Falling For You // 2Jin

Chapter Sixteen: Doughnut

I was woken up by someone lightly shaking my shoulders. Coming back to my senses, I hazily opened my eyes and saw Ryujin in front of me. 

"Finally awake, sleepyhead? We've arrived, time to get off the train, unless you're planning on staying for the ride back to college as well"- she said as she got up to take our bags down from the shelves above our seats. It took a minute but I finally managed to force myself to get up and start moving.

Coming back home was always both nostalgic and happy. Every time I returned, I could see that the town had changed in one way or another- people were opening new shops, cafes, and buildings seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Daejeon was never a small city, if anything, it's a metropolis, but its growth was still extremely noticeable and surprising. 

"It's weird, isn't it? this place is the same but it's also drastically different every time we come back"- said Ryujin as we stepped out of the station.

"Yeah, I know"- I replied as I had already begun to search for my parents. It was tradition for them to meet me at the station whenever I returned. Finally, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. 

"Heejinnie! over here!"- I turned around to see mom waving her hand, accompanied by a smiley dad. It was only a matter of seconds before they approached me and pulled me into their firm hugs. 

"Ah, come on, I haven't been gone for ten years"- I said as I tried to release myself. 

"Doesn't matter"- dad replied as he glanced over at Ryujin. 

"Oh, Ryujinnie! I didn't notice you there, how have you been?".

"I've been well, Mr. Jeon, thank you for asking. What about the two of you?"- she replied with her usual politeness that seemed to be reserved for solely older people. 

"We've been fine, but the house feels emptier without Heejin around"- mom replied- "so we've been trying to find new hobbies to take up to enjoy ourselves somehow". 

"Yes, which is why we have discovered a love for plants"- dad added. This surprised me since I'm pretty sure that I have never seen a plant survive for more than two months at our house, but I was still happy that they had taken up a hobby. 

Come to think of it, I never really thought about how much me leaving for college could have affected them- for a while, I was the only person left at home that kept my parents company. After I left for college, the realization that their child had grown up and left her warm nest to build her own life probably hit them like an earthquake. 

No wonder the house felt empty without me. 

"Heejin, stop zoning out"- Ryujin snapped me out of my thought process. 

"Sorry, I'm just newly woken up, I still haven't fully come to my senses"- I made up an excuse- "are your parents picking you up as well, Ryujinnie?".

"Yes, they're probably somewhere around here, so don't worry about me- I'll find my way home. I should probably get going now- I'll see you around. Goodbye Mr.Jeon, Mrs.Jeon, it was nice to see you"- Ryujin said as she lightly bowed to both of my parents and left. 

"What a nice girl she has always been"- said my mother- "extremely well raised too, I'm glad you're at the same college". 

"I am too, she brings a sense of familiarity"- I replied.

***

The ride home was full of conversation, jokes, and laughter. Although I spoke to them over the phone as often as I could, nothing could replace being in the same room as them, seeing their expressions, and hearing their laughs so clearly that they felt infectious. For some time, I was able to forget all of my worries that would meet me with open arms once I returned to college and focused on the good things in my life instead.