April 12th 1950

     ”That’s 7000 won, please,” the cashier said and smiled.

     “What? But the price for a bread loaf was at 6300 won last week!” I complained.

Appa wouldn’t be happy if he I spent so much money in one single day. I thought about how he would tear his hair in panic while mumbling that we wouldn’t survive another winter. No, it wouldn’t happen; not if I got to decide.

     “It’s difficult times little miss. You understand that, right?”

At that moment I just wanted to punch her in the face, punch away that smug smile.

     “But please, my family can’t-” I tried to beg for her compassion but she just shooed me off, still with that smile plastered on her face.

“How do you think it would look if we allowed a discount for everyone in here? Besides it’s only 700 won extra for that loaf, how would it hurt?”

I could feel the anger boil up in me, sending small clouds of steam out through my ears and nostrils. She clearly didn’t understand my position, she would be able to buy as many loafs of bread as she wanted, but I could only afford one. Almost.

     “I’ll pay for it,” said male voice from behind. A voice sweet like honey, warm like a summer’s breeze.

     “What?” the cashier said and the annoying smile disappeared from her lips.

     “I said I will pay for that loaf of bread.” the stranger said. His voice caused my whole body to shiver and my skin lumped itself into goosebumps.

I turned around to see whom this stranger with the beautiful voice was.

It was a boy in my age, maybe one or two years older. His hair was softly dark brown and his facial features god-like. I gasped for air; I realised I had been holding my breath for a while.

The boy looked at me with his warm mahogany eyes and smiled a smile which angels would have envied. I admitted it to myself: this boy attracted me. I was terrified of showing it, so when he had paid for the bread, I thanked him properly and ran away. I didn’t even ask for his name, nor did he have the time to ask for mine. A boy would be too much of a distraction for me in my daily chores; I was supposed to support my family no matter what.

I ran down the road. I almost flew over the bumpy cobblestones as I ran. Most of the houses in the area were made of ordinary, gray concrete and no one had cared to paint them or such, so everything was pretty much colourless. Except some of the small alleys where someone had taken the initiative to put some colour to the cold walls.

     I took a turn and made a sudden stop in front of the fourth door to the left. The door itself was emerald green, with a small window in the top. I could still remember when appa and I had built that door together. I was five and since Japan was occupying the country, we didn’t have much money - much less than we had now. At last appa had gotten his hands on some wood which he quickly with his handiness had turned into a door. I would still remember how he had asked me:

     “Should we paint it?” and I had let out a shriek of delight. Then he had asked me to choose colour and I had yelled:

     “Green! Green!” and pointed at the green paint can. And green it was.

The little window at the top was a sign of luxury and it was a wonder how dad managed to get that one. With the years it had become dusty and there was a big crack in the glass; a diagonal stretching from the right bottom corner to the upper left one.

     I opened the green door and stepped inside.

     “I’m home!” I yelled and shortly after my mother appeared in the hallway in which I was standing.

     “Welcome home, love. Did you have a nice day?” she asked.

I nodded and hugged her.

     “Yeah eomma, it was nice.” I said while I drilled my head into her shoulder and inhaled her sweet scent of food and dust.

     “It was a nice day indeed.” I repeated and my thoughts wandered off to the boy in the bakery.

Hellu people!!

I'm done with my first chapter of this new story, I hope you're enjoying it this far! I've been working a lot with both this story and my other fanfic "What I Feel For You" lately, and you can soon expect a new chapter from that one!

Anyway, please comment and subscribe! <3