Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

><(((°>  ><(((°>  ><(((°>

She became aware of the pinprick of light that beat down on her all at once, like suddenly realizing the sun existed and was battering her sleeping form. When had she gone to sleep? It was focused, insistent, like a nudge that just ebbed on the harsher side of gentle. It was above her, stinging at her closed eyes, calling her forth as she felt herself float in blissful eternity. Its beckoning was persistent and annoying.

Could she not just remain there, drifting as nothingness, enjoying the comforting blanket of darkness the pinhole of light disturbed?

She thought to rebuke it and curl back into the depths, but the light was soon joined in sound.

A voice beckoning, wreathed in velvet. Far off but there. She drew closer, curious, floating toward the siren song that called to her. 

Perhaps she never truly had a choice, and could not fight the light that called to her even when the dark was so sweet and enticing.

Thoughtlessly, she drifted forward to the pinprick. As she did, it grew. It grew and it grew, until it was wide as the sun, but she basked in the warmth of it instead of the intense heat she expected. The voice, too, was louder, even though she couldn’t understand the words. They and the voice were nonetheless familiar to her, somehow. Her claws reached forward to touch the surface—

—and as she breached her own consciousness, heaved breath into her lungs.

Her body ached, the aftereffects of an agony she couldn’t recall. Her tail snapped like it had healed itself from wrongness and slapped against fine grains of sand and rocks. As she sucked in air though her mouth she felt the gills on her chest flutter. The hand she’d extended to touch the light, scaled and tipped with claws, was grabbed by a large, smooth hand. It didn’t flinch under her grasp despite the talons that dug into flesh as she felt her spine align itself and gasped from the misery of bone shifting outside of her control.

Her mouth stung. More specifically her teeth did, as though she’d chewed on rocks as a pastime. The sun felt too bright on her eyes and she winced at it, turning her face toward the body like a shield holding her through the throbbing of flesh and the sharp pangs that shuddered through her form in cramps and spasms, pressing tightly into them.

“Easy,” said the silky voice she heard that beckoned her in the dark, tone soft and grounding. His other arm, wrapped around her back and holding her shoulder securely, pulled her tightly against him. He smelled strongly of geraniums, and it wrapped around her mind in an odd comfort. “Easy. It’s almost over.”

She couldn’t fathom what he was talking about, but she curled into his chest to block out the light, her other hand grabbing for him. She found his ankle and squeezed, as though some of the pain could be transferred to him. She didn’t want that, but it beat flailing her arms around and perhaps scratching him with her claws.

She gasped again as the last torments eased throughout her body. She panted, feeling the sudor sticking to her skin and subsequently cloying the sand of the beach against her body. She felt his hand gently run up and down her back soothingly as she blinked to adjust her sight. She felt a weight against her wrist and she peered at it, finding a string of colourful beads wrapped snugly around the joint. It was all so sharp, so vivid. It gave her a headache. Her tail flicked when she flinched at the colours.

“What—” she choked out, feeling her throat scrape uncomfortably. Had she been screaming? Why was her throat so sore? “What happened?”

When her gaze finally fixed on the man holding her, she realized she could equate the emotions that hurried across his face to a storm. But like all storms, they passed into something more gentle.

Storms often hid just beyond the horizon, after all.

He seemed at a loss, warring with himself. His dark hair was wet and clung to his forehead. She raised the hand that had grabbed his ankle to his face, claws trailing handsome features as she studied him. Dark brown eyes like soot flicked away from her momentarily, then he took a deep breath and slowly fixed them back on her face.

“Who are you?” she asked probingly.

Even if he had hung his head, she would have seen him. So he didn’t.

“My name’s Jinu,” he said softly. “I… I found you here. You were hurt so I… helped.”

“You did?” She shifted uncomfortably, her fins sliding across the ground as she tried to reposition herself. Jinu helped raise her until she was seated, her iridescent, lavender tailfin splayed across the sand and still twitching every so often. It, like the rest of her body, was flayed with angry, jagged purple lines. She ran her tongue over her teeth and winced. They were sharp, if the metallic taste on her tongue was anything to go by. “Thank-you.”

