WHY WON’T GIFS WORK TODAY???

At least the food was good.

Coco munched away on the roasted sweet potato she had just bought, her other hand holding her odeng (fish cake) up high to avoid the crush of the crowd.

She was debating which stall to get tteokbokki at, and reflecting that at least To Ki wasn’t here to make her try sundae (blood sausage), when music started to compete with the noise of the crowd.

Tteokbokki taking the back burner, Coco nimbly threaded through the crowd. A large cleared space, ringed with people taking pictures, revealed Sam Kim seated at a piano.

Edging near the front, Coco closed her eyes briefly, savoring the glow of food and music.

Someone pushed her from behind, ruining her happy daze. She had a habit of daydreaming that was rather dangerous for one in a crowded city, it led her into more scrapes than even her Errand Boy job.

As a new song started, Coco noticed dancers coming out from the crowd. As the jazzy number swelled, the swing dancers’ energy fused with the music until no one was left standing still.

Affected herself, Coco’s feet tapped as she finished her odeng and twirled the skewer to the beat of the music. She was now standing at the front of the crowd, and the couple nearest broke apart for the follow to solo dance, and the lead caught her eye as he surveyed the crowd. It was Toki’s Annoying Secretary.

Her Country Boy that Coco had been secretly shipping her with since college days. Also known as Ma Jo Gu he smiled at Coco and extended a hand. Sticking her skewer in her purse, Coco joined him.

Jo Gu was an excellent dancer, and, though Coco was not dressed as fancily as the other dancers, she still matched him step for step, twirl for twirl, and laughed while doing so. He had improved his skills since the college dances, and Coco could appreciate the smoothness of his steps even more with the memory of the country boy’s uncertainty.

As the song ended, Coco dropped her customary curtsy before another dancer claimed her. With a twinge of vanity, she both hoped and dreaded that Sam Kim was watching, she should have worn a more flattering skirt.

She caught sight of Jo Gu dancing an elaborate routine, his face a mixture of pride and concentration as he showed off.

That was why she had always thought him a good mix for Toki, they both had ambition and pride that she thought might keep the other in check, as well as complimentary heights. Ironically, they were both too single minded in their focus to notice the other at an opportune time.

Coco shook her head as she twirled, only to regret the action when it made her dizzy. Laughingly, she twirled again to the amusement of her partner and posed as the music ended.

Glancing at Sam Kim, Coco smiled wistfully before melting back into the crowd. The only time she forgot her self consciousness was when dancing or working on a story. But that background nature of hers helped with her work as an unnoticeable Errand Boy, so she couldn’t complain too loudly.

A woman in a tailored pantsuit took the mike, with several suited minions nearby. Apparently she was Kim Ko Ri, the head of the company hosting the food festival, and she thanked the crowd for coming today.

Edging towards the nearest tteokbokki stand, Coco kept her ears trained on the speech. Maybe she would write an article on the food festival, especially if the tteokbokki is good.

The speech ended mercifully quickly, so Coco let her mind drift as she ate the tteokbokki. The sun was covered by clouds, and she pondered city sunsets. Having grown up far away from Seoul, she missed sky. So often you could only see the shadows falling, with no sight of the setting sun. Yet the colors could still be seen, reflected on the skyscrapers and setting the tall signs aglow. A shiver passed through her as street lights flickered on, no, it was best that she was in Seoul now. Coco didn’t notice that someone was standing in front of her.

It was one of Kim Ko Ri’s suited minions, and for a moment Coco wondered if he was there for Errand Boy business. Maybe there was a new assignment with their company, digging up dirt on a competitor.

Chewing on her last piece of tteokbokki, Coco looked at him inquiringly. He fidgeted for a moment, then started to talk.

“I saw you dancing earlier,” oh no, did they think she was too unprofessional for the job? “And was wondering…” Jo Gu appeared next to the minion, ever professional, even in his vintage style, and took over the conversation.

There was a job, but strangely it seemed the minion’s business was with the Annoying Secretary, not her.

Coco edged away quietly to buy more tteokbokki, one for her and, feeling generous, one wrapped up to go for Toki. She wondered how the minion knew she was an EB, and reasoned that perhaps they had been told to look for one of the dancers, and she had definitely stood out with her casual street clothes.

Checking her watch, she quickly started eating,

but didn’t expect the level of heat and spice from the new stall. Turning back to the stall to buy a bottle of water, she was jostled out of the way by a group of teenagers. Growing desperate, she turned around and in her haste…

Coco awoke to a strange awareness of softness. Opening her eyes, she was lying on a pile of pillows with a kid leaning over her.

“Ahjumma, are you okay? You walked straight into that signpost! Are you drunk? You’re lucky the next stall was selling handmade pillows and had a pile right there. Were you trying to get an excuse to take a nap?”

Coco closed her eyes, and mentally became one with the pillows. Toki didn’t deserve tteokbokki.