Yoohyeon watched, fascinated, as the sight of fields and greenery outside of the train window reflected so brightly in her eyes when the train she was on emerged through a long, winded tunnel. Grey, dark blights and shadows were immediately replaced by the glimmering sunlight gently caressing the tall trees and wild bushes.

Even though she was inside the train with its recycled, circulated air, Yoohyeon's chest felt like it bloomed, tender with fresh, natural air. She was anxious, yes, but it felt like...

It felt like a lot of the heavy burdens she'd been carrying since forever were lifted off her shoulders.

She glanced at the train ticket she had in her hand. A one-way ticket to the boonies. A one chance in a lifetime to start over.

It was a new beginning that started with an end of a life. Although it was a story that was already written so many times and hurt so many people—death caused by cancer—Yoohyeon was still gutted that her grandfather passed before she could even give him a proper goodbye.

She had been close with her grandparents. Yoohyeon's parents had worked overseas while she was young and she was raised by her grandparents instead. She had spent much of her early years in her grandparents' farm, and had befriended more animals than humans during her childhood.

Once formal schooling started however, Yoohyeon's parents chose to send her to a boarding school instead, and that was that. No more farm living for the child who'd grown up without much of... parenting coming from her parents.

Even as a teenager, Yoohyeon's relationship with her parents remained estranged. Even though Yoohyeon's heard stories of children finding success even without their parents on their side, always; Yoohyeon could never quite replicate such a situation. She penned letters often to her grandparents, but her communication with her parents remained little.

Her heart broke when her grandmother passed away when she was still in middle school. She had been sick since she was young, a weak heart—Yoohyeon had been told so when she was younger so she'd act more careful around her. Her grandmother passed in her sleep. She attended the funeral alone as her parents couldn't return from overseas in time.

Of course, Yoohyeon's grandfather couldn't find it in him to forgive his own daughter, Yoohyeon's mother, from missing the funeral. Yoohyeon couldn't either, and bonded over the unfortunate occurrence.

"Never liked that your mother married into money," Yoohyeon's grandpa told her once. "She's forgotten herself, forgotten the place she came from... Forgotten her family." 

So when her grandfather's will named Yoohyeon as the sole beneficiary of the farm, her family members were shocked. (Yoohyeon surely wasn't.)

Yoohyeon knew her father wanted the land. He wanted to expand his business in the south–and the farm was a perfect location to build a distribution center that would definitely benefit his company greatly.

Her grandfather never relented even when her father offered an exorbitant amount of money for the lands. So, before her father could pressure Yoohyeon to sell it to him—she had already handed in her resignation notice–because working for him was suffocating, and thankless; and all of Yoohyeon's hard work were never properly appreciated, they were just... Expected.

For countless times she'd work herself to the bone to make her parents proud, but... It seemed to Yoohyeon that she was invincible. Her projects, some of them carried out and marketed with her providing major contributions, and were immediate success were never credited. Her father was keen to recognize the department heads and of course, the ever important board of directors instead for the growth in his company.

Three years of such treatment was enough to ground Yoohyeon permanently. Given a choice to tend her grandfather's farm instead, Yoohyeon never hesitated to leave the city.

Quite obviously, she planned her move in secrecy (though she figured her parents would take some time to notice her being gone). Her lease on her tiny apartment were almost up, and it felt like there was no better time for a huge change in her life.

When her train finally grinded to a halt, Yoohyeon disembarked in record time, lugging her light baggage on her back easily. She had sold most of her personal belongings on an online marketplace, and had settled to give away most of the useful stuff she owned that went unsold to charity. That left her with some important mementos, her favourite book that was given to her by her grandmother, and a few change of clothes. Most of her wardrobe had been business attire—certainly, they had no place in a farm.

She'd been at this station countless times, and it never seemed to change one bit since she was a toddler. It was familiar, easing a little bit of Yoohyeon's anxiety from surfacing. She'll have to hurry as she needed to catch the bus connecting the train station to the small town with the farm. As she studied the sign with the buses' departure time, someone tapped her softly on her shoulder.

Gentle brown eyes met hers. The woman's level brows accentuated her pretty features, and a strong jaw shaped her face ever so pleasantly. Yoohyeon had seen this face before.

"Hello," the beautiful woman greeted. "Are you headed to the town Gimsan?"

Right. It was one of the many faces that attended her grandfather's funeral. She must've recalled Yoohyeon from then, as she had been the chief mourner.

"Yes, I am." Yoohyeon answered a little later (she had been staring, trying to put a name to a familiar face) while the woman waited patiently for an answer.

"Great, would you mind if I board the bus with you?"

"No, not at all," despite feeling particularly shy at that moment, Yoohyeon wouldn't mind having company for her trip to the town. "I appreciate it, actually. I spent hours of travelling here alone... So, it'd be nice to have someone with me for the last stretch."

The woman's eyes softened even further, almost to a point of tearing up, it seemed. "That's great," she said. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"I can assure you that you're not," Yoohyeon beamed at her and offered a hand. "Um, my name is Yoohyeon, Kim... Yoohyeon."

"The late Grandpa Kim's granddaughter, I know," the woman shook Yoohyeon's offered hand, her touch as soft as her expressive eyes. "I'm sorry if that sounded too affectionate. I was always taken by Grandpa Kim... We share the same family name, you see. I'm Kim Minji."

Yoohyeon's hand still rested in Minji's tender hold. "We've met... At the funeral..."

"Yes, it is unfortunate to have met during such an occasion... I'm sure time either passed too slow or too quick for you back then. I don't doubt you don't remember it all too well."

"Too many faces, too many names," Yoohyeon agreed easily with Minji's view. As chief mourner during the funeral procession, Yoohyeon spent most of her time bowing too, and never quite had the time (or energy) to study people's faces. All of the funeral goers were blurred to her. "Too much... to think, and process..."

"Your grandfather was well loved. Everyone went to honor him. The town grinded to a halt the whole day. Granted there were only so many of us, but..."

"Thank you," Yoohyeon almost choked on a sudden sob. "I felt it. You know, I felt that grandpa's village loved him as much as he loved it. That's why..."

"That's why you're here now, aren't you?" Minji graced Yoohyeon with a warm smile. 

"Yes." Yoohyeon was never more certain in her life.

The hiss of a bus's hydraulic brakes broke Minji's reply before she could utter it. "Oh, our ride's here," undeterred, she tightened her hold on Yoohyeon's hand ever so slightly as she pulled her towards the bus. "Then, Yoohyeon, I welcome you to our humble town Gimsan."

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

Yoohyeon spent most of her early days at Gimsan clearing the overgrowth in the farm. Minji was sheepish and apologetic as she led Yoohyeon around the tall grass to the farm's small homestead. Yoohyeon figured the place would look quite abandoned. Her late grandfather had spent months at the hospital, so nobody tended to the farm while he was gone. The barn was empty as he had sold most of the farm animals off, unable to take care of them any longer with his decrepit health. Some of his tools—most importantly the lawnmower—were sold too, so Yoohyeon had to make do with what was available, and hand tools was all that was left.

