Archive of Our Own ^omega

Chapter Text

Foreign people seemed really strange to Bora.

Worse than that, she could not stand interacting with foreigners since she had very basic English and didn’t get their peculiar antics.

In Seoul there were plenty of them but Bora lived in her hometown Changwon so she didn’t have to interact with them all the time. Only during her weekends in the capital city when she was mentally prepared for awkward exchanges of broken phrases that pushed her comprehension to the limit. 

So, in a nutshell, Bora didn’t enjoy the company of foreigners. 

Especially when they barged into your house uninvited with weird smiles on their face, blubbering something incoherent about your mother. What was worse, she didn’t quite catch the fact that the stranger had been actually speaking in Korean from the very start.

“—wait, wait, wait!” Bora exclaimed with exaggeration, still standing at the door and blocking the way into her apartment. She managed to speak with broken English and exaggerated gestures. “Don’t understand English. Speak Korean.”

The intruder beamed an awkward grin, perfect white teeth unnecessarily shining under the rays of streetlights. The voice was soft and pleasant to the ear, “But I’ve been talking in Korean from the start, though?” 

“Oh, now I understand what you’re saying,” she said with genuine relief. After a second, still hanging in the air puzzlement came back to her quickly. “Yah! What’s up with your accent? You sound like you learned it from a textbook.” 

“It is actually kinda true,” the stranger nodded back, a bit penitent, the awkward smile still plastered across her soft features.

“Who the hell are you, again?” Bora asked impatiently, physically freezing in the autumn air. Besides the cold, it was really late in the evening and Bora was known to be moody in this part of the day after exhausting herself at work. And god save anyone who dared to get in her way to the dreamland.

Nevertheless, she could not wrap her head around where the girl was from. It looked like she came from Seoul but judging by her peculiar manner of speech the girl was a solid foreigner, maybe some Chinese girl from Shanghai, not to mention her idol-like appearance and weird demeanor. In the streets, Bora literally avoided these kinds of people at any cost.

“My name’s Rachel,” the intruder’s stretched arm ended up hanging in the air as Bora only kept looking up and down at her hand with suspicion. After a short pause, the girl resumed, completely unfazed by such a hostile reaction. Friendly smile was still the same on her face. “I’m your mother’s friend’s daughter. Yeoreum’s daughter. My mom said I could stay at your place for some time. Didn’t she tell you beforehand?”

“You mean Aunt Yeoreum?” Bora’s eyes lit up with recognition and immediately got filled with horror. “You’re her daughter? The one from abroad?”

“Yeah,” Rachel chuckled, sheepishly hiding her arms in the pockets of her jeans, which weren’t in perfect condition as they were almost ripped in most parts or was this supposed to be some kind of fashion these days? 

Though, it was apparent the girl was genuinely glad that the small woman was finally recognizing her.

Her mischievous doll eyes became curious and examined the woman with unhidden interest. The girl’s grin was so perfect that it became too irritating for Bora to look at. 

“You know, I remember you, Bora—“ Bora’s brows immediately twitched at the drop of honorifics since she could clearly remember that both of Aunt Yeoreum’s daughters were younger than her and this weird feeling of being recognized by this stranger was literally giving her chills that she was not liking at all. “—we used to play a lot when we were kids—“

The recognition didn’t end on that and struck with a new force. It squeezed all of the air out of Bora’s lungs to the point where her palms had to cover a loud gasp from her agape mouth.

“Yoohyeon?!” Bora’s terror turned worse, foot backing away as if she was seeing a ghost in the physical flesh and bones. “Oh god… Is this really you? You’re not from the dream?”

“It’s me, yes. And, oh, I don’t go by this name anymore,” the girl chuckled with hints of melancholy dripping from the irises. “It feels so strange to hear it after such a long time. Even my mom doesn’t call me like that anymore.”

A long pause hung in the air. 

Bora’s eyes wandered around the girl’s face in disbelief. Eventually, she found some remaining resemblance from the childhood friend whom she still remembered, especially in the girl’s face, but overall Rachel (or was it still Yoohyeon?) looked so much different: curly fluffy brown hair that used to be all over the place had turned into messy short strands of cherry red wolf-cut, face had become longer and matured a lot with some still present childish sparks in the round grey eyes styled by the deep-black eyeliner, not to mention the overall punk fashion of clothing as if a main soloist of a rock band was standing right in front of her, and these clumsy thin limbs with a ridiculous height—

“You’ve grown really tall,” displeased, Bora verdicted. “Too tall. And your Korean’s rusty... and what’s with the boyish look? Did you change your gender identity along with the name in that America? I heard it’s a popular trend in the States nowadays.”

“I just cut and dyed my hair?” the girl simply ruffled her own short hair in confusion, crystal clear eyes unintentionally piercing into her soul because of this black mascara on these long lashes. “Isn’t this a cool colour? I like it anyway. I guess you meant masculine by gender identity. It’s just a style but I’m still a girl.”

The hair was the color of bright ripe cherry and Bora found it deeply eccentric. 

The girl’s clear grey eyes were scanning her whole frame with interest, too. Unlike her, Bora fit to the local attire with her long black hair and simple choice of clothes. “You’ve grown up to look just like your mom, Bora. You’re like in your mid-thirties already, right?”

“Bora unnie,” the host finally corrected her strictly while one of her eyebrows twitched yet again at the age assumption. “And, no, I’m not in my mid-thirties. I just turned thirty. Gosh, you’ve really forgotten your manners in the West. Ugh, come in, I guess. I promised your mother to let you stay for a month. Get it?”

“Thank you so much!” Rachel happily exclaimed in English.

“You’re sleeping in the living room and don’t make much noise, especially after ten. I’m a light sleeper and take pills to fall asleep.”

“But, it’s a bit concerning that you have to take sleeping pills. Does this always happen when people turn thirty?”

“No, it’s just my personal immune problem. So, don’t make any noises after ten. I’m serious.”

“Anything you say, unnie!”

To say Bora didn’t understand anything wasn’t just an exaggeration. Her head could not still process how she had let this almost a total stranger into her apartment and let her feel at home so easily.

Consequently, the girl let herself too loose: within a span of one hour her personal belongings were all over the place in the living room. The sight of this artistic mess switched something inside of her to the point of boiling. Bora reckoned, by the end of this month she would be explaining to Aunt Yeoreum how her dear daughter went mysteriously missing.

Please, God give her some strength and patience, especially the latter one. 

Bora took a deep breath before shouting from the top of her lungs, “Yah! What is this mess?! Clean up, right now!”

“Sorry! I was just starting to sort out my stuff, give me a few more minutes—“

“Is this what you call ‘sorting out’? Rachel!”

The younger girl ended up receiving a flying t-shirt into her face. This only made Rachel end up giggling at Bora’s overdramatic terror. This girl was too unserious which was literally grinding Bora’s gears.

“The hell you’re laughing at?” Bora asked, still expecting an immediate clean up.

“Sorry, you’re just still so small and angry. Like those birdies from Angry Birds,” Rachel beamed her a wide smile. Dimples on her cheeks were one of the few things that hadn’t changed after growing up. Mentally, Bora kept noting this fact to herself every time the girl smiled which happened a lot in a short span of time. “And the way you say my name is still so cute. You really can’t pronounce it properly, can you?” 

This smile stirred something within Bora, making her annoyance disappear immediately. She averted her eyes and stomped out of the room, at last shouting one more time.

“Clean up quickly and come to the kitchen! Dinner’s ready.”

“Okey-dokey, unnie!”

When they were finally seated at the low standing traditional dinner table with all the meals Bora had prepared (not that she had diligently cooked a lot of it because of the unexpected guest, not at all!) Rachel’s eyes lit up with excitement. At such reaction, Bora just grinned proudly. 

Then, the girl blabbered about her years spent in the States. After moving in with her whole family, her middle and high school years were spent among American children, and after graduation she enrolled into one of the prestigious art academies to pursue her dream of taking a valuable place in the music industry. After a successful graduation she was immediately given an offer which was a contract from a famous American label. This opportunity brought her closer to her dream.

“So, you’re a singer?”

“I wouldn’t call myself like that, not yet,” Rachel chuckled, munching on a delicious piece of meat that she clumsily managed to get with metal chopsticks. It seemed as if the girl had totally forgotten how to use this type of cutlery. The whole time Bora was heavily judging few stains on her white t-shirt that were spilled in the process of figuring out how to pick up the food with chopsticks. “I made a few covers, songs, a full album even and that’s all for now.”

“I see,” intrusively Bora could not resist getting a napkin and handing it to the younger girl. “Do you want a fork and a spoon?”

“Yes, please, thank you,” another embarrassed smile that yet again awoke something unfamiliar inside of Bora. “Sorry, forks and spoons are much comfortable for me to use.”

“Bullshit, it’s just you forgot how to use chopsticks, isn’t it?”

“Touché,” Rachel snorted back. 

“And, what about you, unnie? What do you do?”

“I work in a dance studio,” Bora shrugged, drinking some soda from a metal can. “I teach people how to dance and sometimes make my own choreography. And often get invited to the projects.”

“Oh, that’s so cool!” admiration filled up the shiny eyes. “But why not work in Seoul? I heard there are a lot of opportunities there.”

“Well, I don’t necessarily need to move in there. Every weekend I work in Seoul. So, that’s enough for now.”

“So, tomorrow you’re going to Seoul?” round eyes shone like the deer’s ones. “Can you take me with you, please?”

“Of course, I will have to take you with me, Rachel,” Bora begrudgingly sighed. “Can’t let you ruin my apartment while I’m gone.”

Rachel ignored the moodiness of the host and proceeded to thank her sincerely. 

“We’ll get up tomorrow at five in the morning. Can’t miss the train because of you,” Bora pointed her chopsticks accusingly at the girl. In response, she only received another silly looking smile that somehow made the temperature in the room a bit higher than usual. Bora hummed pensively at this new change in the space. Must’ve been today’s strange wind…

What was even up with her? What was the girl’s deal? Why did Rachel have to be all optimistic nonstop? That was so stereotypically American.

Bora wondered how much time would it take her to get accustomed to the girl. Or else, she internally swore to herself, she would be kicking her clumsy ass out of her apartment.

“Why can’t you just sit still?” the way the tall girl kept squirming from one place to another caught Bora’s attention. 

“It’s just that I’m not used to these kind of tables,” Rachel answered, searching for a comfortable position by shifting on the place repeatedly. It seemed her legs couldn’t fit under the wood surface. 

When she finally managed to find the comfortable position, she accidentally knocked out the glass of soda on the wooden floor. 

During a dead silence, filled with soda’s sparkling sounds, Bora came to the conclusion that there was no way she would get accustomed to her guest’s clumsiness. 

Her left eye started twitching in disbelief at the horrifying sight of the spilled cola.

A loud sigh with an immediate loud yell surely followed:

“Yah! Kim Rachel!”

“I’m so sorry! I’m already cleaning up!”

Saturdays were Bora’s favorite days in the week as in this day she got to change her working environment and take a breath of fresh air from the gloomy grey buildings of her hometown. Unintentionally exploring the capital city during weekends was one of the hobbies she enjoyed so much.

As Bora previously had mentioned she got up at five in the morning and the first thing she proceeded to do was to walk up into the living room and wake the new girl up.

Grumpily, “Rachel.”

There was no answer from the sleeping girl whose face was peaceful and smiley. Bora was internally disgusted at the fact that the girl stupidly smiled even in her sleep. 

This time she nudged her side even more persistently, “Rachel.”

“Mhmm…”

“Rachel!”

“Who?” the girl was having a hard time to slip her eyes apart, automatically mumbling in English. “It’s still so freaking early, for the love of god. Can you give me like five more minutes, please?”

Not understanding the gibberish in a bit, Bora sighed with frustration and loudly commanded, “Speak Korean, please.”

“Unnie…” the girl whined like a child who didn’t want to wake up to school which would seem adorable to any person in this world but Bora because she wasn’t buying it in a bit.

“Either you wake up or else I’m gonna pull the deadly weapon,” with evil smile Bora declared. Yes, ruining other people’s mornings made her morning even better. 

Seemingly, Rachel hadn’t forgotten what Bora was implying by ‘the deadly weapon’: her way of waking people up by pouring a glass of water on their faces. 

“Oh, no, no, no,” the girl slipped out of her covers and sat up with grumpy expression, still unable to focus her vision. “I don’t want the deadly weapon. I just had it in my dreams, so, no, thank you. Are you pleased, now?”

“Pretty much, Rachel,” Bora sweetly answered and proceeded to leave the room before throwing a command at last. “Get ready. We’re leaving in an hour.”

After an hour, they managed to catch the train that wasn’t crowded as Bora harbored a deep hatred to the feeing of being crushed by massive number of bodies straight for three hours. 

Rachel resumed her sleep with ease, despite the uncomfortable sitting position. 

A city background got replaced by empty fields that were turning yellow due to the seasonal change. Subsequently, looking out the window got boring for Bora so she shifted her focus on the other things in the train as a light nap was never an option for her due to the heavy insomnia. Naturally, she couldn’t fall asleep in trains so easily like Rachel.

Nothing caught her attention so much, except for the girl beside her who seemed to be struggling with the position by shifting on the spot so much. Soft groans from the pain in the neck showed how uncomfortable Rachel was feeling without any support for her head. 

Surely, she could lean on Bora but the woman never offered her the shoulder so Rachel kept struggling, waking up abruptly when her head fell into the air, a few milliseconds later again going back into the embrace of Morpheus with a muffled groan.

“This girl, really…” Bora mumbled begrudgingly while she finally pulled the girl’s head to her shoulder. She could already hear a confused huff from the girl so she simply said. “Stop fidgeting and just rest your head on my shoulder. My nerves are literally going nuts because of you moving so much.”

Without any objections, Rachel finally fell into a comparably comfortable nap.

Even if she didn’t want to, Bora made a mental note on how the girl’s body temperature was cold and how her body felt so bony against her as if she didn’t have any soft spots on her. Wait…

Why the heck Bora was even thinking about Rachel’s body in the first place?

So, instead of weird stuff that kept coming to her mind, Bora wore her headphones and turned on any song from the old good playlist for the train rides.

Familiar jazzy motives started playing in her ears and she immersed into another whole world as she always did. ‘Jazz Bar’ was always an immediate go-to song for her. 

They sat in this position until the train reached its final station.

Upon their arrival at the Seoul Station and two stations later at the Myeong-dong neighborhood where Bora’s friend lived, Rachel had a hard time to keep her breath even as she had been carrying all of the bags up to the fifth floor without the elevator.

“Unnie, I’m dying.”

“Tch, you really have a low stamina,” Bora smirked with amusement, already knocking on the door. The flushed face of the younger girl made her feel extremely satisfied.

