Where The Love Light Gleams

December 6th

Shin tried, she really did. But she couldn't get it out of her bloody mind. She needs a distraction, something that diverts her attention. And she's never been more thankful when Sarah invited her out for an afternoon talk.

She'd zoned out while Sarah was talking about something, a new song maybe. They're at Sarah's restaurant, the only logical place to be in if they don't want to get mobbed or spied. She missed Sarah admittedly a little more than the others. It seems like they grew closer when they were miles apart. It's what the magic of true friendship does, she thinks.

"Okay. You've been zoning out and you only do that when there's something bothering you and you want talk about it but you don't know how. So, just spill," Sarah says.

She doesn't know where to start.

"Shin."

She puffs out a breath. Sarah can get so earnest about things, and sometimes Shin hates it because she knows she can get through to her. Shin can feel the words actually crawling up her throat, like she's literally going to spill them on the table. She can't. She can't do that-

"Ian kissed me."

Sarah's jaw actually drops. She can be infinitely expressive. But then it turns into a grin.

"What?"

"He kissed me."

"Out of the blue?"

"Under a mistletoe."

"Huh."

Sarah nods her slowly, but Shin knows there's so much more to it. "What?"

"Nothing."

"Sarah."

She sighs, "It feels like a big deal."

"It's not," Shin disagrees, but really, it was more of a denial.

"He kissed you under a freaking mistletoe. You didn't know it was there. I didn't know it was there. No one did. He could have ignored it, but he didn't. He didn't and he kissed you!"

Damn. Point taken. Shin's mouth shuts. She hadn't seen it. He could have ignored it, should have ignored it. No one forced him to do it. "I- I can't."

"You can," Sarah shoots back. "You still have more than 20 days."

"I can't do that."

Sarah's eyebrow arches.

Shin blows out a breath, "Oh, don't give me that look! I would still like to keep my heart intact when I go back to London, thank you very much. He couldn't even make it work with that one girl and Singapore's only a few hours away. London is an entirely different continent."

"Maybe he couldn't make it work because it wasn't you. Maybe he didn't want it to work because it wasn't you. We are talking about you, Shin. We're talking about the only woman who could make him glow. The only woman who can read him like a book. The only woman he's willing to take risks for."

"Sarah, come on," Shin says, she knows she's blushing. "Don't-"

Sarah groans. "Fine. Fine. Go ahead and live in that little delusion of yours. But if I'm right, you owe me AND I get to say I told you so."