With the final call for train being broadcasted on the intercom, the small group rushed to the side of the platform, getting on one by one.
"Made it just in time!" Harin exclaimed as she slumped onto the inner seat.
"How were we almost late when there was no queue.." Younghee grumbled as she took a seat next to Harin. Surprised, Ari looked at them before sitting down opposite her and setting her bag down.
"Sorry.. I didn't think it'd take me that long to get ready…"
"How do you manage to travel by yourself like this?"
"I'm not always that bad with timing!"
"Sure sure."
As she watched her teasing Harin, Ari couldn't help feel a bit annoyed, yet at the same time immature as she unconsciously changed the topic, "doing this now was good timing."
"Yeah, it's still a school season so it's not very busy."
For some reason, hearing that made Harin perk up as if it was a compliment to her. "Hehe, you can thank me for coming up with such a good idea."
"I bet you're just taking us because you felt lonely."
Bullseye.
She made a gesture as if being shot in the heart and put on an exaggerated sad expression, "what? That's not true, how could you say that? I just wanted to hang out with you guys but I didn't want to bother you because you're busy all the time~" Clinging onto Younghee's arm like a child, Harin made a teary face at Ari who giggled in response. She smiled to herself as she noticed the increase in her mood before loosening her grasp on Younghee's arm and stared out the window, subtly leaving the two to talk amongst themselves.
As soon as they arrived at the guest house, the three set their luggage to one side of the room and took a walk along the path that was the reason Harin chose the location. It was a trail surrounded by tall and neatly trimmed bushes, cherished by the locals but unknown to tourists, despite the secrecy however, the path itself was a very clean and looked as if it was taken care of on a regular basis. It was in the host's own words, "our hidden gem." Luckily, it was something Harin had discovered before when visiting as a child so she wasn't completely clueless about the treasure, that is, at the end of the path.
The grass field behind the increasingly dense bushes seemed endless and empty at first, but the more you looked, the more life there was. Harin was the first to emerge from them, already seen running out onto the open land as the other two followed.
"Wooo!!" Her arms stretched out besides her, their form so natural you would think they were wings as she sped off. She seemed so happy that she didn't even notice she left the other two behind until Younghee called out.
"Harin."
"Huh?"
She looked at them over her shoulders, the hands that had stopped in mid-air quickly moved into a pose as she saw a camera raise up, the shutter sound playing as it captured the view.
As Younghee and Ari chit chatted over the pictures they had took, the third was already on the move to broaden their distance, now stopping in the middle of a clear patch of land. A smile formed as her face lit up and she slowly took her shoes off and called out to them.
"Guys, come here!"
They quickly caught up and realised there was a small shed nearby. A few wooden stools sat outside by a tap and you can see through the windows the small space was occupied by camping tools. It's cleanliness meant it was tended to often by reoccurring visitors.
"Come on! Take your shoes off dude! The ground is cool!"
"No way, there's bugs everywhere. Ari be careful, don't step on anything sharp."
"Ah, it's cold.."
"Here," she held out her hands. "Stand on my feet for now."
Ari laughed lightly before taking her on on the offer. She held onto Younghee's hands, balancing herself as she slowly moved to stand on top of her shoes. Their hands held onto each other's tightly, so much so that Ari could feel the heat from Younghee's hand rubbing off on her as she held her in between her thumb and index finger, gently caressing her knuckles.
Harin set down a pair of sandals next to Ari and brought over one of the stools, "here, use this," she unscrewed a bottle of water and gestured for her to sit down.
"Thank you."
"Oh," Harin perked up suddenly, "I just remembered! There's a pond right behind the shed, let's go!"
The small dose of water was accompanied by a sparse population of koi and goldfish, as well as healthy water lilies. By the back of the shed was a bag of fish food and some plastics cups. The three had each taken one and fed the marine specifies, by the time they had tried giving each one a name, which took longer than expected because they kept arguing over which ones were already named, the sun had began to set and the temperature was dropping rapidly.
"A-Achoo! Ugh.." Harin sniffled, her hands rubbed her arms quickly as she complained about the sudden coolness.
"Here," Younghee handed her her jacket.
"Aren't you cold?"
"Of course I'm cold, but you're shivering and we're almost there so take it."
Ari looked up from her phone as the red dot lying on the map on her screen started pulsing steadily, "it's just around the corner."
Luckily the inside of the guesthouse's temperature was significantly higher, not that it was that cold anyway, but for Harin who didn't dress for the weather, it was like getting back into a warm bed in winter. She quickly slumped herself onto a bed and sighed, "what a day."
"Dramatic," Younghee giggled.
"Oh by the way, how's the replacement doing–"
As the words left Harin's mouth, she felt a chill rush up her spine. Younghee quickly slapped her hand over Harin's mouth and shushed her, but it was too late, she had already gotten the sentence out.
"Replacement?" Ari's voice was clear, despite carrying a hint of dissatisfaction.
Younghee didn't like that label on her. But looking at the original, it sure was fitting.
"It's… just a joke, she thinks you and Nari are similar."
Hearing that, Ari smiled, "ahh, her."
But like a rose, her smile had many thorns.
She closed the door behind her and walked over to the dining table, the sound of a wooden chair scraping against the floor hitting their eardrums aggressively in the silence. The other two had long widened their distance between each other and were now throwing glances as if contemplating to talk or stay silent.
Then, her gentle tone spoke again, clearing the stuffy air as she picked up a piece of paper on the wooden table.
"The owner says she'll bring us some food soon."
-
The steam from the fresh and savoury dishes rose to their faces as the last plate was set down. Harin quickly placed her hand on the warm bowl of rice and exhaled deeply as she stopped shaking.
