“As I have already said earlier,” Sora sighed into the receiver of her phone as she checked the street for any oncoming traffic before crossing it with careful hops, “I don’t know where I put the drive. It’s probably somewhere in my office but I’m fairly sure it won’t appear any time soon since it’s a dump at the moment.”

 

“Then get your together and look for it!” Shindae boomed from the other end of the line, followed by a screech of frustration. “I need that file before Friday afternoon or else I can’t prepare the competition list!”

 

It was already mid-December and the weather definitely showed it; the icy wind that dominated the city, together with the occasional snowfalls had Sora wrap her woolen jacket a little closer around her body. Together with the struggle of keeping herself warm, the tall girl held her phone away from her ear because otherwise it was far too easy for her boss’ loud voice to travel to Sora’s eardrum and burst it.

 

“I know it’s important and all but you don’t need to yell at me. It may come as a surprise after all your phone calls but I’m still not deaf,” Sora bit at the elder on the phone. “Choi Sora, are you using attitude towards a superior?” Shindae asked menacingly calm but the girl was left unfazed by the obvious hint that hid in her boss’ words, and rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop acting so pretentious. You and I both know I can do whatever the hell I want and you’ll still love me.”

 

The line remained quiet for a moment before Shindae quietly answered. “Touché,” her relatively smaller voice sounded, resulting in a satisfied grin to settle on Sora’s lips because it wasn’t common for the elder to give in that easily.

 

“Can you please just make sure that you find it before Thursday night, which is tomorrow, because I don’t want to do everything last minute,” Shindae asked after another moment of silence, her tone friendlier with a hint of desperation. The young employee slid through a modest group of people, apologizing a few times as she passed before she answered, a smile evident in her voice. “I’ll drop by the office first thing in the morning.”

 

A sigh of relief sounded from the other side. “Thank you Sora,” Shindae responded, “and I’m sorry I acted like that. I have a lot on my plate right now,” she continued with an apology. Sora instantly softened at the elder’s words because she knew her friend slash boss was having a hard time. Whenever this was the case, she rather kept to herself in that period, therefore keeping all her problems and complaints inside - hence the mood swings and random outbursts - but Sora always made sure to show that she was there for her.

 

“It’s okay, Dae. You can call or text me if you need me, okay?”

 

“Thanks,” Shindae answered the girl quietly again and hung up afterwards. When Sora was just about to stuff her phone into the pocket of her jacket, someone harshly stumbled into her, making her nearly drop her phone to the snowy ground. “Yah!”

 

“Sorry!” the boy that walked into her called over his shoulder before he trudged forward again. He didn’t even turn to properly check if she was okay.

 

“Youth,” Sora muttered to herself and shuddered at the disturbing thought before carefully putting her phone into her pocket and walking alongside the supermarket. After another minute of contemplating of where she had left the drive with participants in her office, Sora narrowed her eyes when she spotted someone familiar. “Oh, is that Baeri?” she mumbled to herself as she watched a petite woman struggle to carry multiple shopping bags that were ready to burst any minute.

 

 

“How does this even make sense!” Baeri complained to herself as she trudged through the bustling aisles of the supermarket, pushing a half-filled cart. Once again, her brother had shown her what a cheeky bastard he really was by ratting the girl out to their mother. Baeri’s initial idea was to ignore the whole being-late-again-thing of two days ago and not tell anyone because that never resulted in anything good. Her brother, as the annoying man he was, had other plans. “First cleaning gum from freaking tables, now even more damn chores!” she mumbled and threw a pack of pasta into the cart.

 

Baeri sneered at the whole situation and broke a piece of banana from a bunch and angrily bit a part off when she had opened it. “I’m twenty-two years old, for crying out loud!” she suddenly exclaimed, full with mashed banana, and pointed the banana she was holding at a random passerby. This obviously earned her weird looks and left Baeri with no other choice but to tone down her session of despair.

 

She sighed with full and finished her banana before she continued walking towards the dairy aisle. “Yoghurt - the messed up version of milk,” Baeri grimaced when she saw the rows of various kinds, and hesitantly reached for one when she recognized the familiar label of the one her brother liked. Her hand never reached the pack, however, because she had bumped into someone else’s halfway.

 

“Oh, sorry,” she apologized but the taller boy she met eyes with just kept pouting and motioned that she could take the last one before he turned and began walking away. Baeri frowned at the turn of events and grabbed the white and green pack before hopping after the boy. “Hey, don’t you need this?” she asked when she latched onto the boy’s lower arm in question. The latter just shrugged defeated and looked at the yoghurt. “What’s the point? He’ll just eat it all again anyways.”