“Don’t mention it.” The tone he used was playful, yet it felt anything but. More like he was insisting. “You need to get back into the water.”

She turned her gaze from him to the crashing tides nearby. The shore wasn’t far, the waves lapping at the sand in a peculiar but comforting rhythm. “I do, don’t I?” There was no real question there. Just… inevitability. She had to be there. It called to her. She would be there.

Home.

She hardly noticed that he had moved from her. On a rock nearby was a beige shirt, neatly folded, smelling of something… familiar. Fresh jasmine. It tickled the back of her mind, just out of reach of her memory. Shoes sat nearby with stocks stuffed into them. Jinu stepped to the rock, grabbed the shirt and pulled it on over his bare chest.

Discarded near the rock were a pair of jeans, but Jinu already had sweatpants on. She looked at them curiously. Jinu followed her gaze and kicked them behind the rock nonchalantly, then approached her again.

“I’ll help you get to the water,” he offered.

That sounded nice. It was kind of him to do that so she wouldn’t have to crawl through the sand herself. She nodded, and he lifted her from behind and beneath her armpits to drag her toward the shoreline, her tail leaving a smooth trail in the silt.

“So what’s my—” She gulped, feeling the scratch of her raw throat again, then tipped her head back to look at Jinu. “Who am I?”

Jinu’s brow furrowed and his jaw tightened, but his gaze didn’t waver from the water. “... It’s Rumi,” he answered quietly. “Your name was—is Rumi.”

“Rumi?” She liked the sound of it. It sounded… right. “I like it.”

Jinu quietly grunted his agreement. “It’s beautiful,” he whispered agreeably.

He pulled her into the shoal until his sweatpants were wet up to his thighs and carefully released his hold on Rumi. He had to wade through the water to get to her tailfin and help shove it into the water. As soon as Rumi submerged, she felt a sense of belonging that settled over her. Air had been fine, but her first lungful of seawater through her gills was like a balm on her soul.

It was odd, then, that it somehow also felt like she’d been shackled.

But that couldn’t be right, so she dismissed it.

Kicking powerfully with her tail, Rumi popped back up to the surface and watched Jinu gather the clothes he’d shoved behind the rock. A pretty grey blouse, faded slate jeans, underwear, and another pair of shoes.

Who would be so foolish as to leave their clothes on the beach?

Jinu grabbed his sneakers and looked back. Perhaps he didn’t mean to, or at least didn’t think she would be watching him, because he flinched at the head tilt Rumi sent him.

“Will you come back to visit?” asked Rumi.

She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he gulped, then he slowly, sadly, nodded. “I will,” he promised.

Rumi grinned at him, flashing her pearly fangs, then dove under the water to explore her unfamiliar home. Reacquaint herself, perhaps. Who knew? All Rumi knew was that this was home and she belonged here.

Jinu burned her clothes far away from the cove he’d left her at. 

She’d been wrong. He was a liar, after all.

And Jinu would forever look back on this day as one of the worst and most shameful of his life.

><(((°>  ><(((°>  ><(((°>

As far as Zoey Choi was concerned, this was the best and proudest day of her life.

She’d never dreamed she’d manage to win the internship with Doctor Han Daeshim, never mind with her best friend in the whole world. All those nights she stayed up studying, forcing herself not to just eat the gummy bears she placed on the pages of her textbook to motivate herself, had finally paid off.

Doctor Han was the eminent expert on ocean life and preservation and this would make Zoey’s resume akin to a golden ticket to stable employment with whatever organization Zoey applied to. All she had to do was not fuck it up!

And considering Zoey hadn’t managed to drop and break anything more expensive than her tuition yet, luck seemed to be on her side!

“Is this everything?” asked Bobby, huffing breath as he carefully set down the last of the electronic equipment. He stood with a groan and arched his back to stretch it, hands securely on his waist to ease the extension.

Doctor Sang Harin scanned the pile they’d made at Chagwido Port, her eyes flicking down to the list on her clear plastic clipboard and the fine checkmarks she’d scratched against every item she’d listed. She pulled her glasses down her nose and narrowed her eyes to scrutinize the heap of costly diving hardware again.

