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Dahyun is proud of her costume.
During her time at college, she has worn many guises. During freshman year, at her very first party she had arrived at the dorm dressed from head to toe as a piña-colada cocktail, complete with a pineapple slice in her hair and a beautiful white hairpiece that she arranged to mimic a straw. She attended the end-of-exams party as a flamingo, drenched in pink, and committed to the entire night standing on one leg. During second year, she gained a name for herself on campus at the Halloween party when she arrived late as the Babadook.
Tonight, she does not stand out too much amongst the other costumes, but then she’d had to throw it together at the last minute.
Her little black dress clings to her figure, classic and clinching at her waist, but the high-visibility tape that she had saved from a previous Lady-Gaga costume hints at the design. Black lace smooths across her chest and up to her throat, and the red straps that she added with silky ribbon reach over her shoulders like braces. Fishnet black stockings and knee-high black leather boots were a normal part of her closet. And the hat? Well it’s not so difficult to find a fireman’s hat on a college campus.
She moves amongst the party with ease, all eyes on her.
‘I left my phone back at our room!’ calls Chaeyoung, her roommate. She has to shout, even when she leans close to Dahyun’s ear, because music is pounding through the dorm. Bluetooth speakers are propped in corners, and different songs play from room to room but they all blur into one dull thud of bass and synths. ‘But if I leave now I’ll lose her!’
Dahyun follows her gaze and smiles when she sees the girl that Chaeyoung has been chatting up for the last half an hour. She’s waiting expectantly, a clear cup in her hand, reddish-dyed hair tumbling over her shoulders. ‘I’ll go for you,’ says Dahyun. The music is starting to make her ear ache, and it’s so hot in the dorm that she longs to get out into the fresh air.
‘I owe you one, my hero!’ shouts Chaeyoung and she grabs Dahyun’s face to press a kiss to her cheek.
Dahyun swats her away and begins to push her way through the crowd to the door. Surrounded by sweaty bodies, she pulls a face, and she has to dodge around a cowboy who steps into her path and tries to catch her eye. She’s only two drinks in, but there’s already a buzz in her veins and she feels it in her knees when she takes the three steps down to the door. Three drinks make Dahyun’s perfect night: just enough to do something risky, but not enough to do something terribly risky.
With one left, she thinks she’ll end on something pink and fizzy.
One hand holds the rail as she skips down the stairs. Even though her heels are high, she moves with grace. For her formative teenage years, she’d been one of the smallest in her class and had learned to dance and run in teetering stilettoes before her classmates even learned to walk. Halfway down the narrow stairwell she passes four guys dressed in cheap hot dog costumes. She shakes her head and laughs. Boys never try hard enough. Not like girls.
She remembers falling in love for the first time, late at high school, watching one of the girls from the year above curling her hair and putting on her make-up ready for a party. She’d fallen for the attention, the care, the effort. She’d fallen for the pursuit of perfection. She’d fallen for the delicate hand on the makeup brush and the flutter of eyelashes and the way that her lips parted as she concentrated. Dahyun has a type and she’s not afraid to admit that.
Pretty. Dahyun likes pretty girls.
When the cool night air hits, she breathes in deeply and then sighs in relief. Anyone else might shiver, but Dahyun never feels the cold. The area outside the dorm is leafy, a stretch of pathways sheltered by trees that wind between the dorms and the campus. Floodlights come to life when she starts to skip back towards her own building. In the late evening there is almost no one else around; they have all either returned to their rooms to study, or piled into the party dorm to cram in as much fun as they can before the building supervisor arrives to shut them down.
Dahyun hums a song to herself. Her long black hair swings down her back, fireman’s hat at a jaunty angle atop her head. Through the night, the sound of her heels clicks on the path like a tap on the door.
Serendipitous moments, Dahyun thinks, are the most important in life.
They come when you least expect it. They bring special surprises.
Up ahead, on one of the benches under the canopy of the trees, is a stranger. Her face is hidden by a sheet of bleached-blonde wavy hair that falls forward as she leans her elbows on her knees. She’s dressed in pure white, a flowing chiffon dress and gleaming sneakers. Over her shoulders are angel wings, slightly lopsided, sparkling with silver glitter. A white and silver halo wobbles on a thin stem. Her face is buried in her hands.
