Is it since then that Minjoo can never get Chaewon out of her head? The actress thinks as she gazes at the trees fanned out below her apartment building, flowers blooming on them. 

Not too far away, also in a high rise apartment, Chaewon squats down. 

How long has it been? Since Chaewon received this signature from her bias at an ice cream franchise’s event that Angel was the endorsement model of. Chaewon carefully puts the A4 sized poster with Minjoo’s signature back into the bottom of her ceiling to floor bookshelf, setting it right so the signature faces the front. 

These extra thoughts have been permeating both their consciousness as they lead their daily lives though barely disconnected. Minjoo smiles when Chaewon replies to her text, not ending the conversation just because sleep came calling. A picture of Chaewon’s cup of coffee with the message, “Good morning. Sorry I fell asleep before I could reply. But yes, my job requires me to use a drill to get into patients’ brains.” Minjoo chuckles at how Chaewon always entertains her curiosity; she wouldn’t tell her though that the reason why she has been watching more Youtube videos of neurosurgeons and their surgical processes is because she has been reading up on Chaewon’s disease. 

Of course Minjoo is aware what this interest and the extra thoughts mean, she has been in love before; Yujin, her first and also, her ex boyfriend whom she thought would be her last. Until she met Chaewon, she never expected that being 39, she would be able to feel the fluttery feelings that come with liking someone again. Yet here she is now, spending her Saturday in her comforts of her home, thinking about someone a few blocks away. 

Minjoo

What’s your plans for today? 

Amuse me because I am going to be the lazy stay home hide under my blanket human today. 

In the other apartment, Chaewon reads the message with a little chuckle. Should she tell her? Chaewon thinks as she washes her cup, going to get ready for today. Well, there’s probably no harm. 

Chaewon

Going out with my sister and niece for a birthday celebration.

The reply comes as fast as it takes for Chaewon to move from her kitchen to the bedroom. 

Minjoo

Oh, whose?

Chaewon

Mine.

Chaewon doesn’t even get to put her phone down when the incoming video call request comes through. She shakes her head in defeat, her tongue coming out to brush her lips and she accepts the request.

“Are you lying again Kim Chaewon?!!” Minjoo’s no makeup face greets her, her pure mature beauty shining through the screen as the morning sun hits her white skin.

“You know I am technically older than you right?” Chaewon her brows at Minjoo’s blatant disregard. She barely hears Minjoo calling her ‘unnie’ until she wants something. 

“If it’s really your birthday today, then technically we are the same age until today! Is it really your birthday?” 

Chaewon nods and Minjoo gasps. “Why didn’t you tell me! Happy birthday! Oh my god, you should’ve told me!” 

The doctor chuckles at Minjoo’s frantic self and she walks into her walk-in wardrobe. If she doesn’t multitask, she will be late for her date with Eunbi and Nako. “Birthdays or not, they are pretty much the same to me so that’s why. But, thank you for wishing me.” Chaewon nods and she looks away from her screen to pick out what she is going to wear. 

“Still…” Minjoo whines as she leans her head back on her sofa. “You have to let me make it up to you. A meal!”

“Alright, alright.” Chaewon casts her eyes back to see Minjoo’s hair fanning out messily but still manages to appear beautiful as ever. This is a good sight for a birthday. “I will like to talk more but I need to get ready or I have to bear the whine of my baby niece.”

“Okay, go go. Happy birthday Chaewon… unnie!” Chaewon shakes her head in defeat and they end their video call. Today calls for a floral dress and Chaewon picks a simple sleeveless one. She doesn’t do much after, putting on the minimal makeup she is used to and the woman is ready.

“Auntie Chae!!!” Nako pounces on her the moment she opens her front door. “Happy birthday! We prepared these for you!” The little girl hands Chaewon a bag full of stuff. Chaewon peers into it to find various nicknacks. She pulls out a new scrub cap and Eunbi says, “You have been wearing the ice cream and sweets one for too long. I made you a new one. I found a mint choco ice cream printed fabric.” Eunbi laughs and Chaewon never stops being amazed at her sister’s handicraft skills. She puts it back in and rustles through the others. 

