Words Don't Come Easy

Falling, Fallen

The KTX train is packed, not uncommon for major holidays like Chuseok. All the seats are taken and there are very little space left for luggage. Luckily, Soojin and Miyeon booked their ticket the moment they found out that they had won the lottery. They are able to sit together in one row and since they arrived early enough, they are able to have space for their luggage. As soon as the train started moving, Soojin closes her eyes and dozes off since they are going on the earliest train of the day. Miyeon glances over to her friend and then to the elderly couple sitting across the isle from them. Everyone is dozing off since it’s still early in the morning.

Alone with her thoughts, Miyeon stares out the window to the landscape that rushes past them as the train starts to pick up speed. After an hour or so of watching scenery,  Miyeon sighs loudly when her thoughts turn to a certain someone. And that is when Soojin’s soft voice breaks her thoughts, “Do you want to talk about it?” Soojin’s eyes are still closed, as if she’s waiting for Miyeon’s answer before committing to opening them.

“No, it’s …” Miyeon is about to say the same thing that Minnie always say. “Actually, yes … I’d like to talk about it.” She’s deciding to set a good example.

“It.” Soojin lifts the curtain of her lashes and finally sits up straight to meet Miyeon’s eyes. “Or her?” Soojin’s unwavering gaze seems to say that she knows everything.

Miyeon takes in a deep breath and looks down at her hands. “Her.”

“It’s about time.” Soojin stretches her arms over her head and arches her back to try to wake up a bit. “Let me go get some coffee for us.” She wants to be fully awake for this, so she gets up to go find the refreshment cart.

Miyeon nods and waits for Soojin to return.

“Here.” Soojin hands Miyeon a cup of coffee before sitting back down in her seat. “Okay. So what’s going on?”

“Thank you.” Miyeon accepts the cup with both hands. “Minnie …” She’s unsure how to start, “she’s depressed after Somi’s passing. She’s in a very bad spot and I don’t know how to help her.”

“It’s understandable. It’s hitting her hard because she really cared about Somi.” Soojin gently blows on the steaming surface of her coffee. “But knowing Minnie, like all of us surgeons, she probably won’t get help.”

Miyeon nods as she holds her coffee cup in her hands, using it as a handwarmer for a while. “She thinks she’s a failure if she talks to someone. I know how she feels and I have that mindset sometimes, but I’ve never seen her this bad.” Minnie’s lost patients before and she’s been depressed about it in the past. But this time, Miyeon gets more and more worried as days past and Minnie continues to bury her feelings. “You know she’s an emotional person, but she lives in her head and won’t let anyone help her.”

“She’s grieving and that’s something that takes time.” Soojin replies. “Sometimes it takes longer than what we feel is an appropriate amount of time.”

“I understand that, but I can’t help but worry about her. I’m being as supportive as I can be as a … friend.” Miyeon starts to say something else, but decides against it.

“When are you going to talk to her about that?” Soojin asks.

“About …” Miyeon tries not to be specific.

“You. Her.” Soojin gets to the point of the matter. “Whatever you two have going on.” Soojin holds a finger up to stop Miyeon from trying to deny it. She’s on a roll right now. “I’m not dense. I may seem like I don’t care, but I do. I know that it’s hurting you and that’s not right.” It’s been a while since Soojin has a chance to talk to Miyeon one-on-one like this. They’re usually with the group or busy with work.

Miyeon turns away from Soojin, moving her gaze to the everchanging horizon outside of the train. Her eyes starts to feel that familiar burn. “I’m okay. I’ll talk to her after she feels better.”

“You’re strong. I know that. You’re trying to support her.” Soojin rests a warm hand on Miyeon’s shoulder. “I’ve noticed the way you two look at each other for a long time. Don’t keep putting it off because you’re putting Minnie’s needs above your own.”

Miyeon nods. Still unable to look at Soojin. “I know. But I just want to help her right now. I don’t want to complicate the matter.”

“You may be too close to talk to her about it.” Soojin sips on her coffee. “Do you want me to talk to her about going to grief counseling?”

With a big sigh, Miyeon nods. “Yeah. It may be best to hear from a neutral party.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll try to make it feel natural.” Soojin knows her quiet voice has a calming effect on most people and Miyeon seems a little more relaxed. “But.” She taps Miyeon’s shoulder, making the other woman turn toward her. “Promise me that you two will have your conversation when she’s back to normal. Because I think you guys would make a good couple.”

Miyeon smiles a little for the first time in the conversation. “It’s hard not to be when we look this good.”

“Arrrgh.” Soojin makes a face. “Minnie has influenced you with the lame jokes.”

Miyeon giggles because she knows Soojin hates the cheesy jokes that Minnie come up with.

“You guys really deserve each other.” Soojin laughs along with Miyeon.

They chatter for a little while before the train drops Soojin off at the Daegu station. For Miyeon, who continues onto Busan, the quiet time alone gives her time to think about her whole situation. Perhaps a little break from Minnie is good, maybe she will have some clarity regarding their relationship, or lack thereof. Miyeon is glad to have talked to Soojin because she doesn’t feel so alone in trying to help Minnie.

 

 

“Oh, they’re here. I see their car!” Soyeon leans over the balcony and excitedly announces back to Yuqi, who’s cleaning around the living room.

“Ah. I’m not done dusting. Help me clean around here!” Yuqi runs back and forth in the room, trying to dust off the furnitures and polish up the TV.

“Appa! Umma!” Soyeon yells loudly, surprising even the Queen of High Volume, Song Yuqi. Soyeon waves excitedly to her parents, who are exiting their vehicle. They look up to see their baby waving so happily that they stands there and wave back at her.

It takes a few moments for the couple to get in front of Yuyeon’s door, but before they could ring the bell, the door swings open and Soyeon comes flying into her parents’ arms. Yuqi, standing behind her, can’t help but giggle at her friend’s cuteness toward her parents. She knows that her friend hasn’t seen her parents in a while, so she waits patiently for the introduction that comes shortly after.

“Appa. Umma. This is my friend, Song Yuqi.” Soyeon steps aside and showcases her friend/colleague/roommate.

When they finally notice her, Yuqi bows slightly and greets her Mr. And Mrs. Jeon. “Good afternoon. My name is Song Yuqi. Nice to meet you.”

“We’ve heard so much about you, Ms. Yuqi. It’s great to finally meet you.” Mr. Jeon smiles as his wife gets closer and gently pats Yuqi’s shoulders. “Thank you so much for taking care of our Soyeon, Ms. Yuqi. We’re very grateful that she has a friend here in Seoul.”

Yuqi’s cheeks bloom into a rosy color as she awkwardly tries to shake her head. “Soyeon’s the one who’s been taking good care of me. I should thank you for giving birth to her.” Parents are Yuqi’s specialty, she could win anyone over in a few moments. But for some reason, today she’s extra nervous. Soyeon doesn’t look too much like her parents. Yuqi could tell she has Mrs. Jeon’s eyes and nose and Mr. Jeon’s ears and mouth. But add it all together and Soyeon looks more like a foreigner than Korean for some reason. Though, they are of the same height as a family unit.

They chuckle together for a moment, still standing at the doorway, before Soyeon clears . “Let’s get inside …” She ushers her parents inside as Yuqi closes the door. Soyeon helps her parents carry the bags they brought with them into the kitchen. “What all did you bring?” She feels the heft of the items inside.

“Oh, just lunch and some sides for you girls to keep in the fridge.” Mrs. Jeon replies as she looks around the apartment, like a typical mom. Mr. Jeon walks with his hands behind his back, following his daughter into the kitchen, while Yuqi stays with Mrs. Jeon.

“Sorry for the mess. We just finished unpacking not too long ago.” Yuqi makes attempts to keep tidying.

“No no, this is very clean for Soyeon … her last apartment …” Mrs. Jeon’s voice starts to get lower into a whisper as she looks at Yuqi, while shaking her head. Yuqi giggles softly along with her, having seen Soyeon’s last apartment. “How is her room?” Mrs. Jeon whispers to Yuqi.

Yuqi grins and steps closer to Mrs. Jeon, sharing a secret whisper, “She cleaned it up. Everything’s at least folded …”

“What are you two whispering about?” Soyeon suddenly stares at them and asks loudly from the kitchen.

