part two
summer wonder
p a r t t w o
(listen while reading: x )
A week later, Jongin took a walk within the inner streets of his neighborhood, passing by various two-story houses as his feet clacked against the blacktop. He was out earlier than usual to enjoy the clearer skies and the tiny hint of salt in the air that July brang him, even if it did also mean basking in the sizzling summer heat.
His old junior high campus and the park next to it were located at the spot where his neighborhood sidewalks opened up into the busy road, with cars occasionally appearing to drive past him. Jongin turned to the right so he could walk in front of the school without a second thought. That is, until –
“Guess who?”
The voice appeared to Jongin out of the blue, and he quickly turned his head to see Soojung on her teal-colored beach bike beside him.
“Hey, you’re already here!” He exclaimed.
Soojung giggled. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be here?”
As they continued to approach the park, a grin appeared on Jongin’s face once again. They both glanced at the tree they always met up at, far into the park.
“Bet you I can make it there before you can,” Jongin offered.
Soojung let out a bitter chuckle. “Are you saying you can outrun a girl on a bike?”
“For your information, Soojung, I can be very fast on my feet. So what do you say?”
“I say…race you!”
All of a sudden, she dashed away on her bike as fast as she could. Jongin was caught off guard, and he hastened to sprint over to her. Soojung was in front, but Jongin was fast – really fast. As they both hurried to get to the tree before the other, Soojung was surprised to see that he didn’t just manage to catch up to her, he was running almost side by side with her at one point. But she was still in the lead, and she arrived at the tree seconds before Jongin could.
“Hah! Guess you can’t outrun a girl on a bike after all,” She remarked.
“All right, all right. I admit defeat.” Jongin jokingly threw his hands up in the air, and a cheerful laugh passed through Soojung’s lips.
“So, you said you had a place to show me today?”
“I did. It’s actually right here in the park,” He revealed.
She raised an eyebrow. “Jongin, I thought we were going to explore the city and leave the park.”
“No, I remember what we agreed on. But trust me on this, Soojung. I guarantee you haven’t been to this section of the park before.”
Jongin could spot how uncertain Soojung was about this, but eventually she gave in. “Okay, I guess.”
He guided her down the park, Soojung having to slow down her pedaling so she could stay by Jongin’s side. It took them a little while, but as they were reaching the end of the path, he made her stop next to a trail created by white marble tiles placed into the grass. It leaded to a small metal gate, and the trail disappeared into a plethora of bushes and small trees at the entrance.
“Have you ever been in there?” Jongin questioned.
She shook her head. “I always assumed it was restricted. Plus, I was afraid of getting lost in all of it.”
“Oh, don’t worry. There’s no way you’re going to get lost in there.” He reassured. “Especially when I’m your guide.”
“Just to be clear, what exactly is ‘there’?” Soojung gestured some air quotes.
“Would you get upset at me if I told you it’s a surprise?” He responded.
At this point she was beginning to get a bit frustrated by Jongin, but the feeling went away as she stepped off her bike and saw his confident grin, promising her that what he would show her would be something great.
“This better be good,” she whispered to herself as she walked her bike onto the stone path.
As she continued with Jongin in front of her, the white tiles faded into dirt and the sun’s light became obscured behind branches and leaves. The passageway became narrower until her and Jongin were bundled close together and the bike frequently brushed against the bushes.
A rustle came from behind them, and the two of them stopped in their steps and turned their heads.
“It’s a bunny!” Soojung cried out. “Oh, how cute!”
Jongin snickered at how a small animal such as a bunny could bring out her childish side.
“Yeah, there’s a lot of wildlife in here.” He informed her. “There’s lizards, some birds, and if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll be able to see a big snake.”
“What? A snake?” She shouted.
He tried to hold back his laughter, but it managed to come out anyway. “No, I’m just kidding.”
Her jaw dropped open and gave him a playful punch in the arm. “That’s not funny!”
“It kind of is. Now come on, we’re almost there.”
At one point, the bushes started to clear up and a few rays of sunlight started to seep through and shine on Soojung’s face. And before she knew it, they stepped off the stone path and the place Jongin was talking about before revealed itself in front of her eyes.
There were multiple maple trees surrounding them, the radiantly green leaves dancing and flying in the breeze. The ground was taken up by a small, shimmering pond of crystal clear water. Many different types of vibrant flowers were scattered through the grass. Soojung was fully mesmerized by everything that surrounded her, and she could only find one word to describe such a place: paradise.
“This is amazing!” Soojung exclaimed. “How did you manage to find this place?”
