Genre: Fantasy, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Years

Summary: Yujin lands on a place called IZ*Land, runned by a girl who introduces herself as Minjoo— the guardian of the lost, someone who guides lost souls to take themselves out of darkness. She then learns new things she haven’t learned before as she spends her twelve days with Minjoo.

Word Count: 9153

Hashtag: #JinjooFiestaS2_TheEndsBeginning

The End's Beginning

The End

The First Day

Yujin found herself in a garden. How she’d gotten here, she doesn’t know. The sun was setting as colorful and lively plants filled the place. Butterflies flew around the flowers as they danced. Birds chirped in harmony. A small house was placed beside a tree. Yujin never felt so peaceful before, but here, she felt relaxed. Like she’d forgotten all the problems she had in her lifetime. She inhaled the fresh air with her eyes closed.

          “Where am I?” she uttered.

          “Ahn Yujin,” a soft voice called. Yujin almost jumped at her place because of shock. She looked at the direction where the voice came and found a figure of a woman. She wore a white dress with a see-through long sleeves. She had a white hat with a wide brim on her head. White ribbon was wrapped around her chin loosely. Her hair was long, straight and brown. Her round eyes matched her pointed nose and velvet soft lips. Overall, her feature looked flawless. Yujin didn’t experience being awestruck before, but the girl almost made her heart stop.

          “Follow me,” the girl added. She made her way towards the house’s entrance and turned the doorknob. The door flew open and she entered. Confused, Yujin still did what she was told. She followed the pink haired girl inside the house.

The house’s interior capacity matched its appearance outside. On her left, a tv hardly played a show as it seemed to struggle finding a good signal, a wooden sofa was placed in front of it while a bed on its side. She looked to her right and there was placed a small kitchen with a table and chairs. There wasn’t much things on the house as it was small, but greenery plants were decorated across the house which made it simple yet beautiful, and Yujin thought the pink girl must’ve like plants.

Who was the girl, though?

Yujin noticed her placed the basket she was holding on the table. It was filled with fruits and vegetables that seemed newly picked. The girl motioned her to come closer and she did.

          “Who are you?” Yujin asked. Wide brim girl took her hat off and placed it on the table.

          “I suppose you’re not yet aware of what happened to you?” she replied.

Yujin cocked her brow at the girl, “What do you mean?”

          “Do you remember the last thing that happened, Yujin?” the girl asked. She looked intently at Yujin’s eyes. Her gaze felt like Yujin was being hypnotized, until images flashed on her mind. Tires screeching sounded the street. A blinding light played through her eyes as a truck welcomed Yujin with defeaning horns. And there she saw herself, lying down with bloods spilled on the ground and crowd gathering around.

          “Did I...” Yujin came back to her reality as her vision about the accident faded, “D-Die?”

          “Maybe yes,” the girl shrugged. “Maybe not.”

          “But who are you?”

          “My name is Minjoo, I am the guardian of the lost.”

Yujin picked an orange from the basket and glanced around the house. “Guardian of the lost? I haven’t heard of that before. But where is this place?”

          “Oh, this is my place. I call it IZ*Land,” she proudly answered.

          “Iceland? Isn’t that a country in Europe?”

          “Stupid,” Minjoo rolled her eyes and scowled at Yujin. “IZ*Land! I–Z–Asterisk–L–A–N–D! IZ*LAND!”

          “Chill, hat girl. It sounds-like, you know? Can’t help but be confused,” Yujin crumpled her face.

          “Whatever,” Minjoo put down the apple she was eating on the table and washed her hands. “You’re staying here for 12 days, Ms. Ahn Yujin. Before a decision making takes place.”

          “Decision making?” Yujin’s forehead crinkled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

          “You’ll know about it once you reach your twelfth day,” she placed the fruits on the center of her table. “You should go and rest for now, the sun has set.”

Yujin wanted to ask a lot of questions as she was still confused. How did she get here? What does the guardian of the lost mean? And the decision making she’s talking about?

Who was this girl, really? Aside from her name? Yujin didn’t really know, but she chose to obey the girl and was about to go to the bed when she halted.

          “What’s wrong?” Minjoo asked.

          “I’m hungry,” she replied. 

Minjoo chuckled at her answer and said, “I thought you’d be tired. Come, I’ll cook for dinner.”

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡･

          “Stop… please…” the little girl begged with her hands covering her ears.

          “That just suits you! You don’t belong here! Go back to that old and small house you live in!” a group of laughter echoed the place.

          “I’m not doing anything wrong!” she cried. “I just want to make friends…”

          “No one wants to be friends with you here, poor kid. We’re all from a rich family and you are not! Go away,” a girl in pigtails replied. They continued laughing at the poor little girl as they watch her cry her eyes out, until someone came on their way.