“Oh, just this and that.” Yuqi pretends to be innocent. She presses her lips together to hide the smile growing on her face while Mrs. Jeon pretends to look at their medical books on the shelves.

“Uh huh …” Soyeon gives doubtful squint. She looks to her dad, who shrugs as if saying ‘I’m not getting into that’.

“What’s for lunch? I’m so excited and hungry.” Yuqi changes the subject.

“I brought some of Soyeon’s favorite food and some that I heard you like as well, Yuqi.” Mrs. Jeon starts to unpack everything that she brought. It looks like a feast spread across their small kitchen counter. They look at their small two-person dining table, it would surely not hold all this food, so once again they spread newspaper and cloth across their livingroom floor to accommodate everything.

“Wow, this all looks amazing!” Yuqi’s mouth waters as she looks around the spread of everything she could imagine and some dishes she has never seen. Soyeon comes from the kitchen with some hot rice bowls and settles into her corner, where the food lacks all the vegetables.

“Alright, let’s say a prayer and dig in.” Mr. Jeon reaches his hands out to his wife and Yuqi. Yuqi rests her hand in his before reaching over to hold Soyeon’s hand. She gives the small fingers a little squeeze and smile before closing her eyes to listen to Mr. Jeon’s prayer. Personally, Yuqi is not a religious person nor is Soyeon. But it feels nice to hold hands with her friend and give thank to the blessings she has in her life.

They eat a lively lunch together. It’s been a while since Yuqi had a proper family dinner. Seeing the smiles on Mr. and Mrs. Jeon’s faces make her miss her own parents in the home country. She thinks about what they are doing right now or if they’ve had lunch yet. It’s been a while since she last called her parents, things have been hectic and she texts them a lot more than actually hearing their voices.

“Let’s go shopping after we clean up.” Mrs. Jeon proposes as she helps them clean up after lunch, despite the girls telling her to just rest. “You girls need more things in this apartment, it looks a little deserted.”

Yuqi looks around the apartment, it looks nice enough for  her. She thinks it has just the right about of things to not get too cluttered. Though, it does looks like no one lives there since there aren’t any personal things other than furniture and books. “Some curtains would be nice.” Yuqi nods.

“And pictures and little cute figurines.” Mrs. Jeon clasps her hands together.

“There you go again, getting all excited by yourself.” Mr. Jeon laughs as he wraps up all the newspapers that they’ve been sitting on. Mrs. Jeon gives him a sharp side-eye.

“We could use a vacuum cleaner.” Soyeon, ever the pragmatist, nods in agreement to a shopping excursion.

“Then it’s decided!” Mrs. Jeon laughs happily, even more excited than the people who lives in the apartment, “Good thing we took the car instead of the train.”

After everything has been cleaned and washed, the group of four pack into Soyeon’s parents’ car and drive to the biggest homegoods store in the area. It has everything from appliances and furnitures to decorations and entertainment. If they are looking for anything in the home, they are sure to find it there. Soyeon and Yuqi had made a few trips here in the past few weeks to get items. But lacking a car, they could only buy what they could carry back. Now that transportation is readily available, they decides to buy as many things as they need.

“Soyeon, look. This is so cute!” Yuqi holds up a black coffee cup that has a panda’s face on it.

Soyeon grins and nods. Then her eyes spot a yellow cup and she points it out to Yuqi, the cup has brown patches and the face of a giraffe. “This is cute, too. Your favorite, giraffe.”

“How about …” Yuqi thinks as she speaks, “I buy this for you and you buy that for me?”

“Why are you pressuring me to buy you something, Yuqi-ah?” Soyeon pretends on whine. Her parents have gone off to look at things for their own home, so it’s just them in the kitchen area. She is  finally free to tease Yuqi a little bit. It’s one of the few indulgences that she allows herself.

“What? I’m also buying you something.” Yuqi’s voice raises a decibel or two along with her expressive eyebrows.

“But I didn’t ask for that.” Soyeon teases.

“Fine! Then I’ll buy both for myself, but you can’t use them.” Yuqi grabs the giraffe cup from the shelf.

“I’m kidding. I do want that panda cup.” Soyeon tries to look on the shelf, but it looks like that was the last one.

“It’s too late. They’re both mine now.” Yuqi pouts as she turns away.

Soyeon makes a grab for the cups, but Yuqi blocks her hands by holding the cups extra close to her body and turning away from Soyeon each time. They laugh as they play in the isle, with Soyeon basically backhugging Yuqi while reaching for the cups. As they’re messing around, they don’t notice that Soyeon’s parents have come back to them from the other department. They watch the girls play for a few seconds before Mr. Jeon clears his throat and Mrs. Jeon coughs. Hearing familiar voices, Soyeon stops and turns around to face her parents.

“Appa. Umma.” A blushing Soyeon steps back from Yuqi. “Yuqi is being mean to me.”

“M-ME?!” An equally blushing Yuqi turns around and shakes her head. “No, Soyeon was being mean to me.”

“She wouldn’t let me have the panda cup!” Soyeon pouts, making Yuqi’s face scrunch in disgust.

“Omo. Look at this girl lie. I tried to buy it for her …” Yuqi’s voice is starting to draw attention.

“It’s okay girls. Appa and Umma will get it for you.” Mrs. Jeon laughs mildy and steps forward to take the cups from Yuqi’s arms. She adds it to the cart of things that they already have.

Yuqi bows her head to avert Mrs. Jeon’s eyes, but the deep blush on her cheeks gives away her shyness in this situation. “Thank you very much.”

“Thanks, Umma.” Soyeon merongs before hooking her arm with Yuqi’s and leading her friend away from the kitchen department. Her parents look on with wide smiles before turning to each other with knowing gazes. It’s been a while since they saw Soyeon that close to any friend her age.

The shopping trip is very productive and the girls manage to get everything they needed and more. They found panda and giraffe slippers that match with their new cups. They have cute curtains, decor, and a compact vacuum cleaner. After Mr. And Mrs. Jeon leaves, the girls get to decorating and making their home more homely.

 

 

-Knock-Knock-Knock-

The wooden rapping at the office door pulls Minnie’s attention away from her screen. She turns around to look at the small window on the door to see a smiling Shuhua waving at her. Answering the smile, Minnie holds up her finger to signal for Shuhua to give her a moment. She turns around to quickly read over her screen and save the file before rising up to greet Shuhua at the door.

“Hey.” Minnie is surprised because there’s no one else other than Shuhua standing there.

“Hi, Minnie-unnie.” Shuhua cheerfully greets.

“What’s up?” Minnie opens the door wider and steps aside to let Shuhua into her office.

“Nothing much …” Shuhua steps in and quickly looks around before turning back to Minnie. “It’s lunch time and it’s just you and me out of the group today.”

Minnie makes a small ‘ah’ sound. She had forgotten about lunch. Her appetite has not been that great recently. “Right. Soojin and Miyeon have gone home plus Yuqi and Soyeon are off today.” Minnie says this to remind herself.

“Yes. So it’s just you and me.” Shuhua holds up her wrist and taps on her watch. “It’s lunch time.”

“Oh. Okay.” Minnie is confused. She scratches her head, “Did you want me … to take a lunch break right now?” Personally, Minnie was hoping for alone time since Yuqi was off for the day.

Shuhua nods happily, but then shyly adds. “If that’s okay with you.”

It’s not often Shuhua takes the initiative with people other than Soojin, so Minnie has very little choice but to nod in agreement. “Sure thing.” She grabs her wallet and phone from the desk before following Shuhua out of her office. Together, they enjoy a silent walk to the cafeteria to get food. As the older person, Minnie pays for both their lunches.

“Is this table okay, unnie?” Shuhua asks sweetly, throwing Minnie into mild confusion.

“Yeah, it’s good.” Minnie nods in response and tries not to look to shock as Shuhua hands her silverwares and napkins. Shuhua is a nice younger friend, but Minnie rarely has any interaction with her outside of the group environment. Shuhua only calls Soojin, ‘unnie’, not even Miyeon, who’s older than Minnie. So it’s kind of confusing to Minnie right now.

