Your Atmosphere

CHAPTER ONE:

+ Return +

Jiyeon's POV

My throat felt suddenly tight, my tongue incredibly dry. I stared up at the old, brick house, lost once again in the immensity of the structure. It was more of castle than a house, the exterior built entirely of a creamy brick, that in some places couldn’t be seen at all beneath the vines that crept up around it. The yard was always cleanly cut and several gardens tended, with old statues littered around the premise. I had once been told they were imported from Italy, but whether or not that was true, I hardly cared. 

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” 

The sudden disruption of silence jolted me from my thoughts, and I quickly shifted my gaze from the house back to my father. He stood next to me, my suitcase slung over one shoulder, and I could tell from the way he leaned against the passenger door of his car, that he had been standing there for a while. I smiled a little sheepishly, realizing I had been caught up in my thoughts for an unusually long time, and had entirely forgotten he was there.
“Yes, I suppose it has,” I responded honestly, picking up my camera case and my other suitcase and following him to the front door. It has been four years to be exact, since I had last visited my father and stepmother’s estate. He opened the door for me and stepped inside, a warm smile gracing his features, as I was once again lost in the immensity of my new residence. 

“Welcome home honey.” 

The large crystal chandelier still hung delicately in the excessively spacious entrance way... two Victorian-style statues of a lion and a bear still sat on either side of the stairway to the second floor, appearing as if to be guarding the house... the marble floor remained to be, in what I had always thought was a dangerously polished state with not a fleck of dirt visible... my eyes travelled around the room, catching on a large, black and white portrait that hung on the eastern wall. Nothing about the house had changed. It was all the exact same, but somehow, as I let my gaze wander across the different faces in the family portrait, I felt that everything was different. 

A warm hand gently squeezed my shoulder, and I realized then that my whole body had begun shaking. “Jiyeon,” my father’s voice was soft. “Let’s get you settled into your new room. There will be plenty of time to..” he hesitated, and I knew that neither of us wanted to hear him say it out loud. Tearing my eyes from the portrait, I turned to him and sighed, shivering as if to brush off the sudden heaviness that had settled upon my shoulders. 

“You’re right.” I smiled, and I could see gratitude flit across his countenance for not making him finish the thought. “Same room as before?” He nodded, and I wasted no time stepping over to the stairway, and heading up towards my room. The memories that this house held were painful as of right now, and I was tired from the long flight, the combined effect being that I wanted nothing more than to be in my room alone with my thoughts. “Where are the boys?” I asked as we reached the second floor and dragged my luggage towards my room. 

“They should just be getting out of school about now,” my dad replied. “Nana is there to pick them up.” I nodded. My father had remarried after his divorce with my mom at age three. I didn’t much mind. Nana was a nice woman, and I within a couple years of my parents’ divorce I had gotten used to it. It had been difficult at first to be sure, especially when my mom, older brother Hyo and I had moved from our home in Las Angeles to Wisconsin to stay with my grandparents. My dad had been so depressed that visiting him every summer after that was something Hyo and I dreaded. But then he met Nana, and within two months of introducing her to us, we got a call that they were getting married. At first I was skeptical, I had seen Cinderella after all and what eight-year old wouldn’t be a little worried about having a step-mother after that? But Nana quickly proved to be a positive addition to the family, alleviating my father’s depression, and providing some much needed stability in his house, a house that felt far too lonely for only one man to live in... and then In-Su and Chin-Hae were born and my heart, which had unknowingly become cold and shut off from the world, suddenly came alive again. I had heard a lot of horror stories from my friends and people I knew in my life, about how horrible it was to have step-brothers and such. The whole world it seemed, expected Hyo and I to resent them for taking our father away from us...

However nothing could’ve been further from the truth. In-Su and Chin-Hae were technically our half-brothers, twins that were ten years my junior, but my brother and I had never thought of them as “half” anything and I couldn’t have loved anyone more than them. 

Hyo was the one exception.

“Here you go,” My father said, placing my duffle-bag on the bed. “The boys have karate class now so they won’t be home for another two hours. You probably want to get some rest before then.” I nodded, bowing in thanks as he left the room. I had a good dad. I was lucky. Growing up far away from him hadn’t been a hardship, it just meant that we never fought. He barely knew me in all honesty, which at times could be a little sad, but we were still family and I knew that he would do anything for me if I asked. 

I sighed, ping my suitcase and slowly beginning to unpack. I hadn’t brought much so it didn’t take long. My room, I noted, like everything else in this house hadn’t changed at all since my stay here four summers ago. The white canopy still hung over my bed, casting a cloud-like shadow on the far wall. The walls themselves were still a light yellow color, one that I had always thought was exactly like that of a baby chick’s feather coat. And the room was still entirely oversized and empty other than the king-sized bed, a dresser and a bedside table that housed my stereo system. 

I grinned at the sight, walking over to it and plugging my iPhone into the docking station.  Loud, heavy metal instantly poured from the speakers and I almost laughed at the contrast between my musical tastes and the fairy-like room I was in. My music had always been an anomaly to everyone that knew me; they always said that it didn’t go with my delicate features and poise, but I was used to being misunderstood. I liked what I liked, and that was it. 

The strangeness of you was made just to match me. 

I stopped, the air catching in my throat at the suddenness of the thought. A shudder ran down my spine, and I quickly brushed it away, trying to ignore the vast ocean of memories that clung at the edge of my subconscious, trying to gain entry. 

No. I told myself, shaking my head to alleviate the pressure in my mind. I promised myself that I would never think about you again. But it was too late, and as I stared out of my bedroom window- a window that I had once stared out of next to him -an onslaught of memories leapt from their confines in my subconscious, and poured into my mind, quickly overwhelming me. 

Once it began, it could not be stopped. I was back here, after all. 

After four years, I was back in his territory. 

...and unlike that fateful summer years ago, this time I was here to stay. 

+ + + 

Your Atmosphere. Chapter 1. Return. 

Hi guys! I am new to AFF and here is my first story for this site! I have authored before so I am not entirely new at this, but I plan on growing and learning here. This is just for fun! Feel free to ask me questions and chat. I love making friends. ;) 

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