“Looks like everything,” she said, tapping her pen once on the clipboard conclusively. “So all that’s left are the bags. Who wants to drive and check into the hotel?”

Bobby leaned forward from his stretch and clasped his hands on his knees. “M-Maybe the ladies…”

From behind him came a derisive snort. Mira, her vibrant pink hair pulled into an orderly bun with a long hairpin pierced through to keep it in place and show off her undercut, passed by him to grab one of his hands and press the keys from their rental van into his hand. “Go to the hotel and take a nap, Bobby. You look like you could use one.”

“Mira and I are doing fine!” added Zoey, planting one foot on some of the equipment and posing like she was participating in a muscle man competition and not a research study. “Look! I’ve got energy to spare—!”

  “Choi!” called Doctor Sang sharply.

Zoey realized immediately what she’d done and almost fell backward as she wrenched her leg back from the top of the sonar equipment, her arms flailing wildly until Mira caught and steadied her.

Zoey sighed and laughed. “Thanks, Mir!”

Mira’s little grunt of acknowledgement was typical of her. Zoey loved how nonchalant she liked to pretend she was but Zoey adored how she knew Mira was, like, the most chalant person she’d ever known. She just sometimes showed it with all the enthusiasm of a Victorian death portrait.

It was a defense mechanism. Zoey had known Mira since day one of university when they were shoved into a dorm together and they fell in with each other easily. Mira let Zoey talk all she wanted (which was a lot) and Zoey realized how fluent she was in Mir-lish without much practice. It had been disarming for Mira (she’d admitted as much one night after they’d drank a tad too much soju in their dorm room), who was used to only being perceived as one of the Kangs. And Zoey had just laughed because she had no fucking idea who the Kangs were.

Of all Zoey’s jokes, that admission made Mira laugh the loudest. But what was Zoey to do? She’d attended public school in Burbank! The Kangs meant nothing to Burbankers!

Suddenly whatever distance Mira made sure to keep between them evaporated because Zoey had no idea who Mira’s family was and so proved to Mira she was literally being nice just because she could and because she wanted a friend, not because she wanted something from Mira. 

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Zoey was being nice because she wanted to, of course!

It just, well, didn’t hurt that from day one Zoey was capital DB Down Bad for the supermodel she was supposed to share a room with. The one with sharp looks, legs for centuries, and the sweetest smiles when she wasn’t glaring across the room at whatever bullshit assignment a professor had assigned them.

Not that Zoey minded the glare. It did things to her, unfortunately.

Why unfortunately? Well, that was easy!

How the fuck was she supposed to find relief when the reason why she was feeling those things shared a fucking room with her?!

Anyway, Zoey knew from day one there wasn’t any way in any kind of hell she’d have a chance with Mira. For a while Zoey just accepted that some hot jock or business major would sweep her off her feet with his equally incredible looks and brilliant mind.

And then Mira shot every one of her potential suitors down.

Zoey had asked, once, why Mira kept refusing dates from those guys. It was mostly curiosity by that point because, months into their first semester, most everyone was hooking up with someone. Hell, Zoey had been thinking of maybe putting herself out there to get over her crush for the person who was quickly becoming her best friend. Nothing like a little casual intercourse as a healthy coping mechanism, after all! Not, you know, avoidance.

From across the room while studying on her bed, Mira’s eyebrow quirked upward with visible confusion.

“Because I’m a lesbian?”

It was somehow both a statement and a question. A statement because she had expected Zoey to know. A question because why the fuck wouldn’t Zoey have known that about her by then?

Zoey’s brain had short-circuited. It had just seemed so inevitable that Mira would get a degree, meet a guy, maybe explode to superstardom for her crazy good looks, and settle down with said guy.

Unfortunately, when Zoey’s brain booted back up, it whispered traitorously, So she’s saying I have a chance.

Zoey had grabbed that voice by the scruff, yanked it away from the microphone that had echoed its intrusive statement, dragged the voice out of the control room in her brain and shot it dead in the hallway.