“Thank you for the lunch.” The younger woman claps her hands together in thanks before gleefully digging into her food.

“You’re welcome.” Minnie looks down at her own tray. It’s been a while since she’s sat down to have a proper meal at work. Watching Shuhua eat with such gusto is making water and she feels hungry enough to relish her food.

They are busy stuffing their faces for several moments before Minnie clears to speak up. “If you don’t mind me asking … why’d you come get me today?”

“Oh …” Shuhua’s cheeks are stuffed with rice, making her to look like a baby chipmunk.

Minnie chuckles, once again, for the first time in a while. She hands Shuhua a napkin to wipe .

A blush suddenly colors Shuhua’s porcelain cheeks. She swallows her food and dabs before speaking. “I figured you’d want to eat with someone since Miyeon isn’t here. Loud Yuqi is also off.” Shuhua knows that Minnie and Miyeon are close. As for Yuqi, she’s Minnie’s intern after all, so they must be close, too.

Hearing Miyeon’s name causes Minnie’s eyes to be downcast, something that is quickly noticed by Shuhua. “Uh … yeah, thanks for thinking of me.”

“You’re welcome. Us foreigners have to stick together.” Shuhua says with an assuring nod.

Minnie smiles, “Definitely.” Her eyes are tint with a sadness that seems to darken all her smiles in the recent weeks.

“Are you alright, unnie?” Shuhua suddenly asks between smaller bites of food.

“Yes.” Minnie puts down her chopsticks. “Why do you ask?” Is this going to be one of those intervention things?

“You just seem different lately.” Shuhua a grain of rice from her lips. “You’re more quiet and you look sad a lot of the time.”

How does one answer that? Minnie wonders. She takes a deep breath, eyes on her tray and searches for an answer. “I’m just going through a tough time. I haven’t been sleeping or eating well so I’m tired most of the time … I think I just need a vacation.” She tries to be as vague as possible.

“Is there something I can help with?” Shuhua asks softly. “I know it’s not my business, but we’re friends and if you’re having a tough time, I want to help.”

This takes Minnie by surprise. One, she never counts Shuhua as someone with such depth and a serious side. Two, she never thought Shuhua looks at anyone other than Soojin to notice that Minnie was struggling. Three, she is surprised at how touched she feels from Shuhua’s sincerity. Minnie’s eyes burn a little as she feels her lashes moisten. “No. I know that I need to get some counseling …” Minnie admits aloud for the first time, “but it’s so hard …”

“You’re the female lead character of your life.” Shuhua suddenly interrupts, causing Minnie to look at her in the eyes. “It’s one of my favorite mottos to live by … you can borrow it.”

Minnie tilts her head to the side with a puzzled look.

“You’re in charge of your life, Minnie-unnie. If you think you need help, you should get it. You don’t want to be one of those wishy-washy lead girls who let people do everything for you, do you?” This Shuhua is seriously a bit strange for Minnie, especially the analogy.

Minnie looks at Shuhua as if she’s possessed for a moment before those words finally sink in. “No … I definitely am not one of those.” Somehow, she manages to stop herself before she adds on an excuse.

“Soojin-unnie saw a counselor for what that jerkface did last month …” Shuhua hints at Minnie, “maybe she can recommend someone?”

“Oh …” Minnie looks visibly uncomfortable. If she asks Soojin, then  Soojin might tell Miyeon. What would she say to Miyeon then? They’re so awkward with each other right now and there are things that Minnie is not ready to discuss yet.

As if reading Minnie’s thoughts, Shuhua adds. “Soojin-unnie won’t tell anyone.”

Minnie looks at Shuhua from behind her bangs that have grown too long. How does this girl, who’s only known Soojin for a little over a month, know more about Soojin, her friend of over a year? “Yeah. You’re right.”

“Yeah, I’ve told her a lot about myself. She listens and advises really well.” Shuhua smiles cheerfully.

“Yeah, she does.” Minnie remembers when she was having a tough time during her intern year. Soojin was very supportive during those times, despite her cold appearance.

“She cooks well, too.” Shuhua adds. “Like a mom.”

“Like a mom?” Minnie catches the last comment with knitted brown and a tilted head.

Shuhua, having realized what she just said, drops her spoon. “Uh … unnie, don’t tell her …”

“That you think of her as a mom? When you’ve been flirting with her and calling her y and stuff?” Minnie starts to laugh. “She’s going to be mad.”

“Minnie-unnie, please!” Shuhua tries to deny such allegations. “Please I didn’t say anything!”

“Noooo. It’s too late. I heard it already!” Minnie laughs harder at Shuhua’s panicked face. It feels good to eat and laugh with someone.

Shuhua acts as if she’s worried, but she starts to smile when she sees that a little part of happy Minnie has started to return. Since Soojin is away, Shuhua has to step up to be the person people can talk to. Soojin would be happy to know what Shuhua did. Shuhua misses her so much.

 

 

Seo Soojin huffs with the fourth time in the hour, causing Soyeon to look over at Soojin’s desk to see what’s going on. Soojin is looking at her phone again, just to put it down for the tenth time in the hour. Not that Soyeon is counting, but it feels like that because she can hear the clatter of the phone on the desk when Soojin drops it down in annoyance.

Soyeon clears to get Soojin’s attention, “Is everything okay, unnie?” It’s Soojin’s first day back after Chuseok’s holiday.

“Hmm?” Soojin looks over to Soyeon.

“You’ve picked up and dropped the phone a few times. Did you get some bad news?” Soyeon asks in a measured tone, since she’s not seen Soojin this agitated in a while. The last time it was because someone had botched orders for labs, causing problems to go undetected until surgery day for a patient. Soojin was so mad, Soyeon thought she was going to start pulling people’s wigs off.

“No.” A succinct answer that sounded like a warning.

“Okay.” Soyeon knows to drop the topic and turns back to her work.

Knowing that it’s not Soyeon’s fault for being concern, Soojin takes in a deep breath before letting a soft sigh out. Her voice is softer as she turns toward Soyeon, “What did you do on your Chuseok day off? I know you said it was good earlier.”

“It was really nice. My parents came to see Yuqi and I, then we went shopping before they went home.” Soyeon smiles cheerfully, forgetting Soojin’s coldness from earlier.

“That sounds really nice. Was it the first time for them to meet Yuqi?”

“Yes. She made quite the impression. My parents really like her.” Soyeon turns around completely to face Soojin. “Did you enjoy your visit home?”

“Yeah. It was a nice and quiet few days with my parents and sister.” Soojin tries to think back to the times when she could just laze around in her old room and not do anything all day. Food was readily available and her parents doted on her every whim.

“Did Shuhua blow up your phone the entire time?” Soyeon grins and motions toward Soojin’s phone.

“No.” The cold look has returned to Soojin’s face as she glances toward her phone.

“Oh.” Soyeon realizes she’s misspoken. “She was blowing up Yuqi’s phone saying how much she was missing you.”

Soojin gives Soyeon a side glance before suddenly rising up from her seat. “I’m going to get something to drink.” She quickly turns and walks right out the door.

Soojin is typically very calm toward Soyeon, so this was a bit of a shock to her. Soyeon’s eyes widen after Soojin leaves and she picks up her phone to text Yuqi what just happened. Lately they’ve been texting nonstop even though they live together now. Whenever something happens, Yuqi is the first person that Soyeon wants to tell. She has the best reaction to everything, especially her weird emojis.

On the other hand, Soojin storms off in a huff all the way to the lounge. She needs to get a bottle of cold water to get the heat in her chest to dissipate. “Blowing up my phone the entire time?” Soojin says to herself as she looks at the screen in her hand. “She didn’t even text me once.” Soojin sighs, unsure why it’s bothering her so much. “But she was blowing up Yuqi’s phone?” Just thinking about it makes Soojin’s mind all jumbled.

The lounge’s door opens softly and Minnie walks in with a blank expression on her face. Upon seeing each other, the two friends look and hold the other’s gaze for a moment.

“What?” They say at the same time.

“You first.” They say at the same time again.

“Fine.” Again, they say in synchrony.

“Ugh!” Both rolls their eyes before breaking into laughter.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.” Minnie grins, she still has dark circles under her eyes.

