Almost like the other girls|2YEON|ENG

Six months

The two hadn't exchanged a word since they left the house in the direction of the Han River. Nayeon walked slowly, behind a more hurried Jeongyeon. Maybe accompanying the girl to the river was just an excuse to meet someone? Nayeon shook her head: Jeongyeon was an adult, she worked, she was independent and she didn't need permission to go out, unlike her.

-So... This is the Han River.- Nayeon commented the most obvious thing.

-Intuitive. That's why my mother hired you to help Dahyun.

That sarcasm was as irritable as the mocking smile that appeared on the brunette's face every time she spoke to her.

-What job would you be doing?- she asked, avoiding responding to the provocation.

-Guess. And no, it's not the model.

-I would never have said it.

Nayeon seemed to think about it but no idea came to her mind. Jeongyeon didn't seem like someone who liked to get tired, but maybe she was wrong.

-Are you giving up?

-Yes. You don't look like someone who works.

Jeongyeon let out a big, loud laugh.  -I do work, indeed. I'm a waitress at my grandmother's restaurant. She used to wait tables, but now she's old and can't move. But in reality, I do this for free, just to help her. My grandmother always pays me, but I save money for her care. My real job is pretty boring: I'm a postal worker. Imagine how many unpleasant people I have to deal with every day.

-I imagine...

Nayeon often had to deal with rude people, too.

-And you? Are you really a farmer?

-We're agriculturists.

-I don't believe you. You don't look like an agriculturist at all.

-Since when do they classify jobs based on physical appearance?

-What is your relationship with your father?

Nayeon frowned. -Why the sudden question?

-It's just to get to know each other better.

-A very normal father-daughter relationship. We love each other.

-Hmm.- She wondered if that drawing had anything to do with her father.

-And you?

-I never met my father, he ran away.

-Oh. I'm sorry.

-No, it doesn't matter. The problem is that my mother had two other relationships and both ended badly. Dahyun's father died and Chae's father went to buy cigarettes two years ago.

-I'm sorry. Your mother doesn't deserve this.

-No, she doesn't deserve this. And your mother? What is she like?

Nayeon smiled and stopped in front of the Han River to admire the beautiful scenery. -I don't remember much but I know she loved this place. She was sick and passed away when I was five. I just know that I miss her, she was the only one who understood me.

Jeongyeon preferred not to say anything. An idea was developing in her head: the blue squiggle could be her mother. But who was the figure next to her? Her father? Her brother? Her sister?

-Do you have siblings?

Nayeon shook her head, continuing to look at the sky, while the brunette looked at her. -I'm an only child.

-Cousins? Friends?

-Friends... I have a sort of a friend.

-I see.

The gray figure next to her was definitely her friend. Jeongyeon was satisfying her curiosity.

-Is the interrogation about my family over?- Nayeon asked, turning around, finally looking her interlocutor in the eyes.

-Yes, now it is. Are you not curious about me?

Nayeon shook her head. -Let's just say that you are completely indifferent to me.

Jeongyeon giggled. -I figured. How do you feel here?

-Good. Dahyun is so smart and sensitive and Chaeyoung is a living tornado. They are adorable.

-True.

-And your mother is a woman I admire a lot: she works a lot but when she comes up for dinner she uses her last energies for her daughters. She is always so kind.

-And won't you say anything about me?

-You're just annoying.

Jeongyeon smirked. -Oh yeah?

-Yeah.- Nayeon replied confidently.

Jeongyeon moved closer to the raven-haired and threw herself on her, starting to tickle her, almost as if they were fifteen years old. But what am I telling you, Nayeon didn't do these things with her friends.

-What are you- Nayeon asked, interrupting herself because of her laughter.

-I've never heard anyone laugh like that.- Jeongyeon confessed, continuing to tickle her belly frantically. -It sounds nice.

-Th... Thanks but now... Stop!

-Okay... Only if you say I make you laugh.

-Just by tickling.

-Then I'll continue.

-Okay! You're funny.

Jeongyeon let go of her, satisfied, while Nayeon tucked her shirt into her skirt, embarrassed about what the passersby would think.

-So... You said you were in England.- Nayeon began, trying to calm her heart that was beating fast due to the panic caused by the tickling.

-Yes, with my ex. It was a trip we had booked a long time ago and I couldn't say no, even if something inside me had changed. Let it stay between us... What my mother told you is not true.

-Oh?

-He didn't cheat on me. I was the one who left him.

-Why didn't you tell your mother?

That Jeongyeon was going through a similar situation to hers?

-Because... If I left him it's because I realized I didn't love him anymore. I realized that I like girls, that's it.

-Oh.- That was the only thing that came out of the British girl's mouth. She forced herself to say anything else and not remain silent. -Why did you tell me? We've known each other for three days and we're not even that close.

-I needed to tell someone other than my psychologist friend. You can imagine that she started talking and talking and talking. And I can't tell Chaeyoung and Dahyun because they would tell my mother. I don't know how she would take it. And I don't dare to imagine my grandmother, I'm sure she wouldn't accept me.

Nayeon looked down. Being rejected by her family must have been horrible; that's why she would never show herself for who she was. Im Nayeon was the girl who was always composed, who never spoke, who looked like a porcelain doll. But the real Nayeon was much more. The real Nayeon would reveal herself during those six months, those months in which she would do crazy things, forbidden things, she would live a normal life. A life that would last six months.