𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗡; ʰʸᶜ 『English Version』(on-hold)

Chapter I

April 1995

Yebin's tired footsteps could be felt even if you weren't walking beside her. Her body was tense from all the time she'd spent sitting on that stool, working on the song she had to compose for her final project.

The only thing that brought her some joy was knowing that she'd soon visit the ice cream shop where YiChan worked. She was craving a watermelon ice cream at that moment.

"Yebin!" The young woman's steps halted as she looked around after hearing her name called, smiling when the figure of a hurried Majoo appeared before her eyes. She gave a small jump and waved as he came to stand in front of her.

"Hi Majoo," Yebin greeted him sweetly, tilting her head as her friend bent forward, catching his breath from exhaustion. "Are you training for the annual triathlon?"

"Very funny, ha, ha." He gasped for air, pointing behind himself with wide eyes. "Binbin..." He smiled after his sarcastic remark, swallowing hard as he tried to recover, placing a hand on his chest. "Tell me... tell me you've seen YiChan."

The girl pouted slightly before smiling at him. "I saw him leave after his daily visit to Sekyeong. He told me he was going to work... why?"

"That idiot..." Majoo muttered in frustration, inhaling deeply. "Grandma's back. The church retreat ended early, and--"

Yebin didn't give him time to finish, her eyes widening in surprise and a bit of fear as she grabbed her friend's hand, pulling him along as they began running down the crowded street, heading toward the ice cream shop where their other friend worked.

"Yebin, I'm going to fall!"

The young woman didn't care, keeping her fast pace. She had to save her friend and herself from a potential beating.

Majoo, Yebin, and YiChan had been friends since they were in diapers. They'd grown up together and were now as close as nails, dirt, and flesh—always together. Even if one of them caused trouble, the three of them would end up being blamed, even though Yebin didn't even go to the same school as the boys.

Like now, Grandma, as they called her, had no idea that YiChan had gotten a part-time job after school, which wasn't good news for the teenager, as he was on the verge of failing the school year. Adding more responsibility was only distracting him from saving his academic life. His grades were a mess, and it was clear the old woman didn't want him focusing on anything but studying.

But YiChan was more stubborn than he should have been.

When the duo arrived at the ice cream shop, Yebin let go of Majoo, looking around for their friend. She sighed when she saw him holding a cone with three scoops of ice cream in front of a group of girls. Without paying much attention to the faces of the girls, she ran toward him, positioning herself behind him and calling his attention. "We've got a problem, code zero, run..."

"Huh?" The young man asked, nearly dropping the ice cream cone, turning to look at the girl with wide eyes. He almost screamed. "Code zero?"

"Grandma's back early," she said, giving him a light smack on the head. He turned around, grabbed his bag tightly, and started running toward the hostel, hoping to get there before the old woman.

Yes, Yebin lived with YiChan.

When her parents decided to move abroad to work hard and make money, as they'd explained to a young Yebin, they'd asked the old woman, who had been like a mother to them, to take care of their daughter until they could bring her with them. The elderly woman had gladly accepted.

Because just like YiChan and Yebin, her parents had been raised by the old woman as best friends, almost siblings. Their love story blossomed because they'd grown up together. Plus, Yebin's parents had been friends with YiChan's parents, though that friendship was lost after some unfortunate events in their adult lives. But the old woman was grateful to have the children of those she'd raised for so long.