Some hours later Sowon woke up, she was feeling warm and realized she was in Eunha’s arms. The short girl was still sleeping but as Sowon moved a bit to get her phone and check the time Eunha started to wake up.

“You okay?” mumbled Eunha and Sowon nodded.

“Better now.” she smiled and gave a quick kiss to Eunha’s lips. 

Eunha opened her eyes a bit surprised by that sudden kiss but smiled as she saw Sowon’s pink cheeks. Sowon freed herself to grab her phone.

“What time is it?” asked Eunha sitting up in her bed and looking around. 

It was already dark outside but not pitch black. “It’s 8pm” said Sowon, putting down the phone and moving back closer to Eunha, resting her head on the girl’s thighs.

Eunha caressed Sowon’s hair and they both relaxed. They suddenly heard a light knock on the door and Sowon jumped, she was about to move away but Eunha put her hand on her shoulder to calm her.

“It’s okay.” she said before looking at the door still closed. “Yes dad?”

“The soup is ready.” just said the man from the other side of the door.

“We are coming.” she said louder and they heard the steps walking away.

Sowon sighed in relief.

“It’s time to eat.” said Eunha and they stood up. They walked out of the room, it smelled really nice. The man was setting the table and Sowon went to help him. He smiled at her.

“You okay?” he asked his hand on her shoulder gently. Sowon nodded.

“It’s still a mess in my head and I’m still on the edge of crying anytime but I’m feeling better being with you two right now.” said Sowon and the man smiled at her.

“Good, let’s eat then.” he said, putting the soup on the table. “It’s nothing much but I thought it would warm our hearts and body right now.” he said and Sowon smiled at him.

“It smells very good.” she said as she sat down and gave her plate to the man who served her then Eunha and himself. They all sat down and started to eat. It was true that it was very good and so warm. Sowon was feeling good, it really warmed her inside, she looked at Eunha who gave her a little smile.

They talked, well it was mostly Eunha and her dad talking together, Sowon was listening to them and smiling at their cuteness and beautiful complicity.

Sowon stayed the night with Eunha then as Eunha went to work the next morning Sowon went back to her house.

As she entered her mother’s house she was feeling cold and sad again. Everything around her reminded her of her mother. In a way she wanted to get rid of everything but at the same time she just couldn’t, it was what was left of her mother, the last stuff that would remind her of her mother.

Sowon just sat on the couch and hugged her mother’s blanket, it smelled her mother’s perfume. Sowon closed her eyes as tears started to run on her cheeks. She hugged it tighter and cried more into the blanket…

The following days Sowon stayed at her house, Eunha was at her work so Sowon focused her mind on Eunha’s dad’s case. She kept working on it and met with her teachers. The woman and her husband were in a city close to where Sowon lived as they visited their family for christmas.

They met in a nice coffee shop and Sowon explained to them the case, the teacher was encouraging Sowon as she did a really good job, the teacher‘s husband also gave some good advices to Sowon and they agreed to work on it officially and help her bring the case back to the tribunal.

Luckily for them the procedure would be quick, when Sowon started talking to the other employers in the same situation than Eunha’s dad one of them contacted a lawyer and they bring back the case open. Sowon contacted the lawyer and they all worked together.

It took some days but the trial was scheduled for the first week of january. Sowon declined all her friends' invitation for the new year's party as she focused only on this trial approaching. Keeping her mind into this was helping her not think about her mother and it was making her feel good, she was helping people, doing some good action for them.

After not seeing her for some days, Eunha stopped by Sowon’s place. The short girl was worried, she would message Sowon everyday but the tall girl was always quite busy and they didn’t see each other in real life for some days now. Eunha knew what Sowon was doing, she was keeping her mind at work to forget her pain and sadness and she knew it wasn’t all good because Sowon may break down again once the case is over.

She knocked on the door but didn’t get any answer, she hesitated but could see lights inside, she took her keys and opened the door.

“Sowon?” she called inside the house. “It’s me.”

“I’m working.” answered Sowon from her room. Eunha walked in that direction, she stood at the door frame and smiled.

“Maybe it’s time for a little break, you will exhaust yourself with this…” said Eunha and Sowon looked at her.

“It’s important Eunha.” said Sowon and Eunha sighed.

“Of course but your health is important too.” said the short girl walking in and approaching the tall girl. “Did you eat today?” she asked, seeing the cup of coffee half finished on the desk.

“Not yet.” said Sowon and Eunha frowned.

“Do you know what time it is?” asked Eunha now and Sowon frowned too.

“Not really.” she said, turning some pages of a law book.

Eunha put her hand on the book and Sowon looked up at her. “Eunha please…” said Sowon but Eunha shook her head.

“You need a break, Sowon.” said the short girl.

