Chaekyung’s alarm clock rang for the third time. Like the previous times, she didn’t want to get up, but her hunger was becoming unsustainable. She took her courage in both hands before throwing off the bedclothes and confronting the cold of her bedroom. While heading for her closet, she banged her foot into one of the boxes which were still lying in the room. She clenched her teeth and plunged back on her bed, thinking she really had to finish tidying up her things. After some time rubbing her foot, she went back to her closet, slowly this time, and looked for her dressing gown by feel. She put it on and went downstairs to take her breakfast. She was surprised to see that her mother still hadn't gone to bed. She went to kiss her.

          “You didn't go to bed?”

          “No, there were many people at the hospital, I had to stay one more hour. But I just wanted to have a bite to eat before going to sleep,” Jeongmi replied before putting her glass in the sink and leaving the kitchen.

          Chaekyung nodded before she sat at the table. Ever since the recent divorce of her parents, she would see her mother more and more tired between the move and her new working hours at the hospital. Her cheeks had grown hollow, and signs of fatigue were giving her some more years than the age she truly was. However, her face was still marked by mother’s kindness. Chaekyung was doing everything possible to help her with chores, but she was also considering looking for a part-time job in order to give her a financial support. Nonetheless, before looking for a job, she had to know her university schedule. She was both longing to begin her Master and stressed about ending up in a new environment where she knew nobody. She finished her breakfast and decided to tidy up her stuff.

           

*

 

          Around 1PM, Chaekyung made the meal and then settled herself in front of television, waiting for her mother to get up. Slumped in the sofa, she was changing the channels without managing to find one interesting program. And so she ended up putting back the Pororo cartoon, but after five minutes, she was fed up with it and left to set the table. She was seriously beginning to get hungry, and the fact that she had nothing to keep her busy wasn’t helping her to forget her belly begging for food. She looked at her watch, her mother should be getting up before long. When she was returning home in the morning, she would go to sleep for three or four hours and get back to a normal pace in the afternoon. Chaekyung was impressed by her mother’s ability to sleep that little. As for her, she needed at least seven hours of sleep to feel fine the next day. She thought back of the show she saw the previous month in which it was stated that reducing one’s sleep was possible. For this to happen, you have to force yourself to wake up a little bit sooner every day and counterbalance with naps. Well, that’s what she understood… Chaekyung left her thoughts when she heard her mother coming downstairs. They would finally have lunch.

          “I bought beef ribs to offer to the neighbors. We’ll have to introduce ourselves to them later,” her mother told her.

          “Hmm,” Chaekyung mumbled while pouting.

          She wasn’t really delighted about going to a strangers’ place. It was unlikely that they would have much to say.

          “How enthusiastic you are!” her mother exclaimed smiling lightly.

          They finished their meal and prepared themselves to pay a visit to their neighbors. Jeongmi put the meat in Chaekyung’s hands and headed towards the next house, her daughter coming right after. Chaekyung rubbed her arms. She hadn’t considered necessary to take her coat, but by this end of February, it was still too soon to take off a layer, even for one moment. The door opened and showed a smiling woman. Once introductions were done, Jeongmi gestured her daughter to give the present. Chaekyung shyly moved forward, her new neighbor thanked her for the meat and let them in. When hearing that, Chaekyung felt a sensation of hopelessness go through her. As she expected, the courtesy call would take some time. But not having any other choice, she followed her host and noticed that the interior of their houses were more or less similar. Entering the living room, they met Yeonja’s husband. They sat down on the sofa in front of him.

          “Do you want to drink a tea?” Yeonja asked.

          “With pleasure, thank you,” Jeongmi replied.

          “What about you Chaekyung?”

          “Yes please.”

          Yeonja left for the kitchen while her husband started a new conversation with Jeongmi. Chaekyung preferred to examine the living room’s decoration. There were several paintings hanged on the walls. She didn’t know much about abstract art but found it rather nice. For the rest, there were not a lot of furniture but they were submerged by a multitude of ornaments. She glanced towards the kitchen and saw Yeonja come out from it calling:

          “Dongwoo! Come and greet our new neighbors.”