The door swung open with muttered grumbles from the inside, next second a brunette woman with sharp features came out of the apartment, “Unnie, I told you to get here a bit later because I need to sleep—“

The woman halted halfway through the sentence as she caught a sight of a new guest.

“Oh my god,” the woman let out lowly, looking directly at the panting girl who was bending over the stairs out of exhaustion. “Isn’t this…”

“Yeah, yeah, Siyeon, this is my mother’s friend’s daughter I told you about,” Bora quirked her brow in confusion at her friend’s abnormal reaction.

“Isn’t this Rachel from Dreamcatcher?!” Siyeon finally shrieked in excitement. “Oh my god, you didn’t tell me your friend was a literal American rockstar!”

The younger girl just awkwardly waved back to the host while Bora looked behind with raised eyebrows at Rachel, gears in her brain slowly moving.

“Dreamcatcher, you say? I had no idea…”

“What?” Siyeon kept on admiring the guest. “Bora unnie, you brought a literal celebrity into my house! What an honour!”

“Well, I forgot to tell you that few of my songs got viral on Youtube, so…” Rachel awkwardly squeezed out the words with red cheeks.

“So, that’s why…” Bora recalled the earlier encounter at the Seoul Station where a few shy high schoolers approached them to get Rachel’s autograph. “Those girls were so fan-girling over you.”

“Sorry, unnie, didn’t want you to think about it too much,” Rachel sighed.

“Well, now, why are you standing there? Come on in, please,” Siyeon invited them now more enthusiastically.

Next hour Siyeon couldn’t shut up and talk with shy Rachel, who was still pleased to share her personal stories about life, music, etc. Bora, on the other hand, was displeased that her best friend was stolen so easily from her as Siyeon hadn’t even said how much she had missed her. While the two were consumed in their own world, Bora took her phone to search Rachel’s stage name on the web.

She knew about the Dreamcatcher, but she would only admit to Rachel that she was a big fan of the group’s music over her dead body. So, she kept a straight face.

Upon finding needed songs and recent performances Bora’s eyes lit up with curiosity as she saw videos of Rachel on stage. A strong aura around the singer tugged something inside of her.  It was admiration and awe but Bora didn’t want to admit it to herself. Quickly, the woman dismissed these strange feelings and kept her eyes glued on the phone. 

The moment she found one article talking about possible relationship rumors with attached pictures of Rachel and some tall stunning European woman being on a date with hands intertwined together and eyes looking lovingly at each other, her ears curiously perked up at the currently occurring conversation between her friend and Rachel:

“By the way, you found a shooting partner for your upcoming music video?” Siyeon seemed to know everything about Rachel’s celebrity schedule. “There were rumors about that French model who—“

“Yeah, that’s actually true but…” all of a sudden the girl became quiet, scratching her nape in awkwardness. “But we broke up so there is still a vacant place. Though, from now on, I will only have professional dance partners.”

“I see,” now Siyeon finally got satisfied with the answer, feeling the sudden uneasiness in the air. “But it’s a wise decision and you see—“

“You’re a lesbian?” suddenly Bora asked like a shocked kid with round eyes, looking up from her phone. 

“Uhh,” Rachel blushed up to her ears, having a difficult time answering because of the obvious confusion written on the older woman’s face.

“Unnie, don’t make Rachel uncomfortable with these kinds of questions!” Siyeon barged in between them, thus saving the younger girl. “It’s a personal thing.”

“Sorry, yeah,” Bora backed away, still suspiciously throwing a few glares at the girl. “Sorry, Rachel. I just hope you won’t do anything weird towards me because I hate—“

“Unnie!” Siyeon warned her.

“What? I have to make myself clear how I treat these kinds of people! Because I have to live with Rachel for a whole month, you know. I don’t want unnecessary—“

This made Rachel stand up abruptly and leave the room, at last throwing the rushed phrase, “I think I’m gonna take a walk…”

The awkward silence engulfed the room in an extremely displeasing way. It put palpable pressure on Bora’s shoulders. 

Curt voice cut through the thick air, “You took it too far. You upset her. She’s your friend!”

“I just wanted to make it clear to her—“

“No, unnie,” Siyeon interrupted her friend. Only Siyeon had enough bravery to scold Bora who relented, because, despite her goofy nature, Siyeon was a really reasonable person and the only one who guided her friend with solely good intentions. So, Bora obliged and listened to Siyeon. “We both know the matter isn’t about Rachel’s sexuality. You just want to make as many rules as possible to suffocate and adjust the poor girl under your regime. Bora, this isn’t right.”

As much as she didn’t like the conversation, Bora sighed with defeat.

“Now, go and apologize to her.”

“I sometimes hate you, Siyeon-ah, because of how much you can be right,” with these words at last, swiftly fetching her coat, Bora quickly escaped the apartment.

With every taken step down the stairs, inner anxiety rose: what if Rachel had already left and gotten lost under the influence of emotions? Bora’s heartbeat was increasing frantically from guilt and panic.

But, to her surprise, the girl hadn’t run away too far, standing by the entrance to the residential building and trying to do something with nervous movements and hissed curses under her breath.

A sigh escaped her lips upon seeing this sight. With a heart reaching appease, but still beating in a deep guilt, Bora quietly approached the girl. 

Apparently, Rachel had been attempting to light up a cigarette. Bora was slightly surprised at this unexpected habit from Rachel but still didn’t bat an eye on it because who was she to judge when she herself had the same habit?

For some time Bora was just observing from a side. Rachel’s long fingers futilely tried to light up the tip of the cigarette clenched between her teeth.

“Shit,” the girl quietly cursed under her breath, drops of tears were threatening to spill from the red corners of her swollen eyes. 

“Need a little help?” 

The tip of the cigarette got immediately lit up by a lighter from Bora’s petite hand. 

Teary eyes flicked to the side, discovering a small woman smiling penitently with an apparent remorse written all over her features.

Rachel breathed in the intoxicating tobacco and released it in relief.

Bora did the same thing but in a defter manner: fingers swiftly rolled the stick and lit up the tip successfully from the first try. Inhaling the same intoxicating bits of nicotine, her nerves certainly calmed down once it hit her. 

After some time of smoking together, the younger girl sighed and started off:

“I understand your disgust towards me, unnie. It’s pretty disappointing to see your childhood friend who used to be so innocent in your eyes now dating other women and doing destructive things, right? Look. If you feel really uncomfortable, I can find another place to stay so I won't make your days worse.”

Bora snorted, a few strings of smoke coming out of her mouth, “I think it’s me who’s been making your days worse with so many rules you can’t even keep up. I’m sorry, Rachel, okay? I’m full of shit and I shouldn’t have made you suffer so much. I sometimes completely forget you’re little Yoohyeon-nie whom my old self used to adore so much. I must’ve really disappointed little Bora right now. But even if we weren’t friends from childhood, you still don’t deserve this treatment from me. I’m sorry. Truly.”

A long pause hung between them. Bora’s fingers started to shake from nervousness while Rachel, visibly blushing, continued to stare ahead at the downtown streets of Seoul. 

“I forgive you, unnie,” Rachel finally voiced out her thoughts. Bora was already sighing in relief when the younger girl continued. “But there’s two conditions. One, I sleep on the main bed, too. The couch is uncomfortable. And, two, no more sleeping pills because the constant consumption will eventually fuck you up real bad. So, let me help you fall asleep naturally.”

Bora looked back with wide eyes, ready to automatically humble the girl but something deep inside halted. After a moment of pondering, her frame relaxed in defeat, “Fine. Whatever makes you happy.”

Rachel cheered, finishing off her cigarette and tapping it on the ground.

“Besides, I owe some real deal to your mother so you can have it. Whatever helps you adapt to this place so you wouldn’t hate your home country so much.”

“I still do,” Rachel admitted frankly. “I wanna go back to my home which is definitely not here.”

“Then, where is your home?” 

The question caught the girl off guard.

“I don’t know… I thought by coming here I finally could find my home but now I feel even more lost.”

Bora took a genuine pity on the younger girl and gently patted her back, “You’ll find it eventually. I promise.”

Half of the weekend in Siyeon’s apartment was spent well. Next morning Bora went to work as usual and left Rachel to her friend for a day. 

Siyeon, a shop assistant in the local vinyl store who had a working schedule of five to two, spent the spare day with Rachel, showing her around the city and searching for interesting vinyl records throughout the local flea market.

“And may I ask why do you do that?” Rachel once questioned when they were skimming through dusty vinyl records in another antique shop they found near the flea market.

“I like discovering new sounds,” simply Siyeon explained, looking at another Queen vinyl of standard edition. “Sometimes when I find real vinyl treasure I sell them to the real melomanes. Turns out these collectors are ready to pay a real deal for rare editions like zoetrope or liquid filled vinyls. I guess, for aesthetic or collection purposes.”

“Oh, cool,” Rachel awed. 

“You know, one day I would like to produce one of my own. I already got the coolest design ideas for that.”

“Can you show me?”

“Sure, the notes are kept in my notebook at home. Once we get home I can show you.”

“Nice,” Rachel cheered. “By the way, let’s play some word games so our haul hunt would pass a bit interesting.”

“Okay. You can start,” Siyeon agreed, blowing the dusk of the vinyl cover. 

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Blue. What’s yours?”

“I have many but right now it’s green. Now, another question, who’s your celebrity crush?”

“Uhh…” Siyeon halted in place with a dumbfounded expression. “Can I pass this question?”

“Now that you say it like this, no,” with intrigued curiosity Rachel turned to visibly struggling Siyeon. “Come on, you can tell me. I won’t snitch. I’m not that kind of a person.”

“The issue is that you know this person,” Siyeon sighed.

“Oh my god, is that Bora?!”

“Rachel, you just asked me about my celebrity crush. Is Bora a celebrity?”

“Oh, right,” Rachel awkwardly laughed. “So, it’s a person that I know? Perhaps, someone from my group?”

“Bingo…”

“Oh my god, wait! Let me guess it,” Rachel jumped in excitement and proceeded to look at Siyeon with an extremely focused gaze, closely analyzing the brunette woman. “If it’s Handong, I’m sorry, buddy, but she’s already taken. But, if it’s Minji… wow, now that I think about it, you two could really make a good couple!” 

“Don’t bullshit me,” Siyeon brushed off the arising idea with a deep blush, awkwardly scratching her nape. “Minji is a literal goddess. I’m totally out of her league. And I’m not even compliment fishing right now. I’m serious.”

“No fucking way!” Rachel’s eyes lit up brightly at the bashful reaction of her new friend. “Dude, you’re really into Minji!”

“I mean, who wouldn’t be?”

“Yeah, that makes total sense. Oh my god, I have to set you up on a date with her!”

“No!” with a panic Siyeon dismissed. “Don’t do that, Rachel! Please, I beg you.”

“Why?”

“I want her to stay a celebrity crush for me,” Siyeon answered with sadness. “I’m not good enough right now. Just give me some more time to achieve something so I wouldn’t be ashamed of myself when I see her. So, for a time being, don’t say anything to her.”

“Okay, I get it, unnie, fine,” Rachel nodded back.

Eventually, they didn't find anything good enough for resale and went back to Siyeon’s neighborhood to chill for the rest of the day until Bora arrived from the studio and took Rachel with her to the night train to Changwon. They made it safe back to Bora’s apartment.

After that one specific conversation outside of Siyeon’s apartment between Bora and Rachel when they made up while smoking, their relationship became easier and more playful. Sometimes, it's a bit too playful.

“Unnie, seriously, let me help you,” Rachel tried to stop the older woman from doing the dishes after the dinner due to the fact Bora had been working all day, not to mention how she came home exhausted like a fully squeezed lemon and instantly proceeded preparing dinner, now additionally wanting to wash the dishes. 

“No, I’m okay doing it by myself,” Bora grumbled and attempted to take away the plates from the younger girl’s hold. “Give them to me—“

“Sit down and rest,” firmly Rachel commanded, which took the older woman by surprise. Using the moment the girl swiftly snatched back the plates and placed them into the sink. “For the love of god, unnie—“

“How dare you?” Bora let out, deeply offended. “Talk politely to your elders!”

“Pfft, six years are not that much big of a difference,” Rachel retorted, starting to wash the dishes, loudly clanking and, subsequently, making Bora more nervous with her clumsy technique of cleaning. “Honestly, I don’t understand all this fuss about age honorifics, social hierarchy and so on, and on and on about this respect bullshit. I mean, like, what significant thing you did at six years when I wasn’t even born? Or at ten?”

“It’s part of your culture as well, you dumb dumb,” the older woman reminded her and sighed in defeat, settling on a couch, limbs aching from the fatigue.

“I just think it’s unnecessary,” she muttered quietly. “And ridiculous.”

“Okay, whatever, Rachel,” Bora at the end of sentence put an accent on the girl’s English name while rolling her eyes. “But don’t you dare to drop honorifics when talking to me.”

“Or what, Bora-yah?” Rachel snorted mockingly, finishing the dishes in a magical way where no pieces of cutlery are damaged and quickly leaving the room to escape a growing danger. “What’s a small cute unnie like you gonna do? I’m afraid, nothing!”

That was it. 

With those words Rachel managed to dig her own grave in such a short time. Oh, this girl knew exactly what strings to pull and this drove Bora to the edge of her sanity. 

The boiling annoyance outweighed the fatigue in the body and Bora was already chasing the giggling girl around the kitchen with a slipper in the hand. “Yah, you brat! Come here!”

Five minutes later when Bora had finally cornered Rachel without any ways for an escape, the girl regretted previously teasing the host as now she was about to pay for it. 

“I’m sorry! Alright, I’m not gonna— Unnie!” futilely shielding from aggressive tickling, Rachel whined while laughing uncontrollably. 

When Bora calmed down from her laughter, too, only then the realization of their position hit her like a hammer on a head: they were on the bed, she was pinning down the girl, one hand locking Rachel’s wrists above the head while the other was gripping the collar of the shirt, her legs locking the thighs beneath her by sitting on top. Helplessly laying girl was now regaining her breath, being all disheveled with hair sticking out in every direction. Not to mention their faces were in a dangerous distance from each other. This overall picture of having the power to be able to do anything to Rachel underneath her was stirring some unfamiliar feelings in the woman. 

“You…” Bora panted, not knowing what to say, being in a hazed state.

What was the purpose of this all? Because Bora thought revenging this girl in the same old fashioned childish manner would bring back nostalgic memories but instead this current position of them brought an entirely new feeling…

“Good thing you pinned me down to this bed,” the girl said ambiguously while panting, chest going up and down.

The statement elicited the most wild reaction from the woman on top. With a red face she backed away, letting go of Rachel's hands. Her short question was asked with the most terrible stutter, “Wh-Wh-What?” 

“I’m gonna sleep here anyway, right?” the way pure innocence was displayed in Rachel’s eyes was driving Bora insane.

