(I)

“Mom, I’m not calling you for that reason. I-”

The lone brunette heaves a sigh the moment her mother starts complaining about her current busy life. She was about to counter, but yet all she got is another set of unrelated things her mother tends to blabber whenever they’re on a phone call.

“I’m not neglecting you nor I’m being a-”

Sensing her mother in the middle of forming another long list of scolding, this time she tries to defend herself faster when the caller brings up that topic yet again. “I know. I know Sooyoung is married already. I knew it, Mom. I came to her wedding myself, remember?”

“...”

“I preferred to go there alone and definitely not because I got ditched by my date or whatsoever.” She frowns. “And why suddenly brings up my love for birds? I live for them.”

The woman closes her eyes briefly when she hears her full name being mentioned.

“Mom, you know it already, it has nothing to do with my job or anything. I live a good life, thanks to the birds. And it’s not an obsession.”

“...”

“I know, I’m no longer young but-”

She puts a much needed distance between her right ear and the receiver when another blow of nagging comes to attack her hearing.

“Look, I’m still your daughter named Kang Seulgi who loves you and father from the moon to the back. Or Pluto? Jupiter? Saturn? Just name any other planets, and then I’ll gladly revise it for you.”

Her mother only keeps quiet and she can almost feel the older woman’s disapproving glare penetrates on her.

“Okay, you don’t take jokes, sure. I apologize.” She scratches her own chin and thinks of way to persuade her mother. For now going hard on her mother wouldn’t be a good choice since it will only prolong her scolding. She attempts in a less hostile way rather than having her ears blown up with the sound her mother producing.

“Let’s talk it out with a cool head after my upcoming project is done, alright? Six months is all I’m asking for the project to be done. Demanding me to marry now is not going to work, not even an arranged marriage, Mom. I’ve many things to do and marriage can wait while I’m at it.”

Seulgi reaches forward to grab and sip her drink as her mother mutters another retort.

“I’ll bring my significant other home for sure. One day but not now." Seulgi emphasizes. "When the right time comes and at the right moment. Yes, of course, it is a human. I’m not crazy enough to marry birds even though I want to. Scientifically speaking, we can’t even mate and we will definitely have no success in bearing an offspring.”

She hears no response and starts calling for her mother.

“Mom? Are you there?”

She calls yet again but her mother remains muted.

“This is not a joke, I swear. I’m merely stating a scientific fact, Mom.”

There is a silence in between the line and she pulls out her phone to see her screen slowly darkening.

She stares in disbelief. “Did she just hang up on me?”

Seulgi sighs and places the device on her table, deciding to just immerse herself in doing some research for her book’s preparation and waiting for her best friend to come in the meantime.

She throws another glance at her phone one last time before flipping her small journal open, laughing slightly from the imaginary image of introducing a bird as her soulmate to her mother. “She would probably disown me though.”

—

“What’s up birdwoman!”

Seulgi stops typing and looks up from her laptop to see her blonde best friend moving a stack of books that once ‘barricaded’ her place. Now, Seungwan’s chirpy look is the one that appears in front of her.

She doesn’t even need to take any turn to see how everyone is probably throwing curious gazes at their table because she can feel it just as fine now, courtesy of that bizarre nickname. She has the urge to flee from the embarrassing scene almost immediately.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop calling me a birdwoman? I didn’t study hard for my degree way to doctoral to be called that.” She mutters through gritted teeth, noticing the nonchalant expression of her best friend. Seungwan can be absurd in naming at times, just like her mother.

“Ornithologist sounds boring.” The earlier woman rebuts in perfect English and Seulgi rolls her eyes.

“Sure, Ms. Smarty-pants.” She shortly replies in Korean accent, making her companion give a cringy look.

“What? I love my country.” Seulgi says in a heartbeat, placing one hand above her beating heart. “Don’t give me that look you western kid.”

Her best friend only shrugs at her playful remark and leans back in her seat. “Why are you calling me here anyway? You’re quite busy these days though. What a surprise.”

“I want to discuss something, an offer most likely.” Seulgi takes another gulp of her drink and gestures towards the counter at the far end of the corner. “Since it might take a long time, I suggest you to order first. I’ll clear my table in the process as well.”

“Don’t tell me you are going to those remote places and plan to bring me along for slavery purpose?” Seungwan deadpans and Seulgi winks in return.

A long pause before her best friend utters a snarky response. “Heck, you can’t even wink.”

“That’s not my point.”

“I’m not going to any forest either. Period.”

“It’s for spiritual and educational experience, Seungwan.”

“Spiritual?” The smaller woman grimaces, nearly snorting in disbelief. “And educational my , the last time I followed you and all I got was being the target of those angry bees. This is the proof.” Seungwan rolls her sleeves up and shows Seulgi the mark on her forearm. “And I tell you what? It hurt like a .” The petite woman growls at the painful memory which Seulgi can barely relate, she points out with a shrug.

“That wound doesn’t look like how bees would sting on it though.”

“You’re right, but it was still their damn fault.” Seungwan traces her wound with an utmost care. “I got it after falling face first on the forest ground in the middle of being chased by those ing bees.”

“Well, for someone who devotes her life in writing fiction, you sure own such a vast vocabulary. I’m amused with your chosen words, Seungwan.”

Her companion only flashes her middle finger and Seulgi chuckles at the classy sight.

