It was Haseul's day off, so of course her and Yeojin assumed they would be going to the beach. But they were stopped in the middle of breakfast by their grandmother slowly making her way into the kitchen. 

"Hello ladies," she spoke with a soft smile. "What's on the menu today?" 

"Leftovers from Allison's 24 Hour," Yeojin answered. "Want me to heat some up for you?" 

"I'm okay, thank you sweetie." 

Haseul was a little confused. She hadn't actually seen that much of her grandmother since she had come; they all ate dinner together but that was it. Typically, her grandma got up early (by like 6 am) and went to bed early (by like 8 pm), which was the exact opposite of Haseul's schedule. Usually, she just read books or called people in her bedroom. By the time Haseul woke up, her grandmother had started her day. Once a week some of her friends came over as well, but Haseul was always either at work or with Yeojin at the beach. 

She was dressed in one of her simple floral night dresses, which she seemed to have an endless supply of, some grey slippers to match her short, greying hair. On days when she was seeing people Yeojin did elaborate styles for her but today it was just brushed back, simple and easy. She still smelled like nice perfume though, the same brand she would wear when Haseul was a child. Despite the many scents of the beach: the ice cream, the salt water, the sunscreen, the snacks, the sand, Haseul could always pick out her perfume, and she still could. 

"Do you girls have any plans today?" she asked, standing with one hand clutching her cane. 

"I don't have work..." 

"Would you like to spend some time with me? I slept terribly last night and I want to read my book, but I don't think I can keep my eyes open for long enough..." 

"Of course!" Haseul's heart clutched for a moment and she wondered if her grandmother was upset that they weren't spending more time together, since she was visiting and all. But she could only feel guilty for a moment. The older woman always had the power to put people at ease; even at her aunt and uncle's funeral, Haseul remembered her grandmother managed to get all the attendees from tears and silence to low chuckles and reminiscing. And spending the afternoon reading to her absolutely did not feel like a chore.

"Haseul's probably a better reader than me since she's a teenager and all." 

"Don't be to sure," their grandmother answered. "Yeojin's a good reader."

Yeojin mumbled under her breath and hid a smile. Haseul remembered that kind of compliment well from her own childhood: a little embarrassing, but you couldn't help but be proud of yourself. 

"Finish your breakfast and take your time; I'll be in my room when you're ready." 

"See ya soon grandma!" Yeojin said loudly. 

Their grandmother returned with an affectionate smile to both of them and slowly made her way back to her room. 

Once she was gone, the girls finished off their breakfasts, and Haseul took their dishes to the sink. 

"Grandma asks me to read to her sometimes," Yeojin said, putting her feet on the table as Haseul cleaned up. "It's not so bad. The books she likes are not as boring as you'd think, and she falls asleep pretty quickly. But sometimes my voice gets tired. So we can take turns." 

"I think it'll be fun," Haseul answered, putting the dishes in the dishwasher and wiping down the table. Yeojin grumbled and made a pouty face when she had to move her feet. 

She finished up and Yeojin stood. "Ready?" 

"Yup." 

As the girls made their way down the hall to grandmother's bedroom, Haseul realized she had barely gone through this half of the house since she'd arrived. Her room was towards the front, near the kitchen, main bathroom, and living room, so she never had the need to go down this way. 

She had felt this way in the front of the house but the feeling was stronger here: it definitely felt like a typical grandmother's house. Landscape prints and old photos of family covered the walls, baby pictures of family Haseul could name, and family she couldn't. Everything was a clean cream and the veneer of dust was palpable on her fingertips, on her tongue, but she couldn't quite feel it. The carpet was grey and soft beneath her toes. It smelled empty, like warmth and like the windows had been closed for a long time. The only sound was the squeak of grandmother's old rocking chair, back and forth, back and forth. 

It was all a  touch dated, lost in time, stuffy and unchanged. Everything felt stifling with its age and just how long it had all been there, how little difference there was over the years. 

Haseul couldn't imagine being a little girl in a place like this. Not lifeless, but its life was fading, its life ed long ago. 

They were almost there, and they passed by an open door: Haseul quickly realized it was Yeojin's room, since she hadn't been inside since her last visit. She couldn't help but take a peek. 

What a contrast from the rest of this house! The door to the outside was white but the otherside was...Haseul couldn't tell but it was covered in stickers, the walls painted an uneven orange, clearly done by an even younger Yeojin. She had a very old canopy bed, decorated with vintage looking star wars bedspread and piles of frog stuffed animals so high Haseul wasn't quite sure where Yeojin slept. It smelled like bath and body works japanese cherry blossom perfume and sour patch kids. Haseul could see a large pile of toys in the corner, hidden under a desk which a large old fashioned PC computer sat on top of. Presumably, this is where Yeojin did all her minecraft playing. 

It was weird to think all that Yeojin was, was restricted to this crazy kid's bedroom. 

"Stop spying," Yeojin whined softly, tugging Haseul away from the door. Haseul smiled sheepishly as they, finally, entered grandma's room. 

As a child, Haseul had not been allowed inside this space. But it didn't look much different from the rest of the house: the old photos, the old decor, pretty and all a little faded. There was a vanity and an old fashioned landline phone and a rocking chair, which their grandmother sat on. She had her phone out, and Haseul saw she was playing candy crush. 

"Oh hello girls," she said, putting her phone down on the table beside her. Yeojin wordlessly got up and pressed the lock button for her.

Yeojin and Haseul sat on their grandmother's bed and she slowly got up, handing Yeojin a paperback. 

"Here you go." She quickly took her seat in the rocking chair again, leaning back with a little exhale. Haseul could practically feel the creak in her bones. 