Why was she the only one here who mistook the ambiguity of the said phrase for something inappropriate?

“Oh… right. I promised you.”

The older woman sat up, only now realizing how late it was by the fatigue in the body.

The younger girl was casually getting ready to sleep, as if she wasn’t pinned down on the same bed a minute ago. 

Bora sighed and prepared herself for the uncomfortable night ahead of her. Without sleeping pills it was a hell for her to fall asleep, even if she was exhausted. 

“I hope you got rid of that habit of yours to kick in the sleep,” Bora voiced out hopefully.

“Oh, about that,” sheepishly Rachel said, hiding half of her face under the thick blanket. “It might’ve changed a bit. I like to cuddle in my sleep.”

“I see,” Bora sighed and settled beside the girl, pulling over her own blanket. “And I have a sleep habit of kicking anyone in the face who touches me once I manage to fall asleep. Did you know that?”

“Really?”

“No, but it might happen if you get too loose,” the girl was too innocent at this moment that Bora wanted to snort in disbelief. There was something so pleasant to Bora in bullying the younger girl. “What I wanna say is that I might’ve permitted you to sleep beside me but it doesn’t mean you can cuddle me in my sleep. Or else, don’t get upset when you wake up with a bruise or two.”

Although her words came out too harsh even to herself, Bora sighed and patted quiet Rachel on the head in a sign of apology, “Sorry for my harsh tone, now, please, get some sleep, puppy.”

“Should I sing a lullaby to you so you could fall asleep?”

“What? Are you for real right now?”

“Unnie, I’m serious. I don’t wanna sleep alone when you will struggle all night, searching for some sleep. Firstly I have to make sure you’re sleeping.”

“Well, do whatever you want but I doubt it will work like that.”

“Believe me,” Rachel assured, propping palm under her cheek, elbow leaning on the soft surface of mattress, body halfway turned to the beside laying Bora, eyes absorbing every feature of the older woman in the darkness: her crooked nose, closed eyes, outlines of the perfect jawline and distinct cheekbones, the way she was inhaling and exhaling evenly. One moment she started quietly humming a familiar melody which slowly turned into a slow lullaby. 

“ Don't open your eyes, but look at me

I'll make you stay by my side all day

I'll disappear the moment you wake up

Looking at your eyes is everything to me. ”

Still fully awake, Bora recognized the song as the old lullaby that Aunt Yeoreum used to sing to little Rachel and her older sister before sleep. Yeoreum was a lyricist as well as her own daughter Rachel, so she came up with this song so her children would surely fall asleep when they didn’t want to. Sometimes when little Bora and her mother Gyeowool were visiting their house, she was lucky enough to listen to this song along with the two daughters of Yeoreum. 

“ Lullaby, don't go today

I'll sing you this song

Even when morning comes, stay with me. ”

Slowly immersing into slumber, Bora realized with a surprise how Rachel’s voice matured so much alike to her mother’s voice. 

“ I'll never leave you alone

I try to hold onto you

But you are opening your eyes

No choice but you let you go. ”

Then, Rachel resumed humming the melody quieter once Bora’s breathing slowed down into even one. Once she made sure that Bora fully immersed into a dreamland, she softly whispered, “Good night, Bora-yah.”

Bora was too deep in her slumber to scold Rachel for dropping the honorifics again. God, this girl did not change. Instead of scolding, she sleepily mumbled, “Good night to you, too… Hyeon-nie.”

Later that night, Bora got woken up by a movement. She didn’t have to open her eyes to see that Rachel was clinging to her side with long limbs, both arms and legs wrapping around her smaller frame. Even though she had promised she would punch her in the face for such an unconscious attempt, Bora only surrendered into the midnight darkness.

Even in her deep slumber, she realized the hardships Rachel had to go through because of her. And that she could not change a person into the way she would like to. Rachel was gonna be the way she was today, no matter what. There was also a charm to this trait of the younger girl. Bora weakly smiled at this thought.

So, the only thing left for her to do was to bear with the clumsy situation called Rachel that had fallen on her head by the whim of fate.

Being the small spoon reminded her of times when the two of them used to fall asleep together on Bora’s bed after playing with older girl’s toys tirelessly throughout the whole evening. Rachel used to cling to her and Bora felt warm and secure in this small embrace.

Even if Bora would never admit this out loud, being hugged like this must had been the only thing that brought her complete peace. Her frame was embraced by not only Rachel’s slim warm arms, but also by the nostalgic warmth from her childhood. Even her past partners had never brought her this kind of feeling of security and serenity.

So far, only Rachel managed to make Bora feel at peace like this.

Sigh. 

Okay. 

Bora at least had to admit to herself that maybe, just maybe, this ‘letting Rachel sleep in her bed’ type of idea wasn’t so bad after all. 

Next morning, when both of them were having breakfast, they discovered one odd thing that had happened during their sleep.

“Daebak!” Rachel awed with an agape mouth. “Don’t tell me that you, too, were in the amusement park in the form of a child playing around and riding the Carousel Horses?”

“I was and you were there, too, by the way,” Bora confirmed, chewing on the particles of Miso soup. “I remember it clearly.”

“Wow, so it means that we had the same dream?! It’s so amazing and terrifying!”

“I guess, it must be the side effects of cutting off the sleeping pills,” Bora shrugged. “Sometimes, it happens to me. Not much big of a deal.”

“Okay, but still it gives me goosebumps. Wow, so you’re like a sandman from that one Netflix series. Thrilling!”

“Get used to it.”

“I will try to.”

Unlike the first heated days with Rachel, Bora much preferred the end of this week as things developed a surprisingly peaceful ambiance between them.

During the second time they were visiting Seoul, Rachel managed to do some productive work with Siyeon on the production of future songs. The younger girl was really amazed at Siyeon’s talent and was deeply appalled that her songs weren’t gaining that much popularity. She offered to make a collaboration with her to which Siyeon gladly agreed. They bonded easily and became friends in such a short period. 

Bora was glad that it worked out for them as Siyeon had finally found someone like her in the world of music.

On Sunday Rachel was finally allowed to attend Bora’s dance classes since she was done with the studio work with Siyeon. Previously, she even managed to introduce her new friend to one of the producers whom she had gotten to know from one of the parties back in the States. It was decided Rachel would be holding one of her concerts in Seoul at the end of the month, even if there was a clear lack of her fanbase in Korea. But turned out—

“Rachel unnie, I’m such a big fan of yours!” a few of Bora’s students walked up to her before the start of dance lessons. 

With a wide smile and a bashful blush on her face, she gladly signed them her autograph, while chatting nonchalantly.

“I see you have fans even here,” Bora’s voice interrupted the idyll. The cheerful girls ran away back to their places to the other side of the studio while Bora was skeptically observing them. “You distract my students. Maybe I should kick your celebrity ass out of here.”

Her strict tone didn’t elicit the needed reaction: Rachel wasn’t intimidated in a bit, instead she went on with her playful demeanor. 

Relaxed, Rachel lowered her upper body back, palms supporting herself up by sticking to the smooth wooden floor, feet wiggling like puppy’s tail. Her usual smile melted into a grin. Chin was tilted in an alluring way that made some girls squeal in excitement on the other side of studio, but visibly it didn’t effect Bora’s indifferent strict expression, “I think your students would be upset if you kick me out. Besides, I finally get to see the mighty queen Bora dance.”

“Brat,” Bora clicked her tongue in a dramatic annoyance at another name Rachel had made up to her. “Just sit here and try not to look too attractive—“

“Is this you speaking, unnie?” a genuine surprise appeared across Rachel’s eyes. 

“—so you don’t distract my students, Rachel,” the older woman finished with a mischievous smirk, pleased she had managed to fluster the younger girl.

For the next hour, as Bora had announced, she would be teaching basics for a couple themed dance her students had chosen. 

When everyone found their partner, at first Bora had a hard time showing the moves without a physical person.

Until she caught a swift glimpse of the tall girl in a reflection and, before she could say anything, felt another presence behind her. 

“Yah, didn’t I tell to sit—“

“Obviously, you need some help here,” Rachel told her nonchalantly with a smug smile.

Despite a burning desire to reject, Bora had no choice but to choose her as a dancing partner. 

“Come on, unnie. I don’t bite.”

“That’s what I should be telling you,” Bora grumbled but accepted the offer, taking Rachel by surprise by pulling her close by the thin waist. Their breaths clashed for a short moment and Bora tried to remain level headed by loudly addressing the students around, eyes still glued on Rachel’s bashful face. “Okay, everyone! We’re gonna start with simple moves. Just try to repeat it as precisely as possible. I’ll explain as we go. And at the end of every verse, I’ll check everyone’s work.”

Some students stared in awe at how Bora was handling Rachel’s clumsy steps with professionalism.

“Just follow my lead,” Bora whispered into her ear, petite arms snaking behind the waist with firm hold. Out of a hundred dancing partners so far, Bora admitted that the feeling of having Rachel in her arms felt pretty pleasant to the touch. The girl complied to her lead well, despite the natural clumsiness. “That’s better, Rachel.”

The rest of the evening was spent on practicing the couple dances in the studio. By the end of the lesson Bora decided to record a video of her students’ final result for the dance studio’s social media account. 

Few couples that had learned the dance the best were picked for the video. Everyone else was resting on the floor and encouraging the couples with shouts and claps. 

When it was the turn of the choreographer to show up, without any warning Bora quickly pulled Rachel who was previously resting along with others, thinking Bora would pick someone else for the video. 

Excited applause and shouts followed when Rachel and Bora went to the center.

Rachel quickly adapted to the rapidly changing situation and danced the bridge part of the song. Internally Bora was grateful Rachel didn’t even refuse or hesitate. 

The final part of the song involved dancing in circles while one partner lifted the other with intense eye contact. Due to the fact they’ve been practicing this part for the most of the evening, Rachel knew exactly what movements to accomplish. With surprising ease, she lifted the choreographer and spun around gracefully while looking back right into Bora’s eyes.

Every time that part came on, Bora’s neck flushed with heat by the way she kept locking eyes with the younger girl. Even if it was part of the choreography, it affected her in a way she couldn’t quite describe. 

Everyone was raging and cheering them on when they ended the song with a dramatic pose. 

They froze in place, both of them breathless, eyes staring at each other with happy grins on their faces.

“You’ve done well,” the dancer whispered into Rachel’s ear before going up to the center and bowing. Shortly after, the younger girl did the same thing, bowing and smiling for the little audience in the studio. Bora observed from the side and realized how Rachel fitted the image of an idol who genuinely loved interacting with people who appreciated her work.

Rachel quickly caught Bora’s arm and pulled the woman close to whisper back into her ear, “I did well—thanks to you.”

Internally, Bora was grateful to her students who quickly surrounded her, so that her blush would not be detected by Rachel.

As the class was slowly ending, the walls of the studio welcomed a new guest when there were almost no students. Few leaving girls looked in admiration at the enormous bouquet of red roses in a newcomer’s arms.

“Wow! Look at those roses!”

“So pretty!”

“Bora noona,” the guy of middle ages approached the choreographer with a wide smile on his handsome face, average height, but still towering over the woman he was approaching.

“What! Choi Joon Jae!” with a bright embarrassed blush Bora immediately scolded the guy who was laughing out loud and handing her the huge bouquet. “Why— What— You fool! Why would you give me something so…”

“Pretty? But they suit you so much! I couldn’t restrain myself when I saw this in a flower shop so I bought it for you, noona,” the guy explained with the same blush.

All this time Rachel had been observing the scene with interest. With a close attention she followed how Bora was reacting to the guy’s compliments. Her smile stretched in a wide smile. It was always so intriguing to discover new sides of Bora. 

“Are you free right now? I wanted to introduce you to my colleagues from my new job.”

“Well, I…” Bora tore her gaze to the side to see how Rachel was heading towards them with a good mood. “I’m with my friend right now. She’s new to the city so I can’t leave her like that…”

“Well, if your friend doesn’t mind joining us,” Joon Jae turned to Rachel and stretched his hand in greeting. “I’m Joon Jae. Bora noona’s friend and former colleague. Nice to meet you.”

The firmness of the received handshake the guy noticed right away with a surprised yelp. The girl looked fragile due to her long toned body but in reality her demeanor said the total opposite, not to mention how Rachel was a bit taller than him.

“Nice to meet you, too. I’m Rachel, Bora’s childhood friend,” with a quick greeting the girl turned to the dancer. “Why not hang out with him, Bora? I don’t mind.”

“Yah! You, brat…” Bora wanted to scold this girl for this kind of talking manner but didn’t want to put on a whole show in front of Joon Jae.

“What’s wrong, unnie?” Rachel asked with an innocent smile.

The guy noticed the quick changes of address towards the choreographer and chuckled, “One time she’s just Bora, next second she’s your unnie? Interesting. Bora noona never lets anyone talk to her like that.”

“Well, I’m special,” Rachel did a little artistic bow with her head to which the guy only heartily laughed out loud. “Lately I’ve been a special object of her treatment. Taking care of me so well.”

“You know what? If you wanna hang out so bad then let’s go now!” deeply embarrassed short woman pushed two annoying tower humans out of her studio, commanding at last. “Wait outside while I close the studio!”

Another weekend ended and by the end of the tiring day of work and few hours of talking with Joon Jae in the local pub, Bora and Rachel were in an empty night train that was taking them back to Changwon. Out of exhaustion they fall asleep comfortably piled on each other. 

Old forgotten memories engulf them warmly…

“Yoohyeon-nie!” the girl loudly called out her name when she saw how Aunt Gyeowool brought her daughter from school.

The adults left to the kitchen to drink tea and share some gossips from work.

The little girl with curly fluffy hair backed away with a shy smile, “Hi, Bora unnie.”

The older girl beamed a broad smile and tugged her friend along to the kids’ room to show her toys and recent things that she had been gifted on her birthday.

Bora had always been a generous kid and had loved sharing her toys, especially with Yoohyeon who was too shy to ask for them.

“I heard you’ll go to America for studies.”

“Yeah, my mom wants me to learn English.”

“But you already know English so well! Why would you need to go?”

“You don’t want me to leave, unnie?”

Bora sheepishly looked at her, turning away with a shy blush, “You know, I want to go with you.”

Yoohyeon sadly smiled, “After I finish my studies, I will take you with me, unnie. I promise.”

“Yoohyeon?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t forget about me, okay?”

“I promise.”

When Bora felt a light nudge to her side, her eyes parted and saw her childhood friend’s same sleepy eyes, “Unnie, we should get off on the next stop. Wake up.”

“Ah, yes, right,” Bora managed to tear off her eyes from the younger girl who looked at her with a question. “I just dreamed about you.”

“Oh, really?” Rachel grinned. “I did, too. I guess we again dreamt of the same thing.”