Because Mira needed Zoey to be her friend and not someone who wanted from Mira.

So Zoey was totally happy to be Mira’s bestest friend in the whole world! Happy that their relationship was hugs and easy touches and the occasional kiss on the cheek and nightly cuddles because they’d pushed their beds together by the end of the first semester—

—and the fact that Mira had caught and pulled Zoey’s body comfortably against her so her head rested neatly and cozily upon the soft swell of Mira’s breasts was just Mira being a super friendly friend and didn’t have any weird connotations of any sort that Zoey was actively avoiding at all! No sirree!

“Careful. Don’t want this expedition to end before it begins,” said Mira, her low timbre practically purring against the back of Zoey’s head.

Zoey stood ramrod straight once she jumped out of Mira’s grasp and just tried not to think about where she’d been.

“If Choi can prevent herself from jumping on more of the equipment I think we’ll do just fine.” Doctor Sang nodded to Bobby. “Don’t worry about unpacking. Sleep and eat something to get your energy back.”

“And don’t forget to take a drink of water!” added Sim Su-nam helpfully as he walked up the dock towards them, grinning sweetly. “The Magpie is cleared for the equipment now, Doctor.”

“Thank-you, Captain.”

Zoey took in the sight of everyone. Bobby, Doctor Sang Harin’s personal assistant and friend, was the same age as the doctor. His mop of dark hair was clinging to his forehead, whispers of whiskers on his lip and chin stark against his pale skin. His grey tanktop was stamped with an old, defunct organization logo that he had worked for as a teen, paired with their matching dark blue shorts. 

Bobby was the one who connected Zoey and Mira to the internship, gushing how they’d be perfect to have along for the impending expedition. He had always been bright and sincere with them, and earned even Mira’s early approval for all his golden retriever energy. He was like an older brother to them, doting and caring without question or the need for reciprocation.

Doctor Sang Harin was Doctor Han Daeshin’s protege and the lead for their Jeju expedition. When it came to work she was a serious person and held everyone to the high standards she held herself but Zoey had seen her let loose at a club or two before, so she wasn’t an all work no play kinda gal. She’d ditched the lab coat for a t-shirt with dolphins and capri pants for the day but still looked every bit the serious scientist she was. Her raven hair was short and shaved on the left side, thick, purple-rimmed glasses balancing on the end of her nose as her dark, carbon eyes took in the equipment again.

Captain Sim Su-nam was a new addition to their team, a local ship captain whose vessel they had rented for the expedition. Zoey hadn’t thought of him as a ship captain at all the first time she saw him, more like some sort of programmer. He sure dressed like it anyhow. Khaki shorts, a clean white button-up with cute little rubber ducks stamped in a pattern across it, black, square-framed glasses that doubled as sunglasses, and floppy, parted but well-groomed dark hair cut neatly. He was nice, smiled a lot, smelled citrusy, and knew a great deal about the area, especially near the beaches and docks.

Although Zoey couldn’t hide her disappointment that the captain of their rented expedition vessel (The Magpie, as Su-nam called it affectionately) wasn’t a grizzled old sea captain with a thick grey beard, peg leg, and sometimes sprinkled a “Yar!” or two in their everyday speech. Su-nam was boring in comparison, but Zoey also figured that was probably fine. Boring was good!

He was also deceivingly strong, a fact proven by him picking up the monitoring equipment Bobby had just set down with hardly a grunt of effort, so he really must have been a sailor considering his abnormal strength.

“Alright! Kang, Choi, let’s get this to the ship! Bobby, get some rest. Just come pick us up in a couple hours, okay?”

“You got it, Doc!” Bobby exhaled and waved as he made his way back to the van. “Good luck everyone!”

“Bye Bobby!” chorused Zoey and Mira.

They helped to lug the equipment down the dock to the boat, thankfully only needing to carry the items as far as the trolley Captain Sim had brought while the dock trembled with the waves beneath their feet. Then they began installing it all, which was the most intensive part of their prep. The Magpie had its own systems but not at the range and clarity Doctor Sang’s specialized equipment could output, and Su-nam was one of the few captains they’d contacted who was fine with swapping everything out for them. He liked to see how the newer systems worked and called it a “free-trial before potentially upgrading”, so it was generally a win-win all around.

