1.

Ding-dong.

Yuna looked away from the phone when she heard the doorbell ring. Were her parents expecting a visitor?

“I'll get it!” she said, driven by curiosity.

She didn't think to look through the magic eye, which added to her surprise when she opened the door to find Shin Ryujin, her girlfriend.

Ryujin gave a flirtatious smile and leaned against the door frame. She ran her hand through her hair and said:

“You're very pretty, are you single?”

“What?”

Ryujin burst out laughing (surely Yuna's face was a poem) and straightened up. That's when Yuna noticed the cane.

“Ryujinie? What…? When…?”

“I'll explain later; right now, I just want to celebrate,” she pointed the cane behind her.

Yuna looked past Ryujin, finding one of the JYP company cars.

“Did you drive?” Yuna asked. She had several unknowns in .

“Yeah, and I've come for us to go for a ride, so go change, sweet sweetie of my heart.”

Yuna shook her head and then burst out laughing. She wasn't going to complain about such a pleasant surprise.

“Okay, okay. Wait in the living room in the meantime,” she said, allowing Ryujin to pass by her. She left a trail of perfume very pleasing to Yuna's nose.

 

---

 

Ryujin sat down on the largest sofa in the living room, whistling softly. She laughed without removing her lips, making her body vibrate with laughter. Yuna's surprised face had been a total delight to her.

“Ryujin, it's been a long time!”

Ryujin stood up at the sound of Yuna's mother's voice.

“Mrs. Shin! It's a pleasure to see you.”

She held out her hand, but Mrs. Shin hugged her. Ryujin held back a gasp of surprise and returned the hug, which lasted a few seconds.

“I guess you're the reason why Yuna came to her room with a big smile on her face,” she said as she unwound the hug.

“Eh... I'd like to assume so,” Ryujin replied, still stunned by the hug. It was not the first time that Yuna's mother hugged her, but the affection transmitted this time was much greater.

“Of course it was! No one else is able to give her that smile.”

Despite being in her forties, the impression Yuna's mother gave Ryujin was that of someone older. Not because of her looks, but because she had a kind look and a soft voice.

Ryujin scratched the back of her head, suddenly self-conscious.

“If you say so…”

“She looks like her face is going to split because she’s smiling so wide,” Mrs. Shin continued in a cheerful voice.

“Mom! Stop it!”

Ryujin and Mrs. Shin looked down the hallway. Yuna had put on a cap, glasses, a black jacket with a pink shirt underneath and sweatpants.

Mrs. Shin rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Okay,” she looked at Ryujin again. “A cane, huh? Before you know it, you'll be walking as usual.”

Ryujin nodded enthusiastically.

“That's the plan, Mrs. Shin,” she said with a smile.

Ryujin and Yuna said goodbye to the woman and left the house. Ryujin put almost no weight on the cane; for short distances it was not necessary.

Yuna buckled her belt as soon as she sat down, and frowned at Ryujin when she didn't do the same.

“Aren't you going to put on your seatbelt?”

“Well, yeah, but after I do this.”

Ryujin leaned towards Yuna, grabbed her chin and kissed her. Yuna inhaled sharply, seemingly caught off guard. Ryujin pulled her chin down, the signal telling her to open . Yuna did so, allowing Ryujin to taste the inside. Yuna put a hand on her shoulder and pushed herself up.

“Ah, ah,” Ryujin said when she noticed what she wanted to do. “Stay there.”

Ryujin pushed her back into her seat and climbed on top of her. The breaths became heavier, and a couple of moans soon came out as the kiss started to get sloppier. Ryujin hunched over and Yuna straightened up, bringing their mouths even closer together, if such a thing was possible.

“We're getting a little out of hand,” Ryujin said when Yuna touched one of her s over her clothes.

Yuna let out a giggle and pulled back.

“Literally and figuratively, we are getting out of hand,” she said.

Ryujin ran her thumb over her lips and said:

“That's the joke.”

