10

“Eat and drink this. It will warm you up in no time.”

Joohyun securely holds the paper cup filled with broth in one hand and another one freely grabbing the offered food. She eyes the steamy cooked fish cakes inside her another larger paper cup and silently drools at the sight though she remembered politely declining Seulgi’s offer about treating them dinner before. The delicious smell wafting around them has made her stomach lurch in silent hunger, she should have agreed to Seulgi’s earlier idea. “Thanks.”

She lifts her gaze and witnesses Seulgi going back and forth in an attempt to collect a bunch of fried snacks happily. “Wait a bit, I’m going to take some more.” She hears Seulgi mumble and waits patiently with a small nod.

They decided to have some snack after the younger eager woman was pointing it out from their place—as an alternative idea Seulgi said, Joohyun remembered catching a glimpse of the food trucks when they stood by the railing of Banpo Bridge at that time. Screaming her inner thoughts have definitely lightened her somber mood and she finds herself willingly comply with Seulgi’s wish as her gratitude in return.

And here they are, standing right next to the food vendor selling various street food alongside the breathtaking view of the Hangang River after running for hours—Joohyun prefers walking but Seulgi doesn’t have any of it. The latter has been barking orders like a strict running coach, whenever she’s caught in the middle of slacking off. She smiles at the memory while slurping on her broth cup.

The clock strikes at nine when Joohyun roams her eyes around at a big clock positioned in the middle of the park just beside the Hangang River, and wonders to herself at how long she has been outside with Seulgi and without a proper food.

Screw her abrupt action of refusing her boss’s kind offer, she has to deal with her hungry self through this entire night strolling.

She has work tomorrow morning as a matter of fact, but here she is, cladding in her training suit with a cup of brewing broth and skewers of fish cakes stuck inside her other paper cup while waiting for Seulgi to be done with her purchasing.

Seulgi, her soon to be boss.

Kang Seulgi, who is also her new found friend.

“What? How is that even possible?”

Joohyun spins her head to see Seulgi exclaim in disbelief, hands pointing vigorously at the sign that hangs lowly under the latter’s head.

“What happened?” She questions the still surprised woman as she comes closer.

“They don’t take cards,” Seulgi mutters and signals her head at the small wooden sign above her, only to get it bouncing back against her head with a loud thud. She groans internally as she catches a look starting to form on her companion’s face, and that seller’s ahjumma laughter doesn’t help at all. “Gosh…”

No taking cards.

It’s written on a piece of sturdy board with bold letters, Seulgi seemingly despises it by the time she retreats her card back to her empty wallet and makes several moves aside to prevent a further accident. “And I didn’t see it coming, just great.”

Joohyun chuckles and gets the hold of the situation just as fast.

“Let me pay for you then, I got my wallet with me.” She places her food and drink in the stall to pay but Seulgi halts her movement by saying, “No. No. No. It’s on me, I think I have some cash left somewhere on-“ the lanky figure starts searching around her pocket for any cash and freezes as her initial searching comes to a futile end. The fact that she doesn’t have any money at that moment finally sinks into her brain. “The hell…”

“What?”

“I left it in my bag and my bag is in the car.” Seulgi sighs, eyes twitching from her figure then to the old woman across them. “This is seriously embarrassing.” She whispers under her breath and Joohyun doesn’t miss it.

She laughs at Seulgi’s disbelief look, she has never seen that woman looking so out of place before. Joohyun then quickly pulls out her wallet and asks the seller politely. “How much is it?” She gestures at her food and Seulgi’s with a small smile when the woman doesn’t seem to catch her earlier question. “How much is it in total, ahjumma?”

“It’s ₩ 10,500.” The seller smiles in return, switching her attention to the taller woman. “I know it was rude of me for laughing at you. I apologize. Though, your head is alright, yeah?”

Seulgi nods mindlessly.

“Very well. I should really take my son’s advice about moving that sign somewhere so people could easily see it and yes, to decrease the number of victims as well.”

Joohyun bites her laugh as she gives the amount of money to the seller, noticing incredulity start to paint on Seulgi’s face. The older woman continues with a sorry look, “You aren’t the first, young lady, I sincerely apologize for that.”

“It’s okay, I should be the one who is aware-” Seulgi pauses rigidly, wanting to vanish along with the breeze that comes by, “-with my surroundings.” She ends it with a stiff smile.

“You may pick some snacks as my token of apology. Please do pick whatever you want. It’s free of charge, young lady.” The old woman adds with a knowing smile.

