“We’re here!”
An Yujin’s steps stopped once she was in front of a bungalow style house, guarded by a white fence. The sounds of the footsteps and trolley bags that followed her stopped abruptly at her behind.
She tried to look around the house for any sign of the people and pup living inside. Looking through the windows, there were little to no signs nor were there any sounds coming from inside.
Yujin reached over at the opposite side of the fence and pulled the lock open. She pushed the wooden fence open, leading the way towards the front yard of her home.
“You guys can rest here, I’ll try to look for my parents.” Yujin gestured over to the large platform tables that were in the yard. The girls behind her were more than eager to head to the table. They almost collapsed on top of it from how long they walked.
Their leader smiled at them before walking to the front door of the home. Peering into the window that was slightly open, it looked like no one was home. She would have thought so if she didn’t find their front door unlocked.
“Eomma? Appa? Is anybody home?” Yujin asked as she entered the home. She slowly wandered through the home. She wandered deeper into the quiet home.
From the living room, to the kitchen and to the small yard behind the home, she saw no one which made her wonder where they went off to. Since there was no one else inside, they could have gone out.
She did say that she was going to stay for quite some time and was even bringing the girls over.
Yujin continued her walk back into the kitchen. She approached the refrigerator and opened the door to find an assortment of items inside. Some veggies were placed off to the side with a plastic bag filled with fruits but she picked neither as she picked up one of the pitchers filled with cold water.
She thought the girls could use a cup of water after walking the length to get here. After grabbing a stack of cups off the dish rack, she made her way back out of the home.
The noise of the girl’s complaints from earlier had died down making her wonder if they had somehow fallen asleep on the table they had all collapsed on earlier. Once she stepped out of the front door, she quickly got her answer.
Yujin looked into the front yard and found that the girl’s were now sitting up, looking all prim and proper. All of their heads were bowed down slightly as a much older woman stood before them.
“Eomma, there you are!” Yujin shouted out, grabbing the woman’s attention. She quickly picked up on her step as she made her way closer with a bright smile.
“Yujinnie!~” Her mother turned to her direction with her arms spread out wide. She welcomed her daughter in a tight embrace as the girls watched next to them.
“Where were you eomma? I thought you were waiting for us here and what are you carrying?” Yujin asked the older woman straight away, looking at the bag that was hung over her shoulder.
She quickly placed the cups down on the table before urging her mother to hand over the bag.
“I was but I saw that I had run out of ingredients to make our meals later so I thought I could grab some from the market quickly.” Her mother explained as she handed the bag over to her daughter.
Yujin peeked into the bag and sure enough, it was filled with different kinds of ingredients to make a massive meal. She carried the bag on her shoulder before moving out of the way for her mother to see the rest of her members.
“You’ve met them before right, mom? I hope you don’t mind them staying with us.” Yujin gestured her hands at the girls before they all stood up and bowed politely.
“Of course, it’s fine~ I already fixed your room and cleared out the storage for you girls. Though I have to wonder, why did you girls choose our town for your vacation when you could go anywhere else?”
Her mother glanced between the girls who nudged at one another before their leader got the message. Yujin cleared her throat and took a step closer to her.
“You know, we’ve been all around the world, eomma. We all agreed that it would be nice to have a change of scenery to a more relaxing place. Leeseo actually wanted to look at the farms and the beach so she was particularly excited about this trip.” Yujin was quick enough to come up with an explanation that the girls could agree with.
“Oh~ Is that so? That’s good. Then, I hope you girls enjoy our peaceful little town and the beach isn’t going anywhere so just enjoy it to the fullest.” Yujin’s mother gave the girls a welcoming smile.
“Yes, ma'am!” The girls answered in unison, all with a warm smile all around their faces.
“Why do you girls look so tired? Yujinnie, don’t tell me you made them walk all the way here?”
“Of course, how else could we get here? It was fortunate enough that it wasn’t that hot that we did.” Yujin explained.
“Aish, it was under the sun too! You could’ve taken some breaks at least and waited for a car to pass by. Some leader you are. Please rest up while I prepare some food.” Yujin’s mother scolded her daughter with a slight smack on her shoulder, a sight that the girls took amusement in.
“Let me help you with the eomma so that we could get something to eat sooner.” Yujin told her mom, trying to pull her indoors.
