It was really just a peaceful afternoon. Just like any other day.

Maybe it was too peaceful.

'Nah.' 

Moon Byul Yi shrugged as she resumed viewing the soft, fluffy clouds moving at their own pace. Everything was tempting her to take a nap – the crickets chirping in the background, the cool breeze occupying her home, the pillow flying directly at her face–

“Hey!” There goes her peaceful afternoon.

“I told you that we’re leaving today, why are you still lazing around?”

The silver-haired woman glared at the newcomer as she sat up, “I don’t want to go. Just go by yourself, Hyejin-ah.”

“What–” A tick mark grew by Hyejin’s head. Moonbyul had already fallen back to the ground when Hyejin picked up another pillow and catapulted it to the former’s head, “Stop being a lazyass.”

Moonbyul groaned, “Fine, fine.”

They had this monthly thing where the two of them would buy a month’s worth of groceries, rather than frequenting the city every other week – much to Hyejin’s ire and Moonbyul’s joy. It would’ve been a menial task, if it weren’t for the weight of the groceries and the distance of their home to the city.

You see, their residence was quite secluded. But it’s not like they’re hiding from the public.

The two of them only moved to that… abandoned looking house because the rent was really, really cheap. Hyejin immediately agreed to the contract without as much as looking or inspecting said house. Moonbyul was not exaggerating when she said that the former was extremely frugal.

“You know, we wouldn’t be going through this much trouble if we lived in an apartment in the city,” Moonbyul mumbled to the femme fatale.

“And I told you that we need to save money,” Hyejin replied as she took an apple from the isle, “Does this look ripe to you?”

The silver-haired woman shook her head in response, sighing in defeat.

She just wanted to stop living as hermits, really.

“Besides,” Hyejin turned to Byul, “The only reason you’d rather be in the city is because of the wifi.”

“Well who doesn’t!? You’re the weird one.”

The shorter woman rolled her eyes. Moonbyul’s always had this obsession with her games and her gadgets. If the woman wasn’t found napping in the middle of the afternoon, she’d be wasting her time with games. Moonbyul, on the other hand, couldn’t understand how Hyejin didn’t want access to the internet. It’s freakin’ 2019. Even her grandmother uses it. Hyejin should at least need it for her work as a manager in a museum but the latter claimed that she found a way around it.

“That house doesn’t have any air conditioner,” Moonbyul retorted.

“Think of mother Earth, unnie.”

“The electricity flickers!”

“Just use a candle.”

“We have to bathe in the freakin’ lake when there’s no power.”

“Think of it as a private pool.”

“It’s not very private when those kids went playing nearby and I. was. .”

Hyejin snorted, a wide smile now stretching her lips. Then it was followed by a curt snicker. Only it didn’t come from Hyejin, but from the woman behind the counter.

  ‘Great, now even this lady is laughing at me.’

Their very secluded home suddenly seemed like a good place to be in for Moonbyul. Maybe she’ll even jump in that cursed lake and never resurface again to this world of embarrassment.

“I’m sorry,” the shorter lady with wavy orange hair said, “But why didn’t you just bathe with your clothes on?”

Hyejin was undoubtedly amused as she watched the exchange between this adorable looking human and Moonbyul, “Well, unnie?”

“Do you ever go to the shower with your clothes on?”

“No, but I don’t go to the pool either.”

“… Be glad that you’re cute,” Moonbyul replied in defeat. The worker simply beamed at her words, taking the several items from the duo and scanning their barcodes.

  Goodbye, peaceful afternoon.

“Did you really need to buy this much cola?”

The shorter woman stared at the state of their cooler. So far, despite its size, half of it was occupied with cola which was probably three dozen in number. That was another one of Moonbyul’s addictions.

“I didn’t complain about your beer, did I?” Moonbyul retorted – the other half of the cooler was filled with Hyejin’s alcohols.

“But you drink it with me, unnie.”

“And you can drink my cola too, Hyejin-ah,” Moonbyul patted the shorter woman’s head, laughing when she received an eyeroll in return for the headpat, “Can you sort the rest of the groceries? I forgot to buy some milk. I’ll be back in an hour.”

Moonbyul could only stare at Hyejin’s back as she scurried on her way to the car.

“… There’s milk right here, though…” Said carton of milk was already resting in the refrigerator. She shrugged, not wanting to bother with Hyejin and her newfound weirdness. She’ll deal with it on another day.

“Why did we get so many stuff…” Hyejin avoided excessive spending for most stuff but she never held back when it came to food.

Moonbyul versus mountain of groceries started off with the former cussing at the latter.

Moonbyul remembered the time she had a dog.

His name was Daebakkie. The little corgi was a lively ball of energy, until he got old and eventually passed away at an outstanding age of 15. Other canines lived for only half that age, so she was lucky. 

And as far as Moonbyul remembered, she didn’t have a zombie dog. Daebakkie’s resting in his grave at her hometown, not fetching this… fish? from the lake and placing it onto her lap.

