+

 

She’s driving down the highway, foot pressed down on the gas pedal whilst the speedometer climbs quickly. The radio’s on but she’s not listening. The aircon is blasting in her face so much that she can’t feel a thing and maybe it’s better this way.

 

Not being able to feel.

 

She smells the smoke first before she sees it. It’s like burnt rubber and slowly it begins to fill up the car. The car sputters, chokes and creates a magnificent cloud of smoke that consumes her. She pulls over and switches the engine off quickly hopping out of the car, fighting her way through the cloud of smoke whilst coughing to clear her lungs.

 

Her face is still tight and raw from being blasted by the cold, her lungs was still filled with a bit of smoke caught at the back of as she tries to cough it out. Jisu hunches over her knees and takes a deep breath as she stares at her expensive Audi from a distance, sending off piles of smoke into the air like a signal. It might be for the best though because it takes her a minute before Jisu realises the stretch of road in front and behind her.

 

If she was being honest she couldn’t remember the last time she saw a car around her, not like she was really paying attention. She fishes for her phone in her back pocket.

 

Office

20 Missed Calls.

 

Thankfully there’s still reception if the office has managed to call her 20 times. She brings up her browser and searches for the nearest mechanic nearby. Good news for her, there’s one around her, bad news is that it’s still an hour drive away. Quickly she dials for the number.

 

“Hi, I was wondering if you could assist, see my car has broken down and I have no idea where I am.”

 

+

 

The thing about summer in Korea is how disgustingly humid it gets.

 

Jisu had been sitting in the car for the past hour and a half with the doors wide open to escape from the scorching sun light but it did little when she could hardly breathe. She was certain that if the mechanic didn’t get here soon they’d probably have to call the coroner as well to collect her body once they arrived.

 

Jisu s another button from her top in frustration. She hops out of the car and takes a deep breath, her head spins, dehydration getting to her. She wonders if she should leave her car and walk. Google maps was showing that there was a town nearby and if this mechanic wasn’t going to come then she might as well start making progress before nightfall.

 

She looks down at her pair of Valentinos, reaches for her blazer in the back seat and slams the door shut behind her. She doesn’t bother locking the door, good luck to anyone who can manage to drive the darn thing.

 

Thankfully the road’s fairly flat moving forward with the exception of some small rocks on the road. Jisu stumbles sometimes, cursing under her breath each time. This was karma isn’t it, for all the ty things she has done in her life. Jisu takes a deep breath and looks up at the sky. The sun flares causing her to squint her eyes.

 

She’s certain she’s starting to lose her mind when she starts hearing the sound of running water and she can feel the ground rumbling. She wonders if she’ll see an oasis like they often see in movies or maybe dead relatives waiting for her at the gates of heaven. Who was she kidding, if she’d die today she wouldn’t be going to heaven.

 

The rumbling doesn’t stop though, despite the fact that Jisu closes her eyes to recollect herself. As a matter of fact it grows stronger and now Jisu can hear it louder. She opens her eyes slowly, eyes adjusting to her surroundings. Through the heat waves Jisu spots a truck driving in her direction. She closes her eyes and opens it again, trying to make sure it wasn’t a hallucination.

 

When the truck doesn’t disappear in front of her eyes Jisu quickly runs towards it, waving her arm in the air. The truck slows down and pulls up beside her. She stumbles forward towards the window, “Hi…” she says trying to catch her breath.

 

“You weren’t the one who called for the mechanic were you?” Jisu looks at the girl in her oil stained overalls, hair messily tied back into a ponytail with loose strands all over her face.

 

“I did call for one, two hours ago.” Jisu can’t even muster the strength to be angry, she’s afraid she’ll blow a fuse after being exposed to the heat for so long.

 

She smiles and it causes her eyes to disappear, “I’m so sorry I’m late, I’ve been trying to find you.” Jisu thinks she’s developing a heat , that must be why her head is spinning, her heart is racing and she can feel a flush rising on her cheeks, “Come on, hop in and I’ll take you back to your car so we can tow it to the shop.” The girl leans over from the passenger seat and opens the door for Jisu. She climbs in quickly, relieved to finally be out of the sun and in the cool comfort of the air conditioned truck.

