“Flowers? A pretty necklace? Maybe a book of poetry…”

“What are you on about again, Jiho?”

“Her basket… what could be inside?”

“...you’re talking about your rose girl again, aren’t you?”

Binnie showed a disappointed look on her face, as if to say ‘hopeless’.

“sigh. Anyway, what do we do about dinner?”

“Pay attention, !” Jiho smacked Binnie on the head.

“Look, I don’t give two s about your princess!”

“I suppose not everyone can have sophisticated taste.”

“Shut up. Worry about how we’re gonna eat later.”

 

Jiho ignored Binnie’s frustration and glanced at the wall clock in their room.

“Jesus christ, it’s 4pm!”

“Wha—”

Jiho jumped out of bed and hurriedly put on whatever clean clothes she had lying around.

“Where the are you going?”

“Fooour pm! The best time of day!~”

Jiho merrily sang aloud while heading for the door.

“Hey! What about dinner?! JIHO!”

Slowly, Jiho looked back at Binnie.

“God made food delivery for lovely lesbians like you, Binnie.”

With an impish smile, Jiho blew Binnie a kiss as she walked out the door.

“! Aren’t you a lesbia—wait, hey get back here!”

*creak creak*

The rusty swing made gut-wrenching sounds. To Jiho’s ears though, they formed a sweet symphony. She kept rocking on the swing, as a child would.

The park was rather empty, as it usually is. The sun was still prominently up in the sky since after all, it was a hot day.

“Alright, let’s sit here. Okay.. slooowly...”

A familiar voice came from the opposite side of the park. Jiho looked to her side, towards the source of that angelic voice.

“Hold still for a second, okay? You have some food on your cheek.”

The girl pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket. She used it to wipe the cheek of the old man sitting in front of her.

So beautiful, as always. Jiho thought to herself.

“There, all clean again.” The girl smiled sweetly at the old man.

My rose girl.

Jiho stared at the basket the girl was holding. Her gaze was fixed on the countless beautiful roses embellished on the sides of the basket. Red and purple they were, all decorated on the basket, which itself seemed to be woven like an antique.

A tisket? A tasket? What’s in the basket?

 

“Yooa… the lady next door keeps killing cats… I can feel it, she’ll come for me soon too!”

“Oh, is that so? I wouldn’t worry about her. That’s why we take outdoor walks like this. Besides, the doctor said it’d be good for you.”

The girl just smiled, not minding the utter nonsense the old man was spouting.

 

She’s so kind. Jiho’s expression softened up.

The girl must’ve noticed all the staring, because she gave a glance at Jiho’s direction. Of course, in Jiho’s mind, the girl stared directly at her.

Jiho averted her gaze and her eyes darted to the ground. Slightly, her cheeks flushed, and she couldn’t look up again, as if she froze.

 

“Haha!”

“Look at her!”

Huh? Jiho looked up, and there were two kids approaching her, pointing and laughing.

“Why are you on the swing? Are you a little kid? Hahaha!”

“HAHAHA!!!”

The two rascals seemed no older than ten years, so Jiho grit her teeth and decided to hold back. If they were a bit older though, they probably would’ve ended up face-first on the ground.

“GET LOST YA ERS!” Jiho shouted angrily at the kid’s faces.

They were noticeably startled and both ran away, one was even crying.

“Beat it before I your moms!” Jiho kept scaring the children away.

Little bastards—wait… my rose girl!

Jiho looked left and right and around the park, but it was too late. Her rose girl had left for the day.

“She’s so kind and caring. Her personality’s wonderful, y’know?”

“Jiho…”

“The way she talks so sweetly to that old man; ‘Be careful okay? Are you alright?’ and all that nice crap.”

Jiho made exaggerated gestures by herself while Binnie was lifelessly sprawled on the bed.

“I’m hungry…”

“Today, she had her basket again. The pretty rose-covered basket. What do you think’s inside?”

“It’s so… hot…”

“Hey, are you even listening?”

She turned around with a pout and looked at Binnie’s slender figure, whose top half was and with arms spread wide.

“Jiho, I’m so hungry, and it’s so hot… I’m dying…”

The poor thing, she sounded so exhausted.

“Eh, you’ll be fine. I ordered some delivery earlier, it’ll be here any minute.”

Binnie closed her eyes and didn’t say a word. Jiho sat down beside her on the bed.

“Hey… put a shirt on alright? You’re not as y as you think.”

Jiho poked Binnie’s exposed chest, and the latter didn’t even twitch. She could only reply in an exasperated tone.

“It’s hot, okay?… shut up.”

*creak creak*

The rusty swingset sang it’s symphony. Jiho happily listened to the tune while unwrapping a chocolate bar. She was at the park once again, observing her rose girl while munching on her newly-opened snack.

I admire her so much.

Jiho watched as the young girl guided the old man to a bench.

If I was her, I’d have put him in a nursing home years ago.

The girl was feeding the old man some bread when he suddenly stood up and started walking.

