Soulmates - The Last Line

The coming out story

Note:

No specific trigger warnings, but we will see a heartful conversation between Byul and her father, which is sort of a coming-out moment for her, so it will be emotional.
Get some tissues ready and prepare the water bottles. 🙈🥺

Then, we'll see how Byul and Yong met each other for the first time. 😄🫠

Happy reading!

The elevator was moving slowly from floor to floor. She wasn't claustrophobic, but at this moment, the metal box looked entirely too crowded. It was almost as if the walls were too close, and there was not enough air. Byul was pushed by the wall on the right side, behind a neurotic secretary who kept having conversations by herself out loud. She was counting, and turning pages, somehow managing to hold a phone in her hand, along with a keychain with 1000 keys on it, a cup holder with two plastic cups of coffee, a pair of headphones, sunglasses, prescription glasses, and a pile of freshly printed papers, looking like financial reports. Her hair was a mess, and she kept turning around to check the floor number, which was written in big red letters, on a monitor, on the left side of Byul's head. She felt bad for the woman. She looked like she could use some sleep. Right next to her was an old gentleman, probably an investor, or someone who came here for a meeting, dressed up in his newest suit. He smelled like detergent from a dry cleaning place and shoe wax. He kept pulling on his collar. It was most likely a tick. But he looked anxious. Apparently, Byul wasn't the only one suffocating. Next to him was a girl leaning on the elevator wall, with her headphones on. She kept giggling every five minutes, because her boyfriend, who was currently standing behind her, was trying to tickle her. They were both dressed formally and looked like PAs. The old lady who was standing between Byul and the boyfriend guy, on the other hand, kept throwing them disapproving glances, huffing and puffing every other minute. The floors were moving too slowly for Byul's liking. She leaned on the wall, but the cold metal didn't do much in terms of keeping her cool or giving her stability and mental encouragement. And why would she need that, you might ask? Simple. She was going to her father's office, after his secretary contacted her this morning.

Yup. He was definitely going to scream at her, because of the little "stunt" she pulled the other day. The press already knew and it was all over the internet. Byul was sure that her queerness had always been something like a public secret though. They kept seeing her with women at events after all, but all journalists kept using terms like "besties", "best buds", "lady friend", "lady friend of the night" and "new friend" to describe the women she was going out with. It was as if they were afraid to call things by their real names.

Now that the cat was out of the bag though, the press had a lot to say about Byulie's "tumultuous", "turbulent" relationships, with ladies that she changed, according to one Twitter account, with "the speed of a TikTok scrolling user". She didn't care. She didn't even mind them. But her father on the other hand was probably beside himself with anger. After all, Byul had embarrassed him in front of his partners. She had single-handedly put a stain on the Moon's name. Her aunts and uncles were probably taking turns bad-mouthing her at every single country club in the country. And yet she really couldn't bring herself to care. She couldn't change who she was, and she was actually relieved that she didn't have to hide it or be extra careful about what she says or does anymore.

The elevator finally beeped to indicate her father's floor, and she suddenly realized she was alone. When did the other people leave?

"Miss Moon?" - the secretary said, looking at her with probably a few unspoken questions in mind, - "are you coming?"

Byul came back to her senses and followed the older woman. She was well in her fifties, walking slowly, but still keeping her head up. She had probably made about 20 years into the company, had been an employee of the month numerous times, and had seen the ups and downs of Moon industries. Byul remembered all too well how the woman used to help her with the homework when she was younger and in university. She brought her food and made sure Byul was always comfortable and taken care of. Byul had asked her a million times to just call her by her name, but the woman insisted it wouldn't be polite, so she kept calling her Miss Moon. Her father had never even contemplated firing her. She was a very loyal employee and a good friend, and the old Mr. Moon trusted her with almost everything. This made Byul happy. She knew that when one day the company gets passed down to her, she would also want to work with someone she can trust, not with a random girl with good looks, who only went to the job interview because she learned that she'd get to work for Moonbyul. She wasn't a fan of the whole Boss - secretary relationship, and the sick powerplay dynamics that came along with it. It wasn't her thing. And she didn't think it would ever be.