002

Again, Back to You
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The once quiet beach she remembers has since turned into a seaside resort, poised to welcome a stream of visitors during the height of summer. Brightly colored parasols line the sandy coast, as do the white lounge chairs in rows of twos. Still, the end of summer sees a mostly empty beach, save for a few families walking along the water. The gulls’ shrill cry pierce the air.

Ji Hyo drives along a looping line of asphalt following the hillside. The salty sea air lingers when she rolls the windows down. Reaching the bottom of the hill, Ji Hyo parks on the street in one of the last stretches of the residential area before the pier.

 

Walking along the pier brings back memories of her hometown. The docks are slow in the late morning, quiet save for the few motorboats in the water making long, lazy circles off the coast. Most of the ships have left at dawn already, to follow the current and wind out towards the calm morning sea. Still, one fishing boat ventures out now. Spotting her on the pier, one of the crew adjusting the nets on deck wave to her. Ji Hyo walks down to the harbor proper. A couple of boatmen meander about carrying equipment of various shapes and sizes, and a few straggling tourists stick out like plastic toys washed up at the edge of the water, bright and colorful in their too clean shirts. 

 

“Can I help you, miss?”

 

A gravelly voice brings her attention to a man in his early fifties. He wears a black overall over a faded orange shirt, and a wide smile with a gap tooth.

 

She struggles for an answer, and says, “I honestly don't know what I'm looking for myself.” The words rush out with delightful ease to a complete stranger, as do most things. Ji Hyo doesn’t know if she’s talking about the portside or herself.

 

After a beat, the man offers a well practiced, “Well ya know, we got fishing boats going out to water there for pretty cheap. Can catch a mackerel or a rockfish if you’re lucky.” He makes noise of satisfaction and continues, “I'm telling ya, nothing beats a freshly caught rockfish dipped in some gochujang. Will make quick work of it, much better than the stuff you city folk eat.”

 

Ji Hyo smiles and shakes her head. “Well…”

 

“There's an island not too far from the coast there.” He points in the distance to her left and Ji Hyo swivels around to follow his gesture. “About an hour out, decent town, nothing big. Got some pretty good noodles though. Nice view, too.”

 

He looks expectantly at her. They probably don't get too many folks in the off-season, she thinks. Thus, against her better judgement, Ji Hyo buttons up her jacket.

 

“Alright, when are you leaving?”

 

The man beams at her.


 

The ship is worn but obviously well cared for. In no time at all, they cut a neat line across the waves and out to open water, leaving a white wake behind them. The ahjussi chatters happily over the drone of the engine and the crash of the waves, mostly about the town, though he delves into talking about his daughter near the end. Two other passengers (probably a couple) also sit on the small deck, much more prepared for the cold ocean sprays in their waterproof jackets. Meanwhile bundled up in the blanket the captain had lent her, Ji Hyo watches the island fast growing in size as they approach.

 

Ji Hyo makes sure to return the blanket before she hops off the boat. She follows the other two passengers into midtown, since they look like they know where they’re going, at least more than she does anyway, a person with nothing better to do. 

The town is quiet, sleepy, but lively in its own way. Only a handful of cars dot the two laned streets, but still quite a few pedestrians are out for a weekday morning, at least. Ji Hyo asks passersby for the directions to the noodle place the ahjussi mentioned earlier. The whole day has been so surreal, momentarily she forgets her usual fear of someone recognizing her. They either choose to one, politely ignore any resemblances she bears to a famous actress, or two, simply don't care. Ji Hyo doesn't mind either way.

 

The store owner bringing her buckwheat noodles chides her as she sets the table.

 

“Aigo, what's a face like yours doing here, eating alone? If I were twenty years younger with your looks, I'd be doing better than managing this old place.”

 

“You give me too much credit, auntie,” she replies, but not before thanking her for the food. 

 

The noodles taste better than she expected for the price, and the size of the town. Belly full, she ventures out once more, wandering wherever her feet took her. Feeling rather adventurous, she follows a stray tabby cat through an alleyway, past a a karaoke place, a couple shops, until she ends up in a more residential area.