Sowon took her phone and realized she spent all day on this chair, working. She hadn't eaten since her morning coffee and it was now almost time for dinner. She sighed and looked at Eunha, the short girl looked a bit tired. She was doing a lot of overtime these days to compensate for the days she took to help Sowon with the funeral and everything else…

Sowon felt guilty, she stood up and faced Eunha, she took her in her arms and hugged her tightly. Eunha hugged her back and rested her head against Sowon’s chest.

“I missed you…” mumbled Eunha, hugging the tall girl strongly.

“Missed you too…” answered Sowon not letting go.

Sowon looked down and smiled, she kissed Eunha on the top of her head, the short girl looked up smiling and Sowon kissed her lips. While kissing Sowon turned Eunha around and pushed her against the desk, Eunha sat on the desk and lifted herself a bit more making her a bit taller now, she was almost at Sowon’s height. They kept kissing, lips into lips, tongue caressing each other, savoring a good moment as they both missed each other.

Sowon’s hands on Eunha’s hips slowly slided under the short girl’s shirt touching the soft and warm skin. Sowon went for Eunha’s neck, kissing her with passion, enjoying each second of this. Eunha bent her head back and put her hands on the desk desperate to find something to hang on as Sowon was devouring her neck. She put her hand on a pile of books who fell down in the intense process.

Sowon moved away to look at the books on the floor then at Eunha all flushed and panting. Sowon swallowed, Eunha looked so damn pretty and so hot like this. Sowon went against her again and kissed her again. Eunha’s arms went around Sowon’s shoulders and her legs intertwined with Sowon’s.

Sowon smiled in the kiss, she gripped Eunha’s thighs and pushed herself more against Eunha. Their bodies pressed together. As the kissing turned into a full hot make out session, Sowon let hands caress Eunha’s thigh, the short girl was in a cute dress. Sowon lifted the dress up to have more skin to explore. She felt Eunha slowly move against her, their thighs pushing into each other. Eunha moaned into Sowon’s mouth and the tall girl smiled. She loved this, she enjoyed this so much, she wanted this so bad, she wanted more, more of Eunha. 

Sowon moved away and pulled Eunha by the arm to guide her to the bed, she pushed Eunha slowly to make her lay on the bed. Sowon looked at her, all flustered and breathing heavily, she looked so y.

Sowon moved closer and kneeled on top of Eunha, she was about to kiss the short girl again when her phone rang.

Sowon sighed and moved away. Eunha didn’t move, she sighed heavily too and looked at the ceiling trying to calm her heartbeat while Sowon answered her phone.

It was her teachers, they wanted to meet with her the day before the trial. Sowon agreed it would be better to check everything before the day of the trial and make sure her strategy was all set. While Sowon was talking on the phone Eunha sat in the bed, she looked at Sowon still blushing and shook her head as she stood up and pulled down her shirt correctly. She passed by Sowon and put her hand on the lower back of the tall girl who looked at her confused.

“Where are you going?” she mouthed to her and Eunha smiled.

“Kitchen.” she just said and Sowon nodded before continuing her talk on the phone with her teachers.

Once she was done Sowon sighed loudly. She already missed Eunha’s touch. She had missed the girl so much those past few days but that trial was very important and Sowon would rather keep her mind on work than think about her life, her house, and her mother’s loss.

She put down her phone on her desk and walked out of the room, she found Eunha sitting on the kitchen counter, her phone in hand.

“So?” asked Sowon, facing her.

Eunha looked up and smiled again. “I'm ordering some take out, you have nothing in your fridge.” she said and Sowon looked down.

“With everything happening I didn’t buy groceries… the last time was with you for christmas…” confessed Sowon and Eunha bit her lips.

“You have to take care of yourself Sowon…” said Eunha sincerely. “I know this trial is very important, and I’m so glad you decided to do it for my dad and his coworkers but I need to be sure you are fine too… I need you to take control of your life…” said Eunha with a small voice. 

“I know Eunha but it’s too difficult to let go so soon…” said Sowon and Eunha nodded.

“I don’t want you to let go completely, I just need you to be you so I can count on you too when I need someone…” confessed Eunha and Sowon looked down. She got closer and hugged Eunha.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a burden recently.” said Sowon but Eunha shook her head.

“That's not what I mean Sowon…” started Eunha but Sowon cut her.

“I know Eunha, you’ve been so strong for us both recently and I get it, it’s tiring and exhausting and you need me this time, you need me to be strong for you too…” said Sowon and Eunha slowly nodded as tears felt from her eyes. Sowon hugged her again. They both rested into each other’s arms till the doorbell rang.

Sowon slowly let go of Eunha and smiled at her. “I promise that I will be better for you, I will be strong and you can count on me to be myself again Eunha.” said Sowon as she offered her hand to help Eunha get down the counter.

