The cherry blossoms were in full bloom as the brown-haired woman walked down the beautiful alley that led to the college campus she knew like the back of her hand. It’s been a while since the last time she had visited the campus, yet the feeling of familiarity was almost overwhelming – almost like coming back home, maybe it was the most accurate way of putting it.

Of course, not all the memories of that place were good – no sane student would remember the finals week and the stress of it as a good time, but even that seemed very small compared to all the good memories she had of those rooms and corridors, filled with her friends and that one person that was so special to her.

She smiled to herself as she looked up at the sky, finding the infinite blue and the gentle warmth of the sun, comfortable and nice. Just perfect for a day like this.

“Thank you for your kindness today, Zeus-nim!” She thanked the god of lightning for skipping work today, as usual her light, almost silly, sense of humor would always come out even if there was no one else to hear it. Soon she would find someone who loved her lame jokes and blushed at her witty remarks, someone whose cold aura didn’t match the bubbliness of her sweet personality.

Haseul found it a little hard to smile and laugh as often in the last year and half, struggling to show her true colors as the weight of life repressed her natural personality – it weighted on her slowly but surely, for many reasons and none in particular, the grey tone of unfair expectations and her own self-doubt tainting the beautiful green of the sparkles inside her eyes. It wasn’t something one could just shake off, but she learned to deal with it and she had a few people to thank for that.

Today, in particular, she was there to celebrate the graduation of the one person that never failed to remind her that life was never completely grey, not as long as you can see the unique colors that paint the hearts of those who you love – she knew for a fact that red was a color she would never fail to notice.

Arranging the bouquet in her hands, she made sure to take larger steps so she wouldn’t be late for the ceremony that should start soon. Hopefully she could find a nice spot to film the whole thing and be graced by her girlfriend’s cuteness in high quality footage – the other girl didn’t need to know about it just yet, or else she would have a very red and adorable blonde on tape.

Smirking, she reconsidered the idea.

Adorably shy Jungeun was her favorite one.

The green carpet of the university’s lawn shone brightly under the sunlight, making all colors a little more vivid as if to emphasize the importance of this day. Chairs dominated meters and meters, all lined up, the first few rows filled by people dressed in black – the soon-to-be graduated students – and the back ones ready to welcome the guests, right in front of a large wooden stage where the students would be called one by one to received their degrees – the teachers weren’t there just yet, but would arrive soon.

To Haseul’s surprise, not only the crowd was bigger than she hoped for, but even like this other nine people were still able to spot her right away – she had to commend her group of nearly-blind friends for having such a skill when none of them was wearing their glasses.

She was involved by so many arms, hugging her so tight that it was almost hard to breathe. Jo didn’t complain though, letting out a chuckle as she happily greeted her friends. Each hug was a little different, from the youngest girls’ overly clingy ones, to her same-aged friends' bear-like grips and light nagging, to Kahei’s gentle one that was always able to bring her a bit of the sense of calmness that emanated from the older woman.

“Haseul unnie! What took you so long?!” Hyunjin said with the kind of affection that she usually only devoted to her favorite bread, meanwhile Hyejoo, Yerim and Yeojin insisted on clinging to Haseul as she patted their backs and pretended she couldn’t hear their sniffles.

Heejin only smiled at her with crescent moon eyes, her wise and sweet nature showing as she hugged Hyunjin from the back to calm the girl down. “What she means is that it’s good to have you back, unnie.”

“Jo Haseul, you should have called us! We would have picked you up.” Sooyoung nagged, but there was a smile on her face as she patted her back and focused her attention on welcoming her childhood friend back home – it didn’t last long, just like Haseul, she was here on a mission and the students were starting to be called to the stage now.

“You know I have a license now, right?” Jinsol’s nagging was softer, she had always been the calmest between the three of them – the ones born in 97, her little crew – her always gentle eyes and easy smile apparent as she quickly hugged her by the shoulders. “I will show you around on the weekend.” To what her little sister, Chaewon, only nodded in agreement, adding that she knew just the place Haseul would love to visit.

The brunette thanked them, but didn’t have time to reply as Kahei spoke. “Welcome home, Haseul. We missed you, thanks for coming back.” Her voice was quiet, yet sincere, a hand coming to softly rub Haseul’s arm as if to reassure her that it was fine – everything would be fine from now on, no matter how long it took her to be ready. “Now everyone shut up, Jiwoo and Jungeun will be called soon!” The change in the oldest girl’s tone was drastic, but very familiar and Haseul had to contain a laugh as she turned to gaze at the podium where the 98 liners would come up soon.

It had taken her long enough, but coming back home now felt just right and she couldn’t be any gladder. Hugging her clingy friends a little tighter and forgetting about her almost ruined bouquet of flowers, a smile dominated her face as she put her thoughts into words. “It’s good to be back.”

The girls had dragged Haseul with them to sit down, their large group easily filling in half of the row of chairs and their loudness being hard to miss – they got a few dirty looks before Kahei made them shut up again right before the ceremony started.

They didn’t spot any of the girls until halfway through the whole thing – there were dozens of students and with everyone dressed in black and with their backs turned to them, it wasn’t easy to find their friends; even if Jungeun’s light hair could be a giveaway, she wasn’t the only blonde that day. Luckily, Jiwoo’s energetic nature couldn’t remain quiet for too long and the Kim eventually spotted them after looking over her shoulder.

Needless to say, Jiwoo almost made a scene by screaming in excitement at the sight of all their friends together, but she contented herself with just shaking Jungeun vigorously by the arm to make the blonde turn around and see it as well. It wasn’t normal to see Jungie looking so shocked, her pout lips forming an ‘o’ as her eyes grew larger – it was hard to read whether she was happy or annoyed, but Haseul could tell by how bright her eyes were, that it was the former.

