No-rea stood in her bathroom, applying the last touches of make-up, she had spent the entire day scrolling through the internet, looking for tips and style tricks to help her get ready for the ballet tonight. She knew Seol-a would be dressed to the nines and she wanted to match her style as much as possible. She looked at herself in the mirror, her winged eyelashes were meticulously drawn on, the contour, concealer and bronzer was blended making her face look like glass. Her lips were a light pink tint, only slightly darker than her natural color. The past week she had made several trips to the beauty stores, everytime she watched a new video she ran to the store to buy the new product suggested by the online influencer. After her third trip to the beauty store, one of the store beauticians recognized her and offered to help her with her selections. The beautician worked with No-rea, showing her different style tips and make-up applications. This was the first time No-rea had done her own make-up, she stared at her face, turning side to side to make sure the make-up was well blended.

She smiled, “I look pretty hot.”, she gave herself a high five. Feeling a little more giddy for the date she walked over to her dress, slipping it off the hanger, she stepped into the dress and zipped it up. She was buzzing with restless excitement, she looked back in the mirror, barely recognizing herself. The dress fitted tight against her chest and waist, flaring slightly around her hips and falling loosely to her knees. The dress was dark navy blue with long sleeves, perfect for the cold weather. The top half of the dress was sheer with a lace design over it, the contrast looked as if only the lace was covering her chest and arms. The lacey pattern covered the rest of the dress over a solid navy material that covered No-rea from the waist down. She fixed her hair into a half-up half-down look, using several pins to style her hair the way she had seen in the video she watched.

She thought back to the day she bought the dress, her sister had been insistent that she wear it to their brothers wedding. 

“Stop being a prude!” ,she chastised, “You need to make sure you look hot. What if you meet someone.”

No-rea had rolled her eyes at her sister's pushy nature, reluctant to wear something so “suggestive” in her opinion.

No-rea smoothed the dress over her body, nodding her head in approval. Her sister would be proud of her. Her phone buzzed, looking at the message from Seol-a, asking if she was ready, she felt butterflies flutter in her belly. She replied and zipped up the black chelsea boots she had coordinated with her outfit, grabbed her coat and walked out of her apartment.

No-rea recognized the white car parked outside of her apartment. She stepped outside walking quickly over to the car, trying to stay out of the cold, and climbed into the car. She turned to look at Seol-a, No-rea didn’t know if her cheeks were burning from the cold or her feelings. 

“Hey.” Seol-a said, her voice sounded like it was dripping with honey making No-rea’s stomach flip.

No-rea smiled at her, “Hey, yourself.”, she buckled herself in trying to calm her nerves, “I’m really excited to see the ballet.”

Seol-a put the car into gear and drove down the road, they sat in silence for a moment, Seol-a glanced over at her.

“You put on make-up.” ,Seol-a said in an amusing way, No-rea blushed. If she kept blushing like this the heat on her face would melt the make-up right off her face. “You look amazing.”, Seol-a stated, looking back over at her. She said it as if No-rea’s beauty was a fact, having nothing to do with the make-up.

“If you compliment me too much, I’ll get a big head.” ,No-rea teased, “You look really nice too.”

No-rea had tried not to stare at Seol-a when she first got into the car. It had been almost a week since they last saw each other, with the semester coming to a close they were only required to come to campus for end of the year assessments with their academic advisors. Seeing Seol-a all dolled up after not seeing her for a while was almost too much for No-rea to handle.

“Did you already sign up for all your classes for next semester?” No-rea asked, hoping there was a chance she had a class with her. Seol-a listed off the different classes she would be taking, none of which No-rea was taking. As she spoke, No-rea watched her intently, taking in her beauty. Seol-a make-up was perfectly done, her eyeshadow gave her a sultry look, making her eyes darker than normal. The blush made her high cheekbone more pronounced, highlighting how slim her face was. The dark red lipstick she wore drew No-rea attention as she spoke about school. Seol-a looked over at her, maintaining eye contact for a moment. No-rea blushed having been caught staring. No-rea looked out the window taking in the holiday decoration displayed along the streets, the scenery around them was beautiful. Seol-a turned the road, pulling into an overhead where the valet waited. The attendants quickly walked around the car, opening the door for both of them. No-rea stepped out taking in the opulence of the building before them.

“Where are we?” ,No-rea was confused, this wasn’t the amphitheater.

“I made a reservation at the restaurant here.” ,Seol-a stated smiling at No-rea, “This is the first time you’ve seen ballet so I wanted to go all out.” 

No-rea frowned a bit as she looked up at Seol-a, their hieght difference more noticeable since Seol-a had heels on.

“Just let me treat you to something nice.” ,Seol-a said sweetly as if reading No-rea’s mind, she wrapped her arm around No-rea’s as they walked into the hotel. Seol-a guided her to the elevator that would take them to the restaurant.

The two walked to the hostess stand, who offered to take their jackets before they were seated. No-rea shrugged off her coat and handed it to the hostess, taking a glance at the mirror behind the hostess stand. She took a moment to look herself over for any stray hairs. Pleased with what she saw she glanced up in the mirror to see Seol-a staring at her. Seol-a hadn’t realized No-rea looking at her and stared openly at No-rea’s backside, her eyes travelled slowly down her body, pausing for a moment before making it back up to No-rea’s face. Their eyes locked through the mirror and something electric passed through them. She saw something in Seol-a’s face that she had never seen before, the look made her skin burn, as if Seol-a had wrapped herself around her body. Instead of feeling shy, No-rea stood still and held Seol-a gaze. The hostess walked out of the coat closet breaking them from their trance. 