“Nako picked out a new handphone case. She insisted the ice cream and sweets to stay somewhere so I guess…” Chaewon grins cheekily at Nako who is obviously very excited to see Chaewon immediately switching out her old phone case for this new one. “Lastly, a Lavender scented candle. Hopefully it can help you sleep better when your head hurts at night.” 

“Thanks unnie.” Chaewon means it from the bottom of her heart and she turns to her niece. “And you too Nako. These are all perfect!” She speaks in a higher tone, going into her house again to put the items down. “Shall we go?”

“Yes!” The kid’s high pitched voice resonates through the lift lobby and the adults can only hope her adrenaline will die down after a while. As they enter the lift, Chaewon feels a buzz from her pocket. She takes her phone out and opens the message. 

A finger heart with the blooming trees in the backdrop is obviously taken by Minjoo by her window. “Enjoy your day~”

Chaewon feels a slight squeeze of her heart seeing the finger equivalent in the photo. 

“What is making you smile?” Eunbi peers shamelessly into her sister’s phone but Chaewon evades in time.

“Nothing for you to know.” She dismisses nonchalantly, pushing the stupid smile back and puts on a cool expression, completely unlike her messy inner self. 

Eunbi’s infamous greasy smile comes on, “if you say so.” She says in a singsong tone and holds Nako’s hand when they reach the car park. “Nako, we better spend all the time we have with Aunty Chae because there may be someone else who wants it too!” 

Nako is confused with her mother’s words, looking at Chaewon for answers and the surgeon can only close her eyes in defeat at her sister’s teases. 

--

The meal is not surprisingly hard to set up when two adults with career commitments try to make it happen. It has been a week since Chaewon’s birthday and they managed with brief texts and fallen through arrangements; today is actually the first day since then that Minjoo can sleep in. On top of being packed with variety show appearances, because being back in the public’s present awareness can help hype up her drama’s broadcast, Minjoo found time to support Yena’s solo comeback. Her members agreed to take a day each to go down and support Yena’s music show recordings. 

Chaewon on the other hand, is still catching up with her consultations from the two weeks off, on top of the surgeries that have been scheduled for a while now. That is how sought after she is as one of Korea’s top neurosurgeons with patients coming from outside Korea to receive her surgery. Knowing eventually this will all come to an end, Chaewon takes each surgery preciously, feeling the adrenaline everytime she picks up the scalpel. Nothing gives her as much thrill as the first cut. 

Today though is special. Minjoo really hopes they can meet because it is the day of Minjoo’s drama first broadcast and she wishes for Chaewon to watch it with her. Minjoo contemplates between a text or a phone call, the latter tempting her because she will get to hear Chaewon’s voice after a week of none. Bravely, she presses the call button and the dial tone goes through and she prays Chaewon isn’t busy. 

“Hello.” The familiar voice greets her.

“Are you busy?”

“Nah ah. Taking a short kimbap break. What’s up?” 

“Just... you know… the belated birthday dinner we have been trying to arrange…”

“Ah…” She hears Chaewon’s sharp chuckle through the phone. “I can do tomorrow.”

“How about tonight? Tonight is the first broadcast of my drama!” Minjoo excitedly reminds Chaewon. “We can have dinner before.”

“I can’t.” Chaewon tells her and luckily it is a voice call otherwise Minjoo doesn’t think she can hide her frown. “I have something on tonight.”

“If it’s not work, can it be postponed? You promised me you will watch it.” Minjoo rarely whines but she cannot hide her defiance today. The drama means a lot to Minjoo and Chaewon knows. She wants Chaewon to see it. 

“I will watch it, Minjoo ah. Not live but I will watch it after it airs.” Chaewon can hear Minjoo being upset and she feels guilty but it wasn’t something she can cancel at the last minute. She wanted to go through with it and-

“But the live ratings matter… unnie… it really can’t be postponed? Whatever you have tonight?” Minjoo is persistent. 

Chaewon sighs, sensing that Minjoo wouldn’t give up until she tells her why. “It’s a date and it will be rude for me to cancel at the last minute.” She reveals in a low tone, hoping Minjoo misses it. Yet after, she gets no response. 

“Minjoo?” Chaewon checks worriedly.

