If you had asked Byul how she thought she would meet the love of her life, her first response definitely wouldn’t have been: “in a car while waiting for my kid sister to finish a job interview.” Hell, that probably wouldn’t have even been her hundredth response either.

But life was just kind of funny that way.

As it was, she wasn’t even supposed to be bringing her youngest sister to her very first job interview. It was supposed to be their dad. They were supposed to have the long drive that included him telling her how proud he was of her and how he’s just happy that his little baby is finally pursuing her dreams. Byul knows because it’s exactly what she went through, and it’s exactly what Seulgi went through too. 

So it’s just unfortunate that on the day of Yesol’s job interview, their dad calls Byul early in the morning with what already sounds like a horrible cold. She can barely understand him during the call, except for the fact that he’s just asked her to drive her sister to her interview, and oh, could she say something encouraging on the drive over?

Byul agreed but only because her Dad really sounded like he felt bad about the whole thing. If it had been any other circumstance, she would have insisted that Yesol take the train instead. 

Which is how she found herself driving her sister to her first job interview.

The car ride started out silent, so Byul tried to remember everything her dad told her for her first interview and cleared .

“Please don’t!” Yesol said, cutting her off and already looking mortified.

Byul burst out laughing, “Why? You don’t even know what I was going to say!”

“You were about to give me the inspiring pep talk because dad isn’t here to do that but I’m begging you Unnie. I’d rather not do that.” Yesol actually looked desperate, which only made Byul laugh harder as she reached out to tousle her little sister’s hair playfully.

“Okay but when you’re in there being asked a lot of really difficult questions, you’re going to regret not hearing your Unnie’s nuggets of wisdom.”

Yesol swatted her hand away but she was already smiling now too. “What nuggets of wisdom could you possibly give me for a tour guide interview? You’re a radio DJ!”

“Those two things intersect!” Byul argued as she pulled into the building that would hopefully be her little sister’s new place of work. “You talk to a bunch of people about stuff, I talk to a bunch of people about stuff! Practically the same.”

Yesol let out a singular disbelieving laugh, “Last week you spent fifteen minutes arguing with a caller about whether or not corgis were the superior dog breed.”

“Because they are!” 

They were already parked so Byul unlocked the doors and waited for her sister to step out of the car. For the briefest moment, she saw the flash of fear and hesitation across Yesol’s face. So Byul reached out across the console and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“You’ll do great,” she said, “and no matter what happens, your Unnie is taking you out for chicken after so at least you have that to look forward to.”

Yesol smiled, a lot more genuine and a lot less nervous before finally unbuckling her own seatbelt and walking into her first real interview. Byul snapped a few photos of her walking toward the building to send to their family group chat before settling down for her own long wait. 

The nice part about being a radio DJ was that she only really had to be in the studio during her show. The rest of the day was hers to do as she wished. She briefly considered locking the car and walking over to the cafe across the street to wait, but she also considered the fact that her radio show had ended at almost two in the morning the previous night yet she still had to wake up early to drive Yesol to the interview. 

In the end, sleep deprivation won, so she tilted back her seat and settled in for a quick nap. That was when it happened.

A taxi pulled up just at the end of the parking lot and a woman hopped out, power walking toward the building with a large bag in hand and her hair flying out everywhere. Normally Byul wouldn’t have noticed her, except the woman walked right up to the driver’s side window of Byul’s car and looked right at her.

She felt herself sit up a little straighter, something in her chest blooming because this was arguably the most beautiful woman Byul’s ever seen in her entire life. Full cheeks set in a youthful-looking face with the prettiest eyes Byul’s ever seen on another human being. Even behind glass, she could see how expressive and full of life they were. She was just about to roll down the window when two things dawned on her at the same time:

The first was that this woman was an employee at the same Tour agency her sister is currently interviewing for if the logo on the vest she’s wearing is any indication.

But second, and arguably more important than the first, Byul realized that this other woman actually had no idea she could see her.

This fact was solidified by how the other woman kept adjusting her vest and combing through her hair with her fingers. Byul sometimes forgot that the tint on her car’s windows was black to the point of being reflective. As a woman living alone in Seoul, it was an upgrade both her parents had insisted on, for her safety. She hadn’t given much thought to it before, but now it was suddenly her favorite thing about her car.

