Two months pass by before she knows it and Yerin finds herself at the doorstep of the landlady’s home, her bags packed in a pile beside her. Said landlady was handing her a box of homemade snacks for her to take back during her journey which Yerin received gratefully. They make idle chatter while waiting for the taxi that she called that was supposed to take her to the subway.

“It’s good to know that you and your parents have finally made up.” the landlady tells her, “It’s hard enough living alone, especially without the support of your family.”

“I only managed to survive because you’ve been kind to me all this time, ahjumma.” Yerin grins, “I guess it was just a matter of time until they realize how immature they were being.”

The older woman sighs in disappointment, “It can’t be helped that people act this way. In the end, it’s all up to the person if they want to change for the better and I’m happy that’s the case with your family. You, on the other hand, will you be okay?”

Said woman smiles, but fails to reach her eyes, “I’ll be fine. It was just a matter of time after all.”

“It’s just such a pity that you’ve been waiting for so long.”

“Well… the circumstances have changed, unfortunately.”

As if on cue, a taxi finally pulls up beside her and she confirms that it was the one she called. After loading all her luggage into the trunk, she turns once more to the landlady and bows lowly in gratitude.

“Thank you so much for taking care of me for the past months. I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me.”

“You just be sure to take care of yourself, alright? Have a safe trip.”

“I will.” Yerin smiles and finally gets in the car. Before the taxi takes off, she rolls down the window and bids her farewell, finally zooming off after.

The landlady watches the car turn a corner and completely disappear from her sight. A sigh escaping her lips as she realizes that she’s never thanked the woman for what she’s done.

Her building’s resident ghost has always been the topic amongst its residents, but none of them bother because they weren’t affected and her acts of mischief were privy to only that particular room. If Yerin hadn’t come along, she would have had no choice but to turn it into a storage room and perhaps angered the girl, but because of her such issue has been solved with no problems not to mention that they managed to drive away the actual troublemaker in the building.

It’s a shame that Yerin had to leave.

She’s heard of the situation from her former tenant, that their resident ghost has returned to her body, however she hasn’t woken up despite all the waiting that Yerin did. And due to circumstances for the past week, she had been busy trying to keep up with her everyday problems until she was forced to finally give up the room and head back home to her family. It was quite a sad story, and the landlady couldn't help but feel bad for the both of them.

Seeing how Yerin looked very happy whenever she talked about the girl, she could tell that the woman held a special place in her heart and that their relationship was more than what they make it out to be.

Nevertheless, things happen for a reason.

Due to Yerin’s departure, she’s once more inclined to clean up the room for the next resident. She can only hope that the next resident would take good care of the place as it now had quite a sentimental value for her.

After calling the cleaners and getting in the lift to do a small inspection, she heads down the hallway towards the now vacant room so that she can note what the cleaners needed to do to get the place prepared for the next resident, but she stops in her tracks when she notices the door ajar.

Which was weird considering that they had made sure it was closed.

Yerin had already cleared out the room of her belongings so there shouldn’t be anything valuable within but one can never know what goes in the mind of burglars who crave for anything worth selling.

Gripping her cane in both hands, she cautiously approaches the door, leaning her head in to take a peek on who the intruder could be. Now that she thinks about it, shouldn’t she have called the police first?

Still, she takes a look and immediately freezes at what she saw.

“Hold on.” she exclaims, marching hurriedly inside and confronting the person who was looking confused right at the receiving area, “Aren’t you…!?”

Said person turns and looks relieved to see her, “Ahjumma! What happened here?! Where’s the person living here? And why is it so empty?”

The landlady can only hold her head in her hands, “She left just a few minutes ago!”

“…What!?”

Yerin bows to the customer and bids them farewell for the nth time that day before lifting her hand to massage her sore neck from nodding endlessly to people for the past six hours. Work has been tough on her especially when her co-workers always try to steal her thunder in order to gain more customers for themselves.

