3rd POV

-Day after date- 

Sua woke up feeling somewhat relaxed and content. 'Yesterday's fun must have carried on in my dreams..’ She thought to herself with a smile. She picks up her phone to see five missed calls from Seulgi. Three from last night and two an hour ago.

‘Oh no! I must have forgotten to update her last night!'

She dials Seulgi immediately. 

-Seulbear! I’m so sorry, I completely forgot to- 

-You finally decided to call Queen, I’ve been waiting. Save the apologies and mentally piece it together because I’m coming over as said-

Seulgi spoke with an overly serious tone that was unlike her so Sua couldn't take her seriously.

-Now??- Sua checked the time, 10:05am. 

-Yes, I’m already on my way…i’ll see you soon queen!- 

-um okay, see you!- Sua hears the beep as Seulgi hangs up. 

She chuckles to herself in slight disbelief. Seulgi must be really curious over what kind of date she had. 

Sua waddles to the bathroom to freshen up, then sets up a calm playlist in the living room to ease her morning headaches. She took some medicine and lounged on the couch, fingers naturally tapping through the phone to pull up the photos taken yesterday. She examines the office woman’s face closely again, like how she did when she was carried. Her high cheekbones were really an attractive point… 

She didn't hesitate to thank Siyeon once again for the wonderful outing. It only took a couple seconds for the bubbles to appear again, with a sweet reply. 

-Ding Dong! Ding Dong!- Sua’s bell goes off. She gets up to get Seulgi. 

“Seulgi-ah~” Sua accepted a bear hug, letting Seulgi in. “I didn't expect you to come so fast!”

“Queen, this is some tea I need to hear! I’m thinking it went super well with that smiley expression on your face.”

“Well I’m happy to see you too!” 

“Haha of course~” Seulgi gave her a wink.

The 94' liners make their way to the living room, comfortably settling on the couch with fresh juice that Seulgi had bought for them. 

“Like this juice, your memory should be fresh. So start sipping and start talking.” Seulgi clapped her hands together as if she were an instructor saying, ‘chop-chop’.

Sua burst out laughing but quickly composed herself.

“So to begin, her name is Lee Siyeon, she’s 27 and we had only met coincidentally. Twice on a bus - she works at MinTech, the company building is down the street from the library so we alight at the same stop. The third time was at the supermarket, where I passed out, which I questioned since I was there at around 4pm so I’d assume she would still be at work." Seulgi odded, listening intently. "She told me she only had to meet clients that day so she dropped by to shop for some stuff...though that didn't quite happen because of me.” Sua spoke sheepishly, Seulgi chuckled in reply.

“Our first interaction was also on the bus. She left a good impression from the beginning, giving up her seat for me the first time we met, even asking me if I needed help with anything when I got off. The second time on the bus, she sat next to me and we engaged in a small conversation…” Sua trailed off as she noticed Seulgi’s impatient expression. 

“Start where she asked you out!!” So Seulgi wanted the real tea. 

“Alright alright!” Sua surrenders, “I found a number on a post-it in my bag after I came back from the clinic. I decided to call the number and found out it was her. She asked about my condition, and I asked how I could return the favour for paying my fees. She suggested a date.” 

Seulgi squeals as if she was a protagonist’s wingwoman in a rom-com. Sua only looked on in disbelief.

“She is so bold~” Seulgi comments dreamily, as Sua explains about the rest of their call. 

“Indeed she is, I was a little surprised by that...it’s a charming point of her, I guess.” Sua chuckles to herself, remembering Siyeon’s bold actions from last night. The whole date set up was generous too. 

“Now get to the good part, she picks you up, then brings you to..?” 

“A ferry. We drove into the ferry to go to Yokji Island for some amazingly fresh seafood!” Sua exclaims, just as Seulgi squeals for the second time. 

“Wow she knows your preferences well already.” Seulgi says in awe. 

“Yes and maybe unsurprisingly, we get along really well. I never really felt awkward around her. I don't think she felt awkward either because otherwise our conversations would have cut the date short. We even extended the date.” 

“Y’all extended the date?”

“Actually I did bu-” 

“You were the one??” 

“I’ll get there in a second Seul, do you wanna hear more about what we did or not?” 

“Hehe yes, sorry.” 

“Arriving at Yokji Island, we took a short hike trail to the restaurant, where she was always very attentive to me...I nearly bumped into a kid but she was there to catch me,” Sua notices Seulgi’s knowing glance. “Geez Seul, I’m a pregnant woman, not a lead in a rom-com!” She hit her shoulder with a fist.

