It’s a quiet drive towards Heejin and Hyunjin’s personal workplace. Haseul’s driving the car with Vivi sitting on the passenger seat, looking ahead the road with a distant look on her face. It’s the day they will see Yeojin again.  A smile crosses through Vivi’s face before it disappears again when she sees a kid wearing a frog onesie walking on the sidewalk with her mother, a happy look shining on the kid’s face as she looks up at her parent who’s also smiling at her.

She can’t help but sigh, turning away to look somewhere else. Haseul, although driving, picks up on this.

Haseul has been gauging her wife’s mood, her expressions, everything Vivi does, she tries to calculate. It’s been 5 months since they left Yeojin in Seoul with Heejin and Hyunjin, and she knows her wife had missed the little kid so badly. She reaches for Vivi’s hand and squeezes it, giving the older woman a loving smile when Vivi turns to look at her.

Vivi smiles back, albeit she’s still a little down.

She wonders what Yeojin’s reaction would be when they all finally meet.

Will she be mad?

Will she be upset?

Will she cry?

It’s understandable, she did leave her alone.

“Don’t worry honey, we’ll be fine.” Haseul – who seems to read Vivi’s spiraling mind – tries to reassure her wife sitting on the passenger seat even though she has her own heart beating against her chest as if it wants to go away, far away from wherever they were going to.

Between the two, even though Vivi feels bad, Haseul knows that her own guilt, something she’s been familiar with, has been ripping her alive. Ever since she left, and returned, and left again, the guilt that was as small as a ladybug had grown into a monster that even after she wakes up from a nightmare, she still sees. Past through Vivi’s consoling words and the gentle pats her wife gives her whenever they go to sleep every night, Haseul always, always, keeps her eyes on the spot behind the door.

It’s there, and it’s never going away.

And even though it claws at her ferociously at times, she still keeps her back it because she needs to stay strong for Vivi.

Vivi’s weak, and she needs to stay strong.

It’s the only way they can both live.

When Haseul spots the familiar building – a three story that’s owned by their two friends – towering over the decent sizes houses in the neighborhood, she subconsciously takes a deep breath as she squeezes Vivi’s hands again that she finds now intertwined with her own.

Haseul parks the car on the wide driveway of Heejin and Hyunjin’s place, turning off the car and giving one last encouraging smile before taking her seatbelt off and going out of the vehicle. Vivi follows soon after, traces of hesitation still lingering on her face. Haseul grabs her hand and pulls the older closer to her, squeezing her hand again.

It has been their way of saying that they’re both here for one another.

Haseul and Vivi stop before the door and the older of the two raises her hand to knock, a moment of hesitation going through her as flashes of imagined reactions play in her mind.

“Where have you been?!”

“You left me all alone!”

“I hate you!”

“I don’t want to talk to you!”

 “You’re the worst mothers! I wis---” Haseul pulls her out of her head with a squeeze on her hand and a concerned look on her face. Vivi turns to her and smiles, shaking her head. “I’m fine.”

Vivi releases the breath she’s been holding and knocks on the door.

A thud soon echoes from inside, and then loud running footsteps towards the door.

Heejin opens the barrier with a smile, greeting her two friends. “Hi unnies!” She leans in and gives the two women hugs. “It’s been awhile huh? Come in. Yeojin’s waiting for you.”

The two walk in to see Hyunjin on the floor with her head smacked on the ground, their cat, Diamond, lying on Hyunjin’s back calmly.

“Hyunjin wanted to open the door but when she stood up, Diamond was on the way so she tripped herself so she wouldn’t hurt the cat.” Heejin details, feeling like she needs to give the two the full-on note.

Hyunjin only gives the three a thumbs up to confirm her girlfriend’s story.

Vivi and Haseul chuckle despite the heavy feeling starting to grow in their hearts.

“Do you want to go and see Yeojin or do you want to have some time to settle down first?” Heejin smiles understandingly at her unnies. “It’s not like she’ll go somewhere or something. She’ll always wait for you two.”

Somehow, Heejin’s words seems to prick Vivi’s heart and her slight tremble doesn’t go unnoticed by her wife and so she asks Heejin. “C-Can we…C-Can we sit and have some water?”

“Sure.” Heejin hits Hyunjin with her foot. “I’ll grab unnies some water, you talk to them.”

“So…how’s Yeojin?” Haseul asks Hyunjin who turns from lying on her stomach. The human cat stares at the ceiling for a bit, trying to remember what she’s been doing to Yeojin these past few days.

In the end, she settles not saying anything about their interactions.

“She’s been okay. She’s been settling herself in after you guys left, so if I would compare her first few days here to now, I would say she’s fine. She’s been missing you though, been whining these past few days.”

Vivi chuckles, rubbing her knuckles. “That sure sounds like Yeojin.”

Hyunjin nods as she goes with the chuckling, looking down on her hands as she stays still on the floor. “Unnies.” Hyunjin releases a quiet sigh before looking up at the two. “How are you guys?”

“We’re…” Haseul drags the word, not knowing how long they’ve been saying these two words to everyone. “fine.”

She remembers how Sooyoung went off at them for acting for a l