Sojung hadn’t really bought into Hyunjung’s nonsense about “finding inspiration by getting some ,” but she’d acquiesed and come to the bar anyway. She’d pretty much forgotten about the remark, and she laughed and knocked back drink after drink with her friends in a booth.

Then she saw her.

There, right at the bar, was the most beautiful woman Sojung had ever seen. Long black hair, with a body that men would go to war for. What was that Greek guy’s name? Perseus? Prince? Whatever. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Sojung had to talk to her.

Forcing herself to her feet, ignoring her friends asking what she was doing, Sojung walked over to the bar and leaned against the empty seat beside the gorgeous woman’s.

“You are…” Words. Where were her words? Sojung swallowed and tried again. “You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Can I sit here?.”

The woman smiled. Another burst of light struck Sojung in the chest. “Thank you.” She nodded to the seat, and Sojung sat down. “What’s your name?”

“Chu Sojung, better known as Exy.” Sojung stuck out her hand.

The woman shook it, but she looked confused. “Exy?”

“It’s my producer name,” Sojung explained. “Short for expensive. I could show you my Melon profile.”

“No, no, I believe you,” the woman said hurriedly.

Sojung smiled. This was promising. She hadn’t been turned away or rejected so far. Her friends did not follow her. She decided to press her luck further.

“Can I get your name, since I gave you mine?”

“Nam Dawon.”

“And what do you do, Nam Dawon?”

“I’m a personal trainer.”

Sojung nodded, impressed. It only took a brief glance at Dawon’s physique to see she wasn’t lying.

“Do you want anything?” The bartender interrupted.

“I’ll have whatever she’s having,” Sojung said, gesturing to Dawon.

“A dry gin martini,” Dawon filled in.

The bartender nodded and got to work. As Sojung watched the bartender work, she felt a pair of eyes on her. She didn’t turn back around until the bartender had finished making her drink and set it in front of her. When she faced Dawon again, the woman maintained her focused gaze on her. Sojung stared back and sipped her martini. She hadn’t had one of these in a long time, but worked hard to keep her expression neutral.

“What are you thinking?” She asked.

“I’m wondering what you’re gonna do next,” Dawon said.

Sojung let herself take in every detail of Dawon’s face, from her thick eyebrows to her high cheekbones to her smooth skin and slightly pointed chin. Then her eyes wandered lower, to Dawon’s exposed collarbone, visible over her off-shoulder blouse. She was just taking in Dawon’s tight pants when Dawon asked her a question that made Sojung’s eyes snap back up.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that there should be songs about you.” Sojung stared at Dawon with everything she’d been feeling the past few minutes. “There should be a rewrite of the Trojan War, so it’s no longer about Helen of Troy, but Dawon of Nam. There’s no way she could have been prettier than you.”

Dawon seemed surprised. She flushed. “Thank you,” she said, after a moment of silence. “You’re gorgeous too.”

Sojung preened. She hadn’t felt sparks like this in ages, and the compliment meant it wasn’t just her imagination.

“So what’s a girl like you doing out here all alone on a night like this?”

Dawon inclined her head to one side and smiled. “I could be asking you the same thing, Shakespeare.”

Sojung smiled. “My friends are over there.” She turned and pointed to where Hyunjung and Soobin were still sitting. They were unabashedly watching, and even had the audacity to wave when Sojung pointed them out. She took a breath, forcing all her biting remarks down . “They told me I should come out.”

Dawon nodded. “They seem nice.”

Sojung rolled her eyes. “That’s because they’re far away.” Whoops. It seemed she couldn’t help herself. “Anyway, why are you here? I asked first.”

Dawon bit her lip nervously. Suddenly, she wouldn’t meet Sojung’s eyes. “I…needed to think.”

“At a bar?”

“Y-yeah.” Dawon was clearly holding something back, but it didn’t seem right to press her so soon.

“Well, do you mind if I sit here and think with you?”

Sojung wasn’t sure what changed, but Dawon suddenly seemed much more withdrawn than she had a minute ago. Her head was down, shoulders hunched, and she’d pulled her drink closer to herself. Her voice was softer. “I think I’d rather be alone.”

So much for the sparks, Sojung thought to herself. “Okay.” She hurriedly downed the rest of her martini and paid for her drink. “If you ever change your mind, look me up sometime.” She slid her business card over to Dawon and walked back to her friends’ table.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay. Fine. So maybe Hyunjung had a point about Sojung having more inspiration once she talked to women. She refused to admit it, though. Hyunjung did not deserve the ego boost.

