You're going through six degrees of separation

1 Year, 4 months After Dahyun Left

It had just rained the whole day before, so the air smelled fresh and clear as she made her way through the amusement park. The sun was slowly setting, throwing a beautiful orange glow over the faces of the people, young and old alike, as they walked around with smiles on their faces, enjoying the lovely spring day. After the winter they had, Dahyun understood why. She zipped up her light jacket, which had been enough to keep her warm during the day, but now might be just a little too light without the sun’s heat. The bright lights around the amusement park were slowly being switched on, making it appear even more festive and lively.

She finished the rest of the cotton candy in her hands and discarded the stick before turning back to see her companion looking at her.

“You really inhaled that now, didn’t you?”

She blushed, but only a little. She had made peace with her very, very sweet tooth years ago. “Yaah, I offered you some and you said no.”

Tzuyu laughed and reached to wipe some of the cotton candy off the side of her lips. “Fair enough. You did do that.”

“But you are missing out. Do you know how hard it is to find cotton candy outside of amusement parks?”

“I can’t say I’ve tried to, so no.”

“I knew you were going to say that, but I have. And it is hard. Besides, there’s something about being at an amusement park that makes it completely acceptable for an adult to walk around eating cotton candy. Off of a stick, no less.”

Tzuyu stopped walking and made to turn back. “Should we go back and get some more then? I think the vendor only had about ten or so left.” Dahyun could see a teasing smile play on her lips.

She grabbed her hand and pulled her along on their way. “Stop making fun of me.”

Tzuyu just laughed again. What a lovely laugh, Dahyun thought as she looked back at her. She knew it was not really possible, but she swore that even her laugh has an accent. It was soft and light and completely fitted her tall, thin frame. She noted that her hair was much longer now than when they first met. It fell to her left in a side ponytail that added a playfulness to her allure. Dahyun couldn’t help smiling at her.

They continued walking through the park, trying most of the games and some of the rides there (except for the roller coasters; Dahyun refused because of her perfectly rational fear of them). They had one small stuffed animal between them to show for their hard work.

“Are there any other exclusive amusement park foods you would like to eat while we are here?” Tzuyu asked.

“No,” Dahyun said, thinking back to everything she had already eaten that day, “I think I am all done with sweet foods for today.” She placed a hand over her abdomen and groaned lightly. “And maybe forever.”

“Was there anything that you’d wanted that they didn’t have here?”

“I don’t think I saw tall ice creams and sandwhich ice creams being sold here. I miss them. One time, I told Chaeyoung to split it in half, and she split it like an oreo cookie! The ice cream was all over the floor, it was really funny.”

“Hmmm, so besides the sandwhich ice creams,” Tzuyu began, adding a wink, “what do you miss most about Seoul? Obviously also besides Chaeyoung.”

Dahyun gave herself a moment to think about her answer. And to not think about some other things. One other thing.

When she finally thought of it, she looked up at the night sky before facing Tzuyu again.

“The way the stars look from home.”

Tzuyu looked up at her words. They were located some distance outside the city, so despite the lights from the fair, she could still make out some of the stars in the clear night sky.

“That’s interesting.”

Dahyun thought about how to explain herself.

“Okay, I know the scientist in you might be scoffing and thinking that the stars are miles away and our weak human eyes cannot possibly discern a difference in their appearances due to the essentially meaningless distance between two countries on earth. I know it is silly, but... they do, Tzu. They really look very different. Like take that one there.” Dahyun pointed up to the sky with her index finger.

“From our—my—balcony back home, that one glows a little more rouge. And that one. See that one there?” She moved her finger slightly left. Tzuyu tried to follow the line of her arm to see where she was pointing. “That one is my favorite. It twinkles the most at home. But here, it seems..... more somber somehow.”

She looked back down to see Tzuyu looking at her intently with an amused smile. Dahyun blushed to think about how nonsensical she must sound.

“No, I don’t think that’s silly at all.”

Soon they had walked around most of the park, seeing and doing and eating all they could. They decided it was about time to leave.

As they made their way toward the exit, they passed by a booth where an artist was busy drawing a caricature of a couple sitting together. Tzuyu stopped to look at some of the sample works displayed. She turned to Dahyun with a bright look on her face.

“Should we get one made of us? As a souvenir?”

Dahyun glanced at the artist who was doing her work, her eyes trained on the young couple trying to hold still in front of her. Despite the fact that she was only doing a fast cartoon sketch where accuracy and precision were not the priority, she was intensely focused on the subjects. Her hands were covered with charcoal and ink, and moved about smoothly and surely across the sheet of paper mounted on the easel. She could see small streaks of colors on her cheeks just below her left eye, which she had likely smeared on accidentally. Her brows were slightly furrowed, and lips pressed together. A picture of concentration to her art.

Now, Dahyun thought she had done very well in the past several months, in terms of not thinking about...... Sana. After she found out from Chaeyoung about Sana waiting for her at the coffee shop, she did withdraw back into herself for a bit, halting any progress on her relationship with Tzuyu.

It was hard to go on with her daily life in London, all the while knowing that if she wanted to, she could possibly very easily go back to her old life with Sana, back to when she was happy and..... just happy, without qualifiers. All she needed to do was to book a plane ticket. Or even just make a phone call. She still knew Sana’s number by heart, and she doubted that she would change it.

And there were moments when she had come this close to doing it. When she held the phone in her hands and all but pressed the numbers. But during those moments, usually at the last second, she would get flashes of that night in the rain, flashes of the look in Sana’s eyes that told her that just being in Dahyun’s presence caused her anguish and distress, flashes of her face when she told her no, she wasn’t going to fight for them anymore. At those memories, her heart would se