When the field was mostly cleared of overgrowth and Yoohyeon's body ached like never before, Minji came to gift Yoohyeon with some seeds suitable for growth in spring weather. Turnips, potatoes... to name a few.

Yoohyeon thanked her profusely, but Minji shook her head and told her it was a gift from all the townsfolk. It was the least they could do, Minji said. She also mentioned that everyone tried to keep the farm tidy at first, but with the workload they already had, most villagers had to focus on their own fields and crops. So the farm was slowly overtaken by wild shrubs and weeds within weeks. Yoohyeon understood the situation easily. There she was, a city girl for much of her life now, trying to get an abandoned, lifeless farm back to life. Her anxiety, however relieved she was to have left her old life, was still paramount, because the work was so rough and demanding that she barely had any energy to spend after a day on the fields.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

The day the fields were all cleared of weeds, Yoohyeon finally went out to explore the town. Well, explore was the second most important thing she needed to do, the first was—she unfortunately needed to visit the doctor. For three days now she'd suffered bug bites while cleaning up the farm. Too many bugs to count and she was none the wiser on what exactly left all the tiny bumps on her skin. When she got to the only clinic in the small town, Yoohyeon was surprised to see Minji outside the building housing the clinic. She was tending to a small garden, an easy tune playing in her lips. Her melodic humming stopped when she heard Yoohyeon's approaching steps.

"Oh my!" Minji gasped, her gloved hands full of soil. Her tone was pleasant, as if she was happy with Yoohyeon's early morning appearance (Yoohyeon's current appearance was not exactly pretty). "If it isn't Yoohyeon. Good morning to you."

"G-good morning, Minji," Yoohyeon hugged her body, fruitlessly trying to cover the countless bug bites on her forearms. Her heart grew anxious. 'Was Minji the town's doctor? She looked a bit too young for that,' Yoohyeon thought, but scratched off the thought in an instant. 'Not all specialists had to be old, doofus,' she scolded herself. "Uh, is the clinic, like, open? Is the doctor in? A-are you in?"

Minji studied her for a moment before she replied with a small smile. "No, my father—he's the doctor around here—he is still at the market, I believe. The clinic's usually open at 9am."

"Oh," Yoohyeon murmured, disappointed that she couldn't get the treatment she needed at... she glanced at her wristwatch... Well—7am in the morning. Up and about too early, it seemed. "Right, I'll come back later then."

"Don't be silly," Minji reprimanded her as she took off her gloves, depositing them on one of the vases filled with soft soil. "Let's see if I can help. I'm the clinic's medical assistant and purveyor of fine traditional medicine at the farmer's market... Though obviously my father ditched me today to sulk alone instead of doing my side gig," she closed in on Yoohyeon and gently pulled her by the sleeves into the clinic. "He said I've been working too hard and I should sleep in for the day and what not. I'm glad I didn't, though. Or I would've missed your visit. Now," Minji sat Yoohyeon down on the reclining bed and smiled warmly. "What ails you?"

Yoohyeon just brought her arms up and chuckled nervously.

Minji was a little too stunned to speak. opened wide as she studied every little bumps available on Yoohyeon's reddened skin (the swellings were all itchy and Yoohyeon had quite a night just scratching them to oblivion). Tracing the obvious marks with her hands, Minji brought Yoohyeon's right forearm closer, her brows furrowed in concentration. Finally, she exclaimed. "You fought a war with these bugs!"

"Yeah I came out the loser, actually," Yoohyeon sighed. "I tried bug repellent and then wearing armsleeves to cover my arms up but neither really worked out."

"Well, it is spring... Around this season, bug bites are inevitable... Oh, but when summer rolls in, it'd be even more horrible. I'll get you some of my homemade repellent before then!"

"You would?" At the mention of a homemade bug repellent, Yoohyeon grew hopeful. Store bought stuff clearly didn't work, and maybe Minji's traditional medicine could work up some magic before Yoohyeon made the decision to give up her dreams of becoming a full-fledged farmer because of some annoying bug bites.

"Yep!" Minji said, popping the 'p'. "You'll need to give me a bit of time to prepare them. For now, though..." she left Yoohyeon's side and went rummaging in one of the drawers at the nearby supply cabinet before pausing suddenly at a thought. "Hmm, I think it's best we soothe the bites with some ice first."

Coming back to the bed with an ice pack, Minji gingerly placed it on a spot with the highest amount of bites and inflammation visible, giggling softly when she heard a relieved sigh coming from her patient. "That feels a bit better, doesn't it? It'll numb the pain for a while, just move the pack a little to cover more areas," she goes back to the cabinet, still in search of a better pain reliever.

Yoohyeon followed Minji's suggestion and transferred the ice pack from her right arm to her left arm, spreading the chill evenly on her skin. Minji returned to her with a small tube of cream in her hand. She looked rather apologetic, the frown as obvious as the day she walked Yoohyeon into the weed-conquered farm.

"I'm sorry, my father doesn't have much in stock right now. All I've got is this topical analgesic."

"Anything." Yoohyeon said with a shrug. She was in desperate need of a relief from all this itchiness and—Oh.

Minji pursed her lips as she went to work, her touch gentle as she applied the analgesic gel carefully on all the swelled surface on Yoohyeon's arms. She was hunched over, eyes focused before it was slowly covered by her bangs. Her trained hands were careful not to miss even one tiny spot. The touch was warm to Yoohyeon's numbed, chilled skin. Now Yoohyeon's arms may had been red from all the inflamed bites, but she was sure her face would be sporting the same color. So close so close so close

Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately—Yoohyeon couldn't decide—the stillness of the clinic was broken by someone taking down the front door. "Minji!"

The door slammed to the walls, revealing a bright woman, too bright for such early hours—small but stocky in build—carrying a water jug in one arm. After essentially smashing the door open, she strode in the clinic with no regard to Yoohyeon ('What about patient's privacy?' Yoohyeon thought, and again, she stopped short because it wasn't even the clinic's operation hours so surely this didn't count?) and shoved the jug to Minji, whom was not as shocked as Yoohyeon at the appearance of this woman. "Oh, Bora-yah!"

'Must happen often for Minji to be so calm about it.' Yoohyeon concluded.

"Here's the fresh cow's milk you wanted!"

"Thank you. Wow, you didn't have to bring it over so early."

"I saw the lights open in the clinic and not upstairs, so I thought that you'd just be around," Bora explained with a thumbs up and a shy giggle. "Didn't think you'd have someone over before opening hours."

Wait, a shy giggle? Minji rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is you're thinking, it's not that."

"Ohhh~ Kim Minji... Making a move on the town's new face already." Bora teased, taking delight at the way the color returned to Yoohyeon's face. 

