One Day At A Time | sansang

1. new beginnings

"Appa, are there rice paddies in the city?" Rina asked, turning to look at San, then back out the car window.

"Probably not, nana. But, there'll be lots of beautiful green trees with pretty flowers to see everyday! Doesn't that sound exciting?" San reassured. He knew that losing her mom, starting school, and moving to a new environment was a lot for the little six year old to take in. With that in mind, he tried to hype her up whenever he could, hoping she'll soon be convinced that her dad was making the right decision.

"Maybe," Rina replied.

The car ride took forever, Rina falling asleep on San's arm as they passed through the vegetation and into the city via a link bridge. Human life soon scattered the streets, tall buildings emerged, which San had to squint his eyes to see the top, and he could hear the hustle and bustle on the road.

Their driver pulled over at the roundabout of the apartment, helping to take their luggages out the trunk. San woke his sleeping daughter and together, they lugged their things into the lobby.

Rina looked around the small room as she waited for San to retrieve the key card. Their apartment building was relatively new, and was near many facilities such as malls, the subway, and tourist attractions. It was perfect for them.

"Come on sweetie," San gestured at Rina to follow him. They went up the elevator and approached the front door. He unlocked it for them to bring in their things. After taking off her shoes, Rina dashed into the living room, leaping onto the couch and flapping her arms out of excitement. "Appa I like this place already!" She exclaimed, putting a smile on San's face.

He got to work, unpacking their belongings and putting them away in the storage spaces. Rina joined him after taking a tour of the apartment. It was dark out by the time they finished unpacking everything.

"Well, we have to go shop for groceries first so I can actually cook us something. Should we have dinner outside today?" San asked, wearing his sling bag. "Okay," the little one replied.

She held his hand as they left the apartment, walking towards the shopping centre.

San treated them to Korean BBQ, to mark their first official night in the city, and they ate to their hearts content. Then, they bought groceries from the supermarket, at the same time picking up some other necessities and room decor to make the place feel more homely.

Just as they were about to leave, their senses caught onto the smell of sweet, delicious bread. It was coming from a bakery near the exit. Rina pulled his hand, wanting to 'see see.'

The entire bakery was engulfed in the smell of freshly baked bread, like the definition of heaven. There was no way they could pass on this.

"Nana which one do you want?"

"The one with cream cheese filling!"

"Okay. Hi I'll get one cream cheese bread and..."

After taking his order, the man behind the counter began bagging the buns.

"You guys open till pretty late. It's already 10pm but you're still making fresh bread. It's impressive," San remarked as he handed the cash over.

"We're open 24/7. You can get fresh bread from us at any time you want," the cashier said with a warm smile.

"That's great, thank you so much."

"You're welcome, see you again soon!"