team gomhyoni

joohyun steps into the living room, dried clothes from the laundry in hand. she finds her sister snickering on the couch watching something on the ipad.

"yerim-ah, sometimes i feel like you're only visiting me for the free wifi," she comments, sitting on the couch across her sister.

the younger woman puts the ipad down. "come on, unnie. you know i miss you, and your cooking, and your chocolates on the fridge, and your new shoes that seem to feet my taste too, and the cool purple blouse in your closet."

joohyun rolls her eyes. "so, how are you doing on your first job?"

"just fine." yerim raises the ipad to her face again. "all my sunbaes seem nice."

"that's good. are you adjusting well?"

"yes. they aren't asking me to do much yet anyway. but i'm already learning a lot from the demos they showed me."

joohyun hums as the folds her clothes. "do you plan on renting an apartment for yourself?"

"nah. i prefer to stay at home. work's near our house. at least i get free food daily."

joohyun smiles. "frugal as ever, huh?"

instead of answering, yerim giggles as she swipes a finger on the ipad.

"what are you watching?" joohyun asks, curious.

"i'm not watching. i'm reading a manhwa, and it's so good." yerim shows the tablet to her unnie. "the funny thing is, one of the main characters reminds me of you."

joohyun didn't bother to look at the device. "is that a compliment?"

"of course! take a look! she's pretty, and her name's irene."

joohyun discards the clothes on her lap, almost jumping onto the next couch to look at the ipad screen.

"unnie, careful!"

joohyun couldn't believe what she's seeing. she scans the page, realizing the irene character is wearing something similar to what she's wearing when she met...

"who drew this?" she looks at her sister. "what's her name? does it say there?"

"unnie, why don't you chill first, okay?" yerim pushes her sister to sit on the couch. "it's a team, not a person. they call themselves: team gomhyoni. i've been following them for quite a while now. they only upload yuri contents, but all their stories are great."

"yuri?" joohyun looks at her sister, confused.

yerim rolls her eyes. "it's a genre involving girl to girl relationships."

"oh. i didn't know you're into girls too."

yerim sighs. "look, unnie. stop acting like a granny. we're only eight years apart, okay? in case you're still unaware, our generation is more open-minded than our grandparents. people are no longer focused on the opposite gender only. like me. i'm generally attracted to men, but i find some women attractive too."

joohyun nods.

"and remember aunty mimi who's in the states now?" yerim continues. "she's had countless boyfriends before, but now she's married to a woman."

"i get your point. you're not the one to lecture me about liking girls." joohyun points at the ipad. "so, this comics you're reading--"

"it's called manhwa, unnie."

"--manhwa you're reading," joohyun corrects herself and clears . "what's the title of that?"

"and why are you suddenly interested?"

"well, because you said i look like the character irene. i want to read it."

yerim gives her sister a skeptic look. "and since when are you interested in reading stuff like this?"

"i date girls so i've got every right to be interested in that."

yerim laughs. "is that the effect of being single for almost two years now?"

"for your information, i am single by choice. it's not like no one's asking me out. duh."

"then why are you ignoring them?"

"i don't know." joohyun looks down, her fingers playing on the throw pillow. "maybe i'm tired of playing around. i'm just waiting for the right one to come."

"the right one? you mean like a soulmate?"

"yeah." joohyun looks at her sister. "do you still believe in that?"

yerim nods eagerly. "two of my coworkers are soulmates. they even showed us how that red thread of fate works when they are close to each other. i didn't believe in that tugging thing before until i saw it. it's so cool."

joohyun smiles, remembering an event from before.

"are you saying you're waiting for your soulmate to come, unnie?"

joohyun shifts her position to face her sister. "yeah. i guess. i don't think there's still a point dating other people if you know they aren't your soulmate, right? it will be a waste of time and effort. it's not going to work out because it's not her."

"her?" yerim looks surprised. "you think your soulmate's a woman?"

"yeah. i have a strong feeling it's a woman." joohyun looks at her left hand and rubs a thumb over her ring finger. "it's been so long. i wonder when will i be able to feel a tug here."

they sat there in silence for seconds until yerim speaks. "you know what, unnie, i think you're going to like this manhwa. the title itself says a lot about the story."

"what's the title?"

yerim smirks. "red rope."