HARBORED - SEULRENE

introduced

babe. you smiled. that's what she's been using with her past lovers.

you shook your head and focused on amber. "unnie has been like that ever since. she still holds the 'sweetest girl i've ever met' title in my ranking."

joohyun turned to look at you, looking a bit surprised.

"the same joohyun i know." amber nods. "so, what's keeping you busy?"

"um. i'm a musical theater performer," you said.

"wow. that's cool! do you dance, sing, or act?"

"i do all of them." you reached for your nape out of embarrassment. "but i'm still a newbie. nothing much to brag about."

"triple threat, huh? is it tiring?"

"well, yeah. it's pretty time-demanding. i just got an off today after two weeks of practice. we're having like seven shows a week. the auditions are pretty tiring too."

"but do you enjoy what you're doing?" asked joohyun, concerned.

"i definitely do." you gave her an assuring smile. "no matter how stressful it is, it still gives me a sense of fulfillment."

"that's good."

"how about you, amber? what's keeping you busy aside from babysitting unnie here." you spared joohyun a playful glance which she responded to with a pout.

amber laughed as she places an arm over joohyun's shoulder. "i run an online business. e-commerce."

"ahh. that's nice. getting paid even though you're sleeping, huh?"

amber pointed an imaginary gun at you. "it still requires a lot of work and monitoring. but at least i have the power over my schedule. can still spend some quality time with this baby here." she playfully pinched joohyun's cheek.

you looked away and heaved a sigh, trying to stop yourself from imagining what quality time meant.

"hey, seul. you okay?" joohyun reached for your hand on the table.

you felt the heat in her touch. you pulled your hand away. if you let her treat you like how she did before, it may give you false hopes again.

"yeah. umm. i'm just hungry." you faked a chuckle when you noticed the quick change in joohyun's expression. "so, how did you two meet?"

"we live in the same building," answered amber. "we're not really close, but joohyun came to my rescue one night."

joohyun smiled. "amber is living with her sister. then one night, i found her standing outside her room, locked out, looking bored and pissed like an angry llama."

"can you blame me? i've stood there for 2 freaking hours!" amber flailed her arms in the air. she turned to you. "i left my keys inside. just my luck, my sister was coming home from traveling. i had no choice but to wait for her. good thing, joohyun here, the pretty asian girl next door, asked me to stay over her place while i wait."

you folded your arms on the table, looking at them with a smile on your face.

compared to the other guys joohyun dated, you liked the vibe of this amber. seeing joohyun this happy makes you feel happy for her too.

it would have been perfect if you could be happy for her without getting hurt. sadly, that's not the case for you.

"how about you, seulgi. are you single?"

you blinked at amber, not expecting the question. joohyun is also waiting for you to answer.

"umm. it depends on what you mean by single." you chuckled. "i mean, yes, i'm legally single."

amber laughed. "but are you available?"

"umm. yeah. i am." you looked down at your fiddling hands, unable to look at joohyun. "there is someone right now, but we're not really in a committed relationship. we're hanging out and having fun."

"having fun, huh? if i may ask, is this a her or a him?" amber inquired further.

you pressed your lips together, looking away one second and smiling to yourself.

there's no point hiding it now.

"it's a her," you said. you noticed how joohyun suddenly got busy looking for stuff in her bag.

"ahh. nice. i remember joohyun mentioned to me how people branded you as a girl crush when you were still in the dance club. i knew what she meant," said amber. "you should have brought your friend here. the more, the merrier."

you shook your head. "i can't. i mean, i don't want to. like unnie said, we haven't seen each other for a year. for tonight i want it to be all about her."

that made joohyun look up at you.

"plus, i made a promise to myself that i won't introduce anyone to unnie unless i'm serious about that person," you said. "and this one doesn't fall to that category yet."

"that's sweet," said amber. "how about joohyun here? how many exes she introduced to you before?"

you and joohyun looked at each other. you smiled at her playfully. she blushed.

"you don't want to know that, amber. i already lost count."

joohyun reached over to slap your hand. "yah! you're making it sound like i'm a playgirl! i shouldn't have introduced you to them. hmp."

"i never thought of you in that way, unnie. i've always felt honored to be introduced to your lovers."

"yeah. because unlike you, i don't keep secrets from my best friend."

"it's not my intention. i didn't want to surprise you with my relationships."

"then why tell us now?"

"i knew you would understand now because we have amber here."

"why? did you seriously think i wasn't aware of your relationship with jisoo before? did you hear me say something?"

you blinked. "wait. what? you knew...?"

"c'mon, seulgi. i'm not dumb not to notice how much she looked jealous that night when i joined the dinner."

you creased your brows, unsure of how to take what she admitted.

because if she knew you and jisoo were together, then why was she sweet and possessive of you that night?