"Talking about a new face... Yoohyeon, this is Bora. Bora, Yoohyeon," Minji gestured at them both in a way of introduction. "Bora's family owns a ranch just south of your farm. They've got some cows, a couple of sheep and horses, too... If you need help with animals, their ranch is the place to go."

"Animals would be a long way off for me I think... Um—" Yoohyeon panicked as Bora started massaging on her upper arms and shoulders. After one last quick pats on her back, Yoohyeon turned to the stocky woman with eyes as large as saucers; stunned.

"You're too lanky to work yourself out like this," Bora decided, pointing at the newly-minted farmer accusingly. Then, without warning—it seemed like everything Bora did was spontaneous to Yoohyeon—she dragged the wide-eyed Yoohyeon out of the clinic by her shirt's collar. "Come with me! We'll make a fine rancher out of you yet!"

"Now who's making a move on the new face, I wonder..." Minji waved her hand goodbye as Bora dragged Yoohyeon out of the clinic, not making an effort to attempt to save Yoohyeon. When Bora got this excited, she could not be stopped.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

"Siyeeeeoooonn!!!" Bora's loud decibels seemed to go a degree higher when it came to this person.

Siyeon, as called, wandered out of a small outhouse, unfazed (or maybe already deaf) from Bora's scream. From afar, Yoohyeon could make some distinct features on the woman. She was taller than Bora but was slightly shorter than Yoohyeon. She had large, almond shaped eyes that opened wide just for a brief moment when she got to the fence separating the tiny path leading to the farm. Jet black, straight hair with cute, choppy bangs swung gently as she leaned over the fence, murmuring sleepily. "Mornin'"

"Look who I brought." Bora said, one thumb jerked behind her to the tall, lanky Yoohyeon.

"Whossat?" Siyeon was still murmuring, her eyes opening ever so slightly to look at Yoohyeon.

Bora shot Siyeon a look. "Can you wake up properly already?"

"Not until noon, no..."

"So you're just tending to your chickens robotically or what..."

"Mm... That's 'bout right," Siyeon narrowed her eyes as she stared (sleepily) at Yoohyeon. "There's some kind of smelly smell..."

Bora slapped Siyeon's shoulders, laughing. "We're all farmers, dummy. Lots of and muck just kind of go with us everywhere."

"Not ." Siyeon's sure voice sounded.

"Ah," Yoohyeon figured it was the smell of the medicine Minji treated her with earlier. "It might just be analgesic cream I got on my arms for all the bug bites."

Suddenly Siyeon was fully awake, her lazy eyes wide. She studied Yoohyeon's arms with full concentration. "My god. Look at all these huge swelling. I would rather die."

Yoohyeon's feelings were never quite embodied so eloquently before. Her face scrunched up as she nodded in agreement. She went through a lot these past few days. Thankfully, the ointment was already working, taking away most of the itchiness she felt. She was sure the inflammations would recede soon, too.

"Well, the good thing is that with the fields cleared of weeds, your farm are not going to be infested by bugs for much longer. You did great cleaning up all that mess," Bora patted Yoohyeon, gently this time, as encouragement. "Have you gone and planted the seeds we gave you?"

Yoohyeon shook her head. Grateful as she was that she was given some seeds to start with, she was still unsure if the fields could even yield any crops. "Not yet, actually. I was thinking I'd study the soil a bit before I decide to plant anything."

"Good idea. For any fields to be high-yield, you'd need fertilizers and a good compost mix tilled to your fields," Bora suggested. "We can get you supplied with both for no cost..."

Yoohyeon felt like she was undeserving of all the villagers' kindness, but she also thought that Bora's sentence were incomplete. "...On what terms?"

Bora smirked. "As you can see, Siyeon runs a poultry farm. Big animals like cows and sheeps may be out of your reach for now, but chickens and ducks could be a good start if you want to rear animals at all. Siyeon can help get you started," as if on cue, a certain commotion could be heard from one of the outhouses surrounding the poultry farm—chicken coops, Yoohyeon was sure—and then, a runaway chicken was flying, wings and claws scrambling to gain purchase after it flew a few meters towards the three farmers. Bora immediately harked an order. "Catch that chicken!"

Such words had no effect on Siyeon whom was still running on her autopilot mode, so that left Yoohyeon scrambling to stop the bird trying to make a break for freedom right past the fence and through her long legs. She hugged it with her chest, almost dropping the bird a few times as she juggled it into a more secure hold, not keen to getting her hand scratched by its sharp claws. She'd received enough damage on her forearms already. 

"Oh? I knew it, you're a natural." Bora nudged Siyeon over the fence, and the owner of the chicken moved to take the unhappy hen from Yoohyeon's arms. "It's Elli again huh? This one's a little escape artist."

"Thanks a lot, that was a really good reflex you got," Siyeon murmured. "Yookyeon right? Grandda Kim's lil' one?"

"It's Yoohyeon, actually."

"What did I say? Anyway, no matter. Look," she shuffled the unsettled chicken a bit, rocking it like a baby. "I'd be happy to lend you some chickens. Right now, most of my chicken coop's overpopulated, but I can't just kill off my children, so I'm in a bit of trouble, see. So, let's say... If the coop at your place's all good to house my children, you can have a few birds. I'll give you some chicken feed as well. You won't make bank out of them, but it'd be enough to be self-sufficient. You can do so much with eggs, you know."

Yoohyeon couldn't believe the extent of the kind offer. When she looked at Bora for an explanation, she only gave Yoohyeon a happy thumbs up. "What? But... I don't have... I don't have anything to give in return. Just... a bit of cash is all I've got."

"No, thank you," Siyeon glared at Yoohyeon for suggesting a trade purchase. "Just taking care of some of the chickens would do. That's already a big help."

It didn't seem like there was any room for Yoohyeon to argue, so she accepted all of the kindness showered to her.

When she went back to the farm, the chicken coop was the first place she checked. Aside from a few fixable holes on the wooden supports and walls, it looked pretty liveable. She grabbed her purse and went looking for a hardware store. Some new boards and fresh wood would do the trick.

At the end of the day, she already had six chicken settling in the coop. Unfortunately, she added more injury to her arms, this time from her failures in hammering the boards in, but... All in all, it was a very productive start.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

A young woman with short, practical hair drove into Yoohyeon's farm the next day on a small tractor, with a trailer hitched behind it. Bags of fertilizers and fresh soil mix that sat on the trailer shook as the tractor stopped on its tracks. "Hello," she greeted Yoohyeon with a cool nod. She got off the tractor when Yoohyeon approached her. "Bora sent these for you."

"That's... so much." Yoohyeon had a palm covering . Her mind was busy thinking on how exactly she could return all of these good deeds. She felt like she owed Bora and Siyeon (and perhaps even Minji) some good food and drinks, at least.

"It might not be enough." The woman shrugged, already starting to move the bags one by one. Yoohyeon rushed to help her. "I'm Lee Yubin. My family operates the nursery. You can get seeds, stocks in bulk whether grafted or seedlings, fertilizers and a bunch of supplies from us."

