Today had been one of the first days of the summer where the sky shone brightly with no traces of the rainy days that the two young women had become used to that June.

      "Ga Eun, has the baby's father tried contacting you again?"

     "What's the point in asking a question that you already have the answer to?" Splitting the frozen desert amongst the two of them, Ga Eun sneered her nose at her friend's question. Reaching out her hand to rub her protruding belly which mirrored her own, she shot back.

     "And what about you Ji Hyun? Has your baby's father tried contacting you? Maybe if we go to all the clubs in Seoul we can find him, huh?"  Remembering the story of how Ji Hyun met a man that stole away her heart, Ga Eun poked fun at her.

     "What would be the point of that? He's probably sitting in his parents' house being yelled at for being unemployed right now while I sit here about to explode with his kid." Smacking Ga Eun on the shoulder, Ji Hyun took a bite of her treat. "I'm already a lost cause, but you get to look forward to your future husband returning home and sweeping you off your feet, can't you let me live through your romance just a little?" Pouting, Ji Hyun leaned back on the small hill they relaxed on.

     Watching her friend stare off into the clear sky, she began thinking back to the man she had foolishly given her heart to. Ga Eun's hand floated to where her child rested in her womb. Had she known that unrequited love could have hurt so much, would she have ever been the dedicated lover of someone who could never be what she wanted? To someone who already had a wife to give himself to?

     Disinterested in the syrupy treat that now dripped along her hand staining her dress, she became lost in her thoughts.

     In the city, Ga Eun had managed to score a job within a well-known family owned trading company. She had been fresh out of college, getting her education from one of the less prestigious schools, so when she had received the call back following the interview she had worried over, she had been on cloud nine. Coming from the working class neighborhood she and Ji Hyun grew up in, she was one step closer to realizing her dreams. To make enough money to support her aging mother, and build a future of her own was all she had wanted.

    But when a certain man with eyes that pierced through her and a voice that could incapacitate her at any moment crossed her path, she began to want for different things, things that left her lustful and dazed.

   She found herself spending late nights at work, hoping to be noticed by the man. It didn't take long for her persistence to be rewarded with praise, for her face to be known. It wasn't until she was way in over her head with capturing his attention when she was hit with the devastating truth of his role in the company. Being the newly instated president should have told Ga Eun to quit while she was ahead. Being the husband to a young wife and future father to the child she carried should have doused whatever flames burned within Ga Eun.

    But they didn't.

    For two years, she allowed the knowing ache of loving someone she couldn't have be caressed away by his touch. Even when he clearly spelled out all the reasons why she should leave her heart out of the contract written between their bodies, she hid her naïve hopes and wishes that one day she would find a way to have the one she held so dearly.

     All the makings of a glutton for heartache, Ga Eun now knew how delusional she had been.

     The first sign of her acceptance of rejection had been when he left her out in the cold rain as she begged for him to take responsibility for his part in the acts they committed together, in the situation they had created.

    The second came to her with a sting when his wife furiously beat on her until the man at the root of both of their anguish pulled her back inside, demanding Ga Eun to leave if she wanted to avoid spending the night in jail.

    She couldn't muster up the courage to tell her best friend the true identity of her baby's father, as that would mean revealing how pathetic she had been for so long. So she fed Ji Hyun a grandeur tale of a young man studying abroad so that he could return and earn money for the family he desperately wanted with Ga Eun.

    "We're best friends, right Ga Eun?" Propping her leg up, Ji Hyun turned to her side, sucking on her ice cream as she continued." We're such best friends that we both ended up pregnant at the same time, but when they're both born, my kid will be known as a bastard and yours will have to parents to cry out to." Sucking her teeth at the reminder, Ji Hyun groaned loudly.

    "If we were going to go into this together, why couldn't you have made sure we came out the same way, huh? You've always had all the luck. You're going to leave your best friend as a single mother in a lonely world." Dramatically sobbing for effect, Ji Hyun banged her fist against her chest. "Don't forget your poor old friend, Ga Eun, okay? If you see me in the streets, don't avoid eye contact with me. I promise I won't let my shamefulness rub off on you and your family."