Eunha smiled at Sowon and kissed her lips quickly before walking to the door to get the food.

They got comfortable on the couch and started eating, then Eunha stared at Sowon.

“What?” asked the tall girl grabbing a napkin to wipe her face. “Do I have food all over my face?” she asked, smiling and Eunha shook her head. “Then what is it?”

“You are just so pretty.” said Eunha and Sowon blushed, she bit her lower lip, feeling her heartbeat going faster in her chest. Eunha was still staring at her and Sowon felt like she could die under this intense gaze.

“Stop this and just eat.” said Sowon, focusing on her food again.

Eunha giggled. “You are even cuter when you’re all shy.” she said before continuing to eat too. “So…” started Eunha more seriously now. “Did you think about the New Year's Eve party the girls told you about?” asked Eunha and Sowon sighed.

“I don’t have the head into partying or anything, I need to stay focus on work.” said Sowon but Eunha frowned.

“Sowon, you need a break, it could be fun, our friends really want us to spend some nice time together… and maybe we could tell them clearly what’s going on between us…” said Eunha even more seriously but unsure. “I don’t want to lie to them anymore, they deserve to know that we… that we are more than friends that we kinda always been…” said Eunha looking at Sowon waiting for her answer.

Sowon stayed silent, she was thinking about that. Eunha looked at the tall girl expectantly but Sowon didn’t say anything.

“Sowon…” started Eunha again as she stood up and started gathering the stuff on the table to put them away. “I don’t want to live this lie again and end up being hurt again… I want us to be clear… clear about our feelings.” she said as she walked to the kitchen while Sowon was still silent. Eunha approached the table again but she didn't sit back, she put her hands on the chair back and looked at Sowon.

The tall girl sighed. “It’s not so simple, Eunha…” she breathed out and Eunha frowned.

“What’s not so simple, you… you love me right?” she asked and Sowon nodded.

“Of course I do, always have…” 

“So what’s wrong about telling our friends..?” asked Eunha again and Sowon stood up too.

“It’s too soon, we… we didn't even decide what we were exactly Eunha… I… I don’t know how all this will turn out, I came back some weeks ago it was so fast…” explained Sowon as she looked down.

Eunha bit her lips. “Too soon?” she asked and Sowon looked up at her. “Too soon.” she repeated, clearly mad now. “We suffered for years, Sowon, for years!” she said, taking a step closer to Sowon who swallowed hard. “We hid our feelings and we were scared and ended up hurting each other so badly and now, now that we finally came clear, you aren’t sure about us, about what we are and how this thing between us will turn out…”

“It’s not exactly what I mea-”

“Please.” cut Eunha frowning. “That’s exactly what you are saying Sowon, you made me believe we finally found each other but you are clearly not loving me enough or you wouldn’t even wonder about all this…” she said as she shook her head, trying to hold her tears as she walked away and left the house.

Sowon sat back as she heard the front door slamming hard. She massaged her temples and sighed, she also had tears in her eyes. What has she done…? she wondered, she had pushed Eunha away again, maybe for good this time and for what? Sowon wasn’t sure…

In the next few days Sowon didn’t hear or see Eunha at all and it was breaking her heart. She missed the girl so much but she knew it was maybe better, she would never be good enough for Eunha… She focused her mind on her work, she didn’t show up to her friends’ new years party and was surprised to see Umji by her door the day after the party.

“Hey.” smiled Umji as Sowon opened the door. It was late in the afternoon and Umji was looking sleepy, the party probably lasted all night and Umji only woke up recently to come see her.

“Hey.” said Sowon as she let Umji enter her house. “What brought you here?” asked Sowon as they walked to the living room.

“I just wanted to check on you, see how you were doing, we barely got any news from you since your mother’s funeral…” said Umji as they sat down in the living room. “And you declined our invitation and never showed up…” she said sadly and Sowon nodded feeling a bit guilty.

“I had a lot of work.” she said and Umji nodded understanding. “The trial is in 2 days now and I’m really stressed, tomorrow I have an appointment with my teachers and some other lawyers for the case to make sure we are all ready and I’m scared to up everything like I always do…” said Sowon sincerely and Umji bit her lips.

“You mean like with Eunha…?” she asked and Sowon looked at her confused and scared. “I mean, you had a fight right? Eunha was kinda down for days and when we asked her if she convinced you to finally come to the party she got mad and… and we could all see something was wrong…” said Umji and Sowon looked down.

“It’s complicated…” said Sowon, playing with her fingers.