The houses crowd together here, following the natural curve of the terrain. The road starts inclining at some point, possibly indicating the presence of a school nearby. It’s only just uphill enough that Ji Hyo thanks herself for wearing running shoes. Though slightly more spaced out than its flat-ground cousins, each house has its own architectural nuance from the rooftops, the colors, to the building materials if one looks closely enough. Thin, earth-red bricks jut jarringly against plain white walls. Rooftops varying shapes and sizes reach towards the sky in a patchwork of blues, browns, greys. Small red and yellow blossoms, whose names she always forgot, line the edges of the road closest to the houses amongst leaves of deep green. And through this, ever present is the criss cross of telephone wires in the early September sky.

 

When the ground levels out once more to a denser neighborhood, a small corner store beckons her with its sun bleached letters and promise of snacks. The mid-afternoon is still too early for school to be out, but she can easily imagine how the store would look teeming with students, hands fighting to put down their fill of sugar on the counter first. Even after almost twenty years, like clockwork, her body remembers the specific minute the telltale bell rings. As of the moment however, only a little girl sits outside on one of the cheap, white, plastic chairs that seemingly materialize into old corner stores.

 

Ji Hyo enters, marvelling quietly at the sheer amount of snacks

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sa_1109 #1
Chapter 3: Still waiting and hoping that you'll be back and continue this story :(
perkedelcoklat #2
Chapter 3: It's so heart warming and beautifully written. Hope you will write an update :')
kellneriner_yo #3
Chapter 3: I need more of this! Goodness this is so well-written. I usually don't read AUs but this one is jsut too gripping!
commanderandace #4
Chapter 3: wassup!! sometimes i think i’m an adequate prose writer and i see you pull stuff like this:


She tries to make sense of the muddy entanglement of feelings lodged in , the pull of muscles in her hand forgetting how to work, the cold seeping into her chest and eyes. 
Seeing him is both easier and harder than Ji Hyo imagined. And she’d imagined this scenario many, many times in the year following his sudden retirement. In a hundred different ways, each with so many crossroads she was sure such paths resembled more the branches of a gnarled tree than any road. As many times until Ji Hyo accepted the truth for what it was: they’d never cross paths again. That’s just how things were sometimes. The sooner she believed it, the happier she’d be, or so she’d thought.

and im like lmaoo nvm,,, i will never write like this. there’s something so beautiful and poignant about the way you put across feelings and concepts... the emotions? all of it is *chef’s kiss* uwu!

“The small downturn of his brows and the curve of his lips haunt her because she can’t read them.” BRO IM HAUNTED TOO

“Behind her trademark blank expression, her rationality and her emotions whirl against each other like the heat crashing against cool air, the kind of violence that gives birth to tropical storms.” Ive been trying to hold myself back from just pasting 90% of this chapter into the comment box, but I just had to bring this one up. U gotta stop being so good man leave some talent for the rest of us :(

“The warm water coaxes one too many stray thoughts, ones that surely run towards Jong Kook just as rain from the sky follows the familiar grooves of the ground to the river and sea eventually.” HEWWO???? this is so beautifully put. when u put words out on the screen it’s like a painting,,,, but with words,,,, bro,,,

Okay I got too immersed after this because I’m curious about who the mom is?? but also I like. Who cares lmaoooo but also :( im at the edge of my seat bc what’s gonna happen next ahh!!!
commanderandace #5
Chapter 2: BRO HI I CAN’T BELIEVE ITS TAKEN ME SO LONG TO CATCH UP TO CHAPTER TWO BUT I JUST FINISHED DOING SOME WRITING AND I FELT LIKE IT SO HERE I AM

anyway amazing tasty build up to jihyo and jongkook reuniting!!! yeo wool seems so cute, and it’s no wonder she would find jihyo beautiful.... like father like daughter kekekeke also i like how she took care of her and bought her banana milk!! It’s making me miss banana milk... :) so excited for how they deal with this situation, it’s really interesting

jihyo will probably want to stick around longer now hehe!!
commanderandace #6
Chapter 1: God I’ve been a mess for weeks BUT I am here now eager to read and give u the comments u deserve uwu

“Perhaps it’s just the alcohol in her system and the reality of an end weighing in her mind, but the stars seem to dance as she drives away.”

