Chapter 10!

An Yujin was bored out of her head.

The swinging towels and blankets over a thin metal wire over their backyard could only keep her entertained. Despite watching over them like paint drying over a wall, she could only do so much when everybody else but her was outside for the morning.

She didn’t mind staying indoors with everything going down but she thought her time would be better if she didn’t have a list of chores to do. She rolled over to her back, now looking over the strikingly clear blue sky that blanketed over the small town.

A flock of seagulls flew by overhead, squawking along the air in a sound that perfectly captured the vibe of the coastal town.

She sucked on her cheek. “Those look dry enough.” Yujin groaned, sitting up from the table where she laid down. She approached the clothes draped over the thin wire before she carefully took them off, placing them into a basket.

Once she was done, she placed them over the table and attended to the other chores she was tasked on doing. One of them was to clean up the dishes that were in the sink. She went into the kitchen, immediately spotting the dirty and food worn utensils and plates that formed themselves a hill.

Yujin grabbed herself a pair of rubber gloves and she got to work immediately. She got started on a plate, washing it clean before setting it to the side. The cycle continued as she washed all of the utensils her members used.

Speaking of them, she wondered how they were doing. They had their own set of activities for the day and she doubted that they knew their way around town to do all of them. They could always ask the people around but maybe that would be the last thing on their minds, considering everything that went down and the circumstances that led them here.

If they did, the people around are surely enough to help them out, maybe one of them even bumped into him already.

A memory of that night flashed over her eyes.

She remembered how the wind grew colder as her eyes locked with his for a brief second. The look on his face was blank and had no emotion. She remembered how her throat choked on seemingly air and how her mind drew blanks on what she could have thought in the moment. What struck her the most was how her subtle attempt at a wave was ignored when he crossed the street.

Half of her heart ached with grief and regret while the other soothed it with her own understanding and empathy towards the man.

CRASH!

Yujin shocked herself away from her own thoughts with the loud sound of a plate falling deeper into the sink. She sighed, placing the sponge down to the side. She looked down and found the water had stopped running but she didn’t remember turning the tap off. She looked at the tap and found it turned to the side, she tried turning it the other way and back on again but with nothing in return.

She leaned down underneath the sink and found the pipes that should be giving it the water for her to wash the dishes but she didn’t know what was wrong nor had any clue on how to fix it and she had no one around to help her. She tried turning on the tap again when she heard an unpleasant sound come from it before the faucet began to shake violently. Before she knew it, water began spewing out in such a force that it bounced off onto her.

Yujin gasped loudly, feeling the cold water. She hesitated for a second before quickly turning off the tap. She let out another heavy sigh, now looking down at her damp clothes. “Just my luck.” She mumbled, taking the gloves off her hands.

THUD!

Her attention turned to the sound of the front door closing. Yujin felt her chest lighten up, thinking that someone had arrived home. She peeked her head from the corner that led to the kitchen and found her mom removing her slippers beside the door.

“Eomma!” Yujin greeted, walking closer to the front of the house with a wide and glad grin stretched on her lips.

“Yujin-ah! Have you started on the cho-what happened to you?” Her mother turned to face her daughter and immediately spotted the water stains on her clothes.

Yujin could only reply with a nervous chuckle. “Eomma, I think something is wrong with the sink.”

“You think? You look like you just got out of a pool! What have you been doing the whole morning?” Her mother scolded.

“I was trying to clean the dishes when the sink stopped working. I tried looking for what was wrong with it before it started spewing water out everywhere.” Yujin explained but she couldn’t raise her tone on her own mother. She guided her to the kitchen where they found the wet floor that Yujin forgot to put a rag over.

“Aish, look at the mess you made. Go grab the mop outside, I’ll try and take a look at it.” Her mother placed her bags on the counter before pointing for her daughter to go out back.

Yujin made her way back out just as her mother crouched down to take a look at the pipes under the sink. She stepped out and spotted the mop that was leaning against the wall. She walked over and grabbed it before she went back inside to find her mother already standing up from the floor.

