I shrugged as he looked at me with puppy eyes, pointing at the strawberry ice cream sitting in its cooler at the back corner of the convenience store we used to visit every Sunday when we were younger. I’m not sure why we had stopped but it was probably because of the mid-terms and studying got in the way too often. I rummaged through my pockets of my hoodie and pulled out four shiny 100 won coins and handed them to him. I laughed when I noticed the gleam in his eyes as he ran towards the cashier and paid for the two ice creams. In that time, I had already slipped outside the store, inhaling the fresh, cold air and looking up to the blue sky which was dotted with few grey clouds. I sighed, it looked as if it was going to rain sooner or later, preferably later.

I looked back at the door to meet eyes with Jung Kook who was gesturing an ice cream to me while his,

"Yah Jung Kook, aren't you supposed to eat your ice cream at the same time as your friend?" I taunted him, waving my ice cream around.

"Sorry, Ae Rin, but the ice cream was too tempting to wait for." He cheekily winked, "have this as compensation." He brought his ice cream to my lips abruptly, making me messily it. "See, now you could say I began eating it for you."

I rolled my eyes and began my own ice cream as we continued walking through the city, the idiot beside me sighed. 

"Yah! You dragged me out here, why are you sighing?"

"Because this isn't as fun as I thought it would be," He pouted, making me gush, "walking is for old elderly couples." The shine in his eyes foreshadowed what he was going to do next. "Ae Rin,"

"What?"

"Let's run!" He yanked my wrist causing my ice cream to fall and guided me through the crowds of Seoul. He really was too much, it was a hot day and I was running with jeans and a large hoodie after just coming out of a hospital. We soon arrived at a halt once we appeared in front of a large market wafting combined smells into our noses.

"I want that...that...that and that." He pointed all over the place. "Come on then!"

The next thirty minutes were full of getting free samples and noodles and fish and soup and rice and meat and whatever else you could think of. Literally. I wasnt sure how the sellers could make money if they gave out too many free stuff, but I didn't care. I had stains of sauce all over my hoodie and few drips on Jung Kook's basketball shoes, but he didn't really seem to notice as he continued to scoff down more food.

"Jung Kook, don't you think you're eating a little too much?" I .

"Ae Rin, you've been eating more than me and you know it. You look like a pig right now." He said looking dead into my eyes still chewing his spicy rice cake. I glared at him, "I'm kidding, Ae Rin. Eat as much as you want, I would buy a whole restaurant for you especially if you wanted me to." He winked, using his finger to wipe the sauce off my cheeked and it, making me go red. 

"Jung Kook! You can't just do that! " I exclaimed, stuffing my mouth with more food. We continued play fighting for the next three minutes before I got tapped on the shoulder by the grandmother running the stall,

"You guys are so cute, you know? Quick, just take this plate and continue your little date; it must be boring standing in front of a food stall." She gave us a warm smile and I shrugged a little bit, ready to take the plate from her hands and leave before Jung Kook began laughing.

"No, grandmother! It's not like that! I have a girlfriend called Ji Hae and she is the most prettiest girl in the school." He began spacing out, waving his hands around as he described her. I began to feel sorry for the grandmother who was looking a little uncomfortable in front of the eager boy who didn't shut up.

"Thank you, we appreciate it." I smiled at her while dragging Jung Kook away, causing him to stop complimenting Ji Hae. I exhaled, looking ahead and not at the quiet Jung Kook. I had decided to not let Ji Hae make me angry, I should just spend the day with the idiot as my best friend not as my crush.

"Where are we going?" Jung Kook trailed as I lead him outside the market. The realisation suddenly hit me - I didn't know where we were going; I was just caught up in the moment. Not wanting to spoil the adventure, I looked back and smiled at him, 

"We're going to go visit The Little Mermaid under the sea." His mouth widened as the nostalgia hit him.

When we were both younger, he would hate reading and his parents would ask me to get him into books seeming as I loved reading them. They must have thought that because I would always have my backpack full. Foolish and embarrassed, I could never bring myself to tell them they were all mangas and I was reading pictures instead of words. Therefore, every Wednesday and Thursday, like his parents had asked me to, I took him to the library and forced him to read the only real book I knew which was subsequently 'The Little Mermaid'. Unlike they had hoped, his parents' plan never worked because he was always studying (instead of reading books) with a friend of his that I had never met. He detested it and I found it hilarious.

