“What are you…” The way Soojin pouts is childlike, “Are you and Soyeon conspiring against me now?”

“No, no, no!” Shuhua waves her hands frantically. It takes her four steps to close the gap between them and envelop Soojin in a smothering hug. “We’re not.” Leaning back, she pokes the dimples that mark Soojin’s cheeks. “I’m sorry, the other day, I should have asked you to wait until I could explain things when we were alone.”

“Alone?” Soojin asks, following Shuhua as she backpedals toward the table. Her head tilts, features drawn in bewilderment. “Why?” 

“In New York, few people recognise my family name. Which means I can do things here that, overseas, I’ll never be able to do. Like walking places or shopping for my own groceries.” Shuhua swings their interlaced hands between them, “But that doesn’t mean I’m invisible and people aren’t listening.”

“So here is better because?”

The way Shuhua chuckles is light and airy, filled with an energy absent in the previous weeks. “Because this is the reason I could come to America as early as I did.” Kissing the back of Soojin’s palm, Shuhua beams brighter than the sun. “And meet you.” 

“Oh.” The cherry tint to Soojin’s cheek stretches from the tips of her ears to the base of her clavicle. 

Like a child, Shuhua hops up on the table. “Initially, I wanted to apply for a working visa. I wanted to help Nini and Miyeon with the company. We’d all invested in it, after all, and I missed them so much.” Her feet swing like pendulums, “But because I was fifteen, the government refused to consider my application.”

Tilting her chin toward the hall that is an offshoot of the room, Shuhua continues, “Dr. Huang is a childhood friend of baba and he agreed to accept me into his doctoral program. I didn’t want to come to New York to study, but he let me build a thesis around the practical application of minority cultures in market development which…”

“Which?” Soojin encourages after several moments of silence. Her thumbs rub circles on the tops of Shuhua’s thighs. Ever so slightly she leans in. “Shuhua?”

Shuhua melts under the ministrations. “Oh uh—” she clears and scratches at her cheek, “—Which means I have my obligations to Dr. Huang and the university, but I can do what I originally wanted to do as well.” Her lips curl in a prideful smile. 

“Which is to help Nicha and Miyeon build their not so broke and busted empire?” Soojin clarifies. 

“Which is to help Nicha and Miyeon build their not so broke and busted empire,” Shuhua repeats. The cheer in her eyes waver and her lips take a subtle downward turn, “Which explains the “technically” part.” 

The