𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒚.

there’s a list nari's supposed to get through today since she's put it off last night. inventory, replying to emails, restocking displays that don't technically need restocking yet since the store doesn't get that much foot traffic. nothing would fall apart if she ignored it for another hour or two (or the entire day, if she's being honest), but she's currently bored so she figured why not get started on it.

that had been the plan, but that's as far as she got. there's a clipboard tucked beneath her arm containing the checklist, and she hasn't looked at it once since she picked it up. instead, she's lingering near one of the display tables. one hand rests lightly against the edge of the table while the other turns a small polished stone between her fingers, admiring the way it reflects the overhead lights. the displays are already fine. at this point, she's just touching things for the sake of looking busy. she places the stone back exactly where it had been and closes the display when she tracks the movement of someone passing by her out the corner of her eye.

"oh, am i in the way? sorry about that." the apology leaves her lips easily as she takes a small step to the side that gives them more room than they actually need, even though she hadn't really been blocking anything to begin with. nari's hand lingers near the display for a second longer before dropping back to her side. it would be easy to just walk away and let one of the clerks handle it. but she is working and knows she should do a bit more to pull her weight today.

some people might think it's ridiculous that the route from nari's place to oni cafe is path she often takes in the morning instead of the one leading to her actual job. even on the days nari left her place halfheartedly commited to going to work, somehow she'd still end up in front of oni cafe. if you ask her, there's a brief explanation about avoidance for the reason why that happens, but it's easier if she just blames her frequent appearance on her sweet tooth.

nari steps into oni cafe, immediately spotting daeun, and makes her way over to the counter.

"unfortunately, i won't be staying long today," she says the moment she reaches it with a certainty that sounds almost convincing. "and i really mean it this time!" given her track record, it's very unlikely to be true, but at least she can say there was an attempt. her attention momentarily drifts as she scans the store, finally taking in her surrounds and who else might be there this early. not that she really cares to strike up a conversation with anyone other than daeun at the moment, but it's something she should still be aware of.

her focus is back on daeun the second she finished checking her surroundings, and she leans into the counter. the only thing saving her from looking like she's already contradicting her earlier statement and planning to stay is the fact that she's still standing with her purse hanging from her shoulder instead of being set down like it usually would be by now.

unlike most mornings, nari couldn't necessarily say she had the intention of going to work that morning. though if she did, the morning would've been perfect for her to actually stay open during business hours. she woke up when her alarm went off and didn’t snooze it more than once. and once the alarm rang the second time around, she briefly considered being extra productive before getting out of bed. she could pull out her phone and draft replies to emails, getting ready so that she'd be showing up on time, doing all the things she was technically supposed to do as a responsible adult and business owner. but she wasn't.

somewhere between getting out of bed and staring at her phone, she came to the realization that she just didn’t feel like dealing with anything sanbit stones at the moment. sometimes the mornings went like this since she's not a morning person, but she doesn't make it too much of a habit. so instead, she swiped out of the emails and opened her messages, where she saw her last message. one to hwayang, simply notifying the younger she'd be stopping by tomorrow.

so now, instead of being north of downtown where she was supposed to be, nari finds herself east of downtown at dawn's rest, uncaffeinated but still rejuvenated by her surroundings. she scans the area, looking for hwayang, and her eyes lit up as soon as she spots the person she's looking for.

"hwayang, i'm here," she calls out, announcing her presence as she approaches him, "thank you for letting me stop by. i desperately needed some fresh air." she drifts a little past him, hands loosely clasped behind her back as she looks over the flowers. she always forgets how much she likes it here until she's actually standing in it.

she grew up in busan alongside her mom and brother. she was a confident kid, introducing herself to everyone she saw and proudly claiming to be their new friend whether they agreed or not. but she was also the annoying kid who didn't know when to leave people alone. she genuinely couldn't wrap her head around the idea that not everyone wanted to be around her, or worse, that not everyone would like her. but she quickly adjusted, learning how to give people space without sacrificing that part of herself that thrived on socializing with others.

a lot of her early memories are tied to being outside, sometimes trailing after her brother and other times leading him. regardless of who led who, she remembers she was always getting her hands dirty without really thinking twice about it, digging around in the ground and picking up rocks she thought looked interesting. she'd stuff her pockets with things she probably didn’t need to keep, and would probably be scolded for it once her mom found it, but it wasn’t something she thought too deeply about at the time. she just liked the way the rocks looked. but looking back at it, it was probably the first sign of where her interests would eventually land.