    Smiling softly, Ga Eun joined in," I hear you, I hear you. I'll allow for one playdate a year, okay? That way your kid will have at least one friend who won't make fun of them for not having a dad."

    Sitting up fast, Ji Hyun narrowed her eyes. "You know I'm already prepared to teach my kid how to shut up any brat that tries to bully them for that. I'm going to make sure that their father is a man who flies planes and somewhere in the great big sky he's trying to find his way back home after being thrown off by a horrible storm." Raising her hand to the sky, Ji Hyun looked on with a contrived look of forlorning.

    "And what happens when kids start to realize how much that story sounds like a fairytale? Kids these days are rough around the edges, they don't buy into things like that for too long."

    Pulling her hand back to her chest, Ji Hyun's devious smile amused her friend. "Well if they don't buy that then I guess I'll have to meet them after school to fight. My fists won't discriminate against age when it comes to my kid."

    Bursting into laughter, Ga Eun shook her head. "You're already taking to first steps to raising a menace to society."

    "Was that an insult to my kid? Be careful, you know their ears are developed at this point. I can't do anything for you if they have you as the first person on their list of asses to kick when they come out." Patting the side of her belly proudly, Ji Hyun finished off what was left of her ice cream.

       "Did you hear that, baby? Your first friend is going to be a gangster so make sure you develop muscles fast." Calling down to her own stomach, Ga Eun elicited laughter from her friend.

      Sitting there in silence together, both women closed their eyes as the sun warmed their cheeks.

      "So should we go ahead and get this over with?" Opening one eye, Ga Eun looked over to Ji Hyun.

       "On the count of three, we'll say them at the same time, okay? Not on one and not on two, but on three." Setting the rules Ji Hyun waited for her friend to appease her with a nod of understanding.

      "One, two...three!"

      "Girl!"

       "Boy!"

       "Seriously?" Turning quickly to each other, the two held hands as the spoke with excitement.

       "You're having a boy?" Ji Hyun asked in awe. Excitedly, she brought Ga Eun's hands to her face as she squealed against them.

       "I don't know if I can handle a miniature version of you walking around, Ji Hyun. If she's anything like you I know I'll have to make sure my son is strong enough to defend himself."

     "If he is as soft natured as you, then I'll raise my little girl to be his protector, don't worry."

     "Don't worry you say..." Ga Eun chuckeld sarcastically.

     Snapping her fingers, Ji Hyun's face lit up.

     "We'll have to start thinking of the names we want our kids to have. Do you have any in mind?"

      "It takes time to figure that out, you can't just throw out the first thing that comes to mind..."

      "Nari." Interrupting her, Ji Hyun smiled at her friend." I came up with that name just now as we sit in a field covered in my favorite flower as I wait for my precious flower inside of me to bloom. See? Sometimes the first thing isn't necessarily a bad thing."

     Sitting in consideration, Ga Eun nodded her head. "Nari?"

    Answering with confirmation, Ji Hyun tilted her face to the sky. "Nari."

     "I guess I better start brainstorming soon then."

       Ga Eun breathed in deeply as she made her rounds around the hospital floor as she had been instructed by the nurses. She had entered the hospital late that October morning in labor, following behind Ji Hyun who had been admitted just hours before her. From what she could hear in the room beside her, her friend was much closer to giving birth than she.

    Flinching at another contraction, Ga Eun stopped in her tracks, feeling her mother's wizened hand against her back, rubbing comforting circles.

    "Just like that, keep breathing and it will pass."

     "I have to go see Ji Hyun." Wanting to double back to her friend, her mother tried to encourage her to keep on walking back to her own room on their slow retreat back down the hallway. The way she was waddling, Ga Eun would end up giving birth on the go for how slowly her feet seemed to want to move.

