Ten Years Later

Early 2013, Winter. Halla - 15 y.o. (1st yr) // Minju - 18 y.o. (3rd yr)

Halla saw the face of a stoney boy who had a strong front. She took the seat beside him and hesitantly bowed. "Jungkook-ssi, was it?" She inquired with a smile.

The boy nodded, concentrated on his notebook. "Nice to meet you," he said.

Halla bid the same hoping for a friendly reaction but all she got was a small glance and his sight was back to the front again. She inwardly sighed and got out her notebook and pen.

Well, at least she tried.

- - -

"How's the first day of school? Hope you're doing fine."

Halla let out a helpless sigh and smiled. She texted back, "I am! School's okay. There are nice and warm people :)" She slipped her phone in between her hands while she waited for a reply. She finished her lunch awhile ago and landed at the garden of her new school, deciding to kill the time before classes resume.

A ping! came from her phone. She swiped and saw the new message: There are? Great for you, Suji-yah! Have you made a friend?

Halla's lips upped a bit as she thought of the boy in her class. "Trying to, unnie. My classmates are okay, I guess? xD" After sending the text, her mind went back to that particular boy. She was determined to make him her first friend.

Ping!

"Yah, you forgot to add 'pretty', kiddo!"

Halla huffed. She bit her lip while typing, "Aish, Minju-yah. Yahhh I'm taller than you now :p"

"Yah. Halla-yah don't flaunt it out, sheesh. I'm still your 'pretty unnie', right? ;)"

"...yeah?"

"YAH. LEE. SU. JI."

"OKAY OKAY, PRETTY UNNIE."

The bell rang, warning that classes will start in five minutes. Halla stood up from her spot, brushing off the dirt on her skirt. She hurried inside the building, only stopping to look at her message when she sat in class.

"Good. Kekekekekeke :P"

Halla shook her head, stifling a chuckle albeit smiling widely in her seat. A snicker from her side broke her small reaction and she saw the boy Jungkook. He had a playful glint in his eye as he stretched a rubber band with his hands, aiming at the head of a classmate.

"What'cha doing?" Halla asked in pure curiosity.

Jungkook raised his aim. "Shh, wait and see." He murmured. He released the pull and the thing made a loud smacking sound along with a loud "OW!" from the target. He masked his childish face and raised an eyebrow at the shocked Halla. 

"Aish, who keeps pelting me this thing!" The victim raised his voice.

Halla closed and blinked, not quite believing the serious look on her seatmate's face. Jungkook's mask vanished when the target went out of the room. He was close to tears, stomping his feet like a mad man.

"Did you just throw a rubber band at a guy?"

Jungkook coughed, calming down. "So what if I did? Are you going to call me out, Suji Q?"

"What?"

"Your name's Suji, right? Obviously not the Bae-"

At this point, Halla bit back a friendly scoff. This boy was a show.

"But whatever, you're pretty anyway." He shrugged, settling down his seat to face the front.

Halla mirrored his look, her lips twisted to smirk. "Are you telling me you're a Say A then, Kookie?"

Jungkook's hand slipped from the table. His chin bounced up. "What'd you call me?"

"Kookie." Halla repeated, gleaming that bright smile. "So you a fan then?" She went back to topic.

Jungkook moved on after a beat and shook his head. "Nah, I'm more into hip hop." He proceeded to do a wave through his arms. "Some R&B, classic jazz, you know the drill."

The bell rang at the same time Halla shook her head."No. Sorry, but no, really, I don't."

"Oh. It's cool...yeah."

And this started the awkward friendship between the two. They warmed up to each other and by the end of the day, were pretty close in their vocal. Not the physical touches though. It's left to drag on the safe side for longer. Maybe when Halla is completely in trust with the guy friend. What she does know is that she's the closest with her pretty unnie, Jeon Minju. She's at a different high school, and a senior with many responsibilities. Both of them are in Seoul, and their reunion happens to be on that very day.

"Want me to take you to a trip around Seoul? I'll show you around as a fellow Busan, eh?" Jungkook offered when they were at the outskirts of the school.

"I-"

Ping!

Halla looked over her message first. A laugh went past her lips before she slipped her phone in her pocket. "It's alright, I'm going to meet up with a friend. Maybe next time?" She brought up her pinky finger.

Jungkook curled his own, amused by her action. "What a kid." He muttered.

"Says the one who threw a rubber band for fun." Halla shot back, clearly having heard of it. "Oh, and I'm much more of a Daegu girl, okay?"

"Aish. Bye Suji Q!"

"See you, Kookie!"

- - -

"You look different."

"Is it good or bad?"

"Ey, of course it's good, unnie."

Ttak!

"Pretty unnie." Halla repeated with a gritty smile, rubbing the nasty mark on her forehead.

Minju showed her own version of it, blowing her ticking fingers. "Nice to meet you again too, Suji-yah." Her lips turned to that quirkish smile that showed her adorableness.

Halla chuckled loudly, pulling the older girl in a bear hug. "How's my pretty and small unnie!"

Minju slid the jab because of the right compliment. "Aie, you really know how to make me smile and smack you at the same time." She remarked.

When they parted, only their hands remained entwined, eyes now looking greatly at each other's faces. Halla admired Minju's heart shaped face. Her eyes always twinkled with mischief, in contrast to that said trashy remarks and blunt flowy words. She lived hearing the girl's honest views of her dad's coffee business since they met, if she excluded the majority which consisted of her bragging her pretty self.

"Who's taller now, Minju-yah? Kekekeke." Halla had to say it, it's the only thing the girl she admired lacked of.

"Don't flaunt it." Minju warned.