but it was hard to predict where her interest would land when it was always changing. everything was always quick with nari. she got interested in things quickly, picked things up easily, and moved on just as fast when she inevitably lost interest. and then the cycle would repeat with whatever new thing she was interested in. she simply wasn't going to force herself to do something that she wasn't enjoying. for a short time she was convinced she had found something she would stick with. nari had wanted to be a geologist. it sounded right given her interests and felt like something she could invest herself in. but then she actually looked into what that entailed. the field work and the extractions, and she lost interest almost immediately. it sounded like way too much work than she was willing to deal with, so she decided to look for another way she’d get to work with them.

while in college, she got into gem cutting. it started as a hobby, something she picked up out of curiosity, but it stuck with her longer than most things did. she used to annoyingly tell her friends that she liked it because she was “making them pretty,” and that she likes pretty things, so how could she not love it? it was partially a joke that always made them grown because she typically segued into trying to get them to buy one off of her. she mainly liked the control of it, and it was good distraction when she needed it, but truth be told, this too was a lot of work that she didn't want to do forever.

she first visited seomri during that time. she had tagged along with a friend who was visiting a relative. nari had only come as a favor, and honestly wasn’t expecting much from what her friend had told her. it wasn’t meant to be anything significant, just a short trip with the high possibility of her getting some useless souvenir that she'd forget she purchased in a week. but nari ended up liking seomri more than she expected to. there was something about it that clicked with her immediately, and she came back the following year without the friend.

by the end of her second trip, the decision was final and she moved. it didn’t make much sense to her friends back home that she's leaving busan for seomri, especially since she doesn't actually know anyone living there. they had casted their bets that she’ll come back once she realizes she wants more within a year. but nari was certain in her decision, and still is happy that she took the chance when she did.

she's built a life she's happy with in seomri. nari owns and manages sanbit stones, which is essentially a dream job for her. granted some people might say she's poorly running the business... but considering the fact that she is still able open the doors at some point in the day means that she's doing enough. but if you ignore that part, she’s actually good at the rest of it. the branding, the marketing, the way she curates the space in-store. it’s just the clientele part she struggles with. she’s still good with people, but she doesn't really have the patience to deal with customers. while she can can effortlessly talk to them, she's prideful and being consistently accommodating isn’t something she particularly enjoys. so more often than not, she passes that responsibility off to her employees and tells them to call her only if someone specifically asks for the manager.

outside of the shop, she's almost always somewhere buying something or spending an unreasonable amount of time in oni cafe getting her caffeine fix for the day, otherwise she'd be doing her third favorite thing: napping. she’s really more comfortable here than expected. she likes her inconsistent routine, her shop, and the way her life feels easy.

she tends to talk more than she probably needs to. it’s something she’s always been good at, even as a kid who didn’t quite know when to stop. now she does, mostly, but she still enjoys talking for the sake of it.

she likes being liked, and likes being someone people remember or look forward to seeing. likely has been caught compliment-fishing on a handful of occasions but also she has a bit of an ego so it's to be expected.

she always have big ideas/plans/things she wants to try or start “soon.” and she’ll talk about it, fulling planning it out, and then doesn’t follow through because she just doesn't want to put the time and energy into doing it. and she doesn’t feel like forcing herself to. then she moves on just as quickly as the idea came to her.

she's annoyingly prideful and stubborn. she forms opinions quickly and sticks to them, and once she’s decided how she feels about something or someone, it’s hard to change her mind. she really doesn’t like being wrong, and it's hard to even get her to admit she's wrong.

again, i do prefer brainstorming connections, but here are some general plot ideas for her!

nari likes buying things... so maybe someone who takes advantage of that fact and talks her into buying several items from their workplace...

or alternatively someone who works retail. she’s there constantly. they know her order, her habits, probably her schedule at this point. maybe they’re mildly concerned about how often she shows up.

someone who only ever sees her when she’s out. at oni cafe, wandering around town, randomly showing up places. they’ve never actually seen her working and could possibly be under the impression that she doesn’t do anything all day.

a close friend, preferably one that really knows her inside and out. they’ve spent a lot of time with her and stuck around. they’re one of the few people she’s fully comfortable around and kind of clings to.