Despite being embarrassed, Seulgi doesn’t one to say no to free food so she picks another fish cake skewer and smiles back sheepishly at the woman. “I will just take it. Thank you.”

“Eat well.”

Joohyun hears her saying after bidding their goodbye and jabs Seulgi’s ribs to return the warm gesture. “We will, thank you again.” Seulgi croaks out a reply, dragging her feet further from the food stall—still feeling her pride wounded a bit by the earlier accident, but at the same time, she feels her heart warmer at the seller’s kindness.

“Seulgi please get a grip, you almost bumped into a man twice your size before.” Someone voices out from her side, exasperate is clear in her tone as she speaks up. “I know you’re hungry but ogling at those skewers isn’t something acceptable in this kind of situation? You clearly need those eyes of yours to see what’s in front. We are walking if you don’t happen to notice it just yet.”

“And gosh, you almost spilled those fried snacks at him. I can’t believe it.” Joohyun adds with a grunt. “Let me take some, you obviously can’t hold them any longer.”

A slender hand makes its way to snatch her snacks and Seulgi turns to look at her. “Your hands are full too, and the fact that your hands are smaller than mine,” the younger woman shakes her head in refusal. “You’re the one who is going to spill it in your grip. Give it back.”

“Racist.” Joohyun utters in a low breath, but still tightly gripping Seulgi’s snacks. “Back off Seulgi or I will throw it away.”

X

Seulgi eyes the skewer in hand and mentally digs her head in a pure embarrassment as they have seated themselves on the grass away from that food seller, facing several boats that crossed the river. She whispers to no one. “How come?”

“Why are you still mourning over it? I didn’t throw it, did I?” Joohyun throws a question and Seulgi shakes her head as a response. She takes a bite of her fish cake and heaves another sigh. Briefly closing her eyes at the reminder of the earlier misfortune, Seulgi finally laughs to herself.

“I’ll never forget that accident ever happened to me. There’s a silver lining though, I should stop depending on my credit card.”

“Ah.... That was really funny.” Joohyun joins her as she finally understands what Seulgi’s desperate sigh means and in a matter of seconds, both of them break into a series of weird chortle almost simultaneously. They only stop laughing when some passerby starts throwing a strange look in their direction.

Joohyun is the first one to notice, she taps the still cackling figure beside her.

“Oops… that’s the cue.” The older woman comments awkwardly, but Seulgi only shrugs it off.

She has her lids opened ever since she first heard Joohyun’s odd laugh joining hers. It’s oddly nice, she thinks, and pleasant too. So when she meets the latter’s gaze as she has fully sobered up from her nonstop sniggering, one thing that comes crossing her mind is,

“You should laugh more. Your laugh sounds nice.” Seulgi says in sincerity and notices her stunned look.

She grins. “Err… maybe if it’s too extreme to laugh like every day, smile more often then. You look happy when you’re smiling.”

X

“How did you know that?”

Seulgi peeks through one eye and sees Joohyun’s back figure. She stays put, laying on the grass with hand couched her head. Her companion, however, only has her gaze forward, sparing her no glance at all. “What did I know?” She asks in a calm voice.

“Why are you bringing me here?”

“I need a fresh air.” The resting figure answers honestly, still staring at her back. “And I need a companion.”

Joohyun doesn’t respond to that so Seulgi continues. “Whenever I feel like wanting to loosen up when my head is full of whatever thoughts that I feel like going to explode, I would come by to this place. To clear my mind or to simply enjoy my lone time.”

She peels her gaze off Joohyun’s back and looks up at the starry night. “Actually, it doesn’t have to be this place though. More like a place which filled with water. Beaches, lakes, rivers, you name it. But since Hangang River is just fifteen minutes drive from my place, I often spend my time here.”

“It’s weird, but it’s as if my problem will flow away just like water does. It makes me calmer in some way.” Seulgi chuckles as she muses. “Water is essential for life. It covers about 71,4% of the earth, and yes, I googled it before.”

She emits jokingly when Joohyun peers over her shoulder with curious eyes. “But the definition of water isn’t limited as it is. I mean, in its liquid form when you can see it every day. Like in your bottle, in your bathtub, in the Hangang River or the puddle of water on the ground for example. Well, you can’t touch it yet you can feel it just fine. You can even be drowned by its presence. But the moment it changes form, it can be anywhere in its gas phase or it can be as hard and cold as the surface of the ice or maybe as warm as the steam you have in the sauna.”