“Oh,” is all Chaewon hears from Minjoo and she knows Minjoo got what she said for real. She doesn’t want to overthink Minjoo’s disappointment because whatever it is, Chaewon feels guilty for how the schedule ended up to be. She hopes her explanation can help alleviate things.

“My colleague set me up with another person because he felt sorry for introducing me to the last one who clearly wasn’t ready for a proper relationship. He can access my schedule so he set it up before I can even say no. I am sorry Minjoo ah, I promise I will watch your drama tonight after the dinner so we can talk about it tomorrow. Work shouldn’t end late then because I cleared most of it already, so shall we-”

“I may have drama things tomorrow.” Minjoo responds monotonically. 

“How about the day after?” Chaewon tries again.

“We’ll see.” 

Chaewon gulps nervously after hearing Minjoo’s tone. She messed up and before she can say more, Minjoo wants to end the call. “Good luck on your date tonight. I’ll see you when I see you. Bye.”

“Bye.” Chaewon says and Minjoo instantly ends it. Chaewon sighs and she leans back against her office chair. Right now, she is tempted to be a rude and cancel on the date her colleague arranged. She considers the repercussions and she jumps when her phone buzzes in her palm. But the excitement deflates when the text actually comes from her upcoming date who is confirming the time and place. Dammit, I can’t do it to this nice person.

After replying, her fingers naturally move to Minjoo’s chat and she mindlessly scrolls through their past conversations. I also shouldn’t do it to this nice person. She is an idol, an actress, a person who lives under the scrutiny of the public for nearly 20 years. The things she has to deal with on a daily basis already mounting, why should I dream of a possibility that can only bring pain to her career and fleeting in time just for a dying person?

--

Minjoo stares at a bottle as she reluctantly changes out of her comfy sweatpants. She doesn’t want to but when harassed constantly by phone calls from Yuri and Chaeyeon, she knows it is a losing battle. If she doesn’t go down to the restaurant nearby her place where they are at, the two friends will definitely come up and crash her place and they will not leave till morning comes. She tucks the front of her white t-shirt inside her denim shorts, all while glaring down at the innocent bottle. 

A perfume bottle that is Chaewon’s birthday gift. 

She had bought it immediately after knowing it’s the doctor’s birthday but one week of failed arrangements didn’t put her down as much as knowing that Chaewon went for a date. More grumpiness came when Chaewon said she will check in again with Minjoo on rescheduling but Minjoo has not heard from Chaewon since the phone call. At all! She does not want to appease her growing upset because her pride and ego will not let her initiate contact first despite it being five days already.

Above everything else, she is most frustrated at herself for letting her be this affected by one person.

Her friends probably sensed her unhappiness which is why they are persistently trying to get her out. She settles with a baseball cap since it is nearby, walking through Cheondamdong’s night.

“There she is!” Yuri and Chaeyeon jump excitedly when Minjoo comes through the door. This is a restaurant frequented by them and its location also meant that there aren't many people who will come, other than the regulars. 

Minjoo takes off her cap and rakes through her hair. Chaeyeon pours her a drink, “Finally came out of your hole.”

“If I didn’t, you guys would come up, am I right?” 

“You got that right~” Yuri chimes in a singsong tone. “We have to celebrate, your drama’s first episode did well! Also the reviews about you were all favourable.” Yuri lifts her soju glass up, prompting the others to follow. The three bring their glasses together and take the shot. Minjoo instinctively frowns after drinking that; soju is still hard for her.

“Thanks guys.” Minjoo says with a somewhat forced smile. She is grateful to have friends like that but she can’t control her moodiness. Chaeyeon and Yuri make eye contact, both hinting of what’s to come. 

“Now for the real reason why both of us are here. Kim Minjoo, what happened?”

The unavoidable gazes from her two friends are firmly locked on Minjoo and after so many years of friendship, she is aware of how futile it is to try and avoid. Inevitably before she starts, a sigh is let out. She pours herself another shot, drinking it down to brace herself for the long vent. 

“At 39, after two relationships and one that is so serious I looked towards marriage only for that to fail, I pretty much dismissed any possibility of another real relationship.” Minjoo leans back and meets the listening faces of her