that saturday morning, i stayed in at home. unfortunately, my mother had work that day but it was only half a day. by the time i had woke up, i went downstairs to see a note from her placed on the fridge.

morning soojin-ah,

there's some cooked eggs and bacon on the dining table. make sure to eat. and if it's not too much to ask for, could you do some laundry?

thank you! i love you!

-mom

i looked around and scratched my head slightly with my hair tied up into those messy buns. on the dining table, i saw the eggs and bacon she had talked about and decided to eat breakfast that morning.

around 1:00pm, i already finished the laundry, folded the clothes, and placed them in their rightful place. i didn't have anything else to do, so i decided to go out to the corner store just because... and probably also to get some air.

i changed quickly into a slightly oversized yellow pastel t-shirt, a denim button up skirt, and topping it all off with my worn out basic black converse plus some white ankle socks to go with them. as i tied my laces, i left the house right after making sure i locked the house. and i was off.

as i had come closer to the corner store, i made sure to look both ways as i crossed the street. luckily, there weren't as many cars unlike rush hour time. i opened up the door to the corner store once i arrived.

as i entered in, i automatically went to the drinks/sodas isle and went to pick a cola. i took the cold drink into my hands and went to go find some sanitary pads. my eyes wondered the shelves until i had finally picked out a box. with the cola and the box of sanitary pads in my hand, i quietly walked over to the cashier and placed the items down.

a young guy, with soft black hair and who had such chubby cheeks and small fingers, smiled at me as he went ahead and scanned the items. "hello, did everything go well for you today?"

i smiled and nodded my head.

he returned a soft smile back as he rang up the items. "you're total is 15500 won," he said to me. (i converted it and it says 15500 is $13.66 US dollars)

i dugged out the correct change as i gave him the money. curiously, i stared at his face until a question popped into mind. "are you a highschool student?" i asked softly as he gave me the correct change back.

the young guy gave a slight nod, "i'm guessing you are too?"

i nodded my head as he put the items into a plastic bag for me, along with the receipt. "i go to hwangsa highschool," i replied to him. "oh, i go to busan arts school," he said in return.

i smiled as i looked at him. "my name's jung soojin. what's your's?"

"park jimin. it's nice to meet you."

i bowed politely to him as he bowed back handing the plastic bag with the items inside. "have a good day, and please come again," he said sweetly. "thank you."

i left the corner store and decided to walk around the place. while carrying the plastic bag, i snapped open the cap of the bottle and took a sip. i made a satisfied sour face from the taste of the poppy cola.

smiling, i continued walking around smelling the fresh air. many older ones were out walking. some were sitting at street stands selling anything they could to make money. just up ahead, there was a food market. i grinned slightly to myself and decided to walk through there.

they had the vegetable side, the meat, seafood, etc. my eyes looked around the crowd when i finally caught sight of my mother. she was working with a customer at the time so i slowly approached her part of the stand. smiling, i stood by the side.

"thank you, please come again!" my mother said as she waved to the customer who had just left. still smiling, i decided to speak up. "eomma!"

frightenly, i watched as she jumped up slightly as she placed her hand over her chest. "yah," she laughed slightly, "don't scare me like that!"

i grinned at her and sat down on a small plastic chair. "sorry. just thought i'd visit you. how's work?"

"it's slow, but i managing to make the money," she said giving me a smile. i looked at the woman who had taken care of me all my life. even though my dad had left us, she's still here trying to make a living for the both of us. forget what seoyul said. i know i'm not worthless.

i smiled back at my mother.

"do you want anything to eat? i can go quickly and buy you something," i said after taking a sip of my cola.

"it's okay soojin-ah. i can get something to eat. you just go have fun, alright?"

i smiled widely and nodded as i stood up to my feet. "i'll be going first! annyeong eomma," i waved to her. "bye soojinnie," she waved back.

and with that, i left the market and walked all the way back to the house. the rest of the day i didn't do much but watch some k-dramas, non of which were exciting to me. i guess i could say it was a "productive" day.