~ Thirty Years Later
Jeon Haeyun, twenty six years old, is a magazine editing head at Oxford University Press, Busan, South Korea. She grew up as a single child with loving parents, and pursued her dreams and was successful enough to be hired by her most anticipated company. Perfect job, and she aces at it.
From the sidelines, her life seems picture perfect.
Losing her parents to a road accident on her twenty third birthday gave Haeyun two miseries, one was her PTSD and other was some vague and puzzling flashbacks, and "nightmares" as she perceived them to be.
Her psychologist expressed that her PTSD was the result of her parents death, but her puzzling flashbacks weren't. The psychologist couldn't properly make out why they existed Haeyun's conscience when she has not even experienced such events ever in her life of twenty three years.
The peculiar puzzles.
"Stay." She heard a beseeching call in her sleep, it was the first time she experienced the nightmare. The dark and vague scenes couldn't give her any clue about what it was. It felt happy for a moment, the echoes were laughs and togetherness, then all of a sudden, it was sad, it was all of it altogether.
Any other being who would experience that would wake up screaming or terrified, but Haeyun woke up with tears streaming down her face with an ache in her heart, and an apology to gasp out.
"I'm sorry for leaving you…."
She didn't know why she apologized, or to whom she apologized.
And this was her daily routine since the first night after her twenty-third birthday.
.
.
.
Haeyun had shifted to Seoul three days ago, she still had things to unpack and a house to set up to be good enough to live in.
She was putting up the photo frames in her room when someone knocked on her door. It startled her a little, who could it be as ahe couldn't recall making any acquaintances here.
She peeped out, and recognised a somewhat familiar person, her personal assistant, Hwang Hyunjin.
Hwang Hyunjin, a boy in his early 20s, an intern at Oxford University Press, drove all the young female staff crazy over his dirty blond hair, sweet eyes with a mole under the right one, and an adorable smile.
Being excellent in his job, he was given the opportunity to get trained under Jeon Haeyun, the new managing director who had just shifted to the main branch in Seoul. He was playful, and a ball of sunshine one might say. Haeyun was personally impressed by his resume, and when he came to pick her up at the airport like a gentleman, she knew she was going to write a good note of his service, which will help him well in future. And now, he showed up at her place early in the morning with his beaming smile.
"Good Morning, Manager-nim," he greeted with a warm smile when she opened the door for him. She herself took a breath of relief.
"Don't need to be so formal when we're not in office, I told you that already," she smiled at him and kept the photo frame aside.
"Sorry. Good Morning, noona…" he replied sheepishly, to which Haeyun shook her head with a smile.
"Yeah," she smirked, "Good Morning, Namdongsaeng(little brother)."
Hyunjin rolled his eyes, poor boy's flirting got washed over.
Haeyun chortled softly and then walked to the kitchen, "If I had my house settled, I would have offered you breakfast. But you see, I live on corn flakes, and instant ramen right now."
She flashed the packet in front of him.
Hyunjin laughed and then smirked proudly, "you would be glad to know my purpose for gracing your house, then."
"And what is that noble purpose?" She asked.
"You know, my father owns a humble café. We can go there, so that you can have a finger licking breakfast which will turn into a good day at work for me."
"How will that turn into a good day at work for you if I have a good breakfast?" Haeyun asked in confusion.
"You see, noona, if you'll have a tasty breakfast, you'll be in a good mood for the whole day and then I will not be scolded by you… like maybe I might be but a little less…" Hyunjin resembled a grinning emoji as he finished.
"Big brain there," Haeyun remarked. "If you insist, I will come with you."
"I insist, noona!" Hyunjin chirped with a wink.
"Yah," Haeyun picked up and showed him a spatula.
"I- I'm waiting outside in my car!" Hyunjin turned on his heels with a nervous chuckle.
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→ Lee Rang
Another day passed by, and I am still waiting. And guess what? I will again wish that I see you tomorrow before I sleep, and when I will wake up, I will carry on with my day. I will walk past new people on my usual, old and unchanged path.
I will sit on the same lonely bench of that park. When I tell you that that particular bench has been my friend for a long time, I am not lying. Sometimes I do spot similar faces from previous days but it's never like I see them everyday. People keep changing around me while my time stays unmoved and unchanged just like this bench's place.
I was sitting on the bench just like always, watching people. Sometimes I wished that I had mind reading powers as my current powers aren't very exciting anymore. But it's impossible, and I don't want to have a big list of wishes so I shrug it off and stare at people, wondering what they are thinking.
When I again walked down the crowded streets while being as lonely as I ever was, I imagined that you were by my side. Your hands are in mine, my fingers are entangled with yours. And I discovered another regret, the regret of not telling how I always thought that your tiny hand used to fit so perfectly in mine, like it was made to be held in mine.
How stupid of me, right? I took too much time to finally let you in without realising that we were running short of time.
If only I had known I would have to survive with only your memories for a period of time that seems like an eternity, I would have kept more of them.
And I continue walking just like always.
Sometimes I wonder what I would be like when I see you again? What will I say? Will I even say anything or just stare at the face I've been dying to get a glimpse of?
And most of my calculations tell me that you won't remember me, and it hurts to think that, a lot. You would be confused, you won't know me, you might even think of me as a maniac… You won't remember the first time I kissed you or how much bickering we used to have.
I'll be just another stranger for you, and it surely will kill me inside.
And then I again come up with another wish to add on the already big list of mine,
'Fall in love with me again. I'll catch you before you hit the ground, and never let you go ever again.'
I wouldn't mind falling in love again as long as it's you, Park Hyejin, that I fall in love with again.
I was walking mindlessly through the streets, looking at the grey sky. It was going to rain soon, and I definitely didn't have an umbrella with me. But I don't mind actually, getting wet in rain is a blessing truly, you can cry under the open sky with the clouds and no one would know, and I think that's really awesome.
And my serene state of mind was busted because of this one old man, Lee Yeon. I exhaled, and picked up his call.
"Yah, where are you, Rang-ah!"
"No where."
"Knew it," I could hear him sigh on the other side.
"What happened?"
"I miss you." I can assume the pout of his lips when he said so, and it's cringey if you ask me.
"Whatever, I don't." I said, trying to act disinterested but… I missed him as well…I guess?
"Meet me at the cafe in an hour!"
"No, I can't -" he hung up the call, I stared at his caller id.
Well, okay, fine… He better not make me eat mint chocolate ice cream again.
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