A/N: Written messages in italic. Single lines indicate short time skips, double lines indicate big ones (days or weeks).

Minjoo was an odd one – that’s what her grandmother would say affectionately every time the girl gifted her with a new origami in the format of a different animal when she visited; no, it wasn’t odd for a kid to make something for their beloved granny, however, it was a bit odd how out of all her grandkids Minjoo was the only one that kept this tradition even after she grew up.

When asked about why she insisted on making so many of those little art pieces, Min usually just shrugged her shoulders with a smile, saying it was her way of making the world a little brighter – or for it to a little less, depending on who was asking; Minjoo was a polite person after all.

The same grandmother that was now intrigued by her behavior, had taught the girl how to make her first few origamis, teaching her diligently how to fold every corner and create something new every time – the older woman had thought Minjoo would try and make a thousand cranes like most kids do, in the hopes of getting a gift from the universe for her actions. Minjoo was never really interested in the idea though.

Origamis were almost like magic, their delicate beauty created by the sheer will of someone really passionate about it. However, life was far from magical and the young Kim never saw the point of doing something she knew would only provide her with disappointment.

Minjoo would rather rely on her own magic, even if it was limited to cramped colorful paper.

Therefore, she would spread this little magic everywhere in her own way – from the tables of the small bakery her parents owned and she helped them with, to leaving one or two at her moody neighbors’ mailbox once in a while, to placing a yellow crane on top of the empty desk by the window at school, or even to leave one by the lamppost at the bus station just in case someone needed a reason to smile.

Most of the time, of course, she would never really see the effect her little paper creations had on people – the one by the school desk would just be thrown away by the end of the school day as the desk remained empty; her neighbors probably did the same to theirs; the ones at the bakery would have to be clean up soon as well, a task she took to herself, albeit sometimes a client or other would take it home with them.

The ones left at the bus stop usually lasted the longest, forgotten by the numerous passerby who were too busy to bother giving it proper attention, leaving it to the mercy of the weather that eventually destroyed the paper with its rain – the girl didn’t mind it, if anything, it made her put some extra effort on creating something that could capture people’s attention and hopefully last a long time. Instead of the classic cranes, she would make dinosaurs and dragons, instead of yellow and green, she would pick black, white and red and make them bigger and prettier as she diligently placed them by a fine cord at the short lamp-post that was more useful for decoration than to illuminate anything.

It was silly, but when had she ever cared about anyone else’s opinion? She would just do her own thing for as long as it was able to keep her happy – or at least, happier than she would be otherwise.

“Hey! I hope your day doesn’t too bad today, but if it does, remember that at least you are not a dinosaur!” She wrote with a green pen inside today’s origami – a pterodactyl made in white paper, it was the size of her hand and would fly gracefully as the wind hit it once she placed It on the lamp-post, replacing the previous black dinosaur.

She always wrote a little something, at first things like ‘have a good day’ or even ‘fighting!’, but as time went by and no one seemed to pick up her little gifts, she became more creative with the lines. No one would read it, probably, but if someone ever did, at least they would have something to think about – no matter how silly it was.

That’s why she had a smile on her face that morning as she passed by the bus stop, her yellow uniform bright under the sunlight as she carefully tied the cord to the lamp-post, careful to not ruin the origami and making sure it wouldn’t be easily blown away by the wind. It was still early in the morning and she had to go to school, but she would check on it again once she was back – and hopefully someone would have finally taken it.

Later that day, Minjoo was disappointed to see it was still there by the afternoon – but fate had other plans for the little bird-dinosaur.

Someone did, however, find the origami – two day later, just as the sun went down the horizon.

Chaewon was checking her watch, making sure she made it on time to the bus stop to catch the bus that would take her to her workplace – a coffee shop ten minutes away from there, where she was a part-timer for almost a year now. Moving to a new neighborhood meant she had to learn to move around again and readjust her schedule. The girl didn’t mind it that much, after all, her new house was close enough from college to allow her to walk there, or simply catch a ride with one of her new roommates.