    "She'll be fine, I promise. You need to worry about yourself right now, that contraction was closer than last time."

    "Mom I just want to-"Cringing as another familiar pain hit her, she decided not to go against what her mother said.

    "Oh! That was fast! Nurse..." Calling out to the nurse who had been treating her, Ga Eun's mother brought her over to her daughter.

    "Miss, we need to get you to your room immediately and wait for the doctor." Biting her lip, Ga Eun was led away by the two women who held on tightly to her arms. The closer they got to her room, the louder Ji Hyun's screams got as the obvious signs of her pushing rang out. Grabbing the door jamb, Ga Eun yelled out.

     "You've got this Ji Hyun! I can't believe you beat me to it, but my kid will be here any minute now."

     Flopping back against her hospital bed, Ji Hyun looked to the door exhausted. Raising a fist, she held it as high as she could.

    "You go in there and get ready. This is nothing. If I can do it then so can you-"

    "Push!"

    "Ga Eun, hurry please!" Being pulled away she called out as many encouragements as possible until she was placed in her own bed. When the nurse checked to see how far along she was, she looked up from the end of the bed with a smile.

    "You'll be holding your baby in no time, Miss."

     When Ga Eun had come to her senses through the tough labor, she opened her eyes in search of the man that helped to create the small bundled life in her arms. At the feel of the warm body against her chest, she shook her head of the intruding hope.

     "Congratulations on your healthy boy!" The hospital staff said in unison as they all looked on to the happy sight of mother and son. Pulling back the blanket, she watched as her finger sunk lightly into his cheeks.

    "I'm so happy to finally meet you, Min Jae." Speaking softly, Ga Eun drew the happy tears waiting to fall from her mother's eyes.

    "Min Jae, forgive your father for not being here for your birth, he's going to come back as a man who will give you the world." The novice grandmother grabbed Ga Eun's hand as she found a silver lining in the made up story she had been fed for the past nine months. Even though she had been angry enough to faint, she had put her trust in her daughter that what she had been told was the absolute truth about the man she was involved with. She awaited the day to finally meet and scold the one who dared to get her daughter pregnant without properly meeting her parents.

    Reaching into her purse, her mother pulled out a Polaroid picture, showing it to the newborn baby. It had been a picture of one of her friends she met during her college days. The guilt she felt as her mother displayed it returned, and mentally Ga Eun apologized to the innocent person in her web of lies.

     "See, Min Jae? One day you'll be able to meet this handsome fellow next to your mom. Who knows, maybe it will be the same day that I give him a good beating for all the turmoil he's helped to put my old heart through." Jokingly waving the picture, her mother tucked it into her lap.

     "Are you tired? Giving birth can do that to you." Comforting Ga Eun, her mother adjusted the covers over her legs.

     "I could run a marathon." Sighing deeply, she couldn't take her eyes off of her son." Oh, that's right. How is Ji Hyun doing? Have you heard anything from their side?"

    With a faltering smile, Ga Eun's mother's obvious avoidance of the question caught her attention.

    "Well? Did you not get a chance to go find out?"

    "Ga Eun..."

     "What is it?" The lightheartedness she held began to disappear as her mother's face tightened. "Did something happen to her? To the baby-to Nari?" Worriedly, she sat up, holding her son closer to her.

      "Nurse? Nurse!" Trying to grab the attention of the staff outside, she wanted to ask them for any information they had on her friend. The pair had made sure to let everyone know on that floor that they had come in as a team. Had anything happened to Ji Hyun...

     "Now, now Ga Eun." Shushing her, Ga Eun's mother looked down with a look of unsureness as she prepared to tell her daughter the news that had shocked her.

      "Mom, please. I can't handle not knowing." Tears welled in her eyes prepared to be dealt a blow she couldn't handle.

    "That child Ji Hyun gave birth to today was-unexpected." Pausing, she continued." You know her family has been too embarrassed of her pregnancy, but they still showed up for her on this day for their child. How distraught they were when they were able to see their grandchild."