The Magpie was a specialized aluminum diving vessel (a Munson diving vessel, more specifically), 36’ long with ample room for their equipment, port and starboard dive ladders, a flip-out diving ladder on the bow door, and a walkaround cabin that featured air conditioning blessed by the gods. Captain Sim had already prepared extra diving tanks (that Doctor Sang made certain to test) and cleared a spot for their expensive rebreathers, clearly anticipating their team would want to be out at sea for as long as possible. He’d modified the vessel to include two tow lines that would tether a pair of divers to steel cables and winch them back if they were stuck. The currents around Jeju Island could be treacherous, so it was meant for safety.

Zoey and Mira were in the cabin with the captain, who was fiddling with the instruments to make sure they were in working order before they ventured out the next day.

“So,” he said, tapping the screen as the sonar flickered, “first time on the island?”

Zoey nodded excitedly. “It is! And it’s so cool.”

“Weather’s nice,” said Mira noncommitally. “Lived here long?”

“My whole life,” replied Su-nam. “Born and raised! Always loved it, and I can’t really see myself leaving.”

“Lots of family history in seafaring?” asked Mira.

Su-nam grinned. “Because I don’t really look the part, right?” At Mira’s agreeable hum, he continued, “Yeah. My grandfather was a captain, too, but a storm took him and his vessel.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Zoey said. “So you wanted to be like him?”

“Kind of,” he admitted. “I’ll try to avoid the watery grave bit I think.”

That got a laugh out of Mira, despite her attempt to hide her smirk behind her hand. Zoey grinned and nudged her with her elbow.

Su-nam laughed too, his shoulders shaking jovially as he turned and leaned against his console, arms crossing over his chest. “Alright ladies, looks like sonar’s all good. So, what were you researching again? I think Doctor Sang said something about sediment and such.”

“That’s part of it,” said Zoey. “We’re studying the effects of climate change on the Haenyeo and the environment around Jeju, with a little side project including searching for any wrecks in the area.”

The captain’s brows raised. “Ooh, so half research and half searching?”

“Jeju has a handful of wrecks known but undiscovered in the area,” added Mira. “Zoey’s the biologist and ecologist, I’m the archaeologist. Interns, for now.”

“But you have your degrees?” asked the captain.

“Not our doctorates though,” explained Zoey. “The internship under Doctor Han will basically shave off almost two years from that and fast-track us for our studies. It’s very prestigious work and it was super competitive.”

“Then congratulations to both of you! I’ll buy you both some soju sometime to properly celebrate your hard work.”

Mira nodded agreeably. “Maybe on the weekend when we have our day off. As long as it isn’t accompanied by unwanted flirting.”

Su-nam barked a laugh at that and shook his head. No wonder Mira had brought it up though. Most guys who offered drinks were trying to get into either of their pants, Mira was just more direct about her distaste since Zoey hadn’t put together her preference. And, well, Su-nam wasn’t unattractive. Pretty handsome, actually, if someone was into that. There was something boyish about him that made him charming, though he seemed to be around his early thirties. The amount of late twenty or thirty-something men who liked hitting on women in their early twenties (or earlier… Yuck) was actually egregious. 

“Nothing to worry about with me, I promise,” he said, flashing a disarming smile. “I’m not interested in that. Sorry if the offer was strange. I’m a friendly person and I sometimes forget that my friendliness can be mistaken for flirting.”

Zoey shrugged. “Well, I mean, no problem. If the offer’s still there—?”

“Only if you two want it. Just celebratory drinks for two women in a difficult field about to make their lives a lot easier.” Su-nam crossed a finger over his heart with a playful grin. “I won’t be offended if you don’t want them on Saturday.”

“I can do it as friends,” agreed Mira.

When they finished setting everything up, Doctor Sang shot Bobby a text to pick them up. Captain Sim promised to meet them back there at The Magpie to cast off at six in the morning.

“Feeling better, Bobby?” asked Mira as she took the keys back from him.