 

“It took you two hours to find me?”

 

“Well it’s hard to find the spot when the only thing you have to go on is, ‘long stretch of road and I can see some mountain peaks and trees’.” Jisu doesn’t respond, she’s too tired to. “I’m Yeji by the way.”

 

“Jisu.”

 

+

 

“So where are you from?” Yeji asks as she offers her a fresh glass of cold iced water. Jisu swipes it off the table and drinks the whole thing in one breath, which probably wasn’t a good idea because it gives her a massive brain freeze and she has to stop for a second to gather her thoughts.

 

“What gives you that idea?”

 

“Your shoes,” they both look down at the patent leather heels on Jisu’s feet and back over to Yeji’s scuffed up leather boots. “No one else around here really dresses...like that…”

 

“Seoul.” Jisu answers.

 

“And what’s a lady from Seoul doing all the way out in the countryside?”

 

Jisu doesn’t know to be honest, she still hasn’t even figured out where this place is. All she knows is that she woke up this morning, started driving to work, got caught in Seoul traffic and somehow took a left instead of a right and ended up far out of Seoul with a broken car and now—35 missed calls from the office.

 

“Got lost,” Jisu says with a shrug.

 

“You sure are, more than four hours outside of Seoul.”

 

Jisu hadn’t realised how far she driven but she didn’t have time for this, she needed to get back home. “Yes, so can you fix my car or not?”

 

“I’ll check on it now.” Yeji strolls across the garage and lifts up the hood. It takes her ten minutes before she diagnoses the problem. “You’ve got a blown head gasket…” her voice trails off as she wipes the oil off her hands.

 

“Can you fix it?”

 

“We just need to change it out.”

 

“That’s great. How long?”

 

“Well see that’s the problem, we’re not used to dealing with fancy cars like this. I’ll have to go into town tomorrow and see if they have the model for your car. Otherwise you’re—”

 

“Stranded?”

 

“Well I mean, you can always get a tow service.”

 

“Might as well just buy a new car,” Jisu grumbles under her breath.

“Let’s just try and see what we can get in town tomorrow.”

Jisu sighs, glances at her phone and notes how the sun was beginning to set behind her. “Sure,” she says reluctantly. “Is there like a motel around here or somewhere I can stay for the night?”

 

“It’s an hour drive into town…” Yeji says as they both look at her car and back at each other, “Alternatively if you don’t mind you can crash on my couch for the night. I’ll get the car piece and hopefully you’ll be fixed up by tomorrow night.”

 

Yeji’s house is a ten minute drive from the car shop. She explains that she lives alone and promises that she’s not a creep or some weirdo and hastily starts babbling on about how she’s not forcing Jisu to stay with her and that it was an offer. She’s getting nervous, it’s a bit cute, but Jisu is tired, too tired to think about going anywhere else. “Thank you,” Jisu says.

 

Yeji stops and registers the response, “So you’ll stay?”

 

“Yes.”

 

+

 

“Hongsam-ah, I’m home,” Yeji shouts as she opens the door. Jisu wonders who she’s talking to because there wasn’t any other pair of shoes outside. It’s not until a moment later when what looks like a maltese poodle comes running out, it’s collar ringing as she excitedly leapt into Yeji’s arms. Hongsam her face and Yeji lets her, scruffing the fur on its head.

 

“You have a dog.”

 

“Yeah, you like animals right?”

 

“Of course,” Jisu lowers herself down beside Yeji and reaches out for Hongsam who seemingly immediately switches her allegiance without hesitation. She climbs all over Jisu and her face and the other girl just laughs.

 

“I see how it is, I feed you, bathe you, built a house for you and this is how you repay me, Hongsam-ah.” Yeji helps pull the pup away off Jisu and lets her roam free again.