“Well, back when I was in middle school, I used this place to hide my skateboard. Skateboards weren’t allowed on the campus and I figured, no one really comes in here anyway.” Jongin explained. “Never understood why though.”
“That’s it?” Soojung replied. “You only came here to hide your skateboard?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“Nothing, I just think it’d be better to use a place as beautiful as this for something else. Like maybe…for a date?”
Upon hearing that last part, Jongin awkwardly took a step back. “Now Soojung, don’t get any wrong ideas- “
“I wasn’t talking about me!”
She lightly pushed him to the side and Jongin, who was a bit surprised, immediately pushed her back with more force. She reacted by giving him the hardest push she could do, but before it sent Jongin falling to the ground, he grabbed onto Soojung’s wrist and pulled her down with him. Soon they were rolling around in the grass together, laughter filling the silent air around them, and they ended up lying down next to the pond with smiles so bright it could have rivaled the sun.
“Next time we see each other, it’s your turn to pick the place,” Jongin mentioned.
“I know,” Soojung answered. “But before we go, could you promise to remember this one thing?”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Bring your skateboard.”
On Friday, Jongin was guided by Soojung (and that luminous smile he liked so much) to a natural beauty placed right between two major, neighboring cities. When they arrived, he could see rocky hills with houses sitting on top of them in the distance. A river flowed below on his left, peacefully and gracefully. The faint sound of the ocean hitting the surface of the shore echoed through the air.
Jongin’s first reaction was, “Holy .”
“I know, right?” Soojung commented. “I had the same reaction when I first came here.”
She had led him to a paved, off-road bike trail.
“We are biking – and skateboarding too, I suppose – all the way to the beach at the end!” Soojung proposed. “But only if you’re up for it.”
“I can handle skateboarding a few miles,” Jongin responded. “It doesn’t even look that far.”
Soojung rolled her eyes. “Let’s just go.”
As they began riding down the bike trail together, more cyclists occasionally passed by them. Some would dart away without a single glance at them, while others would take the time to give them a friendly grin or even a hello. Jongin awkwardly answered a greeting back, but Soojung replied as if they were all her acquaintances. Her joyfulness breathed a little bit more life into everyone else. It seemed almost contagious.
“You know, I don’t really know that much about you,” Soojung mentioned. “Why don’t tell me something about yourself?”
Jongin had to take a second to think of something. “Uh…I can rap.”
“Really? That’s so cool! Can you do a little free-verse right now?”
“I can try.” Jongin cleared his throat for a brief moment. “Aw, yo. The name’s Jongin, I bust rhymes that spin. It’s the middle of summer, and when it ends it’ll be a bummer. Here with my girl Soojung, and we’ll be wild, free and young, don’t mess with us or we’ll get your…tongues. Brrrrah.”
Laughter burst out from Soojung’s mouth. “Wow. You got some mad skillz, bro.”
“Well, what about you? Tell me a little something about yourself.”
At first Soojung stayed quiet, and then her face flushed with red and she became flustered.
“You’re blushing. I can see you blushing.” Jongin pointed a finger at her face. “What is it?”
“It’s nothing!” Soojung insisted. “It’s just something that I like but no one else likes.”
“Tell me.”
“I don’t wanna.”
“Come on, please.”
At last, Soojung sighed and she took a big inhale in order to confess. “I like prunes, there.”
“Ew!” Jongin yelled. “Those are disgusting! You’re not invited anymore.”
“Invited for what?”
“For life.”
A scoff came from Soojung. “Oh, like you’re still gonna have an invite once you’ve got everyone’s tongues?”
“Shut up.”
After a while, as Soojung took in all the scenery and fresh air, Jongin started to complain over how much closer they were supposed to be. Each time he did, Soojung would threaten to run over him into the river with her bike, which just made him raise his voice and make more complaints.
“I thought you said you could ‘handle skateboarding a few miles’,” she mocked.
“But this is taking such a long time,” Jongin whined.
“We’re almost there.” Soojung pointed a finger out in front of her. “We just need to go under this bridge that’s going over the river, see?”
“Yeah, I see it. And then after that, we’ll be at the beach?” He asked, and Soojung nodded yes with a small, innocent grin.
When they approached the end of the trail, it descended into a rather large and steep drop so that they could go under. Jongin rode his skateboard down the slope, and suddenly the wheels accelerated faster and wind was rushing through his hair.
“Woohoo! This is awesome!” He yelled.
And then, once they emerged from below the bridge, the beach appeared right in front of him. The majestic, deep blue waves were bigger today, flocks of seagulls glided in the sky above his head, and the sand between his toes once he stepped onto it felt warmer than ever.
