As the sun dips past the clouds, Yujin was seen stretching herself an inch taller, looking over the crowd of parents for a little girl.

Minso wore her pink backpack with the help of Hanni, adjusting the straps to sit tightly on her shoulders. When she lifted her head, she saw Yujin waving from the back. The sight of the girl made her little smile disappear.

She turned to Hanni who had her eyes on the same person, the corner of her lips curling upwards instead. The older girl leaned lower and asked, "You said she's not your sister's girlfriend, right?"

"Sadly, she is." Minso sighed in disappointment. "Bye," she said, waving nonchalantly as she walked down the small flight of stairs towards Yujin.

The taller girl's legs followed Minso, turning around to give Hanni a polite bow before chasing after the little girl. She matched her pace with Minso, gently tugging on her bag.

"I can carry it on my own."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"You're not going to complain that it's heavy halfway?"

Minso gave Yujin a side eye, slightly distancing herself from the older girl. "It's not heavy..."
She'd think she was walking on her own but Yujin had her eyes on incoming cars and bicycles, making sure they weren't coming their way.

Yujin reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of gummies in hopes it could influence a smile on that small face of hers. She extended it to Minso who glanced at her before shifting her gaze to the fun-sized pack of gummy bears.

She hesitated but took it from Yujin and softly voiced out, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Yujin smiled gently, reaching for the girl's bag anyway so she could eat comfortably.

Minso carefully tore the plastic, shoving her tiny fingers through the hole and pulling out an orange gummy. She frowned, giving it to Yujin who hummed in confusion.

"For you," Minso said.

The older girl took it and put it into . "Thank you."

Minso glanced at the taller girl and let out a small sigh, knowing Yujin was not who she had in mind. "You're not her..." She mumbled silently, gently forcing a red gummy past her lips.

Yujin looked at her and asked, "What did you do today?"

"Musical chairs," Minso answered. "We went to the park because it's Friday. But it's so cold." She shivered, putting another red gummy into .

The taller girl took a heat pack out of her pocket and gently slid it into the pocket of Minso's padding jacket, hoping it would keep her warm. "You go to parks on Fridays?"

Minso hummed but started frowning. "I hate it." Her strong words caught Yujin off guard.

"Why do you not like it?"

"I hate it. Because every time we go to the park, I have to hold his hand. I hate holding his hand. He thinks I like him because I let him hold mine but that's not true. I'm only doing it because the teachers told us to so we won't get lost."

Yujin smiled when she got all grumpy. "What made you not like him?"

"He's dirty and irresponsible. When we brush our teeth after eating, he just leaves his toothbrush on the sink and runs away. He also pushed a girl earlier because she found another guy more handsome. He's a jerk. I'm glad I knocked out his teeth."

"I'm glad you did too." Yujin took the empty pack of gummies and shoved it into her pocket before reaching to hold the latter's hand.

Minso looked at her. "You're glad I punched him in the face?"

"He deserved it."

"Right? Why do I still get scolded by Halmi?"

"Because violence is never the answer," Yujin said. "If you hate him that much, just ignore him. But if he does something to you, don't hold back slapping the hel—slap his back. Don't go for the face, it's obvious."

Minso smiled, gently swinging Yujin's arm as she finally found someone who sided with her. "I still don't like you."

"It's okay. You don't have to."

The little girl looked at her strangely as her footsteps grew slow by the second. "You're weird," Minso said. "Aren't you supposed to make me like you?"

"I can't force you to."

Minso fought with the thoughts in her head and stopped walking. "Can you carry me?"

"Are you tired?" Yujin wore one side of the bag strap and prepared herself.

"You'll carry me?"

"If you're tired." Yujin extended her arms when she earned a nod, having the girl hop into them as she stood up carefully. "You must have done a lot of running today." She gently adjusted her hold on the girl.

Minso held onto her shoulders before sliding an arm around Yujin's neck for support. She turned to the front, being a few feet higher than she usually is. She looked at the older girl.

Yujin's eyes may be bigger, her lips may be fuller, her nose may be taller, and she might have dimples but her height resembles that of another girl.

And she didn't like that they resembled each other.

—

When they reached the house, they saw Halmi trying to drag three huge boxes of what seemed like cabbage through the gate.

"Halmi!" Minso called as Yujin gently put her down.

Halmi looked up and saw her granddaughter running towards her. "Good timing," she said as Yujin approached. "Can you help me lift these in?"

The younger girl handed Minso her bag before rolling up her sleeves. "Is it Kimchi season?"

