Heart Beating For You // Lipsoul

Episode XVI: Stars Shine Brighter

episode 18: Stars Shine Brighter

episode rating: PG13 (no violence)

episode run time: 45 min

previously, on Heart Beating For You...Scars begin to heal over and the girls must learn what it means to live again, not just survive. Haseul tries to heal. Nothing will ever be normal again.

episode synopsis: years in the future, Jungeun and Jinsoul grow accustomed to normal lives, have a visitor, and a certain couple finally ties the knot. 

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One year later, spring.

Jungeun thought the pain, grief, anger, and sadness were something like tides. Their arrival was inevitable and sometimes all-encompassing, leaving her bedridden and without the desire to eat, sleep, or even breathe. When they retreated, the weight on her chest was lifting and she could look ahead to the future with a lighter heart. As the years passed, the incoming tide grew a bit weaker, the intervals farther between and easier to bear. Jungeun would never stop mourning, but she could le

ave the broken parts of herself behind with fear and guilt and become whole again.

She didn't like the city much, so she'd moved outside to a suburb close to the ocean. She liked the breeze off the water, especially in the summertime when the skies were a perfect blue and the air felt crisp and clean. Her house was bigger than what she'd lived in with her parents, much more than she needed, but it never felt empty.

She'd moved with Jinsoul, who had accepted a scholarship for marine research after admissions action for victims of the outbreak had reached out. Jinsoul had been over the moon at the invitation, especially with the change in location and the housing available for people who brought families.

"Do I count as family?" Jungeun crinkled her eyebrows in confusion.

"Future family," Jinsoul had smiled dopely.

The economy in South Korea had taken major hits, and in the past few years, tourist numbers had dwindled as well and a large number of the population immigrating elsewhere out of fear of another outbreak. Businesses were struggling and colleges were more than happy to offer all-expenses-paid scholarships to students who promised to stay in the country. Neither Jinsoul nor Jungeun wanted to leave, but moving out of Yongsan-Gu felt good. A fresh start.

Jungeun and Jinsoul, along with the rest of their graduating class, had received diplomas and quietly taken off to start the rest of their lives, regardless of the fact that they'd missed essentially both semesters of their senior year. Jungeun never wanted to go back to that place, and it was a sore spot for Jinsoul, since they never did rescue all of her gundams. The building was set aflame, considered too at risk of harboring infection for it to be cleaned.

Jungeun had bought her a new one when they first moved into the house, but it stayed unmade in its box, even months after Jinsoul's birthday. The older girl had shrugged it off when Jungeun asked about it, citing that it just didn't interest her that much anymore.

Jungeun had found an old photo album when she was looking for something on Jinsoul's phone later, titled Dream Collection consisting of hundreds of photos of the little robot dudes.

More probing had finally gotten a real answer from Jinsoul. "It's never going to feel the way it did back then. I miss my collection, and I don't want to be recreating old memories. I want to make new ones,"

So for Jinsoul's next birthday, Jungeun had tugged her into the living room and held Jinsoul's hands in her own.

"I got you something," She had said quietly, trying not to smile too hard before she revealed it. Jinsoul sat next to her on the couch, their knees knocking together.