Before her were a few different drafts. Some were yearning and hopeful, others were bitter and pessimistic. Sojung pursed her lips in frustration as she considered which draft to flesh out into a complete song. She had a lot of starts, but nothing complete .

Her phone buzzed, jolting her out of her thoughts.

hyunjung: wyd

sojung: working

sojung: stuck

hyunjung: booo

hyunjung: come over

hyunjung: i have food

Sojung sighed and started saving her files before shutting her laptop and grabbing her keys. Maybe some food would help her think. Her fridge was sparse anyway.

sojung: omw

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You could’ve mentioned you only had leftovers before I came all this way.”

Hyunjung rolled her eyes. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding sorry at all. “I was bored.”

“Is Soobin busy?” Sojung asked, taking another bite of chicken. She was hungrier than she’d realized.

“ Yes, ” Hyunjung replied with a groan. “She put off a bunch of homework and she’s doing it all now .”

“Yeesh.”

“I know.” Hyunjung dropped her head into her hands and looked at Sojung. “Tell me about your songs.”

Sojung frowned. “There’s nothing to tell. I can’t figure out what song I wanna make.”

“What are you feeling the most right now?”

“Frustration.” The question irritated Sojung. Wasn’t it obvious what she was feeling? “I can’t stop thinking about her.”

“That girl from the bar?”

“Yeah.”

“So what? One girl turns you down. Has that never happened before?”

“It’s not that, it’s…One moment we were really getting along, then next she tells me she wants to be alone. I don’t get it.”

Hyunjung shrugged. “Beats me.”

“She said she needed to think. Who goes to a bar to think?” Sojung huffed. “It doesn’t make sense .”

Hyunjung gave Sojung a weak pat on the hand. “There, there. You’ll meet another hot girl sooner or later, and she’ll turn you down in a way that makes more sense.”

Sojung rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”

“Honeyyy,” Soobin’s voice dragged as she entered the room. She looked surprised to see Sojung. “What are you doing here?”

“Your girlfriend invited me over.”

Soobin fake glared at Hyunjung. “Stop doing that. She’s eating all my food.”

“Are you serious? You have a whole fridge of food.”

“And it’s for me!”
“I’ve literally bought you dinner multiple times.”

“ Hyunjung, ” Soobin whined. “I’m having a horrible homework day. Can you get rid of her?”

“Isn’t that every day?” Sojung remarked.

“ Hyunjung! ”

“I can’t make her leave. Who’s gonna keep me company while you do your homework?”

Soobin sighed. “Fine. But don’t eat everything.” She pointed at Sojung.

Sojung held up her hands in mock innocence.

“So. Back to your song,” Hyunjung said once Soobin had left.

Sojung picked at her last wing listlessly. “Yeah.”

“Do you want me to take a look at your draft?”

Sojung shook her head. “No. It’s too early.” Her mind went back to the bar. She sighed. “She’s a mystery.”

Hyunjung groaned. “Women are a mystery,” she sing-songed. “Hey, could you do anything with that?”

Sojung hummed Hyunjung’s impromptu tune under her breath. She could feel the beginnings of a song germinate. “Yeah. Yeah, this could be something.” She grabbed her jacket and hurried to the door. “I gotta write this down.”

“You’re welcome!” Hyunjung yelled at Sojung’s retreating figure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sojung frowned at the rain outside. If this kept up, she’d be drenched no matter how long she waited at the bus stop. The sound of another thunderclap was not promising. Better to stay inside the café for now.

“Hi, can I sit here? Everywhere else is full.”

Sojung turned, a “Sure” on her lips before she even saw who it was. Then she saw who it was.

“Yeah,” she managed to say without dropping her entire jaw. “Hi.”

“Thanks,” Dawon said, dropping into the seat across from her. She was soaked, her clothes and hair clinging to her long frame and dripping onto the table and floor. “I didn’t realize it got this bad.”

Sojung didn’t know what to say. “Yeah.” She turned her gaze back to the window. She could barely make out the street between the sheets of rain hitting the glass. It was much easier to focus on the rain than on the woman sitting across from her, her clothes clinging to her frame..

“Can I have a green tea?” Dawon asked.

Sojung turned to see a waiter nodding and walking off. Dawon was shivering.

“How far do you have to go?” Sojung asked.

Dawon sighed. “A few kilometers. I just needed to get a break from…” She gestured to the window. “That.”

