Loves Me Not

Streetlights and Long Walks

No matter where in the world Seojun had traveled, he could always tell he was home by the sound of feet on the pavement. Each step just had a different thud and crunch to it that it created its own unique cadence.

Sujin still had his hand in a vice like grip as they walked forward, their suitcases rolling behind them. While deep down, he really didn't want to let her go, his fingers had started to turn blue and he really needed them to work properly for his job.

Gently, he pushed Sujin's hand off of his. She was walking right beside him and he couldn't see her face when she let go. All he could see was her hair whipping in the air and her hand that she promptly placed in the pocket of her coat.

The district near the train station was a small, humble part of town. Under the purple night sky, the roads twinkled with streetlights and glowed under the warm light cast on the street from the parade of shops on each side. The shops were all painted white, the cheapest paint to find, and looked unkempt with their cracked walls and dirty corners. Poorly dressed people went in and out of these shops carrying miscellaneous items. A couple of children ran past by them, laughing. People could be heard arguing over prices.

As they entered deeper into the town, it opened up into a commercial area where the road was wider, cleaner and the shops were brighter. The hotel chains would be coming up soon after a right turn. Seojun was glad for it. They had walked a long way, having decided not to take a taxi lest someone recognize him.

Seojun was grateful that Sujin indulged in his paranoia. But he felt slightly guilty. She had been wearing heels and could tell they had started to pinch her feet. Still she marched forward like a general on a war path. Seojun could tell she was making note of each and every place they passed by.

"Recognize any of this?" She asked him.

Seojun nodded.

"How much of it has changed?"

Not much, really. Seojun shrugged. He could see some improvements here and there. But there was also wear and tear where there hadn't been when he was a teenager. The feel of the place was same, however. A small town where everybody knew everybody else and their business. Some of the people he saw seemed too polished to be local. They belonged to the posher upper side where the rich people like Changmin lived in tall mansions. The rich only came down here to either visit some clubs or go to school; the latter of which which happened to be situated right in the middle like a convergent for people from various corners to gather together.

Seojun moved to turn right but Sujin kept moving forward. "The place we're staying at is this way." She said, not stopping for him. Seojun nodded and followed.

People kept giving them strange looks. Certainly, a woman dressed in expensive, dark clothes and a man with his face hidden behind a mask and sunglasses painted a suspicious picture. Seojun pulled at his hood further down his forehead, feeling self-conscious.

They turned a corner that led up a winding path. Seojun walked blissfully till they passed by a very familiar streetlight where he remembered parking his bike when he wanted to hide it from his mother. And the brick walls that he used to pass by in the mornings on his way to school. And the smell of kimchi and dirt that came from the neighbor's home.

Wait...

Seojun grabbed Sujin's hand. She kept her face very still. Too still.

"What?" She asked innocently.

Nearby, a gate opened and closed. Seojun would never forget that sound; the creaking of the hinges that begged to be oiled, the rusty iron that clanged when the gate was pulled shut.