For the first time since they had moved to Daegu, Eunmi didn’t come back to an empty house after school. Her father was in the living room, trying to fix a space heater that had to be at least ten years old.
“I thought you’d leave that thing behind,” Eunmi mumbled, not really knowing what to say.
She hadn’t been the nicest to her parents ever since it had been announced that their family would be moving to Daegu. The guilt had been eating away at her.

Her father didn’t look up.
“It still works. Just that a wire has come loose,” he said, then finally set it down, but still tinkering around. “You’re home early.”

Eunmi sighed, fighting the urge to say something rude, “I always come home at this time.”

“I’m sorry. Things have been hectic at work,” her father apologised, looking up at her for the first time.

“It’s okay,” the girl said with a tiny smile, not sure if she meant it.

“Mum is upstairs, cleaning for the hundredth time. All she does it move things around.”

With that, Eunmi had to agree.
Almost a two weeks into living in the new house, her mother still hadn’t quite found the ‘right’ place for their furniture, some random decorative item or an old cardboard box that wasn’t really needed. When the other two told her things looked nice the way they were, random accusations of laziness were made.
“She’ll never stop.”

“Since she’s busy with moving things around, I’ll make dinner tonight. What do you want to eat?”

Was it just her or was her Dad being extremely affectionate today?
She thought for a moment. Her dad’s food was delicious. Not that her mum’s wasn’t but something about her dad’s cooking was special. It was probably the fact that she didn’t get to eat it often. She went over her dad’s menu in her head for a while and it didn’t even take her more than five seconds to decide.
“Japchae with meatballs,” she announced.

“Meatballs?” her father asked, as if to make sure.
Eunmi nodded.
“Then you’ll have to go to the store to buy apricot jam.”

Eunmi’s shoulders drooped as she sighed. One pointed look from her father, and she spoke up.
“Alright,” she relented with a sigh and then dragged herself up the stairs to her room.

Fifteen minutes later, she was outside her house and ready to spend that 2000₩ her father had bribed her for running the small errand. Sometimes, her father was a bit too lenient. Not that she had a problem with it.

Ignoring the buzzing of her phone, which was probably caused by the chaos that was class 2-B’s group chat, she set off. The departmental store was the only place she trusted herself to get to without getting lost apart from her school. She passed by it every day on her way to and from school and Seunghee often went there in the mornings to buy snacks. The older girl, Eunmi had learnt, studied into the wee hours of dawn, sometimes oversleeping and skipping breakfast because she couldn’t afford to be late.
It often made Eunmi feel like a bad daughter. She studied, but not to that extent.
Her parents did a lot for her, and she was beginning to feel guilty about her recent behavior towards them. But every time she called her grandma, she felt a little sour about leaving the old woman to live by herself.
Of course they hadn’t lived with her in Seoul, but they were nearby. That couldn’t be said about her one unmarried aunt that didn’t seem to care about the old woman.

Eunmi bit her lip.
What was done was done. She couldn’t possibly convince her parents to move back to Seoul.
The notion was almost laughable.

It was almost seven and it was getting dark fast. The girl sighed in relieve when the familiar store front came into view. For some reason, it felt like she had taken longer to get there.
Entering the store, she headed straight to where she hoped the apricot jam was. Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed and she had to spend a good few minutes before she found the aisle with the sauces and jams.
Grabbing a bottle of the jam, she headed straight towards the cash counter, but not before stopping for a packet or two of shrimp crackers.

Once at the counter, she looked up at the cashier only to find a familiar pair of eyes staring down at her. She blinked, watching his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.
“W-Wonwoo?”
She didn’t want to admit it, but stuttering around Wonwoo was becoming the norm for her. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea–or rather, ideas. One being that she was afraid of him and the other being that she had a crush on him.

To her relief however, he seemed as surprised to see her there. His mouth hung slightly ajar as he reached for her basket. Their hands touched as she handed it over but both of them were a bit too surprised to pull away immediately.
After a moment more of awkward silence, he spoke.
“What are you doing here?”

Wasn’t it obvious?
However, Eunmi didn’t voice her thoughts, afraid to make things more awkward than they already were.
She gestured towards the packet that he had just thrown into a plastic bag.

Wonwoo sighed, but his lips curved up ever so slightly as he shook his head.
“That’s not what I meant.”

“Then?” Eunmi prodded.

“You live somewhere near Seunghee noona, don’t you?” the boy asked, the half-smile still on his face.

“Yeah.”
What did that have to do with anything?

“There’s another mini mart near your neighbourhood.”
The girl stood still, staring up at the boy like she didn’t understand a word he had just said.
“You didn’t know,” Wonwoo said, mostly to himself. “Seunghee noona should really show you around.”

“I can’t believe I walked all the way here,” Eunmi breathed out, half embarrassed, half annoyed.
She could see the corner of the boy’s lips twitch as if he was struggling to hold in a smile.
Before she could add anything, however, the lady in line behind her cleared .
Understanding the signal, Wonwoo quickly handed over Eunmi’s bag and bill.

The girl stepped out of line but didn’t leave.
She couldn’t possibly leave without saying goodbye, could she?
She found herself calling the boy’s name, her hand automatically rising to wave at him when he looked her way.
She only got a smile in return.
But a smile was the most anyone could get out of Jeon Wonwoo on any given day.

Once outside, she let out a loud sigh.
She had to walk all the way back home. She would really have to ask Seunghee to tell her where the convenience stores and stuff like that were.
It was probably her fault for not setting foot outside the house if it wasn’t for school.

