don't need to make excuses for her,"

"I . . . I'm sorry. It's not my place to say this,"

"You're right it's not," Jiwon mutters but then she sighs, "But I get it. I get what you mean. What everyone means." She runs her hand through her long hair which annoyingly falls perfectly back into place, "It just annoys me. I love my job, sure it can be mudane at times, but what job isn't? I enjoy it, isn't that what matters?" 

Moonbyul nods and thinks about her own job at ASTRIC. 

"Anyway, we're breaking the rule," she mimes zipping up her lips, "shouldn't be discussing work."

Moonbyul chuckles and faces forward again, leaning both forearms against the railing, "I'm guessing you live in the city too?"

"Yeah. Moved there about a year ago. Still haven't got my bearings, believe it or not. Never really go out much during my free time," she says with sad smile

"Well, if you ever want to hang out . . ."

Jiwon beams. "Yeah? That'd be nice."

Their moment is cut short when Jiwon's phone starts ringing.

Moonbyul can't help but glance down at the caller ID, she raises her brow at it. There was no name, just a dragon emoji.

Jiwon catches her curious glance and holds up her phone, "My boss." she says with a weak smile. Moonbyul can tell that the girl is reluctant to answer. 

"I should probably take this," she mutters, more so to herself. 

"Oh. Yeah of course." Moonbyul points over her shoulder, "I'll just go back inside,"

Jiwon smiles appreciatively and before Moonbyul fully opens the door, she calls to her, "Oh, if anyone asks . . ."

Moonbyul smirks and mimes zipping up her lips, "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

. 

Moonbyul finds herself wondering absently, if perhaps she had given Jiwon the wrong impression when she had suggested that the two of them hang out. She shakes that thought out of her head and decides to worry about that later on.

"Oh there you are!" Wheein bounds up to her with a grin, "Where you been?"

"Just getting some fresh air." Moonbyul replies with a smile at the sight of tipsy Wheein.

She pouts, "Are you feeling okay? I told mom not to invite too many people over."

Moonbyul steadies her as she teeters on the balls of her feet, "I'm having a good time, Wheein. In fact, it's probably one of the best christmases I've had in a long time."

Wheein scoffs but still smiles regardless, "You're just saying that to make me happy."

"Is it working?"

"Maaaaybe," she hiccups

"I am serious though, I'm really enjoying myself."

"I'm glad."

"How's your game of bingo going?"

Wheein lets out a frustrated groan, "Argh, I'm so close! I only have one more to cross off!" she pulls out her now very crumpled piece of paper and shows her the remaining box left. which read: 'Answers a work related call'

"Where is she? Have you seen her?"

Moonbyul bites back a smile at the thought of Jiwon doing exactly what Wheein had predicted. But a promise is a promise and so she shrugs and says nonchalantly, "No idea where she is."

"Damn it. Hyuk is so going to win this year," Wheein grumbles.

. . . 

author's note: don't you just love it when characters are connected? what are the odds?? lol anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. 

I recently made a ko-fi page so I'll be leaving it here from now on :) please do not feel obligated to donate!! I am very much appreciative of your support through comments. (but if you do, i would also be very appreciative!)

ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/fleurly