The fallen leaves have washed away the curiosity that stuck beneath her heartbeats, beneath her veins. She stayed sitting on the bench under an autumn tree, where the tree grew taller and bigger every month. She couldn’t see anything; yet she felt the life around her, surrounded by the breeze. The air was chilly, and the people were warm and cozy. She squeezed under her brown coat and she exhaled some icy breath. Her ponytail shook a little; she could feel the bitterness in the chilly air.

Someone came, she thought. She could feel it, and she knew who she was going to meet. That person was her other half. “Hye Bin ah, where are we going after this?” she sat down next to her and tucked her hands inside her coat’s pockets; the same way she was doing right now. “Ah, unnie. Let’s go to Hongdae. I missed the street so much!” Hye Bin answered happily. “Alright then, let’s go. But first, we need to watch these leaves. Then we’ll go,” her stepsister exhaled and sagged elatedly. They were enjoying the view; some people came here with their couples, some were busy taking pictures under the trees, and some of them were with their family, spending their time happily. Everything was brown, yellowish and orange; which one was darker, they were all among them. 

“Unnie, how ‘bout that one?” Hye Bin pointed to the nearest shop. “No, it’s too childish. The colors are not that good either.” Hye Bin couldn’t see anything; she was fully blind. She was still wearing her round glasses but she couldn’t see anything. She knew the street as much as her clothes; she was completely aware of the street and recognized her surroundings. She could hear anything, smell anything, and she could touch anything. That’s why she always brought her unnie here; she was already familiar with the shops.

Even on the winter, she always came here with her stepsister. They were walking in arms, and they were still murmuring about which color should be more practical than the others, or which purse would still look good even though it’s been kept more than 5 years. She was still talking about that; it was her nature, to talk about what she loved the most, and it wasn’t just shopping. “Unnie, do you want to buy some tteokbokki? I wanna buy the spicy one,” she said, while staring blankly at one space. “Okay, then. Let’s buy some, actually I want to buy a lot since we don’t have any food in the fridge,” her unnie patted her hand sincerely while Hye Bin’s arm was still clinging onto hers. “Yeah, let’s buy it then,” 

The night has come; everything was yellow and dark blue. Her unnie was holding her hand tightly under the yellow lights; shiny and perfect. They were strolling down the alley in hands, clasped toward another and sang out loud the song they heard today. “I just wanna dance the night away…. Dance the night away….,” they were smiling brightly while Hye Bin stared at the sky above. Nothing, she thought. But it was worth a life, she added. And they continued their singing, “…..I just wanna dance the night away….. I just wanna….,” the laughter came not long after that. “Unnie, let’s go find some food tomorrow. I guess we really don’t have one,” she looked down and chuckled.

“Why are you talking like that? Ya, we’re thankful enough to have a lot of tteokbokki. I think we can still have some of the leftovers for tomorrow,” “But unnie, we don’t really have some food. We can’t cook every single day because most of our foods are tteokbokki, bibimbap, kimbap, and many other fast-foods. We’re not eating healthily.”—the walk was not that tiring, but the conversation was—what scared Min Kyung the most was, they didn’t have enough money to buy those bigger meals they wanted.

They were not that poor but everything seemed out of place when it came to foods. “Alright then, but let’s finish your story first. If you don’t finish your story, we won’t eat healthily, okay?” she tugged Hye Bin’s hand excitedly it made Hye Bin nodded, “Yeah, I’m gonna finish it first,” and putted on her best smile tonight. 

The creaks spoke softly when the windows were being pushed—Hye Bin was in her room, in her blue over-sized sweater and shorts; she was doing her story, trying to finish some part. Her ponytail was tugged hard on her head with her round over-sized glasses on her nose—she looked outside blankly and breathed in some night air. The surroundings were in soft silence tonight. The breeze was on her side, “I promise, next year or next month or maybe tomorrow, I will be happy as much as I want to. I will stay here as long as I want to. And I will make everybody proud with my stories and blogs.” She said to herself. Her legs were folded; she glanced at her laptop and sighed. She thought to herself; she really had to finish that tonight. 

“Wake up, sleeping Hye Bin,” she shook her body softly while sitting facing her, “Today is your first meeting of the month. How can you refuse that one? Your aunt is an evil, Kim Hye Bin,” Min Kyung whispered to her jokingly and it woke Hye Bin up, “Unnie! Don’t talk about those things to me again. I really am sick hearing that stuff!” she mumbled while turning her back as her eyes were still closed tightly.

It made Min Kyung pouted but she wouldn’t back down. “Kim Hye Bin, let’s take a bath. The weather’s quiet good today. I’ll meet you downstairs—,” she got up, hands on her hips. “—the tteokbokki is waiting for you!” she sang-song and headed downstairs. Meanwhile Hye Bin was still covered with her favorite blanket and it was hard to take it off. She was whispering to herself; confused and still sleepy.

"What is unnie doing right now? Is she really downstairs and heating the tteokbokki? Did she just say something else? Oh my God!” she threw away the yellow-and-white blanket, got up, and had a small run to the bathroom. She banged open the door hard and closed it. She had no choice, but to running late. 

Lemon and almond, was her bona fide-smell; that’s what she was wearing now. She sprayed it a few times to her gorgeous neck while fixing her ponytail. She was wearing her favorite red sweater and denims with her favorite black sling-bag; she never wore any makeup, just the sunblock she always used every day and every time. It’s time to have some breakfast!

The tteokbokki smell was glimmering through the kitchen; she glanced at Min Kyung who was preparing the plates on the small wood table. Her short hair also signed that this was the time when she’s really happy and that time was breakfast-time. Hye Bin was standing still, looking at the kitchen where all the happiness were; where all her happiness were.

“Come on now, you can wash your hands and bash them all,” she didn’t look up, but she knew her presence; Hye Bin couldn’t stop smiling since she saw her unnie was preparing the breakfast, “Unnie, can we hang out today? Gee, I’m so bored,” she complained, going down to the small dining room, and shook her head. “I’m not. Your aunt has a stonehearted-commitment when it comes to your schedules. I’m not buying her words though, but it seems to me that the only person who always comes to her mind is you.” 

Hye Bin flipped her toes, stretching out and threw away the pain; she stayed up late last night just to finish her story while standing, and pacing back and forth without a rest. So it was not that cliché to see her in her yellow socks, trying to flip and stretch around her toes without a rest too. “Unnie, she won’t let me do it, unless your lousy voice sticks all over me. Otherwise, So Hyun won’t be here tonight; her hands are all full,” Hye Bin looked confused. With her brows furrowed, she sat down and stretched her legs forward under the table. “So Hyun won’t be here? She still has time to get here around the clock,” her unnie putted one hand on her hip.

“I’m not buying your words either since the last time I met her. Are you nuts?! She’s staying in Busan!” Hye Bin hollered at her unnie who was standing across her. Min Kyung patted Hye Bin’s head with a spoon in her hand hardly. “Unnie! Ouch!” she touched her head and scratched it soft. “Hey! Don’t you dare saying those kinds of words to your unnie. You’re too young for that you know,” 

This is my first chapter. I've been busy with school and i hope its much better than the last one. I'm working really hard on making it better.