Gumi wasn't sure how she ended up falling for an opera singer three years older than her, but she had.
The two had met when one of the guys in her dorm hall had invited Gumi to a fraternity party and Gumi was trying desperately to get out of the party.
That's when a tall brunette walked up to their table and said, "I'm hanging out with her that night, so how about you back off? She doesn't want to go."
They talked, and Gumi found out that her name was Prima. She had graduated college, majoring in Music, and was an opera singer.
"I've never met an opera singer before."
"Well, there aren't many that exist. It's unfortunate," Prima said, laughing a little.
They hung out the night of the party. Gumi had some work to do for one of her classes, so she worked while Prima watched.
"What are you majoring in?"
"Pardon?" Gumi asked.
"What are you majoring in?" Prima asked again.
"Oh. I'm a Physics major with a minor in music."
"Ah. Somehow, I was expecting you to be a music major," Prima said.
"My mom'd kill me if I majored in music."
"Sometime, you should do what you want to do. College is one of those times."
They agreed to hang out again. Then they started meeting up once a week. Then every day.
Three months later, Gumi realized that she loved Prima. It was weird, but it was true.
They started dating a week later, when Gumi confessed her love. For a while, everything was great. No arguments, no bumps, and nobody treated either of them badly for being in a lesbian relationship. They did get weird looks though.
"Hey, Gumi-chan," Prima said. She had started using the -chan suffix with Gumi, despite not being Japanese herself.
"Yes?"
"I have some good news and some bad news."
"Alright, what's the good news?"
"I'm going to be doing some opera performances soon."
"Really?! That's wonderful, Prima!" Gumi said, hugging Prima.
"The bad thing is...they're all over Europe during the week you have finals."
"Oh...that's...too bad," Gumi said, looking down and biting her lip.
"I'm sorry, Gumi. I have a friend in Europe, he can tape my performances, so you can see them."
"No, don't apologize. I'm just sad that I can't watch you perform or at least see you every day when you're performing."
Gumi knew it was what was best for Prima. She knew she couldn't always stay with Prima and that she had to "spread her grand wings" so to speak. But she wasn't expecting how much she'd miss her girlfriend.
They called each other every day. Prima would ask Gumi how her finals were going (Gumi had changed her major to music), Gumi would tell her, and they'd exchange "I love you"s. Prima shipped discs with videos of her performances, and every time she watched one, Gumi missed Prima even more.
"I miss walking with you," Gumi said.
"Me too. I'll be home next weekend, though.
"I'm glad. See you soon."
Even knowing that Prima wouldn't be gone for much longer didn't help. It didn't make Gumi miss Prima less, it just...hurt.
She bought a bouquet the day Prima said she'd be home. She walked across her college's rugby field, watching for planes, despite knowing Prima wouldn't be back later that night.
And when Gumi saw Prima at the airport, she ran over, giving Prima the bouquet.
"Welcome home, Prima."