stranger ‣ y.jw

024

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                  "Is this friend of yours so important that you're willing to go through a remote forest just to find out why he's immune to your magic?" The old lady asked Jihee as she sat at the seat across the former. The dining table was filled with dishes made for vegetarians. Not that Jihee hated vegetables, she just didn't want to eat something so healthy this late in the afternoon.

She crossed her arms, leaning on her seat as she reluctantly admits the truth to the lady. "I guess in some way that's true."

"What are you going to do now then?" The old lady curiously asked, taking a bite of the steamed vegetables she had made for herself. "Are you going to search for the stranger that came before you?"

Jihee tensed as soon as she heard the last sentence. "Please don't say she's the stranger who came before me, I don't want it to be true."

The old lady's face transitioned into a confused one. "And why is that so bad that you don't want it to be true?"

"It's..." She pressed her lips together, contemplating whether she could share such intricate information to a person like her. "I'd rather not say."

The latter nods, understanding the former that there really are some words that are quite difficult to say, especially if you never wanted to say those words in the first place. "Let's go back to my first question then."

"Yes I'll go search for the old stranger. Although it may be hard without my teleportation." Jihee explained. "But I'm a stranger, nothing should be impossible for me." 

The old lady's lips curved upward, slightly amused by the determined expression the younger wore. It reminded her of the first stranger who sat at the same seat as Jihee. They shared the same vibe; often too tired to show emotions and whenever they do, it always involved something that kept them alive. Perhaps what kept the stranger in front of her alive was the man she spoke of. 

"She wanted to find love, she wanted to experience what a soulmate felt like." The old lady blurted out some information about the past stranger. "I wonder if she found her soulmate, that's why she chose to stay." 

And all Jihee could do was remain quiet. 

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"Why is he still smiling even though he missed that shot?" Sunoo whispered to Jay who was busily drinking his water beside the student council president. The president only wanted to check on his friends, what he didn't expect was to see his best friend smiling like a fool as if he didn't just fail to shoot the ball in the basket. 

"Do you think you're the only one who's weirded out?" Jay whispered back, now watching the smiling boy running around the court. "Oh my, did he and Jihee finally get together?" 

Sunoo tilts his head sideways, trying to recall if he's seen the two act weirdly when they were eating altogether earlier. "But they were acting the same. Jihee tells him about the new shoes she found online and Won talks her out of it. Believe me, that's how they always act." 

"Did he get together with Byeol then? But that seems unlikely." Jay said, raising his eyebrows and putting his hands on the side of his waist. "I don't think Jihee would act all calm if they did get together."

Jungwon suddenly felt eyes piercing him so his gaze wandered to Sunoo and Jay's direction, who were both quite quick to turn their heads away from his direction. "Take a rest, Yang and Park. You've been playing too much." Coach Min tells the two.