#( .precursor )

@ncguk

"how much?" "10,00 won." 

persimmons are in abundance at this time of year. picking up one from the case, seunghee feels out the firmness, and decides to buy a box of the fuyu variety and one of hachiya. the gears in her mind are already turning with ideas as she hoists the purchases in her arms. jam, sliced in half-moons to eat, dried for sujjeongwa and hodu got-gam mari, which reminds her, she'll need to buy walnuts later. but for guk's sake—and her hands lugging the other half of her groceries—seunghee makes a beeline for the nearest bistro set up outdoors. 

"they have good gelato here." the owner of the shop is a sicilian native, having arrived to the korean peninsula to be with a woman he’d called his wife for fifty-two years. her picture hangs above the counter in a gilded frame, which is always spared a lingering glance out of respect. seunghee puts the boxes down underneath one of the tables and gestures for the same to be done with the bags. 

she catches her reflection for the first time in hours through the wide window: the tip of her nose tinted pink, bags under her eyes, stray hairs sticking out from what had once been a carefully coiled bun. details that shouldn’t sting, but the pins-and-needles continue to prick beneath the skin as they order. “i’ll pay.”