          Strangely, Chaekyung hadn’t considered that the couple could have a child. When coming in an isolated village like Daesowon, she had more expected to be surrounded by elderly people. Yeonja arrived with the tea and placed the cups on the coffee table. She sat down in the armchair near Chaekyung and a young man entered the room.

          “Here is my son Dongwoo,” Yeonja said showing the boy, “and this is Jeongmi and her daughter Chaekyung,” she added to her son.

          Dongwoo politely bowed to them and the guests who had stood up answered the same way. Chaekyung sat back looking at Dongwoo. He was older than what she had imagined. His face was quite sharp but he was very smiley. He left to take a chair in the kitchen and then sat beside his mother, almost in front of Chaekyung.

          “So, why did you move here?” Yeonja’s husband asked.

          “I grew up in Chungju, that’s why I wanted to come back in this area. And Chaekyung just passed her bachelor degree, it was easier for her to move now.”

          Chaekyung wasn’t surprised by her mother’s response which was somewhat eluding the question. Although people resort to divorce more and more, it was still poorly looked upon. It had been already difficult enough to reveal that fact to her own family, she wouldn’t let her neighbors know it at the first encounter.

          “By the way, how old are you Dongwoo?” Her mother started again, “you two must be around the same age.”

          “I’m 23,” Dongwoo replied.

          “Ah! My Chaekyung is 21.”

          “Oh, you can call him oppa!” Yeonja exclaimed to Chaekyung.

          Startled, Chaekyung made eye contact with Dongwoo but immediately looked away, flushing.

          “Please don’t start…” Dongwoo complained.

          “But she’s so pretty!”

          Dongwoo seemed not to know what to answer. As for Chaekyung, she was even more awkward. Fortunately, her mother run to her rescue and changed the subject. The parents kept talking amongst themselves while the young people were merely listening. Finaly, Dongwoo started a conversation with Chaekyung.

          “Well, you have a degree in what?”

          “Uh, intercultural relationships, but I want to pursue it in Master at Chungju.”

          “Oh really? In which uni?”

          “Geonguk University.”

          “Ah too bad, I attend Chungju National University.”

          “Really, what are you studying?”

          “I’m in my second year of an Applied Arts Master.”

          They were interrupted by Dongwoo’s mother.

          “Perhaps you could take Chaekyung to look around the village during the week, right Dongwoo?”

          “If Chaekyung’s interested, I’m all for it,” he replied questioning Chaekyung with his eyes.

          “Why not, but I don’t want it to be a disturbance for you.”

          “No, it’s not disturbing me, just tell me when you’ll be ready to go.”

          Not wanting to bother any longer her neighbors, Jeongmi stood up and took their leave on these words. Once at home, Chaekyung went to her bedroom and settled in front of her computer. For an hour and a half, she surfed the Net and talked with a girl friend from the city she used to live in. She got interrupted by her mother who asked her to help emptying the boxes in the living room. Chaekyung took charge of tidying DVDs. She and her mother liked to spend evenings together watching movies of all kinds, but mostly thrillers. She began with taking out the DVDs and piling them up depending on the first letter of the title. Then, she put each pile she made into alphabetical order before she lined them up on the shelf. Her mother who was passing by was stunned seeing DVDs all over the floor. She also started to gather and put them one after the other on the shelf. Chaekyung turned up with the “D” pile. She placed it checking the last DVD, and was surprised to see an “S”. Thinking it was an error of her, she removed it but noticed the one next to it was a “G”. And so she was horrified to see about fifteen DVDs had been lined up roughly. She turned towards her mother:

          “What have you done?”

          “Well, helping you putting the DVDs away.”

          “I was sorting them into alphabetical order,” Chaekyung reproached her mother for misplacing them.

          “There’s no need, it’s faster that way. And anyhow, they’re going to be mixed up.”

          “Just let me do it, I’ll take care of it by myself,” she said getting back the DVDs her mother had in hands.

          “Alright, if you enjoy bothering yourself…,” her mother replied while taking another box.

