ACT I | SCENE II

❝RED❞

HAN JANGMI HELD on tightly to the hand of her daughter who was skipping alongside her, her pigtails swinging with the movement as she excitedly licked at the ice cream in her other hand.

jangmi couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips as she glanced down at the little girl. her bundle of miracle. "careful rosalie, you don't want to get it on your new playsuit." she told her.

rosalie looked up at her mother and then down at her new red playsuit before shaking her head, eyes wide. she stretched out her hand to keep the sticky treat away from her clothes, earning a chuckle from jangmi.

jangmi looked up to see their new home in the distance. she needed to get a car as rosalie would be starting school by the new week and she would start working. they couldn't rely on the bus everyday. she ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. it was going to be a busy weekend.

"mummy?" rosalie chimed next to her. "hmm?" jangmi lifted her lips in a smile as she gazed down at her child. "is uncle hobi still coming to play today?" she asked, taking a huge bite of ice cream.

her mother sent her a small frown at that. swallowing slowly, rosalie gave her a sheepish smile. "sorry mummy." she apologised as she remembered how her mother warned her about talking and eating. especially ice cream because of a possible brain freeze.

"is uncle hobi coming, hm?" she pouted a bit as she repeated her question. she liked her uncle hobi. he was her favourite uncle, even though he was the only uncle she had. rosalie had no doubt he was the best one in the world.

"yes, rosie, he is." jangmi smiled as her daughter let out an excited squeal. jangmi knew it wasn't just the prospect of seeing the man that had her all giggly. it was also the gifts he always seemed to bring along with him.

just like her mother, red was rosalie's favourite colour. and anything that happened to be in that colour was automatically attractive to her regardless of what that thing was. and hoseok never failed to bring her something new and more importantly red.

rosalie tugged on her mother's hand, pulling her forward. "careful, rosie!" she chuckled. "i haven't drawed anything for uncle hobi yet!" rosalie told her.

"it's drawn, sweetie." her mother corrected but rosalie didn't seem to care as she moved her tiny feet faster against the concrete pavement. jangmi walked a little faster as well, amusement on her face.

rosalie finished what was left of her ice cream and handed her mother the stick. "thank you." jangmi smiled as she took it from the little girl. she kept the stick in the back pocket of her jeans.

she noticed that the girl had slowed down and was staring ahead in the direction of their house. jangmi followed her gaze to see that a sleek black car that hadn't been there earlier was now parked in front of their home.

it definitely wasn't hoseok's car. someone stepped out but had their back to them. "mummy, who's that?" rosalie lowered her voice. "mummy doesn't know." jangmi answered warily before bending over and picking her daughter up in her arms.

the girl began to play with the red satin hair tie that kept her mother's hair up in a ponytail. the hair tie was pretty but her mother's hair was prettier. jangmi approached her home cautiously, wondering who the man was. he looked a bit familiar.

"who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked as she stood at the pathway, watching the man who was now at her door. "still as straightforward as ever i see." the man slowly turned around and she took a step back, knees suddenly weak.

"mummy, his shirt is pretty." rosalie whispered in her ear. the red and black striped turtleneck might have been nice but jangmi didn't particularly like the man wearing it.

☀☀☀

first introduction of the two main ocs. and yes, mother and daughter's names both mean rose. and the reason rosalie's name is non korean will be explained later on.

the chapters won't be especially long. well, they'll be longer than my previous stories. probably ranging between 650 to 1.5k words, mostly because i find it really hard to make longer chapters without feeling like i'm speeding through the plot and also because it's hard and i'm lazy.

i want to ease the characters into the story, instead of just dumping them all in at once so it may take a few chapters for other characters to show up. so please bear with me as i'm still working the plot out myself.

and don't be afraid to leave your comments and tell me what you think (please be nice about it). i really hope you like the story. ❤❤ - t