The List
Description
She was nine years old as of today. Soon enough, she would be so old. "Too old to do anything fun. And that would be horrible!" she cried to herself. (Let's not forget, this is the mindset of someone who just turned nine.) Sneaking out of her bedroom at night, she crept in the hallway, jumping slightly to reach the drawstring of the attic. Luckily, she made no sound and the string was long enough for her to reach.
In the dim light, she saw the ladder slowly stretch out and she climbed it slowly. When she got to the attic, she made her way to her desk. She'd been there enough times to know where her favorite desk was. She felt around the wooden desktop, until her fingers fell against the lamp base. She flicked the switch, and light quickly filled the dusty old attic. It was quite creepy, but she liked it. So she sat down, grabbed a pen from the small cup that rested on her desk, and wrote on the clean sheet of paper in front of her.
' IM YOONA'S LIST OF 'THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE' '
Foreword
It was a warm July, and Yoona's house was quiet. Packed boxes were in the living room, and labeled with what were inside. The entire place was empty of persons, except for one of the bedrooms, occupied by two people. Yoona was standing on her bed, struggling to remove her H.O.T. poster from the wall without ripping it. She stretched her arm out over to the top left corner of the poster, but failed to reach it.
"Here," Gunwoo said. She shrugged and hopped off the bed as he carefully removed the tape along with the poster. He rolled it up into a tube and jumped onto the floor. He handed it to her, grinning. She smiled and nodded her thanks before securing it with a rubber band and placing it in a box. They both sighed.
The whole day, they'd been packing things for Yoona's family were to move. He wanted to know where, but she refused to tell him, even until now. He was her best friend, but even he wouldn't get to know where she and her family were moving. "Do we still need to pack some things?" he asked, hoping that she would say no. She shook her head and gave him an apologetic look.
"I still haven't checked the attic. I may have some stuff there." she looked at him and pouted. "Don't tell me you don't want to help me pack anymore?" He rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance, but the smile on his face said otherwise. He reached over to mess up her hair.
"Aish, you're cute." She grinned up at him and tugged at his arm, leading him to the hallway, their footsteps echoing just barely. She looked up and pulled at the drawstring, letting the attic ladder fall and completely extend itself. She glanced back at Gunwoo before climbing up the ladder slowly, scoffing slightly at his 'careful there'.
Yoona poked her head in first and looked around curiously at the dusty and cluttered attic they'd used for storage. With ease, she fully climbed into the room, Gunwoo following close after her. They both looked around. Lots of different things, mostly from Yoona's childhood, were there. A tiny stove, her favorite dolls, and even an old rattle from when she was an infant lay on the old vanity she had.
A rush of memories hit her, and she found herself smiling widely. She turned back to Gunwoo. "Come on," she walked deeper and deeper into the attic, Gunwoo following closely.
"What are we even looking for?" he asked, flinching at the sight of Yoona's old porcelain dolls. She rolled her eyes but continued looking around.
"I'm just looking around." she glanced at him. "Why? Are you scared?" It was his turn to roll his eyes, although he did it with quite a bit of uncertainty evident. Yoona laughed at his expression and continued on looking at her old childhood things. She ran her fingers on the tiny old desk she used to write useless notes on, a smile of recognition forming on her lips. She opened the top drawer with much difficulty before taking in sight all the things she'd written, each folded neatly and organized, held together with a paper clip. She pulled at the top note and unfolded it, making out her handwriting easily.
IM YOONA'S LIST OF 'THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE'
» Go to Lotte World «
» Shop at Hongdae «
» Eat at a pojang macha «
» Go to a noraebang «
» Get drunk at a soju tent «
» Make kimchi «
» Go to Han River «
» Play at Yeouido Park «
» Go grocery shopping late at night «
» Ice-skate at Lotte World «
» Get couple shirts with someone «
» Take at least 40 selcas «
» Eat ddukbokki at 2AM «
» Ding-dong ditch a house «
» Buy a fish «
» Get high-lights «
» Go through a horror booth «
» Spend a whole day at the arcade «
» Make kimbap «
» Eat three bowls of jjamppong in one go «
» Go to Jeju «
» Go clubbing «
» Kick at DDR «
» Find a boyfriend «
She hadn't noticed the small fold underneath the last item. Gunwoo peered at her. "What's that?" She looked up at him in surprise. She'd almost forgotten he was with her.
"Oh," she handed him the list. "I remember writing this around my birthday when I was nine." she chuckled. He raised his eyebrows, eyes dancing with laughter at her list.
"You sure had plans when you were nine. Get drunk at a soju tent?" he laughed as his eyes traveled down the list. Unlike her, he noticed the subtle fold. He opened it slightly.
» Have first kiss «
He looked up at her innocently and beamed. "Yoona, starting today, we're doing all these things."
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