Another sigh followed by a gentle thud sound coming from a phone being leisurely dropped on the wooden table.

A huff soon followed.

Ansso, being the only person to witness all that, turns her attention towards the source.

“Jihye unnie, why won’t you just call her?”

Jihye sighs, her right cheek pressed against the table. “It’s still about 12 o’clock in the midnight there. As much as I want to, I can’t.”

“I see. How many days left until she could fly back home?”

“About a month.”

Ansso frowns. “Wait, I thought the North America tour would only last for two weeks?”

“There were a lot of another show requests from all the stops in the concert calendar. Apparently, the production crew, producers, and organizers can make all the changes happen. They’re going on a tour, twice, like a round trip, to accommodate the requests.”

“Oh. That big, huh?”

Jihye closes her eyes before sighing. “We’re talking about BLACKPINK here so yes, that big.”

“Makes sense.”

The moment the world starts healing, when things have become much safer for everyone, when a decade-changing virus is eventually being viewed and treated like a regular flu virus — Leejung’s company immediately announces the world tour dates of their biggest girl group; the Global Girl Group on top of that.

Being one of the trusted and most treasured artists of YGX, Leejung was selected to be one of BLACKPINK’s dancers and was given the heavy task of being one of the production directors of almost all the stages.

Due to all the circumstances and given tasks, Leejung and Jihye could barely meet up during the entire span of the concert preparation, specifically, three (3) months. Though they can’t physically meet up on a daily basis like they were used to, Leejung never misses a day or night to check up on her by either voice or video calls.

And Jihye appreciates the time and effort the younger could give her despite having hectic and heavy schedules.

When Leejung sent her the initial calendar schedule of the concert, the North America Tour is the only tour she doesn’t look forward to. In the initial calendar, the entire crew will be on the continent for two whole weeks without any chances of being able to go home.

Two damn weeks.

And worse, from two weeks, it upgraded to one full month.

That would be the longest time the two would be away from each other ever since they became a couple — almost two years ago.

Ansso looks at the door when it slides open, revealing Dolla who’s carrying two take-out paper bags. Ansso immediately took off to help the new addition in the room. Dolla looks at Ansso when Jihye remains unmoving even when the aroma of the food starts occupying the entire practice room.

“What’s up with her?” she asks.

Ansso peeks in to see what she had brought and bought for them. “Leejung.” She casually answers while picking the take-out boxes from the bags.

“Oh.”

The two of them placed the food on the makeshift coffee table where Jihye is slumping herself onto.

Dolla gently pokes the crown of the woman’s head as she sits right across her. “It’s only been two days, Jihye. Jesus, how lovesick can you get?”

“Badly, unfortunately.”

Ansso snickers at that but didn’t say a word and digs onto her food instead.

Dolla could only shake her head. “Get your head off the table. Let’s eat our dinner so we could go home.”

With a huff, Jihye reluctantly removes her head from the table and grabs her phone, once again putting all her energy into stopping herself from texting the younger. Leejung is a very light sleeper and would never put her phone into silent mode even when she sleeps. One text would wake her up and Jihye doesn’t want to disturb her girlfriend after a very long and tiring flight.

So she grabs two plastic gloves and starts eating.

Jihye never was a clingy person, not even to her exes because she has days that she wants privacy for herself so it should be reasonable for her to never ask or demand attention from her partners. However, everything is so much different with Leejung.

She wants to be with her everyday.

She wants to talk to her on a daily basis.

She wants to always be around her.

It’s so weird, it’s so new, it’s so foreign but it feels very liberated.

She once told Leejung about all of it and the younger only chuckled; that angelic sound, smiled; that mesmerizing sight, and told her that she too, feels the same.

Funny thing is that, it seems like they would always agree on things. What Leejung likes, she likes it too. What Leejung dislikes, she dislikes it too. How they’d go in sync most of the time when they are together without even trying nor noticing. Yeojin once told them that what they have is very rare, like soulmates who finally found their other half.

The old Jihye would’ve laughed at that because honestly, she had never felt this kind of great attraction, chemistry, and desire towards someone until Leejung came.

Maybe Yeojin was right, as cheesy as it may sound, she might have probably found her soulmate.

Someone she had been praying to have for so long after so many failed relationships.

Leejung treats her so well.

Leejung makes her happy.

Leejung makes her laugh.

Leejung makes her feel so loved.

Leejung would move mountains to give her what she wants.

Leejung would do everything to keep her out of harm.

Also, Leejung makes her cry.

But it’s not like she doesn’t make Leejung cry.

Nothing is perfect in relationships. Fights and misunderstandings are bound to happen and her relationship with Leejung experienced all of those.