“That would be good. We need to make more before your father gets home too. You girls could head inside so you could rest in the rooms.” Yujin’s mother gestured the other girls to follow them inside.
“No, I think I could help you with the meal!” Gaeul raised her hand, volunteering to help.
“I could help too!” Liz soon followed the older girl.
“Ooh, I want in too!” Leeseo soon followed, with her energy seemingly replenished.
“Eomma-nim, I could help. You must’ve walked all the way from the market. I’ll lend a hand so you can rest.” Wonyoung politely bowed as she offered her help.
“You guys do that, I’ll take a quick nap~” Rei turned back around at the table before Liz could get a hand on her arm and forced her to help them too.
“Oho~ You girls are too kind. Fine, everybody could help. I’m sure I bought enough to get everybody busy.” Her mother smiled once more.
As the girls hurriedly pulled their bags inside, Yujin guided them to the door and helped them. A sigh soon escaped her lips, feeling the wind of relaxation cool herself from all the thoughts she had gathered about the things that surrounded their group.
She didn’t know how long she had to stay in town nor how she could fix everything when she was back in Gyeokpo-ri but maybe she could come up with something through time. For now, she was back home and the girls seemed to be enjoying it so far.
After Yujin helped carry Leeseo’s bags through the door, she quickly turned back around to deal with her own luggage. She carefully made her way back to their yard and as she did, she saw a woman walking across the road with a young girl walking right next to her.
Thinking that they were just simply neighbors, she went on with what she needed to do and soon enough, she started to help prepare their meals.
*CREAAAK!~*
She peaked her head from the kitchen and found a man at the front door. He was taking off his boots before he looked his head up to find the look of his daughter back at him.
“Appa!” Yujin shouted, her voice loud enough to fill the entire home. Quickly pulling away the plastic gloves on her hands, she walked from the kitchen to meet him.
“Yujin-ah! Wuah, it really feels nice to see my daughter home. Don’t get too close now, I just got home from the docks.” The man replied as Yujin met him with an embrace.
“I always don’t follow that yet you say it all the time.” Yujin mumbled, tightening her grip around her father.
“Of course, I don’t want my superstar to smell like fish. Let me change first and where is your mother?” The man patted the girl’s arms before she eventually let go.
“She’s out at the back cooking with everyone else. You should go and say hi to my groupmates, I’m sure they’ll be delighted to see you.” Yujin pointed to the back of their home.
“Fine, I’ll greet them once I get changed. I wouldn’t want them to see me like this.” Yujin watched her father wave at her before going into one of the rooms in the home.
“Okay, appa~” Yujin smiled as she turned back around. She walked back to the kitchen where she wore her gloves back on before heading to the door that led to their backyard.
Using her elbow to pull open the slightly opened door, she went and joined everyone else who was busy preparing for their late meal. All of her members were spread out across the patches of grass of the yard, each of them was fulfilling a task to quickly prepare their ingredients.
“It feels like I’m having my own little cooking class~ Gaeul-ah, be careful with the knife. Oh- Yujinnie is back.” Yujin heard her mom tell the rest of the girls before looking at her.
“Appa just got home, he’s changing his clothes before he can get here.” Yujin informed her mother.
“Alright then, let’s continue so everyone gets to eat sooner.” The oldest lady in their group told everyone.
“Yes, ma'am!” Everyone shouted altogether, rounding out there their willingness to cooperate for their meal.
“It’s been a while since we had this many guests over and it’s Yujin and her group mates no less. Actually, there had been so many changes around town since she came to visit. I feel like she’ll get lost with all the new buildings around.” Her mother had a chuckle at her own remarks.
“How could you say that? If I could still find my way here then I could still navigate through the town. I could even head to my old school with my eyes closed.” Yujin shot back quickly.
“But still, there are many things different with the town compared to back then, even the beach looks different and remember the flower shop you used to visit? (YN) is running it now!”
The smile on Yujin’s face suddenly dissipated from her lips upon hearing a familiar name. Her head slowly dropped down to look at the bowl below her, falling silent for a moment.
“Really? That’s good, he should be proud of that.” She replied simply, as if her voice had got caught at the back of her throat.
“You haven’t heard of that? I thought you would have kept in touch with him of all people.” Her mother continued.
