getting to know
INEVITABLEjoohyun's body jerks when seulgi suddenly appears out of nowhere, sliding down the chair across the table.
"hey."
"hey."
"i'm sorry. did i startle you?" seulgi asks.
"a bit." joohyun closes her laptop. "i didn't hear you coming."
"hah. well, i kind of prowl my way here." seulgi removes her coat, draping it over her chair's back.
and joohyun didn't miss how seulgi's toned arm showed on the sleeve of her white shirt.
she remembers eunae saying something about her wife going to the gym regularly.
"you look busy." seulgi nods her head towards joohyun's laptop. "i plan to announce my arrival through tugging, but you seem to be concentrating. your eyes are glued to your laptop. you were still for whole two minutes i thought you weren't real."
"ah?" joohyun raises an eyebrow. "are you saying you were just standing over there staring at me for two good minutes?"
"well. yeah. i kind of did that." seulgi grins. joohyun pretends not to melt by rolling her eyes. "what were you doing?"
"i was reviewing the market index for one of my client's portfolio to see if their return is at par, or even more. they expressed their intent to short-sell some of their stocks."
seulgi nods eagerly, and then stops. "maybe try speaking normally?"
joohyun chuckles. "i was waiting for someone to come. i got bored, so i thought maybe i could do some work while waiting."
"that i can comprehend." seulgi leans back, giving a thumbs up. "i'm sorry for getting here late. there was a sudden adjustment in eunae's schedule. i waited longer with her in the airport."
"it's okay." joohyun sets aside her laptop. "i remember i used to believe flight attendants weren't allowed to get married. now i know i was wrong."
"well, for the inexperienced ones, they are highly required to be single. but the experienced ones are allowed to be married," seulgi says. "eunae's been in the industry for nine years now, been doing it since she was nineteen. we got married when she was twenty-four--actually, going twenty-five."
"and you guys are married for three years now, right?" joohyun asks, counting with her fingers. "how old are you again?"
"i'm twenty-nine. you?"
"i'm thirty-two."
"oh. should i call you unnie then?"
"yah!"
seulgi laughs. "that would be weird, right?"
"totally." joohyun shakes her head. "so, um, how have you been since..." she gestures her hand in the air. "you know."
"good." seulgi props her elbows on the table. "a little crazy actually. it's weird. we've only met once and talked for like an hour over breakfast, but i can't stop thinking about you after. i've dreamt of you so many times it's crazy." she stops and thinks. "is it okay for me to admit those things to you?"
"yes, of course," joohyun encourages with a smile. "don't worry. it's the same thing for me. the past three years have been crazy. it was a bad move for us to ignore each other just like that."
"that's a relief." seulgi eyes joohyun's hand. "i can see you're still not married, huh?"
joohyun glances at her hand too. "remember i had a date that time we met? she and i broke up a year after that. i haven't gotten myself into any relationships since then."
"oh. that's... that's sad..."
"it's okay. i've never been the type to stick in any relationships. i'm a very complicated girlfriend."
"maybe only to those people who aren't your soulmate?"
joohyun raises an eyebrow and smirks.
"i'm sorry. i didn't mean it to sound like..." seulgi swallows a lump in . "i was just saying you shouldn't blame yourself. maybe you just haven't found the right person, or people, who would be willing to stick around despite everything."
"maybe." joohyun shrugs. "like you and eunae?"
seulgi simply smiles.
"i'm curious, what made you decide to marry her?" joohyun rests her chin on her palm. "don't get me wrong. i just think you were both still young to get married. i bet you're barely starting with your careers."
"well, the wedding was far from our plans at that time. eunae and i were just patching things up after a... a huge problem," seulgi says. "but then, her grandma got hospitalized. everyone thought she's going to... you know. and her final request was to see eunae, her youngest grandchild, walk down the aisle before she departs."
joohyun raises her head from her palm. "oh..."