The grey clouds began blanketing the previously bright sky as we entered the library which was relatively quiet and full of shuffling and page turning. We both bowed to the young librarian and continued our way to the large shelf in the corner of the building next to the comfy chairs and paintings. The library being just a place to read books was an understatement. It didn't seem like it on the outside (it looks like a crappy community hall where drunk uncles gamble in) but on the inside you felt warmthness. It would give you goosebumps and even as a usually loud person, you would feel the need to be quiet just so you can hear the pages turning and the sipping of free coffee (away from where all the books are of course). The room would be lit dimly with light bulbs dotted everywhere around the ceiling, just bright enough to read the finely printed words on the uncreased pages.

Soon enough, we had reached the fairy tale section and I pulled out a thick book from the midst of all the other ones, I turned around to Jung Kook who was standing beside me examining the cover.

"Jung Kook, you remember this story right?" I whispered while walking to the edge of the book shelf, leaning on it and sliding down so I was sitting on the floor. He nodded and did the same as I did so we were both on the floor next to each other, our shoulders touching. I placed it in his hands,

"This is The Little Mermaid." He began, opening the cover. "It's a story about a mermaid who saves a prince and turns human so they can meet."

"And what else do you remember?" He shrugged while I realised the only times he had really cared about The Little Mermaid enough to research about it was when we were together and the last time we read the book was ages ago.

"The witch cursed the prince so that he'd fall in love with her when she turns human and The Little Mermaid almost turns into sea foam because they didn't kiss." He paused and gave me a quizical look before carrying on, "But actually the truth is every step she took felt like daggers, so she suffered through so much and just for the prince. And in the end it was too late. Why would someone do that all for love - I mean she could've fallen in love with someone else if she gave them a chance. Why was she so hung up on that prince?" I looked up, what Jung Kook had said seemed awfully familiar.

"Yah, Jung Kook it's just a story. Nobody would really feel like that." I gave him a reassuring smile before turning my attention to the book, Jung Kook glanced towards me until becoming absorbed by the picture.

"You know," He said "I haven't read this story in a long time." 

"Neither have I." I admitted, sighing at the illustrations.

"At least we're reading it now." He ruffled my hair, smiling and showing his rosy gums. Quickly, he rose up and got a blanket from one of the sofas and came back beside me, layering it on us, he huddled up and we began reading. "Once upon a time..."

That was how we spent the next hour or so; reading the book, discussing our childhood and getting to know each other more than we ever thought we could. I would let out a sigh every few minutes as I looked up to see Jung Kook staring right down at the book, pointing at all of the characters and creating conspiracy theories about the tale. I guess I had my own theories as well; I thought Ji Hae was a witch, I was a mermaid and Jung Kook was my prince, but in the end, I would turn into sea foam. Stupid sea foam which didn't have a chance against 'KookHae' (the ship name Jung Kook came up for them).

But bad things don't belong in a cute fairy tale. If only this was a fairy tale, of course.

Somehow I had fallen asleep whilst Jung Kook was reading, probably because of his soothing voice that seemed to have an affect on me. I roamed my hands around, searching for where Jung Kook was - there was nobody next to me. I finally came to my senses and woke up properly, I was fully alert now. The book was closed and I had been tucked in, but where was he?

"Jung Kook?" All I could muster up was a small croak, but I still earned a reply, it was the sound of his laughter. I crawled out, trailing the sound of his nervous chuckles. After finding my way to the back of the library I saw Jung Kook and another figure, happily conversing. I hid behind the bin and garnered a better look. It was Ji Hae. My mind went back to when he used to fangirl over her, one of the reasons he liked her was because of all the volunteer work she did. I thought this was our day; Jung Kook and Ae Rin's day. But no, he had to bring Ji Hae along. How did I not guess?

For some reason my eyes begun to automatically tear up, but it was his voice that put an end to it.

"What are you doing?" I swivelled my body around to find Kim Tae Hyung staring back at me whilst holding his sister's hand. Maybe Jung Kook was right. Maybe it was time for the little mermaid to give another prince a chance.

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A/N: we are planning somewhat special chapters for you all!! <3

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