"How are you travelling if you get cold so easily?" Ari looked at the poor girl who had been on the brink of hypothermia just a few seconds ago.
"It's not just that... My body just sucks at adjusting to temperature changes, I can bet I'll be feeling boiling hot right after we finish eating!"
She smiled as Harin hurriedly picked up the spoon, pausing as one was held in front of her too.
"Here, take a bite before it gets cold," said Younghee who sat besides her.
She hesitated as she looked at mouthful of soup that filled the small silver utensil, "…Is it good?"
Younghee nodded.
She looked at her then chuckled, "mm, alright."
"Do you like it? Want more?"
Ari shook her head and smiled, "you're still doing this?"
"Huh?"
"You used to feed me like this back then too. Is it a habit?"
"Um, not really," Younghee carefully scooped up some rice and bit down on the spoon, "I only do it with you."
"Why?"
"Because you would never eat anything unless I told you it was good."
Ari laughed lightly as she picked up the utensils sat by her, finally ready to dig in, "that just shows I trust you, right?"
"Oh my god, I feel alive again.." Harin exclaimed as she leaned back on her chair, her face full of satisfaction as her bowl was already empty. Suddenly she sat back up, "erm, it's a little hot.."
"That quick?" Ari tilted her head, almost impressed.
"I told you I'd get hot..." she grumbled and strolled over to the fridge, "hmm... there isn't any ice cream."
"Your stomach will hurt if you eat that right away, just drink some water and go lie down."
"That won't help, I'm serious, it's getting too hot now."
Looking at Harin who had began fanning herself with her shirt, Younghee sighed, "let's go buy some then."
"No," she quickly stopped her as she closed the fridge door, "I'll go, you guys finish eating."
-
"Youngyoung."
As she rested the last plate on the drying rack, Younghee turned to Ari who was sat on the balcony ledge with a smile on her face.
"Come here," she patted the space next to her.
She dried her hands and walked over, hopping onto the railing. The two sat closely together, their hand over each others as neither said anything. With her head on her shoulder, Bae Ari felt herself asking a question she didn't want to know the answer to.
"Younghee…"
"Hmm?"
She swallowed, "You…won't forget about me right?"
The night breeze grew stronger as the silhouette of two figures sat on the balcony got closer.
In the street below, the rose gold hair took a lighter shade as the girl stood by the edge of the street light, it's warm yellow glow shining on top of her head. She looked up as the clouds started to clear, letting the moonlight shine through them. Meeting the view of the guesthouse in the corner of her eyes, she wanted to laugh. How dangerous is it when two people don't know what they want..
By the time she had made it back, the sound of the shower running was instantly heard as she walked through the door. With a popsicle in her mouth, Harin changed her shoes and placed the plastic bag in the fridge, grabbing another pack out as she walked towards Ari.
Ari turned around as a finger tapped her shoulders. The girl extended her hand, grinning as the package poked her friend's cheeks, "is this one ok?"
She nodded as she took it, unwrapping mint chocolate ice cream cone whilst Harin leaned her back against the stone railing, her neck snapping back, looking at the view of the neighbourhood upside down.
"I'm kind of jealous."
"Of?" Harin straightened up at the unexpected words from Ari's mouth, massaging her neck as she realised that kind of posture was dangerous.
"How close you two are.."
She turned to Ari, dumbfounded as she bit down on the popsicle. She simply looked at her, contemplating what to say. After a while, Harin chuckled, "it's nothing compared to your relationship. Still, it's a good thing you told me this and not her."
A confused "why?" came from Ari as she turned away.
"If she heard that, she'd probably cut all ties and never speak to me again," despite a joking tone, she meant and knew everything she said was true. So did Ari.
Still, she acted clueless.
"She wouldn't do that—"
"Do what?"
"Ah."
They both turned around as Younghee walked out the bathroom them, a towel hanging on her shoulder to stop the water from her hair seeping into her shirt.
"Nothing, Ari, you can go ahead," Harin waved her off.
Ari dropped the empty ice cream wrapper in the bin before gathering a change of clothes and headed into the bathroom. As the door clicked shut, Younghee turned to Harin. "What were you two talking about?"
"She said she's jealous of how close we are," Harin laughed.
"…" There was a small silence as a stern look fell on Younghee's face. "We are no longer friends, don't contact me anymore—"
"Dude!" Harin quickly interrupted. A bit hurt, she groaned, "I told her you'd be like this and she defended you yet here you are, proving her wrong."
"I take it back, I would never do that."
They paused and looked at each other before bursting into laughter.
"You're so.." Unable to find the right word, Harin just sighed instead. "Oh right, are you still sleeping around?"
"Isn't that what you advised me?"
"Please don't put the blame on me."
"Haha."
"But, this wasn't what I meant when I said that."
"Huh?"
"When I said to distract yourself I meant more like committing to someone else, one person," she clarified, now twirling the empty wooden stick between her fingers, "what you're doing is just cruel, you know?"
"Saying I'm cruel is a little dramatic, no? It's not as if any of them really like me. Besides, I'm not going to be like that anymore," Younghee leaned her arms on the railing, staring out at the quiet town.
"Hm?"
"She's back, so there's no need."
Harin chuckled, "I thought you decided to give up."
"I did."
"That doesn't make any sense. Still, maybe it'll be better like this." She turned around, ready to go back in as goose bumps began to form on her arms. Right before opening the door, Harin looked over her shoulders, "but you know, I wouldn't say it's completely hopeless."
"Why?"
"Because you have a lot of love to give. I'm sure she can sense that."