Give Me Just One Day
A few days had passed since the trip to the sea with her friends. Under the summer sun, now longer and fiercer than ever, Yeoncheong stepped outside first thing in the morning, phone already in hand.
What on earth could have driven her out of the house at this hour?
It had all started with that out-of-nowhere message the night before. Since Suyeon's family always spent her actual birthday together, the two of them had agreed to pick a separate day to hang out. Naturally, the surprise birthday party for Hasol that Yeoncheong had been secretly preparing got penciled in for that same day.
The plan had been to relax and mull over what present to give until then — but then Suyeon's message had arrived, asking to borrow a single day since she apparently had nothing better to do. Yeoncheong figured it wouldn't hurt to look around for a gift in person while she was at it, and happily accepted the invitation.
And so, the present moment. The downtown streets were quieter than last time — a weekday, even if school was out for break. Yeoncheong, who had left early just in case, was now waiting for Suyeon to show up. She switched on her phone to check the time, and a new message caught her eye.
An animal sticker followed — a little creature clasping its paws together in apology — and Yeoncheong couldn't hold back a snort. She wasn't late for their appointed time, but apparently hearing that Yeoncheong had arrived first had lit a fire under her.
Yeoncheong left a reply telling her to take her time, grinned, and moved. Revenge, served sooner than expected. Tucking herself somewhere out of sight, she waited for her friend to arrive.
Right on cue, a bus rolled in. Its rear doors folded open, and amid the stream of disembodied passengers, Suyeon came hopping down the steps. She scanned the relatively empty street, tilted her head, and pulled out her phone. Feeling her own phone buzz, Yeoncheong crept closer, step by silent step.
"Yeah, I'm here?"
Uh-huh. But where are you? I don't see you anywhere.
Using the freshly disembarking crowd as cover, Yeoncheong had closed the distance unnoticed. Rising onto her tiptoes, she brought her lips right up to Suyeon's ear.
"Right behind you."
The voice came not from the phone, but from the other side.
"HWAH!"
Suyeon jolted skyward, then, upon confirming it was Yeoncheong, flapped her hands wildly at her.
A reaction rarely seen from Suyeon, who was normally fearless in the face of anything scary. Judging the ambush a resounding success, Yeoncheong let a smile curl across her lips.
"How's it feel? Getting a taste of your own medicine?"
"Just you wait. One of these days, I'll make you regret it."
That was her friend's voice, promising an even grander retribution in place of the apology she'd never offer. Sensing future peril, Yeoncheong scrambled for a change of subject.
And what leapt instantly to mind was the girl standing in front of her — her outfit, her face. Even Yeoncheong, who knew next to nothing about fashion, could tell how much effort had gone into it.
"You look really pretty today."
Half as a way to dodge the situation, and half in all sincerity — and the compliment slipped out of Yeoncheong before she could stop it. Suyeon flinched as if struck.
"Khh, ugh! Flattery's not gonna get you out of this!"
Flustered enough to bite her own tongue, Suyeon spun sharply away. Holding her phone up like a mirror to check whether her face had gone red, she raised her voice for no good reason.
"Come on, let's go!"
Off she marched without so much as telling Yeoncheong where they were headed, and Yeoncheong simply followed in her wake.
The twins' room. Siyeon, feeling decent yesterday, had studied late into the night, and after breakfast she'd crawled back into bed to writhe around lazily. Getting to do this in the morning was one of the little privileges summer break afforded.
Rustle. Rustle.
But at the sound disturbing her sweet slumber, she poked her head out from under the blanket.
"Hey, Baek Suyeon. What are you doing at the crack of dawn?"
She had dragged out a mountain of clothes and was holding them up against herself one by one — like someone getting ready for a date, no less.
"You're meeting Yeoncheong today, aren't you? Just wear something reasonable and go."
Suyeon let her twin's words flow in one ear and out the other. Instead, as if this were a stroke of good fortune, she held up two outfits and asked for a recommendation.
