It's not finished, but it has been sitting on my drive for so long that I wanted to publish it!

Red. Red was everything that she saw as the balloons she previously had in her hand flew away, but not without first planting themselves on her face. Paying no heed to the now disappearing balloons, she looked at the person in front of her, who also seemed flabbergasted.

“You?”

She awkwardly raised her hand. “H-hi.”

She was rapidly hugged, and thus, was unable to move in any way. It was a certain relief when she heard the woman screech a little, well… not so much of a relief for her poor eardrums.

“I’m so happy to see you!” The woman moved away to look at her, taking her face in her hands. “Are you okay? How are you alive?”

She coughed a little, knowing quite well that the question was coming.

“Umm, well… the doctor... he told me that…” She looked quickly for anything that would give her a story to feed the already known gullible woman. Her chest pumped in delight when she saw a door opening, revealing a brunette who seemed to be part of the aquarium staff. “That I needed to look for a woman that would help me!” She extricated herself from the woman and ran to the brunette, who jumped a little when she saw a blonde running towards her.

“W-wha-“

“Yes, yes! I needed to find someone who could give me access to a special vial that can only be obtained by collecting a dolphin’s urine!” The blonde was looking at her pleadingly, her urgency shown by her face.

She looked at their entwined hands before looking at the woman few steps from them, her face now showing a childish scowl.

“Ah! You’re here already! I was looking for you everywhere! Let’s get to it!” The blonde nodded in appreciation.

“So yeah, I need to run, you know. I don’t know how much time I have left to get the vial. O-oh, my chest is hurting so much! Please help me…”

“Eunbi,” she supplied while trying to figure whether she should question herself for helping the girl or how could she stay quiet after such an interesting development.

“Eunbi!” The brunette bit her lip, wanting to hold her giggle after seeing such dramatic acting.

The other woman looked at her, then at the blonde, before her eyes became slits. Chaeyeon sensed that the woman’s suspicion, making her grab the brunette’s hand and run away. The woman’s screams resounded within the enclosed space, but the blonde didn’t seem to mind. The brunette, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying herself a lot more after coming to the conclusion that the blonde seemed harmless and this was the most amusing thing that has happened to her here.

After a while, the blonde slowed down, satisfied with the distance she had put between herself and the mysterious woman. She took a few breaths before looking at the brunette, giving her a wide smile.

“Hey, thanks a lot for the thing back there.”

“An ex?” the brunette asked with a raised brow. The blonde blushed.

“Well, more or less. It’s quite the story.”

“Lucky for you, I have time.”

The blonde extended her hand. “Name’s Lee Chaeyeon, eternal traveler”

“Kwon Eunbi, intern.” The blonde looked at her watch.

“Well, if you really have time, maybe I could tell you about it over coffee?”

“I can’t leave the zoo.”

“Oh, no. I can’t either. I’m talking about the cafeteria.” Eunbi smiled, a little relieved.

“I’d love to.”

-----

The blonde placed both cups on the outdoors table the brunette had chosen and sat in front of the said woman.

“Thanks,” the brunette said as she grabbed her own. “Now…” she looked at the other woman expectantly.

“Hmm, how do I begin?

“From the start?” The blonde laughed.

“It’s not that I don’t know how it started. I just don’t want to be seen as a bad person.”

“Speak and I’ll be the judge.”

“Well… as I already told you, I’m an eternal traveler. I get to a place I’d like to go. I work and live there for a while, and then I get to my next destination. So, you know, sometimes it can get lonely and…”

“You’re a player,” the brunette said.

“Not really. A player likes to play with people’s hearts. I just wanted some cure to my loneliness. You know, something without restraints or expectations. Something casual.”

“One-night stands.”

“You are too harsh.”

“That’s what it is.”

“But still, it sounds too brash. It’s not like I was doing it emotionlessly.”

“Okay, okay,” the brunette conceded. “And where does that woman come from?”

“That’s the surprising part, for me at least. She’s not from this area.” The blonde sipped a small gulp. “We met at Greece. At that time I was too frustrated and lonely that meeting her didn’t seem such a bad idea.”

“You were desperate.” The blonde glared at her, making the brunette raise her hands in defeat.

“So, after that initial night, she wouldn’t leave me alone. Wanting to know where I was, what I was doing, and who I was doing. At first, I thought it was just a small infatuation, but I recognized it was more than that when she found me at Napoles.”

“Really?” The blonde nodded.

“Turns out, she wasn’t any normal person. She is daughter of the CEO of one of the biggest Italian banks. Because of that, she was able to track me down when I left and follow me.”

“So, before…”

“It wasn’t a coincidence. She knew I was here, and decided to follow me again.”

“But... if she has the resources, why did you invent such a ridiculous story back there?”

“I had already told her that I was sick of a rare illness I had contracted a few years ago, and because thankfully she hasn’t clearance of my health records, she believed me, especially after the performance I gave her back at Mongolia. And about the ridiculous story I gave her, it isn’t my fault! If you were in a hard situation, how can you cook up a believable excuse in a short period of time?”

“Okay, okay, I get it.” They drank their beverages in silence for a while until Eunbi broke the silence again.

“So, what are you doing here? This place doesn’t seem too interesting.”

“Oh, it’s interesting alright,” the blonde answered giving her a smirk, which the brunette preferred to ignore. “I’m visiting my sister. Sometimes she nags me about not coming to see her so I figured I could use time to rest and be with my family.”

“Did you come here with them?”

“Yeah, I was supposed to bring balloons to my nephew, but I encountered that woman and here we are.”

“Wait,” Eunbi said, more alarmed, “aren’t they waiting for you to bring them? Why did you invite me for coffee then?”

“Oh, I actually sent my sister a message. Had to tell her the balloons were unreachable now and I had somewhere to go. She should be fine.”

“What a way to spend time with your family,” Eunbi murmured.

“Hey, I couldn’t exactly leave you without at least thanking you or giving you an explanation for what you had to do.”

“You could have just said thank you and leave.”

“You would have thought I’m weird.”

“And why would you care about what I thought about you?”

“Because I wouldn’t like to leave a bad first impression on a beautiful girl.” Although Eunbi felt flattered at the compliment, she wouldn't let Chaeyeon win, so she scoffed.

“Player."