Dahyun freezes and sways on the spot.
The girl is crying.
After a moment, Dahyun strides forward. The two drinks have given her courage. Whatever this is – an argument with a boyfriend, a bad exam result, or something else – Dahyun knows that she can cheer her up. Or help.
‘Hey,’ she says softly, so as not to startle her.
The girl looks up. Her eyes are red and glassy, and tears have stained black mascara down her cheeks. Realising that she has been spotted, she sniffs and wipes her eyes on the back of her hand. A streak of eyeshadow and liner smears below her thumb.
‘Are you okay?’ Dahyun asks in a gentle but encouraging voice.
She shakes her head, and then bursts into tears again.
‘Hey, hey,’ Dahyun drops down onto the bench beside her and reaches out to take her hand. ‘It’s okay. I’m Dahyun. What’s happened?’ For a moment, fear catches in her throat.
‘It’s my kitten,’ she cries.
The words are a relief and a worry. Dahyun’s forehead knits and she squeezes her hand. ‘Your kitten?’ She tries to bring a smile to her face.
‘He’s stuck up this tree!’ the stranger wails, and she points at the tall, densely branched tree behind them. ‘He’s too high for me and I don’t think that he can get down! I can’t call anyone because we’re not supposed to have him! I found him abandoned on the campus and we’ve been hiding him in our dorm ever since!’
Dahyun looks up at the tree and narrows her eyes. With her free hand, she pats the back of the girl’s hand in her own and leans forward to meet her eyes. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Sana. Sana Minatozaki.’
‘Well, Sana Minatozaki, it’s your lucky night. Because you’ve got a firefighter at your beck and call.’
Maybe it’s the courage from the drinks, or maybe it’s all born of the fact that Dahyun has never seen an angel cry before. Maybe it’s because there’s nothing she wouldn’t do to impress a girl like this. But all of a sudden she’s one hundred percent certain that she can scale the trunk of a massive tree with no trouble at all.
Sana sniffs and holds her gaze. Two more tears spill down her cheeks and her face knits into a pleading expression. ‘You - ’
To prove her commitment, Dahyun stands. ‘Point the way, angel.’
Blinking away the tears, Sana follows her into the shadow of the trees. ‘Do you really think you can…?’
‘No problem,’ beams Dahyun. With a wave of bravery, she rests a hand on Sana’s shoulder to keep her balance and unzips the first of her boots. ‘Don’t think I’ll need these,’ she says brightly. Her chunky heels are not built for tree climbing.
‘He’s up there,’ whispers Sana. Her voice is clear despite the tears, and it sounds like song in the quiet night. ‘His name is Tinker.’
As she follows her gaze, Dahyun spots the kitten. He is not so terribly high, halfway out on one of the branches. Shades of grey flicker in the shadows, glinting just a little from the distant floodlights. ‘Were you on your way to the party?’ asks Dahyun, trying to keep the conversation cheery.
‘I was just leaving and he scooted out the door. He moves so quickly. Oh please be careful!’ she gasps as Dahyun places one stockinged foot on the tree bark.
‘If I fall, angel, you’ll have to catch me.’
Sana’s eyes widen at that and Dahyun laughs.
‘Don’t worry. I promise I won’t fall.’
It takes her back to school days. At eight years old she lovedto climb trees. This isn’t so different. She stands on one low branch and reaches for the next with a steady hand. When she takes a step up, the short skirt of her dress hikes up around her thighs and she tugs it down with her free hand with a laugh.
‘Woops! Sorry.’
Sana says nothing. She’s covering her face with her hands but there are gaps in her fingers and her dark, shining eyes peek through.
For some reason, Dahyun does not feel afraid. She climbs catlike, foot to branch foot to branch and foot to branch. Each time she tests the strength of the stem before resting her foot or hand, but the tree is solid and does not bend under her weight. Leaves whip at her face and she knows that her hair will be a mess by the time she hits the ground, but she prays that it will give her a rebellious sort of look that Sana will find appealing. The higher that she climbs, the more that she keeps her eye on the kitten, but he does not see spooked. When she reaches his level she glances down to catch a glimpse of Sana, and at last a wave of nausea hits her.