She enjoyed the view a bit more, smiling to herself as the woman on the other side of the window continued fixing parts of her appearance. It was when the other woman smiled at herself, and effectively, at Byul as well, that suddenly went very dry and her lungs probably stopped working because all of a sudden she couldn’t breathe. She had to put an end to this or else her heart might give out from how attracted she was to this total stranger.

Without warning, she hit the button that would automatically roll her window down. 

Even better than watching the woman without her knowledge was seeing her eyes widen and the smile slip from her face as the window rolled down between them.

Byul smiled, trying to make it seem as non-threatening and non-creepy as possible.

“I think you look very beautiful already.” She said, and if Yesol or Seulgi were here they would’ve probably facepalmed themselves into the next century, but they weren’t, and Byul never took much offense to how her little sisters viewed her flirting tactics anyway.

Confusion looked good on this other woman. So did shock, and realization, and embarrassment and a number of other emotions that flitted across her expressive eyes. Finally, her face settled on irritation and those pretty lips curled into a frown.

“Were you just watching me this whole time?!”

Byul shrugged. There was no sense in denying it now. 

“That’s gross!” The other woman said as she distanced herself from the car. “You’re gross.”

“Hey, you were the one who came up and started using my car as a mirror!” Byul argued, and then because she was a little , she added, “I can’t be blamed for being frozen in the face of such beauty.”

It was greasy and definitely not her best line, but it was worth it to see the blush creep up the other woman’s neck as her jaw dropped. Byul counted that as a win. 

“I–you,’ the other woman sputtered. Byul could see she was trying and failing to hide a smile. It was the cutest thing. She could feel herself toeing the line between intrigued into hopelessly smitten and honestly, Byul has always been a big believer of going big or going home.

“Wanna grab a drink with me sometime?

The other woman’s eyes went wide, the blush on her face was a lot more prominent now. She ducked her head, a smile clearly pulling up her cheeks as she chuckled in disbelief. Then, when she finally looked back it was with a full-blown smirk and her middle finger up to flip Byul off.

Byul laughed, delighted.

“I have to get to work,” the woman said, before smoothly turning away and walking toward the tourism agency building. 

When she was finally out of sight, Byul sighed, still very much smitten. The notion of trying to take a nap seemed ridiculous now, so she locked up the car and walked toward the cafe across the street. 

She gave herself a good hour before she walked back to her car, and even then she had several more minutes to spare before her sister’s interview finished. Byul spent the time on Melon, picking and curating songs for her shift at the radio station that night. By the time Yesol came back, she had the full list for her show ready. 

Byul observed her sister as she hopped back into the passenger’s seat, trying to decide if she needed to be a comforting Unnie or a congratulatory one. As it was, Yesol’s face was completely blank, Byul wasn’t sure if that was because the news was good or bad.

“How’d it go?”

Her little sister shrugged. “Uhm. Good, I think? They asked me about why I wanted to be a tour guide and I had to do a written quiz about tourist spots and their key highlights.”

“And?” She prompted further.

“And,” Yesol said, this time with a smile turning up the corners of her lips, “They invited me back for a final interview next week!”

Byul gave a cheer, fist pumping in the air while her sister laughed with glee. “Wah, Good job! You really deserve some chicken now.”

It was when they were at the restaurant, a basket of fried chicken, different sauces, and fried cheeseballs between them that she thought to ask, “So do you need a ride to that second interview?”

Later that night, alone in her DJ booth, Byul played all the songs she had lined up from earlier in the morning. All of them reminded her of the summer. Of bright eyes and just the hint of a smile hiding behind a pair of full lips. 

As it turned out, Yesol did need a ride to her second interview and as it so happened, Byul was also free on that day.

On the drive over, Byul tried not to get her hopes up about maybe seeing that other woman again. After all, this was supposed to be about her sister getting a new job, not Byul getting a new date. Still, she didn’t bother denying to herself how she stayed in the car for a good ten minutes after her sister entered the building. Just to check.

