𝕓𝕝𝕦𝕖* / 𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕖

winter weather always seems to bring along with it opportunity, especially nearing the christmas season. of course, the holidays are one of the busiest times of the year, especially when you're an artist. there's always a high demand for good quality, hand crafted goods this time of year, meaning that the hwang family has a lot of work to do during the last few months of the year, including fronting a booth at one of hongdae's art markets.

it's currently bada's weekend off and despite the irony of it all she intends to spend it at the very place she's been working at for the past few weeks. to be fair, there's plenty of things to do that she hasn't been able to experience. there's a couple of stalls that piqued her interest, and of course she can only resist the various aromas of food wafting around her for so long.

but despite the bright lights and the hustle and bustle around her, the cold still manages to creep in. bada shivers, stuffing her hands in her coat pockets trying to keep warm. she shifts her weight from one foot to the other as she anxiously waits for a certain someone's arrival. once she sees him approaching her, however, a smile makes its way on her face and she takes one of her hands out of her pocket to wave him over.

It's not like him to be late, but sometimes shifts ran late, and they ended up with him doing this big old show of racing to the meeting spot. There's something about timeliness, and rushing. Tardiness and feeling pressured are two things he absolutely deplores, and that's what was happening, despite there not being anything pressing for time right now. He looks at his watch, and then back at Bada. Does she ever get mad? Well, yes she does, but hopefully not at his expense or due to something he did. "I hate that the person taking over my shift is always late. Why is it impossible trying to find proper colleagues nowadays?" It's not like he even worked retail. He was an IT technician, but not the cool kind where they write programs, or make games. He's the 'hi, my monitor isn't working, can you help me?' type. And unfortunately he worked at a branch that offered 24/7 service assistance to hotels which meant that his cover-off had to be there before he could sign off for the day.

“weren’t you telling me not too long ago they were supposed to hire some more people?” she frowns as she asks the question. “i’m sorry you have to deal with that, i can’t imagine it’s fun,” bada says with a sigh before they start walking towards the market. truthfully, she doesn’t know what it’s like to have an unreliable colleague. she’s never worked retail or food-service, instead deciding to go into business with her family. though her parents would have supported her choice regardless, she enjoys making art and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“can i be honest?” she looks up at him as they walk. “i’m not sure when the last time it was that we attended together. i know i’m here every year,” bada chuckles. “but i can’t remember if i had any spare time to walk the market. if i did, though, you would have been invited.”

bada’s eyes leave his face and she stares off at the stalls surrounding them, trying to see if anything catches her eyes. “as i get older, i feel like time is just racing by; the years blurring together.” she sighs but shakes her head right after. “but let’s not dwell on that, not the right time,” she says with a short laugh.