 

          After diner, Jeongmi kissed Chaekyung and went to bed to finish making up for her lack of sleep. As for Chaekyung, she went to settle down on the sofa for her weekly appointment with the current hit romantic drama. She tried not to miss any episode, and she definitely didn't want to miss this one because it announced new events in the two protagonists' love story.

          “'But listen to me!' Minho pleaded. 'I swear nothing happened between me and her.'

          'Leave me alone, we're over, don't even try to see me again,' Soojin answered as she left.

          Minho tried to stop her.

          'But let me explain at least! I love you! We can't just break up like this!'

          Soojin shooted him a dirty look, refusing to listen to anything.

          'I never want to hear about you anymore,' she stung before leaving.”

          Looking at this scene, Chaekyung couldn't feel anything but exasperation. She really found Soojin’s reaction stupid and childish. It was typically the kind of attitude she couldn't understand. Minho didn't cheat on her and she was going to destroy their relationship because of a mere misunderstanding. What did it cost her to let him explain? Nothing prevented her from making up her mind after. Chaekyung placed a real importance on listening to everybody's point of view before making a decision. Every information is worthy when it comes to make a choice. Listening to Minho didn't mean that Soojin had to forgive him (anyhow he didn't have anything to be forgiven for), but it was cruel not to give him the possibility of defending himself. How could she be this incomprehensive when she was supposed to love him. Chaekyung sighed. She definitively couldn't identify with Soojin. Oh, and it was just a movie! Why was she getting worked up? Anyway Minho and Soojin could only end together.

 

*

 

          Chaekyung hadn’t left her home for five days now and had been spending much of her time secluded in her room reading books or surfing on the net. She was precisely on her computer when her mother knocked at the door and entered.

          “Why don't you go outside instead of staying locked in your room?”

          “Well, I don't have anything to do outside.”

          “Yes, you do. You didn't ask the neighbor to give you a tour of Daesowon. You should do it before resuming classes,” Jeongmi suggested.

          “No. I don't wanna bother him. I'm sure they just said that to be polite,” Chaekyung said turning on her chair to face her mother.

          “I’m sure not, he looks very nice. Besides, he too might be getting bored on his computer.”

          Chaekyung whined to express her displeasure, but her mother pushed her lightly toward the door.

          “Come on, let's go! Get a move on!”

 

          And that’s how Chaekyung found herself in front of her neighbors' door. She hoped Yeonja would be the one to open so that she wouldn't have to ask Dongwoo to take her out herself. To her great relief, it was Yeonja who actually welcomed her.

          “Good afternoon, hum..., I came to..., hum... well, I wanted to know if Dongwoo was free to, hum...”

          “Oh yeah! I will call him,” Yeonja said beaming at her. “Please, come in.”

          Chaekyung waited in the hallway while she went to get her son. She guessed that Yeonja had explained the situation to Dongwoo because he was ready to go when he came down. She was relieved that she didn't have to do it herself. Dongwoo greeted her before leading her outside.

          “Do you want to see something in particular?” He asked.

          “Not really. Since I don't know the place at all, I don't know what is there to see.”

          “Ok, so I’m gonna show you nice places and the ones where you might need to go.”

          Dongwoo started to walk thinking about the way they would take. He turned toward Chaekyung with a beam which surprised her.

          “I’m gonna show you the bar/restaurant... Wait, no,” he corrected doing wide moves with his arms, “we're gonna go to the post office first and then I'll show you the library.”

          They set out and a slightly awkward silence settled between them. Fearing she could seem cold, even more compared to Dongwoo who was very friendly, Chaekyung was desperately looking for something to say, but nothing came to her mind. Thankfully, Dongwoo soon started the conversation.

          “Ain't the move too overwhelming?”

          “It's okay we just finished emptying the last boxes.”

          There was silence.

          “Do you have relatives around here?” The boy started again.

          “Yes, my grandparents live in Chungju,” she said, conscious that she didn't make the tack easier to Dongwoo by answering succinctly to his questions, but she didn't managed to develop.

