Drabble based on the winning prompt for the Third Drabble Giveaway I held on Twitter (link): A wenrene story based on the concept "girl scout's cookies"

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All it takes is the short trip to the front door and back to sour Yerim’s mood. Instead of the excited smile with which she bounced to sign for the delivery - she was probably expecting something she’d ordered -, she returns with an armful of cookies and her face set in exasperation.

“Seriously? We’re getting them in the mail now?”

Joohyun peeks at her over the top of her book but doesn’t reply. Yerim doesn’t wait for an answer either as she settles heavily by the end of the sofa, barely giving Joohyun the time to tuck in her legs and pull her feet out of the way.

“I’m a fan of cookies, I really am, but this is just excessive. I mean, what’s next? Are they going to start pouring down the chimney too?”

The question is clearly rhetorical, so Joohyun only shrugs, book still held open in front of her face, but mostly for protection from Yerim’s probing gaze.

“How many times have the girl scouts even been here?” Yerim carries on, absently ripping open the carton in her hands and reaching inside. She turns to face Joohyun then, eyes carrying the light-hearted impatience that her older sister’s idiosyncrasies always tend to elicit. “And can you stop buying something every time they come by?”

Joohyun’s face disappears entirely behind her book. It’s not simply that Yerim is making some reasonable points that she isn’t sure how to refute. The whole thing is just… embarrassing.

The first time the girl scouts dropped by, everything worked as it had every year. The children showed off the available varieties, Joohyun decided on her order and money was promptly exchanged for cookies. Then the adult in charge wrote everything down in a bunch of papers before the whole group was off to visit the next house over.

Nice, neat, simple. Yerim was delighted to find a stash of thin mints awaiting her as she returned from college and she ate an unhealthy amount in a single night, just like every year.

And then, not three days later, the girl scouts were back. There was barely a flicker of recognition on the chaperone’s face as she gave the introductory speech, but Joohyun could see the way a few of the children’s brows scrunched in hesitation.

“Umm,” she hesitantly cut in, hoping she wouldn’t come across as rude, “you already did me.”

The woman’s jaw snapped shut and her eyes widened in surprise that bordered on panic. Her cheeks grew pink as Joohyun held her gaze with nothing but confusion.

“Oh!” she exclaimed after an uncomfortably long stretch of silence, like the pieces of the puzzle had finally come together. “Your house. I- we already did your house. Yes. I see that now. Yes.”

Pink cheeks grew a shade closer to scarlet and Joohyun could only blink as she processed the events. She wasn’t sure what had just crossed the woman’s mind - she wasn’t sure she wanted to know -, but she barely had the time to think about it before the woman was pulling a stack of papers from her bag and flipping through them nervously.

“Yes, here it is, I got the house numbers messed up. I wrote in my notes that we stopped at number 63 on this street, but I read it as 36 this morning. And… here we are,” she finished weakly as she locked eyes with Joohyun and probably considered that she hadn’t been looking for an in-depth explanation so much as for them to simply go on their way. “I’m so sorry about this, sorry to bother-”

“Actually, I’m glad you came back,” Joohyun intervened before the nervous woman could apologize any further. Her gaze lit up uncertainly at her words, some tension escaping her hunched shoulders. “Could I get a couple more boxes of samoas? I forgot how much my sister likes them and she’s already halfway through the ones I bought.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” The way the scout leader smiled brightly at the order reassured Joohyun that she’d made the right decision with her little white lie. Yerim hadn’t even touched the samoas yet.

The woman turned to one of the girls for the boxes and personally stepped around a few of the children to deposit them in Joohyun’s arms.

“I’m Joohyun,” the latter offered, taking advantage of the proximity. She cradled the boxes against her chest and stretched out her free arm, which immediately felt like a ridiculous action. Still,  the woman across from her was quick to step forward and grasp her hand with soft, warm fingers.

“I’m Seungwan.”

Distracted from her previous flustered state, Seungwan shone with an easy familiarity that Joohyun almost envied, beaming with the satisfaction of a job well done.

