Chapter Text
It was around 9am at Gukje market - one of the busiest markets in Busan City. One could hear feet splashing in the puddles on the streets. Fishermen and street food vendors nearby yelling at each other from their booths, cars and motorbikes honking in the distance.
Kim Minjeong breathed in the cold morning air and smiled softly at the familiarity of everything.
She loved living in Busan. Besides getting to live close to her group of friends, it had been a small but freeing victory to convince her parents back in Yangsan-si City to let her leave home. Or rather, she told them she would and all but rushed to the door with her luggages already packed before they could stop her. However, the Kims insisted she live with her older brother Doyoung (so they did not have to worry so much). “Mom, Dad! I’m not a child!” - she remembered having voiced her objections a few times, but as they were supporting her and her business, she could not really protest too much. For the record, she really tried, she did.
Living with Doyoung had turned out to be easier than she expected, mainly because he was out most of the time. Be it for work as their family firm’s legal representative in Busan, which he never failed to boast about, reminding Minjeong why she would not join her family’s business, or to stay at some girls’ house for the night. Minjeong could not care less, as she was just happy to have the place to herself more often than not.
---
Minjeong spent most of her days in her small bookstore in the city. She loved the place like it was her own child, as she had fancied reading and watching everything of thriller genre when she was young, and her bookstore pretty much curated all the crime and thriller books and work of arts the store had had to offer. Even the most eclectic ones like the ones from Osamu Dazai or Dot Hutchison, or even trashy ones like- no, she should not name the titles directly, Minjeong mentally corrected herself. Art is subjective, isn’t it? Still, just know that her small bookstore had everything an avid fan of thriller genre could look for.
The bell rang as Minjeong entered the shop and she could not help but smile. She quickly walked around to open the window shutters, flip the Open / Closed sign around and proceeded to settle in her usual spot, a very comfortable worn-out reading chair that let her keep an eye on the entrance door while she was going through some readings and sometimes even jotting down some words.
“Morning!”
Minjeong jumped out of her chair, startled.
“Jesus, Seungwan! Have some compassion for my jumpy self, will you?”
Son Seungwan - her assistant - smiled apologetically.
“I really wasn’t all that sneaky you know, there’s literally a bell on the door-”
Minjeong shot her a look.
“Okayyyy fine, my fault. I can make it up to you, fancy some tea this morning?”
“And?”
“And a chocolate croissant?”
“Now you’re talking!”
Seungwan grinned at her boss. Minjeong smiled too, though rolling her eyes. As Seungwan walked out the door, she immediately took a step back and leaned her head back in.
“Hear that? That’s a bell. Announcing a living, breathing being walking through the threshold.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be getting my breakfast?”
“Yes captain!”
And with that, Seungwan laughed out loud for one last time and let the door close behind her. Minjeong shook her head, then went back to her scribbling. That was for roughly 3 seconds, because that was how long it took for the bell to ring again.
She couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“I got it, you’ve made your point clear as day, just go already!”
There was a pause.
“I’m sorry, are you not open?”
Minjeong’s head shot up and immediately saw that it was indeed not Seungwan who was standing hesitantly at the bookstore’s doorstep. The girl was wearing simple tall jeans, a white T-shirt and a black leather jacket, and although her face had been half hidden by sunglasses - which was weird since it had been raining - Minjeong found herself struck dumb for a moment by her and that attractive mole under her lips. She shook her head lightly, snapping herself out of it.
“We are. We are! So sorry. Welcome!”
Minjeong said a little bit too enthusiastically, earning a tilt of the head and certainly a strange look from the girl’s hidden eyes.
“Can I help you?”
“No, thanks. I’ll just look around.”
The girl slowly walked all the way into the store, putting her sunglasses above her head and started browsing through the bookshelves. Minjeong prided herself in her book categorizing skills, though she did still feel a little worried if the stranger would have trouble sorting through the shelves somehow.
She pretended to go back to her writing but kept looking at the other girl from the corner of her eye. The girl had such a natural grace around her, moving around with ease, eyes scanning every shelf. Finally, she looked like she had settled on a title, took it out and skimmed through it a bit.
