Entry :: {35}

In his red sports car, he drove through the wind that hauled against them. It was one of the most memorable time of his life whereby someone that could make his heart skip a beat, sat right next to him, smiling as wide as he was. Taehyung kept on glancing at her as her radiant skin shined brightly under the glaring sun. Her hair would dance off her shoulders the moment the wind blew towards them. She was ever so beautiful.

“V, where are you going!” She exclaimed, pointing at the rest area as they had missed the eatery outlets.

Taehyung came to realise that he was not focused on the road as Sora exclaimed. His hands handled the steering wheel carelessly and so the car swayed unstably as well. Noticing that he could make a turn back to the area, he kept to his left and waited for the lane to be empty. “Sorry.” He uttered an apology as he bit on his tongue in shame.

They came to a stop and Taehyung parked his car before they headed to an eatery shop.

“I need the restroom. Pick a place to eat at and leave me a text, okay?”

Taehyung nodded and offered to carry her bag to which she insisted on carrying. Along the way, he saw the dumpling shop and knew how much Sora loved steamed foods. He went inside, not worrying over his own appetite. As he got a seat in there and left her a message as he had promised. The menu was decorated with many dishes and he ordered one that was less spicy for Sora.

After a few minutes later, he saw Sora outside, about to enter the small dumpling shop. He rose on his feet in all of a sudden when Sora clashed into someone that was holding onto a cup of coffee. The spill on her shirt was pretty bad and not to mention, she was wearing a white blouse that made the stains obvious. Taehyung rushed over to her after informing the cashier that he would be back soon.

As he opened the door, he heard the noise outside and realised that the man who spilled the coffee on Sora was raising his voice on her for being careless. Sora bowed at him to express her sorry but he still made a chaos out of it. “You should be looking at the front as you walk!” He retorted.

“It was not her fault, Sir. You were busy looking at your phone.” Taehyung’s voice resonated and that made Sora feel secure with his defence.

The older man glared at Taehyung with unfriendly eyes. He seemed to have no excuse to justify himself. Taehyung then took his wallet and took out the few cash to let him buy a new cup of coffee. But the man shoved Taehyung’s hand away with his pride and walked away.

“That is thrice the amount of money a cup of coffee cost, V.” Sora did a fast calculation in her mind as she saw the cash in Taehyung’s hand. Taehyung on the other hand just kept the money back in his wallet promptly. He purposely gave that much to let the matter slide but it seemed that the man cared too much about his ego. At least that saved Taehyung some money for himself.

“Are you okay though? Your shirt is badly ruined.” He tugged on the end of her blouse, flapping them in a futile effort to let it dry. “It’s okay, I’m fine. Let’s eat first?”

She was headed to the dumpling shop when Taehyung grabbed her wrist and made her turn to face him. “You need a new shirt.” That was not even a question. He dragged her along with him and went towards the shops ahead of them.

They were not shopping centres where branded clothes could be found. Most of them were just local souvenir shops and Taehyung brought her in one of them as soon as he saw a rack full of plain t-shirts that say “I Love Busan.” He took one of the hanged t-shirts and put it over Sora’s chest to see if it fits her well. Sora flinched a little when he chose that shirt without surveying the others. “You’re not making me wear this alone, are you?” Sora grabbed a t-shirt of a larger size and jogged to the counter as soon as she saw Taehyung’s disagreeing face.

The older guy ran after her in laughter when he saw her pulling out her purse. Sora was really serious on buying two of them. It seemed like she wanted to share the embarrassment with him. The lady behind the counter couldn’t hide the smile on her face when she returned Sora the cash and placed the shirts into a paper bag. Among the many merchandises that she sold, those hanging t-shirts were the most unsuccessful ones but it didn’t surprise her at all when the two youngsters bought her customised shirts as she saw the emergency on Sora’s blouse.

Sora took out one of the t-shirt and gave Taehyung his. Though it wasn’t something to look forward to, Sora was anticipating more to see Taehyung in that same t-shirt, about to share the embarrassment with her. She changed out of her blouse enthusiastically, not bothering about the creases on the shirt at all. The moment she dashed out of the restroom, she found Taehyung at the front door too, giving her a goofy and uncertain smile. “You look good in whatever you wear.” He praised. She felt her stomach churn a little at those words.

But as they walked further towards the dumpling shop, many eyes were on them. They definitely seemed like a couple, wearing similar shirts. But it was a little awkward to see a couple wearing such a shirt that says “I Love Busan”. The two then walked awkwardly when they heard talks about their shirts from the nearby souvenir shop.

As they went back to the air-conditioned restaurant, Taehyung sat at the same table as he hid his face in shame. “Remind me the next time we wear couple t-shirts, it shouldn’t be one that has a name of any state.”

-

It had been long since Imo had cooked a king-sized meal. She went back and forth into the kitchen to fetch the bowls of food that she had prepared for not only herself, but for Sora and Taehyung as well. She was looking forward to meet him after so many years since Sora would often talk about him but she never really knew how he’d look like in person.

