Soojin groans as she tries to get Mata to sit still. “Mata, shhh,” she shushes. “Just…”

“Mata?” On the other side of the flat, Shuhua calls. She sounds worried. “Mata?!”

Fingers fumbling with the string, Soojin curses under her breath. Shuhua is shuffling down the hall too fast; opening and closing doors too quickly. 

Soojin lets go of Mata as Shuhua closes the last door. The fluffy, chocolate coloured, dog scurries across the hardwood floor. Her limbs flail and, as she rounds the corner, slides into the baseboards. Before she closes the front door, Soojin can hear Shuhua fuss over the minor collision. 

Foregoing the elevator, Soojin takes the stairs two at a time. By the time she reaches the ground floor, her heart is racing. The sound of her phone makes her jump. One hand over her chest, Soojin answers it. “Hello?” It comes out surprisingly steady given the taiko drums caged by her ribs. 

“ Yah, where are you? ” Shuhua’s voice is loud enough that the concierge chuckles.

“Me? I told you I would be with friends today.” As she passes by the front desk, Soojin bows. Mr. Young bows in return, her late exit a secret kept between them.

“ Are you —” the huff sounds a little too much like Haku, “— I know you did it!”

“Did what?” Soojin feigns innocence.

“ You did the… the…” the words sputter out and Soojin can imagine the flush on Shuhua’s cheeks, “ The thing! ”

“What thing?” 

Whatever Shuhua manages isn’t Korean and cuts out mid sentence. Whether she hung up accidentally in a flustered rage or on purpose, Soojin can’t tell. It’s the fourth time this week though, so Soojin supposes it may just be the latter. 

The entire ordeal started as something silly, something out of one of those trashy magazines Miyeon keeps lying around the apartment. Love notes, or whatever the stupid article called them, left about as surprises for that “special someone”. Because, according to them, nothing says love like a note. 

Soojin thinks it’s silly. She already coo