Invisible Halos | San

11

Soojung and Yeosang obediently follow Seonghwa away from the Woosan supermarket. They walk in a comfortable silence for a few seconds and Soojung takes this as an opportunity to observe her surroundings. There are a multitude of buildings, but none of them tower too high. Everything has a simple yet neat look.

"This place is quite underdeveloped for somewhere that's called 'Wonderland', but it's comfortable for everyone and since it's a town in the countryside, we're happy with this much" Seonghwa explains. The twins nod along but as usual, Soojung is still confused.

"By 'countryside' you mean the side of the country? Does that mean the sea is nearby?" Seonghwa laughs loudly. "That is not what countryside means, but lucky for you there is a beach about a half an hour drive from here. We should go some day while the weather's still warm"

Soojung grows excited once again. She has read that at a beach, there usually is soft, grainy sand spread around. Just past the sand is the sea, which apparently stretches out to as far as the eye can see, which sounds unbelievable to the girl. She desperately wants to see it soon.

The small group finally arrive at a wide open area surrounded by buildings. People are constantly rushing through this area while the trio stand in place. "This is the plaza. The Sunday market usually occurs here and you'll also find a couple of shops in this area. I'll bring you to everyone's favourite bakery, 'Treasure'." Seonghwa gestures towards a small wooden door as he walks towards it.

As he opens the door a faint jingling sound is heard from a bell which Soojung assumes to be on top of the door. There is a long glass display case that stretches in front of them that contains a variety of cakes, cookies and other colourful baked goods. The sweet smell wafts through the store and Soojung's mouth starts to water.

"Do you guys like chocolate?" Seonghwa asks. Soojung panickingly looks at Yeosang, who just shrugs at her. They both clearly haven't tried chocolate before and don't want to lie, but they can't exactly tell the truth either. "Yes?" Soojung answers, her voice full of uncertainty.

"You don't sound too sure but I'll take your word for it" Seonghwa walks up to the counter and decides to order for everyone, but the twins can't hear what he's saying. Yeosang takes this as an opportunity to talk to his sister.

He puts one hand on her shoulder. "You are a terrific liar, Soojung" He sarcastically states while mockingly smiling. "Is that supposed to be a bad thing? Lying is wrong anyway" She pouts in defeat. "Aww you're such a baby" He squeezes her cheeks and pulls them in various directions, causing her to squeal and adorably furrow her eyebrows in playful anger.

"Did I miss something?" Seonghwa awkwardly stands beside them, holding a paper bag which smells amazing. "Doesn't matter" Soojung boldly says as she hungrily peeks into the bag. "Someone's impatient! I got three different things for each of us to share just in case you don't like something or if you want to try something new"

Seonghwa brings the siblings to a nearby bench and they all sit down. He quickly rubs a strong smelling gel from a minuscule bottle on his hands before offering some to Soojung. "It's important to stay hygeinic" Soojung opens her hand and watches some of the gel enter her hands. She stares at it moving around smoothly on her palm, leaving a shiny trail wherever it goes. "Rub it in before it dries out" Yeosang hisses quietly while rubbing his own hands so only his sister can hear. She jumps out of her mesmerised state and starts to rub frantically.

Seonghwa finally starts to pull out the three items one by one onto some napkins he brought with him from the bakery. "I have a brownie, a cinammon roll and cream horn" he calls while pulling out sweets one by one. The siblings just sit and stare at everything for a few moments.

Soojung's eyes trail over the selection of desserts in front of her. On the left is a small square of what she assumes is the brownie... since it's brown. She guesses it contains chocolate since chocolate is also brown. In the middle is a round shaped food with a brown spiral inside it. She wonders if that has chocolate too. Lastly she sees a cone shape filled with a fluffy white substance. Curiosity fills her while she tries to imagine all the different flavours. Unfortunately, imagining the tastes got her nowhere since she hasn't tried any of it before.

"I'm guessing you haven't tried any of them, judging by how long you're taking to choose?" Yeosang and Soojung nod their heads in shame. "That's okay! We'll share and try a bit of everything. I'm guessing you didn't have a bakery where you came from?" Seonghwa asks while carefully breaking each dessert into three. Yeosang speaks up. "No we didn't." Technically he wasn't wrong, but then again they didn't have any of these facilities where they came from.

Soojung inches her hand closer to the middle pastry, quietly grabbing a third that Seonghwa had already split off. She quickly plops it into her mouth in anticipation, excited to finally taste chocolate. She is instantly taken aback by the complex sweet yet savoury flavour. The soft texture causes it to melt in her mouth.

"Chocolate tastes really interesting! It isn't as sweet as I thought it'd be though..." Soojung accidentally says too loudly. "You hadn't tried chocolate before? Never mind that, what you're eating right now is the cinnamon roll. What you're tasting...well it's cinnamon, not chocolate." Seonghwa corrects her. Yeosang shakes his head while he chews the brownie. "Soojung, you're an absolute airhead. I'm eating the one with chocolate right now" He laughs while pointing at her. If anyone else had made fun of her like this, she'd be offended. But since it's Yeosang, she's completely fine as she's used to his constant teasing.

While glaring at her brother, Soojung grabs a piece of the brownie and takes a bite. Her sour expression quickly turns into a surprised one. The sweetness that fills her mouth is unlike any she's experienced before. The flavour brightens up her face again. "I'm guessing you like it?" Seonghwa asks, while licking a bit of cream from the tip of his finger after finishing the cream horn. "I love it!" she excitedly exclaims.

The trio rapidly finish up their little meal by taking the last pieces of food. Soojung wonders what intricate flavours she'll experience this time as she eagerly shoves the piece in her mouth, only to be slightly disappointed. The taste is much plainer compared to the other pastries, however, she is pleasantly surprised by the texture. The flaky pastry easily breaks up and contrasts greatly with the soft, delicate cream. A radiant smile dances upon her lips once again.

"I hope you enjoyed some of my favourite baked goods" Seonghwa enthusiastically states. "Why don't we walk around some more and then rest up at home before six?"

The twins nod and they all set off on their little journey once again.

A/N
Writing alone in a warm, sunlit room with no sound but the birds outside and the pleasant smell of a diffuser is a whole different kind of comfort all together (*¯︶¯*)