The Next Day | Seulgi | 78 days left

“Owowow stop Joohyun it hurts!!!” I flinched away from her ministrations.

“I know it does but we need to do this otherwise it won’t heal as fast,” Joohyun replied, gently tugging my hand to sit me down. “Don’t you want to get back to savouring my cooking soon?”

I huffed and took a seat back on the couch. After going into the boards, I was fortunate that I had escaped with just a busted lip. It had bled quite a bit though and required sutures across. Joohyun had looked mortified seeing my blood on the ice but hadn’t left my side ever since.

Dinner had been terrible. I couldn’t eat as quickly with a swollen lower lip and the food couldn’t be as hot. Joohyun had been patient though, telling me to eat slowly and take my time. Once dinner was over it was time to clean up the wound though and boy, did it hurt.

“Move closer a little,” Joohyun instructed softly as she grabbed a cotton ball soaked in water. “Let’s clean this up a little then put some medication on it.”

“I can do this myself with a mirror just-“

“Kang. Seul. Gi.”

Joohyun glared at me and I knew better than to talk back to her. I inched closer to her and she reached up and gently pulled my lip down to clean the wound.

“Hold still. I don’t want to make this worse than it already is.”

Gently, she reached up and dabbed the wound, ensuring no remnants of dinner were left. She was so close to me I could smell her the faint smell of her perfume. My eyes began to wander over her face, noticing every little detail: how her right eyebrow would sometimes move slightly, how her nose would scrunch up as she concentrated, how smooth her skin was. As she tended to my lower lip with care, I found my eyes inadvertently wandering down to hers as well, noticing the pinkness of her lips, the fullness of her lower lip and how they were slightly pursed as she directed her concentration elsewhere.

I wondered how it would feel like to kiss her.

I closed my eyes. No. I couldn’t.

“You ok?” Joohyun’s soft, gentle voice jolted me out of my reverie. Her fingertips landed on my jaw as she reached over to grab another cotton ball, this time soaked in medication.

“Yea, I’m fine. Don’t worry just continue with what you’re doing.” I hoped she didn’t notice me looking at her lips.

“This one’s gonna sting a little more so bear with me.”

With that, she gently dabbed the cotton ball on my lip and the pain immediately surged through all the way to my chin. I grabbed onto the headrest of the couch, clenching my teeth, determined not to move because I didn’t want to make this any harder for Joohyun.

“Almost there,” Joohyun quickly gave three more quick dabs and she gently released my lower lip. I burrowed my head into the sofa, taking deep breaths while waiting for the pain to subside. Joohyun’s hand immediately went to the back of my head, my hair and massaging my neck.

The pain went away after a couple of minutes and I let out a shaky breath before sitting back up. “Gosh, that ing hurt. I can’t imagine having to do this two more times today, let alone the next few days.”

Joohyun let out a laugh as she got up to clear the table. “You’re lucky that was all you got. I nearly got a heart attack seeing you down on the ice like that bleeding.”

I watched her small frame disappear into the kitchen. I felt my heart flutter a little knowing she had been worried about me. It was the same feeling as when Wendy used to scold me for playing too physical.

Just then my phone pinged. ‘Can’t make it for the game tomorrow. Mom and dad in town. Sorry!’ – Shawn

An idea popped into my mind just as Joohyun returned from the kitchen. Looking up at her, I asked, “That’s just cos you’ve never seen an actual hockey game before. A real game is much more physical and exciting than what we played last night. My colleagues were supposed to go catch a game tomorrow but one of them can’t make it. Do you wanna join us?”

“I don’t mind if they don’t mind,” Joohyun replied shyly.

“They awesome people, I’m sure they won’t mind,” I waved off her worries as I replied the group chat. A chorus of yes were seen immediately thereafter. I flashed the screen at her for some reassurance, “You’re coming. I’ll pick you up tomorrow after work. Wear something orange.”

“Ok.”

Joohyun’s POV | 77 days left

I heard the front door open signalling that Seulgi was back. I hadn’t managed to find something orange to wear and had to settle for a maroon hoodie instead.

“You ready?” Seulgi dropped her bag on the sofa before looking up and eyeing my outfit. “You don’t have anything orange to wear?”

“I didn’t pack any with me. Maroon was the closest I had. Is that ok?”

“No worries. We can pick up a jersey or two at the store so you’ll blend in. It’ll be a pretty nice souvenir for you when you head back to Seoul too.”

My heart dropped a little at her words. I bit my lower lip before replying.

“Sure. Sounds good.”

Seulgi’s POV

I had invited Joohyun to join my colleagues for dinner before the game. On the surface I had told her it would be better for her to get to know other people just in case she needed anything and I wasn’t able to attend to her. Deep down, I guess it was a good excuse to spend more time with her.

My colleagues had taken to Joohyun almost immediately and despite her shy nature, she managed to open up to them as quickly.

“I’ll be back,” I informed her as I gestured to the washroom.

“Seul.”

“Cat.”

“So, what’s your relationship with Joohyun?”

“She’s just a friend.”

“Is that so?” Cat questioned me as we both washed our hands in the sinks. Her gaze flitted over to my reflection in the mirror. “Doesn’t seem that way to me.”

“What are you implying?” I wasn’t angry. Cat was someone I knew I could trust. I just wanted to test the waters before I told her about the history between Joohyun and me.

“You look at her with the same gaze you used to give Wendy, except that there seems to be some pain in your eyes. Wanna talk about it?”

I sighed. “Swear you won’t tell anyone?”

“You have my word. And seven years of friendship to count on.”

“Joohyun…used to be my first love. Back when I was in Korea I met her in university and I fell in love with her after spending our first two years of university together. She was bright, funny, cute, basically everything that I admired and loved. But you know, Korea isn’t too accepting of same- relationships so I couldn’t risk our friendship by asking her out normally. You know how when you like someone you notice every little detail about them?” I asked and Cat nodded in reply. “It was the same for me. I noticed every little thing about Joohyun. The days when she wasn’t feeling well, the times when she did or didn’t do well on a test, the times when she needed help. And all these events led me to want to spend more time with her, which I did and it only made me fall in love more deeply with her. But despite everything I did, despite how much I gave her, she never had her eyes on me. In fact, there were certain times I felt like she didn’t even treat me like a close friend and that really hurt me. So I acted in self-defence and pushed her away because spending more time with her only caused me more pain. As long as there was some distance, I hoped things would get better.

“I guess a part of me was rather naive as well. When I put some distance between the two of us, I wanted her to notice the distance, come up to me, ask me what was wrong, but she never did. And to me, that nonchalance just proved my hypothesis right – that she didn’t even see me as a close friend.

“Call me sentimental but because my experience with her left such a deep impression on me, plus the fact that she used to be my first love, I guess I’ve always been harbouring feelings for her. Now she’s back and these feelings I thought I buried are coming back to the surface. What if I fall in love with her and she hurts me again?”

A moment of silence passed between us as Cat processed everything I was saying. It felt good to get this off my chest.

“Have you talked to her? Asked her why she’s here? Edmonton isn’t exactly a p