"Oh! Nice to meet you, Yubin. Thanks for driving all this way to deliver these. I don't have my own vehicle yet... I might have to keep an eye out for one."

"Well, a vehicle would certainly be useful. But if it's shipping of your goods that you're worried about, you don't have to trouble yourself with that. If you have any shipments ready, just call this number," Yubin stopped moving the bags of soils and handed Yoohyeon a card. "This'll get you to Handong. She's kind of everyone's go to as our products' distributor. She'll come to collect your goods and will always be fair to you. You can sell stuffs at a good price even in small quantities."

"Thank you," Yoohyeon laughed nervously, taking her wallet out to place the important card in it. "Kind of a while to get something out of this place yet."

"It doesn't hurt to be well prepared in advance," Yubin said simply, brushing a strand of her short hair away from her eyes. They were sharp and charming. "Let's get these fertilizer and soil off the trailer and I'll help you spread them out with my tractor."

Yoohyeon, already aware that she had no way of declining yet another kind deed, nodded and worked faster to move the sacks of precious gifts.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

"You must be the new farmer!" A chirpy voice greeted Yoohyeon as soon as she stepped into the grocery store. It was a brand new day, and she'd just finished her chores at the farm—feeding the chickens, watering her crops, fixing the roof of the barn—before she knew it, it was noon and her stomach was growling. A fresh restock of canned food and bread was in order, and that was how Yoohyeon met Lee Gahyeon, the daughter of the grocery store owner. Yoohyeon had introduced herself to which Gahyeon replied, "Pleasure! I've heard about you from pretty much everyone else, and I'm a bit upset you took so long to even set foot in this shop. Geez, what have you been feeding yourself all this while?"

Yoohyeon thought about it. She had some side dishes and instant rice packed for the first three days of her stay in the farm. Then, the next day, when she was setting up the chicken coop for Siyeon, the poultry farmer came to check things out, bringing a simple lunch with her. Bora gave Yoohyeon some fruits too. The following day, she and Yubin shared some sandwiches together after they finished tilling the fields for new crops. For dinner, Yoohyeon boiled two eggs, courtesy of Siyeon's precious birds. She even made her own mayonnaise with the eggs she got.

Gahyeon shook her pointy finger from side to side, an audible 'tsk' rang from her after Yoohyeon finished recollecting the meals she'd had since arriving at Gimsan. "I know you don't have much produce yet, so if you need some fresh veggies and meat to cook with, come and shop here. You know Handong? Well, she rounds up most of the town's produce here too. So you'll be supporting everyone in town when you buy from us."

"Gotcha," Yoohyeon laughed at Gahyeon's enthusiasm. "I'll make sure to buy lots when I need to."

"Great! Take these veggies with you, why don't you! No one should have this much business with canned food as you do," Gahyeon was cute even when she was furious—lips pouty, cheeks puffed—Yoohyeon would love more than anything to just... bite those cheeks, but she didn't want to scare her, or any of the other villagers off with such an odd request. She was just a newcomer, it had hardly been a week since she was in town, after all.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Gahyeon panicked as she continued pouring fresh produce on Yoohyeon's arms. She pointed at a corner of the grocery store, where a cabinet was located. "Take the yearly calendar from inside there too. It's got all the important dates such as the Harvest Festival, Flower Fair, Galas and the Trilympics. And I better see you participating in each one of these events!"

Yoohyeon thought the Trilympics sounded just a bit... intimidating.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

Yoohyeon's first crops had been the easy to grow and ever reliable turnips. She had a batch of them ready, freshly picked and shining when Handong drove in her pickup truck for collection. It was Yoohyeon's first time meeting the woman responsible for much of the small town's economy, and Yoohyeon didn't know what to expect. She certainly didn't expect a woman as striking as Handong to be the middleman for everyone. She sauntered over to Yoohyeon when she arrived, hips sashaying in a way that Yoohyeon thought would better fit a runway than her muddy farmland. At least the ponytail seemed practical out of... everything else. (Who on earth would wear Chanel to collect fresh vegetables?)

"Mm," Handong hummed happily as she regarded Yoohyeon's produce. "This is really good for a first timer. The turnips got a really nice shine. Their weight is good too. You're blessed with green thumbs, Yoohyeon."

Flustered, Yoohyeon shook her head. "That's not true... I just had a lot of help."

"I'm sure." Handong laughed. It was elegant with just a hint of boisterousness. "They're good folks."

Yoohyeon sighed. "Almost too good, even."

"Well, you keep up with the excellent work on this farm and you'd be one among them soon. Good folk." Handong said as she handed Yoohyeon a closed envelop with a note on prices for all the produce she shipped. Besides the turnip, she also had a few trays of eggs, and packs of edible mushrooms that she foraged from the nearby forest reserves. One thing for sure, she was not expecting to get paid that much. She was sure there were an extra hundreds. She had taken her time to open the envelope, settling to help Handong move all of her produce onto her truck instead. When she had the chance to check it, Handong's truck had already vanished around the corner, leaving Yoohyeon with no way to get the payment clarified. Another note in the envelope simply said:

for your new start

cheers, h.d

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

The Flower Fair was set in the middle of spring season, when all the trees on the riverbed blossomed pink, its galore of pretty petals coloring the smooth river flowing south from the highlands and through the village. It was a holiday of much importance so most businesses in town were closed, all except the ranches and farms—the chores were never ending there. After Yoohyeon had finished tending to her farm, she helped Siyeon and Bora next just so they could finish their work and partake in the festival faster—feeling ever so indebted to the two women. The two fellow farmers eventually parted away from Yoohyeon with reluctance. They had wanted Yoohyeon to join them to celebrate the festival, but Yoohyeon felt like she was... intruding. She'd rather Siyeon and Bora spent some time together, just the two of them.

Yoohyeon could puke pink flower petals if she had joined the two of them. It was obvious even to Yoohyeon, the town's newcomer, to notice the longing stares and touches that lingered too long that the two of them shared daily. They both harbored feelings towards each other, but couldn't seem to put it into action. To think that those two had been friends since they were toddlers... Yoohyeon shuddered. Yoohyeon had spent her early years growing up in her grandfather's farm, but she couldn't remember having friends that were not animals, so she never really did know the townsfolks when she was little. She wished she had been more courageous to step out of her grandfather's farm back then.

When Yoohyeon strolled down the riverbed, she was called to join several groups. She joined the one with the Lee—Yubin and Gahyeon. Yoohyeon was quite a lightweight when it came to alcohol, but she couldn't find it in her to refuse both of them offering her a drink. Yubin's mother praised Yoohyeon endlessly for raising 'such-sweet-little-trees' from the seeds her nursery stocks. Yubin agreed with her mother's praise too, and confessed that she had thought Yoohyeon would turn tail and return to her life in the city within a month of hard living in the farm.

Gahyeon went further on the teasing and said she expected the farm would be empty within two weeks. But then she told Yoohyeon that her crops always sold well in the store and Yoohyeon bit back her retort. Yoohyeon had given up on her previous life and came to the town for solace. For redemption even. She wasn't going to give up so easily.