"It sure is. And we're making them tomorrow. I'll need you to help me prepare the ingredients too." Halmi stepped through the gate, ready to guide Yujin where to put them.

Minju came to the door in the middle of preparing dinner with her mother when her little sister ran through and saw Yujin lifting the boxes into the house. She went over to help out with the smaller boxes filled with carrots and other vegetables.

"Here?" Yujin stopped by the dining table, putting it down when she earned a nod from the lady. "I'll go get the others." She went back out while Minju came in. 

"Why did you get so many? Are you feeding a whole village?" She chuckled when she saw the satisfaction written all over Halmi's face. Well, she does give Kimchi to their neighbours every year. "You could've asked the delivery guy to carry them in."

"She's doing a great job." Halmi moved away for Yujin to place the other box down. "Last one." She pats the latter's back.

Minju sighed and followed the girl out, helping with the last one. The both of them lifted the box and walked into the house, settling it next to the others.

Yujin stood upright and dusted her hands while Minju gently rubbed the girl's lower back. Yujin melted into a smile of satisfaction, letting her hand linger on the brunette's.

Halmi tapped the latter's shoulder. "Follow me. We need to go get the pails."

The younger girl's hand left Minju's as she followed the lady up the stairs and to the attic. Walking up creaking wooden steps, they entered the land of the storage room. The attic held the past and present, being a place where everything was.

Yujin tagged behind the lady who went to the big red pails hanging off the walls. She looked around, noticing a few old toys in cardboard boxes, and a cabinet in the corner. Instead of dust and cobwebs, the place was kept clean and everything had their own labelled boxes.

She couldn't help but notice the box sitting at the top of the cabinet that had the label Minju's Albums scribbled in black ink.

Halmi noticed what she was looking at and put the pails aside for the time being. "Do you want to see them?"

Yujin turned to her, eyes following the lady as she stood next to her. Her lips curled into a small grin, "May I?"

"Take them down for me."

The younger girl stretched her arms and slid the box off the top, being careful as she joined Halmi on the floor.

The lady gingerly lifted the lid, revealing a treasure trove of memories within. "Oh my..." Her eyes sparkled with fondness as she picked up a worn-out photo of Minju at her kindergarten graduation. "How long has it been?" Too long.

Yujin smiled, her heart warming when she saw the picture as Halmi handed it to her to take a closer look.

The lady grabbed the album that had stickers all over the cover. "I remember how she bugged me to get her bread from the store because of these," she said, running her fingers over the Doraemon sticker.

"They came with it?" Yujin asked.

Halmi hummed and opened the album filled with memories of Minju during her middle school days. "This is her first guitar recital." She handed a fragile piece of photo to Yujin. "Do you know she started with a ukulele because she was too small?"

The younger girl chuckles. "She's still small. When did she start playing?"

"In her fifth year of elementary. She suddenly came and told us she wanted to try an instrument." She pointed at a photo of Minju holding a ukulele. "This was her grandpa's."

"A pass down."

"Oh! This was her first day of school." She showed the picture to Yujin. Minju had her hair in a neat ponytail, her round glasses that were too big for her face and her uniform as straight as they'd ever be. "You can never imagine how many times she re-tucked her shirt for this picture. She wanted it to be perfect."

"She is quite perfect," Yujin commented softly, earning a light nudge to her arm.

Halmi flipped a page and smiled widely when she saw a picture of Minju crying near the shores in the middle of the sea. The photo next to it was her smiling brightly with reddened eyes after chancing upon a beautiful shell that was once a hermit's home.

Halmi reached for the shell that was settled at the bottom of the box. "The tiniest things can turn her whole world around." She handed the shell to Yujin, going to look at other pictures.

When the younger girl saw a family photo at the amusement park, Minju was captured crying once again. "She really doesn't hold back her tears." She remembered the first few things Minju told her about herself about crying.

"All because she was too short for a ride." Halmi chuckles. "She was the biggest crybaby."

Yujin followed her laughter, shifting her gaze to the lady next to Minju's father. What caught her attention was how she looked nothing like Minju's mother or the lady that's downstairs with the brunette.

Halmi's voice interrupted her thoughts, "This is her first frog dissection. She was so sad that day because she had a pet frog at that time. How cruel, she said."

For the next few minutes, the lady brought Yujin through many of Minju's first.

First field trip, first plane ride, first snow fight and many more until they stopped when she left for university.

Yujin's mind ran around the brunette's childhood by looking at those precious photos. They weren't everything, but a part of Minju's life while Yujin wasn't around and she wanted her future firsts to be with her.