All in all, she was happy with this new neighborhood even if she didn’t have much time to explore it yet. The calm streets, classic styled houses and green trees here and there, a small market and an ice cream shop a few streets away, a bakery in the backstreet – everything was close and nice, like a good family neighborhood should be. Compared to the erratic downtown of grey streets where she used to live with her overly quiet parents, it was definitely much nicer.

Taking a seat on the plastic bench, she looked around to see if there was any glimpse of a bus – but there wasn’t even anyone around. It was okay, it was a nice neighborhood, but clearly too calm to have people piling up at the bus stop in the evening.

She did find something interesting, though.

Swinging back and forth gently at the will of the evening breeze, there was a white origami so detailed that caught Chaewon’s eyes immediately. She thought it was a common bird at first, but taking a step closer to it, she noticed the details that showed it was made to represent a less common creature. Carefully, she reached out to touch the origami, light fingers studying it until her eyes caught a glimpse of something on the side of it – a single sentence written in mint-green.

Her chestnut eyes curved into a smile as she shook her head, amused at the quirk humor of whoever had folded that paper. She wondered what was the meaning behind that piece of paper folded so skillfully, if it was some sort of inside joke or just left in the hopes of someone ever seeing it – by the way it was covered by a thin layer of dust and a little damaged by the weather, she would bet it was the second option.

Checking her watch once some to make sure she had enough time, she looked for a pen inside of her backpack, carefully holding the origami so she could write a proper – albeit not very pretty, in tiny font – reply.

“Shockingly, it isn’t going too bad. But I would still rather to be a dinosaur lol
Have a nice day, stranger.”

Placing the origami back at the spot she found it, she went back to her seat, smiling to herself as she gazed upon the sky and wondered if she would find a reply tomorrow.

Maybe.

The bus didn’t take long to appear and Chaewon was quick to take it, thinking that maybe life didn’t so much lately.

“Hurry up, Minguri! Is this a love letter or what?” Nako, her tiny yet fierce friend, had called as she waited by Minjoo’s side while the taller girl checked the origami she had left at the lamp-post – the older girl was way too engrossed on the task in hand to properly reply.

After three days, and for the first time in so many months of leaving those little gifts there, she finally had gotten a reply – and surprisingly it wasn’t some edgy kid insulting her, but a proper one. Written in black, with tiny letters and a neat handwriting, there was the reply she waited – and it was about dinosaurs out of all things. Minjoo held origami on the palm of her hand and laughed at the irony of it, the closest thing of magic she could believe in.

Her chocolate-brown eyes looked around, searching the faces of the bored passerby for anyone that could be responsible for that – of course, she didn’t find anything but confused expressions. But that was okay, she didn’t expect to get that much to begin with.

With her tongue poking at the corner of her lips, she tried to balance her half-open backpack on her shoulder while her hands worked on the piece of green paper she had gotten from there, creating a little elephant – It wasn’t her best work and she would probably replace it for something else later, but it would do for now.

“OMG, you replied! Tbh I can’t blame you, most days I just want to be a frog. What kind of dinosaur would you like to be? Stay safe!” She added the tiniest of the frogs at the ending, making it her signature.

It was a little silly and she could hear Hitomi snickering at her ridiculous lines – Nako was being a supportive girlfriend and laughing with her, the Japanese duo merciless to their Korean friend’s struggles of trying to bond with a stranger over origami messages out of all things; thankfully, Minjoo was too used to their teasing to mind it.

“Are you done now? You said we would get some bread at your parents place.” Hii-chan reminded her – her friend’s memory was always flawless when it comes down to bread and Minjoo’s family happened to own the bakery she was the biggest client of.

Minjoo nodded, giving the origami her finishing touches before placing it on the cord alongside the first one. Chances are the person who wrote back might not even see it again, it could’ve been someone who just happened to be there once in a lifetime, or even someone who was bored and that’s the only reason they even replied – regardless, she held onto the hope that this person might appear again and be nice enough to reply.

She wasn’t even sure about why she wanted to keep that meaningless conversation going, but part of her – maybe the childish side of her – was excited about the prospect of finding a pen-pal through her artworks, to talk to someone she may never have paid attention to before, maybe even making a friend.

Nodding, she gave them a smile.