She returned to the pilot's seat, combing her hair with her hands. Shaky breaths were all that could be heard in the car for a few seconds.

“Hello, Yuna-yah.”

“Hi, Ryujinie.”

 

---

 

“Only one month!”

“Aha, then I won't have to carry anything,” Ryujin braked at the red light.

Yuna squealed with joy and clapped her hands repeatedly.

“Great, Ryujin! Great!”

Ryujin drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and smiled without peeling her lips. She turned to look at Yuna, who was looking at her with eyes full of excitement.

“I'm so happy for you!” she said, flooding the car with her enthusiasm.

Ryujin thought that, if Yuna had not been trapped by the seat belt, she would have jumped on her to hug her. She seemed to be more excited than Ryujin herself by the news.

“Before you know it, you'll have me by your side again in the practice room,” Ryujin said, stepping on the gas as she saw the light turn green.

“That's going to be a great day.”

“You can say that again, sweetheart.”

 

---

 

Ryujin got out of the car and stood still for a few seconds. She seemed to be scanning the parking lot, where there were few free spots left. She put on her sunglasses and circled around the front of the car.

She opened the door for Yuna and held out her hand.

“Miss?”

Yuna gave her an amused and quizzical look, but accepted the gesture. As on other occasions, the softness of Ryujin's hands pleased her.

“Namsan Mountain,” Yuna said, contemplating the imposing greenish relief.

“Namsan Mountain,” Ryujin repeated. “Last time we started the route the wrong way, so this time I made sure to record the route for myself.”

With that said, Ryujin started walking, ignoring the entrance to the route they entered the last time they went there.

“Did you record the route one hundred percent?” Yuna asked as she stood next to Ryujin.

“Yes,” Ryujin said. “And by 'yes' I mean that I only took a brief glance at the map on my way to your house.”

“You're very methodical,” Yuna said, smiling at Ryujin's attitude.

“It all came to me as soon as I left the office: give me a break,” Ryujin pointed to an entrance on her left. “This is it.”

The first difference of this entrance was that it had a sign indicating that it was an official part of the Namsan tour. They entered, and soon after the city noises were drowned out completely. Perhaps it was too soon to tell, but the path looked a lot like the one they took the first time. Trees on both sides, cement road, a roof of branches that were bare at the time. Yuna had the impression that it was the same as the other one, but no sooner had she thought about it when she realized that to her left was the wall. On her previous visit, it didn’t appear until much later.

“Why this place?” Yuna asked hesitantly.

Yuna was not given to believing superstitions, but she believed that if something bad had happened in a place, it would do no harm to avoid that place in the future.

“I knew you would ask,” Ryujin approached her and intertwined her hand with hers.

Ryujin's fingers were cold, and Yuna guessed hers were the same.

“I should have brought gloves,” she thought. “Then I wouldn't be able to feel Ryujinie's skin, though.”

Maybe cold fingers were no big deal.

“I like to finish what I start,” Ryujin continued. “A video game, a movie, a series.... Even if I don't like them or stop liking them at a certain point, leaving something halfway through bothers me. So…”

“You want to complete the Namsan trail,” Yuna interrupted when she understood where Ryujin was going.

Ryujin gently squeezed her hand.

“That's it.”

“I get it,” Yuna said. “Okay! I like your idea.”

Ryujin let out a fleeting laugh.

“I love your insight.”

Yuna experienced a surge of pride at the comment.

“Thank you.”

“For telling the truth?”

“Well, then I take them back.”

Ryujin snorted.

“Forget it.”

It was Yuna's turn to laugh.

A few bicycles passed by on the path made for them, which was to the left of the couple. Lone pedestrians and groups of pedestrians came and went, not giving Yuna or Ryujin more than a brief glance. Wearing both glasses, wearing black masks and black hair, they gave the impression of being an ordinary couple, not idols.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the area where the National Theater of Korea was located.

