there was a visible change in moonbyul over the course of the next few days. she smiled a lot more, her smiles wider and brighter, and the girl just seemed to glow a little. she walked with lightened steps, energy high and contagious. wheein and hyejin found out what had happened afterwards, and they were happy for the once-couple, both knowing it was the closure both parties deserved.

her coworkers bugged her about the change, claiming that they deserved to know what it was that made her so much happier, wanting it for themselves. she did not know how to tell them, sort of wanting to leave the whole relationship in the past, and not exactly wanting the looks of pity she felt she might get if she admitted that it was her facing the reality of a breakup months ago. they all eventually dropped the topic, after all, their friend was happier, no one was complaining.

more importantly, moonbyul never avoided joohyun anymore, coming back to work the very next day after the liberating conversation and greeting the older girl with a big hug.

(“i sorted it, and moonstar is back baby!” she yelled, throwing finger guns at joohyun after pulling away from her. joohyun blushed.)

their text conversations that made them burn the midnight oil restarted, even video-calling when moonbyul had assignments to do but wanted company, where they spent much time just basking in silence, enjoying the other’s presence.

occasionally, moonbyul would be so focused on her assignment that by the time she is done, she hears nothing but steady breathing and quiet snoring on the other line, smiling when she looks to see the older girl deep in dreamland – she might not admit this, but she always says “goodnight beautiful” before she hangs up and goes to bed herself.

//

by this point, another 3 weeks later, moonbyul has fully accepted that she had somehow fallen for joohyun, confident that it was not a temporary crush or a rebound from yongsun. she kept her comments to borderline flirtatious, slightly greasier than what she would say to any of her platonic friends, not wanting to make joohyun feel pressurised or uncomfortable.

she was not dumb, she had an inkling that her feelings were reciprocated, not that her friends were oblivious to the two either.

“you and irene huh?” bomi asked one day in the breakroom, wriggling her eyebrows, a mischievous tone to her voice. “don’t bother denying, even if there isn’t anything yet, there will be. anyone within a 100 metre radius can see it blossoming.”

moonbyul groaned, giving a small nod before dropping her head into her hands, looking at the ground.

“whatcha waiting for then?”

“i don’t know… she seems kind of, standoffish lately, don’t you think?”

“honey, she looks at you like you’re her safe space. we are her mere acquaintances, you of all people should know her.”

//

that conversation with bomi remained in her mind for the next couple of days, confident that she was not thinking too much into things. moonbyul was sure that something was off about the older girl, though she could not put her finger on what exactly. she ended up consulting wheein, hyejin and even chorong, and told them about her feelings for joohyun, slightly taken aback when they deadpanned her and told her that she could not have been obvious.

bomi and her couple friends told her to tell joohyun honestly, and that nothing would go wrong, while chorong did not really say not to, but warned her to be careful, in the case that joohyun did not reciprocate her feelings.

moonbyul decided to step up her game a little, flirting ever more so slightly, through texts more often, still making sure to keep an air of playfulness around joohyun. she enjoyed seeing or picturing how the older girl’s eyes would crinkle and disappear when she smiles, how her porcelain skin turns a shade redder around her cheeks and neck, and how she would try and hide herself behind a jacket or her bunny head if she was holding it.

she eventually started hanging out with joohyun a lot more, one on one, spending time in moonbyul’s apartment at first, having meals together and watching animated films together. they would cook together and laugh a lot at moonbyul’s beyond subpar cooking skills.

joohyun had suddenly texted moonbyul out of the blue one saturday  – that was how most of their ‘hangouts’ were planned – asking if moonbyul wanted to go over to her place to chill at instead. it was not like moonbyul was going to reject her offer, so after reconfirming with the older girl that she was sure and comfortable with moonbyul coming over, she got out of bed, got decently dressed, and left her house.

//

when moonbyul stepped into the doorway of joohyun’s house, she looked around. (she was surprised by joohyun’s house, it was quite near the amusement park) it was exactly how she expected it to look like, quaint and minimalistic. the interior was in neutral tones, with pops of purple for the cushion covers on the couch, and as picture frames on bookshelves.

