That morning saw Seulgi dragging her feet to the school, after being drained from the previous evening. Recalling what happened, she thought her mom had met her worthy opponent after seeing her badly swollen left arm and knee in the hospital. Before she could get to her mother, the police officer approached her first. According to him, her mother had smashed the head of a man with a beer bottle and battered him. Based on her mother’s side of the story, he had touched her buttocks and when confronted, he denied the act. What triggered her mother’s violent streak was his words that if he had wanted to touch someone, he would have picked a young chick, not an old like her. Since the man was severely injured, her mother was under investigation for causing grievous hurt.

“If that bastard had touched my Omma, shouldn’t he be charged for outrage of modesty instead?!”

“We would investigate that as well. It’s just that your mother had complicated the situation by taking matters into her own hand. Now we can only hope that Mr Hwang, the man in question, make it out of the operating theatre alive first.”

What happened next was to be engaged in several time-consuming events, from settling her mother’s bail that almost emptied Seulgi’s savings from her scholarship monthly allowance to waiting in the long queue for an X-ray procedure. By the time, Seulgi reached home, it was almost midnight. It was a miracle that she could make it to school at all.

Once Seulgi reached the classroom, she was quickly jolted to life from the news that Taeyong and Ten broke to her.

“Mr Oh was found dead in the school this morning!”

“Rumours said he was murdered by Jihyun, the resident ghost of the school! Frankly speaking, I had thought she was only an urban legend.”

Before Seulgi could digest the outrageousness of the news, Mdm Cho, the discipline mistress requested to see her through the PA system. As instructed, Seulgi made her way to the staff room. Apart from Mdm Cho, there were two female police officers.

“Good morning, Mdm Cho. I heard you are looking for me.”

“Yes. Your own reputation is bad enough. Do you have to spread it to the school?”

“Aye??”

“I’m sure you heard about Mr Oh’s death by now. We suspect that it was an act of revenge from a student, who naively thought we could be fooled by re-enacting the scenes from the urban legend surrounding Kwon Jihyun, our ex-student.”

“So?”

“Coincidentally, you ran into a conflict with Mr Oh as he punished you for some offense yesterday. He died on the same night after that. Last week, you were caned…”

“I admit I was upset over those incidents. But not to the point where I need to shed some blood to appease myself.”

“Well, the intent for murder was there to be the starting point of investigation. Since this is a criminal offense, the police will take over the case. With effect from now, you shall be suspended from school for a week, or longer if needed, while under investigation.”

“Wait a minute. I have time alibi. Yesterday I was at SNU Hospital…”

“Tell that to the police, my dear.”

Unlike what was shown in TV drama, the inquiry was conducted in a reasonably civil manner, probably because Seulgi was a minor, and a harmless looking one at that. As Mr Oh died close to midnight, the questions focused on documenting Seulgi’s whereabouts around that time. Due to insufficient evidence, Seulgi was released on that day itself.

Over the next few days of Seulgi’s suspension, she was not called up by the police for further investigation. Besides, completing her homework, Seulgi had plenty of free time on hand, therefore she offered to accompany Joohyun’s granny for her first review session with the chiropractor. That way, Joohyun did not have to take a leave of absence from school.

“Don’t worry, Seulgi-yah. Heaven is fair. If you did not do anything wrong, you will be fine,” Granny consoled Seulgi as she sensed Seulgi’s troubled mind.

“I’m fine, Halmoni. I’m more worried about my Omma.”

“Your Omma is so lucky to have a filial daughter like you. You love her so much despite what she does to you.”

“When I was younger, I hated her for causing me all that pain. As I grow up, I begin to understand my existence is the source of the shame she has to live with; the stigma of being a single teenage mum. Omma could have aborted me back then and moved on with her life, but she still chose to bring me into this world. For that alone, I am forever grateful to her. Whatever Omma does to me, if it can ease her unhappiness or pain, so be it.”

“Existence itself is never a crime. If anything is to be blamed, it is the society and maybe your irresponsible father, but never an innocent child that just happened to be borne into this world.”

Overwhelmed by the wisdom of Granny’s words, Seulgi threw herself into her embrace because she totally needed it.

Rubbing her back in return, Granny continued, “I can’t speak for everyone, but my Hyun-ah has become a much happier person because of you. So, you see your existence is capable of bringing happiness too.”

“Halmoni. Thank you. I’m happy to know Unnie and you too.”

“Brooding over the problems won’t solve them. Some things are just beyond our control. Let’s do something happy instead.”

Seulgi cast a blank look and wondered what Granny had in mind. It turned out that it was Joohyun’s birthday and she would like to threw a feast. However, she would need additional help with the marketing, and Seulgi was more than happy to be part of the preparation process.

Later in the evening…

“Halmoni, are you okay?” Joohyun was feeling uneasy about returning home to a dark quiet house. Normally, she would hear the radio playing oldies from her Halmoni’s generation. Joohyun might not be a fan of that music, but they provided the assurance that everything was going on as usual in the household.

