d a y  n i n e----------------------------*

Zai's Apartment, Seoul, South Korea 10:00 A.M.

 

Zai hugged her denim jacket tighter after she suppressed a cough. It was getting colder these days which meant her symptoms would be at their peak. This wasn’t her day, to say the least. However, it was her mom’s. She would have stayed in, all bundled up but she thought she could have a month of that while her mother’s birthday only came once a year.

So in her mom’s favorite color, she wore a yellow dress and a tint of lip gloss. Her mom loved it when she dressed up; she always nagged her things like:

“You’ll never get a boyfriend when you act all tough dear. Better dress up a bit to balance it up.”

With that, Zai forced a smile too; because then her mother would say:

“But the best accessory would be to smile Zai. Smiiileee” her mother’s laughter echoed in her mind.

 

Scrolling through her phone, Zai listed the things needed to be done before heading to the train station.

Hm, gotta stop by the bakery first then the florist and I probably need some stuff from the convenience store too. She looked up just in time to see a massive downpour of rain.

Greaat. Would’ve brought a bigger bag if I thought I needed an umbrella. Her smile long gone, when she stared at her small satchel.

“Agassi?” the latter turned to the old woman.

“Going somewhere?”

Zai bowed politely and nodded, “Yeah, to Busan. I’ll be visiting my mother.”

The rain made the temperature drop a bit, causing her to cough again.

Better wait for the rain to lessen before going.

“You alright? Want me to ask Jongin to come with you?” The landlady had a playful smile on her face but truthfully she did care about Zai and Jongin like they were her family.

 

“No no..nooo… I’ll be fine.”

“Hmmph, that’s a lot of “no’s”” the older laughed but she went upstairs anyway, calling out Jongin’s name.

Damn it. Zai tapped her temples lightly just thinking about the headache she’ll be having when he comes with her.

But the rain hasn’t stopped yet.

She held out to feel the precipitation run down her fingers. Just as she decided to make a run for it, a large black umbrella appeared over her head.

“Your knight in a superhero shirt with his trusted umbrella, at your service your highness” Jongin grinned childishly when Zai turned to him.

“You don’t have to go.”

Oh dear God, please don’t go.

“I want to go.”

She sighed.

“You don’t even have an umbrella! This knight will ward of the evilness that is winter rain! For the kingdom!” he pumped the air ecstatically. She’s never seen him this hyper.

She didn’t want to argue anymore. Frankly, there was no winning this bed-head of stubbornness.

 

 

“You don’t even know where we’re going.”

We’re.. she said “we”. That made him giddy.

“Nope, not really. But anywhere with you is fine with me~”

“We’re going to Busan.”

“Busan.. BUSAN? Wait a m-“ he felt his jean’s pocket if he brought his wallet.

“Okay, good to go! This is just a one day thing right? I didn’t bring any spare clothes…and neither did yo-” His eyes trailed from her boots to her pink-ish lips for the first time since he came down.

“Wow. You’re wearing a dress. And make-up. Wow” he covered his mouth dramatically, in awe.

But he wasn’t really being overly dramatic because she was.

She was beautiful to him whatever she dresses in, smiling or not.

Zai rolled her eyes but was trying not to look amused at the idiot that will be tagging along. She held out her middle finger as a response before leaving him.

“Ahh, still so beautiful even when she swears!” Jongin jokingly pretended to be dizzy for a moment

“Let me protect you from the rain princess!”, then tried to catch up with her.

 

 

His eyes shifted from the pack of disposable spoons in one hand and a pack of sporks in another.

She said utensils.. Spoons or Forks? Both? Sporks? But he liked the sporks since they had designs in them. She didn’t really say what they’d be used for. In fact, she just texted him a list. 

He and Zai had split up since they were trying to catch the lunch train and figured they would eat at the terminal. She went to the bakery to buy a cake and he to the convenience store for some random stuff. To be quite honest, he hasn’t quite reckoned as to why they were going to Busan.

Then again, she bought cake. So it must be someone’s birthday. He shrugged and decided to get the sporks.<