“Would you like help?” 

“Do you have one that says what’s in my heart?” 

The sales associate sputters, “I-in your heart?” 

“In my heart,” Shuhua repeats. Her eyes are wide in worry as she turns to the associate, hands clutching dozens of cards to her chest. “I—” Her voice pitches like a sail on rough waters, “—It’s important.”

“Well…” Picking up the cards that have fallen on the floor, the woman stacks them neatly to the side. “Why don’t we start with a few questions?” She says as she plucks the ones that are slipping through Shuhua’s grasp. 

Wordlessly, Shuhua swallows. The nods that follow are shallow and rapid. 

“Careful, you might hurt your neck.” The pile of cards on the nearby stand is so high it teeters, “Does what’s in your heart have a name?”

“Soojin.”

“Soojin?” All the cards removed from Shuhua’s grasp, with the exception of the sole card white knuckled in her grasp, the store attendant smiles warmly through her relief. “That’s a pretty name. Is she pretty?”

“The prettiest.”

“What is she like?” 

Shuhua opens . A thousand words threaten to tumble out, but all that rolls out is a wheeze and gasp. 

“O-o-okay,” waving her hands back and forth, the frazzled associate turns to the shelf. “So she’s pretty important, huh?” She tries again, shoulders relaxing when Shuhua proclaims her agreement. 

“The most.”

“Alright, well…” eyes crawling over the picked shelves, the woman suggests, “Why don’t we go with something blank? Something you can fill.”

A blank card is a terrible idea. 

“Still at that, huh?” Yuqi asks curiously as she hovers over Shuhua’s shoulder. 

Shuhua groans, but the wood grains of the table absorb the weight of it and all that trickles out is a childlike raspberry. 

Snatching the card out from under Shuhua, Yuqi furrows her brow. The ink is smudged and barely legible. “Why does this one say she has a nice bo...y?” Her eyes turn down to her friend in disbelief. 

The noise that leav