“Will there be any beverage stores in this area?” Ryujin asked.

“I guess so,” Yuna took a quick look around the concrete esplanade. She found a place near the Theater where people were coming in and out. She pointed to it.

Ryujin followed her finger. She nodded her head.

“Perfect. Let's go, love.”

Yuna's heart thumped her chest hard a few times. No matter how many times Ryujin called her "sweetheart" or "love", for her it didn't lose the magic, the sweet taste of affection.

“Should I even try to tell you that I'll pay for my coffee?” Yuna asked once they were inside the establishment.

Ryujin shook her head from side to side as she pulled out her card.

“No.”

Yuna smiled sideways and shook her head, in a "what can you do?" gesture.

“I feel different this time,” Yuna said as they sat at a table across from each other.

“So do I,” Ryujin said. “I don't have to keep one eye and half of the other on the people around us.”

Yuna suddenly felt ashamed. She remembered her attitude of that February 14, 2021. That Yuna didn't care that they could be discovered and sink her career, she only cared that Ryujin gave her the attention she thought she deserved, and she only wished the rapper would act like a normal couple.

“Is something wrong?” Ryujin inquired upon noticing her silence.

Yuna shook her head in denial.

“Something's wrong,” Ryujin insisted.

“Of course it's impossible to fool her,” Yuna thought, looking out the window. That didn't stop her from feeling the older girl's inquisitive gaze on her.

“I'm not able to read your mind yet,” Ryujin said. “I'll be there soon, but for now you have to talk to me so I know what's going on.”

Yuna couldn't help but smile at the witticism.

“I just… I remembered how spoiled I was before and I didn't feel like talking,” Yuna said.

“It's normal to have questionable attitudes in life,” Ryujin said. “We all have them. Attitudes that irritate loved ones without realizing it… But as long as you identify them, recognize that they are idiotic attitudes and get rid of them, there's nothing wrong with being ashamed.”

Yuna fixed her gaze on Ryujin. She was drumming her fingers on the side of her glass, from which a small column of steam was still rising.

“Really?” Yuna asked quietly, reluctantly.

Ryujin smiled at her, removing some of her embarrassment. There was only tranquility in that smile. No mockery, no weariness, no anger at Yuna for her foolish thoughts, just the calmness of a mother smiling at her child's question.

“Yes,” Ryujin said. She reached for one of Yuna's hands and it. “In fact, being ashamed proves that you recognize that attitude as a bad one and that you wouldn't like to act like that again.”

Yuna took a sip of her coffee. It warmed her all the way to her stomach.

“I really liked those words,” Yuna thought. They had been darts accurately jabbed into her mental globes called shame.

“I think you're right,” she said smiling.

Ryujin gave her hand a squeeze.

“I always have.”

Yuna let out a snort of amusement.

“Well, that's already questionable.”

 

---

 

They stopped several times to take pictures along the way. The view for Yuna was not very moving (the branches of the trees had no leaves), but it was compensated by seeing Ryujin walk with so much momentum. She walked in such a way that she didn't even seem to rest weight on the cane, and her gaze jumped from side to side, full of life.

Ryujin's gaze was something she hadn't noticed her previous visit to the place either.

“I was too busy thinking Ryujinie would have to be less paranoid,” Yuna thought sourly. How she longed to travel back in time and shake her then-self. She understood that feeling embarrassed was a good sign, but that didn't stop Yuna from getting the urge to squirm at the memories.

The sight of stone steps attached to the wall distracted her from her thoughts.

“Let's go up,” Ryujin said.

There was another path that followed the foot of the wall and Yuna was tempted to suggest they follow that one, but she knew why Ryujin wanted to go up.

“Okay.”

A couple of minutes later, they were at the parapet. There was a noticeable change in the site, which Yuna detected as soon as she climbed up: the battlements were no longer walled up. The sun passed freely between them, leaving patches of shadow interspersed with bright patches on the ground.

