"And to what do I owe this visit?” Chorong leans against the door blocking the entrance.

“I see you still pretend I’m not the best thing that has happened to you all...ever.” Eunji smirks and shifts her footing, both hands filled with several heavy plastic bags making her sway slightly. “You can say you missed me, you know?”

“I missed you. A lot.” Chorong makes way and hugs the other woman from behind as soon as she gets in.

“I know. I missed you too.” Eunji rubs her cheek against Chorong’s head the best she can while trying not to fall. “Now let’s go to the couch because I brought food, gifts and tales of my ery.”

“Hmmm the perfect combination.” Chorong heads to the kitchen to grab glasses and plates, turning around just in time to make eye contact with Eunji drinking her soda straight from the bottle. She wipes on her sweater and gives a goofy grin.

“Why do you have your shoes on?” The older woman squints as she reaches the couch.

“Oh. Bad habit I picked up.” Eunji removes her sneakers and runs to the entrance, plopping them down while turning back around. “So where should I start?” She sits on the floor and starts opening the takeaway containers, eyes shimmering when she finds the chicken.

“How about the first city?” Chorong serves herself a cup of coke and scrunches her nose when the fizz tickles her.

“Ah, Amsterdam, a perfect choice. Old, packed and sweaty. It was incredibleeee!” Eunji throws her head back with the last sentence, extending the final word until Chorong throws a balled up napkin on her face.

“Expand, please, ‘old, packed and sweaty’ sounds more like a sauna in a Caribbean elderly cruise, hardly appealing.” The older woman grabs herself some noodles and slurps away, humming in delight.

“Good, right?” Eunji smirks proudly, quickly changing to a confused face as the gears in her head turn. “Can you have saunas in cruises? How does that work?” The woman brings a hand to her chin, rubbing it in deep thought.

“Not the-”

“Not the point, yes.” Eunji finishes the sentence interrupting the other woman. “As I was saying, they are definitely unconventional words, but true nonetheless! The old bit is common to all cities, so I’ll skip that even though it’s jaw dropping beautiful, all the museums were gorgeous and being able to just bike everywhere I wanted to go was so freeing! The packed and sweaty is more related to the nightlife there because I spent a few nights perusing the bars and shops there.” She scratches the back of her head in slight embarrassment.

“Seems like you had fun.” Chorong gives a bright smile, genuinely happy to hear about it. “But don’t forget I’m waiting for the idiotic tales, I know for a fact you must have at least one of each city.”

“In fact, I’ll have you know that it averages to something around that! So in the Netherlands as I was waiting for the train to the Hague so I could visit the miniature park.” Eunji gesticulates wildly before stopping to grab another piece of chicken.

“Priorities.” Chorong quips.

Eunji nods solemnly and keeps going “I was right by these two women, one with a baby carrier and the other being the baby carrier, heh, get it?” Eunji waggles her eyebrows and does a fist pump after hearing a scoff. “Anyway, I might have accidentally tripped and landed on the stroller they had by their side, which caused the front wheel to pop off and, I swear to you I saw this in slow motion, roll right over to the train tracks. We were all shocked, I was still somewhat stuck to the stroller when I had to waddle over to flag down a worker in order to ask the train to not keep going because there was a wheel under it.” She sees the other woman cackling loudly and holding a hand up while she tries to catch her breath. “Yeah, yeah, let it all out. It gets worse.” 

“It gets WORSE?” The last word comes out in such a high pitch it causes Chorong to snort after saying it.

“Oh yeah. Since I was panicking everything came out sort of jumbled and with a thick accent, so the guy thought I was asking if the trains had wheels or something, because he started going ‘Yes, there are several, no need to worry’ and things like that!” Eunji tries imitating the man’s voice.

“Please wait, my belly is hurting so much.” The older woman is clutching her stomach, working hard to even her breath.

“You asked for it, now you’ll suffer.” Eunji shrugs and keeps going.  “The train was about to leave, so I did what anyone would do.”

“You did not.” 

“I tried climbing down to the train tracks.”

Chorong face palms.

“It worked for like a full second, because before I realized I was being gently tackled to the ground.” Eunji grabs another container of food, seemingly done with her chicken.

“How does one get gently tackled?” Chorong leans over to grab a leg piece, being met with a scowl that does little to prevent her actions.

“Well, I still had the stroller stuck to my , so he basically just tipped me over.” Eunji mimics falling to the side, catching herself just before it actually happens.

“I can’t believe this was the first city.” Chorong shakes her head.

“Thankfully it was the worst and most embarrassing story, so after that I had like no qualms, I tried everything at least once. Some things more than once.” 

“Is that meant to sound dirty?” 

“What? No! I meant like food and festival rides and things like that, Park Chorong, get your mind out of the gutter!”

“You did your whole thing! The smirk and the eyes, it’s not my fault!”

“The eyes- what?” Eunji knits her brows in confusion.

“You know, the partly closed bedroom eyes!” Chorong tries to imitate the look.

“How are those my bedroom eyes? I look like that most of the time! Wait… Chorong, do you think I’m always y? Like I always have my y eyes on?” Eunji starts posing like a model, jutting out her lips and moving her hands as an imaginary camera takes pictures of her.