“I had been warning you not to use perfume when we went to the forest, those insects would definitely follow you around because they thought you had a nice smell. Just like how pheromones worked, you probably drew their attention, but that was just it. Sure, they will follow you, but they definitely won’t attack, unless...” Seulgi probes while raising an eyebrow as Seungwan tugs her sleeves back to cover her forearm. “You attack them first.”

“They buzzed around my ears like I could practically feel them entering my hearing system. It was a reflex, a self-defense.” Seungwan firmly states. “I couldn’t help but swat them away and what I got in the next second was an agonizing terror of those tiny flying creatures.” She comments and pushes herself from her chair to stand up. “To say that I was all okay is an understatement. I couldn’t even add honey in my drink or food anymore. That’s how bad it is. I’m indeed traumatized.”

She says before striding towards the counter, leaving Seulgi to lightly cackle at the end of Seungwan’s lengthy confession regarding her traumatic past.

—

“I’ve said it clear that I-”

“We won’t go near any forest, I promise.” Seulgi quickly cuts her off and pushes her device forward, attempting to change her best friend’s mind. “This is where I plan to go. I’m going to make another guidebook and I’ve not been around Goseong-gun.” She points at the glassy surface containing her detailed trip. “It will take maybe up to three months for my observation field. You said so that you want to take a break from writing your new novel. So, this is such a good opportunity, I’ll travel to list the diversity of birds while you can enjoy the view of the place to get some inspirations.”

Seulgi leans forward as she notices the spark of interest begins to swirl in Seungwan’s eyes. She has probably pushed the right button. After all, Seungwan is a er for beautiful places, so this approach wouldn’t take any longer, Seulgi assumes. “The cottage that I’ve booked gets a nice view of Hwajinpo lake,” she swipes her screen to the side to show her best friend the images. “It’s provided with electricity, an internet connection, telephone route, warm shower, TV cable and all. Therefore, you won’t miss a thing even though we stay there for months. We’re going to live near the local as well, so it’s all good. Food-wise. How is that?”

“I will not go near any forest, even though you pay me to do so.” Seungwan looks up from her device, warning her with a glare. “Although this sounds so tempting, it’s a big capital no if you force me to join you entering that kind of place again.”

The taller woman nods eagerly. “Actually, I’ve three other back up teams which are going to cover the rest of Goseong-gun’s district, so if you decide to come along, we’ll be mostly spending our time in Hwajinpo. Besides, I’ve recently got attached to water birds and since our cottage is near the lake, I might want to explore that area most of the time.”

Seungwan sinks deeper into her seat. Face immensely scrunches with a contemplated look and Seulgi is internally cheering by the sight.

“So?”

“When do you plan to go? I need to settle something first.”

Seulgi opens her journal and flips it around to show Seungwan the written numbers. “Two weeks from now on.” She places it on the table and smiles widely. “I take that you’re interested to join?”

“Yeah,” Seungwan draws a long sigh as she stirs her beverage with a desperate look. “Since I can’t find any inspiration, I think going somewhere far from my usual neighborhood might ignite the spark of creativity inside my brain.”

Seulgi laughs as she retracts her tab, moving it to her side to add another important thing. “I told you writing romance is if you’ve not found your muse yet.”

“Ha. That’s coming from someone who probably spends most of her time watching birds rather than watching a movie with her date.”

Seulgi lifts her gaze from her device and shakes her head.

She begs to differ.

“Muse isn’t necessarily meant that way. Sure, it has somewhat related to love, but at the same time, it’s not. You don’t have to be involved in any relationship to get the idea of love or muse itself. It’s more like a passion. Something that makes you keep going, something that keeps you inspired to do things. And I’m content with being single, mind you.” She counters back. “My love for birds is already enough.”

“Great, just go and marry your birds then.” Seungwan retorts. “I’m going to write a so called one-sided love story with you and a bird as the main characters one day. Just you wait.”

Seulgi stifles a laugh, finding her threat to be quite ridiculous. “Write whatever you want, Seungwan.”

—

Seulgi’s undying love for birds is weirdly fascinating, Seungwan has said it once straight up to her face. Even though she loves birds dearly with every fiber in her body, Seulgi isn’t one to preserve them in the cages. She strongly believes that love has no boundary and so, if she truly loves them, she shall be contented with watching them from afar, rather than caging them in and making them lose their freedom, which is a wrong thing to do.

Though Seulgi herself doesn’t remember when the exact time she has fallen in love with birds, the woman does remember one event that makes her swear to not raise any pets even though she loves them.

It was back then in her middle school days when she felt strongly connected with a caged bird. She recalled doing an intense staring battle and it only led her to open the cage after minutes of seeing the sad pair of eyes looking back at her through the iron bars. At the end of the day, after her impulse act of freeing the said bird, Seulgi got an earful of scolding because it happened to be her uncle’s favorite pet. However, she didn’t feel any regret, knowing fully that the said animal had gotten its deserved freedom.

Years have passed ever since that day.

Before Seulgi knows it, she has taken biology in her college and deepened her knowledge with bird conservation as her main topic until she got her Ph.D title.

She becomes a lecturer in conservation biology at one of the best universities in South Korea, as well as birdwatcher who likes to travel around the world to catch the glimpse of birds’ paradise while occasionally writes books and conducts some researches in her free time.

And her love for those feathery creatures only soars high and blooms in each passing day.

A story of birdwatcher Seulgi! 
Sorry for the grammatical mistakes though I hope you enjoy this chapter so far! ^^