Sojung nodded. “I was gonna catch the bus, but I can barely see it. I’m hoping this will lighten up soon.”

Dawon nodded. “I hope so too. For your sake.”

Sojung inclined her head. “What about you? No umbrella?” As soon as the words were out of , she grimaced. No  Dawon didn’t have an umbrella.

Dawon just smiled. “No. Not today. It’s alright.”

“Your green tea.”

“Thank you.” She turned back to Sojung. “So what about you?”

Sojung started. “What about me?”

“No umbrella?”

Sojung smiled weakly back. “No. I never check the weather forecast,” she admitted. She stared down at the table, all out of small talk.

“Can I ask you something?” Dawon asked shyly.

Sojung looked up, surprised. “What?”

“I-I meant to look you up, but when I got home, I just fell asleep, and it just completely slipped my mind. Could-Could you play me something?”

Sojung pursed her lips. She couldn’t quite bring herself to believe Dawon. Dawon didn’t meet her eye when she spoke, and she said nothing of the business card Sojung had left her. Still, she was here now, and she wanted to hear Sojung’s music! Sojung swallowed her doubts and forced out a smile.

“Sure.” She pulled out her phone and scrolled to her latest release. She slid the phone across the table to Dawon so Dawon could listen without the sound carrying over to other tables. Dawon listened intently, nodding along with the melody. A smile crept up on her face when she heard the chorus. The smile widened when she reached the bridge. Sojung smiled back, watching her.

“That’s really good,” Dawon said.

“Thank you,” Sojung replied. “Any favorite part?”

“The bridge.”

“That’s my favorite part too.”

Silence fell again. Dawon’s face twisted in thought.

“Can I ask you something else?”

“Sure.”

“Why Exy?”

Sojung smiled. “Ah. I thought of it’d being short for expensive, but everyone else thinks of y. I guess both work.”

Dawon nodded. “That makes sense.”

“My friend hates it, though. ‘Who would ever choose to call themselves Exy?’ ” Sojung put on a whiny voice to mimic Hyunjung. “But I remember asking her for ideas on a producer tag, and she had nothing good.”

Dawon bit her lip, clearly amused. “Is she a producer, too?”

Sojung scoffed. “No. She works at a cat café, but she’s known me since middle school.”

Dawon smiled. “That sounds fun.”
“What about you? Personal trainer, right?”

Dawon nodded. “Um, yeah, fitness was always something I enjoyed, and it’s easy for me to gain muscle, so I thought I’d help out other people with that. And other things.” She stared down her thumbs.

Sojung nodded.

“Looks like the rain’s lightening up.”

Sojung turned to the window. Dawon was right. She sighed. So much for their conversation.

“What?”

Sojung turned back. Dawon was smiling at her, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

“Are you not happy about the rain?”

Sojung stammered. “I-I, I just, I liked talking to you.”

Dawon’s smile widened. “I like talking to you too. Why don’t I give you my phone number, and we can keep talking later?”

Sojung nodded. “Yeah. That’d be good.” She unlocked her phone and passed it to Dawon. Dawon typed in her number and passed the phone back. Then she stood up, cup in hand. “It was nice to talk to you again. I’ll see you around.”

“See you around.”

Sojung watched Dawon pay for her tea and leave, cross the street and walk out of sight. As soon as Dawon was gone, Sojung turned to her phone and texted her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawon was something of a slow texter. She claimed it was because of her busy work schedule, but she wasn’t that responsive at night either. Sojung couldn’t shake the feeling that Dawon was hiding something.

One night, Sojung decided to video call her. Dawon answered the call, but she kept her video off. “Hi,” she said softly.

 “I want to see you,” Sojung whined.

“My apartment is a mess.”

“I don’t care.”

“I do.” Dawon was soft, but firm. She sounded pained. Sojung decided not to push it.

“Okay. Well, here’s me.” Sojung waved. “I’m done for the day so I’m just chilling. What are you doing?”

“I’m unpacking. I just moved.” She didn’t sound happy about it. “Can you tell me more about your day? I don’t really wanna talk.”

“Okay. Ummm, I’m almost done with a new song. It was inspired by you.”

“Really?”

Sojung cleared . “Yeah, um. You gave me a lot of ideas, when I met you.”

“I did?” Sojung imagined Dawon in her apartment, looking as surprised as she sounded. “I didn’t even do anything.”

“Yeah, you did.” She didn’t, really, but it didn’t feel right to let Dawon beat herself up.

“Okay. What did I do?” Dawon asked, a hint of amusement in her voice.

