The next day is characterized not that differently from the day before.
Jennie helps her grandmother carry a basket full of oranges from their garden to an old lady in a house further away and sees Nayeon and Seokmin bickering together at the bus stop. They spot her and call her over and her grandmother assures her that she doesn't need her help for anything, so Jennie walks over to join them since she doesn't have anything else to do and she thinks they're both nice anyway.
"Sorry we left you hanging yesterday," Seokmin says. "I was just really starving and Y/n was really fucking stubborn about not leaving for some reason."
Jennie looks at the ground, wondering if Y/n seriously just didn't wake Jennie up to make sure she got some more sleep.
"Why didn't you come hang out last night, though?" Seokmin asks.
"Was I supposed to?"
"Uhm, yes?" Nayeon pouts. "I invited you, didn't I?"
"Well, you didn't mention it again." Jennie shrugs. "How was I supposed to know?"
"Stop being so stuck up." Seokmin snickers. "We're always at the school at night. Just come say hi, the others don't bite."
"The others?" Jennie asks. "How many others are there?"
"Not that much," Nayeon says. "There are a couple of others who are older but they're not always here so we're not really close with them, and there's also Joohyun and Taehyung ." Nayeon shrugs. "Taehyung is Y/n's brother, by the way."
"Huh, I didn't know she had a brother."
"Yeah, she's the same age as me." Seokmin hums.
Nayeon narrows her eyes at her. "Don't get any funny ideas. Y/n will bury you under six feet"
Jennie rolls her eyes and she just really wants to say Dude, don't worry, I'm probably more interested in his sister but she knows better than ruining her reputation here over a stupid joke. "So are they are the rest?"
Seokmin nods his head. "I mean, technically there are more, but let's be honest; who wants to spend their summer here? Joohyun said Seulgi might still come."
"Oh man, I hope so." Nayeon sighs, falling off the stairs when Seokmin shoves her harshly.
"That's your noona, you brat," Seokmin snorts, turning to look at Jennie again. "You seriously have to be careful what you do or say around here. Word gets around so fast. They might all be nice but they'll tear you apart like a hungry pack of wolves if there's a rumor about you."
Jennie laughs nervously and feels a drop of sweat run down her spine.
"Yeah, do you remember what happened to Sunmi noona?" Nayeon asks and he shakes his head. "There was this girl, I think she was twenty-two back then?" She glances at Seokmin for affirmation and the latter nods his head. "A rumor went around that she was pregnant. I mean, I guess it was true, given what happened after that. Do you know what happened to her?"
Jennie looks up and shakes her head.
"Her parents married her off to a random dude ten years older than her," Seokmin continues. "She didn't even get to say anything. The wedding was fucking horrible. She couldn't stop crying the entire day. And then she was just sent off to live with that man."
"Are you serious?" Jennie asks, eyebrows knitted together in disbelief. She knew stuff like that used to happen a lot back in the days but she had no idea it was still a thing. "How the fuck could her family do that to her?"
"That's how things run around here, man." Seokmin shrugs. "I know it's horrible, but people are really fucking behind with their mentalities and beliefs. I only realized that when I went off to study in the city. Before that, I honestly didn't see anything wrong with the ways things are handled here."
"Yeah." Nayeon agrees, eyebrows knitted together. "Sometimes I don't even feel like coming back because of it."
Jennie falls silent, doesn't even realize her hands are shaking with anger until she looks down at them. She knew people were kind of old-fashioned with their beliefs but not to this extent.
"What do you think Joohyun's parents would do if they found out?" Nayeon asks, a worried look in her eyes.
"Damn, Nayeonie, we'd have to hide her somewhere on the other side of the country," Seokmin says and gives Jennie a long, careful look but ends up shaking his head and changing the subject.
Jennie once again feels like an idiot.
She doesn't even know who they're talking about, let alone what any of it means, so she just closes her eyes and hopes to fall asleep like she did yesterday.
Surprise: it doesn't work.
-
Y/n works longer today, and Jennie tells herself she's not disappointed when Nayeon tells her as much.
She goes back home to check up on her grandmother and make sure she isn't doing anything dangerous and finds her peeling garlic in the garden, the neighbour's cat lazing around on her side.