When the parking lot remained empty, she shrugged and locked up the car behind her to walk back to that cafe she waited at last week. She remembered they had a really good selection of cookies she had been interested in trying out last time.

An hour and change later, Byul was walking back across the street to the tourism office, to where her sister was standing near the car next to someone else. It was only when she got closer that she realized exactly who it was. She was already smirking by the time she reached them, and while her sister looked nonplussed, the beautiful woman had that lovely little shocked expression on her face again.

“Hey you,” Byul said, purposefully staring only at Yesol, “how did it go?”

Yesol nodded, still acting polite to keep up appearances. “Really good. Uhm, Unnie this is Kim Yongsun-nim, she works at the tourism agency.” Yesol gestured to the other woman–Kim Yongsun–and it was only then that Byul turned to look at her, a -eating grin already on her face. “Yongsun-nim, this is my older sister, Moon Byulyi.” Yesol finished.

“Hello,” Byul said, all teeth. “You can call me Byul.”

Just like the first time they met, Yongsun’s face did that thing where it flitted through multiple expressions in the span of a few seconds. Right before she spoke there was that small smile of disbelief again “Hello,” she said, her voice a bit clipped, “this is your sister?”

Byul nodded, “She sure is.”

Yongsun cleared . It was definitely awkward now and Byul was enjoying every single second of it. “She, um. She did very well on both of her interviews.” Yongsun said a genuine smile turned up the corners of her lips. “On behalf of the agency, I’m happy to tell you that Yesol-ssi passed the interview phase and will begin training the day after tomorrow. I will be in charge of mentoring her during her training.”

Byul turned to pull her sister into a one-armed hug, “That’s amazing! Your Unnie never had any doubts.”

Yesol looked equal parts pleased and embarrassed. Which, for a big sister, was as good as a win. 

When Byul turned back to Yongsun, she caught the other woman already staring at her. There was a curious look on her face, soft and a little surprised, but it was quickly shuttered away when their eyes met. Byul grinned again.

“Yesol-ie, I think we should celebrate,” Byul said she was addressing her sister but her eyes were trained on Kim Yongsun. “Would your soon-to-be-mentor like to join us?” 

Both Yesol’s and Yongsun’s eyes went wide. Byul had to bite down on her lower lip to stop from laughing.

“Uhm. Ah, I’m sorry,” Yongsun stammered. It took a moment but the smirk from before was back, Byul almost expected her to playfully flip her off again. At this point, there was no sense in denying how hopelessly enamored she was.  

“I’m afraid I have to get back to work,” Yongsun said. She dug around in her bag for something. When she found it, she purposefully approached Yesol and handed her a business card, “I’ll see you for your training Yesol-ssi but you may contact me here if you have any questions.” Yongsun’s eyes flicked to Byul for that last part, and she felt all her insides go warm. 

Just like before, Yongsun turned away and walked back to the tourism office. It was only when she was out of sight that Yesol aimed a fairly hard punch to Byul’s arm at the same time that Byul grabbed the business card from Yesol’s hand.

“Aish! What’s that for?” Byul said, rubbing the sore spot on her arm with the hand that held Kim Yongsun’s business card.

“Don’t flirt with my potential employer!” Yesol whined. “We want her to hire me, not ban me from the premises because I’m related to you!”

Byul just laughed. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t flirting.” As she said this, she was already inputting the number on the business card to her phone.

“Whatever.” Yesol rolled her eyes in the way that all the long-suffering Gen Z kids did nowadays. She snatched the card back from Byul. “Let’s go. I think for this, you owe me a fancy dinner.” She didn’t even wait for Byul before opening the passenger side door and hopping in the car. 

When they were both in the car and driving back home, Byul reached out and gave her sister’s hand a brief squeeze. “All things aside, I’m really happy you got the job.”

“Thanks, Unnie,” Yesol said, “Just try not to go on any dates with Yongsun-nim until after my training period.”

Byul let out a full-bellied laugh, “No promises!”

The day after next, Yesol attended her first training session to be a Seoul tour guide under Kim Yongsun.

The day after that, Byul and Yong went on their first date.

All things considered, everything ended pretty well.