"Wait... you have how many ducks?" Shindae asked, dumbfounded at the boy's confession.

"I have a separate room for my collection. Half of them are these though." He explained with a huge smile as he squeezed into the green duck in his hands.

Somehow the two ended up browsing the store together, talking along the way. And whenever an item attracted the attention of either of the two, they would admire it, talk about it and if possible even play with it. Song Shindae's interest for toys was no joke. She adored them, because they brought nothing else but joy to her. Toys, no matter what kind, made her happy in an innocent and childish way. She listened with sincere curiosity to Mino who showed her a train model. 

Although Shindae had come to the store since she was a child, she learnt new things about the store from Mino. There were sections she hadn't been yet and he even showed her the album with all the previous collections up until 10 years ago. The two spent almost till closing time there. In their conversation Shindae found out that she was older by two years and gave Mino permission to address her as 'noona', when he asked her. The boy seemed to have no difficulties with it, or rather he enjoyed it. 

"How come you know so much about store?" Shindae asked. "Do you live here permanently?"

Mino laughed, amused by the girl's questions.

"Well, kind of." he responded, confusing Shindae. "If you don't count sleep, I'm more here than at my real home."

"I understand why. This place is a paradise." Shindae voiced.

"Hey did you ever notice that the logo is a duck?" The girl asked after a silence fell.

"With a blue top hat, yes." the boy spoke as he fumbled with a rubiks cube. "I designed it."

He caught the girl by surprise at the statement and realised what he had said, only after hearing a faint 'huh'.  His bright smile remained, gracing his face while his right hand scratched the back of his head as he faced Shindae.

"My dad is the owner of this place," he shyly confessed.

Shindae's jaw dropped and she almost felt jealous at the situation. Why didn't her parents have a cool job like that? Suddenly Mino's knowledge abkut the store made more sense as well. Closing time arrived sooner than Shindae wished. She browsed the last few places with Mino, finding a few more things she wanted to buy. In the fun and hurry, Shindae realised she forgot her tube with ducks once she had paid and steppes out if the line. She turned  to the store when Mino had materialised in front of her, effectively blocking her way. He handed her a small white bag with the store's logo and something cilinder shaped inside it. 

"This one is on me," he told her with his gummy smile. "For becoming friends."

"First free food and now even these? You must be an angel in disguise, Mino. Thank you."

It was rare for Shindae to arrive home in a mood great enough to sing. Usually she would just silently go to her room, but this time she hummed happily as she admired her new purchases. The seven ducks were alined on the shelf right above the head of her bed. She also bought a purple hippo pillow after being seduced by its soft exterior. Shindae hugged it closely and released another loud yawn. She didn't even care how she looked. Her comfort was way more important than that in the safety of her own room. Demonstrating how good her mood was, she unlocked her phone screen and tapped a message to one of her childhood friends, Kyung.

'Here you go, you finally have it.
Consider this an apology for this morning.
- Shindae'

The reply she received, lifted her mood even more.

'Shindae noona?! This is unexpected.
Something good must have happened, huh?
Thank you~ ♥
​
PS: I promise, I won't spam you too much!'

Feeling accomplished, Shindae released her newly bought Hippo and made a decision. On a day like this, cake would be very befitting. She released herself from her school uniform and grabbed a legging and black and white dress shirt. The girl even pulled her hair up in a ponytail before running down the stairs heading for the kitchen. In her rush she had completely missed the figure standing in the hallway, taking off her jacket and lining her shoes neatly. Once in the kitchen, Shindae opened the fridge with a jerk and scanned the contents. The voice calling from where she had just entered, distracted her from her mission and turned her head towards the source.

"That was unnecessarily mean, unnie. But hi." she heard her cousin speak.

"Hyejoon? When did you arrive?" Shindae asked, quite bewildered at that moment. "What do you mean?"

"Yes, it's your beloved younger cousin, Hyejoonnie~!" she retorted, with a cheeky smile. It quickly morphed into a frown though. "What do you mean when did you arrive? Just now, when you ran into the kitchen like a bulldozer and completely ignored me!" 

Hyejoon shook her head and waved her hand towards her older cousin, to wave the topic off and took a seat at the kitchen table. She propped her chin onto the back of her folded fingers and supported them with her elbows resting on the wooden surface. She eyed Shindae who just gave her a look, shrugged afterwards and just continued her search for the sweet delicacy she had in mind. Her fun was soon interrupted by her cousin and her curiosity. Shindae let out a desperate sigh and turned around to answer her cousin's unnecessary questions and listen to her demands.

"Fetch me a piece as well, since you're already at it." Hyejoon demanded. "What's the occasion though?"

"What are you talking about?" Shindae asked rather impatiently, but turned around to grab a pastry box from the fridge.

"You're all giddy and smiley, which is disgustingly cute by the way and your nose is in the fridge. This scene usually ends up with you stuffing yourself with pie as a result and getting aunty worked up about only eating junk, when you should be eating dinner." Hyejoon explained.

As the girl blew her hair out of her face lazily, Shindae rolled her eyes and grabbed two plates from the cupboard.

"So, spill it. What happened?" Hyejoon demanded once again.

"Nothing happened, Kim Hyejoon." She insisted. For a good measure, Shindae slammed the girl's plate in front of her nose and stabbed her eclair with the pastry fork. 

Hyejoon watched in horror as the cream seeped out and glared at her cousin. She took her fork out carefully, afraid of losing more.

"I'm just in a good mood, that's all." Shindae continued and smiled at her small revenge.

"I call bull, but sure. Whatever you want." Hyejoon muttered as she worked on eating the spilt cream from her plate.

"I heard you kissed Yoongi by the way." Hyejoon scooped a big bite into after asking and let out a satisfied squeal at the taste.

Shindae started coughing violently and started to pound on her own chest for relief. "What?" She managed to blurt out.

"Yeah, something about a girl being kissed by Min Yoongi and him ending up with his lunch all over his uniform. That had to be you." the younger explained as she took another bite. "Had an interesting 'date', huh?"

"It was a trap," Shindae angrily muttered as she stuffed with half of her eclair. She threw an icy glare at her cousin, when she noticed her cheeky smile again.

"What about the picture?" Hyejoon inquired before filling with cream and dough again.

When Shindae didn't respond, however, she suspiciously eyed her cousin.

"Song Shindae, what happened to the picture?!" she tried again, slamming her fist into the table.

"Don't yell at me, brat. I don't have it!" the older responded after swallowing the contents of .

"I can't believe this!" She yelled even louder. "I shouldn't have trusted you!"

And with that, Hyejoon consumed her last bite, before stomping out of the kitchen. Shindae sighed and got up from her seat to follow the girl into the hallway. The last thing she saw before the door slammed, was Hyejoon's angry glare and a fierce 'goodbye'. Shindae returned to the kitchen to finish her own eclair and drop the dishes into the dishwasher. Min Yoongi spoiled her mood once again. Shindae was also reminded of the two mischievous brats from her class, she had yet to punish. Once again she fished her phone from her pocket and started typing a message directed to two people.

'I need your help.'