It’s blue. Da ba dee da ba die. Get a grip. It’s a beautiful view and all you can conjure is a weird blue alien song. It’s boring though. Vast blue enveloping the horizon, rays of sunshine hit the a water at a perfect angle. They appear as sparkles, almost like... like anime water. What. I should probably stop zoning out. Wonder what I look like to the others. 

Sat under a canopy, in a light blue floral dress paired with a straw hat, was a beautiful young woman. Her auburn hair stood out, splayed across her pale shoulders. Her youthful glow contrasts her forlorn expression. 

“Lee Chaeryeong?”  The young woman on the chair perks up, eyes frantically looking for the voice that broke her trance. 

The canopy and the hat are of no use. How are they supposed to protect Chaeryeong’s eyes from the face that beams at her like the sun? 

“I’m Lia” she outstretched her hand, Chaeryeong took it and they gave a gentle shake “Nice to finally meet you in person”

Yeah, finally. 

One week ago

Beep. Beep. Beep. A flash goes off. The tall lady at the front adjusts her arms and tilts her head. Another flash. 

“Okay, now could you hold that up higher please” the model adjusts herself as instructed by the soft voice. Another flash goes off. 

“Thank you for dropping by boss” Cole says as the crew finishes wrapping up 

“It’s not a big deal. And please call me Chaeryeong” 

The model walks up to Chaeryeong

“You should really consider being in front of the camera Ryeong, it’d be a sin to let such beauty remain unknown” Chaeryeong flushes red and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. It’s true though, even with her hair tied up in a messy bun and her clothes crumpled from a long day’s work, Chaeryeong looks beyond gorgeous. 

“I wouldn’t want you going unemployed” Chaeryeong replies. The model gasps but a playful smile takes over 

“Feisty, I like that” 

“Shut up Jimin, go change” 

With the commencement of their usual banter Chaeryeong walks back to her office. She stretches before going back to the cause of her terrible posture. Once in her chair, she doesn’t know when the minutes bleed into hours and when the day had ended. Working as a fashion photographer was not as luxurious as she assumed when she first denied the job offer. Now that she’s been in the field for a year and a half she has finally reached a level of comfort that makes her want to ditch the job. Being the head of the photography department in Korea’s largest fashion brand at the age of 25 was not how she saw her life going. Alas, there was a lot that she didn’t see. She ignores the tinge of pain in her heart when she thinks of her past. It’d be foolish to feel pained at something that does not exist. 

“Chaeryeong-ssi, what did I tell you about overworking yourself” the stern voice rings through Chaeryeong’s office 

“I- I just” Chaeryeong rushes to explain herself “The portraits for next week’s edition needed to be looked over. Not that the team isn’t doing well, in fact they’re doing great but I just thought I should check if they check out or not that’s all boss”  Chaeryeong damn near hyperventilates but she dares not breath in front of the woman. The older woman uncrosses her arms, she sighs and gives Chaeryeong a soft smile 

“Chaeryeong-ah, I know how well you and your team work. And how many times do I have to tell you, Jennie is fine. It’s been over a year already” Jennie pouts. Chaeryeong giggles at the change in demeanor, outside of this room no one would believe you if you said you saw the Kim Jennie pout. Jennie takes a seat across Chaeryeong “But I’m glad I found you here” she leans forward “I wanted to personally invite you to my daughter’s wedding in Santorini. Well engagement party and wedding. It’s a month long, all one big celebration” the older woman waves her hand around

“Jennie, I might be busy. There’s a lot of shoots scheduled” Chaeryeong tries to reason with the CEO. Which in hindsight sounds kinda dumb. 

“You have a well-equipped team that can survive for a month without your guidance Chaeryeong-si” Jennie states “Besides, think of this as making up for all the times you refused to take a vacation” the older woman smiles “Ever since you joined I have never seen you take a break. You should not be wearing yourself out at such a young age Chae” Chaeryeong smiles at the endearing tone “If your brain can’t allow you to take a break then think of this as a business trip” 

Chaeryeong takes in the expectant look on Jennie’s face and gives in “Fine, I’ll be there” The older woman let’s out a squeal as she gets up from her seat to hug Chaeryeong. Chaeryeong is grateful for the care the older woman has for her but boy is it going to be a long month. 

-

“You don’t know how much mom gushes about you” Lia smiles as she sits on the beach chair across Chaeryeong “Actually I’m very glad you decided to come too, it’s been a while since we last spoke and this seems like the perfect opportunity to get to know each other better. My mom sees you as a second daughter, I think both my mothers are a day away from adopting you” Lia chuckles

“You’re too kind” Chaeryeong blushes

“I see you’re already prepared to produce some new masterpieces” Lia points to the camera placed beside Chaeryeong

“Thank you, but they are not that great, Lia-ssi” 

“You’re too humble, Chaeryeong-ssi” 

“Just Chaeryeong is fine” Chaeryeong ducks her head 

“Then just Lia is fine too” Chaeryeong chuckles and nods, Lia once again smiles at her. There’s something about Lia that makes Chaeryeong feel at ease. It’s not often she feels comfortable with people. 

“So, where is your mystery fiancé? ” Chaeryeong asks “Your mom never told me who you’re getting married to” 

“Oh” Lia covers her shock with a small giggle “must be because we’ve kept our relationship a secret for a long time. None of the people who know about us ever mention our names together” 

“Is that so?” Chaeryeong asks, genuinely curious 

“Yeah, welcome to the club. We plan on announcing our marriage directly. The internet might explode”  Chaeryeong chuckles. The internet will surely explode, Kim Lia getting married would result in at least a million broken hearts “I’ll introduce you to her, although I think she needs no introductions” Lia glances at her phone “She should be here anytime now” Chaeryeong observes the loving look on Lia’s face. It’s cute and admirable. 
Love. Feels foreign to Chaeryeong. 

