“Munhwa,” the girl with the ridiculously short, bright pink hair smiled brightly, “It’s me!”

Munhwa’s hand immediately flew to , before she opened both her arms, reaching for the girl in the raincoat in front of her, regardless how wet Minsun was.

“Oh my god! It’s really you!” Both girls hugged each other tightly, jumping up and down excitedly. They released each soon after so Munhwa was able to take in the details on Minsun from head to toe. Munhwa gently brushed Minsun’s short, boyish do and held a fair amount of it in between  her thumb and her index finger, inspecting it in wonder.

“Oh, dear... What happened to your hair?”

“It’s a long story,” Minsun said, smiling.

“Oh, that’s right! Let’s get inside first. We need to get you warm,” the long haired girl stepped aside and gave Minsun a pat on her back, welcoming her guest inside.




Wooyoung looked up at the sky as dark clouds began to accumulate above his head. Thunder struck the dark sky, its fierce roar sent chills down his spine.

“Ah, damn. It’s going to rain.” Wooyoung quickened his small steps.




“YOU RAN AWAY?” Munhwa almost dropped the teapot that she was holding but Minsun managed to prevent the accident, gripping it firmly in her hands despite the hight temperature exuded from the ceramic ware. Munhwa quickly put the teapot aside or Minsun would burn her hand. On the other hand, Minsun just smiled at Munhwa’s innocent reaction towards her rebellious act. She picked up the filled cup and sipped on the hot drink little by little while it was raining heavily outside.

The liquid traveled down , spreading its warmth through her body and the rain stubbornly hit the glass pane of the tightly shut windows. Everything felt so nice. So calm.

Something she hadn’t feel for a while.

“Wouldn’t your mother gets mad? Wouldn’t she goes looking for you?”

Minsun smiled again. “That’s the idea.”

“Wha-” Munhwa’s jaw hung in the air. She had heard a lot about Minsun’s mother from the daughter herself and from Wooyoung. She was just worried if Minsun would get punished badly for her act.

Munhwa finally pulled herself together and voiced her concern. “What about school? Did your mother already know about this?”

“She probably does by now. It’s summer holiday anyway so there is no problem with school. I just want to see you guys again.”

Munhwa smiled again. “Does your hair has anything to do with the running away too?”

Minsun nodded and then took a strand of her hair between her thumb and her index finger, inspecting it up-close. “It’s the main reason actually. My mother was trying to make me look like a good girl by helping with her friend’s shampoo commercial. They want me to act in it. I hate the idea so I showed up at her office with this short, shocking pink hair. When my mother knew about it, she took a direct flight to London. But she won’t find me there.” Minsun finished her explanation with a wider, nonchalant smile.

Munhwa smiled back. “Don’t worry, you can stay here as long as you like. I’ll always be here.”

“Thanks a lot, Munhwa. I should get my hair dyed black again, though. Wouldn’t want to attract attention, especially from my mother’s people from all over the place. I don’t want your parents to be surprised either,”

The girls giggled together.

“Besides…” suddenly Minsun looked distant, her eyes seemed lost in her far away thoughts, “I wanted to ask you something…”

Knock, knock, knock.

Both girls turned their heads at the door.

“Just a second.” Munhwa said and got up to answer the door as a second wave of frantic, or perhaps angry door knocks hit the the poor piece of wood.

“Ah, what took you so long? I’m drenched already!” Wooyoung complained as soon as the door opened. Munhwa was surprised that he suddenly appeared in front of her doorstep all wet and grumpy. Before she could even invite him in, Wooyoung stepped to the side on his own and then naturally entered the house like it was his to start with.

“What are you doing in the rain?” Munhwa followed him.

“I was jogging and then suddenly it-”

“Your manner still , I see,”

“ARGH!!!” Wooyoung screamed out loud like he saw a ghost and fell on his rear. His eyes widened at the girl who stood in front of him, looking smug with her arms crossed and her facial expression ice cold. Munhwa quickly ran to him and helped him up, frowning.

“Be careful! You could hurt yourself like that!”