“I know …” Soojin figures this is as good a time as any to act on her promise to Miyeon, “probably because you’ve been living in your head for a little while.” She tries to put it politely.

Minnie hesitates with an awkward smile before nodding. “Yeah. It’s been a little while, but it feels like years.” She walks over to grab a bottle of cold green tea from the refrigerator. “Sorry I’ve been so absent.”

“I’m not the one you should apologize to, Minnie-ah.” Soojin gives enough of a hint before she changes the subject. “How are you doing now?”

Minnie takes a sip of her tea and sits down on the sofa, motioning for Soojin to do the same. “I’m okay … I think, finally feeling some peace.”

“That’s good to hear.” Soojin takes a seat next to Minnie, who promptly puts her head on Soojin’s shoulder. It’s not the first time, but Minnie rarely show that much affection for Soojin.

“I need some help, Soojin … I heard you went to a counselor.” Minnie speaks softly.

Soojin nods, “Uh huh.” She shifts a little bit in the seat, placing her arm around Minnie. It feels strange because they’re not usually this warm with each other.

“Can I have their info?” Minnie requests. “I think …” She takes in a deep breath, “It’ll be good for me to talk to someone.”

This was easier than Soojin thought. Here she was, thinking of a monologue and readying to convince Minnie to go to counseling, only for Minnie to say it all to her first. “Here, let me forward her info to you.” She pulls out her phone and forwards the contact to Minnie.

“Thank you.” Minnie replies when she receives the info. “Can we stay like this for a little bit?”

Soojin has not choice but to agree. “Eh. Don’t tell anyone.” She can indulge Minnie for a little bit.

The door opens again and this time Miyeon comes into the lounge. She happens upon Minnie’s head on Soojin’s shoulders. It’s strange sight to see because Soojin and Minnie are rarely affectionate toward each other. They may tease and joke around with each other, but rarely dote on each other. Miyeon tries to walk softly, but Soojin notices and looks toward her movements before she has a chance to announce herself.

“Hi, Miyeonnie.” Soojin smiles softly.

Minnie sits straight up suddenly and turns back to see a puzzled Miyeon standing by the doorway.

“Hi.” Miyeon looks at Soojin and then stares at Minnie, who tries not to meet her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, Minnie …” Soojin starts to explain what Minnie’d ask her, but gets cut off suddenly.

“Halloween party!” Minnie blurts out. “We’re discussing what we wearing to the Halloween party.” She’s not ready to let Miyeon know that she’s seeking help.

“Oh.” Miyeon accepts it easily, even thought it was an awfully close way they were sitting to be discussing Halloween outfits. “More important than that … your birthday is next week, Minnie.”

“That’s right. I completely forgot about it …” Soojin mutters to herself.

“It’s not a big deal.” Minnie rises from the sofa and shrugs, “I really don’t feel like celebrating.”

“You don’t have to celebrate, we could just do a small dinner or something. It’s your birthday.” Miyeon pleads.

Minnie fidgets. “I really don’t want to celebrate …”

“Not even with us?” Miyeon’s brows knit together, making it hard to Minnie to look at her.

Soojin takes this pause as her chance to slip out for the two to talk. “I’ll see you guys later.” Soojin says as she scoots along.

After Soojin exits, silence covers the room as neither Minnie nor Miyeon are ready to talk. Usually, they are comfortable being quiet near each other. But today, the silence is overwhelmingly disconcerting. They stand quietly for a few minutes before Minnie clears . “I hope you’ll understand.”

“I understand more than anyone.” Miyeon quickly retorts. “Haven’t I been more than understanding?”

Minnie shifts her gaze downward. “You have.”

“At least spend your birthday with me … is that too much to ask?” Miyeon really hates being pushy, but with this current Minnie she has no choice by to push.

“…” Minnie seems to be thinking before she nods. “Yes … it is a lot to be with you right now.” She squeezes her eyes and takes a deep breath before continuing. “You’re my friend. My best friend. I don’t know what I want from you or from me … I need time … to think …”

“You.” Miyeon stresses the word. “You need time to think? What are you thinking about?”

“A lot of things that are jumbled in my head.” Minnie walks up to Miyeon and reaches her hand out to hold Miyeon’s hand. “I promise I’m going to get help … about Somi … but about us, I need time. I need to get better myself first.”

The warmth from Minnie’s hands feel so familiar, something that Miyeon hasn’t felt in a long time. She looks into Minnie’s eyes, the deep black orbs that pull her in and hold her so firmly. Miyeon has no choice. She quietly relents. “I’ll wait …” She pushes her impatience way down and squeezes Minnie’s hands.

“Thank you.” Minnie pulls Miyeon in and wraps her arms around Miyeon, holding Miyeon gently against her. They stay like that for some minutes before Miyeon pulls back.

“But I won’t wait for long. I want you to get help and feel better. However, I have my own pride and feelings, I don’t want to be waiting forever.” Miyeon squeezes Minnie’s arms. “I know you understand.”

Minnie smiles and nods. “I do. Don’t give up on me yet.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to hang out on your birthday?” Miyeon asks again.

“Mhm … we can celebrate another time. I just want to not celebrate it this year.” Minnie nods again.

Miyeon knows that Minnie is still torturing herself over Somi’s missed birthday. She knows that Minnie donated the present that she got for Somi to the Children’s Hospital. She knows that Minnie is this deeply emotion and caring person. That’s why Miyeon likes Minnie so much, but it is also a point of weakness for Minnie.

 

 

“You’re not celebrating Minnie-unnie’s birthday with her?” Shuhua asks between bites. Her cheeks are puffed out like a chipmunk.

“No.” Miyeon shakes her head gently while Soojin gives her a knowing look.

“What’s she doing for her birthday then?” Soyeon asks while look around the cafeteria.

“I’m not sure …” Miyeon looks at Yuqi, who shakes her head.

“She requested a half-day that day.” Yuqi puts her chopsticks down. “I think she has plans that night because her calendar says she’s not taking any pages.”

“She didn’t tell you why?” Soyeon asks in place of Miyeon, who sighs ever so softly.

“No. I know she asked Dr. Moon for the half-day and it takes a lot for her to not take pages …” Yuqi explains.

“I hope she’s not going to get super drunk or something.” Shuhua puts her chopsticks down after finishing her food. “She’s been so down recently …”

“It’s no use for us to sit here and guess.” Soojin finally speaks. “Why don’t we just let her have some peace and quiet, it may be good for her.” She turns to Miyeon. “Too bad she doesn’t get to enjoy her birthday present, though.”

Miyeon smiles humorlessly, “Too bad.”

“What did you get her?” Yuqi asks.

“Tickets to see Troye Sivan.” Miyeon shows the girls the e-tickets in her mailbox.

“Her favorite singer.” Yuqi explains that Minnie plays his music all the time in their office. “His concert in Seoul is on Minnie’s birthday.”

Miyeon nods. “I bought the tickets month ago when the tour stop here was announced … now I have to find someone to sell the tickets to …”

Yuqi and Soyeon exchanges looks again. “Do you want us to talk to her?”

“No.” Miyeon shakes her head. “It’s fine, I promised not to force her. She wants time to think right now.” She puts her fork down, suddenly her appetite is lost.

“Well, that …” Yuqi sighs. “I bet if she finds out that her birthday present is going to see Troye Sivan, she’s going to be super regretful.”

“Let her regret.” Soojin shrugs. “Miyeon puts a lot of efforts and money into getting those tickets.”

“But Minnie-unnie doesn’t mean to be mean …” Shuhua puts in a good word for Minnie. Foreigners have to stick together.

“When did you start calling her unnie?” Soojin narrows her eyes accusingly. She still hasn’t forgotten the way Shuhua basically ghosted her during Chuseok. Even though Shuhua explained that she just wanted to respect Soojin’s time with her family. Soojin specifically remembers Shuhua saying she calls Soojin her Unnie because she likes and respects Soojin. When did Shuhua come to like and respect Minnie so much? She still calls Miyeon just Miyeon.

As if Shuhua is reading the dark side of Soojin’s, she smiles a soft, defusing smile. “Don’t be jealous, Soojin-unnie. You know my heart. You’re the only one for me.”

Soojin makes a face and turns away, but a small smile tugs at her lips. “Sweettalker.”