Thankfully, they seemed to sense her dilemma as they insist on her service and thus end up getting the customer in the end. They were a small shop after all, and customers were scarce, thus it was always an endless battle between her and co-workers in order to get the chance for a raise or better, get promoted.

Meanwhile, Yerin just wants to work in peace and earn her keep. She didn’t want to have to deal with this daily drama in her life where everyone has already branded her as the antagonist.

Sighing for the nth time that day, she watches the clock ticking by slowly and silently wishes to herself for the day to end so she can go home and rest.

“Welcome!”

The tinkling of the store’s bells immediately shake her from her thoughts as she straightens herself up to look presentable. Though it seems that one of her co-workers has already claimed the new customer as her client and so she doesn’t bother competing and minds her own business doing whatever to look busy.

“Uh, Miss?”

Looking past all the clothing racks, she notices that her co-worker was seemingly having a hard time with the customer, or rather, was struggling in getting her attention. From what she could see from the blazer alone, the sunglasses on her eyes and the expensive earrings, she wore a mask that covered the bottom half of her face, but even if Yerin couldn’t get a good look at her entirely, she could easily tell that she was quite high profile and thus for her co-workers it was definitely a must to have her as a customer.

But it seems like the person, a woman from the looks of it, was looking around for something, turning her head here and there as if searching specifically for one thing and one thing only.

And when the woman’s head finally turned in her direction, her brows raised as if she'd found what she was looking for and began making her way towards her direction.

Which was weird because there was nothing in her direction that the woman could want. She was in the men’s section of apparel after all.

So why…

Why in the world was she marching straight towards her?

“This unnie really…”

Being near enough, Yerin could hear snippets of grumbling from the other party.

“Leaving like that with no warning, not even telling me where she went off to–”

Hold on, this voice sounded eerily familiar.

“And she said she’ll wait for me…”

There’s no way this could be…?

“Yerin-unnie you have a lot of explaining to do!” said person jabs a finger at her chest and at that point there was no doubt that the woman before her was someone she’s never expected to see again.

“Sinb!?” Yerin’s jaw drops in shock.

“Don’t ‘Sinb’ me, I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“I– Wha–” Yerin being at a loss for words was an understatement. She doubts even her brain registers what’s going on.

“Why did you move out?”

“Sinb, calm down for a second–”

“Imagine my panic when I saw everything was gone! And then the landlady suddenly tells me you’ve already moved out!”

Yerin holds her head in her hands as she feels a headache starting to form.

“You said you’ll wait for me!”

Huffing, she stops Sinb mid-rant by placing a hand over and effectively silences her with a glare. Blinking slowly, she finally stops.

“Uhm, excuse me, is there something the matter?”

The two of them turns to the side and Yerin sees her boss looking at the both of them both confused and nervous, most likely because Sinb looked like she can buy the entire the establishment with the flick of her hand and he didn’t want to risk aggravating her at the same time there was a tone at the back of his voice that told Yerin she was in trouble.

“Are you the manager?” Sinb asks.

“Yes, that would be me, is there anything I can help you with? Has my employee caused you any trouble at all?”

She faces him fully and ignores the latter question, “Good. I need to talk to your employee for a bit. Wait, forget that. Have her take the day off.”

“P-Pardon…?”

“It’s important– You know what, forget it. Let’s just go. Unnie, how much is that guy paying you per hour? I’ll double it.” Sinb waves him off and grabs Yerin’s wrist before beginning to pull her out of the store but Yerin refuses to budge from her spot.

“Hwang Eunbi.”

Said person turns.

Yerin sighs, pursing her lips before gesturing outside, “Go wait outside for me, okay? I’ll handle everything here first.”

Sinb blinks slowly.

“…Uhm, okay.”

It was weird how Sinb just came charging inside the establishment like she was going to war but ended up obeying Yerin like a puppy to its owner with just one look. To be fair, her sudden intrusion confused everyone in the place, the order within in disarray, but when everything calmed down slightly, they were able to handle the events like nothing happened.

