Chapter 15: Night Out

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"All right class, that will be all for today and remember that tomorrow will be the first minor exam." Their marketing professor reminded them once more as the class ended and they began to file out the door. Most of their classmates was nervous about this exam as marketing is a notoriously tricky subject intertwined with both subjective and objective principles. Add the notoriously high standards SNU holds and you have a load of worried freshmen on their first examination.

Even Soeun was a bit worried after all, she was on an academic scholarship and losing it would mean failing her sister and their dreams. She was walking with Soojin as usual, heading to meet with Zoa and Jihan on the campus grounds. Soojin had noticed her unease as they had walked.

"Honey what's wrong?" Soojin asked with a bit of worry. Her cool and composed girlfriend was rarely showing signs of worry.

"Ah nothing really princess, I'm just worried about the exam."

"You can do it honey, let's study for it okay?" Soojin assured her.

Soeun smiled at her and held her hand tighter as they went on to find their kids.

The pair had eventually reached the courtyard where the two boisterous kids were. They didn't even need to look for them long enough. Zoa and Jihan were running around playing with Frisbees discs throwing them back and forth between the other. As they were playing, Zoa had noticed Soeun first and had waved to her, this caught Jihan's attention so she looked and upon seeing Soeun and Soojin she also waved.

The pair had waved back as they approached them. Zoa and Jihan had ran to hug Soojin and Soeun respectively. They had returned the hugs the kids gave them. They were sweet, thoughtful kids with Zoa still doing the occasional back laying on Soojin at times. Jihan on the other hand, occasionally treats injeolmi, hotteok, and gimbaps she makes at home. Jihan is an amazing cook, having learnt to cook at a young age. They were also amazed at how frugal and resourceful Jihan is with her budget-saving tips and home hacks.

The two young girls, despite having only a few years younger than them, treats them as their parental figures. Soojin understands this as Zoa grew up hardly ever seeing her parents and Jihan's family is far away from her. Soeun had taken on the role of their father, with her consistently riding on one of their shenanigans. Soojin had become their mother who always prattles on about proper behavior and all. She was a bit strict with the both of them, always looking out for their welfare and health.

Soojin checked the both of them if they were doing okay, especially Jihan who had a slight fever last night. This caused Soojin to rush to her apartment with Zoa in tow to bring her medicine, fruits and homemade soup to keep her warm. Checking Jihan's forehead to see if she was still heating up, thankfully her temperature went back to normal.

They then went on their way with Jihan clinging to Soojin and Zoa clinging to Soeun. The kids had one more class before they were vacant until late afternoon. They went to their building and dropped the kids off at their classroom. Soojin told them that they would be waiting for them at the benches near the buildings front steps.

Soeun was reading her notes while leaning against Soojin when a guy came up to them. He was eyeing Soojin and was probably looking for an opportunity to speak.

"Hi there."

The guy said as he approached, Soojin didn't say anything and just stared daggers at the guy.

"I was wondering if I could take you out to coffee or lunch?" The guy said, nervously.

"No. I'm hers. Get lost." Soojin said icily as her dagger stare evolved into swords. Crushed, the guy just retraced his steps and walked out of sight.

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"Yah, you don't have to be that aggressive." Soeun said when the guy was out of earshot.

"I don't want them to think that they have any chances with me. Can't they see were together?" Soojin replied with annoyance.

"Well princess, we're both girls and its normal for girls to be sweet to each other."

"Aish, what do I have to do for them to understand? Marry you?"

Soeun stared at Soojin with eyes wide in surprise.

"Mmm... Soeun-ah! When are you gonna marry me? We already have kids!" Soojin teased Soeun.

She kept on teasing until she remembered that Soeun was actually studying.

"Mianhae jagiya." Soojin apologized for disturbing her and leaned her head on her shoulder.

Soojin brushed her hair as Soeun continued to review her notes. She admires her dedication in her studies. Hyejoo had previously mentioned that she had Soeun fully focus on her studies and she hired a waitress to take over. Soeun helps out from time to time at the restaurant. Soojin understands the pressure Soeun is in and as much as possible, she wants to help carry the burden with her. After all, they are partners.

Soojin had offered to help Soeun on some of the topics that she finds difficult. With great patience and care, she had carefully explained each concept in detail. She also catered to her questions and answered them the best she could. After a while, they had decided to take a break.

"You're doing good jagiya." Soojin assured her as Soeun rested beside her.

"Hyejoo-unnie gave a lot so I could get here Soojinnie." Soeun said with trepidation in her voice.

Soeun then went on to share that Hyejoo stopped schooling when they reached second year junior high school. Working various jobs day and night to provide for the both of their needs. They even had to move almost monthly because they couldn't afford to pay the month's rent. Thankfully, Hyejoo was able to save up to open their restaurant and slowly pay for their apartment until it became theirs.

Soojin understood why she felt the intense need to pass. Hyejoo-unnie gave up her world to raise her, so Soeun feels the need to make sure that her sacrifice wasn't in vain. This caused Soojin to admire her girlfriend and her sister even more.

Their moment was abruptly cut when two boisterous voices emerged behind them. They hadn't felt time pass by and the kids' classes were over. Jihan and Zoa emerged from behind them and Soeun went on to play with them for a while with Soojin watching. The playing had ceased when Zoa proclaimed her hunger and with this, the small family then packed up and headed out to eat.

Arriving at McDonald's, the kids had gone to find them a table and the two fell in line. The queue struck Soojin strange and so she looked at Soeun, waiting for an explanation.

"Oh, yeah in fast-food restos princess, you have to fall in line and get your food. There's no menus here save for that LED board above." Soeun explained the mechanics of fast-food dining to her oblivious partner who looked on at the menu.

"Ahhh, those nuggets look nice." Soojin mused.

"Wanna try them?"

"Mmm hmm... that sundae as well."

They had then picked the chicken wings meal that the kids wanted and added fries and a sundae to each. As Soojin calculated the cost, she was surprised that the total hadn't even reached 30,000 Won.

"Wait why are they so cheap?" Soojin asked, mystified.

"Baby, they're not made by chefs. They're pre-made and fried or grilled." Soeun said with a slight chuckle.

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