“Sorry sorry, it’s just that all I’m hearing about her fits that image.” 

Sua rolls her eyes, knowing her best friend only hears what she wants to hear. 

“We took some photos of the view before walking to the restaurant. We had the freshest seafood ever; scallops, abalones, squid, mussels - I’m definitely bringing you there soon, she doesn’t like prawns which at first was a shock to me, but at least she could enjoy all other seafood. We had basic conversations; I introduced my work, then she did. I found out we had similar jobs, just different settings. We were both assistants, me to the head librarian and her to the CEO-” 

“The CEO?? Wow-” 

“Not if the CEO is her best friend of 6 years,” Sua cited Siyeon’s words, laughing at Seulgi's face of immediate understanding. “Funnily enough, the CEO is the same-aged as me.” 

“Wait, is the CEO a she?” Seulgi asked, already anticipating the answer. 

“Yes she is!” Sua exclaims, slapping Seulgi’s open palm. “So cool right?” 

“That’s awesome..I want to meet her one day!” Seulgi carries on in awe, she herself knew that it was very rare to see female CEOs in their small town. They are admirable.

“Anyways, from what Siyeon told me, it feels like she matches me well too. She loves to drink and party.”

“Pfft,” Seulgi scoffs, “Of course that’s the first thing you'd remember! I can’t do that anymore...”

“Ya, don't lie! You like doing those too!” Sua retorted childishly. 

“Joohyun-eonnie prefers netflix and wine..” Seulgi replied shyly, but Sua could see her eyes shimmer in love.

“Wah~ You’re so whipped for her-” Sua teases, receiving a slap on the arm. 

“Don’t say things like that!” Seulgi exclaims.

“It’s the truth that you don’t wanna admit!” Sua retorts cheekily.

“Don’t change the topic Sua!” 

“Fine fine…she also sings really well which I think would make her a very good karaoke partner for you haha~” Sua comments as she knew Seulgi was a great singer herself. 

“Haha~ I love your singing too Sua, but you’re just too loud sometim-” 

“Ok, ok, I don’t need to hear you say that again and again.” Sua rolls her eyes. “I think it’d be really cool if she would sing for me again..”

“Wah, her voice must be so attractive for you to say that!” 

“It really is! Perfect mix of soft, power and huskiness - some really refreshing tones~~” 

“You sound like her fan.” Seulgi comments, they both laugh, “She does sound like a good singer by your description.” 

“She is. Ok so on the ferry back we got to know each other more generally, like favourite colours and all. We did match on quite a number of things so I kept being surprised by that.” Sua chuckles to herself. 

“Hold on, you mentioned extending the date - what happened then?” 

“Ah we bought bunggeopang.” Sua reveals, and Seulgi gasps.

“That must’ve been so good.” 

“Yes it was, we bought it fresh from a vendor. We had a..deeper talk then.” 

“Ah..so you told her about Jun…?” Seulgi spoke carefully as if she were afraid of hurting Sua. Sua pats her friend’s arm in assurance, to say that she didn’t mind much.

“Yes, and what went down.”

“What was her reaction?” 

“Like everyone else...just that she said she admires me for how I handled the situation. But she understood me quite well.”

Sua felt touched again thinking about her vulnerable moment in Siyeon's car. Revealing her past was never easy and she was glad Siyeon was so kind about it. There were definitely more than one occasion where she was criticised about it. 

“Aww that’s sweet…you two must have had a fun time.” Seulgi gushes.

“We did.” Seulgi didn’t even need to hear those words to know how Sua felt. It was already pretty evident in her contentment in her eyes and flurry of enthusiastic hand gestures. 

“I’m so happy it went well! I’ve got two questions then I’ll let you off..well one’s more like a request-"

 “Hit me.” Sua smirks confidently. 

“Questio- request one, I want to see the photos! I need to know what she looks like.” Seulgi points at Sua’s phone on the pillow. 

Sua shyly opens the pictures and helplessly allows Seulgi to snatch it away from her hands.

“You guys look just like a couple.” Seulgi’s voice was sugary-sweet, happy to see Sua smiling.

“I told you this is only our first meetin-” 

“I know! I know! But you two look good together!” Seulgi blocks her shoulder from Sua’s flying fists. 

“I guess we do.” Sua accepts the compliment, causing Seulgi to smirk inwardly. The next question would surely blow her socks off. 

