When Jeongyeon learned that a new family with a child around her age was moving in her neighborhood during the summer holiday, she had almost knocked her whole breakfast out of the table in joy. All her friend had left town to go to some better places for a hot summer, and a new kid meant a new friend. 

So the day they moved in, Jeongyeon took her bicycle and happily made her way towards the newly built house, a pack of candies and a bottle of wine her bag, as welcoming gifts. She stopped by the furniture truck and let the bicycle fall to the ground with a thud ; she obsersved the tall and muscular man moving the stuff from the truck to the house for a little while, before she noticed someone looking at her front the entrance door. 

A little girl, black hair, and as Jeongyeon got closer, she discovered the cute moles on her face. She grinned and greeted the girl, asking her if her parents were there. She got no response, only a curious gaze observing her face, before she heard someone speak behind, with an heavy foreign accent. 

« Good morning, young one. Are you from the neighborhood ? I’m M.Myoui, this is my daughter, Mina. » he patted the young girl shoulder as he spoke and gave a warm smile to Jeongyeon. « We’re from Japan, and this young lady here still struggles a bit with Korean. »

« It’s nice to meet you ! I’m Jeongyeon, I live a few houses from here. my mother asked me to give you this. » she reached for her backpack and gave the candies to Mina, the bottle to her father. « I’m stuck here for the holiday, so if Mina needs any help with the place or Korean, I would gladly help ! And I already have two feigns who are japanese, they will love you! »

The father thanked her for the good looking wine, and invited her inside, Mina following with the bag of candies close to her chest. He gave her a glass of water and asked her a few questions about herself and the place they were at. Jeongyeon said she was 8, studying at the closest school, that she loved biking, playing legos and hanging out with her friends at the abandoned skate park a few streets from their homes. 

M.Myoui gestured for Mina to try and talk about herself in Korean too. Jeongyeon understood, in the girl’s broken Korean, that she was 7, loved dancing, and didn’t know to ride a bicycle like her. The older girl promised she could teach her, after getting her father’s approval. She left the house with a smile, and promised to come back tomorrow to play with Mina.

She talked a lot about the new family at the dinner table that evening. And if you asked her mother, she would say she was glad they had to stay here for the holiday.

—

She waited for Mina to show up near the white mailbox in front of the house, kicking little rocks on the road, looking the very few cars pass by in front of her. She had brough a bottle and water with her and more snacks, in hope to make the Japanese girl discover as many korean candies as she could before the kids form school did it before her. She opened a bag for herself as she waited. She also had two helmets and wrists protections, just in case. 

She heard the door click and open behind her, a woman she had not met yet standing between the doorframe. The woman waved at her and pushed a shy Mina forward a bit, encouraging her to go and join her new friend. She picked up her bicycle from the ground and promised to bring the girl back by 5pm. 

They walked quietly, Jeongyeon wanting to speak but feeling like Mina would either not answer or would struggle to and the older girl did not want that. They arrived at the empty skatepark a few minutes later, and went for the area without installations. Jeongyeon left the bike against a bench and asked Mina to step closer. She carefully set the helmet around the girl’s head, asked and mimicking if it wasn’t too tie or too loose. She also gave her the wrist protections, lowered the seat of the bicycle, testing it with Mina, and they got into position. 

« Alright, listen, I won’t let go of the bike, I’m going to hold it here, see ? You won’t be able to lose your balance that way. I’ll only let go when you feel comfortable enough. Only when you don’t need me anymore.» 

In total, they tried 3 times ; the first one, Jeongyeon never let go. The second, Mina fell, but didn’t cry even when her knee started bleeding. The third time, if was like the young girl had knew how to ride a bike her whole life. She had laughed for the first time in the day, cycling freely around the area, Jeongyeon looking at her proudly. She almost fell again but managed not to, and Jeongyeon had been afraid she would have to explain 2 scratches to her parents. 

They ate the candies together, Jeongyeon acting like an older sister and telling Mina to brush her teeth well this evening. 

The rest of the afternoon when smoothly, with them discovering a bird nest on their way back, meeting up with another group of kids from another neighborhood, and simply enjoying the breeze of the wind whenever they rode the bicycle. 

—

Mina joined their school at the end of the holiday, and quickly became friend with Jeongyeon’s friends. By middle school, they were still together, and Mina would go to class sitting at the back of Jeongyeon’s new bicycle every day. At the end of the day, they were always quiet, enjoying the ride, complaining about not being able to do it during winter. 