“welcome to my humble abode, feel free to look around and get comfortable byul. i’m almost done with lunch so you can look around the house then come into the kitchen okay?” joohyun said as she passed moonbyul a pair of home slippers, before she walked away into what moonbyul presumed to be the kitchen.

she absentmindedly put on the slippers, eyes looking everywhere but, too distracted by the house to pay attention, before she started to properly look around.

moonbyul could not resist cooing at the numerous pictures of smiling joohyun with her sister and parents, along with some of her friends moonbyul sort of recognised from the bedtime stories they would share, taken at different locations of the world. she ran her fingers down the spines of the many books on the bookshelves, amazed at how much of a wide reader the older girl was, some even being english books.

must be from seungwan, moonbyul thought, remembering joohyun speak of her canadian friend who had since returned to the country of maple syrup.

“byul, help me set up the table? i’m almost done!” moonbyul heard joohyun shout, turning around to see the girl with her head peeking out from the side of the wall, one hand holding a spatula. she stepped away from the bookshelve, heading towards the kitchen to see multiple pots and pans on the stove with bowls littered around the countertop.

“just take those, and then the cutlery are in the…” moonbyul barely registered her words, but managed to follow through with the instructions she was being given. her eyes stayed watching joohyun work her magic in the kitchen, feeling in her element. she thought about how many people probably did not get to see joohyun like this, and how they felt almost, domestic.  

she enjoyed that day more than she would like to admit, she reckoned.

//

i’m going to ask her out.

moonbyul comes to this startling conclusion at the start of december, when snow began to fall on the amusement park for the second time since she had started working.

and i know exactly how i’m going to do it.

//

moonbyul [4:36pm]

hey hyun

just answer me with yes or no for the following question okay?

hyun [4:38pm]

huh?

sure i guess

what’s up?

moonbyul [4:39pm]

let’s go on a date tomorrow?

moonbyul [4:41pm]

… hyun?

oh no… i messed up didn’t i?

hyun [4:43pm]

oH no no i’m sorry

moonbyul [4:43pm]

i knew it… its okay… i understand…

hyun [4:44pm]

nO NO NO I MEANT YES

yes. let’s go on a date.

date. tomorrow.

moonbyul [4:44pm]

oh

oH :0

okie :)

tomorrow, 12pm, meet me outside the amusement park okay?

see you hyun :D

hyun [4:44pm]

see you byul :D

<3

//

rocking back and forth on her heels, moonbyul let out a breath, watching the hot air form a tiny cloud in front of her, trying to focus on that instead of her racing heart. her hands were fidgeting with her jacket zipper, constantly going up to her face to swipe purple hair out of her face. she pulled out her phone, and pulled up her chat with joohyun, where the chat was unchanged. she stared at the heart, a foolish smile tugging at her lips, thinking about how she might have squealed into her pillow. she thought that it might have been over ten times of her just pulling out her phone to see that heart ever since it was sent.

a chilly wind blew past, and moonbyul pulled her jacket closer together, huddling further into it. the sky was clear today, fluffy white cloud floating peacefully overhead, and apart from the occasional gust of wind, moonbyul loved the current weather. she let herself bask in the silence of the atmosphere around her, looking around absentmindedly.  

suddenly, the electronic device in her hands vibrated, causing her to snap out of the trance, to see the new message she had gotten from the very girl she had been thinking about.

hyun [11:56am]

hey byul

the bus isn’t here yet

i’ll be around 5-ish minutes late?

sorryyyyy

byul [11:57am]

oh okie!

no worries hyun :D

see you soon!

she hesitated, before sending one last text, pocketing her phone and letting out a puff, anxiously starting to rock on her heels again.

byul [11:59am]

<3

//

true to her words, joohyun ran up to her at 12:05pm (not that moonbyul was keeping track, definitely not), slightly out of breath, with something hidden behind her back. she stopped in front of the younger girl, bent over with her left hand on her hip, the other still hiding something very well as she struggled to catch her breath.

