The warm sunlight kissed her face gently, and the soft breeze was like a caress. Tall trees reached out with their green leafy branches as though to embrace the sun, the rustling leaves whispering secrets that only those able to listen will be able to hear.

It was perfect. Birds were chirping, and flowers were blooming all over the place in this late-spring time. A little girl in a flower-patterned dress ran around the fresh grass in the park, while Sungmi watched her, trying not to let her impatience show.

She did not feel the sun's kiss or the breeze's caress, or hear the birds or the rustling leaves.

Assignments. Deadlines. Mountains and mountains and mountains of books and papers she would bury herself under, and likely pass out on the couch late at night only to wake up and dash off to class. Working full-time was more peaceful than being a full-time student – after working to earn enough money, Sungmi resumed her studies. But the two-year break had been horrendous, as her brain had to re-adjust itself from stacking and sorting papers for the editors to cramming all sorts of useless information.

She had an important assignment due tomorrow, and she wanted to revise it one last time and prepare for the test. But no, she was stuck baby-sitting at the park, and what with having to keep an eye on the lively five-year old, there was no way she could study here.

"Aunty Sungmi!" the little girl cried, running to join her on the bench. "Feed the pigeons now please?"

"Sure!" said Sungmi brightly, opening her bag and getting out the little packet of bread crumbs. "What were you doing, running around by yourself?"

"Shh!" Byul put her little finger over her lips and looked around secretively. "Mister Boombernickles found a pirate!"

"A pirate?" Sungmi pretended to be shocked. "Were you and Mister Boombernickles running away from them?"

The little girl nodded earnestly. "Yes! They stoled treasure and we stoled it back to give to the Queen!"

"You mean, they stole treasure?" Sungmi corrected.

"Yes, they stoled treasure!"

Sungmi let the mistake pass, and asked all about Byul and Mister Boombernickles' adventure with the pirates as they threw breadcrumbs to the pigeons. Mister Boombernickles was the little girl's imaginary friend, and according to Byul he was like a genie, only he came out of a pickle jar, and she had wished him free and he had stuck by her ever since.

Right when they had given all the breadcrumbs to the pigeons, a familiar figure made it's way across the park to them. The man was tall and wore large glasses – not that he really needed them, though, but he knew it made him look smarter. More importantly, Soo Mi, his wife and Sungmi's best friend, loved his "hot nerd" look the most.

"Daddy!" Byul was delighted and slid off the bench to run to her father, who caught her in his arms and threw the squealing child in the air before setting her down again. She was off at once, running and whooping. How such a small thing had so much energy, Sungmi would never know. She was too lazy to even go out for a jog, and there was Byul, running around all day.

Namjoon plopped down on the bech beside her. "Had a nice afternoon?"

Sungmi shrugged. "Sure – by the way, Byul ate all my ice cream and clogged the toilet because she wanted to see how many rolls of toilet paper could fit in the U-bend."

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" exclaimed Namjoon. "What did you do?"

"Fished it out with a stick, of course!" Sungmi shuddered at the memory. "You owe me big time, you and Soo Mi owe me big time!"

"You look so pretty today," said Namjoon. "Ah, you get prettier every day!"

"Is this what you say to Soo Mi when she's grumpy?" Sungmi laughed.

The tall man nodded. "Yup. It works well, too."

"Well, I'm not your wife, so it won't work on me."

"Awww damn, I guess buying you a fresh stock of ice cream will be the only thing that'll work, huh?"

Sungmi grinned. "You know me well."

"I should hope so!" Namjoon pretended to be offended. "After knowing you for ten years-"

"And being with my best friend for eight of those years," she supplied.

"Yes, it was like I was dating and marrying Soo Mi and you! Always tagging along!"

"Hey, I moved out in the end ok," Sungmi said defensively.

"Only because you couldn't stand to see us anymore!"

"Who can live with people as gross and lovey-dovey as you two? No one!"

"We aren't gross," he protested.

"Oh please, Soo Mi just has to call you her hot, y brainy nerd and bam! You drop everything and then get all gross!"

Namjoon laughed. "I never thought I would like to be called a nerd so much."

"I don't think that's a normal turn-on, if you know what I mean-"

"Ah, shut up!" Namjoon's eyes fell on Byul, who was rolling around in the grass. "I'm sorry she gave you so much trouble."

"Who?" Sungmi took a second to realize the change in subject. "Oh! Byul! Don't worry about it, she's a sweetheart – an energetic one, at that."

"She gets you out of your house, doesn't she? You need to take a break once in a while, stop stuffing your head and just wake up and smell the roses." There was a hint of concern in his voice.

"I don't have time, honestly." Sungmi sighed. "That break from studying really made me forget stuff... you know I've always hated it and now it takes double the effort to memorize anything."