Mina eventually got her own, but she found it better to ride Jeongyeon’s. It always felt like they went through childhood memories when they would pass by places they used to play at. 

They had a little Christmas between friends once, and Mina offered her a very special box of legos that could only be found in Japan. It had taken them days to finish building everything indicated in the instructions, but Jeongyeon would never complain about spending more time with Mina.

By high school, the abandoned skate park was covered by plants and trees, only stray cats and dogs sometimes wandering around, and slightly questionable people. It was also where they would hold their annual spooky night on October 31, and the day Jeongyeon broke her bicycle when she tried to kiss Mina during her second year of high school. 

The evening had been going well, with Momo getting so scared she almost broke Chaeyoung’s arm, Sana’s screams hurting everyone and scaring them more than the actual terrifying installations, and Nayeon wining the cup for fastest person leaving the attraction for the fourth time - when you only run forward and cover your ears, everything’s easier. 

Then, how did her bicycle break ? 

In their hurry, they somehow had forgotten Mina inside the attraction, and no one wanted to go back in. So Jeongyeon did, with her bicycle this time, hoping Mina would agree to sit on it and that they would leave faster. She found the Japanese girl perched up on one of the trees, and it took Jeongyeon a lot of strength to not laugh. 

« I saw something move and I was alone so I just, I climbed ? I don’t know, I got scared. » 

« Hey, it’s alright. Do you think you can jump ? It seems dangerous and there’s nothing else to help you get down… wait. » she locked her bike into place, and clumsy set a foot on the bag keeper, another one of the seat. Mina carefully went down into her arms. « like always, I won’t let go of you, don’t worry. » 

The scene turned somehow romantic and the idea of kissing Mina flashed in Jeongyeon’s mind, so she slightly got her face closer to the girl’s - everything was going smoothly, until someone screamed behind them, Jeongyeon lost her balance and fell of the bike, hearing a loud crack and feeling all the air come out of her lungs as her back hit the ground, Mina still in her arms. 

What happened after was a blur, but she remembered her parents scolding her about the broken bike, and a kiss left by Mina on her cheek before they parted ways. 

Her favorite memory of her travels with Mina and the bicycle would be the time they ran away from Mina's parents to avoid the most boring party they had both been attending, and going instead near the river not far form the house. Mina had cling on her harder that usual, the bike going at a speed that it had rarely reached before. it had made them both feel more alive than ever.

Uni kind off broke everything down. Jeongyeon couldn’t go there by bike anymore, she still had not sorted her feelings out for Mina, and she was pretty sure the girl would find someone to go out with during her last year of high school. Her first year went well but she wished more than once to go back to her town and just cycle through the skate park with a can of beer and her friends. So she did, and went back one night, grabbed her freshly bought bike form the garage, and didn’t forget passing by Mina’s house. 

Every lights were turned off, and she sighed, running a hand through her pink dyed hair, a disappointed feeling hitting her chest. She placed her feet back on the pedals and continued her way to the skate park under the weak and dim light of the old streetlights. The streets were deserted so late in the night, and she only passed by a cat. 

She felt chills run down her spin as the abandoned place appeared in her sight ; it looked like time had been going faster around that area. Her grip on the handlebar tightened and she crossed the street, a wave of memories crashing on her mind like a wave. She left her bike against one of the trees and made her way between them, trying to reach the center of the place, phone flashlight on. Only the cracking of branches under her feet could be heard. 

She stopped near a still somehow free bench and lifted her head to notice that the sky was visible, no tress blocking the views. She sat down, head up, the flashlight turned off, and she took a moment for herself for not thinking, only admiring and forgetting everything that had brought her here. 

She didn’t cycle back to her house, only walked with the bike on her side and a lot on her mind. 

She grunted when she felt a rain drop fall on her cheek and jumped on the bike, not wanting to get drained. Thankfully, it stayed light and wouldn’t be a bother. She stopped again by Mina’s house, hoping for a miracle to happen, but no lights got , no one left the house. She got ready to leave again, when a faint sound reached her ears.

Mina was standing on the front porch, in pajamas and a really cute penguin plushie pressed against her chest ; the one Jeongyeon had given her for her 13th birthday. They stared at each other for a few seconds, words heavy in their heads but no one spoke up. Jeongyeon almost left when the tension became too much. 

« Want to go and learn how to ride a bicycle again ? » was what she said instead.