[6] gingerbread man

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Nayeon had insisted she go over to Kim Sojung—otherwise known as Suwon when no one was around—when they were chatting one day

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Nayeon had insisted she go over to Kim Sojung—otherwise known as Suwon when no one was around—when they were chatting one day. Nayeon did general cleaning religiously on Saturdays, and Nayeon didn't want to grace Suwon with a dirty home even if Suwon was her best friend. The situation was quickly dealt with anyway. All it took was a simple statement ("I'll bring food for you") and Suwon invited her over, saying she still had some soda reserved for gatherings like this.

        When she arrived at Suwon's apartment, she was welcomed with a hug as well as the scent of lemon and peppermint coming from a humidifier somewhere in the room. Suwon was just as tall as ever, long hair neatly combed, dressed in indoor clothing, and noticeably barefooted.

        "She's here!" Suwon declared out loud, and there was a white noise inside followed by someone calling Nayeon's name. Suwon closed the door and grabbed the bag of food from Nayeon while Nayeon took off her shoes, feet snug in grey, patterned socks. Suwon went to the kitchenette with the bag of food, setting out takeaway packaging of tteokbokki and dakkochi. They were still warm, thankfully.

        Nayeon noticed an iPad perched on a wooden knife holder. In the screen was another one of her best friends, Jennie Kim, the girl's hair held up in a messy bun while rubbing a cotton pad on her face. She was located in her bedroom, it seemed. ooVoo didn't exactly have the best video quality, but so do other messaging apps like Skype and KakaoTalk.

        "Hi Nini!" Nayeon enthusiastically greeted.

        "Hey," Jennie greeted. There was a second of delay, which was good. She paused from whatever she was doing, glancing at her gadget before making a surprised sound. "New haircut? You look pretty without the fringe." At this comment, Nayeon playfully rolled her eyes. Nayeon's hair used to reach just above her elbows, her fringe grazing her eyebrows. Now the fringe was gone and so was a lengthy half of her hair; the ends tiptoed on her collarbones.

        "What took you so long?" Jennie asked.

        "I bought food on the way. That's the deal so I could come over here. What're you doing?"

        "Removing make-up."

        Nayeon watched Suwon walk over to the apartment balcony right across the dining area and slide the door open to let the cool breeze of October come in. It was certainly a chilly night, and eating spicy rice cakes and warm chicken skewers was the best way to enjoy the moment; that, and conversing with a best friend who's currently out of the country.

        "Let's eat!" Suwon pulled out two bottles of sprite from the refrigerator and set it on the counter. With a pair of chopsticks, she began on eating a rice cake, but not before telling Jennie to "spill the tea".

        Nayeon looked up at the screen in curiosity, but brought up a hard-boiled egg to her mouth.

        "Yeah, finally," Jennie sighed out audibly. She brought up a pad on her left eye. "It began like two or three days ago. I was out to pick up flowers from the shop when a guy working there began talking to me. It's like, the small talk thing guys do when they see interesting girls within close range—"

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