From the beginning, the cowboys had been nothing but a menace.

Since she was young, Joohyun hated them, just as her mother had. They would always fly by as the two walked in town, kicking up dirt, sending Mrs. Bae into a coughing fit.

“Joohyun, let’s go inside,” She would say, grabbing her daughter’s wrist. Joohyun, obedient even then, would follow suit, stealing one more glance at them.

They always looked so wild and fierce and free, everything Joohyun wasn’t, everything she couldn’t be. Especially the women. Free of corsets, tight hairdos, and husbands, they were everything Joohyun’s mother warned about, everything Joohyun couldn’t be.

So, when Joohyun was 21, the two cowgirls who came knocking on her door brought about a serious clash of Southern hospitality against her mother’s morals.

“Hiya,” said one, with short hair and a beaming smile, “MY friend and I were wondering if you possibly had some lodging for us. Just for the night, of course, and then we’ll be out of your hair by the morning.”

Joohyun found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the woman’s trousers, not hearing a single word she said.

“Ah, yes,” said Joohyun, meeting their eyes for the first time. “I’ll have to ask my mother, and she’s out right now, but please, come in. I’m Bae Joohyun.”

“Kang Seulgi,” greeted the one with prominent monolid eyes, “and this is Son Seungwan.”

“You’ll have to change,” said Joohyun, as Seulgi and Seungwan stepped in, “Not that there’s anything wrong with what you’re wearing! It’s just— ah— my mother’s very old fashioned, and she probably won’t let you stay if you’re dressed, well, like that— but you can borrow something of mine.”

Biting back a laugh, Seulgi followed Joohyun and Seungwan dutifully up the stairs, into the girl’s own room.

“Here,” said Joohyun, indicating two simple dresses, “These don’t have too many ribbons or frills or anything, but they’re good enough. Please, come downstairs when you’re done changing, and we can talk more.”

“Oh my god, Seungwan-ah,” said Seulgi, as soon as the door closed. “She is seriously pretty.”

“Seul! You cannot get attached to these country girls. They can never commit, and we’re never in town for long enough to make them want to commit.”

“Just because you had one bad experience,” pouted Seulgi.

“We’re only here for a night, anyways.”

“Unless...”

“No unless!” said Seungwan, throwing up her arms. “One night, Seulgi. One.”

“But what if it’s time to come home, Seungwan-ah. We’ve been rollicking all over the country for years, now. I love it— I love having fun with my best friend. But we’re older, now. It could be time—”

A quick rap at the door cut Seulgi off. “Are you all changed? My mother is due back anytime now.”

“Almost ready!” yelled Seulgi, despite still being in her trousers. “One second!”

When the two girls descended the stairs, they found Joohyun sitting at a table, with three gently perspiring glasses of lemonade in front of her.

“Well, my mother has come and gone, but she’s agreed that we can put you up for the night. If you’d like to put your horses in our stables, that can be done now, as well.”

Quickly, Seulgi elbowed Seungwan in the side. “R-right! I can get that done right away.”

“I’d love to come visit them before you leave tomorrow,” said Joohyun, smiling. “My horse is in there as well, but Ahreum is very gentle. There shouldn’t be any problem.”

“Perfect!” exclaimed Seungwan. “I’ll see you two in a bit, then.”

As Seulgi sat across from Joohyun, she couldn’t help but notice the other girl’s small frown. “What’s wrong?” She asked, taking a sip of lemonade, “The thought of keeping us for a night is that bad, huh?”

“What?” Joohyun shook her head. “Oh, no, that’s not it,” she said, rising, walking over to where Seulgi sat. “Well, I was just thinking about it, and the whole cowgirl-trousers ensemble suits you much better,” Absentmindedly, Joohyun smoothed the dress around Seulgi’s shoulders.

“Wait, do I know you from somewhere? You look awfully familiar.”

“Ah, my mother lives in Suwon. She looks just like me, but shorter.” Seulgi replied, aware of Joohyun’s hand, still on her shoulder.

“Right— the Kangs. How come you aren’t staying with them? Are you two— are you two in trouble? Because we won’t cover you or anything!” said Joohyun, frantically snatching her hand away from Seulgi’s shoulder.

“Relax,” said Seulgi, turning and taking Joohyun’s hand in her own, “Seungwan and I don’t want to bother our families. We’ve both been gone from home for a while, and coming back would cause too much of an uproar. We’re just stopping here for a night, then heading on— at least that’s what Seungwan wants...”

“You feel differently?” asked Joohyun. A strange blush was beginning to rise on her cheeks. She kept hold of Seulgi’s hand.

“Well...” began Seulgi, but the swing of the opening door made her pause.

“Mother!” exclaimed Joohyun, quickly dropping Seulgi’s hand. ‘This is Kang Seulgi, one of the young women staying with us. I’ll start dinner now that you’re home.”

***

Dinner passes with little advent, and before she knows it, Seulgi finds herself wide awake in the Bae’s guest room, Seungwan snoring on Seulgi’s other side.

“Psst, Seungwan-ah,” Seulgi murmured, elbowing the other girl in the side. Seungwan doesn’t budge. Seulgi cursed her best friend’s ability to sleep deeply as she sat up and slid her foot into a slipper. She would just pop downstairs for a second, grab a cup of water.

Joohyun, however, is seated at the dining room table, watching as Seulgi makes her way down the stairs.