“h-hi… byul…”

moonbyul did not respond, stunned still by the woman in front of her. joohyun was draped in a thick and fluffy purple knitted sweater, under a long brown coat, along with denim skinny jeans and black low cut sneakers. the outfit was simple, but it showed off joohyun’s elegance, and made the older girl even more attractive than moonbyul ever thought she could be.

by the time moonbyul’s mind finally registered joohyun’s words, her right hand was up, waving awkwardly at her, and joohyun seemed to have caught her breath.

she stood up straight, and smiled shyly, pulling her right hand forward from behind her back, revealing a small bouquet of buttercups and baby’s breath wrapped in blue wrapping paper. “this is why i was late… i picked this up and missed the bus getting here…”

moonbyul felt her cheeks grow warm, similar to how the older’s ones appeared to be reddening too, as she slowly took the bouquet from joohyun’s hands, letting their fingers brush against each other.

“they’re beautiful…” she said softly, looking at the flowers.

“buttercups mean you’re charming,” she heard, before joohyun continued, this time louder, “okay! so miss byul, where are we going on this date?” she asked, emphasising the last word.

looking up at this, her eyes flitted down to joohyun’s still outstretched hand, subtly in a breath before bravely grabbing joohyun’s hand. she heard the older gasp, and a grin spread on her face.

“to the park!” she shouted, probably scaring a few passers-by, pulling joohyun in the direction of the amusement park.

//

to say that the day was magical was an understatement, at the very least. moonbyul found herself staring at the older girl a lot that day, also noticing the other girl stealing a few glances herself.

as cliché as it sounded, one of the last rides they found themselves on after a full day of rollercoasters and water rides, was the ferris wheel. the air in the pod was light and cheery, small jokes being made as they enjoyed the night view that this ride brought along with it. as the wheel came back to the starting place, moonbyul felt her palms getting sweaty and clammy.

“hyun, listen to me okay? when i count to 3, could you trust me and just keep your eyes closed for one minute?”

the girl seemed shocked at the sudden request, eyes wide open and mouth slightly agape. nonetheless, she gave a hesitant nod, watching moonbyul look out of the pod for a quick second before counting, “1, 2, 3. count to 60 for me dear.”

moonbyul watched as joohyun closed her eyes, and the pod reaching the starting position of the ferris wheel, the door of the pod opening automatically. the attendant, and bomi, who had come to help, a wide smile on her face and presenting herself with a thumbs up, handed moonbyul the bouquet and notepad she had prepared earlier in the day. she had passed it to bomi at the entrance of the amusement park with the instructions an hour prior to meeting joohyun.

“i’m stepping off, so don’t freak out if you don’t see me okay hun?” see you in 15 minutes,” moonbyul called out, before stepping off the pod, briefly hearing joohyun say something as she watched the doors close.

god i’m so nervous.

//

meanwhile, as soon as joohyun heard that moonbyul was leaving, despite her count being only at 37, shot open her eyes, only seeing the closed pod door and retreating body of the girl she had grown to love and cherish. her mind started to wander as it flashed to the possibility of her being abandoned before the date was even over. (it was not like it had not happened before) as her eyes darted across the room in panic, they finally landed on a medium sized bouquet and notepad on the bench opposite her.

she tried her utmost best to still her racing heart as she reached out to grab the notepad, hands trembling.

it can’t be bad if there is a bouquet right…? but what if it’s an apologetic bouquet… i don’t know enough about flower language to tell what these flowers are and- oh.

her thoughts stopped short when she flipped open the notepad to the first page, where she saw a picture of herself in her bunny mascot costume along with the words, ‘remember how we met? your beauty stunned me, literally.’

well i guess i was wrong.

she felt a smile making its way onto her face, and a chuckle escaped her lips as she flipped over to the next page, seeing a very big and aggressive ‘call me!!’ filling up both sides.

joohyun pulled out her phone but right as she clicked on moonbyul’s name to call her, an idea popped in her mind, remaining silent even after the call connected, a wicked grin appearing on her face.