“Question 2, would you go on a second date with her?” Seulgi extended her question to manipulate Sua to say whatever comes to her mind. 

It did blow Sua’s socks off, she pauses mid-sip to think about it. She did want to see Siyeon again, that’s just how enjoyable their first meeting was, but she obviously doesn’t know what Siyeon would think… 

“I would love to go on a second date…but I don’t know about her-” Sua expresses her concern, but Seulgi cut her off with a knowing grin.

“You said date! You want to develop something romantically with her!” Seulgi teases like a child, leaning backwards as Sua starts punching her violently. 

“That’s not what I’m trying to say!!” Sua insists, but in her heart, if she stepped back to think clearly...

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry!” Seulgi engulfs her friend into an embrace. “I think she’s pretty hot though.” She smirks.

“Stick to your own partner.” Sua narrows her eyes.

Seulgi makes an I-told-you-so face but Sua doesn’t notice. 

“You don’t have to worry about what she thinks of it yet,” Seulgi acknowledges Sua’s concern.

“From what I hear, she enjoys your company as much as you enjoy hers. For all we know, she could have the same concern as you. That she doesn’t know how you feel. But it’s the first time you met so, don’t overthink anything…you had a great start anyways.” Seulgi explains, “I’d love to see you two together with my own eyes.” 

“You sound like you’re so experienced in love - what has Joohyun-eonnie done to you?” Sua jokes, referring to the fact that Joohyun was her first real love. 

“Well, to summarise it, I see the world in a different light when I’m with her.” 

“Oh my, I didn’t know you could be this cheesy Seulgi.” Sua teases, and Seulgi hides her beet-red face with a pillow. 

"Um yes, I forgot to mention too, we found the culprit behind the vandalised books…” 

"HA! Now you're changing the topic!"

[Siyeon’s side] 

“Lee Siyeon!”

The assistant jumps up from her place on the couch at the familiar voice of her boss/best friend, hearing her high-heeled boots click against the polished marble floor. Siyeon wondered who pissed in Minji’s yoghurt this morning. 

“Yes Ms. Cranky?” Siyeon replies sarcastically, not bothering to even look at the fuming bunny.

“Who did you meet up with last night?” The CEO cuts to the point. “On a ferry?” 

Siyeon freezes, swallowing nervously at the word ‘ferry’, but remains cool-headed. “I didn’t meet anyone last night.” She lies, wondering how Minji found out- 

“Well then, explain this!” Minji holds up her phone, which shows Siyeon’s name with a reservation for two.

“How did you find this??” Siyeon was genuinely surprised, failing to snatch Minji’s phone away to examine it. 

“So you admit…if I tell you how, will you tell me who?” Minji proposed, as she always does, to get the truth out of the sneaky wolf. 

“Fine.” Siyeon huffs in annoyance, she’d need to know how so when she asks Bora out on a second date Minji wouldn’t interfere with he- 

“The ferry company you reserved uses our services.” Minji stated the obvious, Siyeon facepalmed, already imagining a million different scenarios how Minji found out. 

“On Friday evening, they contacted me personally with an issue in the system. Normally, I would transfer the call to you, but I decided to let you rest before our usual shot challenge,” Minji pauses to give her a glare.

“I show up on a Saturday afternoon, head into their office, and see your name on the screen by the ticket counter. Hence, I have this.” Minji holds up her phone once again. “…I could have easily hacked into the system but that would backfire hahaha~” Minji laughs at Siyeon’s dumbfounded expression.

"You cancelling our meet-up was the biggest clue though." Siyeon avoids her gaze.

The assistant didn’t want to believe that it was as simple as that, but knew it was better to just let it go. “I went on a date with a woman.”

Siyeon didn’t bother trying to beat around the bushes, knowing Minji’s questions would shoot her like a machine gun. 

“WHAT?!” Minji shrieked with a high-pitch, causing Siyeon to wince. 

“Yeah…is there something wrong with that?” Siyeon questions Minji’s dumbfounded expression. Oh how the turns have tabled. No wait, tables have turned. 

Siyeon’s words bring Minji back into reality. “There’s nothing wrong with the date, but something wrong with your brain for not telling me so!” 

“Oops. Sorry.” SIyeon shrugs indifferently, knowing that it was definitely unnecessary for Minji to know about the date. 

“Ya~! Don’t try to evade me! Tell me about it!” Minji was weirdly excited, a total 180 from the anger visible on her face minutes ago. 