Maybe she’d been distracted the last time around, but now Joohyun began to wonder how she hadn’t noticed that Seungwan was quite pretty. Her hair was up in a ponytail and Joohyun could follow the line of her jaw all the way to her ears, discreetly pierced in about five different places. Her smile was effortlessly infectious, even when it still held the slightest edge of embarrassment, and her eyes were-

Joohyun should probably stop staring at the girl scout leader while half a dozen children looked on. Yes.

“Thank you. For the cookies.”

Seungwan bowed needlessly as she stepped backwards, gathering her children before walking off with further apologies.

The group had barely turned the corner and Joohyun already knew she’d see them again. She’d forgotten to pay for the cookies.

The third time that Seungwan showed up at Joohyun's door, she was no longer accompanied by children in uniforms and decorated sashes. She was alone, carrying a plate of fresh-baked cookies and showing off the same infectious smile.

The cookies were an apology, she told Joohyun, for bothering her yet again. She'd come for the money she'd forgotten to collect the previous time, but she lingered after receiving it, only gazing mutely at Joohyun, like she couldn't make up her mind to say something else.

Joohyun almost invited her inside to share the cookies with her, but she wondered if that might be weird. Plus, as her conscience reminded her, just because she worked from home, it did not mean she could stop for tea and a chat whenever she felt like it. But that voice was much weaker. It was mostly the fear of weirdness, really.

And that was it. They said their goodbyes, Seungwan walked off and Joohyun went back to her work.

That underwhelming encounter might very well have been the last time they ever saw each other, but luck seemed to be on Joohyun's side, because not two weeks had gone by when she spotted Seungwan strolling across the street. She was carrying no cookies, no bundles of papers, not even a bag. She was just walking with her hands in the pockets of her jeans

Joohyun was out of the door before she even knew what she was doing. It was only when she came to a stop a few steps from Seungwan, who was already turning to face her with surprise, that she wondered what she should say.

They'd only seen each other three times. Adding it all together, they'd had barely 10 minutes of conversation. Should Joohyun even remember Seungwan's name after such little interaction? Would she come across as far too interested?

"You're… the cookie girl," she blurted out, immediately regretting it. This was far weirder than just calling her Seungwan.

Seungwan looked a bit lost as she studied Joohyun. "Yes, that's me," she finally replied, probably waiting for Joohyun to elaborate on why she'd run out of the house to intercept her. Joohyun did not elaborate, because she had no idea how to, and the "cookie girl" thing began to feel more and more like she'd backed herself into a corner.

"Did you… want more cookies?"

No. "Yes."

She'd choked. She'd choked hard. Yerim was going to kill her if more cookies showed up at their house. Those things really weren't that cheap.

But Seungwan was already digging in her pockets for stray paper and pen, expression professionally composed. "I'm not really on duty this week, but I'll pass it along and someone will drop it off, is that alright?"

Joohyun nodded miserably and made her order.

So the bright side is that there probably will not be any more cookies coming anytime soon, since Joohyun doesn't feel like she'll ever be able to face Seungwan again, even if she does drop by the neighbourhood again.

The less bright side is that she really wanted to see Seungwan again.

"Oh!" Yerim exclaims knowingly, elongating the syllable playfully. Joohyun wonders for a moment if she has developed the ability to read minds.

"What?" Joohyun risks asking, finally breaking her silence. For the moment, she's too curious to be cautious.

"Nothing." Yerim shrugs nonchalantly and it's all but convincing. "It's just, if girl scout cookies cost this much, we're really going bankrupt."

She hands over a slip of paper that Joohyun identifies as the receipt, only the figure at the bottom has too many digits, far too many to be anything but a phone number. And written underneath it, in careful handwriting, is

Seungwan (cookie girl)

Joohyun bites back a smile as her eyes scan every letter of the short note.

"Well? Text her then," Yerim demands at once, previous sullen mood entirely forgotten as nosey interest takes its place. "And please. No more cookies."