“That book’s really not good.”
The girl looked up, Minjeong met her eyes for the first time. Long eyelashes. Shining bright. With so much grace. Those eyes felt oddly familiar. Oh, also she is probably the most divine and beautiful woman that Minjeong had ever met.
“You know, just in case your browsing turned to buying. And I hate to be that shop owner who won’t shut up and let the customer shop in peace but I just, I can’t let you waste your money.”
The girl regarded her strangely, her lip curved ever so slightly upwards. She closed the book, putting it back on the shelf.
“Alright, I won’t.”
“Great, thanks.”
“For not buying anything from you? You’re welcome.”
Minjeong got up, walking towards the girl and checking out the shelf she was standing in front of.
“Well you can still buy something. If it’s crime novels you are interested in, I think I have something here-”
“Are you a writer?”
The girl interrupted, curious eyes studying Minjeong as she briefly pointed to the abandoned notebook beside the reading chair Minjeong had been sitting.
“What? Oh, that, no it was just.. my doodles”
The girl nodded, unconvinced. Minjeong quickly grabbed a book, eager to change the subject.
“This is one of my favorites, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. You might have read her 2012 Gone Girl novel before - honestly I think Sharp Objects is way better. It just is so effectively terrifying and keeps you in between the pages.”
“I’ll take it.”
“You haven’t even looked at it,”
Minjeong protested.
“You’re not really good at your job, are you?”
Minjeong’s eyebrow raised a little and her mouth slightly opened then closed, but the girl continued before she could reply.
“I keep trying to buy things from you, and you keep trying to talk me out of it.”
“I just would not want to leave a customer unsatisfied.”
“How very noble of you. How about this: I promise I won’t hold you accountable, but I’m getting this.”
She leaned over Minjeong and took a book about the history of thriller genre that she must have been eyeing earlier. Minjeong could smell a bit of some excellent lavender perfume, or so she thinks. She smells nice.
“Yes for sure.”
Minjeong moved to stand behind the counter. She was still holding the Sharp Objects book. She put it in the bag with the other book the girl chose.
“It’s on the house. You can hold me accountable for this one.”
“Are you sure? You said this is one of your favorites right?”
“A work of art is not complete until it is shared,” Minjeong smiled “Besides, I have a feeling you’ll be able to appreciate this.”
The girl gave back a small smile, leaving the money for the book on the counter.
“Thank you, then. Have a great day.”
She put her glasses back to her face.
“You, too.”
---
Minjeong kept staring at the door for a few minutes after the bell had already stopped chiming. She was still standing there when Seungwan walked back in, balancing two cups and paper bags in her hands. As soon as Minjeong took her cup, she immediately smelled something was wrong.
“Thanks, Seungwan.”
“You’re welcome Cap!”
“For the coffee.”
Minjeong opened the cup and confirmed her suspicions. Seungwan glanced inside, wearing a horrified expression on her face.
“Oh my god, dang it, I swear I ordered tea.”
“It’s okay, it’s the thought that counts. I’ll just go and ask if they could switch it, can you stay here and oversee things for a bit?”
“Ay, ay, captain!”
Seungwan gave her a mock salute, earning Minjeong’s chuckle as she walked out the door. She turned the corner to head to the coffee they had always got their breakfast from and immediately bumped into something. Or someone. Fuck. A someone that shrieked in horror when the content of Minjeong’s cup of coffee splashed right onto their clean white shirt.
“Shit I’m so, so sorr-”
Minjeong cut herself off as she realized it was the girl from earlier. The mysterious and beautiful girl who smells real nice. Now she felt worse that it was her.
“It’s fine. I mean, not great. I’m kind of in a hurry but whatever-“
“Ah yes hmm, I was thinking... This might sound weird but, do you want to uhh, come by my place?”
“I beg your pardon?” The girl raised her eyebrow at Minjeong as she uselessly tried to wipe off the coffee stains on her ruined shirt.
“Sorry, yes, it’s just that... I live right over there. I have a functioning bathroom and a closet full of shirts, so maybe you can drop by, get cleaned up and change into a new one?”