Wooyoung’s brain began to spin rapidly, trying to process the familiar face of the pink-haired girl, but even more so when he did realize who she was.

Seo Minsun?! Why is she here? Why does she looks like that?!

“Jang Wooyoung, don’t you recognize me?” Minsun tilted her head, wondering. She seemed a bit upset that Wooyoung seemed oblivious of the fact that she was indeed Seo Minsun.

“Wooyoung ah, don’t you rec-”

“I do! I do! I know who she is!” Wooyoung turned to Munhwa as he cut her off and then looked at Minsun again in disbelief. He looked at her up and down, and finally convinced himself that Minsun actually was standing there in front of him. Right when he was so upset about not being able to see her when he kept thinking about her.

“What… What happened to your hair?” He asked. He still seemed like he hadn’t gone over his shock from the dazed look on his face.

Minsun finally smiled again. “I’ll leave the explanation to Munhwa, but since you’re already here, I’d like to ask something from both of you,”

“What is it?” Both Munhwa and Wooyoung said in unison.

“It’s about Gohee unnie,”






Ding Dong.

“Coming!” Gohee’s mother jogged to the door, welcoming her unexpected guest with a warm smile. When she opened the door, her smile lessened as she wondered about who was the girl with the cropped hair standing at the doorstep

“May I help you?” Gohee’s mother asked unsurely, but still kindly.

Minsun smiled. She had been going around with long hair for years, she guessed she really looked different with her new do. At least she didn’t scare her with her newly dyed black hair.

“Eomoni, it’s me, Minsun. Is Gohee unnie around?”

“Omo! Omo, it’s really you!” The middle-aged woman placed her warm hands on both of Minsun’s cheeks, kneaded them playfully for a bit and then quickly welcomed the young girl inside.

“Oh, look at your hair. What do young people call it these days? ‘Chic’, isn’t it? You look ‘chic’, Minsun.”

Minsun smiled at the compliment as the lady lead her upstairs.

“Gohee is working in her room. I’m sure she would be happy to see you. She rarely goes out these days, unless it’s her rehab session,”

She was smiling as she explained, but Minsun could sense the sadness in the older lady’s voice. Of course she would be sad when her own daughter closed herself from anybody else, refusing to listen to anyone, and get herself locked up in her room all day long. Munhwa told her that Gohee had been diagnosed as clinically depressed since a couple of months ago, probably developed around the time when she was unable to make anymore progress in her recovery. Ever since then, it got really difficult to talk her out of negativity. Gohee would always decline when they invited her out, even if Jaebum would be there. The worst part of it was when she began to push Jaebum away, especially as he started university which required him to be away from her most of the time.

Outside of her room, Minsun could hear the busy noise of Gohee’s sewing machine.

“Gohee,” her mother knocked on the door, “Someone is here to see you,”

The noise died down, and there was a short silence before came a reply.

“Mom, I told you I don’t want to see him,” Gohee said softly.

“It’s not him, darling,”

Gohee’s mother turned to Minsun again, and signaled Minsun to get inside. Minsun nodded, and watched as the older lady left. Minsun took a deep breathe as she placed her slim fingers on the door handle. She exhaled slowly, and then pushed the door open.

“Unnie, it’s been a while.” Minsun stepped inside, and smiled gently at the pale looking, thinner Gohee who was sitting on her wheelchair. Minsun stood still as she felt Gohee’s eyes inspecting her head to toe, waiting, giving Gohee a chance to recognize her. The older girl slowly widened her eyes, a hand flew to , covering it as she let out a small gasp.

“Minsun, is that you?” Gohee asked. Her lips slowly curving into a gentle, yet weary looking smile.

Minsun nodded. She stepped closer to Gohee. The older girl stretched out her hand and Minsun reached for her cold fingers and squeezed it, as if trying to give it life. Minsun smiled wider even though Gohee didn’t. Minsun bent her body and hugged the frail looking girl. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief. She didn’t realize how anxious she was for Gohee until she actually met her. A surge of relief washed over her just to see the older girl smiling at her. Minsun rubbed Gohee’s back comfortingly before she released herself from Gohee.