Siyeon sent a frow her way, but knew Minji wouldn't stop pestering her until she knew. After all, it was new to both of them that Siyeon met someone outside of work. 

“Aish...fine, I’ll start by saying her name is Kim Bora, she’s the same aged as you, an assistant at a library.” Siyeon was cut off by Minji’s gasp, “Shut it, let me speak eonnie.” 

“No, she just sounds so cute!” Minji voices her thoughts, Siyeon only chuckles. 

“Well she is cute but-” Siyeon sensed the knowing glance Minji sent her way, “not in the way you think.” 

“Okay then tell me.” 

“First of all, she’s pregnant.” Siyeon was clear that this statement would eliminate a million assumptions. As she expected, Minji’s jaw dropped. 

“Oh what? I didn't know you were into that type of wom-” 

“Eonnie↗️! I haven't told you the whole story!” Siyeon resists the urge to hold Minji in a choke, throwing a pillow at her face instead. 

“Alright, alright, I’ll listen.” Minji surrenders, kicking her feet onto the coffee table as if she were in her own home. 

Siyeon glares at her bare feet but doesn't make a move to push them off, focusing on what she was about to confess. 

“So before you interrupted me, I was going to say that we met on the bus a few times on the way to work, since our workplaces lie on the same street. We had only one short conversation on the bus, then we met the third time in an unfortunate situation.” Siyeon pauses as Minji gasps dramatically. She’s undoubtedly glad when Minji doesn't question her immediately. 

"We met at a supermarket, in the same aisle, the cereal aisle. I was looking for my oreo cereal when I saw someone staggering backwards in my peripheral vision. Guess who? The pregnant woman I met on the bus. She passed out so I brought her to the nearest clinic 200m away. She was fine, just dizzy trying to reach for the boxes up high..” 

“That’s...weirdly cool.” Minji didn't quite know what to think of it yet.

“Yeah that’s one way to describe it...so uh she called me like a couple hours later to thank me for paying her clinic bills-” 

“You paid her bills???” Minji was genuinely shocked. She knew her best friend was kind, though she didn’t know Siyeon would go that extent for a stranger. 

“Yes, I did, just felt like it’s the least I could do for her and her child. After all she is still working, which isn’t easy while pregnant…” 

“Oh okay, yeah that was nice of you.” Minji nods at her explanation, but Siyeon rolls her eyes at the lack of sincerity in her words. 

“She refused to let me go without returning the favour of the help she received from me, so I proposed going on a date,” Siyeon continued before Minji could interrupt her for the nth time, “as friends.” 

“If it was just as friends - which I think is a really generous term considering the two of you were still strangers, why did you use the word date?” 

“Cause…” Minji’s answer caught her off-guard a little. “I don’t know…I just thought it was not as impactful if I asked for a normal meet-up, as if I would be easily rejected. Because honestly, I was spontaneously encouraged to meet someone new...” 

Siyeon kept it real and Minji could see it in her eyes. The faraway look, it was, as if she were reminiscing about something. Though, in a good memory, she slightly spaces out. Minji notices that, so she taps Siyeon’s shoulder. 

“Where did you bring her to?” Minji figured a direct question would regain her attention.

“Yokji Island…for seafood.” Siyeon shakes her head to come back to reality. “I was craving fresh seafood.” 

“Are you serious? You thought of doing all that for a stranger but you tell me to get takeout for myself?? You know I love seafood!” Minji feigns betrayal, as a foodie she was upset Siyeon didn’t think of bringing her to such a place! 

“Eonnie, you’re too busy eating more - specific things anyways…” Siyeon clears mid-sentence so that Minji would get the hint, along with wiggly eyebrows. 

“Ya…do you wanna die?” Minji’s eyes widen threateningly with a fist in the air, it’s direction pinned at Siyeon’s pretty nose. But the cheeky assistant does not flinch, knowing the woman wouldn’t hurt a fly. 

“Nope…if you want I can send you the location,” Siyeon remains indifferent to the idea of them eating out together. Minji pouts, which Siyeon easily ignores.

“We exchanged simple information about one another and turns out we got along really well, having similar humour and thinking. So much so to the point that we got a little deep at times..” 

“Well if this isn’t turning into a rom-com…” Minji comments teasingly. 