They followed her quietly to the table, the hostess pulled their seats out for them and soon after a waiter arrived with water and menus promising to return after they took a minute to settle in. No-rea sat unnerved by how fancy the restaurant was, she reached for the menu in front of her, but was too distracted to read anything. She glanced at Seol-a, she really was breathtaking looking poised and completely at ease inside the restaurant. She wore a bright red dress that complimented her skin tone adding warmth to her face. The dress had a single shoulder strap showing her shoulder blades. No-rea marveled at how smooth her skin looked. The dress was tight everywhere else, leaving nothing to her imagination. The dress hugged her curves perfectly moving with her body like a second skin as they walked to the table. It took everything in No-rea not to trip as she trailed behind Seol-a and the hostess.

She felt something shift inside of her, desire rising through her body. She took a steady breath trying to tame her emotions, but her feelings were uncontrollable. She looked around the restaurant trying to calm herself. Taking in the romantic atmosphere, the overhead lighting was minimal, each table had small tea candles with flowers as place settings creating an intimate setting at the table. 

“Does anything look good to you?” ,Seol-a asked, “They have a nice selection of wine and beer.”

No-rea looked back at the menu, hiding her face. She saw the list of domestic and foreign beers, feeling a bit calmer she answered Seol-a, “Honestly, I’m a bit overwhelmed by the menu”. That was a lie but she was struggling to focus on the list of entrees and had no idea what to order.

Seol-a frowned, worried she had gone overboard when she chose to go to this restaurant. “The waiter should be back soon. He will go over the menu and answer any question you might have.” Seol-a said, reaching for her glass of water. As if the waiter heard her response, he appeared next to the table. He patiently went over the specials on the menu, adding drink suggestions from the chef. Seol-a asked a few questions about wine before ordering a glass of chardonnay and a small salad. The waiter turned to No-rea, she smiled and ordered a domestic beer. He nodded his head and walked away with their order, giving them time to go over the entree.

Seol-a chuckled a bit, grinning at No-rea, “They have fried chicken on the menu too.”

No-rea laughed, “I can’t help that I have simple taste. I know what I like”. No-rea looked around the restaurant, “This place is beautiful. Have you been here before?” No-rea felt curious about the side of Seol-a she didn’t know. She knew Seol-a came from money but she was always modest and hardly ever talked about the flashy side of her life.

Seol-a nodded, “I used to come here all the time with my family. The amphitheater is in this shopping district. We stopped coming after I got hurt.” Seol-a looked around the restaurant, “I think my parents were worried it would upset me to be here knowing I couldn’t dance anymore.”

No-rea watched Seol-a’s face intently,  worried that she might have brought up a bad memory but Seol-a just smiled at her.

“I don’t mind talking to you about these things.” Seol-a reached across the table for No-rea’s hand. No-rea reached out and squeezed her hand, smiling back at her. She felt the familiar warm feeling travel through her. This one was different from the desire she felt earlier. She felt reassured and grounded in Seol-a’s gaze. It was strange, No-rea thought, to have one person elicit so many overwhelming feelings. One moment she felt like running as far away from Seol-a but at the same time wanted to be as close to her as possible. She needed to be honest with Seol-a, she was falling in love and it was becoming harder and harder to push these feelings aside. Eventually she would do something that could jeopardize their friendship and she didn’t want to create another situation like when she ran back to her hometown because she let her feelings take over her. Seol-a deserved better than these immature actions, she would face her feelings head on and accept whatever response Seol-a gave her.

The waiter returned with their drinks and Seol-a salad and asked if they were ready to order. Seol-a nodded her head, “Yes, we are.”, annunciating the “we”. No-rea scrunched her eyebrows, she still hadn’t looked over the menu, too distracted by her feelings and the women in front of her. She heard Seol-a order for her first, “She will have the chicken schnitzel, no mushroom sauce, with mashed potatoes and broccolini.” Seol-a spoke confidently, raising one eyebrow at No-rea to see if she would question her choice. No-rea nodded her head, unable to speak, she trusted Seol-a had picked something she would like. Seol-a finished ordering her food and the waiter took their menus. No-rea took a sip of her beer, she was burning all over, something about Seol-a ordering for her made her desire building inside of her again. No-rea gulped and took another sip of her beer, she needed to be careful she didn’t drink too much or she might do something inappropriate.

As dinner progressed their conversations flowed easily, Seol-a talked a bit about her history in ballet. She had planned on being a professional dancer until she got hurt, Seol-a smiled a bit saying it was a blessing in disguise. The food arrived by the time they finished the first round of drinks, both of them were drinking slowly, but agreed on a second round. Seol-a watched No-rea bite into the schnitzel, smiling as No-rea groaned happily while she chewed.

“This is so good!” ,No-rea said with her mouth full, she put another bite in her mouth before finishing the first one. Seol-a laughed covering her mouth so she didn’t bother the other guest.

No-rea grinned at Seol-a, “I never would have had so many great experiences if you became a dancer.”

“I’m glad I could provide you with so many great experiences.” Seol-a grinned back at No-rea. Seol-a took a few bites of her food before looking up at No-rea, “Thanks for coming out with me tonight. I was pretty nervous about asking you out.”

No-rea smiled at Seol-a, surprised by the intensity in her eyes, “I’m glad you invited me.” trying to be reassuring, unaware of the hidden meaning in the last statement.

Feeling a sense of safety with each other, they discussed deeper conversations about their future aspirations and past tribulations that brought them to where they were now. By the time dinner ended they felt an undeniable connection. Getting up from the table, No-rea wondered if Seol-a felt the same overwhelming feelings of desire mixed with a warm sense of security. Seol-a looked down at No-rea, as if reading her thoughts. No-rea blushed and looked away, she felt Seol-a grab her hand as they walked out of the restaurant back to the hostess to grab their coats. Fire erupted in No-rea at the small gesture, it would take everything in her to control herself tonight.