Minsun’s smile faded as soon as she saw Gohee’s tear stained face.

“Unnie, what’s wrong?” Minsun frowned. She kneeled in front of the girl sitting in the wheelchair. Gohee tried to wipe away her tears quickly, but Minsun pulled her hands away and gently wiped Gohee’s tears for her.

“I’m just so glad that you’re here,” Gohee smiled.

“Me too,” Minsun said with a smile, but her heart was aching seeing Gohee coming to this. She wondered how long did she kept those tears, or how much tears she had cried silently? She was glad that at least she didn’t hide her feelings with her, probably because they both knew each other so well. They had always shared  their feelings together. Minsun hoped they still do.




“Agh… Why do I have to do the grocery shopping?!” Wooyoung threw his head back in frustration, complaining as he walked side by side with Minsun. It wasn’t the first time since 10 minutes ago. He probably had repeated the same sentence about 8 times within that short duration. Minsun hadn’t even ticked halfway through her grocery checklist. She didn’t even bother retorting back to him. In all honesty, he was just there to help bringing the stuff home, as well as preparing the food for the big picnic tomorrow. Last week, she managed to convince Gohee to spend some time outside with her, so this time she wanted her to be with the others as well, specifically the basketball club members.

“Yah… Seo Minsun… don’t ignore me! I still can’t believe you made me do this!”

Munhwa suddenly received a call from her older brother, telling her to pick up and take care her young niece from a daycare not too far from the school because the parents had to do a sudden over time that day. If it wasn’t because of that, Minsun would have ditched Wooyoung long time ago. She rolled her eyes as she took a turn to another aisle, picking up stuffs while pushing her trolley forward. It felt like she was holding onto her dear life just having to witshstand Wooyoung’s nagging.

“What’s the problem, Wooyoung? You do this for your mother all the time,”

“My mother is different story! That’s a life or death situation! Are you even sure this is a good thing?”

“Why not? Gohee unnie haven’t left her house for months. This is a great progress for her.”

“You know what I mean,” Wooyoung mumbled. He picked up a random product and checked it with detail, but all he did was actually avoiding her eyes. When Minsun passed by him he returned the product to its original place and reluctantly followed Minsun from behind.

Minsun’s steps slowed down. She stopped in front of the frozen food section and picked up a product which was listed in her checklist.

“Why not?” Minsun’s voice softened. They both were standing facing each other on their backs. The busy  surrounding just fade in the background. And then they both realized this was the first time for them to be alone since she came back. They had been together alone a lot of times before but this time, for some reason it felt a bit awkward.

“I don’t know… This isn’t like everything else… Gohee noona changed. I mean, what if she got upset and completely shut herself from us?”

“You think she would do that?”

“I don’t know,” Wooyoung shrugged. He turned around and walked to the frozen section too, and leaned the back of his waist against the horizontal freezer. He carefully looked up, watching Minsun’s expression, which was calm and cold. Minsun looked at him back.

“Life is so unpredictable.” He added.

“When did you start worrying how things would turn out?”

“Heh,” he chuckled, faking an embarrassed look when he was just boasting, “I guess I just got matured.”

Minsun gave him a dirty look and pushed the trolley past him.

“I think you just got chickened.”

“WHAT?! HEY!” Wooyoung got up and caught up to Minsun. “Chicken? I just want you to think things over!”

“Why do you even want to think things over? You don’t do that Wooyoung. You just do whatever is on your mind.”

“Look, I know it hasn’t been that long since you left, but things had changed. Gohee noona changed. Jaebumie hyung changed. I changed.”

Minsun paused her steps so suddenly that Wooyoung were already far ahead of her before he realized. Her expression changed. She still had that cold look about her, but there was something else in her eyes. She was contemplating. Whether she was doing the right thing, whether Wooyoung was wrong or right. Wooyoung wasn’t sure, but he bit his tongue with guilt when he realized that his statement just now would definitely make her feel left out.

