Three of kind

Part 6

"Mommy! I wanna wear-..."

The two women quickly step away from each other, withdrawing their hands from around one another while abruptly ending their kiss. They simultaneously turn towards the girl who's staring at them from the doorway, eyebrows raised, eyes wide and mouth agape.

Karina clears her throat awkwardly and says, "You wanna wear that dress?" as she approaches the girl, taking the pink summer dress Erica's holding in her hands. "It's still chilly outside so why don't you choose something warmer?"

It's been a year since Minjeong came back to Seoul and eight months since she moved back in to her apartment downstairs.

Erica has turned seven and Minjeong and Karina have been dating for almost a year and a half.

Although the girl has seen the two together countless times—holding hands or hugging or occasionally stealing a peck from the other woman's cheek—she has never seen them kiss like that before and they haven't told her explicitly about their relationship.

Karina strokes the girl's hair. "Sorry about that. I guess we should have that talk now."

Minjeong sits down on the bed and pats the space next to her. "Come here."

The girl approaches the woman, climbs onto the bed and sits beside her. Karina follows, sitting on the other side of Erica.

"Your mother and I, well... we love each other," explains Minjeong as she holds the girl's hand. "That's all there is to it, really. You'll probably see me hugging her and kissing her more often from now on," she says, glancing at the smiling brunette. "Because that's what people who love each other do."

Erica turns her head to look at her mother. "You love Mimin too?"

Karina nods and chuckles. "Yes, I do."

"Is Mimin your girlfriend now?"

Karina nods again.

"Will you get married?"

Minjeong nearly chokes on her spit but manages to calm down after a few small coughs. Her cheeks are red though and she can't look Karina in the eyes when she hears the woman tell the girl that they're not sure about marriage yet.

"But when you kiss like that you have to get married!" exclaims the girl.

"Where did you get that idea from?" asks her amused yet embarrassed mother.

"It's always like that in the princess stories."

"Ah. Well those are just stories. They're not real, remember?" Karina gently pats her daughter's head. "We'll see what happens okay?"

Erica turns her head again, looking at the sheepishly grinning Minjeong for a moment before she jumps off the bed and takes the dress from Karina. "Can I wear this then?"

"If you really want to wear it, you need to find a sweater or a cardigan to go over it. It's still cold," says Karina. "Go choose something and I'll help you in a minute."

"Okay."

With that, the girl rushes out of Karina's room, leaving the two flustered adults.

"Now that was nerve wracking," mumbles Minjeong as she exhales in relief. "I hope I explained it correctly."

"It's bound to happen sooner or later. The explaining, I mean," says Karina.

"Yes but not because she walked in on us kissing."

Karina stands up and continues what she was doing before Minjeong interrupted her with the kiss, picking out clothes to wear. "Be grateful that she's okay about this and that we weren't fully making out or something."