Chorong rolls her eyes and yanks the chicken container to herself “Next city.” 

“Berlin is kind of a blur, if I’m being completely honest.” Eunji squints and clicks her tongue, eyebrows drawn in confusion.

“Did you drink that much?” The older woman squints.

“No, I actually had a concussion.” Eunji has a forlorn look as she stares at the ground for a second and upon hearing Chorong’s gasp she looks back up with a eating grin. “HA, JUST KIDDING! You had to see your face!”

“You- You weren’t even looking at me!” Chorong throws a pillow at the younger girl, crossing her arms before realizing she hasn’t punished her friend enough. She gets up and picks up the pillow to hit her a few more times, finally huffing and sitting back down after feeling somewhat satisfied.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t, it was right there!” Eunji is still laughing at her own joke. She flinches when Chorong moves closer. “Right, sorry. Yeah, I did drink, but not that much. Germany in general was amazing, I walked around this beautiful park right by the border with Austria for hours on end, just relaxing and taking in the view. You would have loved it.” A wistful smile briefly reaches her face before she changes her expression back to simply content.

“It seems really lovely.”

“I spent most of my day there, I visited a castle nearby during the morning and had lunch in this little tucked away restaurant in a nearby village where no one spoke English, it was amazing. I think most of my favorite places were where I felt completely out of my element. Sure, the tourist spots are everything people rave about and I don’t regret spending a good chunk of my time in lines in order to get into them, but these little places where people tried their best to communicate with me through mimic and facial expressions, absolutely over the moon that I was there. Those were the best.”

“I’m really happy you got to do this.”

Eunji nods, seemingly unable to stop herself from smiling “What else? Paris was really romantic, London was quite gray…”

“Are you seriously describing the cities according to their greatest stereotypes?”

“They’re stereotypes for a reason! Look, I’ll probably remember tons of stories during the next few… well, years, I guess. So don’t worry, we’ll have tons of content to go through, no need to pout.”

“I wasn’t pouting.” The older woman says through a pout.

“Ok, you big baby. How do you feel about your gifts?”

“What about them?” Chorong says while trying to keep a smile from taking over her.

“Don’t act like you don’t want them! Here, open this one first.” Eunji shoves a can shaped wrapping between them.

Chorong giddily rips the wrapping paper, a scowl forming on her face when she reads what she’s holding.

“Read it outloud!” Eunji pokes at her friend with her bare feet, who grabs them with one hand and tickles before picking up the gift once more.

Chorong sighs deeply and starts reading in a monotone voice. “Canned air from Barcelona.”

“Open it!” Eunji claps enthusiastically.

The other woman carefully opens the can, waiting for something to pop out as a prank.

“Doesn’t it smell fresh?” 

“Eunji, I swear to ing-”

“Easy there! I got you something else.” Eunji reaches into her pocket and grabs a small, carefully wrapped package, depositing it onto Chorong’s outstretched hand.

Chorong is still squinting suspiciously at her friend, but opens the second gift to find a beautiful necklace. It has a silver chain and its tip holds a small dark green tear shaped rock so delicately crafted that Chorong is scared of breaking it by mishandling. She cradles it gently in her palms, observing how it looks as the light hits on it, and looks up to find Eunji with a dumb smile on her face. “So, you like it?”

“It’s gorgeous. I-I have no words.”

“Want me to put it on you?” 

Chorong hands Eunji the necklace and turns around, holding her hair up to help. Eunji fastens the clasp and rests her chin on Chorong’s shoulder. “I missed you a lot.” She wraps her arms around the other woman’s waist and nuzzles into her.

Eunji pulls away before Chorong gets to respond properly. She grunts and stretches in order to reach for a bag of chips, a soft ‘a-ha!’ escaping her lips as she’s finally able to grab the corner. She rips it open with a proud look on her face.

"Also, this trip had me do a whole 360 on my point of view." Eunji says while adding a cone shaped chip to each finger on one hand before eating.

"Don't you mean 180?" Chorong quirks an eyebrow reaching for the bag herself.

"No, no, it was a 360. Cause I originally left for the whole 'backpacking adventure' experience in order to find myself and all the cliche stuff that comes with your early twenties." Eunji says rolling her eyes and in an almost mocking tone. "I was lost and felt like I didn't know much about the world, like I was watching everyone move on with their lives while I still polished shoes at the bowling alley, which is totally fine by the way!"

"Absolutely fine." Chorong nods pursing her lips.

Eunji is still nodding back when she continues talking "But it's not what I really want to do. During the trip I met the wildest and quirkiest people, everyone had different backgrounds and stories. They had chosen to travel for different reasons, yet we all felt some sort of connection at times over how we were all over the place. I saw places I had only seen in movies or in my imagination as I read books, it was everything I expected and more. I imagined myself selling flowers, opening a bookstore, getting a degree in history or philosophy. I would see someone going into work and think how that could be me, I felt so at home in so many cities and countries. But then I was on the plane back and I realized those ideas are just like movie stills, they only existed in those moments in time and I don’t really want to do any of those things, I’m still as lost as I was before leaving. Maybe more because now I know there are tons of other possibilities I won’t get to try out. So maybe 361, you know, for coming out a bit more confused from the whole ordeal. I learned a lot”

“Nothing beats the train story, though.” The older woman shrugs, crooked as she takes a big breath.