 

Her worry soon morphed into amusement when she had heard the boy dramatically speak up, and frowned. “Hey kid, just take it,” Baeri bumped the cold pack of yoghurt against his arm, “seems like you need it more than I do.”

 

The boy was stumped for a moment and looked at the pack, then back at Baeri. “Are you sure?” he asked hesitantly, his eyebrows in a worried furrow. The college student nodded with a small smile and handed him the pack. “Of course. I love food but I guess I can make an exception for once.”

 

This time, instead of a frown, the boy wore a vibrant smile that struck a familiar chord in Baeri’s head but she shrugged it off when she handed him the pack and watched him place it into his packed cart. “My older brother was home for the weekend so he ate everything,” the boy explained before he tsk’d and lifted his upper lip in annoyance, “that pig.”

 

“Tell me about it,” Baeri laughed and pulled her beanie closer onto her head as she thought of the man that was probably sitting on the couch, snacking on some cookies, back at home. “I also have an older brother and he’s the biggest pig on the planet. He keeps this organized stash in a cupboard in the kitchen and threatens to bite anyone’s head off if he finds out they touched it. Worst thing is that he always thinks that I ate his stuff!”

 

The kid’s eyes widen at this piece of information; he pointed at himself with a disbelieving look. “Me too! I mean, sometimes I do eat his things but not all the time, and then when he finds out–”

 

“–he beats you for it!” Baeri finished his sentence, making the boy nod frantically. Letting out an amused laugh, she placed her hands on the taller boy’s shoulders, resulting in a somewhat weird position, and squeezed them a little. “Finally someone who understands the struggles of having an older brother!” she cried and wiped away fake tears from her cheeks. The boy surprised Baeri, however, by moving in for a hug. “I thought I was alone in this!” he belted relieved when he had placed Baeri’s head against his chest, holding her as if he was trying to protect her from the world.  

 

Somehow, the gesture didn’t seem weird to Baeri; even making her laugh a little because she couldn’t believe how desperate the two of them sounded. After a moment, the student moved out of his arms. “What’s your name, kid?” she asked when she had taken a step back to fully see the boy’s handsome features. “Joey,” he smiled widely, again sending this shiver of recognition through Baeri’s body.

 

“Baeri,” she shook Joey’s hand and stretched, looking around when she spotted a stall outside the supermarket. “Come on, my little tall man,” she smiled and began pushing her cart towards the registers, “let’s treat ourselves to something delicious outside the wrath of our merciless brothers.”

 

Joey nodded enthusiastically before finding his own cart and following after the elder. When they were paying, Baeri couldn’t help but spot that the random stranger was carrying a card that was mostly used by rich people. Joey quite sneakily handled it, as if he didn’t want people to see what he was paying with, but this didn’t stop Baeri from nodding impressed with a playful grin - making the boy shyer than he already was.

 

After taking care of paying their groceries, the two carried their heavy bags into the cold that reigned outside to the stall Baeri had spotted earlier. With a heavy sigh, Baeri dropped her belongings next to her before she sat on the wooden bench, eying Joey to do the same. He followed her example before plopping next to the girl and waving shyly at the vendor that was approaching them.

 

“So how old are you anyways, for you to go out alone shopping like this?” Baeri began before ordering two dishes of what the vendor was preparing. “Seventeen,” Joey responded as he too nodded at the man before he left to his station. Baeri sighed reminiscent and leaned her chin in her palm when she propped her arm up on her knee. “Oh, I remember when I was seventeen,” she sighed as she eyed Joey from her seated position, “life was so much easier back then.”

 

Joey smiled at this and patted the woman’s shoulder. Baeri, however, wasn’t paying attention to his courteous actions but rather on his lips that formed a perfect bow smile that she was sure she had seen before. “You’re not that old,” Joey interrupted her thoughts and cocked his head. “How do you know?” she asked with a slight frown.

 

“I may or may not have heard you complain in the store earlier.”

 

“I’m an embarrassment to society,” Baeri muttered into her hands as she face palmed, instantly feeling ashamed of her actions back in the pasta aisle. Joey chuckled and leaned back against the table that was attached to the bench. “I wish I was twenty-two,” Joey sighed, “I could drive a car, enter clubs, date!”

 

Baeri cocked an eyebrow at this. “You’re allowed to date now too, though.”