Yes, what she likes, Leejung likes too but there were times when they disagree on things.

And those disagreements would always lead them to trouble.

She doesn’t mind though because it made them stronger. It made them what they are right now.

“Hang in there, Jihye. A month will go by quickly. It always does.” Dolla says, gently patting her friend’s shoulder after she had parked the car right in front of Jihye’s flat building.

Jihye offers a smile. “Yeah. Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“You bet.” Ansso replies.

Jihye gave them a hug before she gets out of the car, she heads straight to the entrance — because Dolla would never drive off unless she’s sure that Jihye’s in a safe zone of the building.

The motion-sensor lights in the foyer of her flat turn on as soon as she gets inside. The door swiftly and automatically locks behind her before she starts dragging her feet inside. The entire flat still smells like her. Leejung practically housed her apartment for a week before she flew out of the country two days ago.

She threw her keys to the countertop, opens her fridge to grab a bottle of drink before she makes her way to her bedroom. Leejung’s scent trail even grows stronger when she’s inside. She hangs her bag somewhere and quickly makes her way to the shower room to get a well-deserved shower. She knows that if she’s going to sit on that bed, it will be hard to get out for two reasons:

One, her body is tired after all the classes she conducted and attended.

Second, Leejung’s scent is stronger on the bed and it would only make her miss the younger.

After showering and getting dressed, she moves back to the living room to make a few phone calls before ending her long day. Her schedule tomorrow would be pretty packed. She will have a brunch meeting with other potential investors because their crew, WAYB, is finally getting their own dance academy and studio, commercial photoshoots and filming by afternoon, and two straight dance classes in different dance academies until 9 o’clock in the evening.

When she’s finally done, it’s already about 12 o’clock in the midnight. And as if on cue, her FaceTime ringtone went off. She doesn’t have to check who it was, she knows. She literally bolted out of the couch and heads straight to the bedroom after turning off the lights.

“Hey.” She softly says, she grabs the pillow — the scent of Leejung’s shampoo soon occupies her sense of smell.

Leejung’s clears , her voice is usually hoarse and slightly on a lower register in the morning and it has become one of Jihye’s favorite sounds to be very honest.

“Hello, beautiful.” Jihye feels her cheeks heating up, Yup, I am this damn simp over this woman. Dang it.

“Good Morning, babe.”

She sees Leejung move, most likely checking her watch to check the time. “Didn’t even notice the time. I just asked Alexa to call you. What time is it there?”

Jihye smiles, feeling very flattered being the person she wants to talk to first thing in the morning. “12 midnight.”

“What? Oh my God. Did I call in the wrong time?”

“Absolutely not. I just got off the phone anyway.”

Leejung rubs her eyes and starts blinking rather hardly, probably still trying to fully wake up. “With who?”

“Dami unnie.”

 “Ah, wait.” She checks her smartwatch again. “The investors meeting will be tomorrow? I mean later?”

“Yeah. 10 o’clock in the morning, we’ll talk about it over brunch.”

Leejung turns to her side. “Nice. Wish I could be there to accompany you.”

“Same but it’s okay, it’s about time for me to start doing it with the others. I’m going to make you proud. I’m going to close that deal.”

Leejung chuckles. “You never fail to make me proud in whatever you do though. So whether you’ll close it or not, I am proud of you.”

She smiles. “You always know what to say, huh?”

“I just know you too well. You’re nervous and that’s normal. You’ll get through it. You closed one deal two weeks ago so this next one should be very easy.”

“Because you were there.”

Leejung laughs. “Let me guess, that’s another attempt of being cheesy, no?”

Jihye shrugs. “Maybe or maybe not.”

Another laugh. “Nice try, babe. But seriously, you can do it. They’d feel and know your intentions. I think very highly of your project proposals, I am sure they’d agree. You can do it.”

Jihye smiles, Leejung’s optimism has been doing wonders in her life. “Thank you. Are you going to have breakfast alone or with the others?”

“With the others. Yeojin unnie already texted me to meet her in the lobby in about 30 minutes. We have early rehearsals today.”

“Oh, then get up and get yourself ready.”

Leejung stretches for a bit and sighs as she stares at the screen.

“What?” Jihye asks.

“I miss you.”

The fast single beat of her heart and the feeling of something dropping in her stomach when Leejung says that instantly made Jihye clutch her chest. “I miss you too, that it hurts.”

She sees Leejung pouts. “Oh, you tell me. I am feeling the same thing too. A month will be quick. We will have at least a week before doing the Europe Tour, can I stay there?”

“Absolutely. Y