“I’m done. You two wish me luck!” With an unusual excitement in the early morning, she hugged the shorter duo by the shoulders, starting to drag them in the direction of the Kim's bakery.

“Luck with what? Are you really flirting with someone through origami?!” Nako asked, confusion and mockery mixed in her tone as she struggled to get out of the taller girl’s grip.

Shaking her head, she rolled her eyes at her friend’s teasing and continued to walk dragging the duo – Hitomi didn’t bother trying to get out, she was fine as long as they were heading to the bakery. “I’m just trying to get new friends so I can leave you two!”

For the next few weeks, a weird, yet endearing relationship began to bloom – through tiny messages written in origami, and against all odds, it was surprisingly nice.

And all started with the nice, yet simple reply she received the next morning:

“I would say a T-Rex to be intimidating, but I wouldn’t be able to scratch my back. Would you mind if I am a frog too? P.S: Thanks for the origami, life does a little less when I see them.”

Oddly, the signature was something that resembled a cat instead of a frog – probably to make it easy to recognize.

Minjoo had smiled quite a lot after that, and suddenly her urge to fold colored paper and create new things was even greater as she started to exchange bits of conversation with her new anonymous friend – for her friend’s horror, as they had to see her carrying a new origami to the bus stop everyday as if it was a big task.

It wasn’t anything big, just a few words every day with silly things that went from the animals they wanted to be like, to their favorite seasons and colors, even something a little more personal like their dream jobs – it was superficial still, but she could feel it somehow was bringing them closer.

Them – her, and whoever was on the other side of the piece of paper, the person with neat handwritten and quirk sense of humor. It would be a lie to say she wasn’t curious about who that person was, how old they were and where they lived. However, she was trying her best to not overstep the limits and never dared to ask them even for a name.

Still, it was impossible to not try and guess who it could be. She knew it was someone who passed by the bus stop almost every day, even on the weekends, albeit at a much different time than her. It made her think that it may not a be a fellow student, after all kids went to school at the same time as her and she would eventually spot someone with an uniform – but the people at the bus stop everyday were the same group of older people she knew ever since forever, the people who wouldn’t even blink an eye at her antics.

It should be someone new, maybe even a new neighbor she still hadn’t noticed. Maybe someone who studied or even worked at night, perhaps a college student? The possibility of it being some old lady with a lively soul was also plausible, even if less likely.

Imagination was often much better than reality and perhaps she should be happy to only have this friendship through the origami she gave that stranger. However, Minjoo couldn’t simply shake off the feeling that maybe it was worth trying a little harder to get to know this person.

“Miss, excuse me. Can I get some cream buns?”

“And banana bread as well!”

“Can I have some cake? What is that one in back with pink frosting?”

The voices took her out of her thoughts as she put an automatic smile on her face and looked over the counter to face a group of college students. The group was so energetic and talkative, marveling over the display of baked goods Minjoo’s parents had made early that morning. She could recognize one or two of them, but not everyone and she smiled even bigger trying to make sure she would give the new clients a good first impression.

As she quickly placed their orders, going back to her work mode before her dad could nag her for daydreaming instead of taking care of the bakery, she carefully handed each of them the food and waited for the leader of the group to hand her the money – the said leader of the group was struggling to find any money inside of her wallet though.

“Wait a minute, I’m sure I left some here…” The girl searched through her pockets as Minjoo just gave her a calm smile, not wanting to embarrass a customer – of course, the friends of the girl weren’t as considerate.

“You are just trying to skip it because it’s your turn to pay!” One of them complained, albeit she was a bit busy chewing on her cake to actually collaborate with any money. All the others also complained and chaos ensued for a moment, Minjoo could only blink in confusion as she waited for them to sort things out.

They were still bickering as one of the quietest ones in the group approached the counter with an apologetic smile, she bowed politely, handing Minjoo the money before turning back to drag her embarrassing friends somewhere else.

“Thank you!” Min still managed to say, albeit she only managed to catch a glimpse of the girl as the other woman was busy with her friends now.

Smiling to herself, she thought that maybe she would be just like them next year – loud and silly college students, maybe like her secret pen-pal was.

