꒰ my oh my! ꒱

Mihi was a gem. To Hailey, meeting her was like finding water in the middle of a desert. She never expected to adjust to the island life with ease, but the differences between a small town and a big, bustling city, like Seoul, proved to have stark contrast. It wasn’t as if she were struggling to tread above water, but Hailey was learning many new things that she hadn’t experienced all that often back home. The familiarity of Mihi was a comfort that she was in desperate need of. Sitting before her was like being in the presence of herself— the two were that similar.

“You seemed to steal the words straight from my mouth.” A small laugh escaped from the petite smile she shared with the other. “It is! I recently bought this set from Graciegrace the other day. When I first laid eyes on it, I thought, ‘Wow. I could make this look so good!’— so I bought it.” Following her self-praise, Hailey took a quaint sip of her tea, pleased with the kind words she’d said of herself. However, at the other’s words, she paused, raising a brow with curiosity. “Great news? Do tell, Mini.”

      ❝  OH ,  GRACIEGRACE ,  i should have known !  ❞  after all ,  the illustrator knew better than to expect any less from her best friend .  mini herself was quite fond of the graciegrace fashion ,  of the quality  &  beautiful cut of every outfit .  if it weren’t for her attachment to the able siblings’ shop  ( not to mention their own wonderful selection of clothes ) ,  the girl might as well have applied for a part time job at the expensive boutique !  ❝  you were right ,  it looks wonderful on you .  really brings out your eyes !  i haven’t been to that store in so long ...  do you think they have anything i’d like at the moment ?  ❞ 

mini had become a recent regular to the shop, and it would be wrong for hyunjin to say that he wasn’t curious as to why she kept coming in so often and consistently just draw. he had to admire her commitment. besides that, he had noted that she had a very consistent order of a cappuccino. she had been coming by a lot, but he hadn’t yet spoken to her much – maybe if she came in more, that would change.

maybe she was an exception though; whatever she was working on every time she came in caused him to feel extremely interested and he almost couldn’t resist the thought of going to see what it was. hyunjin did in fact recognize that that would be a little weird and very much out of character, but he couldn’t exactly see what the problem was. he didn’t think there was too much risk involved, and he usually enjoyed seeing and knowing what people on the islands did when they got their cups of coffee. why not? not having a customer at this exact moment meant he could do what he wanted, so he did just that, slowly walking over to the small table where mini was drawing. he was almost blocking her paper – on accident, of course, and he was ready to ask about said drawing when she started to speak, looking quite nervous as she finally looked at him. “awkward…? oh…. sorry – i just wanted to come over and ask about what you’re working on, since you’re in here so often.” he paused, feeling a bit nervous himself having actually settled on asking about it. “is it okay with you if i take a look?”

           IT SURPRISED HER  that somehow ,  the man hadn’t managed to get a proper look at mini’s drawing of him .  in fact ,  one might as well say the illustrator exposed herself !  how embarrassing ,  mini thought ,  brows furrowing together as she looked down at her hands .  oh well ,  it was too late to turn back now .  ❝  um ... sure ,  of course !  ❞  she replied with as much excitement as she could muster ,  though it always was a bit  scary  to show even something as simple as a sketch to someone  ---  especially if it was the very person she’d been using as inspiration .

            as she moved her hands away from  the sketchbook ,  mini let out a long sigh  &  reached for her cappuccino ,  taking a long sip as if to prepare herself for any sort of reaction .  the girl was confident in her skills of course ,  but still ,  you never know .  watching his face as she let him take a good look at the unfinished piece ,  mini tucked a light pink lock behind her ear .  ❝  it’s not finished ,  by the way ...  oh ,  &  i meant to ask for your  permission ,  too !  it just- i kind of forgot to ,  if i’m being honest .  that is quite embarrassing ,  isn’t it ?  ❞  how impolite of her ,  to say the least .  ❝  uh ...  ❞  she cleared her throat ,   ❝  so ,  what do you think ?  ❞

with @leeminis

rain considered himself an optimist. when there was a storm, he thought of the rainbow that would come after; when he hit a low, he thought of how high the upswing would take him; when he brought his hands away from the pottery wheel to reveal a sad, disfigured lump of clay, he thought of how cool that sad, disfigured lump of clay was going to look on his window sill.

or… interesting. yes, that was another word for it.