“hello? i guess you’re on the second page huh? how is it?”

“… hello? hyun?”

the older girl, meanwhile, had her hand over , doing her best to stifle the sniggers threatening to escape. her ears perked up, hearing someone in the background tease moonbyul, saying, “you call irene hyun? that’s cute, first name, nickname basis huh?” (it strangely sounded like bomi… but she could not be sure)

wordlessly, she flipped the page, making sure the sound of the paper turning could be heard. she let out a gasp at what she saw, a beautiful drawing of the two of them, done in colour pencils, filling the page. she recognised the frozen picture instantly, it was of them on moonbyul’s sofa, watching movies the very first time she did a impromptu visit to check on the younger girl. the drawing was done in a simple style, but it was very heartfelt, and the words under the drawing just pulled on her heartstrings even more.

‘the day i started accepting that i was falling for you, even if i didn’t know it back then. you spurred me to be a better person, and i healed because of you.”

joohyun felt something rising within her, and before she knew it, her eyes were watering, but she blinked back her tears, flipping to the next page. a sniffle must have slipped out, for the next thing her ears picked up was moonbyul’s voice again. the other side of the line has been quiet for a while, after moonbyul turned to whoever she was with to shush them.

“hyun? you okay? what are you reading now?”

“… you probably don’t know it but i had just broken up when i fell over you my first day at the amusement park. your visit encouraged me to finally face what i had been avoiding, made me confront my fears.” joohyun drew a breath before she read what was on the page. the drawing that followed was of moonbyul and a girl she did not recognise, sitting on the floor of a bedroom, in an embrace, neither of their faces shown.

this explained why moonbyul was acting so out of character for that period. joohyun had been worried, having grown to care and concern for the younger girl over the course of the last few months. she was proud of the girl for being able to go through the final steps of her relationship,

the other line turned silent again, and joohyun flipped the page over once more, and the drawing made her heart skip a beat. it was a drawing of the very ferris wheel pod she was in, and she was sitting facing away from the front, looking at a sketchbook with a bouquet of flowers similar to the one beside her right now.

it made joohyun wonder how much time moonbyul had spent on this, and she soon realised that unlike the previous pages, this one had no words on it. she flipped through the remainder of the sketch book, which was empty

being engrossed in trying to look for the words that would accompany that last drawing, joohyun did not notice the door to the pod opening once again. at this point, another 15 minutes have passed and the ferris wheel had returned to its original position.

“i never actually planned to go one more round, but i didn’t have time to ask bomi to write the words for the last page-”

joohyun jolted in her seat at hearing moonbyul speak as she walked in, hand clasping at her heart, before turning to shoot a glare at the poor girl through watery eyes. moonbyul walked further into the pod, standing near joohyun as the door swung shut, for the third time.

“what the hell is this?” she drew out the last syllable, whining a little. she stretched out her arms towards moonbyul, who stepped into them. joohyun wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned in, resting her head against byul’s stomach, letting out a content sigh. the familiar scent of vanilla and hints of burnt wood that she now associated with moonbyul flooded her senses. when moonbyul laughed, she could feel the vibrations of her stomach against her face, and she hit moonbyul’s back with her hands, somewhat gently.

“why are you laughing? you’re a meanie, what was the last page supposed to say,” joohyun pouted, talking into moonbyul’s shirt, voice muffled.

moonbyul rested her own arms on joohyun’s shoulders, petting joohyun’s head affectionately and combing through her hair.

“i was just going to ask if you’d do the honours of being my girlfriend, cutie.”

instead of a proper response though, moonbyul just heard joohyun giggling a little, before she felt her pull away, and moonbyul looked down to see a beaming joohyun, all traces of her being upset mere seconds ago vanished.

“that’s all i wanted to hear,” joohyun let out, before pulling moonbyul down by her jacket, capturing her lips in a sweet short kiss.