Folding the piece of papers carefully, Chaewon tried her best to give it a decent format – she was still struggling with it, even after days of watching youtube tutorials and trying to copy all the pretty ones she had received throughout the last few weeks. Truth be told, she wasn’t one to be talented with this kind of craft, but she was still trying her best for some reason she couldn’t even name herself.

If her roommate found her new interest in origami weird, she was too nosy to resist the urge of joining her – this resulted in cramped paper everywhere and Chaeyeon screaming at them to tidy up the living room more than once.

“Why are you so into this thing out of sudden?” Yena had asked once as they tried to make cranes out of blue paper and failed terribly.

Chaewon had to think about it a bit before answering – saying it was because she had found a mysterious friend who communicated through origamis left at the bus stop, seemed like something that would get her a lot of teasing and she would rather not be dealing with it for now. “I just have a friend who likes making it, so I thought it would be interesting to try it out for once.” It was technically true, just not the whole thing.

Her friend, the one who invited her to live in the big and chaotic house they occupied now, nodded her head with a sly smile. “A friend, huh? Make a thousand of those and maybe you can get an upgrade from the friendzone!” Of course, Yena wouldn’t let her live even if she didn’t say anything much.

Shoving her aside, she rolled her eyes. “Believe me, it’s not like that. At all.”

At least for now.

So far, all she knew was that whoever was the person she had been talking to for the past weeks was a nice person – what was good, but didn’t give place to much flirting, if any.

She had pieced a few info about this friend, little things she learned about them over time. It was probably someone young, but not too young considering the pretty handwriting with no mistakes; the mentions of ‘hating exams’ and ‘college admissions’ as reasons to prefer being a frog showed they were probably a high school student; the cute frog drawing and the delicacy of the origami indicated it might be a girl, but Chaewon wasn’t closed minded enough to discard the possibility of it being a man – she just liked the other option better.

More than that, she had learned this person has a good sense of humor and an odd sense of optimism, that was sometimes eclipsed by their comments dissing life and fate. Chae had the feeling that whoever it was, they would be a nice company for a chat, maybe someone she could hear for a long time.

Sometimes she would try and picture the person, but all she could think about was a silhouette of a girl, maybe one of those people that came over to the coffee shop to have a light drink and read a book while waiting for the rain to pass – it was probably incorrect, but it was an image she liked.

She wondered if she would ever know who was at the other side of this odd friendship.

The answer came quicker than she could ever have thought.

That day, she came earlier to the bus stop, to place her first origami ever on the cord. It was a yellow cheetah – that looked a lot like a common cat but she had made sure to add some black dots to the paper beforehand – that should somehow represent herself, at least according to the nickname her friends had given her. It wasn’t that pretty and she struggled to write a message on it, hoping her friend could see it before the wind blew it away.

Yesterday her pen-pal friend had written to her a message that was the closest of an intimate question they had ever asked: “Can I ask your name or a nickname? It’s okay if not. I’m just curious.”

A name sounded like so little, such a mundane thing, but Chaewon realized that for them it was a big step – leaving behind a little bit of the comfort of remaining anonymous, risking giving away their identity considering how easy it was to find someone nowadays, especially when they lived in a small neighborhood. Still, she thought it was worth the risk, even if she found out her pen-pal was a creep, she could just stop answering them and ride the bus a little earlier.

“I wanted to ask yours for a while now, so it’s only fair I give mine. I’m Chaewon, how about you?”

She had written in the little origami, an expectant feeling inside her chest, like a child in the Christmas morning – talking to this person, even if it didn’t make much sense, made her a little more hopeful, a little more optimistic.

Chaewon smiled at her own creation, nodding in approval as she drew the little cheetah on the paper. She was placing it back in place and putting the pen back inside of her pocket, getting ready to go back to her seat at the bus stop, when she noticed something: a bus leaving after it had dropped someone at the other side of the street. It wouldn’t be something noteworthy, if the person on the other side of the street wasn’t looking at her with wide open chocolate brown eyes, a hand over and the wind making her vibrant yellow uniform wave.

A girl in a high school uniform and a face she could remember. A girl who was looking straight at her and the origami she had just made as if she knew exactly who she was and what she was doing.