"We're just happy to see the farm thrive again." Yubin said as a closure.

Yoohyeon, delighted with all the praise and perhaps just a bit tipsy, left the group and wandered even further down the riverbed. A hundred meters or so away from the group Yubin and Gahyeon was spending merry times with, she found Minji alone on a large mat. A delicious spread was there in front of her, and there was even two additional sets of cutleries arranged out, but it was... only her. From where she was, Yoohyeon could see Minji's lonely back. She gulped. With the liquid courage she earned from the previous celebration, she trudged down towards Minji. "Minji."

Minji quite possibly lit up when she saw Yoohyeon, even when the woman was flustered red and tipsy. "Yoohyeon-ah!"

"Hey..." Yoohyeon stumbled her way down to a seating position, Minji's hands supporting her clumsy body. Her head turned to study the cutleries again. "Couldn't help but notice that you're spending the festival alone..."

"There was an emergency," Minji heaved a breath—it was heavy, and Yoohyeon could sense the implacability of it. "My parents had to go to the clinic. They didn't want me to come because I've... prepared so much for this flower viewing festival. But if they weren't here..."

"I'm sorry, Minji," she paused, weighing her options. She shook her head. There was only one choice for Yoohyeon to take. "Then... Would it be alright if I join you? I didn't bring anything with me though. Is it okay to come empty handed when flower viewing is all about sharing potluck?"

"Don't be silly," Minji echoed the words that she'd spoken seemingly an eternity ago. "Of course you can join me."

For good measure, Yoohyeon sent a text to all of her new friends to join Minji as well. They all came bounding over in mere minutes—with Handong paddling down the river to the rendezvous point in a kayak, for one reason or another. Yoohyeon could never be sure.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

At the end of spring, Yoohyeon had an abundance of potatoes, radishes, turnips and cabbages ready for harvest. She had chosen the roundest and heaviest radish she could find among her abundant harvest for the Spring Harvest Festival. From what little information she learned from Gahyeon about the festival, a villager's crop's value would be judged by its seasonal relevance—whether it was a crop that was in season or not, its weight, shape and overall quality would also be looked at meticulously. The work of the judge had been entrusted to the best produce appraiser, Handong. It didn't surprise Yoohyeon a bit that Handong was acting as the festival's judge, but... She does look... incredibly luxurious... wearing all her branded clothes, surrounded by townsfolk in overalls and dirty cargo pants. Even sticking out like a sore thumb as such... Handong still didn't look out of place. She was one with the community, oddly enough.

Minji had a strawberry plant in a pot that she carried with a bright smile everywhere during the festival. Bora laughed at her for looking so proud over a total of two strawberries that grew in the pot, but Minji was unstoppable. If she wanted to brag about the two strawberries, she would.

Yoohyeon didn't win the Spring Harvest Festival because Yubin had brought with her the prettiest pink rose Yoohyeon had ever laid eyes on—she didn't know flowers were qualified as a spring crop as well—but she had to concede defeat. Yubin won a new mini fridge for her hardwork and admittedly, Yoohyeon was incredibly jealous over such a grand prize. She needed to find a way to win over Yubin in the next season's Harvest Festival, somehow.

Still. At the end of the day, Yoohyeon felt like she won a better prize when Minji skipped merrily over to her to share the two strawberries she managed to grow over spring.

It was the tastiest strawberry she'd ever eaten.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

Summer rolled in, and equipped with Minji's homemade insect repellent and a bigger budget from all the sales she'd made, Yoohyeon started drawing a plan to expand her tillable farmlands further. She'd need machineries for all that work, so there was little chance she could do such a huge renovation by herself. Not knowing any better, she approached Yubin with the idea, only to receive a rather surprising answer.

"You can get Minji to help you with that."

"Minji?" Yoohyeon questioned. The Minji who was working as her parents' assistant at their clinic? The I-can-and-will-talk-about-lavender-and-clove-and-ginger-for-an-hour-if-you-don't-stop-me-Minji?

"She's a civil engineering graduate. She's left the field for years, but I don't doubt she can handle something like your plan. It looked simple enough to me."

Yoohyeon whom had grown to be somewhat of a 'yes-man' since she started working on her grandfather's farm had no other doubts. The villagers—her friends, especially—had always set her straight whenever she was frustrated over any matter. She wasn't exactly worried her decision would be erroneous this time.

Oh but she was.

Yubin wronged her. So much.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

The sight of Minji in her blue overalls and sleeveless shirt had set Yoohyeon ablaze. She tried to blame the noon sun blasting its full strength on her face, but it was useless. The same sun was setting its beam of light on Minji too, and she sure was not as red as a ripened tomato like Yoohyeon was. She wished she could have Minji engineer a deep enough hole in her farm where Yoohyeon could just bury herself in.

"Yoohyeon-ah?" Minji went closer to Yoohyeon, her finger pointing to one side of the drawn plan for the farm's expansion. She looked hot—uhm, upset—over Yoohyeon's incompetent plan drawing, it seemed. "Are you even listening to me? I'm telling you that I'd need a land surveyor to take account for the extra land you're trying to trim from the government's nature reserves land in this plan. Yoohyeon-ah! I'm telling you that this won't work. The measurements are all wrong!"

Yoohyeon was not listening. She felt faint.

For almost a week, Yoohyeon could barely even work. She'd ask Siyeon to take all of her chickens away too because the birds were causing such a ruckus in their coops. Tractors and small machineries frequented her farm, all trusted contractors drawn to the project by Handong—(she had somehow weaselled her way into leading the farm expansion project, financially covering most of the costs)—and Minji was among them. On Yoohyeon's private insistence to Handong, Minji was appointed the project supervisor, so she was not doing most of the heavy workload, but still, Yoohyeon fret—and faint, because why was she still in that overalls when she was not doing the hammering and digging? She groaned when Minji took off her overalls, letting it hang on her waist and showcasing her sleeveless top for Yoohyeon to gawk at.

The dream of winning the Summer Harvest Festival over Yubin seemed to grow ever farther away. 

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

The nights were no better than the days for Yoohyeon during the summer. At the end of the renovation period fell the Star Festival. A festival that was... predominantly romantic. Yoohyeon made an effort to not be a stranger to her neighbours, sure, but when the elderly villagers jokingly asked her to accompany them to gaze upon the stars... even someone as patient as Yoohyeon would try to find a stop for such teasing. Of course, she had always lived for the 'flight' part of the fight-or-flight, just as she did in her escape from all the worldly burdens she'd faced in the city. So, escaped she did. She found herself back at the riverbank, trying to avoid getting more invitations to spend the Star Festival together. The ground was a little hot without a mat, but she lied down on the grass without complaints. Better make herself as small as possible to avoid further sighting—

"Yoohyeon-ah?"

And she'd been found.