“Actually I made you keep a promise. We were kids. Though, I don’t remember what the promise was about…”

“Can’t believe you forgot your own promise,” the tall girl chuckled and stood up, taking all the bags from Bora’s lap. When the train stopped and the doors swung open automatically, she bent and whispered to Bora’s ears. “I kept my promise to not forget about you. Remember?”

Bora remained dumbfounded and the only thing that made her move was Rachel’s hand that pulled her out of the train. 

The pull was a bit harsh. The sudden force made Bora literally fall into Rachel’s arms that were already ready to securely catch her. 

“Yah!” the older woman complained, lifting her head in indignation. The words got stuck in her throat when she realized her face was in a dangerous distance from the younger girl’s one. “Rachel…”

The moment froze and the only thing Bora could hear was her own frantic heartbeat. She stared dumbly at the person who had managed to shake her whole world in such a short time.

“Yes?” the tall girl beamed her signature smile and chuckled upon seeing a bright bashful blush on Bora’s face. Her free hand poked on the nose that was red, too. “You’re so cute sometimes. Now, let’s go.”

When they got to the apartment and Rachel was already on her way to their shared bedroom, Bora stood in the hallway with a still frantically beating heart. 

“So stupid,” Bora muttered before going after the girl who was already lying in their bed.

“Do you want me to sing you a lullaby, unnie?”

“Please do,” Bora asked while settling into the soft covers. “I’m so tired. I wanna fall asleep quicker.”

“Okay.”

If a year ago someone had told Bora that in the near future she would ask some presumptuous cocky girl to cradle her every night like a child, she would laugh out loud at someone's face for suggesting something so offensive. 

But here she was, in the arms of a girl who was turning her into a better version of herself. So humiliating yet so cozy.

The next weekend an unexpected surprise was awaiting for her. 

“The last week was fun,” Rachel exclaimed as she walked beside Bora who was still grumpy in the morning. 

“Yeah, whatever…”

“What are we gonna do today?” excitedly Rachel asked upon entering the dance studio. 

A sigh.

“Today I will meet my new client to discuss choreography for their upcoming song. Yesterday their manager called me and discussed the conditions. Nonetheless, I agreed as the fair they had offered me was way too good to decline. I mean, not everyday I’m offered a price that’s five times my wage.”

“Are you sure you can make a worthy choreography?” curiously the younger girl asked as she settled on her usual place in the corner. 

Bora turned around, offended, “Of course, I can. I never doubt my abilities. It’s just… I have no idea who’s the artist in question. Strange. Usually, agents or managers tell me all the needed information about the artist. This one told me only about the offer. Ugh, I guess that’s how managers work. They always act strange.”

Rachel only genuinely laughed at that, sitting like a puppy in the corner, feet wiggling again like a dog’s tale. Bora could easily imagine how the girl would wiggle her tale if she had one.

Cute. The girl was effortlessly adorable.

With a cough, the dancer turned around to distract herself from these intrusive thoughts and proceeded to check her email box just in case the meeting with the client was cancelled.

After ten minutes a masculine woman in formal attire entered the studio and greeted them. Apparently, it was the said manager. The woman politely bowed to the choreographer. Her voice was unusually deep, “Good morning. I apologize for being late.”

“You're only late for a minute,” Bora was slightly surprised, turning her head towards the clock on the wall. “You came on time.”

“Well, I’m glad I made it on time then,” the woman stretched her hand for a handshake. “My name’s Yubin, but you can call me Dami. I am the one with whom you spoke on the phone earlier. I come from the multinational Label entertainment ‘Liberte’.” 

The moment Bora wanted to ask about the artist and where the hell were they, the woman beamed a knowing smile, “I see you’re already acquainted with Miss Rachel.”

“Wait, what does she have to do with…” Bora furrowed in confusion when suddenly she felt a soft touch on her shoulder. It took a moment for her to realize the irony of the situation when she saw a wide grin on Rachel’s face. “Rachel, you did not—“

“Surprise!” the younger girl sheepishly chuckled.

“But… Why me? You could literally hire any choreographer in Seoul! There are plenty of—“

“But I want you,” the words rendered Bora speechless. Rachel’s nervous smile softened. “After the dance lessons I came to the conclusion that it has to be you, Bora.”

The dancer was dumbfounded not at another drop of honorifics — she had already gotten used to it — but at how Rachel had chosen her without any consideration.

“If that’s clear,” Bora got startled by the low voice behind them. “Then, get to work. Miss Bora, Rachel will provide anything you need for references. Good luck!”

After the manager left, Rachel hurried to insert her CD into the player for Bora to take a listen. The girl moved really nervously as it was evident she was worrying about whether her song would be good enough for the choreographer’s liking.

After three minutes of attentive listening, when one of Rachel's unreleased songs ended, silence engulfed them.

The older woman was silent the whole time. Out of growing visible impatience Rachel blurted out:

“I hope you’re not changing your mind.”

“I’m not! It’s just… a really good song, Rachel. I’m…” Bora sighed. “I’m amazed. This song will get you on top of all charts. I’m sure of it.”

“Then, what’s the issue?”

“It’s just too good for me,” Bora gave a verdict, for the first time being so unsure about her abilities. “For the first time I’m afraid to mess up something so amazing.”

“Unnie, you’re the only one who can make a masterpiece of a choreography to my song. I trust you.”

Those words were enough for Bora to feel a bit at ease. A defeated sigh escaped from her pursed lips, “Alright. Then, let’s get to work, I guess.”

The rehearsal studio was nearly empty, save for the two women and the faint thrum of the bass echoing softly from the speaker system. The walls, lined in mirrors, reflected everything: posture, breath, nerves. It made the air feel heavier—like being watched by a thousand versions of yourself.

Rachel stood near the center, stretching her arms across her chest, trying to loosen a tension that wasn’t purely physical. Her hair was tied back, but wisps had already escaped and clung to the sweat gathering along her temples. She hadn’t said anything in the past two minutes. Neither had Bora.

That was the thing about Bora—her silence wasn’t empty. It was full of gravity, always waiting to pull you into something you didn’t expect.

“Alright,” Bora finally said, clipboard in hand. Her tone was neutral, but her gaze wasn’t. It scanned Rachel from head to toe with clinical intent—like she was measuring her not as a performer, but as someone to be read. “We’ll start from the lift.”

Rachel blinked. “The lift? Already?”

Bora nodded once. “I want to see what you can handle.”

Rachel exhaled slowly, trying not to show how fast her heart was starting to beat.

“Okay, boss,” she muttered, walking toward the center. “Straight to level five on the first day. Love that.”

Bora turned on the speaker. A low pulse of synths filled the room—steady, rhythmic, patient.

The girl complied, by quickly getting on her feet and strolling towards the choreographer. Every time Rachel entered Bora’s space, her hands were itchy to touch and tease. But since she was at work at the moment, she had to restrain herself from any distracting thoughts. She approached Rachel with her usual cool demeanor, but her hand, when it touched Rachel’s wrist to guide her into position, was unexpectedly warm. Firm, but not rough.

“You’ll lead with your left. When I spin you in, keep your core tight. Let me handle the balance.”

“You always like being in control, huh?” Rachel teased, voice light.

Bora glanced up, amused. “Do you always talk through choreography?”

“Only when I’m nervous.”

“At least you’re honest.”

The song itself was slow and relaxing in the background: a love serenade made for a couple dance. 

They faced each other. Bora’s right hand slipped to Rachel’s waist, steady and practiced. Rachel instinctively placed her hand on Bora’s shoulder, unsure if the heat she felt was from the studio or the proximity.

They moved.

Slow at first. Bora’s movements were smooth and precise—she anticipated every possible misstep and compensated before Rachel could even realize she’d made one. The rhythm settled in: a sway, a pivot, a subtle step that brought their bodies closer without ever touching completely.

Rachel couldn’t help but watch her—her eyes, the slight arch of her brow when she concentrated, the way she exhaled softly through her nose. It was like dancing with electricity wrapped in silk.

“You’re thinking again,” Bora said without breaking stride.

“I can’t help it. You’re very distracting.”

“You need to stop giving me all the power in the room.”

“You make it hard not to.”

For the first time, Bora faltered—not in her step, but in her expression. Her grip on Rachel’s hand tightened slightly. Not enough to hurt. Just enough to make her presence feel like a tether.

Then, the spin.

Bora twirled Rachel outward with one hand, let her rotate, then pulled her back in. Their bodies aligned with a grace that startled them both. Without pause, Bora bent slightly and lifted Rachel by the waist. The world spun for a second. Rachel’s feet left the ground. Trust or instinct—or both—allowed her to relax into the lift. Bora’s arms were strong. Controlled. Intimate.

She landed, soft as a breath, only to find herself standing mere inches from Bora’s face.

The music faded into the background. So did the mirrors. So did everything.

Rachel looked up and saw it—something flickering just behind Bora’s eyes. A hesitation. A heat neither of them named.

“I didn’t expect you to be this light,” Bora murmured.

“I didn’t expect you to hold me like that.”

For a few suspended seconds, they stood completely still. The kind of stillness that exists only between two people holding back everything they want to say.

Rachel’s lips parted, but no words came. Her body leaned in—not enough to cross a line, but enough to make the moment hold its breath.

Bora took a full step back, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Rachel turned away, rubbing the back of her neck, her cheeks flushed and chest rising.

“We’ll go again,” Bora said quickly, walking toward the sound system. Her voice was composed again. Professional.

Rachel didn’t respond right away. She glanced at the mirrors, catching the reflection of them both—still standing close, even after stepping apart.

Surely, Bora was able to get rid of Rachel’s awkwardness in the body. They swayed in the studio alone without anyone disturbing them and Bora was genuinely glad today was Sunday.

Rachel’s eyes were focused on the steps they were taking and Bora’s eyes were solely on her dancing partner: on her high placed cheekbones, long nose, red lips that were pursed in deep thought, focused serious eyes, how this white cap was making her face so attractive.

Bora abruptly detached herself from the girl to stop the flow of her thoughts, “Good job, Rachel. I guess we’re finished for today—“

“Unnie, I want you,” Rachel impatiently blurted out which again threw Bora off guard. The woman froze with a dumbfounded expression, a blush already forming on the cheeks. Nevertheless, the girl continued with a serious look in the eyes. “—to be my partner in dance.”

“Oh.” Bora had to take a moment to process the said words and to calm herself down from the wrong interpretation of the situation. Her fingers shakily managed to open a bottle of water. After hungrily drinking water from the bottle while also contemplating, Bora finally turned to her with a question, “Which means I will be performing on stage with you?”

“Yes.”

“Rachel, I can’t leave the country right now. I have work and—“

“I’ll pay anything you need, even double it,” Rachel assured with hope in her eyes, almost desperate. “I will take care of any inconveniences you have.”

Bora furrowed her brows, some dots not connecting in her mind, “If you can afford anything, why stay in my apartment like some homeless student?”

Rachel shrugged, “My mom insisted and now I’m grateful to her for that.”

“Grateful for what?”

“For you.”

Rachel surely had a way with words, she knew how to make someone blush profusely. Bora even had to convince herself to not take the situation the wrong way. Mainly Bora blamed it on the girl’s poor knowledge of the language as Rachel still messed up some Korean phrases.

“Alright, I’m down for the activities that take place in Korea. I’m afraid I won’t make it to the States because of work.”

“Thank you, unnie,” the girl sighed with relief and crossed the room to wrap the shorter woman in a tight hug. “You’re the best!”

“Easy,” Bora laughed, accepting the embrace, trying not to fall from it. 

But the couple ended up falling anyway which made them only giggle and look at each other with wide smiles.

The day Bora had to perform in a shooting studio, she admitted to herself something she had been denying for a long time.

While getting makeup applied on by a stylist, trying to sit still on a chair that was a bit far from the other chair where Rachel was seated in the same position, Bora dozed off in her thoughts, eyes glued on the younger girl’s face. 

With perfect hair and makeup that had no flaws, Rachel lowered herself a bit for a stylist to apply makeup products evenly. Her sharp collarbones were exposed, alongside with milky skin that was shining under the neon lights of the studio.

Bora gulped, unable to tear her eyes off of the younger girl. 

Defeated, she once again came to the conclusion that had been hanging in her mind for a long time: Rachel was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, if not the most gorgeous person she had ever encountered. She was sure of it because of the goosebumps on forearms and a tight knot in her stomach forming by just seeing Rachel’s beauty.

No woman, not even any men had ever made her feel this vulnerable and this weak for such a beauty. 

So ethereal. Rachel looked like out of this world. Bora sighed with a kind of admiration she was experiencing for the first time.

“Unnie, you did so well!”

Bora got snapped out of her thoughts by a light grip on her shoulder. 

“Ah, yeah. I tried my best.”

—not to look at you for too long.

“I hope the MV will be lit,” Rachel sighed with a hope in her voice. “Tomorrow is another day of shooting and then we’re done.”

Since it was another weekend Rachel begged Bora to take her to one of the night clubs after work. Bora reluctantly agreed as she internally concluded that relaxing didn’t sound so bad for her, too.

So, here they were, on the dance floor of one of Seoul’s most popular nightclubs, having a time of their life after drunken shots of tequila and other cocktails.

In a tipsy state Rachel was not as awkward as usual, letting herself loose and dancing however she wished. Bora was glad to see it as she herself was hyping the younger girl up under the ear-tearing beats of club music.

Her hips got gently held by long arms. Meeting shiny familiar eyes in front of her, Bora let herself loose for tonight and let her companion hold her closer than usual. Alcohol kicked in and she snaked her limbs around the smooth neck, singing the lyrics into the younger girl’s face, getting a laugh and a wide smile in response. 

It was magical. 

Bora felt like a character from teenage movies who was seeing their crush in the most unrealistic, romanticized way. But, in reality, Rachel looked way more ethereal under the neon lights than any camera roll could ever shoot and convey this exact aesthetic.

By the time the night club was closing, still laughing at whatever thing they were encountering on the way, on wobbly legs they carried each other to one of the closest hotels where Rachel reserved a room to stay for a night. 

“I swear, I didn’t order this,” the younger girl said with guilt when they saw the room had only one queen-sized bed. 

Yes, they usually slept together on the same bed but the ambiguity of the situation made it look like one nightstand after partying.

“It’s alright,” Bora shrugged and immediately settled on the soft white surface. “I’m not blaming you and, besides, I’m in the mood for some cuddles.”

Rachel looked dumbfounded at the older woman. 

Bora definitely was drunk.

“Come here,” she quietly called, patting the place beside her under the dim lighting of the room. 

The girl didn’t need a second calling, so she jumped near the smaller woman and laid down, propping hand under her cheek, turned to the side and looked at Bora who had the same position of lying down.

Locking eyes, they giggled and joked around some time until both of them went quiet.

“Rachel?” Bora called with the same improper accent, tongue unable to pronounce the first letter of the name.

