February
Facing the end of another month somehow didn't surprise you anymore.
You were truly starting to believe that Taehyung was never coming back for you.
The pain that wracked your body was saying that you should be angry.
But somehow you just couldn't bring yourself to feel that way.
He had such a fantastic successful life, a family, an amazing career and even more amazing friends.
How could he tear himself away from that?
And for you no less?
The fact that you could be so blindingly selfish to even believe he would come back to begin with was astounding.
You walked your usual route to work, bundled in three layers of heat tech and an almost ankle-length down jacket.
You must have looked ridiculous, with your hat and mitts and total arctic attire.
It rarely dipped below 5 degrees here in the dead of winter, and today was an especially warm winter day.
Yet here you were, chattering like it was -50 outside.
Your stiff movements made getting to work a chore, the last of the moon pool water Soon-ja gave you only alleviating the pain for a mere ten minutes after you stepped out of the bath this morning.
You glanced down at the purple crystal heart dangling out of the sleeve of your coat, sighing deeply to yourself.
At least he'll always be a perfect memory...
You rounded the corner to the shop, a pained half-smile appearing on your face at the first sight of a worried-looking Soon-ja.
"Come on dear" She hushed, wrapping a blanket around your puffy coat, "I bought another heater, it should help."
You shuffled over to your spot behind the cash register, sighing in relief as the first wave of the three electric heaters hit you.
"Now, we don't have any orders yet today so I want you to unpack and price the new shipment of the Oceanic Tides trinkets that were delivered this morning." Soon-ja softly demanded, pointing a shaky hand to the small stack of boxes beside the cash.
You nodded weakly, immediately getting to work.
This was oddly your favorite part of the job, it was like Christmas morning, getting to be the first to see the new items in the shop.
Not even Soon-ja knew what was coming, the orders being the result of a Jeju souvenir bulk-subscription she signed up for a few years ago.
Not that it mattered to you, the only thing you cared about was that she sometimes let you keep one or two of the items if she was in a good mood.
You struggled to set the first box on the counter in front of you, fighting against the cold stiffness in your hands to undo the packing tape.
You admired the stacks of new postcards that greeted you.
A sunset on the beach, a drawing of the boardwalk and an aerial shot of the island from a drone.
If you didn't already have a copy of each of these you definitely would have wanted to keep one, you knew how much your family loved getting the odd postcard from you on your travels.
You quickly entered in the standard postcard price into the system and moved onto the next box.
Hand-painted seashells and beach 'snow' globes followed the postcards, nothing out of the ordinary by any means, which meant you probably wouldn't be keeping anything from this shipment.
As you reluctantly opened the last box, expecting nothing unusual, you immediately felt tears well up in your eyes at what you saw.
Nestled neatly inside the box was a one-of-a-kind, Jeju-artist made statue.
Of all the possible items, you couldn't believe this was the one they chose to send.
You never received items like this, it was a rarity to get anything that would cost more than 8,500 won.
This was at least 150,000
And had a direct line to stabbing you in the heart.
Before allowing yourself to get too emotional, you quickly took it out of the box, typed in the first price that came to mind, and shoved it into a nearby glass display.
You made sure it wasn't visible in your line of sight from the cash register, not needing the constant reminder of what you lost.
You sat back down, letting your head fall into your hands as you tried to regain a bit of your emotional stability after the unexpected blow.
Despite the crippling cold you had succumbed to these last 6 months, you were actually starting to feel your emotions stabilize once more.
Half a year of wallowing in the pain can make a girl go crazy, you know?
But you were finally starting to feel less fragile.
At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself...
"Y/N!?" Soon-ja shouted from her open office, "Come here for a moment!"
You shuffled over to her office, not even pausing to stand in the doorway as you made your way over to her second office chair.
She was on the phone with someone, her expression unreadable as she eyed you.
"Got it."
"No, no I won't say anything"
"She'll be there soon."
You furrowed your brows at the woman as she hung up the phone.
"Mmm?" You hummed at her, the last of your energy for the time being drained from your souvenir encounter.
"I need you to go pick up a box of brochures from the aquarium." She said sternly, pulling her reading glass off her face.
"Ajumma..." You whined, pouting at her like a spoiled child.
"I'm not listening to your incessant whining today, just go get the box!"
Her sudden authoritative tone shocked you.
The last six months she had treated you like you would break at any moment, as if you could only handle the simplest of tasks.
Yet here she was, doing a total backflip by forcing you out into the cold when she knew how you felt.
"Okay..." you replied, feeling slightly hurt by her sudden coldness.
"Once you finish you can head home" she called as you made your way out the door.
You grumbled to yourself as you made your way back out into the cold, wrapping your arms around yourself pathetically.
As if that would help at all.
You trudged up to the boardwalk and hopped in a taxi for the Aquarium.
The whole way there you could feel your horrible mood simmer, ending your journey with a viable scowl on your face.
If she's sending me all the way over here I'm going to least try to enjoy myself, you thought stubbornly.
So wrapped up in your own head you almost walked face-first into the double glass doors before you saw the notice board.
CLOSED FOR TOURS
*All pickups and deliveries to the side entrance
You groaned.
Seriously?
You reluctantly made your way over to the side entrance, pushing the door open with more force than you thought you had just out of pure frustration at the situation.
The door from the side entrance led straight into the restaurant, the only light visible from where you stood being in the private dining area.
It wasn't unusual, the manager of the place loved taking his breaks in there.
And why wouldn't he?
Despite the painful memory you had attached to it, being the place of your first date with you-know-who and all, it was an amazing place to just sit and watch the fish swim by.
You bowed your head in defeat as you walked towards it.
Turning the corner, you caught sight of a silhouette standing with their back turned to you.
That's when you felt it.
It was as if someone had lit a match at your feet.
A fiery warmth shot straight up from your toes to your head, the arctic cold you had become so accustomed to feeling dissipating as it went.
The searing pain disappeared as if it was never there and you could feel your cheeks flush with the sudden shock to your system.
"What th-"
Your eyes went wide as your mind reeled for the obvious answer.
Before your brain could catch up with your body you broke into a sprint, running towards the figure as fast as your legs could take you.
---
//A/N//: Hey lovelies! How is everyone?
I didn't want to add my usual note on the end of the mini chapters because I really wanted you guys to immerse yourself in the vibe of it all!
BUT I did miss you guys and was smiling to myself reading all your comments!
Love you all!
- Sisi