Halla mimicked her, snickering after. "That you should for the compliments. Like, seriously, unnie! I'm not a kid anymore." She whined to her friend, the latter pulling her to walk.

"You're the one who made that ridiculous analogy though, Suji-yah." Looking at Halla's face, Minju was satisfied to see the grimace showing; she clearly remembered it. "You kept clinging to me and calling me 'pretty unnie'!"

And that's when Minju saw Halla's trademark aghast face; a look of stricken horror. It was a glimpse worthwhile to look at because once you blinked, you'll only see Halla's pretty face. Like a walking sunshine, that's what Minju sees.

"Unnie!!" Halla whined again, close to tears. She was red faced, embarrassed and laughing at herself. "Ahh," she fanned her face, "ahh. Let's just go. C'mon, dear cocomong, take me away."

Minju's thoughts cleared. "A'rightie then."

They soon arrived at a chicken restaurant. It was dined by students and families alike and had a cozy atmosphere.

"Oh hell no." Halla groaned.

Minju laughed. "Hell yes, Halla. We're having the best chicken in the city." She dragged her friend inside and sat her at two vacant seats with a family. They agreed for them to take it and minded themselves again.

Minju grinned at a pouting Halla. "Ahjumma, give us two sets of chicken please!" The small girl bellowed out, fist raised in the air.

The plump woman at the counter responded a "Coming right up!"

"Of all things we start off, you bring me to your wonderland." Halla made herself comfortable, grabbing table condiments here and there.

Minju was busy pulling out two wooden chopsticks, breaking and rubbing the sheddings between her palms. "I'm really hungry right now." She shrugged. "Besides, I'm not the one who lives off street food everyday."

"I'm taking that as a compliment, thank you."

"Right back at 'cha."

The dishes arrived, along with unlimited buckets of rice. Minju showered her meal with spices and hot sauces; meanwhile, Halla splattered hers with soy sauce.

"Let's dig in?"

Simultaneously, the two clapped their hands and said their thanks.

"It's good right?"

"Mm."

"Take some kimchi while you're at it."

"Mmhmm."

"Ahhh, I really love it."

"Yup."

After what Minju considered a good meal, they set off to a near-by convenience store for a drink.

"Have you tried to apply for a part time job, like, ever?" Halla asked the girl, her hands holding a warm drink of her favorite brand.

Minju looked up in thought, absently pulling the straw out of its plastic. "Yeah, I did a bit of it sometime ago, but now since I'm in my last year, I have to concentrate on my studies. Exams and all that."

"I think I want to try a go for it."

Minju snapped her fingers. "I can give you a list of jobs I've been on." She pulled out her phone and sent a document via bluetooth. "Actually, one of it is this very place, actually."

Halla noticed that, seeing the sign first thing when they went through the glass doors. "Nice." She went through the list. There were all sorts, from kitchen cooks to café waitresses and school librarians; it was a pretty long list and had the wage and all that.

"The wage varies depending on your skill when you're a chef helper or something. But I don't know what fits you though."

Halla was decided before she even saw the list. "How about I go for this place then? I'll work it out. Plus, this is near both our schools, yeah?"

"True. I could go here and get best friend discounts, haha!"

Halla nudged her elbow. "Yah." She was laughing too. "I can be flexible, but not to that extent."

"Yeah, you can do splits and whatever, but you're a frugal kid." Minju agreed, chuckling in her seat. "Okay, let's go and meet up with the manager, yeah?"

Halla looked up at the grinning Minju. "Yeah. Okay."

- - -

"I practically have your schedule with this list, Minju-yah. Kekekeke~"

Minju paused from her studying, eyes tired but gleaming. "Correction, you have my former schedule. I don't work anymore, right?"

A speech bubble showing the ellipsis indicated Halla writing on the other end of the chat box. "Ey, it's not like you don't change much routine to it, aside from the weekend café and park errands, I'm pretty sure you're at my side in the store."

Minju snorted.

Halla added after, "Oh man, your exams though unnie!"

"Pretty unnie!" Minju corrected again, with a moving mehrong! below it.

"No, seriously, pretty unnie (not. jk.) Are you sure you can still take the time to go here when you can go straight home to study? ㅠㅠ"

Minju set down her pencil, putting her full attention to the growing messages. Halla was being her overthinking worrying self again.

"Halla-yah," Minju started, "I've studied enough modules and answered mock tests constantly in my life from all my mom's incessant tutoring. I'm going to be fine."

Halla was undecided on how to answer, the ellipsis bubble popping on and off.

Minju smiled warmly even though Halla can't see her and wrote, "Cocomong Minju will stay by Halla's side, okay? :3" And she decided to snap a picture of her and her study table from a bird's eye view. The angle showed her cute charm of a face fixed with that adorable pout, snuggled above a mess of books.

"Okay." Halla finally answered.

"Good." Minju called with finality. She noticed the time and reminded her to go and sleep, not forgetting to say "Sweet dreams, Halla-yah, hope you fall in your gravity of dreams." She's been saying it to the girl every night and knew it calmed Halla down whatever her mood was.

The same thing happened for Minju, who  received something special of her own too.

"Goodnight, my pretty unnie. Don't let the bad stuff get in your happy sleep, Minju-yah."

It was routine for her to set off to bed after that. Minju slept better these days with Halla in tow, and the same went for Halla. They were clearly inseparable, and utterly deep in their flowery relationship.

 "Oh I made these plans with you around dear.

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

XXX

Update: 10.09.2015 (dd/mm/yyyy)

God. I'll fix the poster once I have the time.
 I could dish out chapters in one go if only I'm really, really sure it's finished.
 In the mean time, enjoy your dose of HalJu aaand smol HalKook haha :D

-feefaifoefangirl aka Jun ♥