The Scent Of You

Chapter 16

This is how moths speak to each other. They tell their love across the fields by scent.
There is no mouth,
the wrong words are impossible,
either a mate is there or he is not,
and if so the pair will find each other in the dark.
-Barbara Kingsolver

Joohyun stands before a mirror, knotting her tie into a Windsor knot. A long black coat drapes itself over her body, covering the white shirt and formal black trousers she is wearing. She reaches back to tie her hair into a low ponytail. She places one hand on the mirror, watching her mirror self move their opposite limb. Somehow, the person in the mirror looks more stressed out than she is, and she wonders when the dark eye bags had started to set in.

"Seungwan..."

The clomp of slow, burdened feet resound on the other side of the door. It creaks open, and Yeri pops her head through the gap. "Joohyun, are you done?"

"Yeah." Joohyun breaks her gaze away from the mirror and turns to smile at Yeri. "You?"

Yeri shuffles in, a pout on her face as she holds her own tie up. "I didn't know how to tie it..."

Joohyun chuckles. "Because I've always been tying them up for you. Come here." She reaches out, and with a few deft moves has Yeri's tie knotted as well. She brushes off some dust from Yeri's shoulder. She lets her hand rest there, just for a little while, trying to find steady ground after an unstable number of weeks.

Yeri smiles in understanding. Because she understands, they both stand there, absorbing, trying to understand everything that has happened since the very beginning, long before Joohyun and Seungwan met. With a gentle squeeze of Yeri's shoulder, Joohyun rights herself.

"I'm okay."

"Okay." Joohyun takes Yeri's hand in hers and walks out of the room. Joy and Seulgi are already waiting for them in matching suits, both sat on the couch, reading over documents and other assorted papers that the law firm has sent to them.

"Seulgi, thank you for letting us stay with you. I honestly don't know where we'd be or what we'll be doing now if it wasn't for the both of you, really."

"Oh, it's nothing!" Seulgi shakes her head at Joohyun's thanks as she stands up. "You're friends, and besides, it's not like we can just leave you two to stay somewhere random. At times like this, it's quite dangerous to do that."

"Seulgi, thank you!" Yeri leaps at Seulgi and takes her down with a grateful hug. Rolling over, she grins at Joy and also wraps her in a hug. "You too, big sis. Thanks."

"Big sis." Joy slowly repeats. An overwhelming feeling of protectiveness blooms within her; she holds Yeri for just a beat more, hiding her smile in Yeri's hair.

Rising from the couch, Seulgi shuffles back all the documents laid out on the table back into one thick folder. Joy and Yeri follow her example, and both sisters - sisters!, Joy thinks, still in amazement - take Joohyun's hands. "Ready?"

Joohyun nods. "Seungwan, wait for me. I'm coming."

*

Two days ago...

Jail wasn't that bad, Seungwan thought to herself for the umpteenth time that day. They let her out everyday for some exercise, and she got regular meals. The wardens were decent, and her cellmate was chatty enough to fill the void she sometimes felt on particularly lonely days.

Today's routine was a carbon copy of yesterday's, and of the day before: wake up at six, morning exercise and breakfast at seven, lunch at eleven, dinner at five, and lights out by eleven. The hours between meals were work hours, as Seungwan had come to realise when she was first placed in a cell. However, the warden had specifically told her that there was no particular work allocation for her yet as she was relatively new.