    "Did...did she have a disability? Was-was something wrong with the baby?" It wasn't uncommon for children who were born differently abled to be feared. Sometimes doctors thought that they would spare the parents trouble by insisting they not even view the child as they carried them off to be left aside.

    "The child-it wasn't." Not knowing how to phrase it, she huffed.

     "Mom!" Tired of the run around, Ga Eun's eyes bulged in anticipation.

     "It wasn't just Korean, Ga Eun. The child was black. Ji Hyun's baby turned out to be by a black father, and it upset her parents so much." She said with a heavy heart. She had looked after Ji Hyun like her own daughter throughout the years and to hear the woman cry the way she did at her parents' adamant refusal to accept the baby she birthed, her heart ached for her.

     As her mother recounted the chaotic scene that had played out in the hospital with Ji Hyun's parents, she could feel tears run down her face imagining her friend's situation.

     "I have to go see her. I have to go see if she's alright."

      "Don't get ahead of yourself, you need to rest." Placing her small hand against her daughter's shoulder, she halted any thought to get out of the bed." It's best you give her space right now."

     "She doesn't need space, she needs support." Ga Eun fired back without realizing it.

     "Just listen to me, okay?" Firmly staring her daughter down until her shoulders dropped, her mother crossed her legs as she slightly hung her head. In a moment of thought, she looked to the wall which separated the two rooms before looking back to her own child and grandchild.

    "I know you want to be there for her, she's your friend, but right now you need to be here for your son. "

     "Ji Hyun..." Softly calling out her name, Ga Eun wished that she could have woken up to better news for her best friend. She wished that she could be by her side to let her know that she was there for her, to let her know that this is a day where they should both be smiling together with their children.

      She had forgotten about the selfish sadness she felt when she woke up to not find Min Jae's father in the room as she gave her thanks for her mother who had stood by her side despite her being no different than Ji Hyun.

     Looking at the boy cradled in her arms, she couldn't imagine him entering the world with screams and curses the way that Ji Hyun's daughter had to. Kissing his forehead, she drew him close.

    "Min Jae, our friends are going to need us. We have to be strong together, okay?"

     With a small rustling, Min Jae began to wake up, and as if right on cue a nurse entered their room.

     "Looks like it's time for mom to feed you, isn't that right?" She called out to Min Jae, writing against a clipboard. Carefully listening to her instructions, Ga Eun entered into her first job as mom, and in the back of her mind, she made sure not to let go of her concern for Ji Hyun.

      Clutching the thin blanket close to her chest, Ji Hyun shook with silent tears as she watched her daughter sleep soundly next to her bed. Reaching a hand in to adjust her hat, Ji Hyun found herself smiling apologetically.

     "I'm sorry to you, Nari. I'm sorry that you had to hear words like that because of who you are. Mom did wrong, I should have told them sooner."

     "You've brought a disgrace to us, Ji Hyun. How can I even look at you and acknowledge any of this? You know what everyone will say about you, about our family now? Do you know how we will be painted as the parents who raised such a daughter like you?"

     More worried about the image the birth of Nari would give to the conservative family from which Ji Hyun came, her parents had all but removed her name from the family registry as their insults rained down heavy on her. Her mother feigned faintness as her father carried her out with a stern expression plastered against his face.

    They didn't even bother to spare her a second glance as they left.

    The light brown color that dusted Nari's skin made her smile as she thought of the man she had fallen for. He had been an American in the Army, the exact people most parents warned their daughters about getting involved with. To preserve a good image of a wholesome Korean girl, she was taught to never give them her attention. She found that impossible to do the day her and her classmates had ventured off to a club frequented by the American soldiers. They had wanted to feel the thrill of the unknown, and see why their parents had painted them as such a huge taboo never to be fooled with.

    It had been the thrill of doing what she knew her mother and father would disapprove of when she spoke in broken English, and he in broken Korean throughout that night. It hadn't just ended there, but continued into a romance that spanned over a year before he regretfully told her about being given another posting in Germany.