“Seulgi-ssi,” she said, startled, as Seulgi reached the ground floor. “You’re awake. It’s nearly midnight.”

“A lot on my mind,” Seulgi said as a way of explanation. “Hoping for a cup of water.”

“Oh! Of course.” Joohyun responds, rising from the table.

“No, no, don’t worry about it.” Seulgi made her way past Joohyun before the other girl could even move. “Anything on your mind, Joohyun-ssi?”

“Ah, always...” the girl trailed off. “What’s it like... living as you do? With no attachments, or obligation, even?”

Seulgi sat in front of her. “It’s...” she thought, “It’s hard. I miss being attached or tied down. Seungwan doesn’t, but I can’t help but want to settle down.”

“What do you two even do out there?”

“We ride our horses from place to place, looking for somewhere that will let us perform. We’re a musical duo, actually! We call ourselves Deux Pecher.”

“Deux Pecher?” Joohyun asked, laughing softly.

“Seungwan found it in a book. Or made it up, maybe. I’m still not sure.”

“But you don’t want to stop performing, right?” Joohyun furrowed her brow. “What if you set up a permanent locale?”

***

Joohyun’s current plan: Convince the cute performer cowgirl to stay in town.

Seulgi’s current plan: Convince Seungwan to let them stay in town so she could see the pretty country girl.

“Son Seungwan, please! You’ll be with your family, and we’ll still be doing what we love, just... here!” Seulgi begged, clutching Seungwan’s hand, outside the Bae’s house.

“All this for a girl, really Seul?”

“A really pretty girl!”

Seungwan sighed. “Are you at least going to tell her you’re staying for her?”

Seulgi echoed her best friend’s sigh. “No... I’ll just tell her that Suwon is the best place for us! The only place we can perform at our best!”

“...Fine. We’ll try it.”

***

The next few months flew by, full of tearful reunions, a search for an appropriate place to perform, and many, many visits to Joohyun’s house.

“Um, Seul, I’m not sure how much I can help construct your set.”

“I’m sure you can do something!”

and similar situations persisted, with Seulgi contriving more and more excuses for Joohyun to help out with the preparations for Deux Pecher’s grand re-debut. Suspiciously, Seungwan would make herself scarce during these meetings, and Seulgi would find more and more excuses to touch Joohyun, and Joohyun would grow more and more blushy.

Taking the horses out together had been an idea of Seungwan’s creation. Seulgi had beamed with delight when the other girl brought it up.

“Perfect, Seungwan-ah! She’ll definitely see how I feel, now!”

They rode Amanda and Ahreum side by side, galloping quickly out of Suwon and into the wilderness that surrounded the town. Joohyun led them to a wide canyon, gaping underneath a pink-and-orange sunset.

“Let’s dismount, Seul,” she called, gesturing to the view ahead, “Let’s look at the view.”

They both left the horses behind, pausing on the edge of a cliff overlooking the canyon.

“Hyun,” Seulgi said, turning her head to look at the other girl. “You have to know how I feel about you by now, but...”

“I’m not going to ride off into the sunset with you, Seulgi,” Joohyun swore, even though she was considering it more and more, watching Seulgi’s lips dip closer and closer to her own. It was such a perfect moment with the sunset glowing far beyond them, Amanda safely tethered with Ahreum somewhere, although Joohyun couldn’t care less about the horses. No, her entire focus was completely on Seulgi, and her stupid lips, hovering just above her own.

“What is there to lose?” Seulgi whispered, as Joohyun felt and heard it just the same. “Give me one good reason. One, and I’ll stop. I’ll leave Suwon.”

“But you need to be here. To perform. To— I don’t know, Seul, whatever’s kept you here for months.”

Seulgi laughed, a quiet, frustrated laugh. “You believed that? Hyun, darling,” and Joohyun feels her chest clench at the endearment, and does not chalk it up to tight corset strings, “I stayed for you.”

“But Seungwan—” Joohyun protests.

“I don’t want to talk about Seungwan. Not when,” and Seulgi pauses, falters for what’s probably the first time in her life. “One good reason, Joohyun,” she says again, softly, pressing her thumb against Joohyun’s cheek. “One good reason.”

“My mother wants me to marry,” Joohyun says.

“We can do that,” replies Seulgi, not even blinking as Joohyun sighs.

“My mother wants me to marry a man,” she adds, feeling a sharp pain in her chest. “She would never accept this, could never understand this.” Joohyun casts her eyes onto the dirt, russet staining her boots and the hem of her dress.

“But can you?” Seulgi asks, pushing Joohyun’s chin up with her thumb. “If you’re happy— if we’re happy— is that not all that matters?”

Joohyun feels her stomach churn, churn, churn, and feels the slightest glimmer of hope.

“There’s nothing wrong with two women being lifelong companions. It’s not that out of the ordinary,” Seulgi continues. Joohyun feels an ache in her heart, realizing Seulgi has thought this before, has thought of their future.

“Seulgi.”

“I can support us. You can support us, too, with your art, your sewing,”

“Seulgi,” Joohyun says again, louder.

“We can set up a business, or— or— Joohyun, we can do anything! Because I—”

“Seulgi! Shut up!” Joohyun practically yells, and the other girl stops, looking absolutely flustered. “I love you, you absolute moron. Now kiss me.”