No-rea spoke quietly at first, expressing her disappointment with having to do another year of college. She worried about her tuition payments and the cost of failing her second year of school. Seol-a listened patiently, nodding her head encouragingly, allowing No-rea to express all her bottled up feelings. 

No-rea stopped talking for a moment and looked back at the movie. The main characters were working together to fix the ship they were stuck on. The heroine was crying as they debated the need for drastic force and the man potentially killing himself to save both of them. No-rea watched as the women broke down, showing how deeply she cared for the man.

“I don’t know if I could love someone that ruined my life.” No-rea stated, a twinge of anger in her voice.

Seol-a taken aback, looked at the tv, she felt the intensity of the moment. The heroine ran to rescue the man, Seol-a honestly found it beautiful, she really loved a good love story. 

“Are you talking about Sung-pyo?” ,Seol-a asked gently. She felt No-rea’s head snap as she leaned forward to look at her.

Pulling herself away from Seol-a, “What made you ask that?” ,No-rea asked, she felt her heart quicken from anxiety. She wasn’t ready to talk to Seol-a about Sung-pyo.

“I just assumed.” Seola-a lifted her hand up and touched No-rea’s shoulder. 

No-rea sat there a moment and reached for her glass of wine, gulping down the rest of it and pouring more into her glass. Topping off Seol-a’s drink and handing it to her, she sat a moment longer. Seol-a sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs, waiting for No-rea to speak.

“He was the first person I ever loved.” No-rea said so quietly, Seol-a almost missed it. “I thought we would get married.” She said more clearly, “I never felt that way about anyone.” No-rea felt tears burn her eyes and wiped her face. She didn’t want to cry over this, she took a deep breath and continued. 

“We were really happy in the beginning but Sung-pyo got hurt playing soccer. He had played his whole life, that’s how he got into college.” No-rea took another sip of wine, “When he was in highschool, he had to get surgery on his knee. He always had issues with his knee but I never thought too much about it.” No-rea looked at Seol-a. 

Seol-a sat motionless, not wanting to disturb the mood, she gave No-rea a small smile. No-rea felt a sense of reassurance, a tear rolled down her cheek. Why had she felt so uneasy talking to Seol-a about Sung-pyo.

“He just left.” No-rea another tear rolled down her face, as if her heart was breaking all over again, “I don’t even stop him.”

Seol-a set her drink down and took No-rea’s glass, setting them both on the table. She wrapped her arms around No-rea, holding her close as she cried. Seol-a felt her own eyes burn, overwhelmed by No-rea’s sadness. “It’s not your fault.” She said softly into No-rea’s ear. She rest her forehead on the side of No-rea’s face.

“But I didn’t do anything, I just let him go.” ,No-rea’s voice was flat, “Who doesn’t fight for the person they love.”

“It’s not your fault.” Seol-a said again, running her fingers through No-rea’s hair. 

No-rea pulled away and looked at her, her eyes shined from the tears but somehow clearer than they ever been. She remembered how Seol-a had driven all the way to her hometown after they had gotten into an argument. She barely knew her and even still Seol-a had chased after her. No-rea shook her head, maybe she had always ran away from her problems. I don’t want to run anymore, she felt her heart rate pick up. She stared deeply into Seol-a’s eyes, “I promise I’ll never leave you.”

Seol-a searched her eye’s, “I believe you.” she stated with certainty. They stared deeply into each other's eyes.

No-rea smiled brightly, “How did I get so lucky to have someone like you in my life.” , she couldn’t help but smile. She rest her hand on her chest, warmth spreading through her body, what an amazing feeling. For one person to change the way you could view the world was truly amazing. That warmth sparked and embered, starting a small fire in her, she knew this moment had changed her. She would never run again.

“Is it bad that I want another slice of cake?” No-rea said with a light chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. Seol-a smiled sweetly, No-rea continued to gaze at her, she was mesmerizing. 

“As long as you share a piece with me!” Seol-a said, giggling a bit as she stood up. Both of them feeling giddy from the feeling they just shared.

With new conviction No-rea leaned back into the couch, watching Seol-a walk to the fridge. I’m going to do this right, the fire burning more brightly inside of her, this was love and she knew it.

Seol-a walked back with another slice of cake and one fork, she sat down and cut a piece, holding it up for No-rea to take a bite. No-rea leaned in and took the bite, humming softly, 

“Should we watch another movie?” She asked as Seol-a fed her another bite, she had an unbelievable amount of energy, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sleep tonight. They finished the cake in silence, Seol-a feeding No-rea pieces of cake while she clicked through movie options. She stopped on 50 First-dates, she loved this movie as a kid, and played it.