Minji was looking at her, a soft smile adorned her lips. She was a little sweaty, as if she had been running around town trying to look for Yoohyeon.

"Found you."

Yoohyeon took a deep breath in. Minji had been looking for her.

Minji lied down besides Yoohyeon on the grass, parts of them wilted due to the increasing temperature during summer. "Oh my," Minji closed her eyes shut, the sun was too bright. "You didn't even attempt to find shade, did you? You can't see any magpies flying around either, huh. I guess it's really true then... That every well-bred magpies is far up in then sky... Busy building a bridge across the Milky Way. I wonder if they have farm tractors up there to ease their task."

Yoohyeon couldn't help but sputtered out a laugh.

Minji joined her, incredulous at her own joke. "It looks like it's going to rain soon too. So the magpies are building the bridge while watching their shepherd prince and weaver princess shed tears of joy to have the chance to meet again."

"Would you?" Yoohyeon gulped out the question nervously.

Minji turned her head just slightly to study Yoohyeon's side profile. "Would I what?"

"Shed tears of joy when you get to see your lover after a year of being apart?"

"Of course."

"Yeah," Yoohyeon agreed. "Me too."

Minji huffed her interpretation of the star-crossed lovers story with flak. "I wouldn't be so complacent with my life and abandon all of my works like the weaver maiden did, though."

Yoohyeon chuckled. "So I'm the shepherd prince? I don't have any cattle in my farm yet, but, sure."

"Yoohyeon-ah?"

She hummed.

"Would you watch the stars with me tonight?"

Though Yoohyeon's heart skipped multiple beats, didn't waver, responding without a second thought. "I will."

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

"Couldn't they have held this sports festival when it's, oh, I don't know—less hot?" Siyeon could be heard complaining at Yoohyeon's side, all tuckered out with busy hands fanning herself. "Like... In Spring. Or something. Gosh."

"Hear, hear." Yubin echoed the sentiment. 

It was surprising to Yoohyeon that both Siyeon and Yubin were knocked out of the musical chair competition so early on. She'd thought they'd have a bit more... power to them, always hard at work in their farm and nursery. Instead, both of them had failed to secure a chair and was now resting under shades.

'Huh? Or was that the plan all along?' Yoohyeon narrowed her eyes, but was taken out of her musing as the dreaded music started up again.

True to her worries, the trilympics was unforgiving. She was being overpowered left and right by the elderly that was probably thrice her age. Soon enough Gahyeon and Bora followed her shameful defeat.

"Why are all these grannies taking musical chairs so seriously..." Gahyeon muttered under her breath and Yoohyeon had to catch her snort from escaping out of her nose.

Minji and Handong stayed in the game until there was only two chairs and three contestants left.

Yoohyeon wasn't so fazed about whatever miracles Handong seemed capable of conjuring out of her magical pockets of time and space anymore. She was just worried over Minji. Unlike Handong, Minji seemed to be struggling a little in the heat. She was sweating a lot and was blinking her eyes repeatedly—a tell tale of a faint. (Yoohyeon was sure—she had experienced this feeling enough this summer to tell.)

She quickly flagged down the referee, whom was Gahyeon's father, and negotiated for a short break. Everyone was questioning her request, until Minji finally slumped onto one of the chairs that was up for grabs.

Yoohyeon rushed over to her with a bottle of water in her hands. "Hey, hey, hey... Minji? Alright?"

"It's hot..." Minji replied slowly.

"You tell me," Yoohyeon chuckled as she gave the bottle to the heat struck woman. "Here, drink up."

"Thanks..."

"Can you stand up? Let's get you to that tent. Some shade would help."

"Mmrgh." Minji mumbled while chugging down water.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Once under the shade, Yoohyeon drilled the stubborn woman with endless questions. "Are you sure you're okay? Wouldn't it be better to just pull out of the competition? Why are you pushing yourself to win over some competitive musical chairs tournament anyway?"

"I wanted... to win the prize for you."

"You wanted to win the prize for me?"

Minji nodded meekly. "When Yubin won that mini fridge in Spring Harvest Festival, I thought that I saw fire in your eyes. Was I wrong to think that you badly wanted one as well? I'm sure it'd be convenient to have it in your home."

"That's... Minji... You didn't have to do that. I'll earn it with my own money someday. Maybe get a built in fridge installed in my kitchen, even!"

"W-well..."

"Besides, how were you so sure that the prize for winning the musical chair competition would be a mini fridge?"

Minji grew quiet.

"So you had no idea."

The prize ended up being a box of cooler. Of course, Handong emerged victorious. As the Trilympics continued with events after events, Yoohyeon noticed the cooler prize were eventually being filled with cold drinks, with Handong stocking it continually throughout the day. She too, indulged in taking some of the cold isotonic drinks available.

The Trilympics main event, the three legged race started with both Minji and Yoohyeon out of the competition. Yoohyeon was fine with having Minji resting her head on her lap instead, her hand gently brushing Minji's sweaty bangs out of her face. Minji also looked rather content with where she was. There was no movement at all for a while except for the steady rise and fall of her chest.

Yoohyeon didn't pay attention with the race later on. She was certain anyone paired with Handong would've won it.

Still, when she thought about it... The Handong-Bora-Gahyeon team was probably incredibly scary to face in a race or in any other daily situation.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

While Minji had long recovered from her heatstroke, Yoohyeon still showed up at the clinic like clockwork to check up on her. And every time, Minji's mother would welcome her with a tight hug despite it usually being over 30 degrees out. Still, Yoohyeon would melt in her embrace before she'd ask for Minji's whereabouts.

"If you're here to ask about going to the Fireworks Festival with Minji tonight, you're out of luck, Yoohyeon." Minji's father's voice piped up from the adjacent treatment room.

Yoohyeon's stomach turned. Had Minji accepted someone else's invitation already? Yoohyeon had made sure to wake up extra early to finish her farm work as soon as possible but she was still late? Or was Minji's father disinclined to allow his daughter being accompanied by Yoohyeon of all people during the festival?

Minji's mother watched the flicker of emotions playing through Yoohyeon's expressive eyes with amusement before she finally reassured her. "Don't listen to the old grouch, dear," she giggled. "Minji is very sensitive to loud noises, so she'd always chosen to stay in for this festival."

"She's missing out, seriously. The fireworks setup are always so beautiful. I heard this year the theme was flora." Minji's father's voice could be heard again.

"Hush, you," Minji's mother stomped her way to the other room to give her husband a stern scolding. "It's your fault for bringing little Minji out to these shows that she developed a fear of loud noises in the first place!"

Yoohyeon's attention was taken away from the bickering couple when the door to the clinic opened. "Oh, Yoohyeon-ah!"

Minji greeted her ever so warmly, rounding the reception's table to get to where Yoohyeon was with hasty steps. She tilted her head at the noise coming from the next room. Sighing, she intertwined her fingers with Yoohyeon's like it was second nature to her, and led Yoohyeon further from the doorway. "What are they fighting over so early in the morning..."

