None of Us Saw This Coming

March, 2021: Let's Have Some Pho

It had been almost six months since Irene saw and heard from Lisa last. Lisa did leave her be the next day—after the day they met in Daegu. Although her parents insisted Lisa to stay at their place that night while she went to her place, still the next morning, gone were the traces of Lisa as the woman did keep her words because Irene could no longer find her. Yet, she was okay with that.

It had been almost six months and she finally came back to Seoul for good in February because Seungwan had been whining at her about her only birthday wish was to gather with all her members—and because it was the only time they could actually get together before Wendy's solo debut. So off to Seoul she went, yet Irene still had not contacted Lisa although she had been breathing the same oxygen as the younger for almost a little over a month by then.

It had been six months since she left to seek her peace of mind. Then six months led her to that day—it was her birthday, and truth be told, there was nothing she wanted more than seeing the woman who had been running 'round inside her head. Six months ago, she would run in a heartbeat away from her should they meet and six months older bringing her to that day, she would run in a heartbeat to Lisa. No more second guessing.

So carrying all those feelings in her left pocket—where she also carried her heart, Irene finally made up her mind and her way to the only place in the whole city that would remind her of Lisa; her calm, her storm, everything that kept her alive.

The sun was setting as she walked, accompanied by the wind of spring and the slightly chilly air, one that was brought from winter the year before where she was in Daegu, spending Christmas and New Year with her parents after finishing her schedules. It had been a while since she could spend a privilege spending the holidays with her family and Irene could not be happier. She could still remember how hot her face turned when her parents told her to bring her girlfriend for the next holiday, and her mother even added a little note telling her to not bother coming home if she did not bring her girlfriend along—which unavoidably created a friendly banter between the two.

Irene chuckled at the memory but it soon subsided the moment she stepped on the ground of the park. Because right before her eyes, a silhouette of a familiar figure sitting on the swing appeared in her vision. Nothing had changed about the woman but nothing felt the same either. That time, it seemed like she had been expected by the figure because almost immediately, the figure turned around looking at her.

"You're back," Lisa greeted her with a tight smile—it was sincere nonetheless.

"I'm back," Irene whispered as she made her way to sit on the vacant swing next to Lisa.

"Happy birthday, Joohyunnie," Lisa whispered the moment they sat side-by-side. Irene only looked at her smiling as she nodded, she was about to address her little 'thank you' when Lisa cut her words.

"I miss you so much today, so I come here. I haven't been here in six months because I couldn't afford the thought of not being able to reach you so terribly there was nothing I could do. But today is your birthday and I wish I could wish you a happy birthday, but since you weren't around and not that I could contact you, I came here instead. Yet, here you are," Lisa stared at her so intently and gently, as if one wrong move would make her scatter away and from the look of it, Lisa would not survive if she was to leave her again.

"Here I am," Irene smiled, but it did not reach her ears; the thought of hurting Lisa in unimaginable ways prevented her from being able to smile in all glee and joy.

"I've been thinking," Lisa said after she inhaled a deep breath as she lightly swung herself on the swing she was sitting on, "About what it is I ought to say to you when I see you again. I keep on thinking about it, over and over again. But there are just no words," she stopped seemingly taking every last seconds she owned to ponder on her own one last time. She gave up eventually.

"Because we did mess things up pretty terribly from the start, didn't we?"

They met coincidentally and they skipped their steps; they fell heads first without thinking all there was to consider. It was as if they went to bed as strangers and woke up in limbo, trying to figure out what it was they had, because what they shared was more than friends yet what they could have must stay less than lovers. They both fell for those they could not have.

"I believe so," was all Irene could say.

Then silence.

Until—

"Then let's fix it," Lisa smiled widely as she extended her hand for Irene, "Hi, I'm Lalisa Manoban, you can call me Lisa."

Irene stared at Lisa's hand then Lisa's face as she tried to suppress her chuckle from Lisa's antics. But if they wanted to fix everything then that was the right thing to do, was it not? So Irene welcomed Lisa's hand in hers. Warm.

"I'm Bae Joohyun. Nice meeting you."

"So what brings you here, Bae Joohyun?" So Lisa asked the moment they let go of their hands.

"I was missing a certain someone," Irene admitted.

"Was?" Lisa squinted at Irene in a questioning look.

"It no longer matters," it no longer did indeed since they were there together—in fact, nothing else mattered anymore, "Care to join me?" She continued her dialogue and it earned her another questioning look from Lisa; wondering about where all that would lead them to.

"I'm weirdly craving for pho," Irene smiled answering Lisa's wordless question.

"Pho?" Then Lisa seemingly understood where all that was leading them to. Irene nodded in confirmation, making the younger smiled—they were finally going somewhere.

"Let's go then."

They did not see it coming until that moment—when they intertwined their hands because that was the exact when they instantly knew why they could never hold anybody else's hands but the one they were holding at that exact moment.

Fit like two puzzle pieces.