“Thank you for telling me about Sung-pyo.” Seol-a said lovingly. No-rea nodded, pulling the blanket back over her, “Can we lay back down.” No-rea asked, implying to how they had been laying together before the conversation started.

Seol-a shifted, placing a pillow at her back and layed down, motioning for No-rea to lay on top of her. Lying on her stomach, No-rea rest her head on Seol-a chest, listening to her heart, like a peaceful storm under her skin. She wrapped her arms around Seol-a waist rubbing her check against her chest. I wish we could stay like this forever, they both mused as they watched the romcom in silence. Seol-a passively ran her fingers through No-rea hair as they watched the movie. It didn't take long for both of them fell asleep, feeling more connected than they had ever been.

No-rea stared out the window of the small hole in the wall restaurant she sat in. She didn’t want to leave Seol-a, even when they woke up she still felt the undeniable connection between the two of them. 

They had woken up on the couch in the exact same position they fell asleep in, No-rea still wrapped around Seol-a’s waist, however, her arm had fallen asleep. Seol-a didn’t fare much better, rubbing her neck after they untangled. Seol-a had laughed as No-rea shook her arm trying to get feeling back into her finger tips, and grabbed her back groaning with discomfort. 

There were no feelings of uneasiness between the two of them, but still, last night had been intense, No-rea sat, recalling the conversations from last night. After she had left Seol-a apartment, leftover stew in hand, she sat in her room with boundless energy and her head swimming with complicated thoughts. She had dumped so much of her pain on Seol-a last night. This is why I don't drink wine, it makes me too emotional, No-rea looked out the window again, that's not true. She remembered the comfort she had felt as she cried, something she hadn't done since their break up. Even when she talked to her family about it she had been brief, even as her family fussed over her, she had stayed quiet about her pain.

No-rea took a large bite from her gyro, the greasy lamb meat and tzatziki sauce dripped down the side of her mouth, she chewed aggressively and took another smaller bite. She opened her phone and scrolled through social media, she needed a distraction. Scrolling past a few post she stopped on a photo of Hee-jin smiling brightly hanging off the shoulder of a man No-rea had never met. She stared at the man, swiping through the other photos in the post. 

Did Hee-jin have a boyfriend!?, No-rea had been so out of touch this past year, with everything that happened in her 2nd year and now her complicated feelings toward Seol-a, but there’s no way she would have missed this. 

She sent the post to Hye-kyung, she would know for sure what was going on. While she was on Hye-kyung page she scrolled through her post, making sure she hadn’t missed any pinnacle moments in her life. She stopped on a photo of her, Seol-a, and Hye-kyung most of the photos were stylish but one was rather goofy. They had all gone to karaoke after shopping, Seol-a had No-rea’s hat on backwards, tongue out, with her hands making the rock-on sign, Hye-kyung looked to be singing passionately into the mic and No-rea was smiling at the phone while she took the selfie. The photo made No-rea's heart flutter.

A message dropped down from Hye-kyung, “This is the first time I'm seeing this! Who is this guy??” Hye-kyung's message read dramatically. 

“I was hoping you would know…” ,No-rea messaged back. Hee-jin had always been more private but this was big even for her.

“Did you text her??”, Hye-kyung sent back. 

No-rea cringed at the message,”No! I’m still in shock!”.

“I’m going to see if she wants to get lunch! I won’t be able to sleep till I find out who this man is!!”, Hye-kyung exclaimed.

She was always so dramatic No-rea mused, “Ok, let me know!”.

No-rea looked back at her half eaten gyro and fries, waving down the man behind the courter, she asked for a to-go container.

No-rea, Hee-jin, and Hye-kyung sat comfortably in the family diner they chose to meet at. The restaurant was busy but just quiet enough that they wouldn't need to shout to hear each other.

“This place has $5 margaritas!” ,Hye-kyung stated excitedly. No-rea flipped to the pages with drinks, looking at the beer selection. Hard alcohol was off the list after the mess she had made of herself recently. She looked over her menu at Hee-jin, who seemed very invested in whatever page she was looking at. No-rea took her straw and punched in on the table, taking it out of its sleeve and putting it in her water. Then she wadded up the paper and threw it at Hee-jin, bouncing it off her forehead.