The streets were completely dark and empty now and Eunmi couldn’t wait to get home and taste her father’s cooking in what felt like ages.
She had walked for maybe ten minutes when she spotted two figures ahead of her at a distance. One of them was familiar but the other, not quite.
She quickened her pace to catch up with them, but paused midway. She didn’t know the other person maybe she would be disturbing them.
With that thought in mind, she slowed down and trailed behind awkwardly in the shadows.

Was she acting suspicious?
Seunghee and her friend obviously thought so. The pair turned, Seunghee with furrowed eyebrows and the boy beside her with a lopsided smile.

“Eunmi?” Seunghee called out. “What are you doing here?”

Eunmi’s hands found their way behind her back as she kicked invisible stones on the ground.
“I’m just returning from the store.”

“Which one? With Me?”

Eunmi nodded.
“I didn’t know there was one in our neighbourhood as well.”

Seunghee let out a laugh.
It didn’t offend Eunmi. The sound was more fond than mocking.
“I’m sorry, I should have told you.”

“I should learn by myself,” Eunmi said, more to herself than anyone. “I bother you a lot.”

Seunghee looked like she was about to say something, but catching Eunmi’s gaze on the boy beside her, she cleared the throat.
She gestured at the boy almost dismissively, “He’s from Gangbuk.”
The boy didn’t seem to mind Seunghee’s behavior. He only sent a polite nod and a smile Eunmi’s way.
Suddenly, Seunghee hopped over to Eunmi’s side and linked her arm with the younger girl’s.
Eunmi stiffened, slightly confused and uneasy. The older girl turned to the boy, her smile almost tight.
“I’ll go home with Eunmi. You can go.”

The boy opened his mouth as if to say something but didn’t. Instead, he let out a small laugh that sounded all too knowing. He stepped past them, starting to walk away.
“Whatever you say,” he said, pausing beside Seunghee, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The guy from Gangbuk then walked away.

Eunmi cleared .
Seunghee, as if reading the younger’s mind, spoke, “He’s a classmate…from hagwon.”

Sensing that Seunghee didn’t want to elaborate and also not sure if she was close enough to tease Seunghee about boys, Eunmi kept shut. Instead, she let Seunghee lead the conversation away from the boy from Gangbuk.
Eunmi couldn’t tell if it was because Seunghee was with her or something else, but the way back home felt very short.

“I’m home!” she called as she entered the house and made her way towards the kitchen.

Her dad looked up from his place at the dining table.
“What took you so long?”

“I went to the one that is on the way to our school,” Eunmi said, wincing internally at the fact that she couldn’t come up with a lie.

A moment passed during which the girl was convinced that her father was going to yell at her, but he only chuckled.
“Don’t tell your Mum,” the man said, a smile still on his face, “or she’ll bite your head off.”

Eunmi couldn’t help but chuckle too.

For the first time in a while, as they ate dinner, Eunmi felt like she was home with her family again.

*

The only light in the room came from the phone in the girl’s hand as it illuminated her face. Her blanket was over her head, with only her face peeking out. It was a precautionary measure, of course, in case her mother decided to ambush her in the act of using her phone late at night.
Everyone was making fun of Doyoung in the group chat and the boy was effectively losing his . Surprisingly, this time it wasn’t Yujin who was the of everyone’s jokes.
Eunmi snickered, reading a text accusing Doyoung of having an affair with the librarian at her old school. The librarian was ancient, and also male.

Talking to her friends like this made her feel like they weren’t so far away from each other.
As soon as they came back from school, someone or the other would start being noisy in the group chat.
Back when she was in Seoul, she would be lectured about having to text her friends even when she had come back from spending the entire day with them. Here, she had an excuse.
Not that her mother wouldn’t drive her head into the wall or something for giggling at her phone at midnight.

So when Yujin out of all people came to Doyoung’s rescue and everyone decided to call it a night, Eunmi finally set her phone down.
She tossed in her bed attempting to find a comfortable position. As comfortable as she tried to get however, she couldn’t fall asleep. She stared up at the ceiling in the darkness, intensely aware of every breath she took to the point that she almost forgot to breathe normally.
Thankfully, she was distracted by the sound of her phone buzzing.

Squinting, she read the contact name: Jeon Wonwoo.
Hi
I’m done with the book. U can have it.
Sorry I forgot to tell u before.

For one stupid moment, Eunmi couldn’t tell what book he was talking about. Then the memory of running into him at the library came back to her.
She replied quickly.
No problem ^_^
I’ll take it from you on Monday

Almost immediately, the boy replied.
Didn’t think you’d be up at this time

What was she supposed to say to that? How come she never knew what to say to Jeon Wonwoo?
After much contemplation, she replied.
It’s the weekend after all!
I think I’ll sleep now （´－｀）ノ

Was she overdoing it with the emojis? Did she sound rude? Did she sound like she wanted to get rid of him?
Her concerns dissipated when another text made her phone buzz.
Yeah. Me too.
Good night. Sleep well, Eunmi.

Eunmi felt the corners of tug up into a smile. She had no idea why. He had only typed her name.
Good night, Jeon Wonwoo.

After that, Eunmi slept like a log.

Author's Note:
'Weekly updates,' I had claimed. What a joke!
I am extremely sorry for the delay.

I just want to clarify a few things about high school in Korea.
High school in Korea is 3 years. So grades 10, 11 and 12.
The academic year begins in early March.
A 'hagwon' is a private cram school. Pretty lucrative business, by the way.
Honestly, I like making my stories realistic but school-life in Korea honestly sounds exhausting. So this fic won't be too realistic in that case.
Mad respect to the kids who real with that and manage to have a social life.

Also, cookies to anyone who can guess who the boy from Gangbuk is. :))

xx Hoonie

[Edit|190401] I posted this chapter in a hurry and it was a bit of  disaster with the tenses and typos and all. I fixed it now.