“Much,” gushed Bobby, sighing blissfully. “How about we get something to eat before we hit the hotel?”

Doctor Sang fished out her travel wallet from her pocket and produced a plastic credit card. “Here,” she said, first offering it to Zoey, then scrunching her face and handing it to Bobby. Zoey wasn’t offended. She understood. The temptation to buy an atrocious amount of snacks whispered in her ear like Grima Wormtongue crooned to King Theoden. Bobby was her Gandalf the White. “Put it on the card. There are a couple places near the hotel that are local instead of chains and will feed you better if you tell them you know me.”

“Getting that local treatment!” exclaimed Bobby, pocketing the card.

Mira cocked her head to the side and Zoey gasped.

“Ohmygosh! Doctor Sang, you’re a local?!”

“It’s why I was put in charge of the expedition,” she explained flatly. It wasn’t disinterest, just Doctor Sang making a statement in her usual way. It reminded Zoey a lot of Mira. “I trained as a Haenyeo too. Have to start early, even with genetics helping.”

Zoey groaned and leaned against the van. “Miraaaaaaa,” whined Zoey, “our expedition lead is so cool. All I have going for me is growing up near LA. Why can’t I be something cool, like a K-pop idol or a demon hunter or an astronaut?”

Mira snorted and pulled Zoey’s sad form away from the van. “Sure, Zo. Because all the effort into becoming a marine biologist like you’ve wanted to since you discovered what a turtle was is a bad thing.”

“Are you mocking me?” asked Zoey, looking up at Mira with a pouting lip.

Mira scoffed. “No, never. I would never mock you, Zo,” replied Mira mockingly.

Doctor Sang laughed at them. “Alright, everyone! Let’s get in the van. Mira, I’ll direct you to my parents’ place. I promised I’d drop by to visit and I’d rather get the worst of it over with before my brother arrives from the mainland. I’ll be staying there during our time here.”

“Got it,” agreed Mira promptly, then gestured with a finger in the air tightly, like a drill sergeant. “Pile in, everyone!”

After a twenty minute drive that included dropping off Doctor Sang, Bobby, Mira, and Zoey found a local noodle shop they decided to eat at. The local fare was fresh and delicious, just as anticipated, and Zoey could have gratefully rolled out of the shop if she didn’t also have to pretend to have some dignity. The hotel was nearby, and they’d already offloaded their luggage prior to eating, which was for the best. Zoey wouldn’t have been able to lug her suitcase filled to the brim with all her things—including her two good luck stuffed friends—with a full stomach.

And she needed them. They were Terry the Turtle that she got from an aquarium back in California as a kid, and Ollie the Octopus, who had been a gift from Mira. They had all been in Zoey’s dorm for most of her college life and now they reaped the benefits of all her hard work with a well-earned vacation. Well, they were on vacation. Zoey worked. But was it really work when she was so excited to do it?

Mira and Zoey shared a room, as always. Zoey didn’t even mind that she and Mira had to share a bed. They basically had for a while, even though it was just two twins pressed together. Bobby got a room across the hall and bade them goodnight once they scanned their keycards and entered their room.

Zoey flopped on the bed and groaned. The blanket was thick and squishy and smelled like something vaguely floral. She felt the sudden weight of Mira join her and an echoing groan, agreeing with what went unsaid.

Zoey’s feet fluttered off the edge of the bed and she laughed. “Mira,” she said, “we’re actually doing this! We’re on a real expedition! A real adventure!”

“I mean, we’re collecting wet dirt and hoping we find something vaguely resembling waterlogged wood from ships,” replied Mira, turning to look at Zoey with a grin, “but yeah, I suppose we are.”

“It’s a seaside hotel Mir,” said Zoey, wiggling into the fluffy comforter. “I’m just so excited! Do you think we’ll see whales or dolphins?! Do you think I’ll be able to pet a wild sea turtle?!”

“If one comes close enough, probably.” 

Zoey lifted her head and spotted Mira watching her. It wasn’t as though Zoey had never caught Mira looking before, but that was just looking. Like, looking. Not watching. Not like that.

