joohyun swats at her nose, tickling feeling that awakened her disappears. someone close to her giggles and she frowns, trying to remember if she locked the doors last night. was this an intruder? she should probably check if no one else is at her flat but she's so damn tired after the shift she had at work that she couldn't be bothered to. the tickling reappears and she scrunches up her nose.

"joohyun ah," someone whispers. "wake up."

"mm, no."

"joohyun ah," they kiss , puckering their lips.

joohyun slowly opens her eyes, frown in place.

"seungwan." she says as if she's surprised she's here.

the two of them have been living together for a year now after getting together three years ago. seungwan was still in uni when they met, little cute thing with a backpack that is too big for her. joohyun was simply asking her the time at the bus station and seungwan was a goner. she followed her everywhere like a lost puppy, asking if she could help her with anything. later she ended up taking an internship at a company joohyun works at. everyone teased them there. she always, of course jokingly (joohyun insists), called joohyun a goddess but joohyun only laughed it off.

they started dating when seungwan with sudden spurt of courage asked her out for diner. joohyun was so surprised that she ended up agreeing. it was a romantic night, they had a great time as much as seungwan was out of her place at the nice restaurant, being there only few times. it didn't matter. joohyun had a car with her but she let seungwan walk her home like a lovesick puppy. they kissed goodnight and the rest was history.

it wasn't easy though, their relationship. both of their parents were concerned where this relationship was going; joohyun's mom simply refused to acknowledged it, saying they were friends, rather than lovers. when it started both parties were against it, not wanting that kind of life to their kids. seungwan's parents are a lot more understanding now after spending some time abroad by themselves. her sister calls joohyun sister-in-law even though they are not married.

joohyun thinks she misses her mom the most.

"so, last night was fun." seungwan says coyly, looking at her through her eyelashes.

the memories rushes back of silk scarves, candlelit bedroom and sweaty bodies. joohyun smiles.

"it was, wasn't it?" she pulls seungwan closer to her in bed. "wouldn't mind a repeat actually," she says snaking her hand underneath seungwan's shirt.

"i can't." seungwan escapes her grasp. "i have to go to work."

joohyun pouts, whining as she stands by the bed, not letting her touch anymore.

"did you eat?" she stretches.

"yes, yes. i did everything don't even ask." seungwan fixes her shirt, then looks at the mirror in their bedroom. joohyun watches as she's getting ready. today is joohyun's free day and as much as they tried to get the same long weekend, seungwan's boss just didn't have it. joohyun was stuck on being alone. it was one of the things she didn't like the most - being alone. usually, the two of them have similar schedules, even their bosses are somewhat demanding the same way that they both have to work longer the same amount as other.

"i'm going." seungwan leans down to kiss her. "i love you so much."

"i love you too." joohyun smiles sweetly. "have a safe trip."

"i will!" seungwan grins over her shoulder as she leaves the room.

joohyun waits in the bed, listening to the sounds of seungwan putting on shoes. she hears her take her briefcase and grunt as she picks it up. joohyun rolls her eyes, she told her a thousand times to carry fewer things or she'll hurt her back, but she never listens.

"bye!" seungwan yells and leaves the flat.

joohyun prepares for her day. she looks at the clock, it shows her that it's just a time for seungwan to leave. she gets up from their bed, shivering as cold room air touches her bare skin. joohyun takes her time getting dressed though, it doesn't bother her. it just makes her remember last night's events. she and seungwan are closer than ever, she can't be happier. seungwan is perfect, does everything right. it seems that joohyun can't catch up to her, but she tries. today she'll cook her perfect dinner, so that she can enjoy herself after coming home from work.

she steps into the bathroom and turns on the lights. all the things that are there of theirs, like their lives are intertwined. it's hard to say who's thing is whose. imagine someone spending their time dismantling everything, it would take days.

she is quick in washing up and brushing her teeth; she's brushing her hair when someone rings their doorbell. she shakes her head, thinking that seungwan forgot something and forgot the keys on top of that.

joohyun opens the door to a huge fruit basket.

"h-hi!" someone behind it says and then proceed to drop it to their feet because their weak arms couldn't hold it anymore. "hi." she huffs.

"hello." joohyun slowly says, slightly confused.

"i'm your new neighbor." suddenly she perks up, acting like miss korea. "joy! i'm joy and i can be your joy." she starts speaking english.

"no, thank you." joohyun deadpans.

"oh well." joy waves it off. "this is for you." she gestures at the fruit basket.

"oh, you shouldn't have."

"i should have," joy shakes her head. "this is pre-apology. you see, i like parties and i like to have people over if you know what i mean." she winks then continues on speaking, "there will be a lot of noise coming from my place, so this is pre-apology for that."

joohyun only manages to say, "okay." to such an energetic woman.

"i knew you'd understand, unnie." joy grins.

"d-do you want to come in?" joohyun asks, hoping that joy has plans already.

"sure!" joy says and steps past joohyun to get inside. "your place looks like mine."

"well, we are in the same building after all." joohyun says dryly as she looks down at the fruit basket. she leans down to pick it up and does so with much difficulty. moving it to the open kitchen's counter she set it there with a huff all the while joy looks around their place.

"where did you move from?" joohyun asks just to be friendly.

"jeju island, but i was already here before that. i was living in the dorms now i graduated."

"congratulations."

"thank you, unnie." she smiles big. "i don't really have friends around here, it's great that you're here."

"we talked for literally few seconds."

"but, unnie, i can tell that you're a person i can trust," she says and walks over, sitting down on the barstool that seungwan wanted to have no matter what.

"that's strangely touching." joohyun blinks at her.

"what are your plans for today?"

"ah, i was about to go to the grocery store." she looks at her wristwatch.

"can you show me where it is?" joy asks excitedly, leaving joohyun to stare at her in a deadpan.

"there's pre-school." joohyun points for her.

"unnie, with your backpack on you look like you belong there."

"i'm leaving you, have fun searching for a grocery store by yourself."

"your legs are too short to run away from me." joy grins wildly.

she's so full of life, no one has that much energy these days, it's refreshing to see. she's comfortable herself, she doesn't hide from anyone. who in their right mind just tags herself along with her newly met neighbor? she's out of this world.

"we're not far anyway."

"unnie, are you dating?"

"yes." joohyun nods.

"lucky. everyone wants just hook-ups these days." joy sighs sadly.

"you said you liked it."

"well, not really. i want both." joy says. "you know with someone you love is infinite times better."

"you're young, you'll meet someone."

"don't look down on me just because i'm young, i've loved before, you know?" she pouts.

"i'm not looking down on you." joohyun says, awkwardly. she's just awkward as a person. "i know what you mean. i've never been happier than i am now with my partner."

"right?" joy agrees. "i remember the feeling... you never really forget your first love, right?" joy says.

"i don't really-"

"you don't remember your first love?!" joy stops walking.

"i don't know." joohyun shakes off the question. her first love hadn't ended that well, she'd rather not remember it.

"whatever, what are you making anyway?" joy changes the subject.

"soft tofu stew."

"can you teach me how to make it?"

joohyun feels a headache coming on.

joohyun spends the whole day showing joy how to make dishes; the girl is hopeless, she probably never stood in the kitchen before in her life. how has she managed to live so far is beyond joohyun? suddenly a motherly instinct she didn't know she had kicked in and she started showing joy everything she knows, or at least the basics.

they were sitting, exhausted on the barstools, side by side when the front door opened.

"oh, my partner just came back from work." joohyun lifted her head from her hand. she stood