She pointed at a gray door no more than 40 metres away. The girl looked at the door, then her shirt, and finally at Minjeong.
“Okay, yeah. I suppose that would work.”
---
Minjeong opened the door and quickly ran inside, trying to tidy up all the messes she could find, unsuccessfully.
“Sorry about the mess. My brother is kind of a pig. He lives with me. Long story.”
She explained in one breath, mentally cursing Doyoung for choosing that particular day to come home and erupted all his belongings there. The girl looked around and Minjeong finally remembered why they were here in the first place.
“Ah shirt! Shirt, yes! You need one. I’ll be right back!”
Minjeong disappeared through a flight of stairs, going to her room to rummage in her closet. In horror, she realized that most of the shirts she owned were already put in the laundry, which she had not done. Refusing to give up, she searched through what was left of hers and dreadfully took the only viable option at the moment.
“The bathroom is over there.”
She motioned as she came back downstairs. The girl was politely standing in the hallway, waiting for her, her shirt soaking. Minjeong felt so bad.
“You know... apparently I kind of don’t really have that many clean shirts right now. I swear I really do, but today must be the exception. I guess it’s just, really bad karma. This is all I could find.”
She offered an oversized white shirt to her guest, who picked it up and took a look. She let out an involuntary snort, her hand immediately covering her mouth afterwards.
“Is that...”
“Yeah”
Minjeong confirmed with a grimace.
“It’s pretty much all I had.”
The girl nodded and made her way to the bathroom to change. As soon as the guest was out of sight, Minjeong let out a frustrated sigh, mentally scolding herself for the whole situation. She started frantically cleaning every surface she could get her hand on, so as to not only salvage whatever good impression she was subconsciously hoping to leave on the girl, but also just to have something to do.
She picked up a gossip magazine from the coffee table, scoffing. It wasn’t enough that her sister Aeri had an unhealthy obsession with celebrities and pop culture, but somehow their brother Doyoung felt the need to keep up with all that nonsense too.
She was about to shove the magazine away under some books when something on the cover caught her eye. A black leather jacket, sunglasses and a face with the mole under the lips that seem oddly familiar. ACTRESS KARINA YU SEEN IN BUSAN in big white bold letters. Oh. Oh. Minjeong’s eyes almost bulged in a comical way, as the information finally clicked in her brain. Speak of the devil. The lock on the bathroom door clicked from the end of the hallway, indicating its occupant’s departure.
She hurriedly shoved the magazine under some books like she intended and turned around to face her guest. Internationally renowned, one of the most accoladed, Academy Award nominee, three-time Baeksang Arts Award winner Karina “Jimin” Yu, who was currently standing near her bathroom door, wearing the shirt her mother had made for the Kim siblings when they moved out. The print on the shirt was a picture of them as children, dressed in kid clothes, each sibling making “corny expressions” (as Minjeong would always say, though hers was the little Minjeong having that devilish grin and throwing a punch, which was admittedly adorable, affirmed by her friends). As if the whole print didn’t look embarrassing enough already, mother Kim had to add “the Kim babies” in her elegant handwriting.
The girl - Academy Award nominee Jimin Yu, Minjeong mentally corrected herself - had tied the shirt in a knot on the front and somehow she still managed to make it look so good. Ridiculously attractive. Minjeong shook her head once again to clear her thoughts, and she wanted to facepalm herself. Because not only she had given a gorgeous girl a very embarrassing shirt with herself at 3 years old on it, but she had also given it to one of Hollywood and South Korea’s most requested actress.
“So... uhm, I guess I’ll be going?”
Jimin brought her out of her trance. Minjeong realized she had been silently staring for more time than socially acceptable, but when she took in the girl’s words she started panicking, suddenly feeling an indescribable need of delaying their goodbyes.
“Wait!”
With a voice a bit too high, she rushed to the fridge and quickly opened it.
“Do you want some... orange juice?”
Jimin looked a mix between annoyed and amused. She shook her head.
“Blueberry yoghurt?”
Another head shake, but this time a smile started to tug at the actress’ lips.
