"No! Don't come any closer!" she screamed.
Jae-hyuk froze mid-step.
His eyes widened slightly, not because she had fallen, but because he could already tell this was going to become one of those memories that randomly attack a person at 2 a.m. for the next ten years.
"It's fine, Soo-ji," she muttered to herself, forcing a shaky smile. "If you pretend nothing happened, then technically nothing happened."
She planted her hands on the ground and tried to stand—
Squish.
Her foot slipped again.
And down she went for the second time.
Silence.
Birds chirped somewhere in the distance.
A dog barked.
Soo-ji stared blankly at the sky. "Heavenly Father," she whispered dramatically, "your daughter has suffered enough. Take me home."
Jae-hyuk was closer now, standing over her.
She scrambled across the floor and finally managed to stand up, a piece of poop stuck to her cheek.
"There's—" he began, but she immediately cut him off.
"No! I'm fine. Are these yours?" she questioned, raising the keys.
"No," he simply replied.
"So I got poop all over me for no reason. It's fine," she muttered under her breath. She looked up at him and forced a smile. "Sorry," she said before turning on her heels and speed-walking away from him.
He simply stared at her retreating figure, his hand slowly covering his nose.
---
Soo-ji didn't even return to the shop. She ran straight home, her eyes already filled with tears. She tried not to slip again as she barged into the sitting room.
Mrs. Lee looked up from folding laundry. "You're back ear—" her words trailed off.
Seo-jun sniffed the air dramatically.
"What's that horrible smell?" Seo-jun asked, covering his nose with his hand.
Soo-ji just sobbed.
That was when Mrs. Lee finally noticed.
"Ji-ya, what happened?" she asked worriedly.
"Did you go play in Poop Land?" Seo-jun teased.
Mrs. Lee smacked his arm hard.
"Mother, I was just asking a question," he complained, rubbing his arm dramatically.
Soo-ji burst into the tears she had been trying so hard to hold back and ran into her room.
Mrs. Lee glared at Seo-jun.
"What? I didn't push her into the poop," Seo-jun defended himself before walking into his room.
A few minutes later, Mrs. Lee knocked on Soo-ji's door while holding a plate of fruit.
"Ji-ya!"
"Can I get a school transfer?" Soo-ji asked from inside the room.
"No, Soo-ji, you can't," Mrs. Lee replied.
"Then I don't want to open the door."
"Should I just give the tiramisu to your brother then?" Mrs. Lee teased.
"Yes! Please, Mother!" Seo-jun yelled from the kitchen.
Soo-ji immediately opened the door.
"It's mine," she declared possessively, only to freeze when she saw the plate of fruit instead. "Mother," she whined.
"Fine. I'll get you a tiramisu after church tomorrow," Mrs. Lee promised.
"Thank you, Mother," Soo-ji said happily, hugging her.
"You could really use some perfume right now."
"Mother!" Soo-ji chuckled in disbelief.
"Do I get tiramisu too?" Seo-jun asked, peeking through his doorway.
"No! Tiramisu is only for Ji-ya," Mrs. Lee scolded.
"If I fall in poop, do I get one too?" Seo-jun teased again.
"It's not funny!" Soo-ji screamed, offended.