UNCHANGEABLE - SEULRENE

SR - the treasures

joohyun keeps spending her nights in seulgi's apartment, except for when she's working night shift. she usually goes there when she's sure yerim's asleep. they will get up in the wee hours of the morning so joohyun can come home for her daughter while seulgi drives back to the city for her work.

the agreed setup seems to work for them, at least during the first few weeks. but it starts getting harder after a little while.

there are many reasons, most often because of seulgi's busy schedule where she's forced to stay in the city. problem is, when she finally gets time for herself, it's joohyun who isn't available.

"i'm sorry, seulgi. i can't come tonight. yerim's running with a fever. i don't want to leave her alone with mom."

seulgi's out in the hallway of her apartment for better reception. her mood drops after hearing joohyun's voice on the other line.

"it's okay. yerim's condition is way more important," she says. "if anything urgent comes up, call me, okay?"

"i will." she hears joohyun sighs. "i miss you."

"i miss you too. but don't worry, we'll catch up once yerim's feeling better."

"thanks for always understanding. by the way, i still need to check her temperature. speak soon. i love you."

"i love you too." the next thing seulgi hears is a dead line.

"trouble in paradise?"

seulgi turns and sees sunmi. "hey. just got back from work?"

"yup. how are you? why do you look like you've been robbed off of sex?"

seulgi laughs.

sunmi stands beside seulgi, her door keys rattling in her hands. "let me guess, she ain't coming tonight, is she?"

seulgi shakes her head. "yerim's sick."

"oh. poor kid. i hope it's nothing serious."

"just some fever. but since joohyun's a nurse, she's doing the nursing thing to the maximum level."

sunmi smirks "can't compete with the child, eh? i think that was the reason my step-dad resented me. i was a sickly kid. and whenever i am down, i am always mom's priority, not him."

seulgi lets out a small smile. "it's fine. i love the kid too."

"i'm sorry. i didn't mean for it to sound negative."

"don't worry." seulgi waves a hand quickly. "it's just that spending quality time together has been hard these past few days. my schedule got hectic. sometimes, i need to stay in the city for a night or two if there are urgent matters i need to attend to. and joohyun, well, we can't see each other if she's with yerim. i don't want to start any issue between them. but i miss her so much now." she exhales.

"i'm sure joohyun misses you too in the same way. if not, even more," says sunmi. "she's really head-over-heels for you. you're one lucky doofus."

seulgi smiles when sunmi playfully punches her. "how about you, how are you?"

"fine. the salary you're giving me from the foundation really helps. i have declined some private massage clients."

"that's good to hear. still saving up to pay off your step-dad?"

sunmi nods. "i called my mom yesterday. she says there's no need for me to pay him. but i still want to. and she's happy when i told her about the foundation. thanks to you."

"wouldn't have done it without you. i should be the one thanking you."

sunmi smiles. "care for a beer?"