Yoohyeon was about to mention that it was because the Fireworks Festival was happening that night, but Minji was already gushing at her about a stray cat that once again, meowed at her like a greeting while she was at the farmer's market.

Naturally, Yoohyeon postponed her plan on asking Minji about staying in together that night, and humored her about the cat, asking for more details.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

And naturally, they ended up adopting the tabby cat. They took turns on taking care of it. Some days it would be brushing along Minji's legs at the clinic, most days tough, it would chase Yoohyeon around the farm as she finished one chore after another.

It had an affinity for Minji's mother. She was its most favourite person ever, and when Minji's mother casually said, "I feel like a grandmother taking care of a child with divorced parents. Could one of you just take it in permanently? The poor kitty's so confused going back and forth the clinic and the farm."

Had Yoohyeon been drinking the hot chocolate that was served so kindly to her the moment such a casual observation was shared, she'd have burns on her hand (and tongue).

Minji just clenched on her fist silently.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

Autumn swept in with endless chilly breeze and prosperous harvest, as usual. Even though Yoohyeon lost (again) to Yubin on the Summer Harvest Festival, she was confident she could turn things around during Fall.

Her pumpkins were growing big and healthy, her sweet carrots were a hit in the farmer's market, and she'd just bought her first cow from Bora's ranch! Nothing could stop Yoohyeon from making Autumn her season.

Except of course, the changing seasons brought her down with a nasty cold. That, and a letter addressed to her that bore the familiar heading of her father's multinational company.

Yoohyeon had tried to keep her sickness a secret, and the letter a bigger secret, asking a favor from another rancher in town—unrelated to all the girls—to tend to her animals while she was in bed rest. But because Yoohyeon had always been so diligent since she first arrived in Gimsan, her schedule was predictable and her friends found out something was wrong fairly quickly.

The doctor was summoned. There was some minor panicking from the youngest of the group. A lot of well wishes, sharing gifts, head pats for the cat and Yoohyeon, and finally she was left with her carer for the day, unanimously voted by everyone, it seemed.

"Haven't you been working too hard lately?" Minji asked her, changing the damp clothes located under Yoohyeon's arm with fresh ones.

Yoohyeon wanted to say that she didn't have a choice. She needed to be a good farmer, a miraculous farmer, really, with the threat that loomed ever so close around her and her grandfather's farm.

Instead, all she could do was apologize. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be silly, you don't have to apologize to me, you dunce," Minji said, pressing a chaste kiss on Yoohyeon's forehead and feeling how she burned. "Rest, Yoohyeon-ah."

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

The ginger tabby—on its chaotic evil orange cat behavior, Yoohyeon assumed, was the reason her fever broke all of a sudden. Out of shock, most presumably. Yoohyeon had woken up to shreds of her father's letter scattered around her bedside, and the person there wasn't even Minji anymore.

Handong gave Yoohyeon a look that Yoohyeon couldn't decipher—just like Handong's entire existence was a complete mystery to her. In her hand was a bigger, legible piece of her father's letter.

Yoohyeon sat up in an instant. Sending the towel on her forehead flying and a rush of blood flowing down her head. "Handong? Wh-where's Minji?" she eyed the letter again. "Did she..."

"Would you give in to your father's threats?"

"What?"

"This," Handong snapped her fingers at the official court order. "Do you think you had no chance at this? Your sole ownership of this farm is absolute. Your father had no right to fight you for this land. Let him bring you to court. He'll lose. I'll make sure of it."

"My father, he..."

"Yeah, ugly bastard threatening to disown you and , as if it was not you who decided to leave your family behind in the first place," Handong gave the most impressive stink eye at the offending piece of paper. She slid it to the ground and cupped Yoohyeon's cheeks with both hands. "Listen. Get up. Fight."

"Yes, ma'am." Yoohyeon blinked as Handong brought her face closer, before she smirked.

"Good. Why were you moping about something so worthless in the first place?"

Still in a haze, Yoohyeon only had the brain prowess to ask, "Where's Minji? Does she know about—"

"She'd spent a whole day taking care of you. I sent her home. She needs to rest too," Handong sat on Yoohyeon's bedside again, finally feeling settled. "And no, she has no idea. Though it wouldn't hurt for her to know. For the whole town to know."

"My father is trying to buyout the whole town. They'd come to me with knives and pitchforks."

"One poke from a pitchfork wouldn't kill you."

Yoohyeon gasped. "It absolutely would!"

"Oh," Handong brushed off Yoohyeon's worries with a wave of her hand. "You'll live. Everything's going to be fine."

"I assume you are going to take care of it?"

The combination of a mysterious smirk and twinkling eyes had never felt quite so dangerous to Yoohyeon.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

Just sit there and look pretty, was what Handong requested out of Yoohyeon. She'd always been a quiet kid in the presence of her parents, but never had her silence stir something so irrationally crazy within her father.

The court proceedings had found everything to be in Yoohyeon's favour. One by one of her father's claims on Yoohyeon's lands were debunked. The case was even starting to offend some of the jury members, as there was already a clear winner. Her father's attempt to make a case were slipping away with each piece of evidence brought by Yoohyeon's lawyer (affectionately assigned to her by Handong, of course). He even had records dating back hundreds of years to the olden times, when the forest were first proclaimed by the defunct royal family as nature reserves. Several generations later and it came down to Yoohyeon's grandfather, and all of that was never more clear.

The only time Yoohyeon spoke without being addressed by the judge first was when her mother questioned her. "Are you happy there, Yoohyeon-ah?"

"Yes, mother."

It was true. She was happy. Sure, the blisters on her palms never had enough time to heal. Her skinny arms were now almost twice as wide with trained muscles from all the manual labor she'd done around the farm (Bora would be proud), and her newfound family were a few other women just as hardworking as her plus their loving parents, and she had children of her own to take care of in the form of one crazy orange cat, dozens of chickens, a dairy cow, and like, hundreds of pumpkins.

In one interesting twist, the court had decided that Yoohyeon's mother was the one whom had the actual right to the reserved lands. She'd been named by her father once before he adapted the beneficiary to Yoohyeon alone.

But before anyone—Yoohyeon's father, especially—could bring up another counterargument to the court, Yoohyeon's mother relinquished her right to the lands.

Yoohyeon couldn't find it in herself to cry when she acted as chief mourner during her grandfather's funeral. But, at that moment, she finally felt his passing. She cried secretly, but Yoohyeon knew her mother understood her, loved her. 'I'm still your daughter, mum.'

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

The official business required Yoohyeon to spend weeks away from the farm, chauffeured here and there by Handong's legal team. When it was time to return to Gimsan, Yoohyeon finally had a one-to-one deep conversation with the enigmatic woman. "So you are a princess...?"

Handong laughed. "Such a title no longer bear a meaning in this modern world, but I suppose you could say that."

"And we're like, descendants of this harvest spirit—er, Goddess—that resided in the forest reserve near the town."