 

“Mom won’t allow me,” the younger answered after he had shaken his head. Suddenly, Baeri recalled his earlier sentence and groaned loudly as she buried her face into her hands again. “I’m not doing either of those things!” she exclaimed wiggling her body annoyed, “I’m such a sad human being.”

 

“It’s okay,” Joey laughed and patted her shoulder supportive, earning a small smile from the woman because he was just too cute when he smiled. Soon, the vendor came by with their dishes and carefully set them on the wooden table before wishing them a nice meal and returning to his station. Baeri and Joey continued to talk after this - they turned out to have a lot more in common than they had thought, like drawing. After half an hour of eating and speaking, a rather eerie ringtone broke through Baeri’s sentence. Joey jumped at the sound and frantically began searching for his phone that was buried somewhere in his backpack.

 

Baeri watched him with an amused grin answer the call and figured it was probably his parents that were calling him, asking him where he was because the kid barely had any place to reply or he was interrupted again.

 

“I need to go,” Joey apologized when he had hung up and stuffed his phone away with a faint pout. “I guess I’ll see you here more often?” he grinned at Baeri and stood up from his seat. The student nodded in response with a wide smile. “Definitely, but for now, stay strong chum,” she playfully pushed his jaw with her knuckles, “my prayers will go out to you.”

 

The boy laughed at this and nodded. “I’ll see you, Baeri!” he greeted her happily and got his bags before checking his surroundings as to see where to go. Baeri waved him goodbye and watched him disappear in the mass of people that occupied the sidewalk. “Such a cute kid,” she smiled and patted her stomach with a satisfied sigh. “That was a good dish.”

 

Not long after Joey’s departure, Baeri attempted to leave too because it wouldn’t take long before the sun would completely disappear behind the horizon.

 

“Thank you so much Sora!” Baeri clung onto the tall woman like her life depended on it, her face contorted into a fake cry because she felt that desperate. “It’s just carrying groceries, Bae. Not hiding a dead body in a ditch,” Sora laughed and patted the girl’s head. “Still!” Baeri cried and rubbed her head against the girl’s hand, “you’re such a sweet, sweet friend!”

 

“Yeah yeah, now come on,” Sora smiled affectionately and lifted two of the bags, “let’s get these home so we can hang out for a bit.”

 

Baeri didn’t live that far away from the market so after a short ten minutes, the two girls had arrived at the smaller’s home. The moment she stepped foot in her own house, however, the girl turned into a spy and slid along the walls and hid behind armoires to check if her mother was home, with Sora watching the younger with an amused grin as she followed ‘out in the open’. They were lucky - Baeri’s words - because they turned out to be alone. During unpacking the groceries, the two found out that the articles they were putting away were far too expensive to have been bought by the Kim family.

 

There was a moment of panic on Baeri’s side because she had a pretty good idea of whose they might be, but this was soon stuffed away with the thought that she couldn’t do much about it anyways.

 

Wanting to enjoy the freedom while it lasted, Baeri chose to go out with Sora to have some fun. “I haven’t seen you in so long,” Sora pouted and wrapped an arm around smaller as they walked along a park. “How’s school?”

 

Baeri hummed with a hint of frustration because she couldn’t help but think of the punishment she had gotten earlier that week. “Same old, same old,” she answered and threw a wary look at the dark park that dominated their right side. She never really favored dark places, but now with the sun fully set and the world covered in a blanket of blackness, that favoritism went down the drain together with any other positive thought. “Competition is coming up again, which I will probably not enter yet again.”

 

Sora gaped at this and knocked the girl’s head, leaving Baeri to whine and scowl. “You’re so damn stubborn! You have such a great ability and yet you let it go to waste like that.”

 

Baeri sighed while rubbing the sore spot on her head, pushing her hands into her pockets afterwards. “I know,” she answered, “I know that, but I also know that I’m not as good as I was before so can you really blame me for being like that?”

 

The two hadn’t noticed this before but the darkness that surrounded them before had gotten drowned out by led lights that blinked in all sorts of shapes and colorful combinations. Various attractions covered either sides of the broad path that ran through the middle, a stampede of people running back and forth from one to the other. “Still stubborn,” Sora playfully muttered against her head after she hooked her arm around Baeri’s neck before letting her go. A sigh escaped her lips because, in a way, she understood the mindset of the younger and would support her in any way possible but on the other side, Sora just wanted her friend to see how great and talented she truly was.