//

bomi, meanwhile, was waiting anxiously at the bottom of the ferris wheel. it was seconds before the pod that contained the (hopefully by now) couple, would return.

upon first look, nothing seemed to have changed between the 2 when they stepped off, but they were holding hands, and irene was almost smirking, while moonbyul looked a little dishevelled and dazed. irene was holding onto the bouquet and sketchbook in one hand, and the other hand was clasped tightly in moonbyul’s own hands. bomi secretly let out a sigh of relief, glad that everything seemed to be alright, though it was not an unexpected outcome in the first place. The two walked up to her, and moonbyul flashed a grateful smile at bomi, as irene opened to say, “this idiot is so useless huh? thanks for all the help bbom, i heard about all you helped her with and it wouldn’t have been possible without you,” when moonbyul turned to irene and releasing their clasped hands, hit the older girl on the shoulder.

“hey, we’re gonna go back to my place now, thanks again for the help bomi!” moonbyul said, pulling irene away. She heard moonbyul letting out a gap as they started walking away.

“oh, i’ve got to collect the bouquet you bought me from our lockers, hyun, can we go there first?” to which irene had beamed, and nodded her head ferverently.

“have fun and stay safe you two!” bomi shouted to their fading figures, letting out a laugh at how cute the new couple was. they kind of reminded bomi of her and chorong, and she had a good feeling about them. 

//

moonbyul thinks she is the luckiest girl in the world. it has been 3 months since the ferris wheel confession, and moonbyul was genuinely the happiest she had been in over a year. joohyun was such a sweetheart and she was so understanding.

the last 3 months flew by, and this relationship was unlike anything moonbyul had ever been in thus far. The mutual support they held for each other in everything they did was new, to the both of them, and moonbyul knew better than to take it for granted. they were taking turns to sleep in each other’s apartment and found joy in the changing routine they had going.

moonbyul felt like the worst storm was now tiding over, the past wounds healing, though not without leaving their marks on her. they served as a reminder of what had been, made her excited for what could be and she knew better than to pretend those times never existed, for they shaped her into the person she is today.

she still enjoyed looking at the sky, though certain times of day tend to hit a little harder than others. the couple took walks along the river nearby, talking about everything and nothing, hands clasped around each other, swinging according to the mood they were in.

over the course of a year or so, moonbyul had to let go of a relationship that she never thought would crumble, she found herself sinking. the persistent storm has caused floods she was unprepared for, until she found a tiny hole to drain the water, through wheein and hyejin, and another one, through her job at the amusement park. 2 more came in the form of chorong and bomi.

however, the biggest hole she used to drain all the built-up water was the confrontation with who was once her sun. that emptied her out, relieving the drowning feeling in her chest that accumulated. it made her an empty vessel, which made her ready for new things.

it was through joohyun that moonbyul eventually stopped looking at the world through skies. she started to appreciate other bits of nature, the tiny weed flowers growing through the cracks of concrete in the city, the small hill in the park nearby joohyun’s apartment, where the couple would often go to for picnic dates. they would lie down on their backs after eating, staring and laughing at the clouds that would float by, or point out the tiny flowers that were starting to bloom. spring was coming, for the nature and for the couple.

to moonbyul, joohyun was a tiny bunny. she hopped into her life unexpectedly, white and pure. shy, maybe a little hard to approach at first, but eventually they worked out. joohyun widened moonbyul’s perspective, taught her to see the world beyond how she was used to, and gave her the ability to appreciate more about life, and the people around her.

she might have lost her sun, but she found her bunny, and the whole world.

//

a/n: its finally the last chapter that took me wayyyy too long (over 2 months... goddamn... I'm sorry!!) but I've been busy with school and trying to pull away from the fandom for awhile. but i think at the end of the day i still turn writing to just chill and find enjoyment in it! its been a long journey with these characters, and i hope you've enjoyed it as much as i had fun writing it! this chapter was a whole 4000+ words and obviously not proof-read... so point out whatever mistakes you see! comments are very very appreciated, and thank you for reading :D

go follow me on twt (where I've been lurking) and on ao3 if you'd like! i hope you have a great day and night ahead!