She’s quite high up after all.
Hugging the trunk of the tree she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. ‘You can do this,’ she whispers aloud. You can do this to impress the pretty girl, is the thought in her mind. With another shaky breath she shimmies out along the branch and reaches across the back of her hand. The kitten gives a loud mew, but does not dart away. He stretches out and pads along the branch above to sniff her hand. ‘Okay,’ she murmurs. Her heart is in her mouth. She can hear it beating in her ears. Maybe she shouldn’t have had those two drinks after all.
‘It’s okay, Tinker!’ Sana calls out from down below. ‘Oh do be careful, Dahyun!’
Hearing her say her name gives Dahyun another rush of courage. It sounds elegant in her accent.
You’re a firefighter, you’re a firefighter, Dahyun tells herself, and you look a million dollars.
Nerve restored, she shuffles out further. The kitten is still so small that she knows she can hook him with one hand. First, though, she unstraps her helmet and holds it upside down. Luckily, the tabby kitten is curious. He pads right to her hand, and paws at her arm. His tiny claws aren’t sharp yet. ‘How did you get up here, baby?’ she sighs. He looks back at her with an expectant stare, beetle black eyes gleaming. He reminds her of Sana already.
Don’t let him sense your fear, Dahyun thinks, as though he’s a ferocious beast. And then she makes a grab for him.
The kitten is startled, but he doesn’t wriggle away.
One arm wrapped around the tree, holding her hat, Dahyun scoops him up and breaths heavily as she tries to negotiate him under her arm. When it isn’t working, she throws caution to the wind. Releasing the tree, she depends just for a moment on her balance, and drops the kitten into the helmet. Below, Sana screams and covers her eyes completely, but Dahyun catches the tree as quick as she released it and breathes out a laugh.
She wonders if Chaeyoung’s phone is buzzing with activity back in their dorm room.
When she does not fall to her death, Sana jumps up and down and starts to cheer. It’s the incentive to begin the descent. Dahyun needs to see her when she’s happy. She can already imagine the sparkle in her eyes. She wants to see her lips in a smile, her teeth, the way that her cheeks might dimple.
‘Careful!’
Dahyun feels invincible. Adrenaline, vodka, and attraction rush through her veins. Like a cat-burglar escaping a building, she descends like lightning. Still, however courageous she might have felt, relief hits her like a train when her feet meet solid ground. Before she can even move, Sana throws her arms around her and she’s pulled into a crushing hug.
The kitten in her helmet mewls for attention.
Sana smells like floral perfume. Her hair falls around Dahyun’s face and her slender arms clasp her tight. For a moment, Dahyun feels like she can’t breathe, and it’s not because of the vice of her arms. When she releases her and holds her at arm’s length, Dahyun finally feels shy under her gaze.
Happy Sana is more beautiful than she even imagined.
Her eyes are still red but they’re shining with relief and gratitude. Her smile is small and pretty, pointed chin and rosy cheeks. ‘I can’t believe you did that! Dahyun, you’re crazy!’
‘Crazy good, right?’
Sana laughs and then pulls her into another hug that catches her just as off-guard as the first. ‘That was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen!’ After a moment, she extricates the hat from Dahyun’s hand and scoops out the kitten. ‘Bad Tinker!’ she coos. ‘You could have been lost! But brave Dahyun came to rescue you.’
For a moment, there is a silence. Sana presses a gentle, pink-lip-sticked kiss to the cat’s ears. Her lips are full but small, sweetheart lips, and Dahyun finds her mind drifting to how it would feel to be kissed by her.
‘Thank you, Dahyun,’ she whispers.
‘Here to help. I’m a firefighter, after all,’ she says. In her little black dress, though, she hopes that she looks like much more than that. Does she have helmet hair? Oh crap. And where are her boots?
‘I should take Tinker home.’
‘Right. Sure,’ Dahyun says awkwardly. This is her cue to say goodbye. She swallows, because with the danger over the nerves of a crush have spread in tingles across her skin.