The older Kim took in a deep breath, her eyes inspecting the girl she now knew could only be her mysterious friend and marveling at her – she was in many ways just like she had imagined, but she was also completely different in a good way.

A nervous smile appeared on her face, suddenly self-conscious as she remembered she was wearing just the simple black shirt she used to work at the cafe, beat-up jeans and old shoes. Her hair was tied in a messy ponytail and she probably looked like every other broke college student – she wondered if the sight made the other girl disappointed or excited.

Yet, none of them was brave enough to make a move. As the seconds went by, and excitement turned into embarrassment, they eventually averted their eyes, just like Chaewon’s bus eventually arrived.

For such a magical friendship, their first meeting was anything but it.

It was hard – life is hard, and every glimpse of light comes with a bit of darkness.

Minjoo found herself in the dark after that first night when her eyes finally found the bright chestnut of her no-longer-secret pen-pal. Back then she was anything but prepared to see her, she had just come back from a long afternoon at the library and she was feeling extra tired and worn out. Still, fate – like the mischievous thing it is – decided it was just the perfect time to allow them to meet, to put her in the right place and time to spot the other girl.

She was speechless, her brain becoming mushy as all the many scenarios she had in mind for this moment disappeared, the many faces she pictured now erased and replaced by the real one. The young woman in front of her matched perfectly the personality Minjoo had got to know, intelligent eyes and a serious expression that was now tainted by surprise; a slim body with equally slim hands holding the origami, elegant and just perfect to explain the neat handwriting. Chaewon – as she learned her name was later that night – was there and Minjoo could only think she was so glad that she was the person she had been talking to.

However, she couldn’t bring herself to say a thing, nothing at all.

The awkwardness coming up to dominate her body like the stubborn thoughts that insisted on running through her mind – her heart was fluttering in an embarrassing way, but the hateful feeling of self-awareness was making it hard to focus on this warmth. Therefore, Minjoo who always talked too much, found herself speechless.

Chaewon was gone before she could get a hold of herself and Minjoo ended up sitting at the bus stop, origami in hand as she read over and over the words written – it wasn’t a love letter, but it somehow felt more meaningful.

However, what was their first real contact also became the last.

Minjoo had struggled that night to actually write anything back, like a silly teenager with a crush she had second guessed her own words and made it harder to come up with anything. In the end, her reply was a bit too simple and awkward but it was the best she could do.

“I’m Minjoo. It’s nice to meet you officially…Does it even count as official if it comes through an origami? It’s still nice though :)” She had signed with her trademark frog drawing and hoped it was enough.

It was not.

By the next morning, when she came back to replace her previous origami with a new one as usual, she found everything just like she had left – what was okay, after all maybe the other girl still hadn't seen it. So she just added the new origami with their usual “Please have a day that doesn’t too much!” message.

It was a little nerve wracking to have to wait for a reply, and she couldn’t help but lament her cowardice yesterday – origamis were cool, but talking to the other girl would probably be nicer. Now she was left wondering how Chaewon’s voice sounded, her little habits and even if they would click well in real life – Hitomi saying she sounded like someone anxious about a blind date, but truth be told, she was right about the anxious part.

Unfortunately, Minjoo’s anxiety shifted from the ‘good’ normal type of anxiety, to the nervous one once she realized that even two days after their first meeting there was no reply. Anxiety became confusion and eventually hurt, as the days went by and only her new origami piled up, receiving no reply.

“Hey, you must be busy, right? Watch out for the rain, cats don’t like water that much.”

“I saw a cute frog today. I still think living as one would be more fun.”

“Chaewon, sorry for the other day, I guess I’m a coward frog so I couldn’t talk to you.”

“You know, we can just forget I ever saw you if you want. Let’s be anonymous pals as always.”

“Are okay? I’m kinda worried :/”

Every message met the same fate: dying unread as the rain ruined the paper and Minjoo eventually had to take it down. After a week, the only origami she had left was the cheetah one that she had brought home with her.

Minjoo even tried looking for Chaewon, waiting at a bench near the bus stop just so she could see Chaewon and make sure she was safe – she didn’t want to intrude her space, she wasn’t a creepy stalker, but she couldn’t help but feel worried. Anyway, just like her written messages, it was useless as the other girl never appeared.