Ah, your writing is always just so pretty. Somehow the way you place words together produces an effect that I never quite expect? I just like it a lot

“And Jong Kook. Loyal and earnest, constant as the stars, Jong Kook.”

idk if it was intentional but i like the dreamy comparison of jongkook to stars and earlier when she was driving away the thing w the stars feels like she’s moving away from Jongkook? I really like it

God the narrative of jihyo’s dramas doing really well and her acting work growing after rm bc she has more time,,,, chef’s kiss bro, all i really want for her is to have a really really popular drama
almond22 #7
Chapter 3: Urgh this is such a great chapter.
I'm all reeled in, dying to know more, needing to know how things have been in the past few years they've been apart. I'm drawn in, in and then.... you leave us hanging, desperately trying to press next chapter but cannot.
I hate you hate you hate you love you hate you!! All these feels!!!!
regzlim
#8
Chapter 3: Yes! You updated! I was looking forward to reading it especially since you left us on a cliff the last chapter. Tsk.

Reading the first part, I wondered why seeing Jong Kook again is causing such confusion within Ji Hyo. I mean with the first 2 chapters, we haven't gotten a whole lot of insight into her thoughts and feelings for Jong Kook. But I suppose with this, we are now being led to realise that perhaps Ji Hyo has some fondness for him, or at least some feelings for this man because if not why would she be feeling this way? And I think the sentence, "Seeing him is both easier and harder than Ji Hyo imagined" really sums it up.

To me, it seems like Jong Kook didn't have as big a reaction to seeing Ji Hyo again in the flesh, as he seemed to have little trouble forming words, unlike Ji Hyo. But is he unhappy to see Ji Hyo though? The sentence, "schools his expression into something infinitely kinder" kinda made me feel he wasn't too pleased. Perhaps it was this expression that took Ji Hyo aback and made her unable to speak to him? Especially since, Ji Hyo later smiles to reassure the man.

But I like that they were able to speak with each other once the initial shock and surprise of seeing each other again wears off. It was awkward and polite. Very much like in real life, whereby we often have these little polite conversations filled with pockets of awkwardness as we struggle to find the right things to say to someone. I can totally relate. I'm a awkward turtle. LOL.

Aww, impatient little Yeo Wool. Ain't she just daddy's little girl? Precious.

This: “You know I’m never too busy to pass up on coffee with a friend.” I don't know. It just makes me so sad. I guess it's reflective in our own lives as well. How we become too busy with our daily lives.

I'm getting a little conflicted by Jong Kook. He smiles gently at Ji Hyo and seems genuine at wanting to have coffee with her, then later when she suggested texting him, his voice catches on the edge of a sigh? Again, I'm getting the feeling that Jong Kook doesn't really want to see Ji Hyo. Maybe he just doesn't like the idea of Ji Hyo having his mobile number. Come'on, dude! Ji Hyo is making time for you!

I loved the analogy about the lines of symmetry and meeting only meeting at the correct point, where past and future merge. It was lovely. I also enjoyed the little banter they had whilst updating each other on their lives. Jong Kook's teasing her of being overworked and taking up jujitsu. And Ji Hyo poking fun at the healthy lifestyle choices she is making now.

But overall it's a great chapter. Leaving me wanting to know more about what happened to Jong Kook. Where did Yeo Wool come from? Was she a result of a one night stand? Did his wife die? Did he fall in love only to have the woman leave him and their child? The first seems unlikely, as I think a man as disciplined as Jong Kook wouldn't have an unplanned child. I believe he would have fallen in love with a woman and then get his heart broken. I think he's loyal that way. There are so many questions, but only you have the answer!

I liked the ending of this chapter. You left it pretty open. There are many roads for this story to take. From what I can see, Ji Hyo has probably more feelings for Jong Kook than he has for her. Not sure if this is going to change, or if Ji Hyo ends up being just a good friend. But seeing your spartace tag, Jong Kook will gradually fall in love with her.

Either way, I look forward to more!
erika_ss
#9
Chapter 3: I feel like I wanna cry for Ji Hyo, unrequited love as it is. ?????
Mongmongjkjk #10
Chapter 3: Please keep updating. I'm really curious to know what happen to kjk's wife?. I'll always love your writing dear author! Fighting!!