    She had been heartbroken, but knew deep down that there was no desire for her to follow behind him, after all she had just gotten a decent job after graduating, and was finally making her mark in the world. She thought that she had settled any uneasiness in her heart when they said their goodbyes, but when she discovered she was carrying her first child, she was faced with a new challenge.

    Being a person who followed through with what she started, she had braced herself for everything that would come with giving birth to Nari.

    Even so, she didn't realize how much she underestimated the pain she would feel on this day.

        The nurses who checked on her periodically entered with care, having been eye witnesses to the mess that had ensued earlier. She had been told of Ga Eun having a successful delivery, and she laughed when she learned that as soon as the baby had been born, Ga Eun passed out from exhaustion.

       She was happy to know that there hadn't been one second where the thought of Ga Eun viewing her differently came to mind, for she had that much faith and assuredness in their bond.

     "Nari. The auntie next door is my best friend, practically my sister. She had a baby today too. Since she and I have such a relationship, I know some of it rubbed off on the two of you." Taking a deep breath, she smiled." Mommy knows he'll be your first friend. He'll be your person just the way Ga Eun is mine." Certain of that fact, Ji Hyun pushed aside any of the negativity that remained in the room, making way a fresher welcome into the world for her daughter.

         Crouched above the colorful play mat decorating the floor of her small apartment, Ji Hyun fastened the warm clothing around Nari.

     "Are you ready to go see Min Jae?" Light brown eyes followed her every move as she continued to pack a diaper bag to tote along. Today marked the 100th day since she had made an appearance into Ji Hyun's life. It had been 100 days of exhaustion, happiness, sadness, and everything else in between.

    After being discharged from the hospital, Ji Hyun had returned to her parents' home, not expecting much of a warm welcome. Not to be disappointed, she was given a week to get her business in order and find herself another place to call home-as told by her father. With the money she had managed to save over the years, she was able to secure an apartment. She knew that her savings would only take them so much farther, and being able to feed and keep Nari warm was a priority she couldn't wait to reach a breaking point. She would need to find work, and fast.

    The lack of money coming her way nearly made it impossible for Ji Hyun to celebrate such a special day. Since Nari and Min Jae shared the same birthday, Ga Eun had been the first to suggest a combined honoring of the two. With what she could put forth, they had managed to prepare a small gathering.

    Lifting up the pink and purple bundle, she kissed the drool covered lips of her daughter as she stood to leave.

    "Let's get going." Tucking her close in the makeshift sling she had made, Ji Hyun patted her round bottom as she walked out into the cold January air.

      "Congratulations to another day my lovelies!" Ji Hyun clapped excitedly as the two babies before her rolled around in their traditional wear. Ga Eun looked through a camera lens, trying to find the right angle for the two of them.

     "Hey, can't your kid sit up by now?" She teased as Ji Hyun scoffed.

      "As if yours can..." Tickling both of their bellies, she drew small squeaks from the children as they grinned their gummy grins at her.

      "Why don't you just take a picture from above while they're both smiling the way that they are?" Ga Eun's mother suggested. Setting down a plate of fruit she wiped off her hands as she came to join the rest of the small party. With a few childhood and school friends, Min Jae and Nari were surrounded by all the people who had proven to care about their mothers no matter what.

     " Move them closer together, Ji Hyun." Getting into an awkward position to take the shot, Ga Eun concentrated intently.

     "Make sure you get their good side. What am I saying...they don't have a bad side, isn't that right?" softly shaking their small hands, Ji Hyun doted on the two as she got them close enough to be in the frame.

     "Okay, don't blink you guys..." Carefully, Ga Eun snapped a shot. Reaching up to grab the photo as it was spit out, Ji Hyun held it gingerly as she waited for it to develop.

     "Ah, Nari...I don't think you follow instructions well my dear." Examining the photo as it came into view, Ji Hyun pinched the bridge of her nose.

