About two weeks later, Solar found herself sitting on her sofa humming a new song she had composed with Hwasa and was reviewing the lyrics she had written for it. The TV was on in the background but on mute as the person who had been vaguely watching on an already low volume, being mindful of the fact that the idol needed to focus, was currently asleep with their head in her lap. 

     She hadn't felt so domestic in a long time and she felt an almost overwhelming surge of affection as she looked down at Byul's relaxed sleeping face. She continued carding her fingers through Byul's hair, intentionally her ear as she brushed softly past it, finding the repetitive movement as soothing as the ex-soldier clearly did. She had discovered that this was one of the quickest ways to lull Byul to sleep, having found that the latter often didn't sleep well or not more than 4 hours at night. And when Byul reluctantly admitted that the insomnia wasn't a new problem, Solar had started trying to help her nap during the day, wanting to make sure Byul's injured body got enough rest. The painkillers that Byul preferred not to take did help somewhat but she had once mentioned that it was never a good sleep and left her with a hangover-like feeling. 

     The younger girl turned her head slightly in her sleep, revealing a well-healed but jagged scar behind her ear that Solar hadn't noticed before and she frowned as she paused to run her fingers over it before going back to running them through dark silky strands. It was little discoveries like this that made Solar really feel like she was in a new relationship, despite the amount of time they had spent together already. It made her think back to a week ago when Wendy, finally worn down by Byul's persistence, had agreed to discharge her from the medical centre but on the caveat that she dropped by for frequent check-ups with her. 

(She had also expressly forbidden Byul from attempting to exercise, at least not until they had made an agreement that it was safe to do so and had made it clear that it would initially all be under the supervision of one of their physios; something everyone who knew Byul agreed to enforce, much to her chagrin.)

Once the discharge date had been agreed, the two of them had a serious talk where Byul gently refused to move in with Solar saying that it was maybe too soon to do so and even though Solar had semi-jokingly pointed out that they had practically been in a relationship for several months now (they just hadn’t labelled it that way), she had seen sense in the caution. However, as part of a compromise, she made sure that the younger girl agreed to spend the first week after discharge with her and to stay over whenever the idol and now CEO wasn't busy, so that she could actually get a chance to look after her injured girlfriend properly.

She noticed that Byul often refused to ask for help and seemed to be determined not to be a burden on anyone.

     Solar’s core entourage, who were now a part of Rainbow Inc., were of course absolutely over the moon (pun not intended) about Moonsun becoming official and spoiled the ex-soldier rotten whenever she dropped by to visit them at the new company. They had moved into a rented office space above a cafe but were able to set up a recording booth and studio as well as 2 offices; one shared by the CEOs and one shared by the entourage. She couldn’t help but smile as she recalled the first time Byul had visited, having walked from Solar’s flat to the new office since it was the only physical activity she was allowed; how the small company erupted in cheers when she, quite deliberately, greeted the blushing ex-soldier with a sweet kiss and how the staff were disappointed to lose Byul as the resident bodyguard but happy to know that she would be dropping by frequently because of Solar, especially whilst she was healing.

And whilst Solar loved the fact that they could just spend time together without having to find an excuse to do so, there actually was a reason why Byul was napping with her head on her lap today.

Her parents .

Solar’s parents had insisted on meeting the person who had saved their daughter’s life, especially after Yonghee had casually mentioned during a Kim family video call that Solar was head-over-heels-in-love with the very same person. Big Yong had been absolutely thrilled when Little Yong admitted that she had finally confessed to Byul and that the latter had reciprocated and despite nearly losing an eardrum to her older sister’s joyful screaming, Solar found herself equally ecstatic that for once she had a partner that Yonghee fully approved of.

Meaning that she had found the right one this time.

Of course, Yonghee’s teasing only increased and she had even joked to their parents that Moonbyul should now be seen as the youngest daughter in the Kim family, making them see how serious Solar was about her and making them determined to meet this new girlfriend as soon as possible.

Byul had been surprisingly calm at the news and had only requested that they arrange to meet after her discharge as she didn’t want to meet her parents ‘looking weak’ in a hospital bed.

Solar had been surprisingly more anxious and it really did not help that Yonghee had been calling every few days to ask how Byul was doing, how their relationship was going and “How did it go with mum and dad? … Why haven’t you introduced them yet?” 

But finally here they were, and checking the time, Solar reluctantly Byul’s face and called out to her.

“Byul-ah… Byul-ah, I’m sorry baby, we have to get ready.”

Knowing full well how much of a light sleeper Byul was, she spoke softly and tried to gently rouse her from sleep without startling her and risk jostling her bad side.

The younger girl’s breathing pattern changed and her eyes fluttered open, focusing quickly on Solar, and the idol almost cooed as Byul smiled shyly before turning her head to bury her face into the soft material of the oversized t-shirt covering Solar’s toned abs.

It always slightly surprised Solar at how affectionate girlfriend-mode Byul was but she always fully appreciated it.

She looked down fondly at Byul taking a deep breath of her scent before finally looking back up at her but immediately felt a slight tinge of guilt as she spotted how red Byul’s tired eyes were. It only worsened as she watched the ex-soldier subtly grimace whilst cradling her right arm (currently out of its sling whilst she had been resting) and slowly sitting up. Unsure of how to help, she reached out and rubbed Byul’s back comfortingly.

“You know, I can just cancel on my parents…” Solar said quietly.

The younger girl stifled a yawn as she shook her head, “I’m okay. Just need to wake up a bit.”

She blinked owlishly a few times before gingerly rising to her feet and shuffled to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. 

     Solar pottered after her, bringing out one of Byul’s black