In A Supermarket

KyonDae was walking alone in a supermarket while pushing a trolley across a fast-food aisle. Her trolley was still empty, as she couldn’t find anything to put inside it yet. So far she had been walking aimlessly around the market, not yet finding what she really wanted to buy.

Finally, she sighed as she stopped for a moment to think. “What shall I cook for dinner today? No point of cooking anything too tasty though since I’m eating alone every night.” She talked to herself and was busy looking at the ingredients and hoped that she could get an idea of what to eat that night. Her eyes caught the sight of a jar of tomato sauce for spaghettis and she picked one. She was busy reading the contents that she didn’t realize someone approaching her, pushing a trolley as well.

That person smiled upon seeing her and she didn’t seem to notice that he was there. “KyonDae-ssi?” YoungJae called. KyonDae looked to her left side and found YoungJae standing beside her with a huge smile on his face. “Oh! You’re YoungJae-ssi, right? HaNa’s brother’s friend.” KyonDae greeted him and smiled at him back.

YoungJae nodded. “Yup. That’s me. Alone, are you?” YoungJae joked. It wasn’t usual for HaNa’s friends to bump into DaeHyun’s friends because they didn’t really know each other. They will only greet each other at HaNa’s house if they ran into each other.

KyonDae nodded nonchalantly. “Yeah ... just looking for things that I can cook for dinner. Well, I’m living on my own so I don’t know what to make yet hence the trolley is still empty.” KyonDae said and pointed at her empty trolley.

“You’re living alone? Where are your parents?” YoungJae asked, interested to know more about KyonDae after she said she was living alone.

Without any hesitation, KyonDae said, “My parents died in an accident when I was ten. My aunt took me in and took care of me. But by the time she took me in, she was already married for ten years too so I could only see her once in a while.” KyonDae told her life story.

“Why didn’t you live with your aunt? Does her family hate you?” YoungJae asked with a frown, feeling a bit pity that KyonDae was living alone for so many years. They both didn’t realize that they were actually standing at the pasta aisle with empty trolleys and only talking.

KyonDae shook her head and said, “I didn’t want to even though she insisted that I moved in with her. When I was eight, I was already capable of doing things by myself. I can already cook and clean. Plus, I didn’t want to be a burden to her by living in the same house as her and her family. They don’t hate me though and my aunt visits me time to time.”

Pity rushed over YoungJae as he continued asking, “Don’t you ever feel lonely? Living alone for almost ten years?”

“I’m not. Not at all. I’ve known my friends since I was five. And we see each other every day, too. At HaNa’s house and school.” KyonDae said happily.

YoungJae looked at her in amusement and slowly nodded his head. “Wow ... I don’t know if I could live alone at home for years like you do. Oh hey, do you know how to make spaghetti?” YoungJae asked, seeing a jar of tomato pas