2002, Summer. Halla - 5 y.o. // Minju - 8 y.o

It was a bright sundown, a perfect weather for a good ol' dinner party for the Jeons and Lees and other families invited in the throng of business. Little Lee Suji was all smiles and happiness, a contrast to the Jeon's Minju who was at the beginning stages of prim, proper and ladylike for her age. She was snickering at the playful antics of the child and wondered of her name, so when her parents introduced them to her family especially the cute ball of sunshine, she was delighted to find that her name was Suji, Lee Suji.

But what pulled her in the baby's charm was her commitment to a nickname.

"Umma!" Suji looked up to her mom that was holding her in place. She pointed to herself and exclaimed, "I...I also want to be called Halla!"

"Halla? Like Mt. Halla?" Minju inquired the young child across her.

The small baby whipped her head to the girl and smiled adorably. "Y...Yes! Like Mt. Halla!" She proceeded to spread her arms wide into the sky. "Because I want to be a pretty and tall girl...like you unni!" She pointed then-surprised Minju. "And! I want to be as pretty as the galaxy!" When she had said all she wanted, her cheeks pinked and she closed her fists together. She looked down. "Hehe."

"Aigoo, is my baby shy now?" Questioned Mrs. Lee with a bright smile.

Baby Suji, or Halla as she calls herself, moved her fists to cover her small shy smile.

Minju's smile that night lasted until the next morning.

2003, Summer. Halla - 6 y.o.  // Minju - 9 y.o. (gr 2)

The following year, Minju was at a stressful state because of her summer exams that she didn't notice it was already the eve before the coming party.

"Minju-yah, tomorrow, go home from school at noon, okay?" Her mother reminded her when they were at the dinner table inside their home.

The girl's curious eyes lifted up from her spread out notebook at the side. "What's tomorrow, umma?" She asked.

Mr. Jeon wiped his mouth with a napkin before answering, "It's the summer business party, remember?"

Minju's mind filled with a child's exclamation last year. Her face lit up and she nodded, chopsticks pursed in her lips. "Are the Lees also going to be there this year?"

"Which Lee?"

"The one with the toddler, Halla---I mean, Lee Suji was it?"

"Oh, of course!" Mrs. Jeon responded. "They're always invited, even in the other seasonal parties. Why?"

"She was really loud and...active?"

"Just like you when you were a baby!" Her mother cooed. "Oh, my cute baby!"

Minju cringed. "Umma, I'm nine, not a five year old!" Her face was flaming red. Her dad joined in the laugh. "Appa!" She whined.

"But she does remind me of you back then, Minju-yah. Sorry, kiddo." Mr. Jeon apologized, ruffling his daughter's hair.

"Aish!" Minju was embarrassed, although smiling in agreement.

- - -

Throughout the dinner party, Minju was by her parents' side, smiling at the people that greet her and she bowed respectfully in return although her neck ached from it. She wanted a diversion from being a lady Jeon, and took the offer to babysit someone before even hearing the full thing. It turns out this was the baby she was impressed with last year, the cheeky toddler who mused being one with the sky: Lee Suji.

"Oh, it's pretty unnie!" The baby shouted with glee, holding onto Minju's arm.

Minju oofed above her, huffing. She looked down at the girl, and saw her familiar adorable face, except now that it was charmed with a nonstop lovely smile. Her earlier grumbling thoughts ceased, washed over by warmth and cherishment for the small child.

"You're Lee Suji, right?"

"No, I'm Halla, unnie. Call me Halla!" Suji tampered her with her fists.

Minju stopped the weak jabs by handling the baby girl up, secure with her arms. She had a quirky smile as Suji, or Halla as she wants, become frightened and hugged the older girl around her neck.

"Unnie, I'm scared! Put me down, please, unnie!"

Minju chuckled quietly, puckering her lips. She was enjoying her misery. "Yah, Suji-yah, call me Minju, not 'pretty unnie'."

Suji looked curiously at her. "But why not? You're my unnie, and you're pretty, so to me you're pretty unnie."

Her logic made sense to Minju, but she inisted, "At least know my name, so when you want to see me you can't only say I'm pretty unnie, okay?"

Suji didn't understand, but nodded nonetheless. "Okay, unnie."

"Alright then. Go on, say it."

"Mi...Minju...?" Suji hesitated.

Minju grinned. "Yeah, Minju. That's my name."

"Minju," Suji tapped her holder's nose, "Halla." She then tapped her own.

Minju didn't know why she was so adamant about being called it. "And Suji. Lee Suji."

"Noooo." Suji flailed her arms. "Pretty unnie!" She tapped Minju's nose. "Lee Suji!" She tapped her own.

Minju observed the analogy. "So it's like that, huh?"

Suji nodded, her cheeky grin widening.

"You are Halla, I am Minju; I'm pretty unnie, you're Lee Suji."

"Yeah!" Baby girl smiled.

Minju's perception of her wasn't far from her nickname. Halla suited her, but to her, Halla was sunshine. She was a bright, intuitive, lovely girl.

Minju liked her like that.

In the business parties that followed, Minju grew fond of the little girl; she felt an undescribable bond with the growing Halla, as she said so many times to the girl (even though Minju liked the name Suji at times because Halla seemed to be calling her "pretty unnie" less), until Halla had to go away with her family at some time the following days after the last party of the same year, due to her family's business.

The Lee family was now at Daegu, while Minju stayed, wondering why she's grown attached and sad in Seoul.

"I lie in your charms, though it harms the best of me.

Will you be there, when the day's done, under the same sun?"

XXX