SoulTies | MoonSun | Mamamoo

Chapter 6

Ahn Hyejin crosses her legs and then leans forward on the leather chair.

"So how do we do this?" Moonbyul asks, she feels out of place in Hyejin's house. She agreed to the individual sessions she had offered to be polite. But she hadn't expect them to be in her house, it feels slightly inappropriate in the big picture.

Her hazel eyes widen at Moonbyul's admission. "You've never been to therapy before?"

She's only known Ahn Hyejin a couple of weeks, since she had appeared at the task force offices to offer her help in their three year hunt. She'd sat in her car outside for ten minutes working up the nerve to even come in. "Just the group session you took at the offices a few days ago."

Hyejin smiles. She's wearing a skirt and she threads her fingers and hooks them around one knee, and the skirt exposes an inch of her thigh. "Well, it's easy," she says. "You tell me what's on your mind and we will talk about it."

Moonbyul shifts uncomfortably in her chair, her gun pressing into her hip. She does have something on her mind. Something she hasn't even told James or Wheein. "I'm thinking about asking to be reassigned," she says. It feels good to finally say it. It gives her power like she might actually do it.

"Why? Is it hard on your relationship, working so much?"

Moonbyul considers this. Her and YooA had mutually agreed to end their relationship a week ago, her work had caused an enormous strain and with YooA's job they hardly spent any time together. She doesn't want to discuss this. "I'm committed to my job, I have one job and that is to catch this guy, which I haven't done so far."

"I think you're close," Hyejin says. She reaches out and puts her hand on the arm rest of Moonbyul's chair. She doesn't touch Moonbyul though. Just the arm rest. "Don't give up just yet. How long have you and your partner been together?" Hyejin asks.

"Since high school."

"How many women have you slept with?" Hyejin asks.

Moonbyul feels her face flush. She looks out of the window, at a stand of apple trees that are planted in the backyard. "Just two. But my first girlfriend, it was awkward and clumsy you know what it's like first time, so really just YooA."

"Is the sex good?"

Moonbyul feels hot. She reaches up and rubs the back of her neck. The only sound in the room is the ticking on the grandfather clock that sits in the corner. "I feel weird talking about this with you," she says.

"In order for this to work properly," Hyejin replies, "you have to be honest with me."

"Yes," Moonbyul says, "it's good." What Moonbyul really wants to say is it was good, but they haven't in a long time.

"How do you know if you've only ever really been with YooA?"

Moonbyul smiles. Touché.

"You must be attracted to other women though?"

Moonbyul splays her hands out on my her knees. "That's natural."

"Are you attracted to me?" Hyejin's hazel eye almost dance.

Moonbyul searches for something to say, something true, but not too true. Her mouth is suddenly very dry and the clock continues to tick in the corner. She clears her throat and then settles on, "I think you're very beautiful."

~x~

Manhattan Hospital was one of two trauma centres for the region and it was where Moon Byul-yi had been taken after they got her out of Ahn Hyejin's basement. It was also the hospital favoured by paramedics. Yongsun parked in the visitors garage and made her way to the office building where Moonbyul's doctor had agreed to meet her. When she took the elevator up to the third floor, she was careful to press the button with her elbow rather than her finger. Germs. Could never be too careful in hospitals.