She blushed. “Do I have something on my face?” asked Zoey, swiping her hand over her mouth. “Noodle broth?”

“No, I—” Mira cleared her throat, pink seeping slowly into her cheeks. “No. I was just thinking about how lucky I am that we both got in.”

“How lucky we are!” Zoey flopped onto her back after she rolled herself toward Mira, now much closer to her. “And I bet you’re gonna find a really cool ship and our study is gonna take off and we’ll be published in magazines for our contributions!”

She heard Mira chuckle low beside her, then sigh into the covers. Zoey’s eyes flicked down at her friend as Mira’s eyes closed.

“I think Doctor Sang might be okay with us getting a picture taken together if that were the case,” mumbled Mira.

Zoey folded her hands over her stomach, threading her fingers together and errantly tapping her forefingers together in a rhythm only she knew. “What do you think of the team?”

Mira’s eyes slowly blinked open, then she hummed thoughtfully. “Doctor Sang seems cool. Wants to get the job done but doesn’t see the need to be a jerk about it. Bobby’s always been a nice dude, so I’m glad to have him here with us. I don’t have enough of a read on Su-nam yet, but I think our earlier conversation was nice. At least, I believe he’s not coming onto us. It seemed his celebratory drink offer was genuine but I still want to wait and see with him.”

“I mean, if you don’t like him, we’re only here for, like, a month. Just have to deal with him until the end of the expedition and then we’re all done!”

“I do like the area though,” admitted Mira. “Never been to Jeju Island before. I bet the diving’s going to look incredible.”

“Maybe Doctor Sang will let us spend more than a day or two diving recreationally?”

Mira’s smile was so soft and tender, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Whip out your trademark puppydog eyes and we just might be able to.”

Zoey’s grin beamed, and soon she sighed and sank into the bed. “Ugggggghhhhh. I need my pajamas. I need to sleep.”

With a short, low chuckle, Mira groaned as she pushed herself off the bed and trudged over to their suitcases. She lifted Zoey’s stuffed animals and gently tossed them to Zoey to place on the bed as she wished. Zoey found a spot for both and by the time she had, saw her sleep shorts and shirt sailing through the air her way. Zoey flung herself forward on the bed to catch them.

“Thanks!” she exclaimed.

It wasn’t weird that Mira knew exactly how and where Zoey packed her things. It wasn’t weird that Zoey didn’t care if Mira saw her in her underwear. It definitely wasn’t weird when Zoey felt Mira’s eyes doing the looking thing when she was changing.

When Zoey looked up and caught her watching again, Mira blushed hard and quickly went back to searching for her own sleepwear.

Zoey chose to ignore it, the looks and the watching. If she didn’t, she might start hoping again. She might start wanting from Mira.

Besides, Mira didn’t see her like that. Zoey was just being her usual self and reading too deeply into things, into her best friend’s purely platonic intentions.

Mira was so high above Zoey’s league, like Mira was a professional footballer and Zoey was still tripping over her feet in the little leagues. She’d never consider Zoey as girlfriend material. After all, Mira had lived with Zoey. She’d seen her habits, the good and the bad, seen the nights Zoey missed her dad so much she cried, and had seen Zoey once they’d both gotten the internship when she screeched so loudly while she ripped her own shirt off in triumphant celebration.

So Mira knew how weird Zoey could be. She knew Zoey was odd.

No one like Mira fell for someone like that. Zoey would happily stay Mira’s friend rather than hurt herself with unrealistic expectations.

Mira had dressed into her sleepwear and slipped into bed with Zoey after shutting the light off and setting an alarm. Her arms wrapped tightly around Zoey, like she always did at the dorm, and she pressed herself close.

Platonic besties cuddled all the time, so of course it wasn’t weird.

“G’night, Mira.”

“Night, Zo.”

As she always did, Zoey hoped Mira couldn’t hear her heart pounding in her chest. She didn’t want it to give her away.

Because, no matter what Zoey told herself, no matter how she told herself she was being a good friend, Zoey hoped in a small, tiny, wishful place in her heart that Mira might one day love her as much as Zoey loved Mira.