Ren helps Shuhua carry up two wooden crates. 

Holding her apartment door open, Soojin stares in disbelief, “Just two?”

“The other four are with Nini and Miyeon.”

As he unclasps the lids on the crates, Ren chuckles, “Little Rabbit, I do not think that is what your dearest means.” With a formal bow, he dismisses himself and retreats down the hall in the direction of the stairs.

“It’s not?” Shuhua looks up and stops. 

“He left,” Soojin points to the open door and the hall just beyond as she states the obvious. 

"Oh." Hoisting a ceramic sealed pot out of the crate, Shuhua curiously asks, "Dinner?" 

The food is simple: braised pork over rice with steamed mustard greens. 

“Aunty makes the best braised pork,” Shuhua supplies as she digs through the cupboards for bowls. “Eveline made the rice and mustard greens.” 

Closing the apartment door, Soojin slips into the kitchen. Like a well rehearsed dance, she navigates around Shuhua. She doesn’t ask when she fills two cups: one with water and the other with a cold herbal tea from the fridge. “Is this the same aunty who made the pork paper?” 

“She is,” Shuhua says after swallowing her first bite. The ends of her chopsticks pressed to her lips, she supplies, “Aunty has been with us for as long as I can remember. She isn’t my biological aunty, but my parents have always treated her like family. Her children grew up in our house and they came with us when we travelled.” Sipping the cold tea, Shuhua softens, “She takes such good care of us. We’re fortunate to have someone like her in our family.” 

away the sauce in the corner of her lips, Soojin savours the taste and warm comfortable silence. “Will you tell her thank you?” When Shuhua looks up curiously, Soojin adds, “For the food... And for taking care of you.” Cheeks flush, she averts her gaze and shrugs off the words like nothing more than a casual sentiment. 

“I will.” Shuhua doesn’t make a fuss and only collects the empty dishes with a barely restrained Cheshire smile. “So, what are we watching?” 

Shifting over to the couch, content to let Shuhua amble about the kitchen to tidy and rummage through the cupboards, Soojin shrugs. “I dunno,” her lips transform into a frown as she searches for the remote that isn’t where it should be. 

Plate in hand, teeming with bite sized square pastries, Shuhua absently rummages between the cushions of the couch. “Soyeon has been talking about—”

“No,” Soojin immediately vetoes as she accepts the remote Shuhua procures from the cushions, “Any thing Soyeon talks about is either terrifying or cheesy.” 

Shuhua sets the plate on the coffee table and settles into the couch with open arms, “She recommended the Lion King.” 

“Exactly. And who thought it would be a great idea to find a cat after and re-enact the Pride Rock scene?” Soojin asks as she gracefully plops into Shuhua’s waiting arms, readjusting for several moments before settling on her back with a happy purr. 

“You loved it.” 

“It was cheesy,” Soojin deadpans as she flicks through the list of movies. After a few minutes of aimless browsing, she lets the remote fall. “How do you do it?” Her doe eyes stare up at the underside of Shuhua’s chin. 

“Do what?” 

“This,” one hand motioning to the room around them, Soojin’s voice cracks, “Still have patience with me after I left that night. Knowing things might not work out. That someday you’ll go back to Taiwan and I’ll be here.” 

Sneaking the remote from Soojin, Shuhua turns off the television. “Knowing that I'll return to Taiwan one day and having patience for us are not interdependent events.” Averting her gaze downward, Shuhua massages away the furrow of Soojin’s brow with the tip of her index finger. “You are worth every ounce of patience I have and then some.”

“How can you be so sure?” The pinch in Soojin’s brow returns. 

“How…” Shuhua taps her chin, a pensive gesture, like the words are difficult to find and the execution paramount. “Your eyes, when you dance, they’re like… the eighth wonder. They weave this story that makes words feel silly, like there aren’t enough to capture the experience, you know?” Reaching over, she snags a pastry from the table. She breaks off half to pop in and the other half to feed Soojin. “You mask it, the profound depth you pour into the things you’re passionate about. But it’s there. Just beneath the surface. And when you dance, you let the world see a glimpse.” 

In the hall, the footsteps of a child running down the hall echoes in the living room and its high pitched laughter bounces off the walls. 

“You have fears and doubts,” Shuhua doesn't hesitate to point out. “And where you have every reason to pull back, to settle for something familiar, for the comforts of what you know, you just… You don’t.” Wiping away the crumbs in the corner of Soojin’s mouth, Shuhua tenderly taps the tip of her nose. “You have no idea how captivating it is, to watch the resolve in your eyes, when you’ve made a decision. To search for the truth or to push through despite your fears. And when you sought out Nini? And Miyeon?” Shuhua in and holds a deep breath. 

“Do you and Miyeon tell each other everything?” The exasperation in her voice is the façade to mask the tightness in her chest and the sting in her eyes. 

Shuhua chuckles, “You know, it took me years to warm up to Miyeon. I thought, for sure, she was trying to steal my Nini.” She winks before the playful semblance dissolves into somber remembrance, “Miyeon isn’t perfect. She does things I don’t agree with; things we fight over or don’t talk to each other for days over. She wears these fake smiles for the world and she instinctively treats life like those chess pieces her parents are so obsessed over.” Shuhua reaches out for Soojin’s hand. Turning it over, she traces over every nook and cranny of the flesh. “But when she loves, like really truly, it’s with everything she has. And when that isn’t enough, she stretches a little more.” 

Through the window, the last rays of the sun trickle in, fading pink hues colouring the adjacent wall. 

“Miyeon taught me patience matters. Patience matters for the things that matter. And you Soojin Seo? You matter. A lot.”  

Quiet, Soojin leans over and lifts the plate off the table. Settling it on her ch