"Which one suits me better?"
Siyeon burrowed back under the covers in refusal. A moment later, however, she kicked the blanket off, sat up in bed, and answered.
"The one on the right. The left one's trying way too hard."
Snatching the clothes out of Suyeon's hands, Siyeon started suggesting alternatives instead. Her logic was simple: the faster she helped pick an outfit, the faster she could go back to sleep.
"This one's not bad either."
"Yeah?"
By the end of it, several additional outfits had been dragged out of the closet, and with the two twins' heads pressed together, they finally landed on a coordinated look they could both live with.
"Have fun out there."
"Thanks, seriously."
After seeing Suyeon off, Siyeon returned to her room and let out a long sigh. The place looked like a burglar had torn through it. She picked up a stray garment or two, considering a quick tidy-up — then shook her head.
How am I supposed to clean all this up by myself?
Having swiftly calculated the futility of the endeavor, she dove straight back into bed.
Between the sneak attack from behind and her heart still reeling from being called pretty, Suyeon picked up her pace a little every time Yeoncheong caught up. Worried that they'd both end up outright running at this rate, Yeoncheong gave up on the chase and settled a step behind her.
"So... what exactly did we meet up to do today?"
"Huh? Th-that's, um..."
I wanted to see if the reason my heart's been pounding like it's broken lately is you. — that much Suyeon could absolutely never say, so her brain spun at top speed.
"If you haven't planned anything... can I decide? I wanted to look for a birthday present for Siyeon."
Seizing on the hint in Yeoncheong's words, Suyeon nodded along.
"Oh... right. Yeah, that's actually why I came out too."
A lie. She already had Siyeon's gift ready and waiting — but no better excuse came to mind.
At Suyeon's answer, Yeoncheong's face brightened.
"Really? Perfect. I already scouted out a place to check."
Declaring that she knew the way, Yeoncheong held out her hand. She took Suyeon's, and this time it was Yeoncheong leading the way. Perhaps having a concrete goal — choosing a birthday present — made her more proactive than usual.
Or maybe it was because Suyeon was always the one reaching out and taking her hand first; today, something felt different. Swept along by her friend's unusual momentum, Suyeon kept her head bowed, eyes fixed on nothing but her feet as they walked.
The place Yeoncheong led her to was an aromatherapy candle shop. Sure, you could buy candles online, but she wanted to browse properly while listening to a staff member explain the options.
The shop assistant greeted the two as they stepped inside. After confirming that the clerk was a woman, Yeoncheong let out a tiny sigh of relief — quiet enough that only Suyeon beside her could hear.
"Excuse me... I'm looking for a birthday present for a friend..."
When the clerk asked if they were students, Yeoncheong answered yes. The clerk, professional smile installed, asked a few questions about the friend who'd be receiving the gift, then recommended a gift set they had on display.
Told that different scents carried different benefits, Yeoncheong pondered which one would be best. Her eyes — which had seemed ready to expire at any moment whenever she'd been dragged through clothing stores and cosmetics shops — now sparkled with life. Her narrowed gaze bored holes into the candles, even though staring alone revealed nothing new.
In other words, she was taking the business of choosing her friend's present that seriously.
Suyeon, meanwhile, wandered the store, browsing the candles in their many fragrances.
There are so many kinds...
While her friend's attention was occupied elsewhere, Yeoncheong leaned in to whisper something to the clerk. The clerk stole a glance at Suyeon, nodded knowingly, and discreetly brought over a few other items to introduce.
Suyeon made a full lap of the shop, admiring the accessories designed to go with the various candles, and came back to find Yeoncheong already at her side — payment somehow completed, shopping bag hidden behind her back.
"Aren't you getting anything for yourself?"
"Oh, me? Not really..."
Yeoncheong nodded as if that settled it.