“Um … we’re all still trying to eat here.” It’s Yuqi’s turn to make a face. “Please go flirt somewhere else.”

“Who’s flirting?” Soojin frowns at Yuqi while Shuhua grins and shrugs.

“You.” Yuqi motions toward Soojin, “and her.” She points at Shuhua. “Are flirting.”

Miyeon laughs at the way Soojin’s eyes level with Yuqi. She looks like she’s about to lay some verbal smackdown on the younger woman. Knowing this, Soyeon immediately starts to defuse the situation. “Yuqi’s just kidding, Soojin. Don’t mind her, she’s just being silly Yuqi.”

“Hey! I’m not silly.” Yuqi pouts, making her look like a silly child.

Each person at the table takes turn to tease Yuqi, causing a ruckus as Yuqi starts to get louder and louder.

 

 

“Thanks for inviting me, Miyeon.”

Miyeon turns to her friend and smiles. “Thanks for coming with me, Jisoo.” Kim Jisoo is an up and coming actress. She’s also one of Miyeon’s oldest friends. They’ve known each other since middle school. With her usual group busy or working, Miyeon calls up one of her few friends in Seoul to go to the Troye Sivan concert with her.

“These are really good seats, I could see Troye Sivan so clearly.” Jisoo smiles happily. The tickets must have cost a lot. “Are you sure you don’t want me to pay you back?”

“No, it’s fine. I couldn’t find anyone willing to pay a decent price for them at the last minute … so might as well enjoy it.” In truth, Miyeon waited too late to sell them because she harbored thoughts that Minnie might change her mind and want to celebrate her birthday with Miyeon. But when the moody woman made no indications of such intention, Miyeon was too lazy to find someone to sell to at the last minute.

“I see. Sorry your friend couldn’t make it.” Jisoo rises from her seat and lets out a deep breath. “But I’m glad you invited me.”

“You’re welcome.” Miyeon eye-smiles at her friend and grasps Jisoo’s arm as they make their way out of the row of seats. “That was good, I knew a lot of the songs.”

“Oh, I didn’t know many …” Jisoo shakes her head. “He’s not really my type of singer, but it was a good concert nevertheless.”

Miyeon chuckles as they scoot along, “Mine neither. But my friend really likes him, so I ended up liking him, too.”

“I can buy us dinner …” Jisoo finally reaches the aisle seat of their row, “… what are you doing here?” She suddenly asks the person across the aisle from her.

A tall young woman with one of the prettiest faces Miyeon’s ever seen is frozen with surprise. “Jisoo …” She speaks softly. Miyeon could tell she’s a foreigner by her looks and seems so familiar, but before she could discern where she knows the woman from, her eyes fall to the woman next to the foreigner. “Minnie …”

Here they stand, four pair of eyes widen at the same time. Four mouths drop open. People file around them, trying to get out of their rows. Miyeon gets pushed forward, causing her to pull Jisoo along.

“Jisoo, I’m glad to see you.” The foreigner speaks with a small smile.

Jisoo shakes her head. “I’m not glad to see you, Lisa.”

Miyeon couldn’t tear her eyes from Minnie, who’s staring back at her. Jisoo turns around to Miyeon and reaches for her hand, causing Miyeon to freeze in surprise. “C’mon Miyeonnie, let’s get go.” Miyeonnie? Since when did Jisoo call her Miyeonnie? Miyeon is surprised as Jisoo pulls her along in a huff, tearing Miyeon’s eye connection with Minnie.

“Kim Jisoo!” Lisa calls after Jisoo and starts to follow them. “Would you please stop?” She sounds upset. With those long legs, it did not take her long at all to catch up to Jisoo and Miyeon. She cuts them off near the exit.

“What do you want from me, Lisa?” Jisoo angrily asks.

“I just want to talk.” Lisa reaches out to Jisoo, only for Jisoo to swats her hand away. This sounds familiar to Miyeon. She turns back to look at Minnie, who is trudging slowly toward them. Their eyes meet, but Miyeon is still in shock. Didn’t Minnie say that she wanted to be alone? Who is this Lisa? Why are they seeing this concert together?

“I don’t want to talk. I’m done listening to your empty promises.” Jisoo’s grasp on Miyeon’s hands tighten. She’s trembling with emotions. Miyeon has a million questions to ask, especially about Minnie and Lisa.

“Wait.” Lisa’s eyes water.

Jisoo cold brushes past her and pulls a stunned Miyeon along. Miyeon wants to ask what’s happening, but before she could, they’re already in Jisoo’s car speeding away from the concert venue. In the quiet car, Miyeon could hear Jisoo’s angry breathing. Miyeon turns back to see if Minnie and Lisa are following, but she couldn’t make out anyone.

“Who was that, Jisoo?” Miyeon finally speaks up.

Jisoo waits for a long moment before replying. “Nobody.”

“So you’re mad at nobody?” Miyeon pushes, she has to find out.

“Yeah.” Jisoo bites down on her thumb as she drives.

“Tell me who she is.”

“Why do you care?”

Miyeon wants to scream that she doesn’t actually care about whoever Lisa is, she only cares because Minnie was with Lisa at the concert that Miyeon wanted to see with Minnie. But instead, she reigns her emotions in and lets out a quiet, “Because you’re my friend and you’re upset.”

Jisoo pauses for a long while, just driving quietly as the cityscape rushes by them. Finally, she takes a deep breath and lets out a sad, succinct answer. “She’s my ex.”

“Ex …” Miyeon’s voice drifts off.

“Ex-girlfriend.” Jisoo turns to briefly look at Miyeon. They’re long time friends, but it’s not like they talk that much about relationships. They catch up a few times every few years to get drinks but they don’t get too involve din each other’s lives. “She broke my heart.”

Miyeon’s heart tightens, touched by the sadness in Jisoo’s voice. “How?” That’s all she could manage to whisper.

“She’s … her name is actually Lalisa.” Jisoo continues her explanation. “She’s a model … we met during filming for a commercial.”

Miyeon stays quiet for Jisoo to talk.

“We started dating within a month of hanging out after the shoot. It lasted a three years … she got super popular with magazines and the fashion world. I got more popular on television shows … we got too busy for each other. One time, she went to Thailand to film and … I think she cheated on me.”

That’s why Lisa seems so familiar to Miyeon. “You think?”

“She wouldn’t admit to it because I found pictures of her and another girl on her phone. She said it’s a friend, but they looked to comfortable to be just friends.”

“You looked through her phone?”

“She was so mad about that. But I didn’t want to hear her excuses and broke up with her.”

“That’s a pretty drastic way to end a three year relationship.”

“I know, but she moved on just fine. So will I.”

“I don’t think she moved on at all … from the way she acted tonight, I think she’s not over you.”

“You saw that she was with some other girl right?”

Miyeon saw alright. But Minnie didn’t look terribly upset with Lisa for chasing after Jisoo. “I don’t think they were together.” Miyeon doesn’t know how to break it to Jisoo that Minnie is actually the person that Jisoo replaced at the concert.

“Lisa doesn’t have that many friends. I know all her friends. That woman I haven’t seen before, they must be on a date or something.”

“Why don’t you just talk to her instead of guessing?” Miyeon finds it ironic that she’s giving such advice while trying to guess whether Lisa and Minnie went on a date.

“No way. I am not getting back into her orbit … I’m not ready to have my heart broken again.”

“You’re being stubborn, Jisoo-ah … I think you both still care about each other alot.”

“…” Jisoo doesn’t reply as she stops the car in front of Miyeon’s apartment. “Thanks for the concert, Miyeon. I’ll treat you to dinner next time.”

“Okay …” Miyeon smiles slightly and reaches across to give Jisoo a hug. “Talk to her.”

Jisoo’s smile is lopsided as she watches Miyeon leaves the car.

Unbeknown to them, the same conversation is happening across town in Lisa’s car.

 

 

“Shuhua! Over here!” Yuqi yells, her voice rising above the loud thumping music.

Shuhua smiles excitedly at her friend and quickly makes her way over to where Yuqi is standing with Soyeon. “Hey. You guys look so cool.”

“You look very cute.” Soyeon smiles and makes Shuhua twirl for her.