“Yes?”

“Can I…” the way Bora started out with hesitation, which made the younger girl tense up for a moment. “Can I call you ‘Yoohyeon’ from now on?”

Rachel’s eyes widened in a surprise and in an instant relief, “That’s been worrying you? Oh my god, I thought that—“

“Please?” 

Time froze.

The younger girl stared back in deep puzzlement. Bora was not the type of person to ask for something, especially not the kind of person to beg for something. Only now she could clearly see how this was important for the older woman.

“I mean, of course! I don’t mind it at all. Unnie, you can call me however you like.”

“I’m glad, then,” a genuine relief showed itself on Bora’s worried features, only now giving room for a small smile, previous hesitant eyes turning back into normally confident mischievous ones. “Yoohyeon-nie.”

“I like how you say my Korean name,” the girl noted with a laugh. “Unusual, yes, but I like it. Reminds me of the days when I was a careless kid.”

“I like it, too, Yoohyeon-ah.”

“Let’s sleep now, unnie. Tomorrow we have another day of shooting. We need to wake up early, or Yubin will literally torture me with her lectures.”

“Alright.”

The girl wrapped herself around the dancer. The warmth radiating from her friend made Bora fall asleep immediately.

Next day, Rachel’s manager Yubin called them to a meeting in the entertainment building.

“Okay, you’ve done a great job in the process of shooting! I congratulate you on finishing it,” Yubin announced with a wide grin, seated across the two women who were as pleased as her. But before they started to cheer up, the woman raised her finger to address one issue. “But, we have one more thing to do.”

“What is it, Dami-yah?” Rachel called out.

“As it is your first official solo release which is a pretty big deal, you have to choose a stage name,” the manager declared while pursing her lips against her knuckles in pensiveness. “Rachel from Dreamcatcher will not stick around for a soloist singer for long.”

“I see your point here,” the girl sighed and groaned in frustration. “But I’ve been literally going over a million options and still, I haven’t found one.”

“It’s alright, Yoohyeon-ah, you’ll find one,” Bora reassured her friend with a light squeeze on her forearm.

“Wait!” Yubin suddenly startled both of the women by pushing herself forward abruptly, usually sleepy eyes lit up with inspiration. “What about this name? How Miss Bora has been calling you this entire time—“

“Yoohyeon?”

“Yeah,” the woman clicked her fingers. “This is it. How about ‘Yoohyeon’?”

“Really? My Korean name?” Rachel unenthusiastically asked, confusion was written all over her face. “Oh, come on! It’s dull—“

“For you, maybe, yes,” Yubin explained with still focused eyes, gesturing excessively. “But for me and others, as average American listeners, it sounds really unique! Besides, I have never heard of any famous Yoohyeons so far. Do you have any famous Yoohyeon in the Kpop industry, Miss Bora?”

“Hmm,” the dancer tilted her chin in deep thought. “I guess not? I haven’t heard any, either.”

“Well, then I guess we can work with it,” Rachel said with an unreadable expression. She must’ve been feeling weird, deciding to go with her real name for the stage. 

“And what about you, Miss Bora?” Yubin addressed the choreographer. It took Bora by surprise. 

“What about me?”

“Will you choose a stage name?”

“Stage name for what?” Bora nervously laughed. “I’m not a celebrity or something, so I don’t need one.”

“But after the music video comes out your name will be credited. Many other artists will want to contact you for more projects. I’m sure of that. So, why not make a pseudonym to get easily recognized?” the manager explained. “I know many Kim Boras in the entertainment industry so I suggest you make a stage name.”

“Okay,” she thought for quite a while but her mind was literally empty. Now she understood Yoohyeon’s previous struggle. “I don’t know… Maybe Kim Bora will be enough?”

“I know!” Rachel lit up with a sudden idea. “How about… Sua?”

“Sua?” the choreographer squinted in confusion.

“My mom used to call you like that, remember?” 

“Oh… Right, Aunt Yeoreum really liked calling me like that for no reason,” the dancer chuckled with a sense of nostalgia. “I guess it might work… Sua…”

“Oh, this was quick,” Yubin stood up from the chair and circled the table towards the exit. “Well, Sua and Yoohyeon. I will see you at the premiere of the music video.”

When the sight of the manager disappeared behind the door of the office, Rachel hummed pensively, eyes fixed into the distance, “Sua and Yoohyeon. Sounds lovely. Don’t you think so?”

“Actually, yes,” the choreographer stood up and proceeded to gather her things into her crossbody. “I’m having lunch in the cafeteria. You’re going, Yoohyeon-ah?”

“Yes, Sua-ssi,” Rachel said in her high pitched voice, trying to sound cute.

“Oh, come on, you,” the short woman snorted and pushed the girl lightly to the shoulder which made both of them laugh. “Stop playing around and hurry up. Besides, only Aunt Yeoreum can call me like that.”

“As you say, Sua-yah.”

“Jerk,” the dancer rolled her eyes while walking out of the office without waiting for the girl. “I’m leaving!”

“Hey, wait for me!”

Once Rachel caught up to the smaller woman who was surprisingly walking fast, her hand landed on the delicate shoulder, “By the way, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you want to go with me to the States? I mean, you’ve never been there, so I thought—“

“I’ve been there,” she halted halfway to look at Yoohyeon. 

“What?” the subtle surprise spreaded across soft features. “Wh— When? Where exactly were you?”

“Christmas of 2018 in Los Angeles.”

“Wait… I've been there, too!” with a little hints of hurt and puzzlement, with both hands Rachel held the woman by her shoulders. “Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve met you—“

“I didn’t think of you back then,” the dancer sighed but once she noticed the hurt on Rachel’s face, she hastily added up. “No! That’s not it… I’m sorry, Yoohyeon, but that period of my life was really hard. I didn’t want to trouble you with me when you were so…”

“So what?” Rachel got confused even more.

“So… successful,” the bitter snicker gave off everything that had been bottling up inside of the choreographer. “—on that stage. I was sitting in the front row and I couldn’t make myself walk up to you.“

“Bora, you better explain everything to me right now. Everything,” with a low voice Rachel demanded seriously.

“Then, you better sit down and listen,” Bora agreed. “Let’s go back to the office and I will explain everything.”

So, they went back in and once seated Bora started explaining.

From a very young age Kim Bora could clearly remember having two mother figures who had worked on her upbringing. 

It wasn’t a rare occurrence in a place where she grew up. In some people’s lives there were often situations where the father figure was often absent for various reasons such as avoidance of huge debts, full negligence and consequential divorce, business trips, accidents, death, or sometimes even the army. Well, in Bora’s case it was the latter one which, consequently, led to her mother struggling with raising her alone. That was not a rare anomaly. In these types of circumstances oftentimes a grandmother would come into the picture to help to maintain the upbringing process until the father would come back or, in cases of permanent absence of the father, to settle fully in the household. 

Unfortunately, Bora didn’t have grandparents but her mother had a friend, her former university professor, whose situation was very alike: Gyeowool’s only best friend Yeoreum underwent an unfair divorce trial, being left alone on the streets with two children. Both women decided to co-live in the Gyeowool’s house until her husband would come back from his longterm army service and until Yeoreum would save up enough money for a new life in the States. Gyeowool had a soft spot for the older woman to whom she would never reject anything. It was one of the bravest things Bora’s mother had ever done: receiving a single mother of two into her relatively small house.  

That was basically how Bora’s childhood went by: living in a house full of children to whom she developed a soft spot. It was fun, messy and noisy. The age difference of them was quite chaotic, too: the daughters of Yeoreum were much younger than twelve year old Bora, the oldest one with three years difference while the youngest daughter was half her age.

By nature, the two women were starkly different from each other: Yeoreum was a tall elegant woman with soft features and carefree nature while Gyeowool was much younger and smaller than her with traditional principles and strict personality. Their interaction Bora remembered clearly as a day: the older one would want to go and try everything that comes to mind without any hesitation when at the same time Gyeowool would try to stop her and eventually would come along with her just to make sure her best friend wouldn’t get into any trouble. But even now it was so apparent with how much respect Bora’s mother would look up at Yeoreum. 

“Sua-yah, what are you up to?” a high-pitched soft voice asked from behind when little Bora was drawing on her coloring book. Even from the gentleness of the voice she could tell that it was Aunt Yeoreum as her mother had a naturally sharper low voice. She turned around and showed her drawing with a proud smile. “Oh, that’s so pretty! Did you draw it yourself?”

“Yes,” a hint of hesitation went across Bora’s face. “Mother says I’m too old to draw like this. She says to find more mature hobbies.”

“What? No, you’re not,” the woman attentively looked at the little girl. “I will talk to her about it, don’t worry. Besides, I need you to go with me and Hyeon-nie on a little trip. Will you come?”

“Of course!” Bora got excited and threw everything, perfectly knowing her mother would yell later because of her left out mess but she couldn’t control her excitement and thus rushed after the tall woman, whom she remembered associating with a giant woman. 

On the front door, she saw Yoohyeon in a school uniform, an innocent first grader. Instead of greeting, she proceeded to tickle the younger girl which elicited uncontrollable laughter. Both wrestled for a moment before the woman proceeded to part them with a chuckle.

“Alright, kids, easy, easy,” Yeoreum stopped them and called them to the taxi. 

In the car, both girls talked about their school day. Even though Yoohyeon was much younger than Bora, she had never neglected the little girl and always had treated her patiently, especially in those times when the elementary schooler slowly explained the things she had learned that day at grammar lessons. Yeoreum watched them with a big smile while giving directions to the driver. 

Turned out she took them to the art school where they could practice singing, dancing and other art stuff like drawing and sewing. Both girls were glad to do all these activities up until the late evening. Yeoreum watched them proudly from the side, satisfied that she was fulfilling these kids’ dreams. Her oldest daughter had a sport interest, unlike Bora and Yoohyeon who loved more artistic activities — the main reason she decided to enroll these two into an art school which, of course, would cost a fortune and Gyeowool was absolutely against it, however, Yeoreum assured all of this would be on her behalf as she really wanted Bora to develop her artistic side. 

Gyeowool treated her only daughter Bora a bit too strict, making her study and do house chores on a regular basis. This would leave no time and space for Bora to develop her artistic skills which Yeoreum thought would be a total waste as she clearly saw a potential in this little girl. 

“Uh, I really hope she won’t grow up like you,” once Yeoreum told her best friend when both women were having a late night talk with wine and cigarettes in the kitchen. All kids were asleep so they talked in hushed whispers. “No offense, Gyeowool-yah, but I really want this girl to be free and do what she truly wants.”

“Unnie, I appreciate your concern for my daughter but she will be alright if she does all her requirements as the daughter of this family,” the smaller woman responded with a tired sigh. “She’s my only child so I have to prepare her for the adult life of a Korean woman. What if her future husband will be disappointed in her? Such a shame. I wish I had another child so I wouldn’t end up being disappointed in the only child of this family.”

“What? You’re nuts, Gyeowool-ah!” the older woman exclaimed in slight disbelief. Her palm firmly landed on her friend’s hand. “Please, please, I beg you, don’t do this to your only daughter. She’s still small and shouldn’t think about her ‘future husband’ right now. Blasphemy! She’s twelve! All she has to do is to have fun and develop herself as she wishes.”

“Look, sooner or later, you’ll be gone and she won’t have her favorite ‘auntie’ who lets her do everything. For now, I’m letting you do all of this out of pure respect to you. But when you’ll be in your America and Bora will finally have her father by her side to raise her…” the woman crushed the burden of reality on her friend. “She will study and will learn how to be a proper wife, a proper citizen who will work a respectable job to get an apartment, with a future husband and her future children by her side. Bora will fulfill her duties as a woman. That’s all I ask of her.”

“I don’t see Bora doing all that stuff. She’s too freedom loving for this kind of mundane life…”

“Your children are freedom loving, especially Yoohyeon, just like you, it’s in her blood. But not my Bora, she’s my daughter, not yours...”

“Gyeowool, listen, I didn’t mean that—“

“If you let me, I am going to bed now. Tomorrow I will have a tiring shift.”

Yeoreum was left alone with her thoughts in the empty kitchen.

One evening they were all sitting in the living room while having a peaceful time. The kids were doing whatever their souls were enjoying: reading a fairy tale book, watching cartoons on the tablet, or just playing with toys and drawing.

Two women were resting on the couch after an exhausting day at work. One was drinking wine while the other was smoking a cigarette into the nearest window.

“Hyeon-nie,” Yeoreum called out her daughter’s name softly after releasing one of the last puffs into the crook of the window. “Have you chosen a name yet?”

“Hmm?” the six year old looked up. “I like the name Rachel a lot. It’s my favorite American name.”

“Rachel?” her mother pronounced it in the most American accent and chuckled. “It suits you.”

“Yah, Rachel, draw better,” Bora mocked the younger girl with her thick Korean accent, pronouncing the letter “L” instead of “R”, and pointed at the mutual paper on which they had been drawing some images. 

“Oh, sorry, unnie!”

This time even Gyeowool joined in the hearty laughter at Bora’s silliness. The older woman smacked her in the forearm, “Don’t laugh at your daughter. You do it, too, Bora’s mom.”

“I’m not laughing!” Gyeowool complained, instantly becoming red.

“Try it, then.” the older woman challenged her with mischievousness.

“As if I have nothing to do, except proving you something, unnie!” the woman huffed and took her wine glass into the kitchen, visibly avoiding taking part in the little challenge.

“Someone got scared here,” Yeoreum shouted after the woman while laughing loudly. 

When she was left alone with girls, her curiosity didn’t end on that so she kept her little interrogation on her daughter.

“Darling, do you like anyone so far in your school?”

Yoohyeon stopped drawing and contemplated her answer very carefully. Meanwhile the other girl stood up and showed the woman her piece of work.

Yeoreum gasped in deep amazement, “Such a beautiful drawing! Go, show your mother, too. She’ll be blown away from it!”

When with a little laugh Bora ran away into the kitchen to show off her drawing to her mother, the girl finally answered, her eyes glued on the leaving girl’s back.

“I like Bora unnie.”

“No, I meant like, who do you like among boys?”

“No boys… but I like Bora unnie. I want to be with her all the time.”

This time Yeoreum took a moment to look at her child with surprise, “Really?”

“Yes,” Yoohyeon beamed her shy smile. “She takes good care of me and protects me from bullies. I like her.”

“Oh,” realization fell upon the woman and she smiled. “Well, isn’t this sweet? In the future, when you’re all grown up, to be with Sua all the time, what will you do?”

“Well, I guess I will marry her? Isn’t that something that people do to be together all the time?”

“Yep, you’re right, Hyeon-nie. Okay, I understand you now,” Yeoreum chuckled ironically, shaking her head. “Bora, huh? Interesting. For a time being don’t tell this to your aunt, okay? Let it be our little secret.”