“I’m sorry…” he quickly said, “I mean… I don’t know… I’m really bad at things like this. It seemed like so many things had happened, I’m afraid one wrong step would destroy everything.” Wooyoung sighed and looked away.

Minsun looked down, staring at the things in her trolley. To be honest, she was scared too. Like everybody else, she didn’t know what was the right thing to do either. But she couldn’t take just staying still not doing anything. She had promised herself to not live in regret anymore. If things crumbled apart, she wouldd just start over.

“Do you think… I should not do this?”

“Well… it’s probably fine if you don’t invite Jaebum hyung. I don’t think it’s the right time…”

They stared at each other for quite a while. Wooyoung’s breathing was orderly but heavy. He didn’t want to hurt her by discouraging this idea, but letting Gohee to meet Jaebum again just made him worried, because he saw it with his own eyes how Gohee pushed Jaebum away from her life, and how difficult it was for her to open up again, even towards Munhwa and him.

“You’re wrong.”

“Huh?”

“If I stop now, will things get better on their own?”

“Well… that…”

“Don’t you think it’s been too long since they talked to wach other?”

Minsun’s small eyes were piercing. Wooyoung had never seen her more determined. The thing he remembered about her was her timid nature. She was always on her own, keeping things to herself, avoiding people and worrying over her decisions. It was as if they had switched place. She was headstrong now, bold and even a little reckless, just like how he was about half a year ago.

“Stop being a chicken.” Minsun said monotonously, harsh, but Wooyoung knew her well that she wasn’t trying to hurt. She was expecting the same old Wooyoung to get worked up at her little insult, bantering with her not wanting to lose, not leaving a chance for awkwardness to come between their conversation.

“HAH!” Wooyoung scoffed. “H-how dare you!” He slightly pushed her away from the trolley and took over. Wooyoung even went as far as snatching away the grocery list from her hand.

Minsun was taken aback at his sudden change of behavior. He was so rough when he pushed her away too, but a wide, genuine smile quickly splayed across her small face. Minsun was too happy that she wanted to laugh out loud, but kept it in for the sake of Wooyoung’s pride. He would definitely get mad if she laughed at him. They continued walking side by side, the grocery shopping now fully on Wooyoung.

“I knew you would do it,” Minsun said, she still couldn’t stop smiling.

Wooyoung cleared his throat, his eyes were everywhere but Minsun. If there was one thing that stayed the same, it was how Minsun always won at their every argument. It was embarrassing enough being called chicken, to lose to her and quickly changed his stance made him felt like he was such a weak guy.

“Was… was it that bad? Me, holding back like this?”

“To be honest, you being sensible like this was pretty cool. It’s just that you being reckless was much cooler to me,”

“You think? But you kept scolding me whenever I was being one back then.”

“That was because you had no sense at all.”

“But you said- Ah, I give up,” Wooyoung sighed, only to continue with a light laugh. Minsun laughed along.

“Seriously though. The moment I was told that I had to be sent to UK, there was one thing that I kept reminding myself with everyday.”

“What is it?”

“It was to be just like you,”

Wooyoung was taken aback at her answer. What did she mean? Is she secretly, without him knowing, had been admiring his charisma?

“I told myself to not live in regret. To face challenges head on without worrying about winning or losing. To never let go of every opportunity I get. To appreciate every moment I’m living right now, adn the people around me. Those were the things I learned from you.”

Her honest confession flattered him, but it put him in an awkward situation. He decided to stop talking about the past and changed the topic.

“Hey,” He said.

“Hm?”

“You haven’t seen me playing basketball since you came back, haven’t you?”

Minsun nodded.

“I’ll show you later. My skills just improved so much cooler when I play basketball now. You’ll definitely fall in love with me.” He grinned, but not for long though. Minsun’s awkward chuckle just now just reminded him that he actually had feelings for her. He wasn’t sure of her feelings towards him yet, but there was that kiss on the night before she left too. She didn’t know the fact that he liked her either and things easily got awkward between them since she came back.

Wooyoung gritted his teeth. How freaking stupid, self. Time to change topic again.


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