Emptiness always exists in her core. Although average looking, she is intelligent and independent. She keeps herself occupied and connected but yet.. once she sits down, emptiness invades her being, she wonders.

Working and baking keeps her on her toes. That’s actually the same thing as she is the baker in her small bakery. She loves the lovely aroma of fresh bread in her place, combined with freshly brewed hazelnut latte, it is just heaven.

She laterally ran away from the overwhelming life in the city into this town. Then, she was so occupied with financial broking work that she has no time to eat and sleep. It was frantic, buzzing, running and keeping up. Till one day, she fainted from overworking. The doctors advised her to rest, else she will break. Maybe its time. She took a year break, picked up baking (was her hobby) and shifted to this small town… and that’s how she started her bakery.

There are regulars in her small shop at a part of town, which is near the market and school. Grandparents fetch their grandchildren, pick up some bread and go home. Teachers drop by for coffee to kick start their day or some sweet and bitter tiramisu to sweeten their evenings.

Mainly elderly. Children here mostly have their parents working in cities and only reunite on weekends or holidays. Cute little dotes. Only by looking. She laughed. She saw how these angels can turned into monsters when they can’t get what they wanted. Transformation is usually completed within seconds.

Most of the time, she stood watching from a third person’s angle. She wasn’t really involved in other people’s lives. Her parents left her with her grandaunt. Grandaunt passed away in her late teens. She is not extraordinary smart but has the will to survive. She fought and worked hard till she is who she is now. After grandaunt left, she put her entire mind in studies and later in work. She knew she had to survive on her own as there is no one else for her.

She likes to bake, and this town seems to suit her.

It is in here, she feels that she winds down a little, her heart does not beat out of the range, and she doesn’t wake up from nightmares.

Here… you hear the water trickling down the streams, the crickets playing in the nearby fields, vast purple colour flowers enjoying the brilliant sunshine in the fields near to the main rail station, no preying neighbours. Seaside is just nearby, and you can stand by the lighthouse to look at the occasional seagulls.. this is a reasonably small, quiet and peaceful place …

This is a perfect place for recuperation and recharging (and even ghost stories!). But what is missing? Was it emptiness just a withdrawal symptom? Or was it something else?

...

"Annyoung, Seonsaengnim."

“Good morning!”

Park is the English teacher in the local school. He grew up in this town, worked in the city for a few years, and just returned to care for his grandmother who is getting on her age. They only have each other.

The kids can be angels and even demons at times. A bigger kid like Park manages and handles them like a professional. Well, he is a professionally trained in teaching and loves to work with children.

He returned to accompany for his aging grandmother, and to give back to the town which he loves and grew up in. He is a peace lover. Well read. Observant. 

“My kiddo is back!”

“Halmoni!” “How are you today? Have u taken your medication?”

“Yes.” She smiled weakly. She wasn’t as strong as in the past. The hard labour in her younger days had taken a toll on her body.

He helped her into the house.

They shared some tea and dessert.

“I am bringing my class to an excursion next week. Do you know which place sells good pastry?”

“I heard from aunt next door that there is a new bakery near the school. Have you tried it?”

Pan-ya? He saw the sign board at a corner. “I hvn’t been there. But I’ll try asking.”

She turned in while he worked on his class plans for the following week.

He shifted his position, massaged his right leg a while as the pain has returned. He tried hard to reduce his intake of painkillers. That’s the aftermath from the traffic accident he suffered last year. He walks okay now but may limp when he is really tired and in pain. He tries his best to hide it from his ailing halmoni.

He recalled that rainy night. He was on his way to the railway station when the accident happened. A car knocked him and left him by the road. Fortunately, a fellow rail passenger passed by, checked on him, called the ambulance which sent him to the hospital. He was in pain and couldn’t see the face of the kind-hearted man in the rain. He was not able to express his gratitude as this passerby who did not leave a name. He only heard that the passerby was on the way to the railway station that night too. He is glad to still be able to accompany his Granni.