"If you believe the folktales devised by this royal family hundreds of years ago, sure."

"And we're cousin?"

"Very distant cousins, yes. While the royal blood continued to flow within me... Yours were the blood of the guardians of the lands and loyal servants of the Harvest Goddess."

"Right. So... Me... Farming on those lands... And keeping the ground alive with spirits were something vital to preserve the balance of nature around the reservation or something? The farm was a... holy place?"

"Haven't you noticed how everyone's harvest grew exponentially better since you started working on your farm?"

"Well... I wasn't there to see how dire it was initially."

"Fair point," Handong nodded. "A lot of the animals were sick. Crops that could be harvested and marketed were abysmal. Siyeon's chicken eggs couldn't be sent to a packaging facility because they were too small in size for even the cheapest grade of eggs! Even Minji had her hands full helping out at the busy clinic. The town was in trouble long before your father had laid his dirty fingers everywhere in his effort to turn it into some boring warehousing facility."

"If someone had just tended to my grandfather's farm before me... Wouldn't the town have been better off?"

"I tried urging the townsfolk to tend to it as a community but I lost their confidence in me, essentially. Because everyone was doing horrible with their own farms and businesses, no one wanted anything to do with an abandoned farm. They'll just incur more losses trying to recover it."

"Yeah, I figured that when I first started out."

"You're smart, and you work hard," Handong praised Yoohyeon without holding back. "I was worried about you at the very beginning. But you needed very little push from me than I had expected." 

"You're not the first person I've heard those words from."

"Humph. I liked you better when you're this humble, clumsy farmer," the ever mischievous twinkle returned to Handong's eyes again. "At least you're still clumsy with your love life. Even the Harvest Goddess couldn't help you there."

Yoohyeon sighed, burying her head in her hands. She knew it, and still... She...

"When you both do get together after, like, fifty years, give or take, remember to leave some space for the Harvest Goddess on your shared bed."

Yoohyeon choked on her own spit.

 

🥕🥕🥕

 

Snow had already grown several inches over Gimsan when she finally returned. Handong had informed her that her autumn crops turned out well and most were shipped off without issues, but she couldn't help but feel empty.

She'd missed the Autumn Harvest Festival, the Festival of Plenty celebrating great harvest, and the... well, Candy Festival or otherwise known as Valentine's Day.

Standing on the bare fields blanketed with pure white, Yoohyeon felt as lost as the first day she arrived on the farm. Minji was there to show Yoohyeon around that day, her head bowed in apology, Minji opened the door to the farmhouse, Minji helped dust the interior of the small living room, Minji—

"Yoohyeon-ah?"

A thin line of snow crystals on her bangs flew slowly when Yoohyeon turned to face the voice. There, stood Minji, shivering a little in such light clothing when it was still freezing out.

"Is that you?"

Cloaked and wrapped in layers of warm clothes as Yoohyeon was, she must've appeared much bigger than her actual size. When she dropped the hood covering her hair, Yoohyeon could spot tears forming so quickly at the corner of Minji's eyes.

The woman dashed towards her, slowed down some by the inches of snow. She threw her body around Yoohyeon when she was close enough, and no words were uttered.

Just, quiet sobs, arms wrapped tightly around bodies. Minji shivered even more while in Yoohyeon's embrace, which made Yoohyeon move to peel her cloak off, draping it over the woman she cherished the most before hugging her again.

"I'm sorry, oh, Minji..."

"Don't be silly," Minji laughed in the crook of Yoohyeon's neck. "I thought I saw Handong sneaking around and hoped that you're home, too. She'd filled us in on what was ailing you. Why you needed to leave for a while. I think we, uh, we really worked our off as a community looking after this place."

Yoohyeon laughed at that. She murmured softly against Minji's shoulder. "You were doing what Handong needed you to do before I was here."

"What Handong needed us to do?"

"No, nothing," Yoohyeon squeezed Minji even tighter. "It's all over now."

"You fought well."

"I'm not sure if I did. It was mostly Handong's doings."

"That's not true. You had to leave your family."

Puffs of their visible breaths mingled together as Yoohyeon broke away. "It's alright, I found another family right in this town."

"You did, didn't you?" Minji's voice had a light teasing tone in it.

Yoohyeon wasn't really sure what really urged her to do what came next, but she was already a few days late, and never were there going to be a better time than the present. She dug deep into her winter's coat for a small, rectangular in shape, dark velvet casing. 

"This is a few days late, and I assure you, I had a speech all written for this... Well. It's too lengthy, I'm afraid. I might as well have given it to you as a letter, but, I'm sorry... Even in writing I'm never of eloquence," Yoohyeon started rambling, almost dropping the precious case to the snow covered ground. "Um... What I meant to say was... This is the wrong festival for this kind of confession. Does it matter, though? I'm just a dunce. Really."

Throughout Yoohyeon's continuous flood of nervous words, Minji never lifted her gaze away from Yoohyeon's eyes, a lighter shade of brown reflecting all of the white around them, glossy with outpouring affection. It already told Minji all that she needed to know. Yoohyeon loved her. Yoohyeon had returned home to her.

"Minji. Would you... Would you be the Weaver to my... My Shepherd?"

Minji laughed, a deep chortling sound coming from her heart that had perhaps grown sevenfold in a matter of moments. "Oh, love, you're right. You're two seasons late for a star glittered confession."

"Asking you to be my Valentine's felt somewhat insufficient..."

"I love it," Minji giggled, cheeks bursting with red flush from both the cold and... endearment for how incredibly in love she was with Yoohyeon. "I would wait seasons for you."

"Not a year?"

"Don't push your luck."

Yoohyeon laughed, feeling rather silly. She opened the case, taking out the necklace she'd been saving for too long. "In my defense, I didn't have this necklace ready during the Star Festival." She moved Minji's soft, flowing tresses around her neck and carefully tied the necklace together. It was a simple band. No gems, no trinkets, but Minji loved it nonetheless.

She too, took out a round case from her shirt's pocket, her hand shaking slightly from the cold. Yoohyeon's eyes had grown comically large when she saw the red case. "Well, this is a family heirloom, so I've had it ready since before you were born."

It was a ring. Similarly to the necklace given to her, it was a simple ring with no additional adornment. Most importantly, it fits right into Yoohyeon's finger.

It was incredibly cold in the small town that was blessed by the Harvest Goddess. But for two women sharing an embrace, it felt like the earth was on flames, burning brightly around them moments before they shared a fated touch.

"May I kiss you?" Minji had been asked that question many times. She had also not been asked, and still kissed, many times. But it felt incredible to be the one asking. And she knew, of course, that Yoohyeon would say yes.

The weather seemed to have frozen even time—it still wasn't clear to Yoohyeon if she'd dreamed that moment to reality, because much of her recent life seemed like a product of a fantasy, but there was raw emotion on the way Minji's fingers curled around hers. She felt shy as her Weaver's warm breath invited her in again when they parted. Well, who was Yoohyeon to refuse such kindness?

 

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