Her friends teasing turned into gentle pats on her back and offers of hanging out after school once they noticed her gloomy mood – it was silly, everything was so silly, yet she had got attached to that stranger and their little messages, and now she was left with nothing but her own monologues.

Still, if it was just a silly thing that could barely be called a friendship, why did it hurt so much?

Life is hard and fate is capricious.

For Chaewon, the past week had been like a rollercoaster, as a tide of bad and good luck hit her simultaneously.

First, she had to deal with her parents being extra pushy asking her to spend some days at home to accommodate her older sister who was back from abroad, then she had a whole pile of homework to return since she couldn’t really get anything done when she was at her parents’ place; then, when she finally thought she could catch a break, she was informed that the coffee shop she worked at would be closed – at this point she was almost breaking down.

But then luck greeted her, the owner of the café saying they would open in a new location, near her new house, which would allow her to have more flexible shifts and save some money from the bus fare. School break would also come soon, so it was just the right time.

Again, it was good and bad luck all the once. Life and fate playing with her.

No wonder, replying to her not-so-secret pen-pal became a hard task. She had been so busy with everything that when she finally went back to the place, all she found was ‘dead’ origami and fragmented messages.

It gave her a bitter feeling, just like that fatidic night where she couldn’t muster the courage to talk to the pretty girl in front of her, once more she had missed the chance of knowing her name and maybe getting to know her as a person. Their unexpected friendship ended just like it had started: abruptly.

Now all she had left were the few artworks she had collected and the image of the flustered girl facing her from the other side of the street, the shocked expression as the only mark on Chaewon’s mind.

Or almost – Chae couldn’t shake off the feeling of familiarity, albeit she couldn’t pinpoint exactly from where, but she was sure she had seen that face before. It might be just her imagination, a fake memory like a déjà vu or whatever, but still it was worth the try – hence why Chaewon spent a whole day looking through her social media for something, anything, that could help her to remember.

It was stupid – even Yena agreed on it, although she offered to help – but she couldn’t just give up. No, she wasn’t delusional and she wasn’t expecting it to turn out in some kind of ridiculous love story or life-long friendship, she just…just wanted to know her name, apologize and maybe, just maybe, they could grab a coffee and start over.

“Enough with that. We have been here the whole day, Ssamu!” Yena complained, standing up to stretch her back. “You know what? We should go out and grab something to eat. Who knows, we might bump into your mysterious girl.”

Chaewon just shook her head, not lifting her eyes from her phone as she looked over another facebook page – those things were useless most of the time, but everyone had one at some point, so maybe she could find something. “You are still in your pajamas and we are not inside of a romcom. It’s not like I’m going to bump into her, she will drop her books so I can help her pick it up, and then we will fall in love.”

Yena’s hearty laughter filled the room as she rudely stole the phone from Chaewon’s hand to force her to stand up as well. “First, this is called comfortable clothes. Just like yours.” She gestured to the grey hoodie that was a bit too big on Chae. “Second, you’ve watched too many reruns of cringey romcoms. I only said you may bump into her, I didn’t say she would like it.” With this take, the older girl was ready to drag an unwillingly Kim Chaewon out of the house and to the closest place where they could find food.

Albeit she tried to protest, she couldn’t deny she could use some food and a little bit of distraction after a day of failed search.

Chaewon hated, really she loathed the idea of it, but she just knew she would have to thank Yena and her stubbornness for this one – even though she would hear about it forever, it would be worth it.

She thought Yena would take them to the café Chaewon worked at or maybe a convenience store if she was feeling lazy, but somehow, they ended up in front of a bakery. At first, Chaewon didn’t even want to go in, remembering the embarrassing event the last time they visited the place and already imagining her friend trying to pull that trick once more. Yet, once she remembered the delicious food the place had, she gave in and followed Choi inside.

However, this time she didn’t go to the counter with Yena, telling her to place the orders and pay for them – no way she would pay for everything again, last time she couldn’t even look at the cashier, how embarrassed she was.

But then again, she hated to admit, but she might end up paying for Yena’s food for a while after today.