"i wasn't ready, to be honest. but i couldn't say no because her granny is her only family member who's genuinely nice to me. so, we rushed everything to fulfill the request. the funny thing is, her granny recovered after the marriage, and she's still rocking it up to this day."
"wow. that's... great... i guess..." joohyun chuckles. "but aren't you in good terms with her family? you said her granny is the only person who's genuinely nice to you."
"they aren't mean to me." seulgi scrunches up her face. "but i know they want someone better for their daughter. can't blame them. i'm a small-time cartoonist slash illustrator who refuses to be employed under any company because i want to do my own thing."
"well, isn't that a good thing?"
"well, not for her parents. you see, eunae came from a well-off family," seulgi explains. "her dad owns about, if my memory serves me right, fifteen percent of the shares of the airlines she's working for right now. her dad's the influence behind her wanting to get into stock trading."
"fifteen percent?" joohyun's eyes grow wide. "that's huge! why is your wife still working then?"
"it's a hobby. eunae always dreamt of being a flight stewardess since she was a kid. but to be honest, she doesn't need to work. her dad's wealth can support even his grand-grand kids-to-be."
"wow. isn't kang seulgi lucky enough to be married to a chaebol heir?"
seulgi laughs, waving a hand. "it's not really like that. you see, we had a prenuptial agreement before we got married."
"what?" joohyun's draw drops. "are you serious?"
seulgi shyly scratches her nape. "i guess they want to secure their wealth within their family ties only. some of her relatives did the same thing. i don't have issues with it. i married my wife because i love her. even though i don't make as much as her dad, i am happy with my career choice. i'm happy making my readers happy with my work."
joohyun nods. "in a financial analyst's perspective, you are already doing the right thing. you may not be working in an office setting like eighty percent of our population, but you have several passive income streams. to us, it's much better than people who are working nine to five."
"passive income? what does that mean?"
"passive incomes are earnings you get from something you're not constantly or consistently involved with," joohyun explains. "like those comi--err, manwhas you're publishing online. you only create them once. after that, it generates monthly income for you without you doing much about it."
"ahhh." seulgi nods. "wow. thank you for saying that. i've never looked at my work as something great."
"well, you should be proud of what you've done," joohyun says. "you're doing what you love, and you're making people happy. you're not stuck in a chair for nine hours a day in front of a computer, doing things for your boss while they get all the credit for it. plus it gives you more time to do other things."
"more time to do other things..." seulgi smirks. "like meeting up with my soulmate while my wife's away at work?"
joohyun chuckles quietly, shaking her head. "i take she doesn't know we're meeting today?"
"she'll freak out if she finds out i met up with my soulmate."
"mmm. makes sense."
"but i... i hope we can be friends...?" seulgi leans over the table. "i don't know what are we supposed to do."
"me neither. but i'm sure we shouldn't ignore each other like before."
seulgi hums, making patterns on the table with a hand. "i know this may sound funny... and weird... but i feel close to you. i... i've never felt this strong connection with someone in a very short period of time."
joohyun nods silently, thinking how it's the same for her.
"aren't we supposed to feel like that towards each other?" she says after a few more seconds. "we're soulmates after all, aren't we?"
"you're right." seulgi scratches her head, a gesture joohyun's getting used to now. "i don't know where this will lead us, but i hope we can be friends?"
friends.
joohyun smiles. because honestly, she doesn't know if this is healthy or not.
what she knows is it won't be easy for the two of them to ignore each other again, especially now that seulgi's wife is her newest client.
but would being friends fix everything?
maybe. maybe not.
but just like she told seulgi on the phone, she wants to find the answers.
so, maybe, being friends is a good start.
with the small circle she has, having a friend with whom she can connect is great.
who knows, maybe she and seulgi can work things out being plain friends.
it gives her peace of mind, knowing they were finally able to establish a relationship between them.
so, she gives seulgi an eager nod. "sure. friends."
checked the stats and i'm in awe of how chapter 23 got higher views from the others. and when i looked...
ooop! that's the rated m chap ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
ooop! that's the rated m chap ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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