"Do you need help with that?"
She smiles at her and shakes her head. "You don't want your hands to smell like garlic the whole day, trust me."
"I don't care." Jennie shrugs, picking up a clove, only to have her grandmother slap it out of her hand. She pouts and pulls it back like it actually hurt her, which it obviously didn't.
"Oh, don't give me that look." She laughs. "I just want you to have a nice vacation!"
"Peeling garlic is my definition of a nice vacation. Just let me help so I can feel like a waste of space, please?"
"If you want something to do, how about you go and set up that hammock your granddad bought a while ago? He never managed to hang it up and I think it would fit nicely between those trees." She points at the two small trees in their garden.
Jennie feels a small wave of sadness touch her heart at the mention of her granddad and sighs, nodding her head before walking inside to look for the hammock in the basement.
After failing to find it for almost half an hour, she's standing in the garden between the trees, feeling kind of clueless as to what she's supposed to do, Kuma watching her flatly from where he's lying in the shadow of the tree.
"How about you help me instead of just lying there, hm?" Jennie scoffs at the dog.
Kuma blinks at her, and goes back to sleep.
Maybe Y/n was right about her being a city-girl. Like, she knows her way around the darknet (just because she was curious, okay?) but she has absolutely no idea how to hang up a freaking hammock.
"Need a hand?"
Jennie lets go of the hammock because it scares her so much, turning to give Y/n an unimpressed look. "Why are you here?"
Y/n snorts and leans down to pick the hammock up. "What, didn't you miss my face?"
"What? That face covered in dust?" Jennie raises her eyebrows and laughs when Y/n reaches up to clean her cheeks with an embarrassed look on her face. "Where do you work, anyway?"
Y/n nudges her out of the way to look at the distance between the trees. "I'm helping on a school construction site in another village."
"I thought you were a farmer."
"I am, but we need the money," Is all Y/n says before she walks over to one tree and starts lacing the ropes of one end of the hammock around the trunk. "Would you mind giving me a hand?"
Jennie takes the other end and does as she's told but Y/n stops her with an annoyed expression. "What?" Jennie snaps.
"Are you blind?" Y/n rolls her eyes. "Hold it higher up."
"That's too high."
"No, it's not. Trust me."
"It's too high, Y/n-"
"Are you the expert here or me?"
Jennie rolls her eyes. "Yes I'm a fucking hammock expert. Come on-"
"Put it up higher!" Y/n glares at her until Jennie sighs and does as she's told.
In the end, Y/n turns out to be right and the hammock hangs perfectly high enough for it not to touch the ground when you sit in it. She raises an eyebrow at Jennie, who rolls her eyes and lies down on the fabric.
Y/n sits down on the grass in front of her, pushing the hammock with her foot so it's swinging back and forth lazily. Jennie turns to lie on her side so she can look at Y/n, dangling her arm down to try and get a daisy from the ground.
It's still warm despite the sun having started to set, a gentle breezing making their hairs ruffle in the wind and Jennie feels like falling asleep again.
"If I didn't know it better I'd think you're bored by my presence. This is the second time you're falling asleep on me," Y/n says and Jennie doesn't have to open her eyes to know she's smiling.
She still cracks one eye open to look at her. "You should take it as a compliment."
"How's it a compliment?"
"Don't know." Jennie shrugs. "You have a calming presence."
"Oh." Y/n nods her head in amusement. "Do I?"
Jennie smiles. "I think you do."
They look at each other for a moment before Y/n averts her eyes. "Are you going to come out tonight?"
"Do you want me to?"
Y/n shrugs, still not facing her. "I guess, it's better than sitting around at home and doing nothing, right?"
Jennie hums. "Nayeon told me you have a brother."
This gets Y/n's attention almost immediately. She narrows her eyes at Jennie. "No."
"No what?"
"No, as in don't even think about it."
Jennie chuckles, shaking her head. "That's not what I meant. I'm not a fucking pervert, Y/n."
Y/n still doesn't seem satisfied but she stops glaring at Jennie, at least. "Girls from the city are the fucking worst. There was a wedding last year and a bunch of them came to stay here, thought they could treat our people like fucking objects or something."