Once Soojung parked her bike somewhere, they immediately ran together towards the shore. The wet sand stuck to their feet and the sun’s golden light illuminated their bodies. Soojung’s long hair was blown in front of her face and in all sorts of different directions, while Jongin constantly tripped in the sand trying to catch up to her. But neither of them seemed to mind as they reached the salty, freezing cold waters of The Pacific Ocean.
When they were ankle deep in the water, Soojung ordered, “Don’t you dare get me wet!”
“Oh yeah?” Jongin replied, and kicked a little bit of water towards her.
Her jaw was wide open. “I’m so going to get you for that, Jongin!”
They chased around in the ocean, splashing water on each other until both of them were almost drenched. After that, they headed to the flat, rugged rocks nearby and climbed on them, black flip-flops hanging from Soojung’s hands and a skateboard in Jongin’s. The sun was starting to descend behind the clouds, and a cool sea breeze was biting at their skin. The waves would occasionally crash into the rocks, drops of white, salty foam flying through the air until the sea backed away with a sizzling sound.
Once they found a nice spot to sit, the two gazed at the sky above them.
“I don’t think there’s anything better than summer sunsets at the beach,” Soojung pointed out. “Just look at all the colors in the sky. It makes everything look pink, blue, orange, and purple. And they’re intertwining with each other in such a vibrant way, like cotton candy. It’s like you can grab a piece and indulge in the calmness of the sky. God, I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now and live in it forever. ”
Soojung turned her head to Jongin. “Hey, have you ever watched the sunrise early in the morning?”
Jongin nodded no. “I never really get up that early,” he admitted.
“You have to go look at a sunrise one of these days.”
“Why? It isn’t anything different than a sunset, it’s just earlier.”
“But it is different.” Soojung turned away to view the sky again. “It doesn’t feel the same. Sunsets feel like the day’s coming to an end, but sunrises feel like a new beginning. That’s what fascinates me the most about them.”
Jongin smiled at her. The comforting warmth that summer flowed through his body again, but this time, he was sure that it wasn’t the beach or the sunset that made him feel this way.
This time, it had a teal-colored beach bike parked nearby and black flip-flops hanging from her hands.
You’re the one who fascinates me the most.
“I’m not really sure about this, Jongin.”
When he suggested “abandoned house” to Soojung as their next summertime city-exploring adventure destination, she didn’t quite know what to expect. He led her to a set of queer, strange-looking houses she had never visited before, and made a stop at the end of the street where there were no houses remaining but one.
And of course, that particular house was the one that looked the most unusual and the most terrifying.
“Are you sure this is safe?” She asked him.
“You’re really gonna let yourself be scared of a house?” Jongin shot back.
But Soojung was sure that building was not a house, at least not anymore. To her, it looked a bit more like a wooden insane asylum anxiously waiting for its next patient – or victim.
“No, no, I got this.” She swore. “I think.”
Jongin motioned his hands towards the front door. “Then ladies first.”
With a pout sitting on her face, she slowly headed over to the house with hesitant footsteps, and Jongin trailed right behind her.
As she got closer, the unpleasant features of the house became more evident. The paint on the walls was curling away with age and had faded into a sickly green color. She spotted glass shards that had fallen from the broken windows as she walked onto the wobbly patio with an unsettling creak. And oh, that horrid smell. It was so strong, her nose burned and her eyes watered. It was the worst excuse for a house Soojung had ever seen, and she wasn’t even inside yet.
She was about to reach for the doorknob until she saw the way it was almost consumed by a thick network of cobwebs.
“Ugh! I’m not touching that!” She shouted.
“You don’t have to,” Jongin informed her. “All you have to do is push on the door and it’ll open.”
He stepped in front of Soojung so he could do it himself. He pressed both his hands onto the rotting wooden door, and when he tried to push it open, it fell forward from its rusty hinges and dropped to the ground with a loud crash. The two of them looked at each other and then at the door, bewildered.
“...Okay then,” Jongin mumbled.
They proceeded to walk into the eerie, dim interior of the house. Soojung was huddling up close to Jongin as they entered, making tiny whining noises as they walked further away from the fallen door. It was dark inside, and the only light available was seeping through the broken windows and in between the wooden walls. Old-fashioned furniture that must have been decades old were placed around in an almost immaculate arrangement, as if they’ve been untouched ever since it was first abandoned.
“Isn’t this place cool?” Jongin asked.
“If your definition of ‘cool’ is the same as ‘creepy’, then sure.” Soojung replied.
“Come on, it isn’t so bad,” he answered.