“Saeng-il chukha-hamnida (Happy birthday to you)! Saeng-il chukha-hamnida…” the living room was illuminated by candlelight as Seulgi emerged from the kitchen with Granny holding on to her for support. Joohyun could not decide which one surprised her more, her birthday celebration or that Seulgi was actually quite a good singer. Regardless, she was led to the center table for the candle blowing, cake cutting, you name it birthday practices that never gets old.

As it was dinner time, it was decided that they would have their main meal first and ate the cake later for dessert.

“Hyun-ah, let’s start with the Miyeokguk (Seaweed soup). Seulgi made it especially for you.”

“Really? Then I must savour it.”

Seulgi waited in anticipation as Joohyun tried the soup. “How was it?”

“It’s the best thing I ever had. Thank you Seulgi-yah!”

“Wow, my first attempt at Miyeokguk turned out to be a success? I wonder what it’s like,” Seulgi dipped a clean spoon into the bowl to sample her own cooking, only to be bitten by reality as she forced the content down . “I thought adding more salt would make it taste better.”

“In cooking, it isn’t about the more you add something, the better it gets. You need to strike a balance.”

“I see. Guess I still have a long way to go when it comes to cooking,” seeing that Joohyun was still drinking the soup, Seulgi gently stopped her and pulled the bowl to her side. “Don’t torture yourself with my cooking. I’d finished it for you.”

“Seulgi-yah, it’s okay. It’s the thoughts that count.”

“Don’t worry, I have an idea,” Granny heat up some broth from the vegetable stock. Being on the lighter side, it helped to dilute the seaweed soup to a more tolerable level of salinity. And so, the day was saved by “Always the wise one”, a.k.a. Granny.

After they were done with cleaning up, Granny decided to turn in for the day. Besides being tired, she wanted to let the girls enjoy some time on their own without the adult presence.

“I always thought Unnie reminded me of a cute rabbit,” Seulgi explained when Joohyun asked about her choice of cake, which featured the Line Friends couple, Cony and Brown. “This is the closest thing I can find.”

This was not the first time Joohyun received comments about her resemblance to the delicate creature, but hearing it from Seulgi made her heart fluttered. “Then who might Brown Bear be?” Joohyun dropped the rhetorical question innocently.

“Hmm… whoever she… I mean he might be…” Seulgi quickly corrected herself. “That individual is the luckiest and most blessed person in the Universe.”

Well, not quite the answer that Joohyun wanted to hear, but Seulgi’s slip of the tongue left her hopeful.

Unbeknownst to Joohyun, Seulgi was only trying to be politically correct when she referred to Brown Bear as a “he”. Deep down, she was wondering if Joohyun could possibly swing that way. Stealing an occasional glance at each other whilst eating the cake quietly, their thoughts ran wild speculating what was going on in the mind of the other.

When it was time for Seulgi to return home, a thunderstorm was brewing outside. Therefore, it was decided that she would stay overnight at Joohyun’s humble abode and only returned home the next day. After they had taken their turn to shower, they gathered at the utility room to get an extra pillow for Seulgi. Being a filial granddaughter, Joohyun allowed her Granny to have the only bedroom in the house, while she made do with whatever space that was left in the utility room.

“Where are you going?” Joohyun asked as she saw Seulgi walking out of the utility room with the pillow.

“To sleep?” Seulgi pointed in the direction of the living room.

Joohyun pulled Seulgi back and together they lay down on the mattress. “I won’t allow my favourite dongsaeng to sleep on the couch.”

“Thank you, but I hope you will not regret it. I have a habit of hitting the face of the person sleeping beside me.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Don’t know…” Seulgi shrugged, “In fact, I don’t even remember hitting anybody. If Krystal didn’t complain about it...”

“Oh… you slept with Krystal?” Joohyun sulked and turned to face the other way.

“We used to…” Seulgi replied without much thought, then realised the underlying suggestive meaning. “I mean sometimes we shared the same bed as kids.”

Despite Seulgi’s explanation, Joohyun remained in that position. “Hey, it’s getting chilly. Can you share your blanket with me?”

“Nah… I don’t want my face to be hit. You can go to sleep in the living room.”

Why the sudden change in attitude? Slowgi mode Seulgi didn’t get it. Thinking that Joohyun was angry with her, she got up from the mattress and headed for the door. Just then, the dark room was lit up by the lightning from outside, followed by the earth-shattering thunder. This age-old combination of thunderstorm events never failed to catch one by surprise, sometimes a little too much for certain individuals…

“Seulgi-yah!”

Seulgi could feel a pair of quivering arms wrapped around her narrow waist. Sensing another flash of lightning, Seulgi rapidly turned around and held Joohyun close to her chest. With her other free hand, she covered Joohyun’s exposed ear on the opposite side, effectively shielding her from the explosive series of thunder.

“Seulgi-yah… Don’t leave me please…” Joohyun pleaded.

“Unless you want me to, I’d never let you go,” Seulgi tightened her hold on Joohyun, “Just like this.”