   "No, this just won't do. She wouldn't be happy with a picture like this. It's so obvious she was pushing something out when you took this."

    "What are you talking about," Ga Eun wrestled the picture away to see for herself. Her face scrunched immediately in laughter as she saw that Nari indeed had the most determined "business" face she had ever seen as Min Jae smiled brightly at the camera. Passing the photo around to the other guests, they joined in on the amusement.

    "We are keeping that picture, there's no need for another one."

    "These are the kind of embarrassing childhood incidents that could traumatize her though!" insisting on taking another picture, Ji Hyun tried to capture the one in current circulation.

   When she failed to do so, she lowered her head in defeat.

    "Go ahead and laugh now, my Nari won't forget this. You and you and you and you! She'll have something for you when she gets older just wait and-wait and-" sniffing the air, Ji Hyun caught wind of what awaited her in Nari's diaper.

     "Nari! I asked you nicely to hold in your explosions today..." Quickly picking up her daughter, Ji Hyun carried her at arm's length as the girl babbled on the way to the back room to be changed.

    "Hurry up! We still have more pictures to take." Ga Eun called out. Going to her own son, she picked him up." And we also have to see what your futures hold, don't we?" Cooing into her cheek, Min Jae wrapped his hand around her thumb.

    Her mother had agreed to host the celebration despite the strained relationship that had built between them as her impatience to meet Min Jae's father grew. With that came more questions and anger from her as she hounded Ga Eun on telling her exactly what was going on.

    Ga Eun didn't know how much further she could go in this lie of hers. She had even taken the time to write a fake letter pretending to be the man in question just to buy her some time with her mother, although it did little to curb curiosity. At this point, it was only a matter of time before her lies caught up with her, and when that happened, she knew her mother wouldn't be able to take it.

   With Ji Hyun, she had been searching for small jobs. They were both in desperate need of them, with little to no source of income. Ji Hyun was getting by on savings and collecting recyclables for quick cash every week, but there was no permanent security in any of that. Ga Eun was lucky enough to have her mother's support when she needed it, but currently, she had to mentally make herself not so dependent on that fact in case of her discovering the truth.

    When Ga Eun's father had passed, the insurance money her mother had received helped them tremendously, and she purposely tried not to touch any of the funds they had been given, planning to pass what was left along to her daughter when the time came.  She had been planning to provide the young family with that money in order to start their lives together when Min Jae's father returned, and each day that passed without any notice of the mysterious man, the more suspicious her mother became.

    Her questions about his whereabouts turned adamant and aggressive. Ga Eun's paranoia grew and grew each day, and she knew that confessing the truth was now one of the last options she had.

    But she was determined to hold out on having to make that decision for as long as she could.

    "Min Jae, are you ready?" Out the corner of her eye, she saw Ji Hyun and Nari reappear. Fixing her son behind the various items scattered on a small table, he supported his small body as Nari was placed beside him. The two children looked at each other, hands fluttering in each other's faces as they grabbed onto each other.

    "Come on, let's see what my girl will pick today." Ji Hyun split their hands apart, trying to get them to focus on the small trinkets.

   Everyone waited with anticipation, as they kicked around the items.

   "Oh, are none of these to your liking?" Ga Eun laughed as she straightened them back up. Readjusting him, she waited for a redo.

   Min Jae leaned to his left, swatting at the fabric of Nari's garb. Grunting softly, the small girl reached for his sleeve in return.

    "Wait, I think they've already made their pick!" One of the party goers called out.

    In realization everyone erupted into fits of laughter.

    The infants hadn't found any interest in any of the small toys displayed before them at all because they had each other.

   Wide eyed, Ji Hyun and Ga Eun looked to each other.

   "I guess I'll never be able to get rid of you now." Ga Eun sighed. With a sloppy kiss to her cheek, Ji Hyun laughed giddily at the fact.

    "Ga Eun, if our friendship transcends generations, that's okay with me."