He directed her into the living room where there was a small couch sitting in front of an outdated TV. He ran over to the couch and jumped onto it, and at once clouds of dust emerged as soon as he landed and swarmed through the air. Jongin immediately started coughing while Soojung sneezed a few times.
“See? How awesome is – cough – this couch? It isn’t – ack, – “
“Jongin, I really don’t have a good feeling about this place,” Soojung admitted.
“I’m telling you, there’s nothing to worry about here. Just give it a chance,” he insisted. “Here, how about we go upstairs? There’s a lot to check out up there.”
To the left of the fallen front door was a staircase that led to a second floor. When Jongin walked her over there, Soojung nervously put her foot on the first step just to make sure it was safe. She followed Jongin up, holding onto the side rails for dear life and the creaking and groaning with each step made her even more uneasy. As they reached the hallway at the top, she gazed at the suspicious-looking rooms cascading all the way down the walls along with a bigger one right behind her. Since it was the closest, she decided to explore that one.
The white doors opened up to reveal the master bedroom of the house. The windows were almost obscured by filthy net curtains, the cabinets were overflowing with worn-out fabric and paperback novels, and a huge king-sized bed was placed right in the middle.
But Soojung had to admit… it was pretty cool.
“Jongin, you gotta come in here and see this!” She exclaimed.
There was no response.
“Jongin?”
Still nothing.
“Jongiiinnnn.”
Just dead, empty silence.
She turned her head around to find that Jongin was gone. He was right in front of her just a moment ago, and then he just disappeared from her sight somehow. Soojung ran out of the bedroom and into the hallway again, and called his name out once more.
“Where are you?” She exclaimed.
The only sound that made a reply was the harsh creaking of the wooden floor below her feet.
“This isn’t funny, Jongin!” She yelled.
The sun’s light was starting to dim and the wind was slowly building up, making a chilling whistle as it blew past the broken glass of the windows. Soojung’s body started to tremble and her heart started to beat in her chest so hard, she could hear it in her ears. It was the only thing she could hear besides the wind.
The faint sound of footsteps suddenly appeared behind her, and she shot her head over her shoulders only to see that there was nothing there. Her breathing became heavier and her heart pounded harder as she quivered in fear, utterly terrified.
Soojung slowly began to back away from the master bedroom and descend further into the hallway. She gripped on tightly to the rail again, and it was a good thing she did, because there was a fragile spot in the floor that she didn’t notice and it collapsed once she placed her foot on it. The wood pieces snapped and fell all the way to the first floor, and her left leg was now dangling from the hole she created. She shrieked out of pure horror, making the crows squawk back at her as a response.
As she lifted her leg back up and she stood up on her two feet again, she heard someone softly call her out of her name in the air. It was almost as quiet as a whisper.
“Soojung!”
She knew it was Jongin. She recognized his voice. And she knew that it came from one of the rooms in the hallways, but there was no way of telling which one it came from.
“Jongin!”
“Soojung!”
Her breathing began to accelerate, and she sprinted down the hallway on a frantic search for him. She opened every single door to every room, but they were all the same. They all had a bed, a cabinet, a window, but none of them had Jongin in it. Soojung wasn’t able to hear his voice anymore but she still looked through all of them anyway, and then a second time, and then a third time after that.
But Jongin was nowhere to be found.
She could feel her heart starting to sink down. This place really did make people feel insane after all. The crows started to caw outside again, but this time their faint caws sounded more like words. Something along the lines of, “Get her.” She pressed her body against the wall and slid down into a curled-up ball as the whistling of the windows became higher, the loud creaking of the house surrounded her, and the crows grew louder as their screeching echoed through the air, “Get the girl! Get the girl!”
A hand was mysteriously placed on her shoulder, and she screamed and backed away once she felt it.
“Soojung, relax. It’s just me.”
Once she realized Jongin had appeared in front of her, she immediately ran into his arms. The sudden impact almost made him fall over.
“Where the hell were you?” Her cries were muffled from burying her face into his shirt. “God, I was so scared and this place is so creepy and I couldn’t find you anywhere and- “
“It’s ok. I was just in another room, Soojung.” He rubbed her back in little as an effort to calm her down.
She pulled back from her embrace and her head drooped down, refusing to make eye contact with him. “Jongin… I thought you left me here alone,” she mumbled.
“Why would I do that? I’d never do anything like that to you. Soojung, you know that, right?”
But she didn’t reply. Instead she stayed silent as she walked away from Jongin, her head still down so she wouldn’t look at him. She walked down the stairs and out the door, and he was left frozen in his steps as he watched her leave, not knowing what to do.
☼ ☼
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