“Okay, mom.”

Bora didn’t run to her mother, as Aunt Yeoreum had instructed, she was standing hidden in the hallway, eavesdropping the whole conversation, so many questions forming inside her mind. And, as Aunt Yeoreum had instructed, she didn’t tell about it, either. From time to time, she remembered this ‘secret’ when looking at the small Yoohyeon when playing together. Over time, as she grew up, she still sometimes replayed this interesting scene inside of her head.

So, basically throughout her main period of childhood Bora had two mothers by her side until the day she feared the most scary thing would come.

“Please, don’t leave me,” Bora felt like a little girl and probably she should be ashamed of acting like this in front of her mother but she couldn’t help but hug tightly the tall woman who was standing on the doorway with suitcases and two other fully dressed children, ready to leave. Tears were rolling on her cheeks as she was sobbing. “Please, please, don’t leave!”

“I have to go, Sua-yah,” the woman herself was on the verge of tears while her heart was tearing into pieces. Gently she pulled away the girl from her and kneeled in front of her to look at her properly, wiping the salty tears from the delicate face. “Live healthy and always laugh, okay? I adore your laugh. So, don’t forget to smile and be strong, alright?”

“Okay…” 

When the two women were forbidding their farewells, Bora for the first time saw how her mother cried in the embrace of the only friend she had. Gyeowool seemed so small in the embrace of Yeoreum and Bora only now realized how her mother was slowly aging.

“Unnie?” someone called out and she saw little Yoohyeon who was still much shorter than her. The younger girl proceeded to hug her tightly, head only reaching her chest. “When I turn eighteen, you’ll be old enough to visit me, right? Come visit me sometime or if you can’t, I will come back to find you.”

“Do not forget me, okay?” Bora chuckled bitterly and hugged the younger girl. “I definitely will not but you might because of this short memory of yours.”

“We’ll see,” Yoohyeon grinned with a challenge through flowing tears on her cheeks and Bora felt this inner hunch that this girl in front of her would conquer big heights in the near future. “Unnie, we will meet again.”

“Yes, we will meet again, one way or another.”

Bora proceeded to say goodbye to the other girl, then it was all gone. 

More than a decade passed by without any news from Yeoreum or her children. 

Bora was twenty four when she had a depressive crisis because of the overwork at the mundane work that she despised so much: an office plankton in a finance department among other thousand faceless people of a huge ant corporation. 

How did she turn this way? 

Well, her mother made sure to cut any possibilities of pursuing an artistic career, justifying it with the argument about stability and Bora couldn’t say a word against it because her mother was a smart calculative woman and she was always right no matter what. High school, university, and the last two years of slavery in this corporation pushed Bora to become a depressed gloomy human being who had lost any sense of joy in life.

The only way she could pacify and fill up the hollowness inside of her was through music in the headphones when taking a metro and dancing in the night clubs and in her apartment after work. Drawing could do the same but she ended up throwing pieces of work into the trashcan after being ashamed of herself. 

One day, while sitting in the full metro train, she stumbled upon a new song from a recommended playlist sent by her fellow colleague Gahyeon, the only individual in her department who shared the same interest as her. 

The song was of American production and usually she didn’t listen to Western songs but this one caught her attention by the name of a group. 

“Dreamcatcher…” she pronounced the name slowly with interest: a rock band with a song called “Jazz Bar”. 

So strange. How could a rock band do a jazz song? Ridiculous.

Nevertheless, once she played it, her entire existence immersed into a whole new reality where she was sitting by the bar counter and observing a late night performance of a young singer who was just starting her career. The taste of beer would feel so sweet on her tongue and her eyes would be fully glued on the singer whose voice was so magical. She might fall in love with this voice or a girl. Bora thought she would be sick the next morning but now she was having the time of her life listening to this amateur singer who was doing pretty well because the rhythm and the mood of the song were all consuming. A teenager's love settled within her soul and she felt genuinely at peace.

The song ended and she parted her eyes to find herself inside the train where light was so coldly bright and the windows were not showing anything except darkness. 

Sigh.

She should thank Gahyeon for the excellent compilation. For these kinds of fresh experiences she might even buy her a milkshake during lunch. 

After hearing how Bora was interested in this group, how she had already looked through all their songs, one afternoon Gahyeon came to her cubicle with breaking news. 

“Look what I won,” the girl beamed a wide smile which at first confused Bora but when she got a glimpse of tickets’ description, a loud gasp escaped her agape mouth.

“No way! Lee Gahyeon! No fucking way!”

“Yes fucking way! And I won two of them!”

“Wow… That’s really great,” Bora was genuinely glad for her colleague who had been a huge fan of her favorite group since high school. “You know, I suggest the boy from the logistic department with whom you’ve been talking lately. You should invite him.”

Why was she pushing someone else instead of herself? Well, not to look egoistic and greedy. 

“Pfft, unnie!” the girl suddenly bursted in laughter. “I don’t like him! Besides, he hasn’t got a damn clue what kind of group Dreamcatcher is, so… I have only you to invite.”

“But this means going to America and leaving work at least for a week,” Bora was lost, having no clue what to do with her schedule since no one coulf replace her against the rules. “We could get fired, Lee Gahyeon!”

“Be it,” the girl nonchalantly shrugged. “I don’t really like this job and I don’t plan on staying in this place for the next five years. Screw it!”

The ticket was placed firmly into her hand with words of hopefulness, “So?”

A turmoil of thought rushed through her mind: what if she lost her job and her mother would find out? Everyone would be disappointed. Literally everyone, well, except, Yeoreum who always wished for Bora to pursue a life of her dream…

“Fuck it. Book the flights. I’m going with you.”

“Really?! Oh my god, yes! Thank you, unnie.”

“No, Gahyeon-ah, I should thank you.”

Just before the Christmas season was starting, Bora found herself in the Incheon Airport, standing in the line to the Gates with Gahyeon who was double-checking their tickets.

Thirteen hours of flight went by quickly as mainly they were sleeping on the uncomfortable seats, piled up on each other.

“Wow, I dreamed so well,” Gahyeon yawned once she saw that Bora woke up, too. “Even with these uncomfy seats here, I slept like a baby. Do you wanna know what I dreamed about?”

“You were on a beach?” Bora sleepily guessed.

“No, but— wait, how did you know?!”

“Well, I had the same dream,” Bora simply replied while casually trying to stretch her limbs.

“Wow, strange but cool.”

“Yup, that sometimes happens to me. Anyway, Gahyeon-ah, what’s your reason to go, besides being a big fan of Dreamcatcher?”

“Well,” Gahyeon ponders her answer carefully. “I’m in love with someone in the group. And it’s not like a delusional fan obsession. No, we’ve actually been dating for about six months now.”

“That’s why you’ve been rejecting all these boys at work, huh?” Bora’s eyebrows rose with genuine surprise. “Why didn’t you tell me about your sexuality earlier?”

“I concealed it since anyone in Korea might be skeptical of it. You seemed like a really conservative person, too.”

“I understand. My family is really traditional and would never accept anything out of the ordinary. I guess, being one of them most probably created this scary image of me.”

“Yeah…”

The plane landed without any delay and they safely made it to their hotel, even though getting lost in these streets and blocks was very easy, if it weren’t for Gahyeon who knew a little English to guide them.

“Why didn’t your celebrity girlfriend meet us?”

“She’s a busy, hardworking person. Right now they’re preparing for tonight’s concert.”

“I see.”

Picking outfits while shopping in a brand new city was quite fun. Those Hollywood movies became somewhat true, Bora used to watch them all the time and now they were more real than ever. 

In the evening, after a long queue they were finally sitting in the first VIP rows. Bora was surprised that there were only ten seats on the front row. No way a regular person could win VIP tickets in a lottery…

“Wait, Gahyeon-ah, how the hell you’ve won these VIP tickets? I never asked.”

“Uhh,” the girl had a hard time explaining, profusely blushing. “I won them in a bet…”

“You bet with whom exactly? Your girlfriend who’s a member of this freaking group?”

“Yeah…”

“Oh my god, Lee Gahyeon, you privileged ass!”

“Okay, I’m sorry! I needed someone with whom I could attend this concert! I was scared to do this all by myself!”

Before Bora could scold the girl even more, the lights cut off and a loud rock music played in the stadium. 

“Hello, LA!”

The leader of the group shouted in a mic to which the audience cheered excitedly. The lights were still off and Bora could only see the silhouette of the person greeting everyone in the stadium. The advantage of having VIP seats was the close proximity between the row and a stage. Bora could see everything on stage so clearly and once the lights turned on brightly, her whole world stopped spinning, as if stuck in slow motion.

There were three people on stage, every one of  them in the shadows, showing on the spotlight one by one after their introduction.

“Hello, I’m the leader of Dreamcatcher, Jiu!”

The crowd cheered and shouted at a pretty Korean girl who must be the prettiest girl Bora had ever seen. In close distance, the visuals were unreal. Was she even real? With this type of beauty she could have conquered the Kpop industry by now.

“Good evening, LA! I’m Handong!”

This girl was pretty, too. But Bora was sure this member wasn’t Korean at all due to the fact she looked different to her fellow member. Maybe Chinese? But still, this one looked a bit intimidating.

Oh. 

Handong waved directly at them and Bora was caught off guard by that, heart skipping a beat, almost falling from the chair from the sudden personal short greeting. That was s

“Lemme guess, that’s your girlfriend?”

“Yup,” Gahyeon waved back with a wide grin, heart full of love. 

“Ah, I see,” Bora gulped, the fact that her friend was dating a literal singer only sinking in just now. Now that she thought about it, she scoffed. “Yah, why a foreigner? At least, you could’ve chosen the other Korean girl rather than this Chinese girl!”

“Yah, unnie, my heart doesn’t choose people based on their nationality! Don’t be an ass.”

“Alright, alright,” Bora backed away with a laugh. “But still, now you owe me a full detailed story on how you two got together, okay? Because, hell, I—“

Her words got stuck in her throat when the last member of the group got introduced in the form of a tall blonde girl.

“Hi, I’m the soloist of the group, Rachel!”

“Rachel?” Bora hummed with thought, thinking where haf she heard this familiar name. Rachel, Rachel, Rachel… For some reason, this name was associated with something “favorite” in her mind. 

In the end, her mind got distracted by the soloist’s performance and she quickly answered herself that Rachel was probably everyone’s favorite name due to its popularity in the US.

“Oh, there are so many of you. Let me have a better look at you, beautiful people!” Rachel said into the microphone and swiped a good look at the audience from left to right. Unfortunately, the soloist noticed them because of Gahyeon with whom she was probably acquainted as well. Bora flushed profusely when she received a wink from the soloist.

“Girl!” Gahyeon hyped her up with excitement. “Did you see how she looked at you?!”

“Don’t make a fuss about it, Gahyeon-ah. I am still straight even if this girl comes up to me and asks me on a date,” Bora rolled her eyes, ignoring her burning cheeks and restless heart that was beating out of excitement. 

The rest of the concert went well. They had the time of their lives, enjoying their favorite songs that they knew word by word. This was the only exception Bora would have for this type of hyper behavior where she didn’t have to hold herself back.

Being exhausted in a good way with muscles aching sweetly, Bora thought now that the concert was over they would be heading home but her friend had entirely different plans.

“Where are we going, Lee Gahyeon?!”

“Just walk with me, unnie!” the girl reassured her with a big grin which didn’t work at all on Bora whose fear was rising every step they took towards the backstage. “Trust me!”

The only question that hung in her head: why the hell were the guards letting them in as if they knew them? 

The moment Gahyeon proudly showed her VIP ticket, the answer came by itself to Bora who thought that she was now doomed. She did not sign up for this. The idea of meeting people who made and performed her favorite songs was rather anxious than exciting to her.

Meanwhile, her friend greeted the members of the group as if she had always known them, giving each of them a happy hug and smooches. The moment Gahyeon saw the tall Chinese woman, she literally stuck to her side glued, with tears in her eyes, drowning her girlfriend in embraces and kisses. 

The sight was endearing to Bora so she subconsciously smiled at the heartwarming reunion of lovers until she felt a sudden gentle tap on her shoulder. She got startled and backed away with two steps, eyes wide. 

“Hey, are you Gahyeon’s friend?” the main soloist of the group was curiously looking at her. “Oh, sorry! Did I scare you? I didn’t want to. Sorry, again.”

The only things she understood from the English gibberish were Gahyeon’s name and that this tall girl was supposedly apologizing to her. 

Blankly, she was blinking, unable to say anything because of the lack of her English. She hated this useless feeling and that was why her neck was blushing profusely. 

“I’m Rachel,” the girl smiled and stretched her arm carefully lest to scare the poor girl. “What’s your name? Are you from around here?”

“Korea. Here, for two days,” Bora tried her best to answer in the foreign language, praying the girl understood.

“What?” the soloist was trying her best to understand the girl but failed due to the loud music. So, she leaned forward to hear the girl better. “Can you repeat, please? I didn’t hear you clearly.”

Bora hummed in disagreement, not knowing where to put herself as their faces were now in close proximity. At this moment, the tall girl raised her eyes. They made eye contact for a short moment that seemed like forever. Some glimpses of confusion were written in her grey eyes as if she was trying to figure out something.

“Hey, listen, this might sound crazy, but I think I’ve seen you somewhere. You look kinda familiar—“

“Sorry, I go, go, I go,” Bora awkwardly signaled that she had to get going.

“Ah, okay, sorry to bother you,” the soloist backed away with a sheepish smile. “Just wanted to let you know that you look really beautiful.”

Hell, why was this the only thing Bora understood perfectly out of the whole conversation? Now she had to suffer from the agony of blushing.

“Bye-bye,” Bora waved quickly and retreated from this awkward situation. Bora walked past the tall girl out of the backstage room, shouting at last.

“Gahyeon-ah! I need some fresh air! I will be outside.”

“Okay, unnie,” her friend didn’t even turn around to see how Bora disappeared from the room. 

Only Rachel stood there rooted to the floor, staring at the leaving petite back with burning curiosity inside. After this concert she would think about this mysterious girl every following night and would dedicate a whole album to her, until Rachel would eventually forget her due to her hectic dating lifestyle. 

Meanwhile, Bora took a long stroll in the city, not paying any attention to the fact that it might be dangerous: the city lights were too entrancing to stay away. Slowly, with a song in the mind, she strolled into the night while slightly swaying side to side. That night she decided to quit her job and pursue a career of a choreographer which would be successful at first and later on she would find a way to make it a stable job (one of her mother’s main criteria). 

Bora thought this short impulsive recklessness from that LA trip had left her completely until a few years later a knock on her door would interrupt her evening routine.

“Ugh, who the heck at this hour would need me—“

“Hi,” the foreign girl greeted her with a bright smile. “Remember me?”

