The ringing of a doorbell echoed through a small rustic house. The door remained closed and the people standing outside slowly started growing impatient.

"Where is she? She told us to be here by three and we're here," a woman complained as she pressed the doorbell again.

"Don't worry. She'll open the door for us so- Oh, speak of the devil," a man comforted.

The door flew open and an average height, thin elderly woman smiled. "You're here! Sorry for taking so long. I was in the back just picking the weeds out from my garden. They've been starting to get to my herbs."

The man smiled and gave the woman a hug. "It's nice to see you, mom. And I thought your back wasn't good?"

She waved it off. "It's not as great as it used to be but that doesn't mean that your old mom can't garden," she said as she led the family inside.

The elderly woman watched her son and daughter-in-law walk in with smiles. But when she saw her granddaughter, she frowned at how upset she looked. "Sohyun, what are you doing standing in the doorway? Close the door or else the mosquitoes will get into the house," she chided.

Sohyun huffed and closed the door slightly too harshly, a bang resonating through the corridor. Her parents turned around and looked at her disapprovingly. "Sohyun, there was no need to slam the door. Apologize to grandma," her mom said sternly.

The eighteen year old girl scowled and muttered a quick sorry before shuffling into the house. Her grandma watched her practically stomp to the living room and sit down angrily.

"Sorry about Sohyun. She's just upset that she can't spend time with her boyfriend this weekend," her son explained.

The elderly woman chuckled. "It's fine, I understand how she feels. After all, we were all in love once before."

The three adults soon settled in the dining room to chat for a bit before the grandma said, "Son, I'm going to need a favor from you."

Her son perked up and looked at her with wide eyes. "What is it? Are you dying? Does this have to do with your will? Do I-"

"No, Hyungsoo! Geez, you really are like your father, constantly jumping to conclusions. I just need you to help me clean out the shed. I have a lot of junk in there that I need to get rid but my frail old self can't do it all," the grandma interrupted, smacking her son on the arm.

Hyungsoo yelped in pain and his wife laughed. "He really is like his father. And we'd be more than happy to help. Sohyun, get in here!"

The teen bregrudgingly trudged into the dining room and she snapped, "What?"

Her mother clicked her tongue. "Is that any way to speak to your mother? Anyways, you're going to have to help your father and I bring some of your grandma's stuff into the house from the shed so that she can sort through the things that she wants to keep and the things she wants to throw out."

"Ugh, why do I have to do it?" Sohyun complained.

"Do Sohyun," Hyungsoo rose up from his seat, "watch your mouth. You will do as your mother said."

The girl breathed out angrily and then stormed out to the backyard where the shed was. Hyungsoo's wife sighed and she rubbed her face wearily. "Sorry about Sohyun."

The man's mother laughed. "It's alright. I've had my fair share of teens complaining when I was raising this one so I'm okay with it," she said as she pointed to her son.

Hyungsoo's face grew red and he stuttered, "M-Mom!"

She got up from her seat with a soft grunt. "What? It's not like you haven't gone through puberty. Now out you go to the shed." 

She shooed her son and daughter-in-law out to the backyard and watched the family help her clean out the space, occasionally helping with some of the light boxes and handing them some refreshments and snacks.

Hours after moving all of the boxes into the house, the woman sat down in the living room to look through them. Some were filled with old documents and bills that were worthless, some were filled with photo albums which she used to embarrass her son, and some were filled with trinkets that she had loved when she was younger but lost interest in as she grew older.

She watched her son dig through his childhood toys, showing them and explaining them to his wife with a nostalgic smile on his face. Even her granddaughter was slightly interested in her old and treasured items.

There was a loud 'ding' and everyone looked around to see where the sound came from. Sohyun pulled her phone out from her back pocket and looked at her screen intently. Her face soon brightened up and she rapidly tapped at the screen, typing some sort of message.

Her grandma looked over her shoulders and squinted to make out the small words. She saw a name with a red heart next to it on the top of the screen and a few messages displayed underneath it. "Se...hun? Sehun with a heart? Who's he?"

Sohyun gasped and turned around. "Grandma!"

"What? Can't your old grandma be curious about her granddaughter? Now who's this Sehun person?" The woman retorted.

Hyungsoo snorted and he replied, "Oh Sehun is her, as she describes him, 'super hot boyfriend.'"

His daughter's face grew red and her grandma laughed heartily. "You should've just said so! What'd the boy send to you?"

"He said that he loved me and missed me. He's so sweet," Sohyun said with a dreamy look on he face. She then snapped out of her trance and quickly sent back a 'I miss you too baby <3'.

The elderly woman shook her head with a smile and went back to going through her boxes. Her eyes widened when she picked up a stack of yellowed and aged envelopes. "I can't believe I still have these," she whispered.

Sohyun tore her gaze from her phone when she heard her grandma talk to herself and looked at what she was holding. "Letters? Let me see!"

She snatched them out from her hands and her woman gasped. "Be careful with those! They're very old and delicate!"

Then teen squinted and tried her best to make out the tiny names written on the envelope. "Do Kyungsoo? Shin Sunhwa? Who're they?"

"Your grandpa and grandma!" Her father looked at her incredulously. "How do you not know your grandparents' names?"

"It's not like I address them by their first names," the girl grumbled. She then looked at her grandma. "So grandma, does that mean that grandpa sent you letters back when you were younger?"

Her grandma smiled fondly. "Indeed he did. I had to wait a week, sometimes two, just for a letter from your grandpa."

"A week or two?! That's crazy!" Sohyun exclaimed. She then grabbed her phone from the coffee table and held it close to her chest. "Thank god smart phones were invented. I don't know what I would do without my baby."

"I'd actually rather wait for a letter than receive a text," her grandma said.

The teen looked at her with wide eyes. "What? But texts come just like that! And they're quick and efficient as well!"

"But they don't hold the same sincerity that handwritten letters do. One handwritten letter is probably worth more than all of the texts that you've sent to that Sehun boy," the woman countered. She looked at the letters fondly and when she opened one of them to read, she felt like she was being back to 1957.

here's the first chapter! it's a bit short but it's just an intro. the real story will begin in the next chapter.
although it was short, i hope you all liked it! let me know what you thought of it in the comments ^^