⤿ gn02.

@✧ ban joobin Miyeon was thankful that her position as the head (basically the only) librarian in this small town gave her more freedom to choose when her days off were. Since her mother had been feeling the weight of her past actions, she’s been kinder to Miyeon from a distance. The older woman had given Miyeon days throughout the year to just let Minji, the youngest of the Rang daughters, stay with her sister. She was still so young, a little kid that Miyeon wouldn’t allow to forget the joy of childhood. Not like her two older sisters, both more jaded as young adults, did. Miyeon had gone past the point of seemingly no return, and Minhee was trudging her way there as she’s entering college soon.

“Can I eat this /now?/” Minji spoke up, pointing at the unfinished plate, on her tiptoes and right beside Miyeon who had been plating a fancy poached egg dish for her private Instagram account.

“Hey, piranha. It’s not yet done, let me make it all pretty, take photos and then you can eat it all. Okay?” The six-year-old nodded in excitement before Miyeon took the plate to her countertop for a better photo under the kitchen’s warm overhead light.

She exhaled, feeling calm running through entire body as she was taking the most delectable-looking pictures of her dish. She felt it was at least right for her to do some nice cooking since Joobin was coming over as they scheduled. Some rest, delicious red wine, and some freedom for the two gremlin best friends named Soomin and Minji, both their responsibility but would be distracted from bothering Miyeon and Joobin if they were near each other. A few (around 25) snaps of the eggs at slightly different angles, Miyeon stood up hearing a knock on the door.

“Alright, little rabbit. You’re free to eat!” Miyeon spoke hastily, putting the plated dish onto the living room’s coffee table as Minji followed with her bright red food-safe plastic utensil set.

One last look at her house just to see if it was ready for a guest. It almost always was, since Miyeon kept it pretty spotless and she was not fond of too much dirt. She tucked away the falling strands of hair hanging over her face, as she kept her hair in a low bun and her front covered in an apron while she was cooking, the most basic rule in the kitchen. Tugging off her black cotton apron and hanging it on the coat rack, she opened the door with a soft grin, but soon mirrored Joobin’s more teasing smile.

“Ah, you’re an angel, you should know that.” she couldn’t help but say. Miyeon hadn’t realized how much she needed a drink until a friend offered it to her. Only on her saddest days would she drink alone and still hate it. Drinking with friends was more acceptable for her because at least that meant someone noticed she was suffering enough that they’d offer a band-aid drink.

“Come on in– hello, Soomin!” Miyeon had bowed to Joobin in greeting, attempting to hug her but was happily interrupted with her daughter. For a total of a few weeks a year, Miyeon almost looked and acted like her old cheerful self. It was only brought out by her closest friends, her younger sisters Minhee and Minji, and by extension their friends. She high fived Sooming, crouching down slightly before letting the little girl and her mother step inside her home.

On her way down the entrance hall, she could see Soomin’s silhouette running at lightning speed the moment Minji’s voice echoed through the house with, “Ddoomin!” Miyeon’s face reacted at the loud noise, shaking her head in amusement as she grabbed her black apron as well as a blue one in a similar design she had ready for Joobin.

“I distracted Minji with some fancy poached egg dish after I took pictures of it. I can show you later– anyways, what did you want me to teach you exactly? I’ll adjust it to your level so you can make it quickly and easily. Your job doesn’t allow for much leisure even in a small town.” After tossing the blue apron to Joobin’s direction, aiming for her shoulder, Miyeon carried the black version over her forearm. “Also, I reheated some leftover rice with spam and kimchi, so we can eat that and your food with the wine later?”

@✧ rang miyeon ban joobin tried to suppress the eye twitch her daughter, soomin, asked her to replay the bluey theme song for the 5th time during their very short car ride. don’t get her wrong. it was an endearing sweet tune that she could lipsync it verbatim without a second thought. however, listening to the same song over and over and /over/ again would drive the most patient of moms crazy. and patience was a finite resource for her.

still, the toothy smile on soomin’s face was worth the repetitive loop of music that would haunt her dreams later tonight. so she playfully rolled her eyes and pressed replay. the two of them sang along off-tune as they made they way to their destination, miyeon’s house.

to think that the kid she used to babysit for extra pocket change was now her friend who graciously offered to teach her how to cook. it was a sweet gesture and joobin was more than eager to take up the offer considering she and her daughter have been living off of frozen meals and subpar take-out since they moved back to gohyang.

honestly, it surprised joobin when she found out miyeon was also back living in their hometown. she recalled their brief reunion years ago in seoul when the younger woman was about to start her freshman year at yonsei university. she had felt so proud at the time, thinking that the two of them were onto bigger and better things than anything they could’ve gotten in the small town.

oh how wrong she was… at least for herself, anyways. joobin could only hope things were faring better for miyeon. she didn’t know much, having only reconnected recently thanks to soomin and minji, miyeon’s little sister, becoming friends from preschool. the detective in her wanted to find out more.

lost in her thoughts, she would’ve missed their destination if it weren’t for the gps. after pulling up and parking in the driveway, joobin got out of the car, grabbed the bags of fresh ingredients, helped unbuckle the seat for soomin, and reminded her not to forget her backpack all in one go. she knocked on the front door, her eyes lighting up as she saw it open.

“guess who brought the finest and cheapest red wine in town?” she said sardonically, a smirk resting on her face.