Jennie frowns. "I'm sorry. That sucks."
Y/n meets her eyes again. "But to answer your question... yes, I have a brother. Taehyung."
"How old is he?"
"He's turning eighteen soon," Y/n says. "You can meet him tonight, if you want."
"Yeah, sure." Jennie nods her head. "Can you... like pick me up?"
A smile tugs on Y/n's lips, her eyes squinted because the setting sun shines directly in her face. She looks really peaceful like that, sitting in grass surrounded by flowers and her fluffy hair. "This isn't a date, Jennie."
Jennie feels her cheeks heat up, trying to reach out and grab Y/n's shoe but she only pushes the hammock harder with her foot, bringing her out of reach. "I'm not good at stuff like that. I'm probably not gonna show up if I have to go myself."
"You're like a baby." Y/n snorts. "But yeah, sure, I can pick you up. Do you want me to bring you flowers too or-"
Jennie pushes herself off the hammock and grabs Y/n's legs, making the girl laugh when they start wrestling on the ground, grass and dirt getting all over them.
"Okay, sorry, I'll stop." Y/n is panting heavily underneath her, smiling up at Jennie. There is still some dust stuck in her hair and Jennie is tempted to reach out and brush it off. "I gotta go, though. Still have to bring back the cattle."
"Oh, yeah," Jennie says, rolling off of Y/n and helping her get up.
Her grandmother steps out on the balcony just then, waving at Y/n who waves back with a bright smile.
"Come eat dinner with us, Y/n!"
Y/n shakes her head. "Sorry aunt Youngja, gotta take care of the cattle."
She smiles sadly before looking at Jennie. "Take Jennie with you, she can help you."
Y/n snorts and points her thumb at her. "Not to be rude but I don't think she would be much help."
"I actually agree," Jennie mumbles, making Y/n snicker next to her.
"Oh, don't be like that. Your friend's been working the whole day! Go and help her out!"
"Grandma, I really don't like cows, okay? They freak me out!"
"Well you like them alright when you eat them!"
"Yes, because they're dead!"
"No food for you tonight if you don't help Y/n."
"Grandma-"
Y/n's smile softens as she looks at Jennie and she turns to shake her head at Jennie's grandmother. "Auntie, it's okay. You know I can handle it myself."
Jennie feels a bit conflicted. When she looks a bit closer, she can see how exhausted Y/n looks and what has Jennie been doing all day? Wasting time together with Nayeon and Seokmin to the point where they ran out of things to do and started looking for four-leaved clovers in the grass.
"I mean, I don't think I can help much but I could keep you company?" She offers. Kuma barks quietly and Jennie rolls her eyes. "We could keep you company." Y/n gives her a contemplating look before shrugging her shoulders.
"Sure, I don't mind," She says and starts walking.
The field where their cows are is almost as far away as the waterfall from yesterday except it's basically in the other direction of it. Jennie counts sixteen cows in total while Y/n opens the gates, picking up a long stick that's balanced against the gate outside.
Kuma runs inside and scares the cows, looking way too happy as he runs around. Y/n looks up at Jennie with an amused expression when she finds her standing in the safety on the other side of the gate.
"You're not coming inside, are you?"
"I'd rather not."
Y/n smiles and turns around. "Kids! Come on. Let's go home." She shouts while she approaches the cows.
"Kids?" Jennie whispers to herself, watching Y/n drive the cows together and towards the gate.
"Can you open the gate for me?" She shouts once most of the cows are steering towards it.
Jennie pulls a face but does as she's told, walking backwards so the door of the gate is protecting her if a cow should decide to attack her.
They seem to be well behaved. They all walk through the gate without a fuss and Jennie panics for a moment when they just start walking off without waiting for Y/n. "Y/n, they're leaving," She says like an idiot.
Y/n laughs and grabs the door Jennie is gripping to close it. "They know the way to our house. I'm basically just here to let them out and make sure they don't decide to run away or something."
