Title: Playmate

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     children begin to play in the blazing heat. as the cool breeze plays with their hair, they chat, run, and smile. the sounds of pleasure, youth, and tranquility were heard coming from a distance.

     children reclining in the shade, sharing stories and singing songs as the sun watches from above. dogs bark out to play with the other dogs while cheers and giggles can be heard.

     "mom! i'm gonna go and play on the slide!" said a little girl who was jumping up and down out of excitement, "sure, honey. be careful, alright?"

     before the mother could even hear a response, the girl had went off to where the slide was. the little girl climbed the steps slowly but surely, giggling as she made her way down the slide. once on the ground, the little girl ran towards the slide again, yelling happily as she did so.

     another girl that stood slightly away from the slide watched the child's every move. she had jet black hair, like her father's and his brown eyes. she wore a pink dress, which was also white with small flowers embroidered.

     "what do you think she'll do this time, papa?" asked the little girl to her father. her black hair was styled into two ponytails, with a red ribbon tied around each one.

     "i don't know, sweetheart. why don't you go and join her?" he suggested, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. the little girl nodded in agreement before turning away and running toward the slide.

     "be careful, areum!" called out the father as he watched his child race off towards the other children. he smiled at the sight, watching for any sign of danger.

     however, all seemed fine. so, when there was none, he decided it was time to sit back, watch the children playing and enjoy the warm summer air.

     areum climbed up the slide to meet the girl she was looking at earlier, before the girl could go and slide down again, areum tapped her on the shoulders in which the other kid immediately turned around, " hi! my name is yeojin! what's your name?" exclaimed the small girl with excitement.

     "uhm, you can call me areum," she replied back with an innocent expression that matched the colour on her shirt. yeojin beamed the place with a bright smile, " i'm happy to tell you that you look just like my dolly!"

     areum gave a small giggle as she listened to yeojin explain about how they were best friends since they were babies. the little girl continued talking with a big smile plastered on her face. areum noticed that she had very pretty eyes.

      the taller girl wasn't sure if it was just her imagination or not, but areum could swear that the younger girl's eyes had sparkles in them.

     "your mom must be pretty proud of you, huh? if she's not, i have lots of friends who'd love to play with you." areum shook her head shyly, still smiling at the compliment. yeojin's cheeks tinted lightly before asking, "do you wanna come play too?"

     areum looked at the slide for a moment, taking a deep breath as she made her decision.

     she agreed.

     once again, they raced off towards the slide. they laughed with each other, trying to trip one another. they kept going until their feet hurt, falling over every step on the way.

     areum couldn't help laughing and yeojin couldn't stop smiling. once both girls reached the top, they laid flat on the grass, gasping for air.

     "that was fun!" shouted yeojin, stretching out her arms in the air. areum mirrored the action before doing so.

     when they sat back up, they stared at one another silently. areum broke eye contact first to focus on the ground underneath their feet. it was silent for a while until areum broke it.

     "so... are we friends now?" asked areum quietly, looking up to catch eye contact with the shorter girl.

     yeojin thought for a moment, before nodding her head vigorously. "yup, we're really good friends!"

     areum giggled slightly, before sitting up and stretching her arms.

     "i'm glad we're friends, then."

     yeojin sat up as well, "me too!"

     they stayed quiet for a few moments, before areum spoke up again. "hey, um... do you want to play tag?" yeojin's eyes lit up and her mouth stretched into a wide grin.

     areum chuckled again before standing up and offering a hand to yeojin. "lead the way!"

     and so they did.

     after playing tag around the grassy field for awhile, they stopped when it was getting darker.

     "aahhh, i'm hungry!" exclaimed yeojin, pouting slightly at how long they have been running around.

     areum hummed, "well how about you go get yourself some snacks then?" the other girl nodded enthusiastically in reply before starting to sprint off towards where there would be food.

     a couple minutes later, areum saw her father walk by. her father approached the girl and bent down to examine areum's bruises and scrapes. areum noticed him frown as her father picked up her arm.

     "i think that's enough playing for today, let's get you home and get you cleaned, shall we?" he said gently as he took areum into his arms and began walking back to their car before she could even protest.

     "oh boy, your mother wouldn't be happy seeing you in this state," he added with a nervous chuckle.

     the little girl only watched yeojin ( who doesn't even know she was leaving ) as the distance between them increases, feeling sad that she won't even get to say goodbye to a new friend she met today whom the only thing she knew about her is her name.

     areum tried hard not to cry as her father sat her down the back seat. she didn't want to be a bother to anyone, and crying wouldn't make things better.

     she wouldn't be sad about leaving the place behind if only this wasn't her last day in seoul.

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     yeojin munched the last bit of her bungeoppang as she told her mom she'd go and play with her new friend more only to find no one in the spot where she left her off.

     yeojin felt her heart drop as she began to panic.

     had the person she played with disappeared just like that? how many chances would she have next time?

     her eyes grew big and worried as she walked around the park, hoping areum will return soon.

     she found herself standing at the same playground areum had stood on earlier, only this time, she was alone.

     she sighed sadly and flopped to the ground, letting out a loud wail of disappointment.

     "honey, i think they've already left while you were eating your snack," told her mom in a sad tone, she knows how her daughter feels about this.

     yeojin looked at her with glistening eyes,"without goodbyes?" she ran towards her mother and hugged her leg, her face hidden away from sight.

     her mother felt her pants getting wet from yeojin's tears as she kneeled down and carried her into a hug, "it's fine, don't cry. you'll meet her again soon."

     due to yeojin's miserable crying, she couldn't respond anymore to her mother as they too as well walked back to their car and drove home.

     leaving the park with a lot of memories created in just one day.

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