          “Well, I do,” a soft voice barged in. “I do want to be friends with her.”

The pigtail girl raised her eyebrow, she played with her hair and smirked, “Oh, a knight in shining armor? That’s old school, kid. We don’t do that here.”

          “I think the old school here is making fun of people out of their financial state, Alice. And do not call me kid, I have a name,” she answered.

          “Whatever.” Alice rolled her eyes and looked towards the other kids following her. “Let’s go. We should not interact with trash people anymore.”

Alice and her followers left the scene. The girl she called knight in shining armor went to the damsel in distress and offered her hand.

          “Are you okay?” she asked.

          “I am fine. Thank you,” the poor girl replied.

          “Where do you live?”

          “I…” the girl paused, hesitant on whether she’ll tell her or not.

          “I won’t judge you, don’t worry. We’re all just the same here, humans trying to survive each day,” she chuckled, which made the other girl smile.

          “I’m not from this village, and I know you’ve heard of it already but my family is not rich, like yours…” her smile faded. The other girl placed her fingers on the poor girls cheeks and stretched.

          “It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or not, as long as you have a good heart,” she cheered.

          “Thank you, you’re a good kid,” she replied.

          “I told Alice not to call me a kid, and now you are too?” she whined.

          “I’m sorry. I just still don’t know your name,” the girl scratched her head.

          “Tell me yours first.” 

          “Christine,” she softly answered, offering  her hand towards the other girl.

          “Nice to meet you, Christine. My name is Eugene.”

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡･

The Third Day

Yujin opened her eyes after a deep slumber. She stood up and stretched her aching body because of the wooden bed and went to the kitchen—which was not really far away from bed.

          “Hey.” Minjoo greeted.

          “Hi,” she replied.

          “How’s your sleep?” she asked. Minjoo took the pot’s lid she was cooking and an addicting aroma reached Yujin’s nose. Her stomach felt like growling.

          “Kinda deep. I had a good sleep last night.” Yujin sat on the chair. “Is that for breakfast?”

Minjoo raised her brow at the other girl and chuckled. “It’s for lunch, Yujin. Morning is over.”

Yujin momentarily stared at the girl’s face. She nodded her head slowly at Minjoo’s response. “I see.”

          “I suppose you’re always waking up late all your life? Considering you didn’t sound surprised that it’s already afternoon.” Minjoo noticed.

          “I’ve been living a lazyass life, incase you didn’t know,” she laughed.

          “It’s obvious, actually. You don’t even help me with house chores.” Minjoo rolled her eyes. Yujin shrugged and pulled a banana from the basket. “I’m a visitor here, and you even told me ‘just think of this as your twelve-day vacation’ on my first day. Now you want me to help with chores? Not my thing.”

The two fell on silence as Minjoo continued cooking for lunch. Has it been three days? Yujin thinks. Time flies too fast in here, doesn’t it? One time she wonders what kind of place this was, and now she was already on her third day. Awkwardness seems to slowly fade between them. Yujin can now joke around Minjoo, and they can talk casually unlike the first day. What they did on the 2nd day? Not worth telling. There wasn’t anything much except Minjoo watering her plants and Yujin lying on bed all day, atleast it wasn’t as awkward as before. (Does that even make sense?)

          “Ah, I remember.” Minjoo placed the pot on the table and took two plates and pairs of utensils. “You’re gonna have to come with me later, the water drum I have at the back were wiped out after I used it to water my plants yesterday.”

          “Water drum?” Yujin’s face crinkled. “You don’t have automatic water? But you have faucets?”

          “Things are not automatic here, Yujin. The faucets are connected to a water drum at the back of the house but it’s now empty. There’s a well near here. Atleast help me with this one,” she said, glaring at Yujin.

          “Fine, as if I have other choice,” she sighed.

          “Sure you don’t have.” Minjoo let out a soft laugh. “Let’s eat!”

Yujin could only roll her eyes and took the chopsticks from the table, saying a “Thank you for the food,” before munching through her plate.

          “Minjoo, just how far is your definition of near?” Yujin sulked as she stopped pushing the cart they brought to wipe the sweat off her forehead.

          “You’ve just been walking for five minutes, and now you’re complaining? We’re almost there!” Minjoo heard Yujin groan while they walked through the woods. Tall trees surrounded the place, wild bushes sounded crunchy as they walked through it. The bird’s songs were ringing on her ears.

          “There.” Minjoo stated, pointing at the well that was in front of them. They went to where it was and started filling in the six big tubs they brought along with the handcart, so it won’t be hard to bring it back.

          “How long have you been here?” Yujin started a conversation.