Jennie didn't think cows were that intelligent and she suddenly feels like an asshole for thinking that. She wants to go and pet them to make up for it but she's still kind of scared shitless of them and she also fears for Kuma's safety who seems to think that the cow's legs are some kind of parkour for her.
"Oh, get over yourself." Y/n scoffs when Jennie cowers behind her when a cow gets a little too close on their way back. "They're cows, you idiot, they don't do anything as long you're nice to them."
Jennie sighs and starts walking next to Y/n again instead of behind her, that is until one of the cows decides to just stop walking and turns around to look at Jennie. "What is it doing?"
"Nothing." Y/n chuckles. "Just keep walking."
"I can't, it's in the way!"
"It's a she, you insensitive prick. Her name is Arielle."
"You gave them names?" Jennie whisper shouts, the cow slowly starting to approach her. "Y/n, it's going to fucking attack me!"
Y/n sighs and walks back to her side, taking her hand to lead her away from the cow. "Was that so hard, you freaking baby?"
Jennie is about to defend herself but realizes that Y/n is holding her hand.
Y/n is holding her hand.
Her palm feels warm and a little rough against Jennie's, probably from all the work she has to do and Jennie resists the urge to hold it a little tighter.
Y/n gives her a curious look when Jennie doesn't budge, and then her gaze shifts to their connected hands and she lets go like she was burned. "Come on, let's go before it gets dark," She mutters and walks away without waiting for Jennie.
Jennie clears her throat to stop herself from blushing over something as stupid as holding hands and catches up with Y/n quickly. "So, what do you do with the cows once farming season is over?"
"We sell them."
"For slaughter?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
"But... don't you get attached to them?"
Y/n shrugs, pursing her lips. "I guess I do, but I'm not there when they die so I usually pretend they're just changing their owners or something."
"That's kind of sad."
Y/n hums. "We don't get to be sad when we're the reason they have to die, don't you think?"
"But they taste good." Jennie cringes a little. She sounds like a prick.
Y/n chuckles, glancing at her. "Yeah, they do, don't they?"
And Jennie's eyes flicker to her smile before she clears her throat and turns her face away.
Nope.
Y/n's fingers keep jittering against the stick; Jennie picks up one those things fast because she herself gets the jitters after a few days without proper sleep, but she's pretty sure for Y/n there's an entirely different reason.
"You seem nervous," She comments a few moments later.
Y/n huffs out a humourless laugh. "I just need a cigarette."
Jennie refrains from telling her that it's cancerous; everyone knows that, but the addiction's usually stronger than the fear of destroying your lungs and losing your life. "Don't have any on you?"
"Seokmin keeps them for me." Y/n sighs and shakes her head. "It was hisnidea. To get me to stop smoking or something."
"Seems like a good idea."
"Yeah, sure." Y/n lifts her hand and it's shaking like a dry leaf in the wind. "Pathetic, isn't it?" She asks, looking at Jennie.
Jennie lifts her own hand. It's trembling, too. "I don't think I'm in a place to judge you."
Y/n looks at their hands for a moment. "It's different. Yours isn't your fault."
Except it kind of is, but Jennie decides not to say anything.
At one point the cows start walking down a path that leads away from the direction of Jennie's house and Y/n stops walking. "My house is this way. If you're still up for hanging out tonight I'll wait for you at your door at nine, is that okay?"
"I was just joking," Jennie says. "You don't have to come pick me up. I'm a grown ass girl."
"Are you sure?" Y/n lifts an eyebrow, hands placed on the stick she's holding and pressing into the ground.
"Yeah." Jennie smiles even though it's a lie.
Y/n grins and shakes her head. "I'll pick you up at nine, Jennie."
Jennie stares at her for a moment before sighing. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."
Y/n just grins wider and turns around to catch up with the cattle and Jennie watches her until she disappears from her sight.
Kuma nudges her thigh with his snout and gives her that same strange look from the first day.
"What?" Jennie sighs and starts walking home alongside the dog. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
Yeah, she's talking to a dog and yeah, she's aware she won't get an answer and yeah, Jennie's kind of an idiot.
Kuma barks softly and Jennie thinks if the dog was human, he'd be rolling his eyes right about now.
----
Happy new yearr y'all 🤺