“Was (YN) one of your friends, unnie?”
Yujin glanced at her youngest member who scooted closer to her. She quickly nodded her head before giving her an answer.
“Yeah, he is. He’s one of my closest friends here. I’m glad to hear that he’s still in town, kinda funny since he always wanted to work in the city.” Yujin softly chuckled, not one of joy rather one of the melancholic kind.
“As you would know, things in life could always change. Since it’s only him and his sister left, he chose to stay where the both of them were familiar, rather than a place where they know nothing of.” Her mother explained to the other girls.
A bitter taste spread all around Yujin’s tongue. She had forgotten that returning home also meant that she had to face the shadows of her past, both good and bad, one way or another.
She was almost inseparable from the boy in their younger years with most of the town mistaking them as siblings with how much time they stuck to one another. They knew pretty much everything about the other down to the smallest of details.
“Please let me go, (YN)…”
Yujin shook her head away from the unwelcome memories that made her struggle to breathe. Forgetting wasn’t an option with the insoluble amount of regret and despair within it.
“Eomma, I’m finished with these ones.” Yujin stood up from the ground before taking off the plastic gloves that covered her hands. “I’ll just head back inside and maybe I could freshen up.” She continued, bowing to excuse herself from the group.
Yujin went back into their home and headed straight to the sink. She turned the faucet, making water rush gush out so she could wash her hands. Putting her hands under the cold water, she carefully rinsed herself clean.
“Yujin-ah, are you okay?”
The girl turned her head to her side, finding her father standing near the doorway of the kitchen.
“Yes, appa. I’m doing just fine, why do you ask?” Yujin innocently replied.
“You’ve been washing your hands for a good minute now, you must have used too much of the sauce.” Her father stifled a laugh.
“Oh really?” Yujin looked down and turned off the faucet. “Sorry, I must have spaced out.” She continued, shaking her hands over the sink to dry them.
“You must be tired, you can rest with the other girls. I’ll take over by helping your mother.” Her father took a step closer and gave the girl a pat on the shoulder before heading out into the backyard.
Yujin sighed before walking deeper into the home but she didn’t go towards one of the rooms, rather she headed outside for some fresh air, maybe that could help her clear her thoughts.
Taking a step through the front door, she looked upon the sky and saw that it had gotten darker as the sun began to set. The wind that rustled through the trees had become colder as well as the atmosphere all around.
Yujin sighed as her eyes drifted off to the street in front of their home. It was silent but it was the comfortable kind of silence that could make her ponder or sigh her thoughts out.
She found herself standing before their fence, peeking at one side of the street before peeking at the other. No other person was around the area, making the neighborhood lonelier than ever.
*STEP!…STEP!…STEP!*
The sound of light footsteps came from the side of the street, light and fast as if they were in a hurry. She snapped her head to the side where she saw a man that was headed down the street, it was (YN).
With his coat in hand and fixing his already messy polo, Yujin immediately recognised who he was. In a panic, she crouched down onto the grass below her, her knees feeling the dampness of the earth.
Through the thin gaps of the fence, her eyes locked onto his figure. She watched him as he pressed a small handkerchief on his face before swiping across his head. His hair was a mess and it looked like it had been for a while.
She continued to look for glimpses of the man, one was seeing him slow his pace down in front of their home. The girl gasped sharply as the man looked at the direction of her home.
Even though it was merely a glance, Yujin felt like he had already spotted her through the fence. Yujin froze in her position, unable to think of what to do next.
“I shouldn’t keep her waiting.” Yujin heard him say, shaking his head. He continued down the street, continuing the direction to his home further down the street.
Yujin slowly perked her head above the fence, her eyes still following the man’s figure. His words caught her attention, making her think who he was pertaining to.
Of course, it was only her sheer curiosity, nothing else. It had been long since she had her eyes set on the boy. As the years passed by, she had become focused on things that helped her, if not, commit to her dream of becoming an idol.
But in her youth, her focus was on something else. As innocent as it was, her close proximity and friendly nature allowed her feelings to develop a crush on the boy. She could even say that it was the fringes of the boundary of what was called love.
All of that yet she had not uttered a word to him about it in fear of it being unrequited. He was sometimes quite the enigma to solve. His expressions could not show anything of what he truly felt and his words that often felt synthetic enough to disclose what he didn’t truly felt.