As the young brunette sat by the table at the corner of the place and looked through the windows absently minded, she was almost too distracted to notice a very important detail – almost. Inside the basket on top of the table there were some flyers with a list of what was served there, alongside a small bag of cookies for tasters and a tiny, perfectly made dinosaur origami.

Her eyes grew wide as she picked up the little origami, gently touching it. It couldn’t be, could it? As she lifted her gaze to check the other tables to see if there were more of those, she not only noticed many, but her eyes also found something far more important.

At the counter, Yena was chatting with the cashier, and albeit Chae could only see the brunette’s back it was enough to ignite her memory – of course, her pen-pal looked familiar, that night wasn’t their first meeting, even though it was the first time she looked at the girl properly.

Yena turned around to give her a grin once she got all the food, but Chaewon kept her eyes on the other girl, trying to gather enough courage to march there and introduce herself properly – would the other girl even want to talk to her? Should she do it there or wait for another opportunity? No, definitely she couldn’t chicken out another time.

“They are closing soon, so hurry up and eat!” Yena said, dropping a bunch of food on top of their table, and although food was the last thing on her mind right now, Chae still registered her words.

Once more she had little time to act and she wouldn’t miss this chance.

“You, Ssamu! Didn’t you hear me?” Yena called her back, yet she was already halfway there, walking up to the counter.

Yena’s screams weren’t completely ignored – just noticed by someone else. The husky voice calling her friend by such an odd nickname caught Minjoo’s attention, the young Kim looking over to check if everything was fine as the college students were the last clients of the day. But instead of the duck-like girl she had talked to before, she saw someone else coming towards her with confident steps and a hesitant smile on her face.

Chaewon.

“Sorry about her, she is my roommate and she is always this loud.” The older girl gave her a small smile, a little unsure as she risked. “Hey there.”

Minjoo had waited for a reply for a long time and now her pen-pal just showed up in front of her – soft and gentle, looking so comfy with her baggy hoodie and slightly disheveled black hair, the smile almost making her look like a nervous child. The voice that she tried so hard imagining how it would sound like, was actually familiar – how could she have forgotten about the cute, shy customer from the other time?

“Oh my god! I mean, hi! Can I get you something or do you even want to order? We have a lot of stuff…If you like bread and baked goods…” Of course, the surprise triggered Minjoo’s usual talkative self, making her ramble and stumble over her own words. Taking in a deep breath, she tried to compose herself and face the bright chestnut eyes that were prettier than she could remember. “I mean, hello.”

“You know who I am, right? I hope so.” Chaewon’s smile relaxed a bit, as if she could understand Minjoo’s nervousness all too well – and she could, hers was only shown in a different way, through her foot nervously hitting the floor and the red tips of her ears. She risked a step closer to the counter so she could have a better look at the girl’s face, her eyes tracing her delicate features with curiosity and a hint of fondness. “I was late and couldn’t read your messages before it was all gone. So, I didn’t get your name, but I hope you are still willing to tell me…If you still want to do it.”

“Of course, I know.” The reply came quickly, the younger brunette biting her own lips as she tried to contain her words. She shouldn’t be this happy to see someone who left her worried for days, but she couldn’t ignore the sincerity in Chaewon’s words – just like she wouldn’t be able to ignore the gentle look in her eyes. “My name is Minjoo.”

The older girl nodded, relief evident in her expression. “Minjoo, it’s pretty.” Feeling herself relaxing, Chae dared to give her a playful smile, wanting to bring back the easy-going chemistry they shared through their messages. “A pretty nice name for a frog.”

It worked, as Minjoo let out an airy chuckle. She could almost picture Chaewon’s words written on paper, she could imagine her playful expression as she wrote the lines and the tiny smile on her face reaching her eyes – this idea, just like the piercing chestnut eyes on top of her, warmed her heart. “I have a lot of questions, you know? You owe me at least seven whole origami worth of chatting.”

“I know, and I would like to answer them.” Chaewon shared the same easy, nice and calm feeling that made her forget about Yena’s existence and focus completely on the brunette in front of her, she locked her gaze on Minjoo. “I have some things I would like to know about you too.”