Jo waved at them with enthusiasm, even daring to stand up for a moment so she could be seen – Sooyoung pulled her back down before one of the parents present shouted at her; it didn’t make her beaming smile disappear.

It didn’t really feel like home until she saw Jungeun and now, for the first time in a very long and dark period, there was no space for grey in her heart, only the bright colors that clouded her vision like a rainbow. Jungeun’s color was red for her. Vibrant and strong red, bold and irresistible. Red like roses and blood, yet she reminded her of life and kindness, not death and pain. It was red because the first time Haseul saw Kim Jungeun, her pale cheeks were equally as scarlet, the blushing making her look young and very human, very much alive and real.

Haseul loved the color red ever since, even if green was her favorite. She loved Jungeun, even if her mind wasn’t always ready to be close to her – a reality she hoped she could change in the future.

Over a year ago when she moved overseas to study, they both knew it was only partially true. Back then she was trying to get herself in a better place – mentally, not physically. Haseul was trying to not burden her loving friends, family and lover with her dark thoughts and painfully numb feelings, she was trying to regain control of herself so she could come back to what she used to be – even if she couldn’t recall how she had lost her way. It was hard to say it was a good or bad decision at the time, it would hurt either way.

Still, they all supported her.

Jungie was red the day they said their goodbyes – eyes, not cheeks; red from the tears that she wouldn’t allow to fall, painted red by the pain of seeing a loved one go and knowing she could only watch it happen and hope it wouldn’t be for good. Jungeun had trusted her, trusted Haseul to come back someday when she was feeling better, trusted her to keep her promise and make of that time one that would help them, not break them apart.

Haseul struggled, so much and for so long, yet she never broke her promise. She tried her best, with all the help she could get to silence the negative voices in her mind and the grey feelings inside her heart. Now she wasn’t back to her old self, but maybe this new version of herself was even better.

Seeing Jungeun today made her whole body warm and fuzzy, like the sunshine could finally reach heart and soul, keeping all the darkness away and giving place to only the good things. No disease or distance could ever make her numb to Jungeun.

“Jungeunnie you are cute!” She mouthed to her, albeit she knew Jungeun couldn’t understand her words, maybe her expression was enough – it was, the blonde broke into a chuckle, covering with a hand before turning back so she could compose herself.

After that Jo was forced to behave, as they waited for the girls’ names to be called and once they were, the group exploded in cheers and clapped like their lives depended on it – Haseul and Sooyoung who had been trying to record everything, as good supportive girlfriends for their respective Kim, nearly dropped the phones and it was a whole mess when Hyunjin tried to outdo them with her own camera.

It was fun and worth all the wait. As she clapped and cheered loudly for Jungeun, Haseul was vibrating with all her pride and love, her red-tinted eyes showing her true emotion as she celebrated that moment that was as important for her as it was for Jungie – even if for different reasons. There was no space for grey, no numbness, just the pure joy of this moment.

Today was a new start for the both of them and she had a feeling it would be a good one.

Jo wasn’t the first to greet Jungeun, it would’ve been impossible going through her parents and all the students and professors. So, she did her best to be patient and wait for the blonde to come to her instead – meanwhile she was crushed by more hugs from her friends and even Jiwoo who had been called first, she hugged Haseul with her impressively strong arms for such a cute girl, making the older girl laugh and whine about the pain in her ribs.

Jungie was the one to find her later.

“Jo Haseul!” Was the greeting she received from her girlfriend as the woman threw aside her black cap and came to her meeting. Red was there again, but on her flustered cheeks that were so high due to the smile she couldn’t hide, caramel eyes brighter with the glint of fondness and love that didn't match her nagging words. “You told me you couldn’t make it!”

Haseul never meant to lie to Jungeun – she just didn’t want to give her false hope in case her confidence once more turned into doubt and all her plans crumbled underneath the negative thoughts that dominated her at times; she was glad it wasn’t the case and she managed to push through. Planning to come back home, for good, was something she had tried to do before, but this time she was finally able to do so.

“Do I look like the kind of girlfriend who misses your graduation?” She tried to joke, waving the flower bouquet – some of the flowers were irreversibly damage by her friends’ enthusiastic hugs, but she knew Jungeun wouldn’t mind it – she had in one hand, a half-smile on her face as she pushed aside any drop of hesitation she still had left and opened her arms to welcome Jungeun. “I told you I would come back when it was time and Jo Haseul never breaks her promises.”

As expected, Jungie ran to her arms like she always did, an embrace that was equal parts desperate and relieved – it’s been so long and they both needed it so much. The warmth and comfort, the unique feeling that was only created when they were together and suddenly their individual colors were able to create a whole rainbow of new ones. “You are an idiot.” Jungeun said, hugging the slightly shorter girl closer, pulling her until she could feel as if her whole world was just Haseul. “I missed you.”

The brunette closed her eyes for a moment, the flowers almost falling out of her grip as she relaxed against Jungeun. The unique scent that was so familiar, the soft skin against her cheek and the blonde hair that was new yet fit her girlfriend so well – the way it all made her feel like she was right where she belonged, in the arms of the person that was her own universe. “I missed you too. Thanks for waiting for me.” This time, she wouldn’t go anywhere.

As the couple hugged and basked in this moment that was only theirs, ten friends watched over them fondly, thankful for witnessing a scene that would mark the rest of their lives.

Twelve seemed like a big number for a group of friends, but for them it was just right.

A/N: “Wth are you here after 84 years?” Well, Haseul is back so I felt like writing a little lipseul…and if nothing changed, there are only like 5 people here, so no one will see it anyway XD

But in case someone do read it, thanks! I have a few other lipseul fics you may or may not want to check out. Anyways, welcome back Haseul!