“You were beautiful.”

The screen unblurred, filled with Dawon’s face. Her eyes were red rimmed. “How do you say that so easily?”

Sojung blushed, suddenly finding it very difficult to look at her phone. “It’s just the truth.”

“I like it when you say the truth.”

Sojung looked back at Dawon. “Um…why were you crying?”

Dawon swallowed. “I just broke up with my girlfriend.”

Sojung gaped. She had no idea Dawon had a girlfriend. Surely, she would’ve remembered that tidbit. She sat there for several moments, trying to think of what to say. Dawon was silent.

“You never told me you had a girlfriend.”

Dawon sniffed. “I meant to tell you. I’m sorry.”

Another long silence stretched between them.

“Why’d you break up?”

“I…” Dawon hesitated. “I wasn’t good for her. I’m sorry, I don’t want to do this over the phone.”

“Sure.”

“Next time we hang out. I promise. I’ll explain everything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So,” Sojung said.

“So,” Dawon replied, staring into her drink. Her knuckles were white around the glass. Sojung looked from Dawon’s hand to her face; she was paler than Sojung had ever seen her before.

“I just want to understand,” Sojung said softly.

Dawon nodded, set in a grim line. “Yeah.” She swallowed. “I cheated on her. So she broke up with me.”

Sojung waited for Dawon to say more, but Dawon just stared at the table.

“And?”

“And what? I hurt her. I’m a bad person.”

“Whoa, slow down.” Sojung laid one hand over Dawon’s. “I just want to hear the whole story. I don’t think you’re a bad person.”

Dawon looked up, caution all over her face. “You don’t?”

“ No. ” Sojung tried to sound gentle, but firm. “I just want to hear what happened.”

Dawon’s eyes dropped back to the table. “I was…lonely. She - my ex - was always working, and when she came back she was too tired from working to do anything. It hurt not having a girlfriend who was ever around. I felt single. She didn’t want to quit her job. I didn’t know how to break up with her. I shouldn’t- I shouldn’t have gone out. But I missed it. I missed the fun, the attention.” As she spoke, her hand curled up into a fist. “I liked it when you talked to me, when you called me Helen of Troy. I only wish I’d broken up with Yeonjung before that.”

Sojung thought back to that night, to Dawon’s rapid reticence right after she’d almost flirted back with her.

“So, when you told me you wanted to be alone-”

“I felt guilty. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be there.”

Sojung cleared . “How far did you go with anybody before you stopped?”

“I didn’t, um, do anything with anybody. I just flirted at bars. I couldn’t- I couldn’t go further than that. I shouldn’t have gone that far.”

“Well, it sounds like you still had your conscience even in your worst moments.”

Dawon sighed. “Not enough of it.”

“So, what happened after that? She found out?”

“No. Yes. I told her. She- That’s how we broke up.”

Sojung nodded. Gently, she rubbed one thumb over Dawon’s fist. Dawon seemed to like it, relaxing under Sojung’s touch.

“How did you…you said you didn’t know to break up with her.”

“There was just never a good time. She worked all day, and then she came home and slept. I didn’t want to tell her when she was in the middle of a show. I waited until it was over, and she hadn’t started auditioning for other stuff yet.”

Sojung nodded. Dawon tightened her fist again and stared at the table. A long silence stretched between them. After a while, Dawon looked up, seemingly surprised.

“You’re not…mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“I’m a liar. I lied to you. I made you think I didn’t have a girlfriend, when I did.”

“I’m not mad. I guess I’m not happy that you lied to me, but you didn’t lie for that long. You’re making it up to me now.”

“How?”

Sojung smiled. “ You’re paying for drinks.”

That got Dawon to smile. “Okay.”

The conversation turned to lighter topics after that.

“How’d you become a producer?”

“Well, I always wanted to make music, so I studied it in college, and I sent out my demos to everybody I could think of. It worked out eventually. Somebody liked one of my songs, so he bought it.”

“Wow,” Dawon marveled, her eyes wide. “That’s amazing.”

Sojung smiled shyly. “Thanks. It’s just knowing the right person. I got lucky.”

Dawon nodded. “I wanted to be a singer for a while. It just didn’t work out.” She looked down at her drink and swirled the straw around.

“What do you mean?”

“I was a trainee for a while in a K-pop company. I thought I was gonna make it to debuting, but they didn’t pick me. Said I didn’t fit the image they were looking for.”

Sojung gently placed her hand over Dawon’s