          “Since the first day I landed here? I don’t know. I lost count. Years maybe,” she replied. She had finished filling the first tub and changed it to another empty one, Yujin just watches her from behind.

          “You’ve been here for years? Don’t you ever feel bored?” asked Yujin.

          “Bored? Why would I be? I have my plants to take care of, the sea to watch everyday, this island I could appreciate each day that passes! I literally have everything in here, Yujin. So why would I be bored?”

          “I don’t know… but there are no internets here or gadgets.”

          “You’ve had all those on your life, but did you ever feel satisfied?” Minjoo rebutted, to which Yujin got knocked out in silence.

Has she ever been satisfied with her life? Maybe? Sometimes? Yujin wasn’t really sure, but she was amazed at how Minjoo handled being alone in this island for so many years without any internet or gadgets that’s the main source of entertainment. She never imagined someone could survive boredom by planting plants and enjoying the sea, I mean, who would even take just that much? Won’t you seek for some spice in your life?

          “Of course. Internet has games and everything you need. It’s very fun,” she replied.

          “It’s not the trends that would give you satisfaction, Yujin. You’ll find happiness from the things you genuinely love. From what you truly enjoy. Stop chasing the wrong things.”

Yujin stared at Minjoo in awe as the girl worked to continue fill the tubs.

Did she see right through me?

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡･

          “And then the boy started shouting ‘Wolf! Wolf! There’s a wolf!’ so the villagers came to him running only to find no wolves, and they got angry. They told the boy ‘Don’t ever shout wolf again if there are no wolves!’ and walked away,” told Eugene.

          “So? The boy didn’t do it again?” Christine asked.

          “Oh, of course he did it again! One day he started shouting ‘Help! Help! There’s a wolf!’ so the villagers once again panicked and quickly went to the boy, but there was no wolf, so they got angry and told him not to do it again if there are no wolves,” she replied.

          “Why would he do that? He’s disturbing the villagers!” Christine shouted.

          “Yeah, so one night while the little boy was guarding his flock of sheep, he saw a real wolf. Then he started crying for help screaming ‘Help! Please! There is a real wolf! Please help! My sheep!’ but the villagers thought he was fooling them again so they didn’t come to his aid, and the wolf went ‘AWOOOOOO!’ and attacked the sheep!” Eugene growled.

          “Oh no! Did the boy die?” she screamed, fear visible in her eyes.

          “No, silly! But the next morning, the villagers came to visit the boy, and they saw him crying. He said ‘I told you there was a wolf! You didn’t help me! Now my sheep is gone!’ and he kept on crying and crying. But there was nothing they could do, because his sheep were all eaten.” Eugene finished her story.

          “Poor little boy. He shouldn’t have fooled the villagers.” Christine whined.

          “And the moral lesson of the story?” Eugene placed her hands on the girl’s head and ruffled her hair. “Don’t lie, Christine. Even if the truth reveals the worst of you. Don’t lie.”

          “But I don’t lie,” Christine pouted her lips.

          “I didn’t say you are, I just told you what the story wants to tell.”

          “Where did you get that story, Eugene? It’s great! I want to hear more!”

          “I’ve read it from a story book my mom gave me for my birthday! Should I bring it next time? So we can read stories together!” Eugene exclaimed. She saw Christine’s bright smile turn upside down. Eugene then asked her what was wrong, so Christine weakly answered.

          “I can’t read nor write, Eugene. My parents can’t afford to take me to school, and they don’t have much time to spend with me to teach me. But you can just read it for me!” Christine’s face once again brightened. She looked at her friend’s eyes and saw no response, to which lifted her mood down too. She asked, “Or do you still want to be friends with me?”

          “No…” Eugene whispered. Christine’s heart felt heavy. Her eyes stung, feeling a bucket of tears trying to break themselves out of her eyes.

          “Oh, it’s okay… I understand,”she weakly answered. She turned her back towards the girl and was about to walk away when she felt an arm wrapping around her shoulder.

          “No, I’m not going to read stories for you! I’ll teach you how to read and write instead!”

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡･

The Sixth Day

          “So… tell me about yourself,” said Minjoo. She looked at Yujin as she played with the sand, drawing random things and erasing them and the cycle goes on. Yujin looked back with her brows furrowed.

          “Really? So now you’re a slam book or something?” she snickered.

          “No, it’s just that it’s been six days, Yujin. And I haven’t heard anything from you yet. About your story,” Minjoo replied.

          “Is that necessary?” Yujin asked.

          “It depends if you want to tell me, though. I’m not forcing you,” she shrugged.

          “Well, I guess it’s a good time for stories, isn’t it?” she smiled. She gazed towards the sun that was getting ready to come down. The sound of swish of every big and little waves from the ocean calmed her heart. Yujin closed her eyes and she sighed. “Where do I start?”