“D-Did I cause you trouble again?” Sinb asks timidly when she sees Yerin exit the shop and approach her from where she stood. She notices that she’s changed from her work uniform into casual clothes, and couldn’t help but be in awe at how great she looked in the dress.

“It’s fine. He let me get a day off.” Yerin assures her with a smile, “Now, you better have a good reason to barge into my workplace like this. Not to mention I also have a lot of questions for you.”

Sinb nods in agreement, relieved that the woman wasn’t in trouble in any way. The last thing she wants is for her to ruin their reunion.

“Uhm… I know a good café not far from here.” she suggests in a small voice, still unsure whether Yerin was mad at her or not but the smile on the older woman’s face immediately clears that notion and she eagerly offers her hand for the woman to take so she can lead her there.

Yerin gives her a side glance, taking note of the woman’s state, “You look great, Bi.”

Her smile widens, “You’re not bad yourself.”

Once they were seated and had relayed to the waitress their orders, they just looked at each other for a good minute, as if still trying to let it sink in that the person they’ve been wanting to see for the previous months is really just sitting on the other side of the table with them. Approximately four months have passed since they last talked, and they didn’t quite know where to start.

Sinb had gone and said all of those things off on adrenaline but now that she’s calmed down and rational and the excitement of finally being able to see Yerin has gone down, she didn’t have a single ounce of idea on what to tell her.

And Yerin, seemingly sensing her internal dilemma, let out a chuckle.

“W-what’s so funny?”

“No, I–” she clears , “I mean, you came barging into my work like you had a ton of things to say but you haven’t said two words since we came here.” she chuckles again at the pout on the woman’s face. Yerin then stares at Sinb softly, “You know I was supposed to be seeing you at the hospital again since I heard you were recovering nicely, but things came up, it’s gotten quite hectic.”

“Is that the reason you left?”

She shrugs, “Pretty much, but that’s no excuse to break my promise to you, isn’t it?”

Sinb shakes her head, “I heard everything from Nurse Joy, how you visited everyday after work, spent the entire weekend at the hospital, but then something came up so you stopped coming.” she sighs.

“I’m sorry… I really wanted to be there when you woke up–”

“You waited the whole time, you didn’t break your promise and that’s enough for me.”

Sinb smiles happily, reaching out to grasp Yerin’s hand in hers. It’s become quite natural to do so, that months of separation hasn’t done anything to get rid of the old habits.

“Hey, you kept your promise too.” Yerin smiles at their intertwined fingers, “No comatose person could recover within just months, you know? People spend nearly years just to get used to walking on two feet again.”

“Maybe because the sensation of walking has never been lost on me.” she replies, “Being a ghost and all, not to mention all the walking we did to the hospital. When the therapist was teaching me to put one foot in front of the other, I told her I still know how to walk, just do something about these stick legs of mine.”

Yerin bursts into laughter, “You make it sound as if it’s their fault you haven’t gotten proper nutrition the whole time you were asleep.” she muses.

“I could have recovered faster.” Sinb grumbles, “Then you wouldn’t have had to move out. What in the world really happened?”

Yerin heaves out a breath as she thinks back on the previous months and all other instances that led them here, “It was all fine just a few weeks after that time in the hospital, I guess. I visited, did the usual, lived my life and whatnot, but it was around after two weeks or so? The job I was in was facing problems and they needed all hands on deck for it.”

“Problems?”

“Yeah. Apparently the owner was having some sort of problem with money, he never bothered specifying, but we had to work twice as hard to meet sales but it just wasn’t working out. As a result, the employees were starting to quit one by one due to burnout and I had to juggle a lot of workloads and shifts at the same time.”

“That’s why you couldn’t come anymore?” Sinb asks sadly, earning a solemn nod from her former roommate.