“But in what form that it can be so much fragile yet free at the same time? Solid, liquid or gas?”

“And I know the word water only refers to its liquid state, but we’re not taking a chemistry class here so no IUPAC standards at all. I’m weird, so just answer it.”

Now, Joohyun’s face is showing nothing but confusion.

“Seulgi, if you don’t realize it yet, I’m not majoring in chemistry, so I don’t know?”

“Neither do I.” Seulgi laughs at her annoyed look. She sees Joohyun glaring and raises one hand in a mock surrender. “But I’m seriously asking you.”

“You know my answer.”

“I’ll give you some hint.” Seulgi points her hand up. “It has something to do with the sky.”

“Gas? I don’t know!”

“I personally think that liquid is the most fragile form of water when they fall on the ground and also the freest one."

“What?”

“Have you seen how the water pours down in the rain?” Seulgi asks, already in her sitting position. “They are fragile and free the moment they hit the ground. They fall and break, but free to choose what they want to be. Some would like to join the ocean, or content enough with being a puddle on the ground. Whatever and wherever they want to be and the cycle goes on.”

“I wish I had its freedom.” Seulgi chuckles, propping her own body with her arms as she adds in a dreamy tone, eyes slightly dim. “To choose my own path.”

There’s a moment of silence until Joohyun breaks it rather hesitantly. “You seem not happy with it?”

“I’m happy with my life, but I don’t think I’ve found the true happiness just yet.” The younger woman replies solemnly and Joohyun nods. She can relate to her almost immediately.

“Why are you telling me all this anyway?”

Seulgi angles her head in her direction, smiling genuinely this time. A trace of her melancholy side is already gone. “Do you believe when I say that despite not knowing you long enough, but I feel like I could tell you my deepest, buried secrets? Simply everything?”

Joohyun’s breath hitches with slight surprise, but her eyes return the glimmer in Seulgi’s in the next second. “Why do I’m not surprised to hear that? You’ve been like that ever since we met.”

“Promise me,”

Seulgi holds their shared gazes and lifts her pinky finger. “That you won’t change? That you won’t stop befriending me? Even after I become your boss, please don’t ever change?”

Joohyun finds herself smiling back stiffly. “S-seulgi you’re a grown-up woman, a soon to be boss, why pinky promise?”

“They can seal the deal just fine.” Seulgi remarks as her stare goes intense. “Promise me?”

The older woman heaves a deep sigh before hooking their fingers together. There’s no use of refusing, Seulgi would always find a way to get what she wants anyway. “Promise.”

X

“Is it okay if I only drop you in the lobby?” Seulgi asks behind her steering wheel. She glances at the quiet figure beside her and brings her gaze forward.

“Nah, it’s fine.” Joohyun responds as she watches from the corner of her eye the sight of her apartment building is getting closer. “Err... Seulgi?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you so much. I-I had so much fun.” She starts with a low voice, hands are fidgeting around the hem of Seulgi’s jacket. “And thanks for lending me your jacket, I’ll wash it thoroughly.”

“Don’t mind it. You can leave it here, I got a service back in my apartment.” The latter replies in an easy tone. “You don’t have t-“

“Uh no, I insist. I will return it to you as soon as possible after I wash it, that’s it.” Joohyun interrupts quickly. “Anyway, thank you for carrying me back to the bar.”

“Oh, you knew?”

“Sooyoung told me.” Her cheeks flush a bit at the memory. She turns to stare at the window and mutters lowly. “A-am.. I heavy?”

Seulgi almost steps on the wrong pedal by the sudden question. She throws an incredulous look at her. “You probably the tiniest person I’ve ever met.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Take it.” Seulgi laughs when Joohyun punches her by the shoulder. “You’re seriously light. You should eat more.”

X

Joohyun breaks into a wide smile as she types on her phone. She has just finished washing Seulgi’s jacket and now, is quietly lying on her bed. She is about to doze off, but the several chats coming from Seulgi have distracted her will to sleep.

The lone woman raises her brows at the strange response. “What’s it with her and that weird reply?”

She turns off her phone after replying to her goodbye as well. She rolls to her side and sees a glass of water on the bedside table. Their talks about water come into her mind and she can’t help but smile inwardly at the sight and the memory it embarks. “You’re one weird person indeed.”

SEULRENE HAPPENED IN ISAC YEAY