“Maybe something else cold - coke, water, some disgusting sugary drink pretending to have something to do with fruits of the forest?”
Jimin bit her lips to hide a now fully formed smile.
“I’m really okay, thank you. I really should get going.”
“Right, of course.”
Minjeong could not hide the disappointment on her face. She hesitantly closed the fridge and followed Jimin towards the door.
“Really sorry again for the coffee. I don’t even like coffee. It should have been tea instead.”
Jimin quickly raised her eyebrows, and Minjeong realized what it might sound like and rushed to explain.
“Wait, I don’t mean I would have spilled tea on your shirt. I should have been drinking tea, far far from you. Not as in avoiding you. Just that it should be a safe distance to protect your wonderful clothing.”
The more Minjeong found herself ramble, the more she hated herself. But she couldn’t stop it. She finally had to shut her lips close so as to prevent any more nonsense from coming out of her mouth.
A small smile came back to Jimin’s lips as she politely endured Minjeong’s word vomit.
“Bye, then.”
The actress spoke when Minjeong was finally done. They both stood at the door, aware of the small space surrounding them. Jimin grasped the doorknob, her back to Minjeong, but didn’t open the door. She instead turned around, let the plastic bags she was holding with her books and shirt fall to the ground as she leaned forward, slowly grabbing Minjeong’s face, bringing their lips together.
Time stood still. Minjeong had absolutely no idea what was happening. She closed her eyes on instinct and almost forgot to return the kiss, but she did. It was slow and light and soft and crazy and felt... right.
As cliché as it sounds, Minjeong did not want to stop. Who the hell would, honestly?
When Minjeong opened her eyes again, Jimin was already picking her stuffs up and opening the door.
“Thanks for the shirt.”
“Thank you. I mean, of course, you’re welcome.”
And just like that, she was gone.
---
“Do you fancy watching a movie tonight?”
Minjeong casually asked Doyoung in their apartment, not looking up while slurping on her instant noodles.
“Wait are you okay?”
“What? Yeah why?”
“Jeongie, when’s the last time you watched an actual movie? Doesn’t that go against your whole “pretending to live in the 19th century aesthetics” and all the book reading and writing nerd shit?”
“What? I don’t want to live in the 19th. Women don’t have rights, there are too many wars, the patriarchy is disgusting, and menstrual pads haven’t been invented yet.”
“Ew the fuck?! I’m eating!”
“You asked.” - Minjeong shrugged.
“So why the sudden desire to join us peasants in the 21st century then?”
“I just wanted something different. I heard there is this actress who is really a hot topic right now. Jimin something.”
She tried her best to sound as nonchalant as possible, but she could feel him smirking at her from across the table.
“I get it now, even the holier than thou Kim Minjeong isn’t immune to the entices of a beautiful woman.”
"What? That’s ridiculous. There’s no such thing - I just feel like as a bookshop owner I should do better at understanding what’s out there on the market y’know. Keeping up with the times and whatnot.”
Not even her own excuse could convince her own ears.
“Yeah sure. I think it just so happens her new movie actually just came out too. It’s about a mime artist who falls in love with a con artist in post-war Paris or something like that.”
Yeah, it doesn’t sound like something Minjeong would enjoy at all.
“Sound great.”
---
“She is incredibly pretty. It’s almost ridiculous.”
Doyoung commented, shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth. Minjeong could only hum in response.
If only he knew that that same actress he was gawking at had worn and now technically possessed a t-shirt with his face as a child, both their faces actually. If she had not thrown it out the window when she came back to the hotel right after a disastrous encounter, that is.
“Imagine though, somewhere in the world there is someone who is allowed to kiss her.”
He sighed as a close-up of Jimin brightened up the screen. Minjeong dazedly found herself staring, mostly at the lips that had touched hers hours before, and that gorgeous mole, and those pretty eyes. Probably. Maybe. She started to think this all might just be a fever dream. The strangest one she had ever had.
After they had finished the film, she bid Doyoung goodnight. Before going to bed, she checked her closet once again, and her print shirt wasn’t there.
Minjeong smiled. Ah, so it’s actually real.