"Come back!" Jihoon's hand reached for Haknyeon's pet pig, Ggul. Who ran away after Jihoon tried to pet it.

    Jihoon sighed, watching his twitch from a lack of phone contact. Constantly tapping the unopened book on his lap like a phone screen.

     It's only been a week but he feels like he's been stranded for an eternity. Haknyeon goes to school some days, Jacob leaves sometimes, and he's too scared to ask any of them if he can wander around the area by himself. So here he was, sitting under a tree behind the house, letting his fingers tap briskly on the grass, to give them the relief they need of tapping on a keyboard. 

"I knew you would be here." Jacob sat in front of Jihoon, placing his guitar down.  

"I was wondering," Jihoon looked at Jacob, "How come you never visited me in Seoul?" Jacob repositioned himself. 

"Well, wouldn't it be the same reason that you haven't come to Jeju for more than 10 years?" Jihoon plucked a piece of grass out of the ground. 

"But you've never come to Seoul, I don't even think that you've left Jeju. Want to explain?" Jacob shifted again. He paused before he answered, contemplating whether or not he should tell the truth. 

"Like you, I also have EHS." Jihoon stopped plucked the grass. 

"You do?" He flicked the pieces of grass away into the light wind. 

"Yeah, ever since I was little." Jihoon was quiet for a moment, piecing together his next question. 

"But you live in a rural area, shouldn't it have healed?" 

"It's different," Jacob laid against the tree trunk beside Jihoon to avoid eye contact.  "They said if you get EHS when you're born or young, it doesn't go away, however, I do take medication for it so that effects of EHS aren't as severe. Don't you know that I do online classes on a laptop in my room, the medication allows me to have contact with at least a small form of technology." 

"Wow." Jihoon let the information sink in. "How did you ever find out that you had EHS." 

"We went to a mall when I was 4." Jacob brushed a leaf of his pants, "It's a 30-minute drive, apparently I passed out in the mall and had a seizure. Doctors found out it was caused by the number of electronics in the mall, all the radiation off of them triggering the EHS that they assume I've had since I was born." 

"How do you cope with that?" Jihoon was more intrigued. 

"I don't. I've come to acknowledge it, but I've always wanted to go to the city." Jacob pulled his guitar onto his lap, "I dream of being able to perform in the city. But I guess with my condition I can't. I'm majoring in music composition so that even if I can't leave this place, maybe my future works can be shared worldwide."  Jacob glanced at the book in Jihoon's lap. "You like reading?" 

"No!" Jihoon shoved the book off his lap, "My mom packed them, I was hoping one of them would be a visual book at least, I don't like looking at all these words." He said. 

"Why not? I think reading is a great hobby, it is associated with writing, something I love even more! I can spill all my feelings into a new composition." Jacob moved his guitar into playing position. "Maybe you want to hear one of my songs to feel inspired?" Jacob took Jihoon's wordless response as an approval to proceed. 

His guitar worked as a foundation, acting as a great support to carry out his soft voice into the wind. 

Cause things will change more quickly than you think 

Things will change eventually 

When that time comes will you be ready 

Cause life can screw you over 

And life will screw you over

"It's all in English." 

"Oh sorry! I played the first composition that came to my mind." 

"Are you fluent in English or something?" Jihoon was pretty sure there was nothing English speaking about his bloodline. 

"My dad was fluent in English, I guess I took it up because the language sounded nice." 

"I remember, uncle Jaeho! But I never saw him, didn't he die when you were young?" Jihoon bit his lip seeing Jacob's smile disappear, curse his impulsive mouth. "I m-mean-" 

"It's fine, I get you. He died when I was three, 2 months after Haknyeon was born." Jacob stopped there, a quiet consensus between the two to stop the topic. 

"I'm sure you're hungry." Jacob stood up, holding out his hand for Jihoon to use to get up. "Let's go inside for a snack to take your mind off of whatever it is, I hope Haknyeon preserved some of the leftover watermelons, I swear his stomach is a black hole with any food."

Jihoon took his hand and got up, "It sure is! I can't believe he finished all the chicken at dinner last night before I could grab a second piece!" They walked back to the house laughing, sharing previous stories of the black hole. 

~~~~~

Woojin strolled down the streets, heading off to the library. Transit was always an option but he preferred walking if the length wasn't far and the weather permitted. Woojin found pleasure in looking through the windows of the buildings he passed, watching people's day unfold. Woojin squinted at someone walking further ahead of him, the broad shoulders and light brown hair was unmistakable. Maybe he could finally ask about visiting Jihoon. 

"Daniel!" The other didn't seem to hear him, walking into the next building. Woojin caught up to the building Daniel entered and peered into the window. It was a restaurant. 

Woojin watched Daniel walk across the restaurant, stopping at a table where a man was sitting alone. It was Ong Seongwoo, a popular guy on campus. Daniel tapped Seongwoo's back, he turned around and smiled at Daniel, getting up and hugging him. 

"They could just be friends," Woojin muttered, his breath fogging up the window. 

They pulled away from the hug, Daniel cupped Seongwoo's face and pecked him on the lips. 

"Dammit!" Woojin shouted, drawing attention from people passing by. "I knew it." Woojin kicked a stray can. 

~

"You know they have a deal for flights right now. Wow! Only 60000 won for a ticket to Jeju!"

~

It took Woojin a few moments to realize that he had started running. 

Running, running, and running. He didn't know where his legs were taking him, maybe he did, but everything was clouded by the thousands of thoughts running through his head. 

Woojin barged into a ticket place. A lone woman was sitting at the desk, she looked up in shock at the sudden intrusion. Out of breath, he started talking. 

"Ticket *huff* I *huff* need *huff* a *huff* I need a ticket for Jeju!" The woman gestured to the chair across her desk. 

"Good choice, there's a deal on tickets to Jeju right now. Sit down and take a breather, then we'll get started."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello~, if you have never heard Jacob's original song, here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0Rhp-n6rmY