Siyeon shoves her friend’s shoulder. “Don’t say that. I was really amazed when there wasn’t any friction between us the entire time…all our conversations flowed smoothly, naturally commenting on each other’s opinions, being attentive to one another - felt as if we’d been friends for a while. We laughed so much too.” Siyeon recalls with a dazed look, Minji smirks inwardly, recognising that particular look. 

“I see…so after the seafood you dropped her back home?” Minji wondered if Siyeon still had something else to confess. 

She was right when her question had Siyeon avoiding eye contact, somewhat looking shy suddenly. “Bora asked to stay together longer.”

It was the second time Minji heard Siyeon say the pregnant woman's name, and was slightly surprised at the shyness in her tone.

“Ah for real?” Minji made her reaction subdued, understanding better now why Siyeon didn’t use the word ‘strangers’ earlier. 

“Yeah..so we got dessert. Bunggeopang.” Siyeon admits, eyes casting downwards as she remembers learning about Bora’s past. 

Minji wasn’t her friend of 6 years for nothing. She could guess that the dessert carried the conversation's weight in the midst of its red bean paste. She decided to turn it around in another direction while still keeping on path to the same destination. 

“You like her don’t you?” Minji doesn’t beat around the bush to get an answer, yet clearly, even Siyeon was personally triggered by that statement, hugging her legs to her knees as a sort of distraction. 

“N-no I don’t…” Siyeon couldn’t help but stutter, feeling like a 17-year old experiencing love for the first time. 

“You can be honest, Siyeonie.” Minji assures her, patting her hair comfortingly. She had rarely seen Siyeon so vulnerable that she could read her face like an open book. Minji knew the answer. 

Siyeon bites her inner cheek. “I can’t say it myself, but I will admit that it’s true.”

Her voice was raw, sounding close to crying. Minji immediately pulled her friend into an embrace, now slightly confused as to why her friend was getting emotional. 

“It’s alright Siyeon, we naturally get attracted to people.” Minji assures her, guessing Siyeon was mentally affected by the fact that she was quickly attached to Bora…her ever-changing, expressive eyes as she spoke about their date gave that away. 

Siyeon isn’t fazed by Minji’s words, shaking her head in frustration. “This is going to sound strange but she's not just a pretty face to me that I’ll ‘forget’ when I get busy…I think I'll be wanting to see her more...” 

“Oh..” Minji was taken-aback by the confession. “She really left an impression huh…” 

“She really...charmed me." Siyeon couldn’t quite get a grip of her emotions, “Not to mention that she’s gorgeous…” She murmurs to herself, but Minji picks it up at close proximity. 

“You guys would have taken pictures together right? I wanna see her!” Minji exclaims curiously, trying to bring the mood back up with her tone. 

“Yeah…we did,” Siyeon hesitantly reaches for her phone, “On the ferry and off the ferry..” The words came naturally out of . 

“She really is pretty~” Minji comments as she examines the loving picture of the two, understanding her friend’s feelings completely.

Her smile was warm, her eyes shined with youth, Minji could imagine Siyeon having a great time with her…maybe too great of a time. 

“Siyeon,” Minji spoke seriously, forcing eye contact by placing her hands on her shoulders. “Answer this.

"What..” 

“You want to ask her out on a second date soon?” Minji read Siyeon’s motive. “You’re just scared tha-”

“I’m scared that I’ll ‘overdo’ it..” Siyeon uses finger quotes, “You know what I mean..” 

“It makes sense but when you’re attracted to someone, there isn't a need to have a reason, or conscious to act graciously…I would like you to just give it a shot Siyeon, you never know if she’ll reciprocate similarly. Don’t think too far ahead, focus on now. You’ve only met once, while memorable, there’s definitely more opportunities for a new relationship to bloom.” Minji replies as she nods, hoping Siyeon caught the double-meaning behind the word ‘relationship’.

“You know me too well, this is scary…” Siyeon replies to Minji, feeling a lot more light-hearted at her eonnie’s wise words. 

It was Minji’s turn to roll her eyes, “I may sleep around a lot but I definitely know a thing or two about love.”

“Pff you say that..is true love still too boring for you to not settle into a relationship?” Siyeon retorts with a scoff.

Minji shrugs, flicking a loose cotton off her sweater. “I believe in soulmates.” 

“Then stop messing with other people’s soulmates.” Siyeon muttered under her breath, receiving yet another challenging fist and glare. 

“I’m glad you’ve found someone though,” Minji pats Siyeon’s shoulders sympathetically, “whether you end up as partner or friends, I look forward to seeing you two together.” 

Siyeon only smiles in response.

~