“What was that?” ,Hee-jin asked, trying to stay serious but a playful smile started to break through. “Don’t be mad at me!” ,she burst, “I promise I was going to tell you guys when things got more serious between me and Jae-won but life got so busy!”.

The girls ordered drinks and food while teasing Hee-jin of her secret lover. Hye-Kung was buddling with excitement as she spoke about meeting Jae-won. She met at a friend’s birthday dinner, they had been seated next to each other at the end of the table. Jae-won had been shy at first, he didn’t seem to fit into the group very well. He was a childhood friend of one of the architecture friends she had made at university, so he didn’t know anyone. After a few drinks he had opened up and Hee-jin had been surprised by his humor. She laughed remembering some of his antics that night. They shared contact information before the night had ended and messaged back and forth for almost a month, before going on an official date. Jae-won worked full-time as a welder for a construction company. He applied for a trade school straight out of highschool and joined the workforce. He wanted to be an architect but his parents had needed help running the house and couldn’t afford the tuition cost. Hee-jin had been so impressed by how earnest he was, he sounded so content and sure of himself. It was a breath of fresh air to meet someone like him. 

The girls listen with intent, teasing and encouraging her to talk more about Jae-won.

“He sounds great!” ,Hye-kyung said sincerely. No-rea nobbed, “We’re really happy to hear you found a good one.”

“Sounds like love at first sight.” ,No-rea teased. Hee-jin giggled ecstatically, to happy to be teased about her love.

“I never thought it would be me.” Hee-jin said with a smile, “Hye-kyung and I bet you would be the first one to get married.”

No-rea blinked and stared at the two of them, “Me!” ,No-rea pointed at herself, dumbfounded.

Thankfully their food and drinks arrived, giving No-rea a chance to escape the conversation. She had never thought about marriage, even when her brother got married it was still far from her mind. It wasn’t until after her and Sung-pyo broke up that the thought entered her mind, would he have been the one, she often thought.

“The right man doesn’t just fall into your lap!” ,Hye-kyung shot a look at Hee-jin, “You have to find him.” ,she claimed, she made dating sound like a sport.

“Honestly!” ,Hee-jin replied, giving her a smug look, “We were always so busy trying to find the perfect man. I can’t even count the amount of first dates I’ve been on.” ,she chuckled.

“That's because you’re both so picky.” ,No-rea said playfully.

No-rea took a long pull from her beer, she had never felt the need to pursue anyone, even dating seemed like a hassle. She wondered why Seol-a was different, she was constantly trying to find a reason for them to spend time together, I really am obsessed with her, No-rea mused.

“Speaking of men.” ,Hee-jin took a long pause as she took a sip of her margarita, staring at No-rea over her drink, “I heard Sung-pyo is back in town.” ,she said the last part carefully. She had been there during the break-up.

No-rea had taken a bite of her taco, chewing it slowly she nodded her head. “He came back from military service a few weeks ago.” ,No-rea said, “We’ve talked a few times already but nothing serious.” There was no point in hiding anything from them.

“Do you think you two will get back together?” ,Hee-jin asked gently. Hye-kyung sat quietly waiting for No-rea’s response, she had been curious what would happen now that he was back. She was certain No-rea was over him, but she always had a hard time reading her.

“No.” ,No-rea said firmly, leaving no room for misinterpretation, “What we had is gone. There’s no way we could fix our relationship after ending things the way we did.”

“I figured as much.” ,Hye-kyung said. Hee-jin nodded her head, “I’m pretty sure Jae-won could kick his ass if he tries anything.”

The girls had always been No-rea’s biggest supporters, she wondered how they would react if they knew how she felt about Seol-a. Screw it, No-rea chugged the rest of her beer down and looked back and forth between the girls.

“I might have a thing for someone else, though.” ,No-rea rubbed her neck bashfully. She looked up at the stunned faces.

“That’s all you’re going to say!” ,Hye-kyung shouted, “Did we jump into another dimension! First Hee-jin is getting hitched and No-rea is falling in love.” ,Hye-kyung head dropped to the table.

Both No-rea and Hee-jin denied the new elevated status Hye-kyung put on their prospective relationships.

“Oh honey, you’ll find Mr. Right!” ,Hee-jin cooed, giving Hye-kyung a side hug, “You gotta stop messing with those play boys, first.”

“But they’re so hot!” ,Hye-kyung whined. 

Asking more questions about Jae-won, Hee-jin gushed as she shared photos they had taken together. The feeling was infectious. No-rea felt herself fill with happiness, laughing until she cried, she wished the night wouldn’t end.