“It's better this way,” Ryujin remarked as she walked. “You couldn't see the view of the city before.”

Ryujin stopped in front of a space between the two battlements. Yuna stopped with her, watching Seoul spread out, glorious and modern, before her. The peak of Namsan Mountain lay on the other side of the wall, so it did not deprive Yuna of a good panoramic view.

However, even the view could not distract her from the spot where she and Ryujin were standing. The same spot where they had fought so long ago.

“I'm sorry,” Ryujin said after a short contemplative silence.

“For what?”

“For pushing you that time. You almost fell.”

Yuna remembered the scene. She had closed her eyes to kiss Ryujin, and a second later she was about to fall backwards to the floor.

“You don't have to apologize.”

“I was too abrupt,” Ryujin took off her glasses, narrowing her eyes against the sun.

“I shouldn't have tried to kiss you.”

“No, but it didn't give me the right to treat you the way I treated you.”

“You were nervous that someone might catch us, and I messed with your nerves. I'm sor-”

“No! You already apologized for that. Just accept my apology, please.”

Yuna turned to face her. She took off her glasses.

“How persistent,” Yuna thought.

“Good, I forgive you.”

Ryujin took off her mouthpiece, revealing features lined with relief.

“Great. Now there's only one thing left to do here,” she turned to Yuna and approached her. They stood facing each other, a short distance apart. “Kiss me.”

“Ah?”

“I'm not on guard this time. I'm relaxed and enjoying the moment, so I'm asking you for a kiss to bury that fight forever.”

“You're intriguing,” Yuna thought. However, she wasn't going to oppose her desire.

Yuna took off her mouthpiece and grabbed Ryujin by the chin. She took a quick glance to make sure no one was coming and touched Ryujin's fluffy lips with her own. Although it was delicate, shallow and short, Yuna really liked the kiss.

She looked Ryujin in the eyes as they parted. The sun bathed her features and her smile seemed as radiant as the star itself. Her eyes fully showed the brown they were colored with, and in them there was nothing but calm and, addressed to Yuna exclusively, love.

“We can continue,” Yuna said.

“We still have a quarter or so of the way to go, so yes, let's move,” Ryujin gently squeezed her cheek, earning a small smile from the maknae. “I adore you.”

Yuna realized she was still holding Ryujin by the chin. She moved her hand to accommodate a lock of Ryujin's hair and said:

“I love you so much, Ryujinie.”

They set off, holding hands.

About twenty meters before they descended to the level of the foot of the wall again, the Namsan Tower caught Yuna's attention. It was on the left side of the wall, rising imposingly and beautifully several kilometers up the mountain, at the peak of it.

“I want to go there,” she said.

“Where to, dear? Ah, the Tower. We'll go,” Ryujin put an arm around her hip. “It won't be today, since we have to come looking nice for it, but we'll go. I promise.”

“That's good enough for me,” Yuna said cheerfully.

They went down to the level of the foot of the wall, leaving it to their left. While Yuna had indeed walked the entire Namsan stretch, she had not enjoyed it at all. After her fight with Ryujin, she had walked quickly and without paying attention to her surroundings, the result of her bad mood.

They took several pictures and paused when they found an area with restrooms. Before they knew it, they had reached Baekbeom Square.

“Hooray, we made it,” Ryujin's voice sounded like triumph.

She sat down on a bench at the exit of the mountain and Yuna imitated her.

“I liked it much better than the first time,” Yuna said, leaning back against Ryujin. Ryujin put her arm around her and pulled her to her.

Yuna wanted to snuggle even more, but restrained herself. It wasn't the right place to show so much affection.

“I'll change the grade from 3 to 10,” Ryujin said.

“Wow, a big jump,” Yuna said, watching the cars go by back and forth.

“One point is for the ride itself; the rest is because you accompanied me.”

Yuna didn't want to and couldn't help the big smile of happiness that took over her lips.

“I really love you very much, you know?” she said.

