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The remainder of the day the both of travelled around the central, shopping, consuming corn dogs on soft pretzel buns or basically anything our eyes laid upon, while watching the trailer for an upcoming superhero film to be hitting the theaters sometime within summer. We also discussed our feelings, how we would approach the opposite gender while we corrected each other, stating the basic do's and don't's. Jayceon, being the gentleman and my best friend, drove me home even though I declined his request about a million times so he wouldn't waste his fuel, but he insisted since I assisted him all day. The clouds were just dispersing- into the sky that seemed to be painted with delicate of a painter's brush- when I arrived at my front door; an apricot or sherbert orange merging with a rosy pink like the color of ballet shoes.

I unlocked the door to the house, shouting my arrival so my grandmother wouldn't receive a shock, and locked it after me. There was no response, I travel throughout the house until I reach a small sticky-note pasted on the refrigerator which read, "Out to buy ingredients for the birthday dinner, the dryer should be done when you get home." Grandma was safe, I breathed in relief, and would be returning in only a brief while. I did as she indirectly instructed, removing the steamy clothes from the dryer and folding them neatly just like how she taught me when I was younger, and placing them in their appropriate places.

"I should start packing," I muttered under my breath while climbing the stairs to my bedroom. I began to muster all articles and items that I thought were necessary then throwing them into a suitcase my grandfather handed down to me. He informed me when I was just eight-years old that when he had this suitcase in hand that only great events occurred, he described it as, ".. luck was finally on my side." So every time I was to travel from point A to point B, even as far as the beach house- which on the top of my head was about fifteen minutes from here, when I was little I found it in interest to estimate and calculate the total trip time- this bulky carryon was in reaching distance. "Clothes, hats, sunscreen. What else?"

"Underwears, socks, bathing suit, sandals, sneakers." My grandmother's voice echoed in my mind. I reached for the stack of clothes I recently folded to discover a body standing beside me, startling me from my position.

"Grandma! Why must you sneak up on me?!" I pointed an accusing finger at her from the floor. "You know I hate that!"

"I know," she cackled, her hands guarding her lower region. "Oh, I'm about to pee myself!" We both were a ruckus of laughter that led us to tears of joy, clutching our stomachs and lightly smacking each other. It took a few minutes to return to ourselves, the both of us were now worn out and exhausted from wasting all of that energy.

"I haven't laughed this well since your grandfather farted at an amusement park," Grandma wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks, cheeks that were now rosy. Her wrinkles were more prominent when she beamed but instead of appearing older, it was the utter contrary, she was more beautiful and vibrant when her childish side was shown.

"Wait, what?" I giggled.

"We were walking out of the park to head home. He said to me that he needed to fart and so he did and everyone around us heard it. He ended up ruining that pair of underwear!" She was grasping her stomach again, another wave of laughter consumed us.

"Wow, grandpa was really something."

"You're telling me," she wrapped her arms around my shoulders in a loving embrace. "I had to smell that old geezer, and I'm telling you they were really bad."

"Grandma!" I playfully pushed her. "But you still love him though?"

"Of course. There hasn't been a day of my life that I never loved him more." She began to stand, with my assistance to be assured she wouldn't collapse, and led us to the kitchen to begin prepping for dinner tonight. By the amount of groceries on the table, we were going to be preparing enough food for leftovers.

She began to remove the items from their bags and placing them occordingly on the table, she was going to prepare the usual for a birthday; seaweed soup, lettuce wraps, grilled short ribs, then finally the cake; store-bought perhaps. My stomach rumbled with all of the ingredients eying me down, tempting me with their distinct fragrances. I had inquired why she was cooking a plethora of food, she simply replied with a wave of her hand as she was marinating the meat with traditional seasoning. When she completed that task, placing it in the fridge to soak in a container, she suggested to invite my friends and questioned as to why I haven't been hanging out with them recently.

"It's school, I had so much homework due this week and tests." It was Friday, meaning that Monday through Thursday was when the teachers decided to throw all their end-of-the-quarter tests and projects to be due. It was unfair to the students but we were all preoccupied with completing each assignment diligently and correctly to be complaining.

Grandma emitted a sound of understanding, she acknowledge- probably even tallied- how many times I sobbed at how difficult the curriculum was this school year. "Just invite Kou and Jayceon over, I give you permission. It's nice to spend an important event with those you love." She had already placed the seaweed into a bowl of water for the grass to rehydrate, now draining it of excess liquids

"Are you sure?" Instead of becoming irritated, she knew that I felt I was burdening her, she just waved her hand in approval once again, muttering along while brewing the seaweed she just chopped: seasoned and sautéed with garlic, soy sauce, and sesame oil. "Okay, I'll call them." She nodded and continued to stir the pot on high heat, then placing a lid on so the steam would be trapped inside. I aided with rest of the meal while on the phone with Kou and Jay, cleansing each lettuce leaf in case of any dirt, measuring four cups of rice into the cooker along with four cups of water, seasoning and placing the side dishes neatly in their respective bowls- bean sprouts, raw garlic cloves, red pepper and soy bean paste, and of course, our already fermented kimchi.

"Hello?" The both of them answered in unison, I could imagine Jayceon blushing on the other line.

"Hey, are you guys busy tonight?" I was beginning to set the plates and utensils at the dining table, patiently waiting for their response.

"I'm not busy at all," Jay uttered first. "I was just going to go watch a movie at home."

"Yeah, I wasn't planing anything at all. Oh, by the way, sorry for leaving when we were at the library," it was Kou speaking now. "My mother had a doctors appointment so I had to go with her."

"How did it go?" I inquired. "Nothing bad, right?"

"Nothing bad, just a check up. I wanted to go with her because hadn't got one in a couple years."

"That's a relief," Jayceon and I murmured under our breaths.

"Anyways, come to my house. It's my grandfather's birthday so we can all celebrate it together." They both responded in agreement, and that they would be arriving shortly. When I hung up, Grandma was already finished with the seaweed soup and setting it perched upon the hot pads I placed on the table. All that was left was the cake, which I was dispatched to the local bakery a few blocks away. It was going to be quick, here and back before the others come.

"Here's thirty dollars, buy the prettiest one you see," Grandma patted me on the back, warning me about sketchy figures at this late time. "Call me if you have any trouble."

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