“Is my journey in self-discovery and deep analysis of life’s meaning not important to you?” Eunji holds a hand over her heart feigning hurt.

“Of course it is! But you just said you’re back at where you started, so I might as well get some enjoyment from it.”

They both go back to eating, passing the bag around until it’s done. Eunji her fingers clean while Chorong considers getting up to wash hers, eventually giving up and doing the same to her own cheese-dust covered hands.

"Ah!" Eunji claps suddenly, making Chorong jolt in surprise, a hand rushing to her chest as she takes a sip of her drink to calm down. "During the trip I also realized I'm in love with you!"

Chorong's eyes go wide and she chokes mid-gulp, coke spraying everywhere in front of her. "What?" She winces when she realizes some of it came out through her nose.

"I know, anticlimactic, right?" Eunji lightly hits her on her back to help stop the coughing. "But yeah, absolutely head over heels in love. Like if I was a cartoon character you'd be able to see my heart beating through my shirt and..." Eunji starts laughing suddenly, full on clapping her hands and shutting her eyes "Oh god, you know when they see someone really hot and their tongues roll out?” She stops to wipe a tear. “Yeah, that’s me looking at you.”

Chorong blinks slowly, mouth slightly agape, not knowing how to properly answer. She eventually shakes herself out of her daze and finds Eunji staring at her.

“You...you got some coke on your nose.” The younger woman points out and Chorong rushes to cover her face. “Huh, that can be taken out of context.”

Chorong gets up and heads to the bathroom in order to clean her face, returning to the living room after getting a rag to throw on top of the spill, no desire to actually make an effort at the moment.

“Eunji. What do you mean?”

“I’m in love with you.” Eunji repeats easily.

“Can you- How- When did you get to this conclusion?” Chorong stammers after hearing it again outloud.

“Well, it was simple, really. I went to all these places, had all these experiences and met a bunch of people, but I realized I really wanted to share everything with you. And at first I chalked it up to missing my best friend and being used to doing everything together, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought about you and I, the more I realized I wanted to have all the silly cliche moments together. I wanted to hold your hand while walking around in Paris, to read all the fun facts in museums in a weird voice right into your ear, to make you laugh as I posed next to the famous paintings, to point out that weird man who kept biking everywhere in a speedo covered in tanning oil-”

“What?” Chorong interrupts.

“I know. I wanted to cuddle you to sleep in every ty hostel I stayed at, and the not so ty ones as well. God, I really should have invested in better lodging. I really wanted to kiss you when I went to a lesbian bar in Prague and saw all those couples together in booths, whispering and laughing to each other in their own little world.”

Chorong feels herself blushing.

Eunji smiles at the reaction and goes on “The more people I saw, the more I imagined it could be us doing all of those things. That nothing made more sense to me than being with you because you’re incredible and attentive and so warm and so much. I want the inside jokes, the saved ticket stubs for all the movies and concerts we go, the days and nights together. But not only as friends.”

“How were you able to make both the most and least romantic confession of all times?” 

“I’m just really talented.” Eunji smirks.

“I can’t believe I’m in love with an idiot.” Chorong shakes her head trying to keep her face from breaking out in a smile.

“A really talented idiot.” 

“You’re really sure of yourself.” The older woman ponders for a second.

“I have reason to be.”

“And why’s that?”

“Well, you’ve been inching closer to me this whole time. And I believe you just said you loved me?” Eunji taps on her chin as she pretends to analyze the evidence.

“Eunji.”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.” Chorong pulls Eunji close to her and looks into her eyes for confirmation before leaning in for a kiss. They start slowly, with tentative hands reaching for each other as they move.

Eunji places her hand on the small of Chorong’s back and squeezes, turning her head in order to deepen the kiss. The response is instant, with Chorong bringing her hands to hold the younger girl’s jaw, thumb gently caressing her cheek.

Eunji pulls away in order to catch her breath, but Chorong follows right after, connecting their lips once more as if to make sure this is actually going on. They both chuckle briefly at the eagerness and return to their kiss.

Chorong gets a bit braver and moves her hands to Eunji’s waist, playing with the hem of her shirt, which causes the younger girl to pull away just enough to stop them from kissing.

“Woah there, cowboy.” Eunji chuckles, warmth radiating from her cheeks.

“I can’t believe you just said that.” Chorong presses their foreheads together and lets out a chuckle.

“Well, yee-hawve to- I don’t know what I’m doing.” 

“Didn’t notice.” The older woman laughs again and moves away so they won’t hit their heads. She keeps her hands around Eunji’s neck to play with her hair. “Canned air, really?”

Eunji dips her head and smiles wickedly “Oh, you should totally check the shirt I got you.”

“Should I be scared?” Chorong tightly purses her lips and knits her brows as she receives a new present. She opens and holds it up to read what it says, staring straight at Eunji afterwards. “I heart NY… How did you even get this in Europe?”