“As much as I love you?”

“More.”

“But I love you infinitely.”

“Me twice infinite.”

“Me three.”

“The cart stayed at the other end of the route.”

“Me five… , it's true!”

Yuna burst out laughing.

“Let's call a taxi.”

 

---

 

“Do you have something to do in the evening?” Yuna asked when they got into the car.

“No.”

“Can I suggest a place to go?”

“Sure, you name it and I'll take us there.”

 

---

 

Yuna ran to the ticket booth without giving Ryujin room to react.

“Two tickets, please,” she said, handing her card to the vendor.

“Hey!” Ryujin shouted. She came with a fast pace and for a moment Yuna feared she would start run, but she kept the same pace.

“Too late,” Yuna said when Ryujin got close enough.

Ryujin scowled at her and gasped softly.

“I was going to pay!”

“You always do, so it's my turn,” Yuna said, staring at the Ansan Starlight's welcome sign.

“Here you go, ladies,” the vendor held out the receipt, which Yuna quickly took and pocketed.

“Let's go,” she said, taking Ryujin's hand and tugging on it.

Ryujin remained grumpy until they reached the inside of the circular square adorned with lights, where she resumed her cheerful countenance.

“That wasn't so hard, see,” Yuna thought with amusement.

“Let's walk the part we missed the first time,” Yuna said.

“That's fine with me," Ryujin replied.

So they visited the parts of the village they missed the first time. Like in Namsan Mountain, being able to hug, kiss and swing their hand intertwined with Ryujin's back and forth made everything better, magical. It was like eating without taste and eating with it, like looking at things with a veil on and seeing them without.

They ended up back in the stone square with chapels around the edges. Yuna's gaze was fixed on the one containing a life-size doll in a wedding dress. It was a pretty dress.

“How will I look in one like that?” she wondered in her mind.

How would she look...?

Yuna glanced sideways at Ryujin, who, if Yuna hadn't gone crazy or delusional, was looking in the same direction as Yuna, towards the dress. Yuna wanted to look away before Ryujin caught her gaze, but she met Ryujin's eyes before she could.

No expression crossed Ryujin's face, and Yuna couldn't read her eyes either. They just stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, as if they had both been caught red-handed. What could Ryujin be thinking?

The one who broke the visual hitch was Yuna. She shook her head slightly and smiled at Ryujin. She moved towards the benches in the center of the square, feeling her cheeks and ears overheat.

Had she really thought about that?

Ryujin sat down beside her and took her hand. She said nothing, contributing to intensifying the strange air around them both. It wasn't a bad stranger, nor was it a good one, just a strange air.

“There's…” Yuna's voice came out very high pitched, so she coughed and cleared before trying again. “There's a place here I want to visit again.”

“L-let's go.”

Ryujin had just locked up?

“What's going on!?” Yuna thought, on the verge of panic.

She stood up abruptly, taking Ryujin's hand with her. Ryujin gasped in pain from the sudden jerk.

“I'm sorry, Ryujinie, I didn't mean to!” Yuna Ryujin's arm frantically.

Since she was using the cane with her right hand, it was her left hand that she used to grab Yuna's hand.

“Did I hurt your shoulder?” asked a worried Yuna.

“My shoulder healed a hundred percent months ago,” Ryujin reminded her. “It's like brand new.”

“Yeah, but… Well, nothing. Let's go.”

 

---

 

The sun had set a few minutes ago, allowing the night to take over more and more of that part of the world.

Once the pair reached the light-covered tunnel, Yuna allowed herself to take the strange sequence of the square out of her priority thoughts.

“Is it good for you to walk so much?” Yuna asked. She wanted to slap herself for not asking sooner.

“My physiotherapist said it's best for me to exercise my leg again as soon as possible,” Ryujin explained as they walked deeper into the tunnel. “That includes walking, squats…”

“Ah, good,” Yuna said. “Don't skip a day of training.”