          “Oh, so you still know a little bit of the area.”

          “Not that much, when I go to their home, we don't go out a lot. We rather spend the day playing Alkkagi with my grandfather,” she confided, satisfied to have formulate a longer sentence this time. But after she thought about it, she realized that this information was not very interesting, and that now Dongwoo was surely taking her for an old-fashioned girl.

          “Oh, that's a pity. Yet, there are many things to do in Chungju, it's a big city,” he said taking a halt.

          He pointed his finger at a building. It looked kind of old, just like every houses she had seen till then.

          “Here is the post office.”

          Chaekyung realized that the ridiculous detail she had added about Alkkagi seemed to have gone through smoothly. They moved on toward the library. The roads of Daesowon, in addition to being old and damaged, were also narrow. That’s why every time a car drove past them, Dongwoo lightly pulled Chaekyung on the roadside.

          “About the library, you'll see that it's pretty big. I don't know if you like to read but there are quite a few novels. However, concerning documents, it's better to go to Chungju. It's open every day except for Sundays and Mondays, and if you want to register it costs 7000 W.”

          He spoke so quickly that Chaekyung had a hard time understanding everything. She nodded nonetheless. Dongwoo then showed her the bar/restaurant, the church, the police station, the school, the pharmacy and they stopped in front of the convenience store.

          “It's not that big but you can find many things, and above all, it's open 24/7,” Dongwoo explained.

          Seeing the small shop, Chaekyung’s idea of working beside her studies became concrete. It was not far from her house and it would surely be easier to adapt the timetable to her schooling hours.

          “Do you know if they employ youth for the year?”

          “Yes, I have a friend who works there. Why?”

          “It's just that I would like to find a job,” she told him.

          “Oh okay, however my friend works full-time,” Dongwoo pointed out. “But you can still ask if they take students.”

          “Okay, I will see.”

          Out of the blue, Dongwoo started to jump from one foot to the other doing waves with his arms, and said:

          “Well, I think we saw everything. Would you like to see something else or do you want to go back home?”

          Chaekyung was surprised by the sudden behavior of her neighbor and tried to hold back her smile.

          “Oh, yes, I'd like to know where is the bus stop to go to Chungju,” she ventured to ask.

          “Yeah, ok,” Dongwoo agreed reflecting on the road to take, “then we have to go back toward the bar.”

          “Oh well, it doesn't matter, just scrap it,” Chaekyung said not wanting to bother him anymore.

          “No, no, there's no problem, we're gonna go there,” he insisted already starting to go back, “unless you are too cold?”

          “No, it's just that I don't want to force you to go back there, you may have other things to do.”

          “No, don't worry, it doesn't bother me,” Dongwoo reassured her.

          Seeing that she wasn't following him, he came back to her.

          “Come on, let's go,” he said joyfully, and pushed her on the shoulders scampering.

          Generally Chaekyung was not very comfortable with tactile people. It had been years since she didn't hug her mother to whom she was close however. Moreover she never had a boyfriend, thus was not familiar with skinship with boys. But strangely, Dongwoo did that in a so natural and innocent way that she didn't feel particularly awkward.

          Looking at Dongwoo while they were walking toward the bus stop, Chaekyung realized that he was pretty dynamic. He showed a lot of enthusiasm for insignificant things and had itchy feet.

          “Here is the bus stop. There are passages every thirty minutes during the week and a little less in the weekend.”

          “Ok, thank you. And you, do you take it to go to the university?” Chaekyung asked hoping to have a travelling companion to go to Chungju.

          “It depends, sometimes I go there by motorbike too.”

          Finally, she surely wouldn't have many opportunities to take the bus with him.

          Afterwards, they took the way back. When they got in front of their houses, Dongwoo said with the same smile he had showed the whole afternoon:

          “If you ever need something, don't hesitate to come and ask me.”

          “Okay, that's nice, thank you,” she answered giving back his smile.

          Just before walking through the door, Dongwoo waved at Chaekyung with a mischievous look. She smiled seeing him. She waved at him and went home.