The two young women catch up on each other. Lia tells her all about the new solo album she is working on and out of habit Chaeryeong asks her if she’s decided the concept for her jacket shoot, Lia shuts the topic down before it could turn into talk about work. Like mother, like daughter. Instead Lia asks Chaeryeong what’s going on with her life, if she had a plus one or if she’s looking for a plus one. Chaeryeong brushes it off, not keen on discussing the perils of her love life. Lia was in the middle of a story of how she and her childhood friend Yeji, snuck around school when Lia noticed something behind Chaeryeong, Chaeryeong sees Lia’s face light up once again
 

“Oh, there they are” Lia says. Chaeryeong turns. Out of all the possible disasters she could think of on her flight to Santorini, Chaeryeong never expected this. Well, at least Lia was right. She needs no introductions. 

The pause in her confident stroll is evident. The deep blue shades might hide her eyes but Chaeryeong felt the shock that ran down her spine. Was Chaeryeong projecting? Yes. But did she know the girl so thoroughly that she could feel exactly what the other girl was feeling? Also yes. The blonde shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans, she wills herself to walk to the canopy Chaeryeong and Lia are sitting under

“Hey baby” Lia stands to hug her fiancé and give her a kiss on the cheek. She stands beside the blonde and looks at Chaeryeong 

“Chaeryeong, this is Ryujin my fiancé. Ryujin this is Lee Chaeryeong, the best woman in this world” 

Ryujin smiles, not the genuine one that forms little whiskers on her cheeks. Not the one that Chaeryeong had ever been the target of. 
It’s the fake smile she does in front of bosses, overly clingy fans and people that get on her nerves. Chaeryeong returns the favor. 

“Nice to meet you” Ryujin holds out her hand 

“The pleasure is all mine” Chaeryeong slips her hand in Ryujin’s. They’re just as soft, just as warm and just as soothing as they were nine years ago. The first time she shook hands with Shin Ryujin. 

The young brunette keeps flailing her fingers, her arms stuck to her sides. This had been going on for about two minutes now. It was a small street, there were no traffic signals which meant the mild morning traffic did not give a damn about the pedestrians who wanted to cross the road but couldn’t get themselves to cross the road, because crossing such a road all alone for the first time in sixteen years of life feels criminally unsafe. She debates taking a different route and as she is about to leave, a hand slips into her hand. Chaeryeong looks down at the warm hand in hers, her eyes trail up the arm, taking in the familiar school uniform. Her eyes reached the face of whoever had their hand in hers. She must admit, it’s a very pretty face. Cute smile, cute dimples, cute nose and cute eyes. An overall cute face framed by dark short hair with red highlights on the inner side of her hair. She says something, Chaeryeong doesn’t hear; she leads Chaeryeong and her body follows. It felt as though several minutes had passed, but in reality it was merely a few seconds. Chaeryeong is pulled out of her thoughts when the hand leaves her hand. The girl now fully turns to her

“Sorry if that felt sudden, you looked a little-”

“Lost?” Chaeryeong cuts in. The girl scrunches her face, an expression so cute Chaeryeong’s heart does a flip

“I’d say dazed” Chaeryeong smiles and tucks her hair behind her ear 

“Yeah, this is the first time I took this route and I usually walk with my sister” the two begin to walk towards school

“Well, it's a cramped street. I moved into this neighborhood a couple of days ago” The girl says “Oh, I’m Shin Ryujin by the way” she holds out her hand, Chaeryeong takes it. She basks in the warmth it provides on this chilly morning, even if it’s only for a few seconds

“Lee Chaeryeong” 

“I know. I’m in your class, yesterday was my first day” Ryujin smiles “In fact, my seat is right behind yours”

“You’re seatmates with Minju?” How did she not know all this “I really should pay more attention in school” Ryujin chuckles 

“So, Lee Chaeryeong, what do you like to do?”

“I’m a photographer” She introduces herself to the taller woman currently in Lia’s embrace. One she hadn’t noticed earlier. She needs no introduction either. She was the pop sensation when Chaeryeong was younger. The Nations Sweetheart, Kang Yeji.

“She isn’t just a photographer, she is the best photographer” Lia gushes and pulls Yeji down to sit with her on her beach chair “I’ve shown her works to you several times babe” Yeji directs Lia a goofy little smile which doesn’t go unnoticed by Chaeryeong

“I’m gonna go place our bags in the room” the deeper, familiar voice announces

“No, Jinnie the staff will take your bags to the villa” Lia gets up and puts her hands on Ryujin’s shoulder “Sit with us” Lia gently pushes Ryujin down to the long beach chair. The spot unfortunately happened to be right beside Chaeryeong. Like a spring, Ryujin stands back up

“Let me at least go freshen up hon”

“But I don’t wanna miss out the sunset” Lia pouts 

“I’ll be back soon” Ryujin plants a kiss on Lia’s lips, she turns around and walks out as fast as she can

“Ryujin-ah! You don’t know where the villa is!” Lia shouts from her place. Torn between going after her fiance and missing out on the beautiful view, Lia ends up looking at Chaeryeong. With a sigh, Chaeryeong silently agrees to show Ryujin, who has already managed to exit the beach area. Chaeryeong runs after her

“Hey! Slow down Barry Allen!”