Yeojin bounced a little on the bed. "I'll start," she said, and opened the mystery novel. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Yeojin had been right: their grandmother had fallen asleep after reading only a few chapters; Haseul only even had to do one, at the end of the day. Both girls fell silent and peeked over the book, just to make sure, nodding to each other when they were sure she was snoring. Yeojin put the bookmark in the book before turning to Haseul.

"You miss Vivi don't you," Yeojin teased. 

"Wh-what? Who said that?" Haseul answered. "Why is this coming up now, anyways?"

But it was true. She'd had fun spending time with her grandma. But missing a day at the beach kind of stung. She wondered if Vivi had missed her too, the very thought striking through her heart.

"You did. You're so obvious. I can tell by the angsty, longing look in your eyes." 

"Yeojin....come on..." Haseul whined, followed by an uncomfortable chuckle. Yeojin gave her a look and she sighed. "Fine, I do. But that's...ridiculous. I barely know her. We, like, just met, and we've barely ever talked, for only a few days. So...it's stupid. And she's just...she's pretty and kind and is a freakin' lifeguard and she's perfect! What else was I supposed to do, not like her?" Haseul sighed. "You can't tell anyone. I know you were about to mention it to Heejin and Hyunjin the other day, and... I have a feeling gossip in this town spreads like wildfire, and they're only two years apart in age...they might know each other! If she finds out...you're in big trouble." 

Yeojin hid a pout with a snort at Haseul's empty threat. "Of course I won't tell anyone. And I won't bring it up to Heejin and Hyunjin anymore either, unless you tell them. You know, I'm here to discuss this with you, woman to woman. Not to spread any gossip." Yeojin added. "But the real question is...what's the problem with her finding out?" 

Haseul absolutely spluttered. "Um, ruining a burgeoning friendship with weird romantic feelings that there's no way she'd ever return? Humiliation?" 

"Actually, I've been analyzing her and I think she likes you back."

Haseul laughed sadly. It was nice to think that Yeojin thought a girl like Vivi could like her. "There's no way." 

"I didn't think so at first either...but I analyzed, Haseul. I analyzed. I used the scientific method, and she may like you."

"What?" Haseul cried. "Stop making things up. I know what a trickster you are Yeojin but this is a little mean." 

"I'm being serious!" Yeojin whined. "You should ask her to be your girlfriend already." 

"No. No no no no no," Haseul firmly answered.

"Yes yes yes yes yes!" Yeojin answered.

"Come on. You're ten but I'm sure you realize it's a little soon for that. May I remind you that we have barely spoken?" 

"I've been a relationship before. Have you?" 

"...no," Haseul shamefully answered. "But minecraft relationships don't count." 

"Oh, I agree. I dated someone at school. For two months." 

Haseul remembered those little kiddie 'relationships' from when she was in elementary school, that her friends always had. But...it was more experience than she had. 

"Okay maybe you do know a little bit..." 

"Exactly. But okay, fine. I acknowledge that you two don't know each other that well. So, just ask her on a date then. I'm sure she'll say yes to at least that." 

Haseul snorted and shook her head. There was something clawing at the back of her mind, telling her that maybe, Yeojin was right: she knew this town, she knew Vivi, and obviously she knew more about relationships (or whatever a ten year old considered relationships to be). 

But that was ridiculous. Yeojin hadn't even started middle school yet. What did she know? She didn't have real experience. But Haseul had real experience in this, falling for someone who didn't, couldn't like you back. Or even just see you as an attractive person. 

"Anyways...I thought you were close with Heejin and Hyunjin. Don't you trust them to keep your secret?" Yeojin piped up, pulling Haseul out of her thoughts. 

Haseul sighed. "I do. I do really like them. They're so cool." That was the truth of the matter: they were cool. And Haseul wasn't. It was just the issue with all of her friendships, inequality and insecurity twisting everything. There was no way Heejin and Hyunjin could like her as much as she liked them. And why would they hold Haseul's secret if they didn't care?

"Then what's the issue? It might be even better! They probably know her and could set you guys up." 

Haseul sighed. She could see a repeat of the conversation she and Yeojin had over Jinsoul and Jungeun coming. But this was the road they were going down, and Haseul felt powerless to stop it. "I don't think they like me all that much." 

Yeojin groaned loudly enough that Haseul checked to see if grandma was still asleep before Yeojin collapsed backward on the bed. 

"What?" Haseul whined, a tone quieter this time, gesturing to their grandmother when Yeojin sat up a little. 

Yeojin sighed. "They. like. you." Her voice was quieter than before but firm. 

"How do you know?" 

"I could tell! When I visited your work. It was obvious that you three were having fun together. When I went there before I never saw them have that much fun with the other employees." 

"I don't know..." 

"Well I do know!" she sighed. "Haseul...you're smart. But you're also kind of an idiot sometimes."

Haseul sighed. At least that was probably true. "You're right." 

"I mean about these kind of things." 

"These kind of things?" 

"Yeah. These kind of things." 

Haseul hummed and looked at her lap. She didn't know if she believed that. 

"Look. Just...keep having fun at work, alright? I think it'll make sense one day," Yeojin said, pulling out her phone. 

"Okay," Haseul answered, ready for this conversation to be over. She took out her own phone and saw one notification: from her group chat with Heejin and Hyunjin. 

Maybe it would make sense. One day. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: hi everyone! sorry for the slower updates recently. i meant to update this fic every other day, but....i havent. i'm going to try to go back to that and make it up with a few extra updates over the next few days.

i have to admit, writing this fic is a bit hard. precisely the point of this story is for it to be slow moving, and with less of a plot and more introspection, which is exactly what makes it difficult to write sometimes. so if you have any ideas for this fic, please comment them! they might make it in <3

do you guys like it so far, or not? please let me know in the comments and thank you so much again for everything!

-RainbowDonkeys