 

Seeing that the conversation wasn’t really going anywhere, they chose to drop the subject and took in their vibrant surroundings. A lot of people had found out about the winter fair so it was bustling with people of all ages but the youth aged fifteen to around twenty-five were undoubtedly dominating. “Aside from that, how are other things going?” Sora asked with a sneaky smile on lips as they passed Christmas-themed stalls and vendors that tried to strike a deal with visitors.

 

“Other things?” Baeri frowned and walked to a stall that sold snow globes, among others. Sora hummed and locked her hands behind her back with an innocent expression. “Things that revolve around a certain dancer whose name I shall not utter~”

 

Baeri’s jaw dropped at this and whipped her head to elder, “Shindae?!”

 

“And Jackson,” Sora laughed and picked up one of the globes that contained a small town, shook it so the snowflakes would drizzle down and lifted it closed so she could see more of the details. Baeri, on the other hand, shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Of course.”

 

The elder set the globe back and rushed after Baeri when she noticed that she had already began walking again. “Well?” Sora nudged the smaller, urging for her to continue, “Come on and spill the beans, little one.”

 

Baeri’s cheeks got redder the more she thought of the ‘someone’ Sora had mentioned so as soon she felt them burn up, she buried herself mouth-deep into her scarf. “There’s nothing to tell,” she muttered and averted her eyes from her friend. Sora chuckled at her friend’s shifty eyes and playfully poked her cheek. “That cute blush of yours tells me something else though~,” she cooed and just in time stepped away when the smaller threatened to hit her. “I’m not blushing!” Baeri countered and buried herself into her scarf again, stuffing her clothed hands into her pockets, “I’m just cold.”

 

"Ri~ght, and I’m pregnant with Choi Siwon’s baby,” Sora laughed and her stomach for the added effect. “Just tell me, or I’ll find this guy and ask myself,” she smiled and leaned in a little closer, a sneaky smile on her lips, “you know I will.”

 

Baeri scowled at her friend, eying her up and down for a moment, before she settled with just telling the girl because she knew her longer than today and therefore knew Choi Sora wasn’t one to mess with. “Fine,” she uttered and released a sigh into the cold winter air, white puffs of her warm breath creating a play of circles as it met with the icy surroundings. “His name is Mark–”

 

“Oh foreign!” Sora interrupted with a grin but quickly zipped after seeing Baeri’s annoyed expression. “Sorry,” the elder muttered an apology and threw away the so-called key of over her shoulder. The shorter shook her head and continued walking, feeling herself warm at the thought of the dancer.

 

“He attends my college and is in the dance program,” Baeri continued and pursed her lips as she ran her fingers over the soft cotton material of a beanie on a stall, “I’ve known him for almost two weeks now but it doesn’t feel like that at all. It’s probably because we’re so comfortable with each other whenever we’re together. The funny thing is that he actually already knew Shindae and Jackson. We’re not on that kind of friendship level just yet,” Baeri’s voice trailed as a small smile appeared on her lips, “but I feel like we will one day.”

 

Leaving the beanie behind, Baeri continued to walk to the next stall with Sora following her every move. “At least, I hope so because I’ve never become friends with someone that fast without feeling awkward at least once during our time together,” she continued and thought as she looked down at her clothed fingers, curling them a few times before another smile appeared. “He even took my pain away.”

 

Baeri hadn’t noticed at first but after she felt her explanation was done, it remained awfully quiet. No response from Sora was usually rare because that either meant that she hadn’t listened to you whatsoever, or she was buried in her own thoughts. When Baeri turned to her friend and saw her wide grin, however, she found out that it was neither of the above.

 

“Oh my god Baeri, you’re so cute!” she exclaimed and moved to gather the girl in her arms in a tight hug, “you’re so crushing on the guy!”

 

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Baeri muttered as she was squashed against Sora’s chest. The latter laughed at this and pulled the smaller with her to some roundabout. “I see right through you, young lady,” she smiled and wrapped an arm around her again when they continued to walk again, her comment earning her a defeated pout.

 

After a moment, Baeri suddenly spotted a back in the crowd that looked awfully familiar. When the profile of the person became visible, however, Baeri curtly stopped in her tracks - her heart beating frantically in her chest because his wide smile showed off a beautiful row of pearly whites with a framework of lusciously full lips. Baeri’s abrupt stop caught Sora’s attention. “What’s up?” she asked and followed the girl’s widened eyes until she saw a handsome guy laughing with some other boys his age. Somehow, this reaction of her friend to the boy made some bells ring in her head and a sneaky idea come to mind.

 

 

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