Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. 

— Marie Curie

Inside the grand International Space Station, a woman with bright blue hair can be seen floating around the observation site of the large European Tranquility module. Savoring her last moments at the Cupola, Astronaut Ahn Yujin, 27, stares through the window overlooking the blue planet 400 kilometers below her.

The Cupola, or the 'dome', is famous among astronauts aboard the ISS. It has seven windows put together to form a dome shape (hence its name), and is used for experiments, docking, and observations. Most of the time, astronauts go to the Cupola to rest and unwind. Some go there to watch the sunrise and sunset which happens every one hour and thirty minutes, while others visit it to remind themselves of their job whenever they feel homesick.

Going to the Cupola is different for Yujin, though.

When you're in space for about a year and you spend at least two hours a day staring at the big, familiar planet outside the observation deck, it's no surprise when you find yourself automatically knowing what country or continent you're above at, even amid the thick clouds surrounding them.

Yujin goes closer to the round central window of the module and touches the cold glass with her warm hand. She can clearly see the view in front of her, and she didn't even have to pause to think where they're positioned at right now. One look and Yujin's mind immediately knew the place. One look and she immediately thought of one thing: 

27°59’17”N 86°55’31”E

Mount Everest.

Yujin smiles bitterly as unwanted thoughts start to fill her mind. It has always been like this every time she sees the Himalayas from space, and even after a year, Yujin's heart still aches whenever the mere thought of Everest brings back memories she long wanted to forget.

That girl.

Yujin shuts her eyes close. She breathes inwardly as she prevents a single tear from streaming down her face.

'This will be the last time, Ahn Yujin', Yujin told herself. 'This will be the last time, and you're done.'

Yujin opens her eyes and takes one last look at the planet Earth before she turns around. 

'This will be the last time, and then you'll forget about her.'

One year ago. Stockholm, Sweden. 15:00.

"Excuse me, I didn't mean to bother you, but that's my seat."

Yujin put down her phone and averted her gaze towards the person who suddenly approached her table. She looked up and saw a woman who seemed to be the same age as her, crossing her arms on her chest. She ran her eyes through the woman and noticed that she had brown, chest-length, wavy hair and was wearing a white shirt tucked inside a white pants. Her outfit was paired with brown boots, brown coat and a scarf.

Yujin raised her right eyebrow at the woman. "Sorry?"

"The table you're sitting at. That's mine," she repeated.

"Really?" Yujin smirked at the other woman's remark. "Does this table have your name printed on it, then?"

The woman smiled at her. "No," she answered and then pointed to a yellow shoulder bag sitting on the chair opposite Yujin. "But I believe that bag is mine and that I was here first."

It was the other girl's turn to smirk when she saw the shocked expression on Yujin's face. Yujin wasn't able to notice the bag earlier. Since the restaurant was almost full of customers, Yujin hurriedly searched for an empty table and sat on the first one she saw.

Yujin tried to hide her embarrassment by rolling her eyes. "Well, maybe if you didn't leave your things here, then maybe I wouldn't think that this space is empty."
 

She stood up and reached for her bag. Yujin was about to walk away when the woman held her arm and told her to just share the table with her since the restaurant's full, anyway.

Indeed, there were no other available tables left. Yujin saw this, and with a heavy heart, she sat back on her chair as she avoided the stare of the woman who was now sitting in front of her. 

Their orders arrived at the same time, and the two girls ate in silence. Yujin could feel the brunette glancing at her from time to time, but her eyes remained fixated on her plate. Yujin was halfway through her food when the other girl spoke.

"So... are you a tourist?" she asked.

Yujin looked up and raised her eyebrow again at the other woman. It was only then that she was able to get a clear view of the woman's face, and Yujin realized that she was also a Korean like her. Unlike other Koreans, though, the woman has a smaller face and slightly larger eyes. Her lips was covered in pink lipstick and whisker dimples appeared as she smiled brightly at Yujin from the other end of the table. 

She was beautiful, Yujin noted. In fact, even more beautiful than all the girls she had ever met.

"Why do you keep raising your eyebrow at me? No offense, but you don't actually look mean when you do that," the woman laughed. "I guess it's hard to look like a bad person when you're pretty and cute, huh?"

Yujin scoffed at her. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Oh, you're a direct to the point kind of person. I love it," she chuckled.

Yujin stared at the woman. "I don't date women. I only like men."

"And I don't believe you," the woman winked at her and sipped on her juice.

Yujin didn't say anything and went back to eating her meatballs instead. The woman, on the other hand, proceeded to talking about random things. Yujin learned that even though the woman was Korean, she had been living in Sweden ever since she was born, although she often traveled to other countries for her work. She also learned that the woman was just a year older than her, and that she was 'single and available for pretty girls like Yujin' (the woman's words, not hers).

"You're really not much of a talker, are you?"

"Nope," Yujin lied. If there's one that she really loved doing, it was talking and sharing her thoughts to other people.

Their one-sided conversation was interrupted when Yujin's phone rang. It was her younger sister Nako who kept on asking Yujin the whole day about her homework in Physics. 

"I already told you Nako, it will remain in superposition until it interacts or is observed by the external world," Yujin explained, lowering her voice so that the woman wouldn't hear what she was saying. Yujin glanced at her and saw that the woman was tilting her head to the side, watching her.

[So... that's where Schrödinger's thought experiment came from, right?]

"Yes, Schrödin