“This is amazing!” Shuhua looks around excitedly. The music is hyping her up. The decorations are fascinating. Everything is as a party should be.

Once a year, Halloween happens and the hospital staff pitch together a fund to have a big Halloween Bash. They rent out the presidential penthouse of one of the tallest hotels in the city. It comes with a gigantic pool as well as plenty of room to party. They even rent out individual hotel rooms to make sure everyone has a good time, but has a safe place to retire instead of running into trouble going home. People just have to make reservations ahead of time.

As luck would have it, Shuhua, Yuqi, and Soyeon do not have nightshift duty. They are dressed in their costumes, waiting for the other three to arrive. Yuqi is a Western cowgirl with the hat, boots, and a brown fringed jacket. Soyeon is a biker chick with ripped jeans shorts, boots, and a black fringed jacket. Shuhua is a cute diner waitress with a pink dress and white apron.

“You guys are matching.” Shuhua flicks her fingertips back and forth between Yuqi and Soyeon.

“Why a diner waitress?” Yuqi flicks her fingertips up and down Shuhua’s costume. “It’s cute on you, but why?”

“Why not? Are you looking down on diner waitresses?” Shuhua pokes Yuqi’s shoulder sharply. In truth, she procrastinated because she couldn’t decide what costume to wear. When she got to the Halloween store, the only options left are very pathetic. She could have been in a chicken costume or a y cop. Diner waitress is actually pretty good.

“Why not be something cooler?” Yuqi playfully winks as Shuhua. She starts to speaks English. “Hey girl. What’s up? I’m a cow girl from California. Who are you?”

Shuhua rolls her eyes and pretends to throw up.

“Stop fighting, kids.” Soyeon tries to break up the bickering kids.

“No, but …” Yuqi’s eyes drift toward the door, “wow …”

Shuhua and Soyeon follows Yuqi’s gaze to a glamorous Miyeon making a grand entrance. She looks like she is Hollywood royalty walking straight out from an Audrey Hepburn movie. Her hair is done up tastefully and she is wearing a vintage black with white polka dots dress. Miyeon’s eyes curve into a smile when she sees her younger friends. Happily, she waves at them and walks right over, ignoring a roomful of people who are admiring her beauty.

“Hi. Sorry I’m late.” Miyeon greets.

“It’s okay, we arrived not too long ago and Shuhua just got here.” Soyeon shakes her head and motions toward the open bar. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m on call tonight.” Miyeon pats the pager in one of the pockets of her dress.

“There’s Soojin-unnie.” Shuhua interrupts Miyeon. Her eyes lighting up as she speeds right over to the door to pull Soojin over to the group.

“Oh my god.” Yuqi tilts her head in confusion.

“Soojin that is the best costume.” Miyeon smiles at her friend and pulls her phone out to take a picture.

“Soojin-unnie has the best costume here.” Shuhua covers Miyeon’s camera, not allowing her to take a picture before Shuhua does.

Soojin didn’t even get a chance to explain. She just shrugs. In place of a typical costume, Soojin has dressed up in  a fox footie pajamas. While Soojin’s face is still seductive as ever, she is cute in the way she trudges around as a fluffy fox. If Shuhua thought she couldn’t be anymore smitten with this multi-facet woman, she is proven wrong.

“I wish I’d thought of that.” Shuhua says wistfully, she could have matched with Soojin.

Soojin smiles and pats Shuhua’s head.

As the party starts to pick up, the five women gets some drinks from the bar and bops along the dance floor. As the song peaks at its , the door opens again and a lot of heads turn toward it. Minnie struts in full of confidence. She has double braids with some spikes woven into her hair. She’s wearing a bohemian crop-top with a bellydancer’s pants. On her wrists are a multitude of bracelets. Minnie’s bejeweled pants catch the lights in the room and sparkle brightly as she moves toward her friends. Her tone belly flexes and releases as she walks.

“Wow, Minnie’s fiiiiiit.” Yuqi whistles at her supervising resident, making Soyeon give her a quick unnoticed side glance.

“Hey everyone.” Minnie says in a breathy voice. “Sorry I’m late.”

“No worries, the party is just getting started.” Yuqi smiles brightly and motions toward the open bar. “Do you girls want to get something else to drink?”

“Oooh, I definitely want that watermelon vodka drink, it was good.” Shuhua points to the bar, where a group of people are crowded around trying to get their drink on.

“I’ll have that, too.” Soojin nods along.

Yuqi and Soyeon looks at each other. “We have a room so … we can go all out for tonight.” They share the same thought because it’s fine to let loose once in a while.

Minnie glances at Miyeon, who glances at Minnie, but neither say anything. They stand around awkwardly for a few moments before Miyeon speaks up. “I’ll have a Shirley Temple or something.”

Minnie scratches her head, “I’m not sure yet … I can go with you, Yuqi. I’ll figure out something by then.”

Soyeon looks at Yuqi and nods, “Two of you should be able to carry everything. We’ll be out in the lounge area by the pool.” With that, the group split into two. Yuqi and Minnie goes to get all the drinks. The other girls go out to the lounge around with a firepit near the pool. They find a square sunken firepit with plenty of cushioned seating around. Soojin is immediately pulled close to Shuhua while Miyeon and Soyeon sits next to each other. Neither Soyeon and Miyeon are that close to each other, but Miyeon isn’t looking forward to awkwardly sitting by Minnie the entire evening.

Soojin looks at Miyeon, who seems to be deep in thoughts again, before turning to Shuhua. “Are you staying here for the night or are you going to try to catch the bus home again?”

Shuhua laughs and shakes her head. “The room is free, so I’ll stay here instead … unless …” She hooks her arm with Soojin’s, “you want to take me home again.”

Soojin, having forgiven Shuhua for the most part, rolls her eyes and extricates her arm from Shuhua’s grasp. “No thank you.”

“I can take you home if you need, Shuhua.” Miyeon smiles warmly at the younger woman, who puts her arms into an ‘x’ shape.

“No thank you. I heard you’re a pretty bad driver … even sober.” Shuhua shakes her head.

“Who said that?” Miyeon crosses her arms and puffs her cheeks. “Soojinie?”

“Leave me out of this.” Soojin groans.

“No.” Shuhua shakes her head mysteriously.

“Soyeon, did you say that?” Miyeon turns to Soyeon with a questioning look.

“Me?” Soyeon laughs, “I’ve never even been in your car.”

“Then who?” Miyeon, the detective tries to think of anyone who’s experienced her driving. At that time, Yuqi and Minnie shows up with the drinks. They carefully put their handfuls down on the edge of the firepit before handing drinks out to everyone. Miyeon momentarily pauses her thoughts when Yuqi hands her the Shirley Temple. “Thank you.” Same as Soyeon, Yuqi’s never been in Miyeon’s car. Her eyes fall on Minnie, who decides to sit at a corner between Shuhua and Yuqi. Minnie? Why would she tell Shuhua about Miyeon?

The seating arrangement right now is Minnie, Yuqi, Soyeon, Miyeon, Soojin, and Shuhua in a square. They each take a sip of their drink before continue to chatter about things that’s happened over the past month at work. While they are friends, their one commonality is work and so the conversation always find itself circling back about work.

“By the way, Minnie. What did you end up doing on your birthday?” Yuqi suddenly asks. “I keep forgetting to ask you.” Yuqi had given Minnie her present before the actually date, so naturally she forgets to ask.

“Um …” Minnie smiles. Her eyes unconsciously drifts toward Miyeon for a split second. “I … um … went to a concert with a friend.”

“Oh, you did, huh?” Everyone at the conversation pit, except for Minnie and Miyeon, looks at each other with a large smile on their faces. They’re assuming that the two went with each other.

“When you said that you weren’t going to celebrate, I thought you were serious.” Yuqi grins.

Minnie looks at her with a puzzled tilt of her head.

“If you guys ended up going to the concert, you could at least tell us.” Soojin turns to Miyeon, whose poker face should’ve hinted something. “I feel like we didn’t see you all week after that day.”

“Yeah. I was worried that you wasted your money on those tickets, Miyeon.” Shuhua adds.

Soyeon, the most observant person at this time, looks between the two increasingly awkward people. “So how was the concert? Did something happen?”