“It got so busy and I actually got sick at one time. It was the time when I heard from Joy that you finally woke up but I couldn’t move a single inch from my bed.” Yerin grumbles resentfully, slightly annoyed at herself for getting sick at the worst moments, “I’m sorry for not being there.”

“Hey, I already told you it’s okay. Did you manage to recover?”

“I did, the landlady took care of me well.” she smiles at the fond memory, “She nursed me back to health like it was nothing.”

“I should go over and send her some gifts when we get time.” Sinb decides, noting it in her head.

They were interrupted briefly by the arrival of their orders and immediately resumed their conversation once the waiter was out of sight.

"Unfortunately, during the time I was recovering, my old boss closed the shop and ran away with everything left. And that included my salary for the past two months.

“I was quite in the red for a while. The landlady was even kind enough to waive the rent for a few months to help me out but then I couldn’t keep imposing on her for long.” she frowns slightly, “So I contacted my parents and they told me they wanted me home and that they were sorry and everything. So I made the decision to leave.”

Sinb sighs, finally getting a good grasp of everything that went on. While she was focused on recovery, Yerin had been doing her best to survive. But here she was, angry at her for not even contacting her once when she had much bigger problems to deal with.

“I did visit when I got the chance, but then they told me you were already discharged.” Yerin stares at Sinb weirdly, “What did you eat to recover that fast…?”

“Sheer willpower.” she proudly states, laughing at the grimace on the older woman’s face, “But really, it was just wanting to get out of that place as soon as I can, and I did promise you I’d recover quickly so I guess there was that too…”

“You did well, you’re looking a lot healthier compared to when you were a ghost.”

Sinb stares back smugly, visibly pleased with the compliment, “Thank you. I’ve been working out.”

Yerin laughs, Sinb joining in after and it was just like before– being roommates, bantering like usual, enjoying their time together and the both couldn’t help but admit just how much they missed each other’s company. It felt like a broken piece of the puzzle had somehow fit themselves right back like nothing happened.

“I’m so glad you’re doing well, Sinb…”

“You too unnie. They’re not being too hard on you in your new job, are they?”

“Hmm… Well, we can’t completely avoid toxic environments, but they’re tolerable.”

Sinb immediately frowns, “Are they being rude to you?”

“More like they’re just annoyed at me for existing. But you don’t have to worry about them, as long as I keep doing well, the boss will keep taking my side.”

She scoffs, “Still, I think it’s a better idea to find someplace else. If you want, I can recommend you somewhere.”

Yerin regards Sinb carefully, a certain question at the back of her mind surfacing. The stare from the older woman leaves Sinb squirming in her seat with how intense it was.

“Now that you mention it, just what do you do, Sinb?”

“Oh. You mean career-wise?”

She nods.

“My dad owns this company and he’s training me by letting me manage a few branches.”

“That’s quite impressive isn’t it? It’s like he’s preparing you for the future.”

“I guess so, but then it’s the same reason why I ran away from him in the first place.”

Yerin leans forward interestedly, urging Sinb to tell her more. And by the flustered look on the woman’s face, there was definitely more to it than she lets on.

“Was he being too hard on you about the job?”

“Nothing of the sort, he’s just like any mentor you’d find, not expecting much from me but expecting to learn something at least.” she answers nonchalantly, “It was a little more personal than that. We were just talking business when he got into a tangent about heirs and stuff.”

Yerin grimaces unconsciously at the implication of the topic.

“Marriage?”

“Marriage.”

Yerin groans. It’s a topic any adult hated to talk to their parents about, especially when it’s not even something they would think about.

“I told him I wasn’t interested and he said I should be thinking about it.” Sinb made a face, as if the prospect of marriage alone was a huge taboo for her, “It was then that I told him I just am not interested in men in general.”

Yerin brows shot up, “O-Oh?”