Yujin might have been the strong and tough girl all around but there were only a few things that could soften her heart and one of them was him.
It wasn’t rude to stare, if the other person didn’t know about it so Yujin kept her stare at the man. She watched him walk to his home further down the street before he disappeared as he took a turn to his home.
“Yujin-ah, Dinner’s ready!”
The loud voice of her mother caught the girl’s attention, making her turn back to her home. As if she was phased out of a trance, she shook her head. Maybe she was more tired than she thought she was.
“Coming in a bit!” She shouted back before walking away from the fence to have a nice dinner with her members and her parents inside of their humble home.
The sun had completely set, being replaced with the moon and the stars all around the dark sky. A cool temperature had settled all around the town and it was the perfect night to take a calming stroll outside.
The soft noise of crickets chirping filled the void of the busy noises of city life, one that the girl had grown accustomed to.
An Yujin once again found herself outside in the front yard of her home. She was sitting down on the platform table, blankly looking at the heavens as she rested herself after a heavy meal.
“Looking for someone?”
Yujin turned her head to where the silvery voice pierced through the silent atmosphere. She found a tall girl walking over, her long black hair dancing along with the wind. The pastel colored clothes she wore contrasted with the dim surrounding, making her have a slight glow.
“What are you doing here, Wonyoung?” Yujin asked back, propping herself up with her arms behind her.
“Oh nothing. I saw you alone here and I thought I could give you some company.” Wonyoung giggled lightly, occupying the space next to her leader.
“Back to what I was asking, were you looking for someone?” Wonyoung once asked again, showing her persistence to get an answer from the other girl.
“Who would I be looking for, huh?” Yujin replied, putting on a naive act just to play dumb.
She knew that Wonyoung was trying to elicit a specific answer from her. From the time the pair had spent together, she found out more about Yujin’s past life before the life of stardom and that included her love life.
“You know who, the one and only (YN). Lim, was it? Where could he be?” Wonyoung looked at the street before turning side to side, looking for the man that was merely stories to her.
“Why would you look for him? We’re here to rest and wait for everything to die down, not to play matchmaker.” Yujin replied, in an attempt to see through the other girl’s words.
“Who said anything about being a matchmaker? You’d really think I’d look for him around town and set you two up?” Wonyoung chimed up, as if it was the moment she got her leader tangled up in her own words.
“And who said I would want that?” Yujin replied, playing down on the girl’s hopes.
“Didn’t you say that you had the biggest crush on him? What happened to that?” Wonyoung asked.
“I moved away and focused on something else, I don’t know? Not seeing him did help get me through that.” Her leader replied, dropping her shoulder slightly.
“So all you have to do is see him again then you’ll fall? That sounds easy enough.” Wonyoung shrugged her shoulders, a sign of her realizing how easy the task would be.
“He’s not like one of your boy toys and besides, I couldn’t care any more less about him.” Yujin sighed out, looking up to the sky.
“Really? Wait, is that him over there?” Wonyoung pointed to the front of their home as her leader snapped her head back in front.
Wonyoung giggled as she watched her leader look around the unchanged view of their front yard. She heard her sigh before dropping back down on the table.
“So maybe there’s still some part of you that still cares about him.”
“Shut up.” Yujin mumbled, finally finding herself up against the ropes against the younger girl.
“There’s nothing wrong with still caring about him. Unless you meet again, I’m sure nothing more will happen. Though, I do doubt it.” Wonyoung continued her teasing.
“If you’re just going to tease me then you should just head inside.” Yujin turned her body to the side to get the girl out of her sight.
“You’re no fun~” Wonyoung nudged her shoulder, moving her body slightly.
Yujin only shook her head before she heard the other girl standup and slowly walk away, leaving herself to look at the starlit heaven above.
Well, that was until she heard hurried footsteps getting closer. Thinking it was Wonyoung coming back, she turned to the side once more, ready for more of her teasing.
“Yah, Yujin-ah! Stand up, quickly.” Yujin widened her eyes at the loud and familiar voice that was followed with a stinging smack on the side of her leg.
She quickly sat back up from the table and found her mother standing beside her. She looked at her surprised, even more surprised with the bills of money in her hand.