Umji sat closer to her and took her hand in hers. “Look, we are all friends, we have known each other for years now… but we also know that Eunha and you are best friends, the strongest friendship of us all.” said Umji sincerely. “You two are like a package deal and your relationship kinda touches us all because when you are sad, or mad at each other we all feel so powerless because your friendship has always been so intense that we never knew how to help you guys…” explained Umji and Sowon blushed a bit. “You both would never let us in to understand what was going on and how to support you guys,  and now we feel powerless again…”

Sowon swallowed hard. “Eunha and I… we… we are…” started Sowon but the words were stuck in , she wanted to explain to Umji but she was unable to say it, she didn't know how to express it. She hesitated but she needed to let Umji know, her friend deserved to know so she took a deep breath and just said, “We are way more than best friends…” Sowon looked down shyly and sighed loudly, it was out, she felt better in a way but terrified too. “Eunha and I had feelings for each other, kinda always had, and that’s why our friendship is so messy and ed up…” said Sowon waiting for Umji reaction but the girl just smiled at her.

“So you are finally saying it…” she said and Sowon looked at her confused. “We all kinda knew but never wanted to assume anything as neither of you said it or talked about it.”

“So you guys knew…?” asked Sowon frowning.

“Kinda, like I said we could see you two interact, we saw your love for each other but also how you broke each other’s heart, especially Eunha… when you left she was really broken… it kinda confirmed it for us, no friendship could hurt like this, only love could… but Eunha never said anything, she suffered it all on her own… and now it’s like it’s happening again…”explained Umji calmly.

“It’s not happening again, I’m just confused, so many things happened and I… I have to think about it, I can’t just act on my feelings you know, there’s so much more to look for and think about…” explained Sowon sincerely, she was lost and scared, she loved Eunha and wanted to be with her but she also had a life at the other end of the country, she had her school and her studies, her diploma… her teacher kept telling her about the next mid exams and how she needed to succeed to finally graduate… Sowon’s futur and all her hard work for her career would finally pay off. It was her last year, but for this she would have to leave again and she wasn’t sure that she wanted it anymore. 

Sowon was stuck, feeling trapped and scared. She always wanted to become a lawyer and working on the factory case made her love the job even more, she was doing good, she was fighting for people that need it, it was her dream, and even if her mother wasn’t here anymore she still wanted her to be proud… on the other hand, there was Eunha, her sweet and lovely Eunha, she wanted to be with her, start their life together finally, Sowon wanted to live with her and wake up every morning with Eunha, she wanted this nice perfect life she knew they could have together… but her lawyer career wouldn’t be so useful, it was a very small town she was sure she wouldn’t gain much working here and she couldn’t ask Eunha to abandon everything she had here to follow her in a bigger city.

So Sowon was stuck, stuck in her thoughts, wondering what to do and as she kept thinking she realized that time passed and that the day after the trial she would have to pack and go back to school if she wanted to be on time and ready for her exams coming up.

She couldn’t ruin all those years away to study but she also couldn't see herself away from Eunha anymore, she wasn’t sure she could spend the rest of the year till her final exam and her graduation away from Eunha.  

Umji put her hand on Sowon’s and smiled at the tall girl. “You guys will find a way to be happy together, I’m sure.” she said and Sowon nodded even if deep down she was still unsure.

The day of the trial arrived faster than Sowon expected, she kept her head into the case and didn’t see time pass. It was maybe better than thinking about Eunha who didn’t contact her since she left her house mad and didn’t answer Sowon’s calls anyway.

Sowon knew Eunha would be here for the trial, the girl would support her dad and be here for him today. Sowon arrived way earlier, she was stressed but also excited. Everything was ready, they all finished the last preparation for their defense during the meeting the day before. Sowon and the other coworkers' lawyers and her teachers planned everything perfectly, there was no way they would lose this case.

As it was time her teachers arrived and they entered. As Sowon took place, Eunha’s dad arrived and her teachers sat behind them on the first row. Sowon greeted her client and looked over her shoulder, she hoped she could have talked to Eunha before the trial, she wanted to apologize, to tell her she loved her and that she was sorry. They could have talked to their friends a long time ago, Sowon was feeling so stupid. Eunha was right, they hurt each other so much, they needed to talk and if Sowon wanted to fix it she would need to open up and let Eunha know about her doubts and her dilemma.

More people entered, Eunha’s dad’s ex coworkers and their lawyers, they would be witnesses and would need to talk about how the new owners of the factory treated them, they sat beside Sowon’s teachers.

More people arrived and filled the room, the factory owners and their lawyers, and some family members from both sides of this case.

“Is Eunha coming?” asked Sowon to Eunha’s dad who nodded.

“She will be there soon, she said that she needed to stop by SinB’s place first.” he explained and Sowon nodded.

The judge entered and everyone stood up. He sat down and made everyone sit, Sowon heard the door and saw Eunha entering, followed by all their friends, they sat in silence and the judge opened the trial…