“And when he didn’t get it, I told him I like women.” a lopsided grin makes its way to her face as she reminisces the scene in her mind, finding how funny the whole thing was now that they were in good terms, “I ran away when he couldn’t accept it and that leads us to the landlady finding me because I have starved for days that time before getting admitted to the hospital. It was a mistake not withdrawing the money in my account before running away.” she shrugs.

“What about now?”

“He’s learnt to accept it, or it’s more like he doesn’t have a choice if he doesn’t want a repeat of the whole thing.”

Her former roommate lets out a relieved sigh, “Good to know he’s someone who changes his mind.”

“He’s not a bad person, just a little stubborn.”

“Now I know where you got it from then.”

Sinb pouts, earning a small chuckle from the latter.

“I find it a little funny how our reasons for running away are the same.” Yerin muses, playing with the fingers of Sinb’s hands with her own. Sinb just nods, remembering what Yerin had told her as they climbed the hospital stairs when she genuinely had no idea how the world works. Now that she thinks about it, it was quite a sensitive topic and was only thankful she didn’t offend the older by asking.

“And now?”

“They’d rather live with it than live without me, quote unquote.” Yerin chuckles, “A little sad that drastic measures needed to be done for them to realize how immature their thinking is.”

“It’s a harsh world after all.” Sinb hums, “And so? Has anyone caught your fancy now your family’s okay with the idea?”

The fingers playing with her hand pause, and Sinb fears that she may have stepped on a landmine. It wasn’t meant to be a serious question anyway, maybe just curious, maybe to a little bit, but if Yerin wasn’t comfortable…

“I guess you can say that.”

“O-oh? I see.” Sinb raises a brow at the honest answer, trying to ignore the slight pinch in her chest upon hearing it, “Uhm, is it mutual, or something…?”

Yerin laughs, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

Sinb blinks, “Huh?”

“…You weren’t really expecting me to start liking someone else right off the bat when we’ve been living with each other for months, were you?”

“I-I mean, maybe…? Hold on, are you saying–”

“I like you, idiot. I can’t believe I have to spell it out for you like this. Or does that mean you’re not interested?”

“I like you too!” Sinb says abruptly before any further misunderstandings occur. In the end, it was better to just say it outright, “I just, well… I didn’t really expect you’d like me after the whole thing.”

“That doesn’t even make sense.” Yerin deadpans, “I ended up liking you because of the whole thing.”

“…Oh.”

Yerin just stares at the woman before her, watching her piece together the information in her brain like an overworked machine and so she decides that thinking and talking wouldn’t be enough.

Standing from her seat, Sinb watches Yerin go around the table and take the spare seat beside her before enveloping her in a hug that Sinb unconsciously returns.

“Stop thinking too hard.” Yerin mumbles, resting her forehead against hers.

“Yeah, well, my brain is sort of debating whether to just be stupid or to kiss you.”

Yerin laughs, leaning forward and gently capturing her lips in hers. It was just as sweet and soft as she imagined it many times whenever she visited her in the hospital.

It’s a little creepy now that she thinks about it, but hey. It’s hard not to think of waking Sinb up with a kiss just like the prince with sleeping beauty or snow white when her lips looked that tempting.

The only thing that stopped her was that she values the importance of consent, unlike those princes.

Finally pulling away, they shared wide smiles with one another, finding the experience exhilarating at the same time like a breath of fresh air. Months of pining and not seeing each other made it all worth it for this moment.

“Does this mean you’re saying yes to being my girlfriend?” Sinb decides to ask.

“You didn’t ask, and it will be really awkward if we’re not girlfriends after kissing like that.” Yerin pouts, “But yes.”

“Good.” Sinb tightens her embrace, “Because now that we’ve evolved from roommates to girlfriends, I have every intention to make you my wife.”

“…You’re taking everything really quickly again.” Yerin mumbles but the reddish hue on her cheeks was obvious as day.

“Maybe not a wife just yet then.” she shrugs, “But I definitely like the feeling of sharing a space with you. Maybe not a room… but a home.”