Byul drags both suitcases from the bus to the pavement as Hyejin slowly disembarks from the vehicle. She looks groggy and all around unwell. Byul’s worries the other woman might just drop down and faint, but the good thing is, so far it hasn’t happened.

The orange-haired girl huffs as she rolls down to the direction of the hotel, Hyejin lagging behind her. If it’s up to her, though, she’ll carry the woman in the faux fur coat, too. 

Byul is panting when they reach the hotel front. It’s situated in a busy touristy street. Just give it a few hours and most of the tourists will be going back and forth looking for a place to eat and such.

Hamster-looking Byul leans down on her knees to catch her breath, she feels that she’s burned the burgers and chicken nuggets she’s eaten earlier already. Her sister is right, she really needs to workout, even just to have stamina for a five-minute walk. What has she done in this physically-active country in the past two years?

She takes a deep breath and gets up and is face-to-face with the exhausted-looking Hyejin.

“This is the hotel, no?”

Byul is startled and almost stumbles back. She didn’t expect the sudden distance or lack of it from Hyejin’s face to hers.

“Y-yes. So, this is where I leave you, so you can rest. You seem to b-badly need it now.” the orange-haired stutters but tries to keep her composure.

Hyejin gives a confused look that changes to mildly irritated. 

“No.”

“No?” Byul asks, confused.

“You’re not leaving me here. Come on, you talk to the front desk and go with me to my room. This is not the right time for you to be coming back to your place alone. Let’s go.” Hyejin just leaves Byul there with slightly open. 

Hyejin didn’t need to go this far. She’s saved Byul yet again. Going back alone to the apartment that she shared with her sister would just bring her down for sure. Hyejin is so considerate and Byul can’t be grateful enough. She feels like she wants to cry.

“Byul-unnie, come on.” Hyejin calls from the door that she’s still holding open for her.

Byul rushes in to help Hyejin with her luggages and check in.

“Wow, this is a nice room you got Hyejinssi. You even got a view of the city.”

“I didn’t book it for the view, though. I chose this place because I learned online about the old furniture they display and still use here. It’s good to have additional study references while I’m at it.” Hyejin answers sleepily while wiping off the make up from her face.

She suddenly had more energy when she saw the bed and went on to get herself ready to sleep. Byul watching Hyejin do her nighttime routine even though it’s morning kind of amuses her. 

“Oh, you did mention interning at a furniture company. Is it IKEA?”

“Uh, heck no. It's more of a traditional one, you can say. It’s somewhere an art snob gets their furniture because….ugh, nevermind this now, please. I’m tired. Let’s talk about my passion in life tomorrow.”

Byul gets up from the chair she’s sitting in and motions to leave. She’s really glad to have met Hyejin, no matter that there was airport security involved. 

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“Um…Home?”

“What? No. Didn’t I tell you you’ll stay here? Look at you, still puffy from crying. Go wash up and sleep here for now.” Hyejin literally barricades herself between Byul and the way to the door. 

The orange-haired girl doesn’t even think of fighting her way out of this hotel room. She knows Hyejin is stronger than her, in all manner of speaking. So she obeys what the shorter girl tells her to do.

 

The door cracks open a little and then closes again. In the darkness, someone is tiptoeing despite the floor being thickly carpeted.

The mysterious shadow approaches the person wrapped tightly in the duvet, not realizing there’s another one on the other side of the bed.

The suspicious figure slowly straightens their posture and then smirks, ready for the kill. They then pounce on the sleeping person and scream in delight for their successful surprise.

“Hyejiniiiiiiiieeeeee!”  

Wheein wraps her arms around her friend who is still wrapped in duvet and motions to roll them both around. She’s giggling uncontrollably as she’s trying to wake her friend up. 

“Are you still mad at me, Hyegi? Come on, I’ll treat you to the best place in the city and then we can go clubbing. What do you say, baby?” With all her weight on her poor friend, Wheein gets up and sits on this bulk on bed. 

“I’d say, you better get off of her or you might kill her.” 

The voice didn’t come from the person wrapped in a duvet. Instead it came from Wheein’s right, where there was another person sleeping. Wheein turns her head to where the voice came from and gets the startle of her month when she sees that it’s her best friend.

“Hye…” Wheein looks at the figure she’s straddling. “..gi?”

She can’t quite make out who the person is since it’s dark. She just quickly gets off the bed while screaming until her back is on the wall opposite the bed.

“Ahn Hyejin, what the ? You just got here and you’ve already…heck Hyejin.” Wheein, one hand on her chest and one hand pointing to the stranger on the bed.

“Ugghhh…what the?” The stranger groans in discomfort..

“Good morning sleepyhead, did you sleep fine?” Hyejin asks Byul, she really hopes the girl didn’t break anything from Wheein’s pouncing.

“Urgghh, did you just…try to kill me or something? I was dreaming that I was walking on the rings of Saturn and they were made of gummy bears. But then everything started shaking and the gummy bears tried to murder me. They had fangs. FANGS. Gosh, I’ve never been scared in my life…in my dreams, that is. I really felt those hundreds of gummy bears on me trying to snatch bits of my flesh. Brrrr, I won’t be sleeping so well after this.” 

Hyejin wonders how Byul can talk this much just after waking. It’s kind of adorable, if only in moderation. Or whatever, she’s still too sleepy for this. She has to put her best friend on trial for not only not being able to pick her up from the airport but also ruining her precious sleep even after telling her not no.

“Byul-unnie?” Wheein squeaks .She was too speechless to interrupt Byul’s story-telling and she couldn’t believe who she’s seeing on her best friend’s bed. The main character of her plot. Damn it. Also, Hyejin talked to her way too flirtatiously that she can’t tell what’s what.

“Huh? Who’s that? Your friend, Hyejinssi?” Byul frees herself from her duvet cocoon and sits up. She then turns the bedside lamp on and takes her glasses to better see. Wheein?!

Byul is frozen to where she is. She looks from Wheein who looks as confused as she is and whose back seems to be glued on the wall, and to Hyejin who has an unreadable expression looking at Wheein.

She feels as though she’s trapped and starts to feel warm. This can’t be good, whatever this is. She’s already panicking before even knowing what the situation is. The bespectacled university student suddenly feels small. Can the gummy bears from her dreams just swallow her up right now, please?

“Look at what you’ve done, Jung Wheein.” Hyejin throws a death glare to her best friend whose shock is subsiding. And Wheein looks at Byul who seems to have trouble  breathing.

“Hey, it’s okay. You’re safe here. That’s just my stupid best friend, Jung Wheein. You know, the one who was supposed to pick me up but didn’t show up? Come here.”

Hyejin takes Byul in her arms and caresses her hair, comforting her. This seems to calm Byul and it's apparent that her breathing is more even than a minute ago.

Wheein, the onlooker, cannot believe her eyes to what is happening. Yes, her plans now have just shattered to thousands of pieces, but also this? Hyejin comforting someone else like this other than her?

Yes, Hyejin is a kind and giving person despite the cruel first impression most people have of her. She’ll help someone in need in a heartbeat. So no matter the rumors of Hyejin being a snob or sleeping around with multiple partners, or being a terrible person altogether(all of which have no bases and proof), she’s still well-respected among those who know her. And honestly, Hyejin doesn't seem to be bothered by all of people’s ill-intent that could destroy her.

Hyejin is now swaying a bit, like rocking a baby to sleep, which seems to be working ‘cause Wheein can see Byul’s eyes closing and her face looks calm and at peace. That’s Hyejin’s ma