After a woman clerk's farewell saw them back out onto the street, Suyeon — since she'd claimed the errand was for Siyeon's gift — dragged them into a string of stores that had never been on any plan, just to browse. Maybe it was because the goal was shopping for presents and not trying on clothes for herself, but Yeoncheong trailed after her without a single word of complaint.
When Suyeon brought that up, Yeoncheong rolled her eyes and shot her friend a cautious look.
"I-I'll try to hang in there a lot longer next time..."
Apparently she'd taken it as a rebuke of her own grumbling that one time. Suyeon started to correct the misunderstanding, then decided to let it be. There was no need to dispute the promise of longer company in the future.
"Well, we've pretty much covered the gift shopping," Suyeon said, feeling out her opening. "Wanna go have some fun now?"
Reading in her friend's sparkling smile that this had been the real objective all along, Yeoncheong burst out laughing.
"You just wanted to hang out. That's why you asked me to come, isn't it?"
"Nope, I asked you to lend me a day. And look, there's time left over. Wasting it would be a crime."
Yeoncheong shrugged in a lead wherever you like sort of way. If fun had been the point from the start, then Suyeon had been the one humoring her all afternoon — she could afford to return the favor.
Suyeon had been waiting for exactly those words, and promptly whisked Yeoncheong off to prowl the streets. They took instant photos in their casual clothes for the first time in ages, then hit a coin karaoke booth to belt out songs. It was a fish finally returned to water.
"Arcade next! Hurry up!"
Scarcely out of the coin karaoke, Suyeon had already picked their next destination and was hurrying her friend along.
"Okay, okay. We've got plenty of time. Walk."
Cars and crowds multiplied as the hours wore on, and Yeoncheong had already lost count of how many times her heart had lurched watching her energetic friend graze past passing vehicles. She tried subtly switching places, but Suyeon caught on instantly.
"Why are you suddenly trying to swap sides?"
"You looked like you were about to get hit."
The old lecture — a man always walks on the traffic side, her father used to say — rose up her throat, but she swallowed it back down, half expecting to get teased for it.
Following her friend, weaving through the crowds and watching cars and motorbikes skim past far too close, Suyeon realized what Yeoncheong had been worried about and waved her off.
"Oh, come on~ aren't you worrying a little too much?"
The instant she said it — it's crowded, no car or bike could possibly drive that recklessly around here — at a spot where the line between sidewalk and road blurred into nothing, a single motorbike wedged itself dangerously between a car and the two of them.
Startled, Yeoncheong yanked Suyeon — who was on the road side — hard toward her. Caught completely off guard, Suyeon tipped forward and fell straight into Yeoncheong's arms.
A beat later, as it dawned on her that she'd nearly collided with the motorbike, Suyeon's heart began to pound.
The bike kept threading recklessly between cars and pedestrians. Yeoncheong clicked her tongue.
"Tch. Is that guy out of his mind? Suyeon, you okay?"
She checked over the girl she'd caught in her arms. Suyeon's face had gone bright red — it looked like the shock had hit her hard.
"I'm fine. I'm fine. Didn't get hurt."
Suyeon got up with an awkward smile.
"That one's the exception. Not everybody drives like a maniac."
But Yeoncheong said nothing, simply moving her friend toward the inside of the sidewalk. Having watched the very scene she'd feared unfold right in front of her, there was no room for hesitation. She took Suyeon's hand at once, lacing their fingers together as if forbidding any resistance, and her voice was firm.
"I'm asking nicely. Walk on the inside."
Yeoncheong herself hadn't intended any of this — it wasn't a deliberate mood, just instinct taking over. But Suyeon, having already been swept into her arms by an unforeseen accident and now subjected to interlocked fingers on top of it, had no idea what to do with her burning face.
"Y-yeah. Got it..."
All she could do was nod dumbly and trail after Yeoncheong. Her heartbeat, louder than ever, seemed to be nudging its owner along — how can you still not get it?