“We didn’t go together.” Miyeon puts her empty glass down. Right now she’s really wishing for something stronger. A non-alcoholic drink is not going to help her through this.

“Huh? You took separate cars?” Yuqi asks with a slight frown.

“You can ask her. I’m going to say hi to those attendings over there.” Miyeon motions toward Minnie before getting up abruptly. She needed an excuse to get out of the heavy pressure that was trying to drown her.

After Miyeon leaves, all eyes are on Minnie. She frowns and puts down her also empty glass. “What?”

“What does she mean? You didn’t go together?” Soojin asks. “Who did you go with?”

“Exactly what she meant. I went with my friend, Lisa.” Minnie is confused as to why she’s getting the interrogation.

“So you went with someone else … while Miyeon bought Troye Sivan tickets as your birthday present?” Shuhua asks to clarify.

Minnie hadn’t known that Miyeon had bought tickets as her birthday present. In fact, Minnie could barely get a chance to talk to Miyeon to ask about that night. Miyeon has been avoiding her calls and texts. Minnie has been skipping the group lunch to avoid awkwardness. She figured a party like this would be a much better place to provide an escape route if needed.

“I didn’t know she got tickets for us …” Minnie states the truth. “My other friend, Lisa, bought tickets and asked me to come with her as a surprise.”

“How would you know when you’ve been extra distant lately …” Soojin says in a quiet voice, but Shuhua puts her hand on Soojin’s, as if telling her to calm down.

Soyeon, who’s been quiet for a long while, finally speaks up. “You should go talk to Miyeon, before your friendship gets to be irreparably awkward.”

Yuqi nods beside her. “Miyeon was really looking forward to the concert with you, so I was so happy when I thought you went together.”

Minnie  looks around to see where Miyeon has gone. With a heavy heart, she rises from her seat. It’s not something she really want to confront right now in public, but if left alone … Minnie is afraid these negative feelings will fester between them until it’s unhealable.

Yuqi and Soyeon talks amongst themselves in quiet whispers. In a way, they’re responsible for the strange turn of events due to the misunderstanding.

Shuhua holds Soojin’s hand between hers. “I hope they’ll be okay.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Soojin replies.

 

 

“Hey.” Minnie spots Miyeon standing by herself next to the balcony.

Miyeon doesn’t turn around, but she recognizes Minnie’s voice and her shoulder tenses up a little bit. Minnie comes up next to Miyeon and they both look over the balcony into the night scape below. The busy street is lined with people coming and going in costumes. The music in the penthouse is bumping loudly. But here, in this space, things are abnormally quiet.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know that you’d bought tickets to see Troye Sivan for my birthday.” Minnie starts in a low, apologetic tone.

Miyeon remains quiet, her eyes unfocused on the horizon as the wind blows her hair backward. Minnie studies her face for a moment, she looks so very sad right now. “My friend, Lisa, surprised me with those tickets on my birthday … so I went with her.” She continues. “It wasn’t planned.”

Miyeon continues to give Minnie the silent treatment.

“Can you please say something?” Minnie is not used to getting ignored. “I didn’t know anything about the tickets you bought, so how can you be mad at me?”

“I’m not mad at you.” Miyeon finally speaks, her voice so soft it barely carries over the music. She turns to finally look Minnie in the eyes, “I respected your wishes, to give you time and also to leave you alone for your birthday. Do you know how hard it was? To see you struggle and not be able to help … I really wanted to see that concert with you. But I respected your damn wishes.” Her voice breaks as her emotions start to overwhelm her control. “Seeing you with someone else at that concert really … really … really disappointed me.”

Minnie gives Miyeon the chance to talk. When Miyeon is finished, Minnie steps closer and puts a hand on Miyeon’s shoulder, “She’s just my friend, Lisa. There’s nothing going on between us.”

Miyeon, for the first time, shrugs Minnie’s hand from her shoulder. “I’m -just- your friend, Minnie.” Her earnest and honest answer shocks even her. “You don’t even know what’s going on between us.”

Minnie raises her voice. “I told you I needed time to sort out myself.”

“And I agreed. But now, I realize that I’m putting you before myself when you’re putting yourself before me.” Miyeon doesn’t back down.

“That’s not fair, Miyeon.”

“You’re not the only one who lost someone you care about. You didn’t want to get help even though I begged you. When you finally decide, you push me aside to work on yourself and hang out with other friends.” Miyeon isn’t sure where all this is coming from. The feelings that she’s been pressing down while telling herself it’s for the good of everyone is surging upward.

“Is this how you’ve been feeling all along?” Minnie’s mouth is downturned. “You resent me for putting myself first?”

“No!” Miyeon yells. She opens to argue, but the pager at her side rings and vibrates loudly. She stares into Minnie’s eyes before shifting her attention to the pager. Her focus shifts undecidedly between the two for a moment before she looks at the page. “I’ve got to go.” She rushes toward the door  before Minnie could say anything.

Minnie stands there, watching Miyeon’s figure disappear into the crowd. Her hands tighten into fists before she make her own exit.

 

 

“Be careful, watch your head.” Shuhua yelps as she helps an inebriated Soojin into a hotel room. “Careful …” She struggle to pull the woman to the bed.

“No …” Soojin whispers hoarsely. “I’m …” She hiccups, “I’m not done …” The drunken woman waves her arms around as she tries to pull away from Shuhua.

“Yeah you are.” Shuhua struggles, her cheeks flustered pink. “You’ve had to much to drink, unnie.”

“No …” Soojin hiccups again as Shuhua guides her to the bed. The older woman plops down on the covers, her head lulls to the side as half of her body hangs off the bed. Shuhua looks over the woman, at least she’s already in pajamas. Shuhua smiles at how cute Soojin looks when she’s out like this. “More drinks … party … wooooo!”

“Alright, unnie. Let’s get you ready for bed …” Shuhua pulls back the covers, struggling a little bit under Soojin’s weight. She pulls off Soojin’s cute paw slippers before lifting Soojin’s legs onto the bed.

“Ahhh …” Soojin frowns, her face flushed with intoxication. “It’s hooooooot~” She kicks her leg outward, almost hitting Shuhua in the process.

Soojin’s whining voice sends shivers down Shuhua’s spine. She’s not sure why this woman has such a hold on her. Everything that Soojin does is so stimulating for her and that whine right now is half-cute and half-y. Or maybe it’s because Shuhua is tipsy herself. Shuhua takes a deep breath to clear her thoughts. “Okay, let’s get you settled in.” She says as if to remind herself of her task.

Soojin suddenly reaches up to the zipper at her neck and clumsily starts to pull the tab down. “Hot …” She says in a hoarse voice as she tugs the slider down halfway to her stomach. Shuhua starts to cover her eyes, but realizes that Soojin’s wearing something underneath, that’s probably why she’s burning up.

“Um … let me help you …” Shuhua hesitates, but eventually relents because Soojin’s turning a bright color of red. She takes the tab away from Soojin’s hand and starts to all the way before pulling the pajamas downward. Underneath, Soojin has on a tank top and short-shorts so she wasn’t completely . However, Shuhua could feel the blood rushing her head as she hears her pulse in her ears. It’s strange for her to undress a defenseless Soojin like this. Normally, she would have earned a physical or verbal smackdown by now.

Once the pajamas is off and Soojin is nicely tucked under the covers, Shuhua lets out the breath that she’s been holding since she got into this room. “Um … let’s wipe the make up off.” Shuhua looks for the pack of make up remover wipes in Soojin’s packed bag. “Aha.” She brings it back to a slumbering Soojin and starts to wipe the make up away from Soojin’s face. Shuhua enjoys wiping the colors away little by little, as if she’s revealing the real Soojin a little bit at a time.

When all is wiped away and only those red lips remain, Shuhua becomes hyper-aware of her focus on them. She wonders how they would feel and taste. She can imagine the warmed and plushed sensation from those billowy lips. Her eyes flutter and she shakes her head, she can’t afford to think like that right now. She swallows hard before reaching up to brush the wipes across those cherry lips. It doesn’t take anytime at all before Shuhua finishes with wiping Soojin’s hands, too.