The sun had set and she was done preparing the table. All of Sora’s favourites were there. Her excitement to feed the young lady heightened when she gave the table one last look. Imo smiled to herself in satisfaction before tuning in to the news. Her timing was so accurate as the moment she switched on the television, the faces of the anchors appeared just in time while they greeted the viewers. She was just about to seat in comfortably when the wind was howling. It shocked her when her loose windows slammed ferociously against the window grill. Imo walked up to it and latched the handles of the windows tightly as it was certain it was going to rain soon.

She looked outside the plain meadows where the trees were swaying forcefully and the leaves on the ground were swept away. It had been so long since her land was greeted in such a way. The last time this weather happened, the roads were flooded and they were given notice to stay in their home. Imo was a little sure that it could happen again tonight. But above all, she wished for Sora and Taehyung to reach her safely.

It didn’t take long for the news to tell her something that she strongly predicted. The female anchor encouraged the people to stay at home as a torrential rain was expected to hit the rural side where she’s residing at. Her worries died off when she heard the bell rang. Imo opened a door to see a slightly drenched Sora and another man right behind her.

“Oh dear Sohee!” Imo looked at the both faces before laughing at the two’s identical shirts. Sora laughed along while Taehyung blushed a little when he greeted the older woman.

“You must be Taehyung, right?” She looked at his gentle eyes and fluffy hair that looked really good on him. Taehyung smiled and gave her an uncertain nod. Sora noticed the discomfort look on his face when the older woman called him by his real name. “His name is V, Imo.” She slung an arm around the woman’s shoulders and smiled warmly at her.

“Ah, I see… Sorry about that. By the way would you both like to change into something comfortable? Your shirts are a bit soaked.” She asked in consideration when she saw Sora’s innerwear through that wet white clothing. Sora nodded thankfully and so did Taehyung although he didn’t know what he would change into. Imo went inside swiftly and brought a plain long-sleeved shirt for Sora while she handed a guy’s t-shirt to Taehyung.

“Does this belong to anyone?” Taehyung asked politely, afraid of wearing someone else’s item.

“Yeah, my nephew would always leave a few of his clothes here each time he sleeps over. You can have that, he wouldn’t mind.” Imo him as she left the room.

Sora walked out to the living room and noticed the dishes on the dining table. She skipped towards them with full of excitement at the thought of savouring these foods once again. In no time, Taehyung appeared out of the guest room in some comfortable clothes as well.

“Come, kids. Let’s dig in! V, Sohee, do you want a hot or cold drink?” The host questioned her guests. The two youngsters said ‘hot’ in sync which made the older woman smile in return.

Taehyung studied the appetizing meals that were laid in front of him. He didn’t know what he wanted exactly as he was a picky eater somehow. Before he could decide on something he could decide on something to eat, the empty plate of his was replaced with a plate full of meat. His head turned to his right as Sora was picking up the things she likes on his supposed plate. “I’m guessing your appetite stays the same, you didn’t really like seafood.”

“Here are your drinks! Eat up a lot, kids. I made this all for you.” Imo placed the hot cup of tea next to their plates and they thanked her. Imo could only sit there and stare at them both picking the dishes that caught their eyes. It had been so long since she fed someone and heard their compliments on her cooking. Above all, she was really content with just having someone by her side.

“He’s actually a picky eater, don’t feel bad if he’s not eating so much.” Sora apologised on Taehyung’s behalf.

“No no, I’m not! I eat everything when I’m hungry.” He glanced at the lady next to him while Imo laughed at them. It wasn’t offensive at all. 

“Eat up a lot, V… It’s been so long since I wanted to meet you. Seeing you eat healthily makes me relieved…” She kept on gazing at the boy in front of her, wondering how Sora could have felt when she found him once again.

Imo remembered Sora talking to her over the phone, she cried whenever the topic about him was resurfaced. It did not change a bit when she found him once again. The pain of losing a brother was one thing, the pain of founding a brother that couldn’t recollect his memory was another thing. Imo looked at the two pitifully. “Sohee told me to cook more meat today since you’re not too fond of seafood. She also told me to make it more spicy.” She mentioned. Taehyung swallowed the meat in his mouth slowly and he turned to face the lady on his right.

“I’m… I’m really fine with anything.” He said shyly.

“I know you more than you know yourself now, V.” Sora shook her head as she smiled.

It was then too sudden when they heard the doorbell rang.

“Oh? Who could it be?” Sora asked Imo. The older woman was curious too as she rose from her seat. There shouldn’t be anymore visitors right now… Unless those are people that are seeking shelter from the harsh weather. Imo opened the door cautiously and saw the surprise right when the barrier parted.

“Ah Imo… It took you so long to open the door.” A manly voice sounded.

From where the dining table was, Sora froze in her seat as that voice haunted her memories. Imo backed off from door and looked over to where Sora was. She saw that shocked expression on her face and she had no idea how to settle this matter with the problematic weather ongoing for now.

“D..daehyun…” That’s the only thing Imo could utter the moment Daehyun stepped in and met eyes with her. Sora found it hard not to clench her already tensed muscles as she was thinking of a way to say hello to another fateful meeting.