“Who…” Bora was about to shout and kick this stranger from her doorstep when something inside of her halted her. 

Such a familiar face but Bora still couldn’t comprehend the connection, so she instead demanded, “No English. Speak Korean.”

“Okay,” the girl smiled and proceeded to introduce herself. “So my name’s Rachel. Our mothers were once close friends…”

“…so, that was it.” Bora concluded her story with a finality putting her crossed fingers on the desk.

“That was you?!” Yoohyeon exclaimed with pure shock on her face, accusingly pointing at Bora who was still sitting at the same desk after retelling her side of the story. “Unnie, I can’t believe we’ve already met in the States and I didn’t even know about it?!”

“Chill, I realized it only recently, too,” Bora calmly raised her hands in defense. “That the vibrant hot soloist from my favorite rock band is the same clumsy girl from my childhood who also lives in my apartment? I would never straight up guess it.”

“Dreamcatcher is your favorite group?” Yoohyeon, distracted, beamed with a sheepish smile and immediately received a smack on the forearm. “Ouch!”

“Focus, Yoohyeon-ah.”

“Right! So, you know Gahyeon, right?”

“Yes, I do,” Bora answered with thought, slightly surprised at the choice of the topic. “Is she still with Handong? And where is Gahyeon right now? Last time I heard, she was backpacking in Europe.”

“Yup, they’re still together and, yes, Gahyeon’s still traveling.”

“Oh, I see,” Bora took time to scan the younger girl’s face. “So, what now?”

“What now? I don’t know, really,” the girl awkwardly shifted in her seat. “I guess be best friends forever as we always wished? Of course, if you don’t mind.”

“Yoohyeon-ah,” with a serious look on her face, Bora took nervously fidgeting fingers in hers to intertwine their hands together. “I might be a real moody pain in the ass sometimes, but I will never let go of you ever again. I have promised this since forever and I want to keep the promise.”

“Thank you, Bora,” the girl beamed yet another shiny smile and Bora thought she might be the luckiest person on the earth to be able to hold something so precious in her arms. “Though, now I want you to forget that time at the concert when I was trying to hit on you.”

“Oh, so you were hitting on me? How lame, Yoohyeon-ah. Even if I knew English back then, you wouldn’t stand any chance.”

“But why?”

“Oh, in fact, there were several reasons for that: first, you were eighteen back then when I was twenty four, for God’s sake; second, I was straight, you dummy, and, thirdly, you’re not my type, anyway.”

“Even now?”

Bora wanted to retort with an immediate ‘Of course!’ but something got stuck in her throat to say it. Instead, she chose silence, but even in the quietness, she couldn’t bear the smugness that was forming on Yoohyeon’s face. “Okay, enough talking. Seems like someone here is asking to be punched right now.”

“Okay, sorry!”

When they got back to Changwan, Bora had a plan to take Yoohyeon somewhere.

“Where are we heading, unnie?”

“I want you to meet someone. Just follow me, okay?”

The short woman dragged the taller girl by hand towards the depth of suburban houses. Yoohyeon compliantly followed the lead, looking around with apparent curiosity at the old looking houses and narrow streets. 

Autumn leaves had been almost stripped from the branches and stems of trees, gracefully falling in circles on the ground, coating the streets in yellow colour. The late fall was breathtakingly beautiful in the quiet suburban areas, nostalgic even for Yoohyeon who felt strangely sentimental at the surrounding sight.

“It’s so pretty here, unnie. You get to see this every year?”

“What are you saying? We’re almost here. Right! This one!” Bora didn’t even hear her friend, focused on skimming through the identical old houses down the street. 

The tall girl suddenly stumbled against Bora’s back who harshly halted with triumphant exclamation and proceeded to knock on gates of a house they stopped for, “Anybody home? I’m home!”

The narrow sized gates buckled open seconds later, revealing an old short man who, seemingly, just started having grey hair with wrinkles around his eyes.

“Dear, have you finally made it here? I’m so glad to see you!” the small man enveloped Bora in a tight hug. Yoohyeon couldn’t help but adore how the height of the daughter and the father were almost the same. Once the hug was done, the man noticed a new guest who was standing awkwardly a bit far from them. “You brought a friend!”

“This is Rachel,” Bora introduced her friend, patting the shoulder of the tall girl. “Aunt Yeoreum’s daughter.”

“Oh, finally I get to meet a member of Yeoreum’s family. Such an honor,” the man bowed his head down which elicited the wildest reaction from Yoohyeon. Even if she wasn’t really familiar with Korean traditions, the gesture of this type from an elderly was quite unusual. 

“You don’t have to!” blushing profusely, she rushed to give her hand for a greeting while bowing, too, “My family should thank you for the kindness you have shown. My mom remembers it up to this day. I’m deeply grateful, too.”

The man heartily laughed and pulled the tall girl in a lung crushing embrace, “Let’s get you inside. You must be cold.”

All this time Bora had been observing this adorable scene with a wide smile on her face. 

Once inside, there was an even smaller woman who apparently had been waiting for them. Yoohyeon didn’t need any introduction to recognize this woman. The bag she had been holding slipped out of her hand as her eyes stared in deep surprise.

Gyeowool, dear friend of her mother, was standing there in casual domestic clothing. 

“Good day to you, mom, this is—“

“My goodness, isn’t this little Hyeon-nie? Or should I address you as Rachel now?” the woman approached the girl with a wide eyed gaze that was capturing every feature on Yoohyeon’s face. “No need to introduce her, Bora-yah. Seems like Yeoreum’s younger daughter fully took after her mother after all. It’s as if I’m seeing my old friend Yeoreum all over young again. Well, except for the eyes.”

“Good evening, eommonie,” clearing her throat, Yoohyeon proceeded to bow really lowly as she still harbored deep respect for this petite woman. “I am glad to see you, too. Seems like you haven’t aged a bit.”

“Nonsense! Don’t even try to flatter me, young lady,” the woman chuckled and turned towards the kitchen. “Now, everyone, wash your hands and let’s proceed to supper.”

The moment everything was settled on the dinner table, casual conversation about mundane matters circle around the family.

“—and what about you, Rachel? Do you have a boyfriend?” 

Yoohyeon’s hand with a spoon of soup halted in the air and she awkwardly chuckled.

“Stop embarrassing her with these questions,” Bora groaned, putting down her chopsticks. “It’s only been twenty minutes and you’re already asking too many personal questions.”

“What’s wrong with asking about her future plans of becoming a wife and a mother?” older woman became deeply perplexed with her daughter’s complaints. 

“Uhm… Well, actually, I split up recently. So, I’m not looking for anybody right now,” Yoohyeon chuckled. “Right now, I am focusing on spending as much time as possible with unnie since we haven’t seen each other for so long. Before I go back to the States, I want to spend every minute beside Sua unnie.”

Hearing this, Bora almost choked on her tea and a second later coughed violently. Gyeowool scolded her while handing the napkin across the table, “Bora, where are your manners?”

“Are you alright?” Yoohyeon asked attentively, while rubbing the petite back of her friend.

“Yeah…” Bora’s throat calmed down and she backed away from the big eyes full of care. Cheeks burning, she kicked the other girl’s foot under the table. 

“Oh! For what?!”

“Why do you always have to make it so cheesy? My god,” Bora covered her face with a napkin to conceal an apparent blush, especially when her parents were literally sitting right across the table. 

“Rachel is really something! She really does have an easy influence on our precious daughter!” her father marveled while laughing heartily.

“Aw, don’t scold her, Bora-yah,” Gyeowool said while pouring tea into an empty cup for her husband. “Rachel has always been your little tale ever since you two were little. Now that she’s all grown up, you two are finally equals. She’s the friend who can’t be replaced. Treasure it and go easy on her sometimes. Right, Rachel?”

“I fully agree with you, eommonie!” Yoohyeon cheered. After a moment of quiet, she contemplatively stared at her bowl of rice and threw a quick glance at Bora who was focused on consuming her own food. A warm feeling settled in her chest. “Though, to be frank, Sua unnie has been taking good care of me. I might be the luckiest person to have her by my side.”

“Well, after all, when I was her age I helped your mother as well,” with a nostalgic hue on her face, Gyeowool’s lips formed a small smile, tiny wrinkles appearing around her mouth.

“By the way, how did you two meet?” Yoohyeon asked with curiosity as her mother had never told her the whole story. “Mom never told me about it in detail.”

“I was her student and after graduation I enrolled back into university to pursue the same career your mother had. I started working as her assistant and then we became colleagues. One moment my dear husband was obliged to serve longterm in the military and at the same time Yeoreum was undergoing the divorce process which ended in favor of her husband who has been having a second family on the side. So unjust the law system was at that time.”

Cutlery clattered roughly from Yoohyeon’s side. It got everyone’s attention and she quietly apologized, asking Gyeowool to resume her story.

Remembering the old days, the woman chuckled nostalgically at the mental image of memories flowing through her mind, “I never would've guessed a house full of women would be so noisy and messy! Though, the main source of chaos would be from Bora and Rachel. Yeoreum’s older daughter was the calmest child, unlike you two,” Gyeowool pointed her chopsticks towards the two young women, making them blush out of embarrassment. “God, to this day, I can still hear Rachel’s high-pitched whiny voice ringing in my head: “Where’s Sua unnie?” or “Where has Sua unnie gone? I need to find her!”. Ugh, seriously, you used to give me the worst headaches with your voice.”

Gyeowool’s husband and Bora bursted out laughing while Yoohyeon was literally perishing in her seat from embarrassment. 

“Come on, you guys, I was just a kid!” Yoohyeon whined, all red from cheeks to her ears. 

“Yes, your mother used to say the same thing when defending you,” Gyeowool pointed out, grinning at the sight of her close friend’s daughter sitting all grown up. “Rachel, I’m glad my sometimes rude complaints didn’t stop you from becoming a singer. After your family left for the States, I used to worry my words might have left you an inferiority complex. So, I apologize for the rude things I might have said to you back then.”

“It’s okay, eommonie,” Yoohyeon energetically waved her hands to brush off the topic. “No need to apologize!”

“Though, if you think about it, Yoohyeon always had a nice voice,” the words accidentally slipped out of Bora's mouth. The moment she realized she had said it out loud, her hand covered her mouth.

“You think so?” in an instant Yoohyeon’s demeanor turned into a big cheerful puppy whose tail is wiggling happily. “Thanks, unnie.”

Silently, Gyeowool exchanged knowing looks with her husband, communicating through eyes. At the mute question from the wife, the man smiled and nodded back with an approval. 

“You’re welcome,” Bora shyly answered back, eyes avoiding her friend. “Can we, please, change the subject now?“

Later that evening, when they were preparing for a sleep in Bora’s old room, the older woman couldn’t bear Yoohyeon’s sudden strange quiet demeanor anymore.

“Something’s wrong, Yoohyeon-ah?” finally Bora asked and dared to touch the palpable question in the air, staring at the back of the other girl who was doing her bed too silently. 

Not much time passed before the girl’s movements completely froze and her fragile shoulders fell helplessly. A long sigh escaped from her. Bora kept waiting while questioning since she had developed this constant readiness to protect this girl from anything in the world. Or maybe, Yoohyeon had always been precious to her, she just resumed the forgotten emotion?

“Since when… I just…” with voice cracking and being on an edge of breaking, Yoohyeon whispered quietly after being finished with bed. “I didn’t know he had another family… Mom has never mentioned anything about it.”

Oh. 

“Like, for example, have you always known this, Sua?”

“Yoohyeon, I mean, I was twice your age at the time of the divorce happening. So I guess I’ve always known it? I thought, God—” Bora took quick steps towards the girl and faced her with an attentive worried gaze. “I thought, you’ve always been aware of that fact. My mother, too. Shit, she shouldn’t have dropped the news on you so casually.”

“No, it’s not her fault. I’m just…” Yoohyeon heavily sighed, eyes trembling, looking for something to lean on. Bora noticed this motion and offered her a hug. The girl gladly fell into her embrace. “I’m processing.”

“You should talk to your mom. But I still can see your resentment boiling up in there. So, first, you need to let it out and, then, we’re calming down, okay?”

“Y-Yeah…”

Then, the girl bursted into silent tears as if on a cue, as if she had been waiting for this moment to bare her scars so vulnerably, only for Bora to catch her in the despair and hold tightly, in the arms of Bora who was wishing to take away at least half of the built up tension along with the pain that were circling deep inside Yoohyeon’s aching soul. 

Quiet weeps continued for some time until they ceased to only whimper, though the tremor in the tall body was still there and Bora pulled Yoohyeon closer to the bed, wrapping her whole existence around the slim frame, cooing and whispering calming words.

“Good girl,” Bora sighed in content when she felt the tremor in the body starting to appease. Calling pet names and cooing the twenty four year old adult in her grasp? Of course, it was not in her nature to do this kind of things even to little crying kids, but this time, only this time she would make an exception for Yoohyeon because the poor girl probably needed solace so fucking much. Only this time she did it like in old times, the days when Bora used to carry on her back the same six year old girl with a light knee injury. “My sweet, sweet girl Hyeon-nie. You’re so strong. The pain will go away if you just keep listening to my voice, okay? Yeah, like this, sweetheart. That’s my girl.”

“You’re everything, unnie,” the hoarse voice whispered at which Bora internally panicked yet gave everything in her to not let her emotions slip away. “Thank you. For everything.”

“Don’t say it. It sounds like you’re leaving,” Bora chuckled with absurdity. “Don’t say those words.”

“But it is true. What would I even do without you? What was I even doing before finding you?”

The said words punched right into the bullseye and knocked out all the air from Bora’s lungs. Her grip tightened around the fabric of Yoohyeon’s sweater and she sighed, unable to say anything or do anything.

This was a perfect moment to confess her true feelings but, of course, Bora was a coward.

“Let’s sleep, alright? Now, it’s my turn to sing you a lullaby.”

Next day, Bora decided to resume the current issue in Yoohyeon’s life because it had to be resolved.

“So, not to be rude, but—“

“You’re about to say the rudest thing ever,” Yoohyeon snorted, halting her guitar practice to look at the older woman who was writing something on her desk.

Bora turned her head towards a peaceful puppy face of the younger girl and she instantly regretted the things she was about to break down because she knew Yoohyeon wouldn’t like this specific sensitive topic. So, the woman gathered all of her patience against the possible rudeness that she may meet.

“While you’re still here, don’t you wanna meet him at least once? Like, maybe see for yourself if he really is the villain of your story or if he left for a reason?”

“Whatever the reason I will not forgive him,” curt, immediate answer got shot back from Yoohyeon, who in the blink of an eye, understood who they were talking about and, therefore, quickly turned into a stone.

“Okay, but what about your other possible siblings? They’re not at fault, you know?”

“I only have one sibling — my older sister and she’s in the States right now, finishing her PhD degree.”