‘Do you want to walk me home? Since you’re the brave firefighter?’ says Sana with that small smile, and Dahyun exhales a long breath and nods so fast that her hair falls over her eyes. ‘I’m in E dorm,’ adds Sana with a cute laugh.
Dahyun pulls her boots back on as they start to walk. ‘So are you still going to go to the party?’
‘I don’t know,’ Sana says shyly. ‘My make-up is ruined and I feel tired now.’
‘You look so cute though,’ Dahyun blurts out.
Sana nudges her shoulder and throws her head back with a laugh. ‘Don’t!’
Dahyun wonders how she can have gone so long without meeting this woman on campus before. The way that she laughs and smiles and even walks… Dahyun deserves to have met her before this night. Sana skips in her sneakers, and she cradles her kitten in her arms. When they reach the entrance to the dorm, though, they hide him again in Dahyun’s hat while they sneak through the lobby.
Sana’s dorm is on the first floor.
This is a study building rather than a party dorm. Everything is silent. Dahyun’s heels still click, and she notices Sana glance from her face down to her feet and back up again. She feels x-rayed. Her heart flutters with excitement, even though all she’s doing is walking Sana to her door.
‘This one’s me,’ says Sana, with a nod at the nondescript door.
‘Safe and sound. Both of you,’ says Dahyun, and then she salutes, before remembering that saluting probably isn’t something that firefighters do. ‘Another job well done!’
Sana opens the door, but she stays facing Dahyun, and looks down before glancing back up through her lashes. ‘Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t have shown up tonight.’
‘It was nothing,’ says Dahyun, as though she hadn’t shimmied up a tree like a drainpipe in a short black dress ten minutes earlier.
Sana reaches up and brushes her thumb across Dahyun’s jaw, before leaning forward on the toes of her sneakers to touch a kiss to her cheek. Heat flushes to Dahyun’s face and her breath catches in her throat. Then, before she can catch hold of herself, Sana turns her face a centimetre and kisses her lips. Featherlight but with purpose. Her kiss tastes of… strawberry bon bons. ‘Thank you,’ she whispers again, breath on Dahyun’s lips.
Breathless herself, Dahyun swallows and nods, like that’s an appropriate response.
Sana takes a step back into her dark dorm room, then takes Dahyun’s hand. ‘Do you want to come in for a drink? My roommate already left for the party.’
Dahyun thinks of her rules. She’s only had two of her three drinks. ‘Yes,’ she says without hesitation. ‘Yeah, I’d really like that.’
‘I have rosé wine.’
‘My favourite,’ Dahyun smiles. She thinks her heart will burst from her chest. Butterflies have exploded in her abdomen. She can still feel the kiss – she can still taste it. Her hands itch to take Sana by the waist and pull her close to kiss her again.
As if recognising home, Tinker jumps from the hat and scoots into the room. Sana pulls Dahyun inside by the hand, and for a moment they stand in darkness before she finds the light-switch. When the light springs into life, Sana pulls off her halo and then holds up the fireman’s hat. ‘Can I keep this?’
‘It’s yours,’ Dahyun breathes.
Sana sits it on her head and giggles, and then throws herself over the side of her bed to grab the bottle of pink wine from down beside it. When she sits back up, she almost falls, and pink pillows tumble from their once tidy positions. ‘Let me pour you a glass!’
‘Just one,’ says Dahyun, ‘or I might do something terribly risky.’
‘Like what?’ Sana grins.
‘Like kissing you again. And again. And again. And I don’t want to look too interested too fast.’
‘You rescued my kitty. Pretty sure that brings us to twentieth base. I owe you my life,’ Sana laughs.
The glass of wine is plastic frosted pink. Dahyun crosses to the bed and rests a bold hand at Sana’s bare shoulder. Her skin is cool and smooth. ‘Really? Tell me more. About twentieth base.’
Then Sana’s hands are on her waist and sliding down to hold her hips and she is kissing her again, and Dahyun feels like the solid ground has been pulled out from beneath her once more.
Two dorms over, Chaeyoung’s phone buzzes on the desk.