          “I don’t know. Where do you want to start?”

          “Ask me any questions, and I’ll answer.”

Minjoo cleared and thought so hard of what to ask, until this one question she’s been wanting to ask popped on her mind, “What troubles you the most?”

          “That’s a million dollar worth of question, pink girl!” Yujin almost choked.

          “What? You said I can ask anything!”

          “I thought you were going to ask me about my life! Like my college life, or how to professionally cheat on exams, or how you win mobile games or something else!” Yujin exclaimed.

          “Wait– you cheat on your exams?”

          “I–uh–yeah,” she responded, scratching her nape.

          “That’s bad! It’s ruining the purpose of exams!”

          “What? Everyone does it anyway.”

          “So you’re gonna do it too? Tell me, Yujin. What satisfaction do you get from cheating off your exams?” Minjoo glared.

          “Woah, Minjoo. You have something against exam cheaters or something?”

Minjoo blinked for a moment and let out a heavy sigh. “Sorry. I don’t really have something against cheating, but it’s just not fair.”

          “Everything’s not fair, Joo. The world is not fair,” she uttered.

          “So…” Minjoo then glanced at Yujin again. “Why do you cheat on exams?”

          “Why not? I told you everybody does it anyway.”

          “So you cheat so you could proudly tell it to your parents or friends that you got high scores on exams out of your dirty tricks?” Yujin’s ear rang after hearing the last two words. Dirty tricks? That’s foul. Will explaining even be worth it? Will Minjoo even understand the reason why she does those? Yujin wanted to just keep it to herself and laugh at the girl’s response but something triggered in her that made her explode, to say something that she’s been wanting to say her whole life.

          “Dirty tricks? Well, I’m sorry that I’m cheating. And just so you could know, I don’t have any friends to boast my exams. I don’t have friends to study with when exams are near. I do everything by myself, Minjoo! My parents forced me to take the course I never wanted to take in the first place, they made me study my off! They always make me feel like a big failure every single damn time I fail my subjects even when I try my best! I am useless, okay? That’s why I cheat on my exams! So I could make them feel proud, so I could feel belonged to my school, so I could feel good at something for the first time in my life!” Yujin shouted, her tears continuously falling down her cheeks. All the things she chose to keep to herself combusted out of frustration. Like a volcano erupting after magma rises to its surface. To which those magma symbolizes the struggles she wasn’t able to share on her lifetime because she was on her own. How hard could that be? Minjoo’s face softened as she saw Yujin crying. It somehow reminded her of a lot of things, and she knows what it feels like being all alone.

          “I… I’m sorry, Yujin…” she whispered, rubbing Yujin’s back softly. “You’re not useless, Yujin. Don’t forget that.”

          “I am, Minjoo. You don’t have to say that to make me feel good. It’s okay,” she answered.

          “I’m not saying this to make you feel good, I’m saying this to knock some sense to you.” Minjoo sighed as she looked at the sky. “You’re just in the process of finding your purpose. There’s a big difference between those.”

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡･

          “Eugene, does apple have double P or just single P?” Christine asked.

          “It’s your exams, Christine. Don’t ask me for answers when you’re taking exams. That’s cheating,” she answered.

Christine pouted and blew the hair that was on her face. “Sorry, teacher.”

          “Are you done?”

          “Yes!”

          “Okay, good. Now for the last number…”

          “What comes after nine again, teacher?”

          “Ten, Christine. Ten.”

          “Okay, okay. Thanks!”

          “For number ten, spell dinosaur!”

Christine started writing letters on the notebook that Eugene gave her. Her handwriting wasn’t as clear as the sun, but to Eugene it was readable. It’s actually great for someone who’s just starting to walk on her way to knowledge.

          “Done!” Christine shouted, raising her notebook up in the air.

          “Good. Let me check your answers,” she took the notebook from Christine’s hands and grabbed a red pen and started checking.

          “Cow, train, stairs—check. Christine, five is spelled as F-I-V-E, not F-Y-B. Food, house, white—check. Tine, chicken has letter C, alright?. Apple—check, too. Wow, you’re good—wait, Christine? Dinosaur is spelled as D-I-N-O-S-A-U-R, not D-Y-N-O-S-O-R.” Eugene reminded.

          “Sorry, teacher. I got confused.”

       “Seven out of ten. You did really well with your exams. You’ve done a great job!” she complimented, smiling at Christine.

          “So can you tell me new stories now? Pretty please?” Christine both hands on her chin, asking for some good stories Eugene could tell her.

          “Not until you pass reading exams, Christine. We’re not yet done.”

･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* : ﾟ☆ﾟ: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ｡･

          “What do you really want