Present Day - California         

          “Min, have you packed yet?” Her mother asked in English poking her head through the crack of the open door. Min looked up from her laptop that was before her and nodded indicating a no, “Aish, Kwon Minji! We are to be out of this house in 2 weeks! How can you not have at least started to pack yet?” Her mother spoke in aggravated Korean; opening the door wider and walking through. Running her long, slender fingers through her hair she looks at her daughter, “I know you don’t want to leave, I get it, but what can we do, huh?”

Min sighed and closed her laptop, “Do you have extra boxes?” Her mother smiled and nodded; before she left Min’s room she kissed the top of her daughter’s head. She watched as her mother left her room to retrieve the boxes. Getting up she stretched and looked around her room.

“Where do I start?” Min asked herself aloud in English.

“How about the drawers,” Her mother threw some unfolded boxes her way and smiled, “It’s the easiest to clean.” Her mother closed the door and left Min to herself.

The girl picked up the boxes and started to fold them. Once she was done she piled her things into the box. One drawer after another until one of the drawers was jammed shut. She furrowed her eye brows and pulled harder with force until it opened throwing her against the foot of her bed. Rubbing her head with her right hand see looks into the stubborn drawer: It was a metal hello kitty lunch box.

Picking it up carefully, she inhales sharply. Unlatching the metal frame she opens it only to reveal photos upon photos upon photos.  She slowly sways her hand over the films until she angrily throws them across her room. The sheets of film scattering across her floor, the loud clank of the metal hitting against her bedroom wall, her mother knocks on her door speaking in the lightest Korean, “Min, are you alright?”

Her eyes dart to the door, “Ne Umma, I’m fine! I just- I just dropped something.”

“Okay, be careful next time.” The sounds of footsteps that her mother makes decrease as she walks down the hall; Min closes her eyes and exhales.

She didn’t want to seem rash and childish about the situation, but that’s who she is: Kwon Minji, a rash and childish girl.

Crawling towards the few photos and memorabilia she grasps the white Polaroid tightly and clicks a flash is seen and the film shoots out, “It still works.” Placing the two objects down, she rummages through the sheets with nostalgic eyes.

She looks outside the window and is faced with a clear, summer morning view. She decides and starts to change into jean shorts and a graphic tee shirt. Wrapping the Polaroid’s strap around her neck she walks out of her room. Min fibbed a bit, “Mom, I’m going to the markets, okay?”

Her mother looked up in her reading glasses and glanced at what was around her daughter’s neck, “Starting up again I see?”

She looked down and smiled lightly, “It wouldn’t hurt to try.” Putting on her white converse at the door she walks out and wanders down her front steps onto civilization.

:::::

          As usual, Min greeted everyone she knew and had yet to know. Snapping a couple of pictures here and there, when the camera was in her hands, nothing was stopping her.

That is unless it held significance.

There was Coin wash at the next left.

Min’s feet were planted. Had she forgotten? Had he forgotten? Min shook her head and marched left. Determined to forget about what happened at that beast of a place… glancing over, her reflection in the window of the Laundromat, she didn’t look as firm as she wanted to be.

 The place was getting renovated and it was beyond her power to stop it. Did she want it to be destroyed or left alone? That answer will never be known but either way it both hurt the same.

Being the Min she is she walked up to one of the construction workers, tapping him on the shoulders, “Excuse me, Mr.?” He looks over, “Um, what is this exactly going to be made into?”

“This dump of a place is going to be Video Rental shop,” His hands in the air, showing a landscape, “Great idea, right? I convinced my boss!”

Min gives him a quick and cold smile, “It’s a perfect idea because this is LA; basically the land of films and video rentals? Shoot, how original. Hopefully it becomes just like Blockbuster!” She gives the clueless worker two thumbs up.

He had forgotten that Blockbuster had been a blow-out only to be bankrupt several years later.

:::::

“I’m home!” Min’s voice rang through the household and her nose drifted towards the kitchen.

Running to where the smells were coming from her mother scolds her, “Yah, Min-ah! Take off your shoes! You are tracking dirt all over this house!”

Scowling back she goes to the front door and slips off her shoes and walks back. Taking a seat on the counter she slouches over and grabs an apple slices from her mother’s morning cleansing juice, “Wow, you’re cooking!” Min takes a bit out of the crispy apple, “Starting back up again I see?” Min retorts.

“Ha ha ha, very funny, now get off of the kitchen counter,” Mrs. Kwon stirs the mixed vegetables and looks back at her now, eighteen year old daughter, “I Remember when you were sixteen and you loved to hang around and-“

“-Yeah, but I’m not sixteen anymore, mom.” She hops off of the kitchen counter and walks up the stairs, “Call me when dinner is ready.”

          The sun was going down already. Who knew that you could wander so aimlessly for so long in LA and have the sun only to set now? Min opened her bedroom door and looked at the still messed up floor full of boxes, photographs, and little memorabilia. Closing the door behind her she crouched over and picked up the metal hello kitty lunch box. Gathering all of her past possessions, she neatly placed them into the metal frame and locked it with the little hatches on the side.

Putting the lunch box on top of her bed by her laptop, she resumes cleaning the drawers. One final drawer was left and it was so light and easy to open that Min had to take a second look to check if there was actually anything inside.

One last and somewhat folded Polaroid shot of two bright and smiling faces in such a close proximity with a caption on the white strip: Let’s not forget the summer of 2k12!

Min inhaled  and spoke out loud in English, “Mom, you said cleaning out the drawers were the easiest.”

A/N:

First chapter! You don’t even know how excited I am for this story! Well, the chapters in present time maybe a bit shorter than the flashbacks but hopefully they will live up to your standards? Please comment and subscribe!

Love you all,

Barely-finished

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