“Thank you…?” Moonbyul hesitantly said to the sitting dog with his tail happily wagging.

“You better wake up,” the woman looked down to the fish that was standing–

And slapped her hard with its tail as if this was a cartoon.

It took one roll to the side for the floor to welcome Moonbyul’s face, effectively waking up the woman as she groaned in pain. She wasn’t the only one surprised though.

It was dead in the night and Hyejin still wasn’t home – if she was, the younger female would’ve already readied her cat punching skills to fight off this robber that was currently rummaging through her closet.

The two share a staring contest, with Moonbyul and her half-asleep stare while the robber had these panicked eyes. Thankfully, she realized the situation just in time and gave chase to the masked thief

Was this thief looking for their home specifically? Because one does not just stumble into their residence by accident with a ski mask in tow. Moonbyul shook her head, focusing onto chasing this robber through the shrubbery and ask him about it later on.

Where the heck is Hyejin anyway!? 

“Welcome, Hyejin-ssi! Is it the usual order again for you?”

“Yes, thank you,” Hyejin bowed in response.

“Coming right up!”

Her eyes scan the small establishment for the mop of orange hair and smiles when she sees the smaller woman eating to her heart’s content. 

“Wheein-ah,” she said gently as she tapped the cashier’s shoulder, “Sorry, I was late.”

Wheein smiled in return, “Don bowwy aboud id.”

Hyejin laughed, finding everything about Wheein to be extremely adorable. She used to cringe in disgust whenever other people would talk with food in their mouths, especially when Moonbyul accidentally hurled a piece of rice right from the mouth to her face.

“Don’t worry about it,” Wheein cleared herself after swallowing her food, “Are you sure it’s alright that you’re here? Won’t Moonbyul look for you?”

“She’s probably sleeping or still playing her games,” she replied while breaking off the chopsticks from the wrapper.

“Besides, she doesn’t need me. What’s the worse that can happen?”

“Come back here!

Stupid forest. Stupid signal. Stupid Hyejin.

Moonbyul cursed all three as she kept pressing the redial button on her phone, only to get the same response from the automated lady saying that she had no signal.

This wouldn’t happen if they were in the freaking city where there’s actual people that can stop the thief and his temple forest run. The robber was persistent – they’ve been running for 10 minutes at full speed. Even Moonbyul, who’s lived in this place for half a year already, was starting to get lost.

Not to mention she’s losing her stamina and the scratches on her arm were starting to sting. Funnily enough, when the man slows down to catch his breathing, Moonbyul does too. All she could do was stare at his huffing figure as she falls to the ground, legs weak.

“You’re so reckless. What if I was a murderer too huh!? I could’ve killed you!” The man said, breathing heavily.

“Please,” Moonbyul rolled her eyes. In all honesty, that slipped her mind – she just chased after the man without thinking of her safety. She could’ve just let him go… but she was here now and she wasn’t about to let the thief know about that, “I could easily take someone like you.”

“You’re one crazy lady.”

“I’m the crazy one!? You could’ve broken in the dozens of houses in the city but noooo, you wanted to go for that one home that was freakin’ 10 kilometers away from the main road.”

“Well you were screaming your lungs out at me! Who the heck makes that much ruckus in the middle of the night!?”

“Someone chasing a damn robber!”

“Well, if you say so.”

Wheein hummed, resigning to the relaxed atmosphere. The waitress walks over with the freshly cooked gopchang for Hyejin, “Enjoy your date.”

There wasn’t anything in the world that could make Hyejin blush. Not even when she’s under the scorching sun or when she’s experiencing a rash. That ‘date’ remark was the first one in the list.

Was she really that interested in Jung Whee In?

Sure, she’s pretty and adorable and her voice is melodious and–

“It’s not a date–”

… and someone so dense that made Hyejin to sometimes want to hit her with a brick.

The robber’s name was Sandeul.

His reason for robbing? He was broke. Nothing more.

Why Moonbyul and Hyejin’s home? He found their home accidentally while visiting a nearby shrine. But because it looked deserted, he thought he’d find something pretty to pawn. It was only when he saw the many electronics in the living room that he deduced that there was actually someone living there.

Sandeul would’ve gone home by then but instead opted to rummage through a few things since no one was home. Or at least he thought no one was home. Moonbyul, who was completely enveloped by her blanket at the time, was apparently camouflaging in the dark so the thief didn’t see her. 

The man said he didn’t steal her consoles because he felt… pity. Sandeul’s playstation got robbed as well and he didn’t want anyone going through the same anguish that he felt. Usually, a normal person would be appalled by his reason, but not Moonbyul. After knowing that he was a fellow gamer, his sins were immediately erased in Moonbyul’s eyes.

Why is Moonbyul sitting and casually chatting with the man that robbed her home?

They’re friends now.

He promptly returned her broken watch too so technically he didn’t steal anything from her anymore.

“Why didn’t you just steal from the shrine? Don’t people donate money in that box right there?