Slowly, like the lazy morning rain that paints the streets black and opens space for the rainbow, their friendship blossomed over time.

Between awkward first texts, to comfortable conversations by the counter of the café, to Chaewon showing up to greet Minjoo every evening before the bakery closed and the other girl needed to head to work – everything happened slowly, but just at the right time.

Relationships progress like that, and before you realize it, you can’t recall a time things were different.

For Minjoo, who still created so many artworks and gifted random people with it, now her creativity was often inspired by her friend who looked more like a cheetah than a frog. But now she also had the help of the said cheetah – albeit Chaewon wasn’t exactly the best at origami, sitting at the bakery and teaching the older girl how to fold the tiny pieces of paper while they talked about everything and anything, was surely one of her favorite things now.

Nako and Hitomi also seem to approve of it – and of course, her supportive, yet mischievous friends, wouldn’t miss the chance of teasing her for it; she didn’t mind it, Chaewon received the same from her duck-like friend. Her small group grew as everyone slowly came together, forming a bigger and louder group that would often hang out at Chaewon’s house.

As for Chaewon, she was, without any doubt, glad she had moved to this new neighborhood and decided to engage in such an odd friendship with a stranger. If talking to Minjoo through little messages was nice, talking to her personally, as she noticed her bubbly personality and her talkative ways, always gave her a warm feeling. And yes, she was also much poorer after having to pay for Yena’s food for a month as a thank you for her help.

The origamis were slowly replaced by other methods of communication, messages were nice but seeing each other in person was still the best.

Tonight, Minjoo was proving this by risking going out of her warm and comfortable house during the night, to make a short walk to a coffee shop a few blocks away – just so she could look through the windows and identify the familiar silhouette of Chaewon in her black uniform.

As if she could feel her stare, the raven-haired woman lifted her gaze to meet Minjoo’s and presented her with the brightest of the smiles before coming to her meeting. “Min? It’s pretty late, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

The younger Kim just shrugged her shoulders, preferring to not make it any more obvious that she had stopped by just because she missed the other girl. “Why? Did I come at a bad time?”

“No, I am glad you came.” Chaewon reassured as she glanced at the other woman, a small smile on her lips as she gently pulled Minjoo a little closer to keep her out of the night drizzle. Usually, she would just drag her inside and get her something hot to drink, but Minjoo was a little late. “But we are already closing, so I don’t think we will be able to enjoy any coffee today.”

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” In fact, Minjoo had to power-walk her way here to make sure she would make it on time and it was a bit tiring – but Chaewon didn’t need to know that now. She had visited Chaewon’s workplace many times, just like the other way around, but she wasn’t there to make a simple visit. “I just thought maybe…maybe you could walk with me?” She risked. Even if it didn’t sound like much, it meant a lot for her – a new step for them, another one to build the bridge that connected them ever since that first message. “I came to pick you up.”

The slightly shorter woman blinked, before nodding in understanding. “Just wait a minute.”

Chaewon went inside before Minjoo could say anything, leaving the girl fidgeting with her fingers as she thought to herself if she had overstepped the boundaries here – did friends even pick up each other after work? Showing up without warning was okay? Were they even friends still or…

A soft, warm hand holding hers took Minjoo out of her silly thoughts. Chaewon had that smile again – the one that was so full of fondness and a little bit more that seemed to be only for her –, her fingers intertwining with Minjoo as she pulled her a little closer by the hand so they could walk together. “Should we?”

The knot that had been sitting on Minjoo’s throat, the anxiety and insecurity, vanished as she managed to return Chaewon’s smile and give her a positive nod, her steps getting in sync with hers as she followed.

Walking through the calm streets in the moonlight, holding hands and sharing sweet smiles didn’t seem like friendship – Minjoo wasn’t quite sure about how to name it, but she figured it didn’t matter right now. She just wanted this moment to last for a long time.

As the couple passed by the bus stop with the short lamp-post, Minjoo smiled to herself, her thumb caressing the back of Chaewon’s hand as she silently thanked the oh-so-capricious fate for bringing them together in the most unexpected way.

A/N: This work was commissioned, the person allowed me to post it here. You can check my works and all I do on my twitter @uncreativeacc