“i don’t know if i’m cut out for fine arts,” he bemoaned, spinning in his stool to show mini his progress. after initially commissioning her for vases for his flowers, he’d come to the logical conclusion to just ask her for pottery lessons. teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime, right? except rain turned out to be a lot better at fishing than pottery. “look at it! it looks like a mutated earthworm.”

       WHEN RAIN MENTIONED  he wanted to learn how to make pottery ,  mini couldn’t help but feel excited about the idea .  she always appreciated any opportunity to partake into one of her interests ,  especially such a high tier one .  besides ,  she’d be teaching a dear friend something new ,  something he wanted to learn  &  trusted her with teaching it !  what an honor ,  really ,  not to mention what an expression of admiration !  it might have boosted her ego a bit ,  just a little bit .

            it was rare for sora to actually walk around the islands. usually, she was found driving her motorcycle absolutely everywhere — no matter the distance. one of the reason was her love for her vehicles, though there was another aspect that made her avoid walking anywhere; the risk of random people recognising her and chatting her up were much slimmer when she was on a motorbike. having grown up in eastbell and now having moved to starden, there were far too many people who knew who sora was — hell, most of them had seen her walk around the beach in just diapers when she was still a wee baby.

            truth be told, mini was in no way one of the people sora usually wanted to avoid when walking around town. she was adorable; always cheerful and bubbly — there was just something about her that made sora want to hug her forever and never let go. “ hey, what’s up, mini? ” the girl smiled back, her eyes turning into crescents. “ i get it done at shampoodle usually … like, i get it dyed and i come back about once a week to get a treatment. it’s a little pricey but absolutely worth it! ” she ran her fingers through her hair as to show how healthy it was despite the frequent hair colouring. “ i’d love to give you a secret tip, but sadly i don’t have any. how’ve you been, girlfriend? ”

       ❝  SHAMPOODLE ?  no way ,  me too !  ❞  suddenly ,  the brightest of smiles appears on mini’s rosy lips .  no wonder sora’s hair always looked incredible ,  she got it done at the very same place as mini !  shampoodle did have quite the reputation ,  after all .  it was natural that they would have many clients across the islands .  ❝  wait a minute ,  what do you say we schedule a touch ups together sometime ?  it would be so much fun ...  my oh my !  like a big ,  beautiful  pink party !  ❞  it only seemed fair .  hair touch ups could take a long ,  long time ,  &  staying at the hair salon was always more bearable with a friend .

       TODAY HAD BEEN A  wonderfully good day for mini .  not that there was anything special about it ,  but the mere fact that the past few hours went by smoothly  &  peacefully did wonders for the girl !  it was quite satisfying ,  to say the least .  perhaps that is why she carried a bright smile on her lips when exiting the able siblings  &  wondered whether to visit the  fleur de la mer  to get a pastry or two ,  or maybe stop at  the rooster  for some coffee .  maybe she’d even get to do some doodling while there !

              ❝  I THINK THE MOST IMPORTANT THING  when learning pottery is to just be patient ,  you know ?  my oh my ,  some people expect to make the most intriguing things right off the bat ,  &  that’s totally not how it works !  a small ,  simple pot will-- ...  ❞  that’s when mini stops herself ,  the look in her eyes being replaced by that of annoyance .  of course  he wasn’t paying attention .

         MEETING UP WITH SEONMI  at the docks had become a part of mini’s daily routine .  everyday ,  the two girls would cross from one island to the other to get to work  &  during the travel time ,  one could expect to see them napping ,  sharing a delicious little pastry ,  or simply talking about a long list of different subjects .  the world was their little oyster ,  after all !  most days ,  mini found herself looking forward to seeing seonmi more than to get to her part - time job at the able siblings .  not that she didn’t  like  her job ,  but there was only so much talking she could do during work hours !