“All done, sleeping beauty.” Shuhua smiles proudly at her work as she looks down at a peaceful Soojin. Her hand unconsciously brushes some hair from Soojin’s face before her courage swells up inside her chest. With a sharp inhale, Shuhua leans down and presses the lightest of kisses on Soojin’s forehead. “Good night, the most beautiful girl in the world.”

After Shuhua has turned off the lights and left, Soojin’s eyes slide up to adjust to the dark room. She reaches up to gently touch where Shuhua’s lips has touched her skin. She could still feel the sensation from Shuhua’s warm lips. She sighs softly before closing her eyes again for heavy sleep to consume her.

 

 

“What an eventful night …” Soyeon yawns as she pulls back the covers to the bed.

“You’re telling me.” Yuqi is applying face cream at the vanity in the bathroom.

“I’m glad Shuhua stopped Soojin before she drank anymore.” Soyeon was surprised at how much her resident drank.

“I know, she’s so funny when she drinks. She kind of let loose a little bit.”

“Shuhua was like a mother hen.” Soyeon laughs and imitates Shuhua’s voice. “Soojin-unnie, don’t do that. Hey, don’t dance like that. Don’t get too close to the pool. Stay away from the balcony.”

Yuqi laughs loudly, “She seemed stress and I feel like Soojin did it on purpose.”

“Yeah, I saw that mystery smirk of hers. She definitely enjoys Shuhua’s full attention.” Soyeon laughs. “They should just get together already and save us the headache.”

Yuqi finishes up her skin care routine. “But then we won’t have a fun show to watch anymore.”

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” Soyeon means Minnie and Miyeon. They all witnessed the way Miyeon stormed off. They had messaged her a while after, but still no response.

“I hope so, because I really think they’ll be a good couple.” Yuqi turns off the lights and steps out of the bathroom.

There weren’t many rooms left when they decided to go to the party, so they ended up with a room with just one king-sized bed. Neither Yuqi nor Soyeon minded, so they took the room, just in case they get too drunk. But both are too responsible to get that drunk when they have to work the next day.

“I’ll check on Miyeon tomorrow, then. You’ll check on Minnie?” Soyeon watches as Yuqi makes her way to the other side of the bed.

“Okay. I’ll ask her at work tomorrow. But you should know she’s really bad at talking about emotions and stuff, she’s the holding it in type.” Yuqi pulls back the covers on her side and slips under.

“I get that, I’m the same way.” Soyeon turns to Yuqi, “but I’ve gotten better.”

“Yeah, all thanks me to me.” Yuqi grins and gives Soyeon a thumb-up.

Soyeon laughs and nods. “All thanks to you, Yuqi-ah. By the way …” She pauses for Yuqi to look at her again. “Um, you looked really nice today. I liked your costume.”

Yuqi is taken back by the sudden compliment. Not that Soyeon doesn’t compliment Yuqi, but it’s usually about her work or something else, not her looks. “Um … thank you, you looked really nice too.” That was honest. Soyeon looked like a rockstar biker chick in her costume. “You looked like a badass, actually.”

“I am a badass.” Soyeon says with a blank face.

“No you’re actually a cute little baby chick.”

“What?”

“Yes, you look all tough, but I’ve seen the way you talk to your parents.” Yuqi laughs and tries to imitate Soyeon’s aegyo voice. “Appa. Umma.”

“Hey!” Soyeon smacks Yuqi’s arm.

“I’m just kidding. I really like the way you say that.” Yuqi massages where she was smacked. “I like that you can be a badass surgeon and a sweet kid at the same time.”

Soyeon blushes and turns away. “Dr. Moon said I can  close up a surgery next week by myself … if you want to watch …” She shyly tries to invite Yuqi, but then has to recover. “Since I’m an actual badass, you know?”

“Okay. I’ll see if Shuhua wants to come, too. Let me know when …” Yuqi lets out a wide yawn and her eyes start to water. “Okay, let’s sleep because we have to work tomorrow.”

“Okay. Good night, Yuqi-ah.” Soyeon nods and turns off the lamp on her side.

“Good night, Soyeonnie.” Yuqi smiles and turns off the lamp on her side.

It is not long before Soyeon hears the steady breathing sounds from Yuqi’s side. Must be nice to be a person who sleeps easily. Yuqi doesn’t seem to carry any stress with her, she can sleep anywhere and anytime. While Soyeon’s mind races a million thoughts a minute. Once Soyeon could relax, the steady breathing of Yuqi becomes so relaxing that it puts Soyeon into a sleep trance. She soon drifts to sleep to the sound of Yuqi’s breathing.


 

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Violetkaya
Thank you for bearing with my lateness. I'm sorry it took so long. I decided to focus on 1 couple per chapter for 3 chapters (including this one that started with YuYeon). I hope you enjoyed this chapter enough to keep reading. Next is SooShu, then MiMin. See ya in 2 weeks (12/13) tentatively!

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YoonHyunshidae
#1
Chapter 1: Just discovered this fic and I’m so excited! From chapter 1 I can already tell you’re a very detailed writer :D Loving gidle’s character dynamics and how they parallel the group and the kdrama! But finding out that solar, moonbyul and ot9 snsd are their seniors reallyyyyy excited me as an og sone and new-ish moo moo! Will we see Wheein and hwasa later on? I gotta catch up! Can’t wait to read about how they all interact together- THANK YOU FOR THIS <3
bbngpp2
#2
Chapter 11: Happy Holidays authorshi! Hope you’re doing well. First off, miyeon’s mom is so cute! I love their relationship. From the last three chapters, I see how different you made their parents reactions are. And even if soojins parents don’t know yet. Atleast her sister does. It nice seeing different scenarios and their concerns. If only everyone is lucky to have very accepting parents and siblings. And mimin, roleplay? I did not see that coming. Hahaha thank you authorshi!! Stay safe and advance Happy New Year!
jellymaniac
#3
Chapter 11: Noooooo :((((( not one more chapter :(((((
jellymaniac
#4
Chapter 10: I stumbled upon this story and I can gladly say I’m so happy I did. You’re such an amazing writer and each chapter moved me to pieces.
bbngpp2
#5
Chapter 10: I never waited excitedly yet patiently for Sundays to come until I came upon your story authorshi. You never disappoint. Focusing on one couple per chapter gives us more insight to each of their relationships, and from the two couples so far. I am loving it. I notice the small inserted interactions between the couples you put in. That was cute! Its like watching a movie with a different perspective. Reminds me of those movies that are of different couples but are all connected. Have you seen one of those? Can’t seem to remember a title for one but I remembered watching a few. their was one with emma roberts before I can’t remember. Hehehe I know I keep saying this but I really love your story. Take your time authorshi, keep safe and healthy! P.s- the part. 👍😉
justincase_143
#6
Chapter 10: I'm not crying, you're crying! Thank you for the update! I've been PATIENTLY waiting for this and Sundays doesn't feel complete without having to read your story! Aaahh, this sooshu is so cute and please, the added tinge of reality from the vlive reference makes it more uwu!

I can't wait for MiMin next! They just resolved their relationship so I keep o wondering how they'll spend the Holidays! Aaaahhhh great chapter as always, author nim! Please stay safe and healthy! ♡
Minitaeng
#7
Chapter 9: Reading this at 2am was soft and cute and made me feel really warm and sleepy

Reading this again at 4 pm.... is still soft and cute and warm!!!

Thank you for the Yuyeon content, even though i know its not as easy for u ask sooshu or mimin... we yuyeon stans are starving but i think this chapter will last me a long time ^^
justincase_143
#8
Chapter 9: It's not too often that we get YY stories or moments, and i seriously cherish every chapter you write about them! My heart bursts in joy, and especially that scene with Soyeon's family! I hope to see more of them in the next chapters. Waiting for SooShu and MiMin moments next!!! 💖
ddoyounggie_5
#9
found ya after 48 years HAHAHA
justincase_143
#10
Chapter 9: Hi author-nim! I wanted to let you know that I binged read this in3AM, and I am already so hooked! I love your writing and the way you deliver the story. Please take all the time you need. A good story doesn't come out of a stressed or bothered mind. We'll wait for your return and best of lucks! This is by far one of my favorite stories, so I am willing to wait for it! Fighting!