He may be family, but…

Jiho’s thoughts were interrupted when she realized, the old man was walking towards her.

Slowly, he lumbered forward until he was a small distance in front of the swingset Jiho was on. The girl followed him and was a few ways behind, looking concerned as she made sure he didn’t wander off.

 

“H-hey… HEY!”

The old man reached for Jiho’s hand, or rather, the chocolate bar in her hand.

“Aah… uh…”

He muttered sounds as he slowly stepped away after stealing Jiho’s little snack. He then turned around and sat on the ground while eating the bar.

“Dad!”

It didn’t take long for the girl to notice what happened and she rushed over.

“Dad, no! You shouldn’t take other people’s things like that…”

“Oh, Yooa. Aah… look.”

She hunched down beside the old man and set her basket aside on the ground. Once again, the basket caught Jiho’s attention.

Just what the hell is in that thing?... Why does she always carry it around?

It was then that the girl looked up with the cutest expression on her face. Her pleading eyes got to Jiho, whose cheeks were once again starting to flush.

Wow. She’s so adorable.

“I’m so sorry, it’s my fault. I wasn’t watching him carefully enough. I—”

“No it’s okay, I uh… I already ate half of it already anyway…”

Jiho averted her gaze a bit, since having eye contact with such a beautiful being was taking a toll on her heart.

“Thank you… again, I truly apologize. You’re too kind.”

The girl still looked very apologetic, but her sincere smile was so sweet that Jiho could only give an awkward grin in return.

“Thank you so much.”

“Jiho, I’m not gonna get mad at you because it’s not worth my time anymore, but... ”

Binnie stood in front of Jiho who was lounging on the couch. Her expression showed an irritated look that could only be described as unsettling.

“...why did you spend two days worth of our food budget on candy bars?...”

Jiho looked up at Binnie and flashed a phony innocent smile.

“Binnie, what do you think’s inside the girl’s basket?”

“That’s not—hey, I’m asking you something important here.”

“Yeah, it is important! I have to know.”

Binnie took a deep breath out of annoyance and sat down beside Jiho.

“I never should’ve gotten a roommate.” Binnie sighed.

“My dad was like that too, y’know…”

Binnie’s expression softened and she faced Jiho, who started talking.

“Alzheimers or something. He had like twelve blood clots in his head and…”

Jiho stared at thin air, as if recalling distant memories.

“We couldn’t take care of him anymore. One way or another, he ended up in a nursing home and I had to bring over clean underwear and fresh diapers. Every lovin’ day. It .”

It was silent for a while, until Binnie cleared and stood up.

“Great… You’re not just a , you’re a cowardly . Ugh. Now I feel sorry for you.”

“Heh.” Jiho showed her usual playful smile to Binnie.

“I can’t stay mad at you now, can I? sigh.”

*creak creak*

Once again, the rusty sound of music filled the air, but Jiho wasn’t enjoying it.

Isn’t she coming today?

The park was empty, more so than usual. The girl and the old man—they didn’t show up.

“—that’s what I heard.”

“How sad…”

From the nearby sidewalk, Jiho could hear two neighborhood moms talking in hushed voices.

“I hate to say it but… at least she’s free now.”

“Yeah… I heard the funeral service starts tomorrow.”

Jiho’s jaw dropped and she spent a while not moving the swing, just staring at nothing.

Eventually she stood up, and her legs carried her to go find her rose girl.

 

It was a small town. It wasn’t hard to ask around and find her house.

This smell… something’s burning?

Jiho walked closer to where the smoke was coming from—the rose girl’s backyard.

The fence was high, but it was old. There were some holes and cracks here and there. Jiho peeked through one of them.

There was a small fire in the center of the yard. It had all kinds of junk burning it it. Jiho thought they were likely some things that the old man owned. That made the most sense.

But the fire wasn’t why Jiho came. It was because of her, and there she was. Standing in front of the fire was her rose girl.

That dress… it suits her. So beautiful. As always.

All black, she was dressed in mourning attire. She was indeed very beautiful, and there was a little smile on her pretty face.

In her hand was that rose-covered basket. The girl stared at it for a little while, and then without hesitation, threw it into the fire. It rolled a bit as it stumbled on the ground and burned. In the process, the lid was thrown open, and the inside was made visible to Jiho.

“Jiho, it’s like five o’clock already. Aren’t you going out to see your princess?~”

Binnie teased Jiho who was lying in bed. Normally, Jiho would retort with something witty, but this time she was just blank.

“Binnie…”

“Hm?”

Binnie felt the unusual tone in her roommate’s voice, and she knelt down beside the bed.

 

“What’s the matter? Usually you’d be all excited during this time of day.”

“The basket, Binnie.”

Her expression looked unnerved, almost shaken.

“What about it?”

“I get it now. It makes sense.”

Binnie scratched her head and raised an eyebrow.

“What? Did you finally see what’s inside?”

“Yeah. It was—”

 

 

fin.