“Could you go to the convenience store and buy the girl’s some ice cream? You can use this and buy some for yourself.” Her mother placed the bills in her hand but the girl handed it back over.
“You could have told me without hitting me! And Eomma, you keep this. I’ll just get my wallet, I’m sure I have more than enough for ice cream.” Yujin whined out before slowly standing up from the table.
“Make it quick, then! I forgot to buy some earlier when I passed by the store. You do that while I’ll deal with all of the dishes.” Her mother patted her back before softly pushing her forward.
“I’m going, I’m going!” Yujin repeated before jogging back inside the home.
An Yujin carefully adjusted the gray jacket over her shoulders. It was the least she could do to combat the temperature of the night. Though, she could have done better than just shorts and slippers for her bottom half.
The store wasn’t that far away or at least in her shady memory that is. As she walked through the silent neighborhood, her mind was soon reminiscing in the memories of her innocent youth and her maturing during her adolescence.
She remembered the lamp post being where it was, and where the trees grew on the side of the street and even where the crack she was a victim of tripping on in the sidewalk was.
Eventually she stopped by and looked across the street where another house met her. The style was just like all of the other houses that were around the area, two floors and multiple rooms. Thinking of it, their home could use another floor but it was wide enough to house many people for the time being.
The house across the street belonged to no other than (YN), the one who she had spent most of her youth with. She looked at the windows and it looked like no one was home with the lights off.
The paint outside the home had faded slightly, remembering that it used to have a lighter hue of white all around its walls. Faded could also be said about their friendship or…whatever they had.
Seeing him earlier, albeit brief, brought a stinging feeling in her chest. Maybe that was the real reason she had hid from him. She was doing the same thing he was earlier, looking at the home of the other.
She wondered if he had shared the same feeling of regret and longing for what once was that she once harbored.
But in the present day, Yujin has grown out of those feelings. As she focused and nurtured her budding career, it had put something in front of her to look forward to and push back and forget those feelings entirely.
With a sigh through the cold night’s air, She went back on her way.
After an uneventful trip to the nearby convenience store, Yujin slowly walked back home. She looked down at the plastic bag in her hands as she walked, thinking if the amount of popsicles and ice creams she got were enough to satisfy her group.
With the hood up, she tried her best to hide her identity to the people she did bump into in the busier side of town.
The sounds of her steps shared the atmosphere with the same chirping of crickets that seemed to litter through every house she passed by.
“This should be enough for everybody.” She placed the plastic bag over her hand before making her way. She glanced over a familiar house she passed by earlier. This time, she didn’t stop in her tracks, instead she continued on with her steady pace.
Yujin continued until she found the white fence of her home in the distance. What she didn’t notice was a man walking down the opposite side of the sidewalk.
She soon found him in her field of vision, his image getting clearer and clearer as he got closer. She found the man carrying someone much smaller over his back, carrying them as they slept.
It could’ve been a stranger just passing by but once she had a clearer glimpse over the man’s face, her heart had stopped as she recognized who it was.
It was (YN).
Not too far from her stood the boy who had been with her through her many firsts and many beginnings. The boy who had seen her at both her highest and at her lowest. And the boy who she had left to fulfill her dreams.
The man looked up and found her, stopping dead in his tracks.
Yujin looked at the man he was now and it was like seeing a new person. Her short glimpses of him prior wasn’t enough for her to see that almost everything has changed about him from what she remembered, down to the smallest of physical details.
His broadened shoulders looked like they were carrying more weight than the young girl sleeping behind them. His eyes looked hollow, devoid of all brightness as he looked at her.
She knew what he had gone through and she knew it was best if she didn’t appear right in front of him but alas, the world has its tricks to lead people down the path it wants them to go.
Yujin slowly raised her hand, palm facing outward. Her small attempt was dashed when the man on the other side of the sidewalk turned his head to the pavement and crossed the street.
As she was ignored, Yujin stood still. His steps echoed behind her before they shrouded down to just ear-splitting silence.
“Yujin-ah! What are you doing out there?”
The loud voice of her mother was enough to break her out of the trance she put herself in. She shook her head and turned her head to her home and found her mother gesturing her to get inside.
“I-in a bit!"
Yujin stuttered as she loudened up her tone. She quickly unlocked their gate before making her way inside, trying to quickly negate her thoughts from the encounter she just had.
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