I Love You So ✓ Squid Game

027. time truly heals it all

Nudging at Aera's arm, was Sae-byeok. Her prettily shaped eyebrows pulled together, puzzled. Taking her own straw away from her matcha flavoured drink, Sae-byeok put it into the bubble tea, a drink made by Gi-hun's friend. A burst of joy filled her senses as she tasted the drink, her cherry tinted lips curled into a tiny smile at this.

Just beside Ali Abdul and his lovely family, was a curly haired woman and a beauteous girl with chocolate brown highlights. The two had a dish full of juicy cherries from Hwang Aera's hometown, with their hands full of the sweet drupes, they took in turns to throw a cherry into the other's open mouth. Mi-nyeo always threw too far, or too far towards the side, whereas Ji-yeong always threw a cherry exactly into Mi-nyeo's mouth. There were a lot of frustrated cries from Mi-nyeo, but nevertheless, they were both exultant.

Running into the tides, was a young boy with a cherubic glow upon his cheeks. Kang Cheol tried catching the chaotic waves without being lifted into a piggy back ride by Hwang Aera's brothers. The Hwang brothers chased the young Kang around the shore, the soft, crashing waves hugged at their legs. Quite faintly, you could hear their ecstatic laughter, alongside the elegant seagulls that hollered from the coral skies.

Walking side by side in a tranquil manner, were Aera's Oma and Sae-byeok's Oma. The two strode along the pulpy sands, their minds peaceful, their hearts were truly joyed. With their children by their sides and any sign of negativity behind them, the two Omas felt relaxed.

After such a long time, they found true happiness.

Pushing a stroller in front of them, they had a small infant sitting within it. Much like her mother, Gidae was strong-willed, the tiny child thrashed around within the stroller, wanting to sit on the soft sands. Giving in, Mrs. Hwang and Mrs. Kang relented and let Mi-nyeo's daughter play around on the golden sands, even though it was past her bedtime.

Aiding his frail mother was a tall man, with broad shoulders, a head strong persona and a large heart. Sang-woo helped his mother set up an ice-cream stall, one with quite a handful of matcha flavoured ice-cream. Quite immediately, a crowd of young children lined up, eager to munch on some sweet tasting ice-cream.

The lean man, with a genuine, elated smile upon his face, then returned to stand next to Gi-hun's side, once the ice-cream stall was set up. Both Sang-woo and Gi-hun flew a kite, that was in a shape of a butterfly, it fluttered against the soft winds. Whilst Ga-yeong watched the beautiful kite, she blew iridescent bubbles from her bubble wand, with a bottle of soap between her fingers.

Hwang Aera dragged her gleeful eyes upwards, her cocoa brown eyes met with a canvas full of opalescent colours. The sky was being painted by the golden rays of the sun, as it moved further up the sky- palettes of magenta, pastel blue and salmon pink could be seen within the sky. With Sae-byeok's soft fingers intertwined within her own, Aera was truly happy.

Hwang Aera closed her eyes and counted to ten, just to make sure it was all real.

One.

The palm trees started to whisper, its roots crumbled, the leaves wavered.

Two.

Cheol, In-ho and Jun-ho disappeared into the chaotic waves, their figures nowhere in sight.

Three.