“Kim Yoohyeon,” Bora addressed the girl with a serious tone, disapprovingly furrowing her eyebrows at the capricious demeanor. “You being stubborn here and not even considering my opinion is a blatant sign of deep disrespect towards me. You know, I am advising you to do all this stuff to you for your own good, right?”

A long silence full of contemplation followed after. Bora kept staring down hard at the girl whose gaze was glued on the floor, as if searching for the answers there. After a minute of quietness, Yoohyeon plopped down on the bed with arms behind her head, mischievously smiling. “Mhm, ‘kay. I’ll consider it only because I respect your hag ass.”

The pen, which was previously in Bora’s hand, dropped on the floor. 

Being offended at the absurdity of said words, Bora turned red like a boiling pot and finally shouted. “What did you just say?! Yah, you brat!”

“I’m not sorry!” with said words giggly Yoohyeon slipped off of Bora’s incoming arms into the other room to hide from the furious short woman.

Ten minutes of chasing each other around the small apartment and, yet, again they ended up on the floor splattered and tangled, laughing and shouting at each other. Unlike the first time, the older woman pinned the other girl more confidently this time. 

Out of breath, Bora demanded an answer, her breath tickling the cheek of the other girl. “Now that I’ve caught you. Answer me. Who the hell did you call a hag?” 

Trying to catch her breath, widely smiling Yoohyeon pursed her lips and lifted her head, accidentally making their noses bump, “If you’re so close to me, at least give me a little kiss, Sua-yah.”

At this exact moment Bora woke up from her daze, realization of their current position hitting her drunk mind, and yet, she was not moving an inch away from the heated body. An inner burning desire to punish this girl was not letting her get up. Yoohyeon needed to learn a lesson for such behavior.

So, her free hand covered Yoohyeon’s mouth, not letting any more stupid words come out of this menace. 

“Well, if you’re so desperate…” with a low calm voice the older woman said and kissed her own palm while staring deeply in the incredulous crystal eyes.

“Don’t wet yourself over me, you thirsty lesbian,” clicking her tongue, Bora lifted herself up from the lying body. “Now, games are over. Sleep time!”

Yoohyeon slowly got up from the floor with still blushing cheeks, “You’re a literal devil, unnie!”

“Aw, don’t tell me you fell for that?”

In the following days, when Bora finally took a day off, she volunteered to be an emotional support team to Yoohyeon.

They were standing beside the tall gates, on the side of the road. People were walking past them in a rushed manner. It was an averagely lively street. The sun was shining so bright that Yoohyeon had to grab the sunglasses to cover her eyes. Bora simply chose a cap.

“This is the place. The guy I contacted said he would organize the meeting with my father,” Yoohyeon muttered as she was double checking the details of the exact address and time. 

“You sure you want me to be with you? Maybe I should go,” Bora said, as she was feeling a bit odd, like an outcast that shouldn’t be here.

“No,” securely Yoohyeon squeezed the woman’s small hand, staring seriously right into her eyes through the dark lenses. “This is your idea, Sua, so you are staying with me. Besides, I will surely be needing some mental support to face him.”

“Okay.”

After a few minutes, one person from the rushing flow of the crowd came up to them with a friendly smile. It is a really tall young man, dressed in a formal black suit, nothing out of ordinary about him, except for the eye colour: they were crystal clear, darker shades of grey. 

“Oh, shit…” Bora cursed under her breath. Even if she was seeing this guy for the first time in her life, he looked so strangely familiar that she could swear she saw him somewhere. Or in someone else who, precisely, was standing right next to her.

Yoohyeon understood the familiarity as well immediately. Her whole posture tensed, body gesture showing off her nervousness of the fear of her suspicion becoming true.

“Kim Rachel?” 

“Yes?”

“I’m Jeong Yunho. Mr. Jeong’s youngest son,” the young man stretched his hand for a greeting. “We talked on the phone the other day.”

“Ah, yes,” after a moment of silent shock, Yoohyeon accepted the handshake with a friendly smile, her palm getting sweaty. For some reason, she sternly decided not to take her sunglasses off.

“And you are, Miss…?”

“Kim Bora, her friend,” Bora immediately answered and beamed a casual polite smile.

“Alright,” Yunho nodded back and proceeded to the business straight ahead. “Rachel, you said you wanted to talk with my father on a personal matter. I will not ask the details about it but, as my father’s son, it is my duty to escort you to him.”

“Yes, I am ready to meet him,” Yoohyeon nodded back.

“Then, follow me.”

They got through the gates and entered a brown brick building that had a modern design, passing by the grass field that was cornering by the two sides. Because of the foggy weather, they couldn’t see the building’s name. Once inside, Yunho greeted the workers who were glad to escort them to the needed room. The inside of the building reminded her of a business center. Yoohyeon guessed she would be able to talk to her father in a quiet office room. 

Except, she didn’t expect to stand in front of a columbarium room. 

“You can have an alone minute with him here,” Yunho pointed to the inside of the columbarium. “Miss Kim and I will be waiting here.”

“You must be joking!” Yoohyeon laughed incredulously. “I didn’t know he passed away…” 

“Oh, I apologize for not warning you in advance,” Yunho instantly exclaimed, deeply embarrassed for missing this detail.  He bowed to show his sorrow. “I am sorry, but my father passed away ten years ago. From a severe car accident.”

“Yoohyeon…” Bora reached to put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know this.”

“It’s alright,” with a sigh, she shrugged and entered the columbarium.

Once the girl was inside, Bora, with every fiber of her being hoped that her friend would be able to talk and forgive her father. 

“That’s such a tragedy,” Bora stated.

“Indeed, it is. I was ten when he passed away. It took me eight years to accept his death,” Yunho nodded back with a melancholy.

“Do you smoke?”

“No, but I could show you the balcony where you can smoke.”

“Show me the way,” Bora said, internally noting that this boy knows every corner of this place. While they were walking, she tried to make small talk. “So, how many siblings do you have?”

“Only one. Hyung’s already married and has a family. The other day he became a father to the boy twins,” with a warm feeling Yunho talked about his family. “My mother’s in Incheon. Right now she is sick, so on weekends I visit her to drive her to the medical clinic for the weekly treatment. Since the passing of our father, it became difficult to keep up on float due to the financial problems and debts father left behind. Hyung helps us but it’s still not enough to pay my education expenses and close the debts so I work as an assistant to my father's former friends to whom he still owes so much.“

“Do they treat you well?”

A silence followed from which Bora understood the poor condition of the boy. 

“My father was a good man. He tried to do everything in his power to make a good life for us. Unfortunately, he couldn’t but I don’t blame him,” Yunho finished talking, once they reached the needed destination. Bora lit up a cigarette and took a long puff. With hesitation the boy asked. “Do you mind if I ask who was this woman to my father?”

Bora turned to him with a knowing grin, “I think you will get the answer to your question, once you see her after she’s done.”

Yunho nodded back.

Once finished with smoking, they came back to the initial place outside the columbarium. Yoohyeon was already there, her face was red as if she just had cried and sunglasses were nowhere to be seen.

When Yunho caught the sight of red crystal eyes that were identical to his ones, he halted in his tracks with a shocked impression. Immediately, without any explanation and words, he understood who this woman was in front of him.

“Did you talk with him?” Bora asked the tall girl who nodded back with a tired smile. “What should we do now?”

“I think I need to have a little family time with my little brother,” Yoohyeon chuckled, looking back at Yunho who was blushing out of shyness. “You don’t mind if I call you like that, right?”

“I don’t mind at all.”

“Alright, then, let’s go and have lunch. I’m hungry.”

“I know a good restaurant down the street.”

“Show us the way, little bro,” Yoohyeon smiled. 

Bora left for work, leaving Yoohyeon with her new found family member. Yunho retold the story of his life to his sister. After the guy was done, Yoohyeon sat in deep contemplation before asking one simple question.

“How much is the debt?” 

“Even if you want to help, I don’t think it will be enough. It’s a debt of a lifetime,” Yunho shook his head in desperation, his posture visibly slouched. “I will be thankful to anything you can offer because I have no pride left to be strong. Hyung would be angry with me for taking the help from you. But my mother’s sick and cannot work anymore. I have no choice but to beg you to help my family. I know it is so humiliating of me to ask a complete stranger that I have met only today but I am so sick of this life where I owe to everyone.”

“Yunho,” Yoohyeon reached to place her hand firmly on top of the boy’s trembling hand. Their crystal grey eyes met: ones were on the verge of crumbling and the others were determined. “I’m not a complete stranger to you. The blood that flows in your veins is the same as mine. So, don’t say we’re strangers. Call me noona. If you don’t wanna tell me the amount of the debt, then at least show me the people to whom you owe and I will talk with them.”

“Okay,” though the guy had little or no faith in his sister’s words, he obliged.

An hour later, they found themselves inside an enormous business center. On the twentieth floor they found the needed people who were old men in expensive suits, still having lunch, laughing like pigs and talking gibberish really loudly. However, Yoohyeon was not impressed with this sight, since she had dealt with this type of person countless times before. 

“Oh, Yunho! Just on time. Bring me more shots of tequila. Today, we made another successful deal.”

The men didn’t seem to notice Yoohyeon’s presence so she stepped into the center of a wide room. “Hello, dear gentlemen. My name is Rachel Kim. I am Yunho’s older sister and today I will be taking my brother from your company’s duties. He has studies to focus on and a life to live.”

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh, missy. He will serve us until the debt of his idiot father is returned fully, which will take forever for Yunho to pay off.”

“How much?”

“You won’t be able to cover even a quarter of it!”

“I said, how much?”

The men took a binder of a file and threw it across the long glass table towards the girl. Yoohyeon opened it and saw the exact amount of debt with the requisite details to which the money needs to be sent. With a quick click on her phone, she casually sent the needed amount.

“Done.”

“What?! But how—“

“From now on, Yunho and his family owe you nothing. If you try to reach them one more time, you’ll see me at the court.”

With the said words she quitted the office with her brother who was recovering from a minute shock and afterwards was frantically chasing after her. 

“Noona, wait!” when Yoohyeon turned around she saw how the boy fell on his knees with a forehead sticking to the floor to show his gratitude, “Thank you! I could never pay you back but I am so grateful for your kindness and—“

“Yunho,” immediately, Yoohyeon kneeled to his level with a frowned expression. Her fingers gently took his chin so she could take a good look into his red teary eyes, “From now on, you don’t have to kneel in front of anyone. That’s a low sign of a poor person. You’re not a poor person, so don’t you dare kneel ever again, okay? Promise me that?”

“Okay,” the boy frantically nodded back and bursted into uncontrollable sobs. Yoohyeon hugged him tightly with a new warm feeling blooming in her heart that she had found another missing sibling. “Now you don’t have to worry about your mother’s medication expenses or college tuition. I got you there. In return, I only ask of you to be healthy and focus on your studies. Since our father has promised all of that to you and your family, I will be the one who will keep his promise.”

At the end of the week, the day of departure came. In a span of only five weeks, the recently reunited couple of childhood friends had to forbid their second farewell.

The ambiance of the airport was one of a kind. Bora always associated this place with an exciting feeling of looking forward to something amazing. In melodramatic movies they always showed how the airport was a scene of a love reunion or closure of a relationship that was only ruined by the upcoming distance. The hustle and rush in the air, no matter the time, accelerated the blood in the veins, making the brain remain focused throughout the registration and flight. 

The last time she was here for the reason that had changed her life: that trip to the States with Gahyeon had opened several doors for Bora. She chose to enter them and here she was today, a successful choreographer instead of a faceless office plankton whom Bora had feared the most. Yet, still even the last trip to the Dreamcatcher concert was connected to this one weird girl who barged into her life so unexpectedly. 

Yoohyeon. Kim Yoohyeon, a.k.a Kim Rachel from Dreamcatcher, a.k.a her childhood friend, a.k.a an unexpected love bomb fallen from heaven on her poor head as a gift and a curse from God.

The girl was standing beside her in the queue to the baggage check-in, one huge suitcase in one hand and the other was occupied with her phone. She was checking the details of her upcoming flight and Bora just couldn’t tear her gaze from those pretty eyes that were frowned and focused. Everything felt surreal and the realization of losing one important part of her life hadn’t hit her yet. In only one month this foreign stranger replaced every important thing in her life. 

With bitterness on her tongue, Bora admitted to herself that she loved this girl very dearly, whether platonic or romantic, she didn’t care, it was love. The simplest emotion a human being can harbour towards another — love. 

Kim Bora needed Kim Yoohyeon the way the ocean craved its tides, the way the sky was never complete without its clouds. She needed her with the desperation of a sinful soul searching for redemption in an angel, with the aching devotion of a madman seeking the weight of his own punishment. Like a wilted flower reaching for water, as a courage for confession, Bora’s soul reached for Yoohyeon.

To her, Yoohyeon was both day and night—light and life. She was breath, warmth, and every steady heartbeat of peace Bora had ever known. She was the first gasp of oxygen after drowning. And now, just when it felt like she could finally hold on, happiness was slipping through her fingers again.

Once the baggage was checked-in, they were heading towards the passport control where they had to part ways.

Throughout this past week, even if she had many chances to confess, this was the last time she could take a risk at trying to keep her happiness with her. 

“So, here we say goodbye,” casually Yoohyeon announced when they had reached the line to the passport control. To the bystanders, the girl didn’t look sad or anything, she looked rather excited, but to Bora, she could distinguish the sadness in the crystal hues of her eyes.

“Yoohyeon-ah.”

“Yes?” 

“I…” a tight knot got stuck in her throat and only now she realized her lips were trembling. “I liked spending these five weeks with you. I’m glad to have my best friend back, even if… even if it was for only a month.”

“Me, too,” ah, this genuine smile of which Bora never got tired. She wished to wake up to it for the rest of her life. Only now Bora could clearly see that Yoohyeon had been bearing a miserable smile on her trembling lips, left cheek stained with a single wet line. “Don’t disappear on me, promise?”

“I promise,” Bora nodded back, trying her best to hold her tears in tact.

“Thank you,” Yoohyeon pulled the smaller woman in a tight hug, her wet lips leaving a single kiss to Bora’s temple, whispering yet another promise into the soft hair. “Bora, we will meet again.”

“We will, one way or another.” Bora hugged back the tall girl, for the last time inhaling the sweet scent of lavender from the red hair, with every fiber of her body trying to remember this feeling of holding her favorite person in her arms.

While waving, Yoohyeon walked away until her frame completely disappeared out of sight. And Bora stood there, waving back at the emptiness, tears finally making their way on her cheeks and turmoil of mixed emotions circulating through her being. 

One of them being the realization that from now on, she would never be able to get over her love for Yoohyeon. After all these years of conversion therapy just to erase Yoohyeon’s smile from her mind, Bora’s sincere love towards this girl turned out to be indeed unconditional.