“Looks like it’s broken or something is wrong with it at least. We could wait for our dad but he won’t be back until late in the afternoon. Should we try and fix it?” Her mom turned to her and asked.

“I don’t mind trying but I’m afraid we’d both just break it further, eomma. Can’t you just ask one of the neighbors to come over and fix it?” Yujin replied with a question of her own.

“We could but hmm…oh I know just the right person to call! Get the dirty dishes in the basin in the backyard, you could wash them with the faucet out there while I try to call him in.”

Yujin didn’t put much thought into it as she watched her mother walk into the living room and pull her phone out of her pocket. She simply shrugged her shoulders, not caring who she called, as long as one of the only sinks in the house was working again. Turning back to the sink where she began to carry the dirty plates and bowls to the backyard.

Her mother stood in the middle of the living room, squinting her eyes as she browsed through the contacts of her phone. She spotted the person whom she thought could lend them a lending hand and pressed to call their number.

“What do I do…”

Lim (YN) walked under the leaves and branches of the trees that lined up the sidewalk. His eyes were glued to the pavement below, focusing themselves on a single pebble that he pushed along with each step.

Ever since he stepped foot outside of the news building, he had been wandering all across town. Wandering through the streets and around the neighborhoods as he thought of the assignment that felt like nobody else could have gotten it except him. He was open to anything with regards to his job, be it a good scoop or maybe just local news but this was something that he didn’t know how to tackle. Not only did he have to get through the hurdle of talking and facing her but he also had to basically play two faces just for them to tell him any information that could be needed. He couldn’t decline the assignment now and he doubted that he was allowed to in the first place.

But then again, he thought it through as a professional. If he places his feelings to the side, talking to her and her group would be no problem but that was only if he could do so, which seemed almost impossible.

The man suddenly kicked the pebble down the empty sidewalk in frustration.

Running his hand through his hair, he took in a deep breath before audibly letting out a long sigh. He knew that there was a clear way through all of this, all he had to do was to find it. Right, that is how he’s supposed to view this.

VRRRRR! VRRRRR!

(YN) opened his eyes to the sensation of his phone vibrating inside his pocket. He felt it over first before fishing it out and looking at whoever was trying to contact him. He couldn’t see the screen properly over the little brightness he had along with the sun streaking through the leaves and shining directly onto his screen. Once he brightened up his screen, his heart seemingly dropped to his stomach.

‘Mrs.An is calling!’

His hand hesitated over the screen but he ultimately accepted the call, curious why she had to call him all of a sudden. A part of him hoped that it was only an accident but he braced for every possible scenario as he pressed the phone to his ear.

“Hello, (YN)? Are you there?”

“Good morning, Mrs.An. Why did you call so suddenly?” He greeted her, acting cheerful. He looked around the silent neighborhood he was in, taking the time to make sure no one saw his outburst earlier.

“Good morning! About that, I was wondering if you were doing anything at the moment?” He heard her ask, her tone loud and clear through the phone’s speaker.

“Not particularly. Why, do you need something?” (YN) asked, masking the unease twisting in his stomach.

Mrs. An’s relief was audible through the line. “Aha! Just perfect then. Our sink suddenly gave out, and the whole kitchen’s a mess. I thought of you right away. Could you come take a look?”

(YN) pinched the bridge of his nose, stopping in the middle of the street. Of course. Out of every house in town, it had to be hers. “The sink?” he repeated, as if buying himself time.

“Yes. I can’t figure out what’s wrong, and Yujin nearly flooded the place trying to wash the dishes. You know how hopeless she can be with these things.” Mrs. An chuckled warmly.

The mention of her name froze him. His grip on the phone tightened. He saw again the flash of her face under the streetlight a few nights ago — her awkward little wave, the way he’d forced himself to keep walking.

“…I see,” he finally said, keeping his tone clipped.

“You’ll come, won’t you? Just for a quick look. I’ll make you tea after.”