 

Yeji’s house was every bit not what Jisu had expected when the mechanic had offered her to stay. She had expected a quaint cottage almost, filled with old wood and worn out leather couches and rugs. Instead Yeji’s house was a lofty studio with concrete floors and walls with giant wooden timber frames on the ceiling. There were leather chairs, draped with a beautifully hand knit blanket and the floor covered in a luxurious rug that Jisu had to test to see if it was real or fake. It was fake - definitely fake to her relief.

 

There were green plants around the floor and art paintings on the walls. Every piece of timber in there looked hand crafted with love and there were books stacked up against the wall. Yeji was either a hoarder or a reader but Jisu was impressed either way at the collection and style she had formed for herself.

Jisu’s fingers trace the books, picking up a bit of dust. “Did you design this house yourself?”

 

“Built it up slowly over the years,” she says with her chest up proud, “We went to garage sales, restored things and even built things from scratch.”

 

“The timber?” she asks, fingers tracing the mahogany table in the middle of the room.

 

“A side project,” Yeji’s eyes follow her closely like how Jisu was examining her house, Yeji kept her eyes fixed on the woman in front of her. “My dad’s a carpenter so he helped me out.”

 

“Does he take orders?”

 

Yeji shakes her head, feeling flattered and proud, “No, he’s too old now to be doing any of the heavy work so he’s retired.”

 

“Right…” her voice trails off. She’s trying to not sound too disappointed.

 

“Do you drink?” Yeji holds out a cold bottle of beer as an offering.

 

Jisu looks at it and contemplates for a short moment before she takes it from Yeji’s hand. She twists the lid off and raises it in the air to her new acquaintance and Yeji does the same. Yeji leads her to the balcony porch where she’s got a nice wooden swing set. They both take a seat with Jisu’s feet slightly touching the floor when she leans all the way back in and takes in the view from up high.

 

She can see the neighbouring houses, each with their own stories to tell. There’s a bunch of traditional Korean houses, a few cottages and a few concrete one like Yeji’s. She can see the trees, mostly, and fireflies hovering around in the distance like close stars. Then she looks up at the sky and sees it littered with real stars. It’s been a while since she’s seen them. The lack of light pollution would probably be the reason for it.

 

“It’s nice out here,” Jisu says out into the open air and takes a deep breath. She leans backwards against the bench causing the chair to swing a little with Yeji beside her.

 

“So what do you do?” Yeji asks.

 

“I’m an Editor in Chief at Vogue Korea…”

 

“I see, is that big?” Yeji asks with a playful lilt in her voice. Jisu turns her head around to examine her expression. Maybe Yeji was so far out that things like Vogue didn’t reach this far, that or she didn’t care enough about it. It was definitely more of a city folk thing - obsessions with vanity, material goods and celebrities. But there’s a mischievous smile on Yeji’s face so Jisu plays along.

 

“Nah not really…” she snorts.

 

“Is that why you dress so well?”

 

She looks down at her outfit, at her heels covered in dust and back over at Yeji dressed in her baggy jeans, oversized t-shirt and plaid tied around her waist.

“You dress pretty well yourself, very edgy street…”

 

Yeji looks down at her clothes, “You’re saying this is fashion?”

“Very much so,” Jisu takes a sip of her beer. She’s already halfway through it on an empty stomach and she can feel the effect of it coming on. The stars are sparkling under the night sky and Yeji’s smile is goofy and adorable.

 

“I mean if you want to borrow my clothes for a fashion shoot, please feel free too,” she offers.

 

Jisu looks at Yeji with a look in her eyes - like she thinks she’s both idiotic and wonderful. She was so used to cold hearted, all knowing - smug city folk that meeting someone like Yeji felt so new. Her eyes morph into crescents, and the corner of her eyes crinkle and she finds herself leaning back against the chair, staring out at the horizon in silence whilst she nursed her drink.

 

Suddenly her stomach grumbles and she looks over at Yeji apologetically like she had just disturbed her. Yeji instead just chuckles. “Hungry?”

 

Jisu nods. The last thing she had was a yoghurt bar this morning and a coffee as she was driving to work before she ended up four hours out of Seoul with a broken down car. She had helped herself to a lolly or two that Yeji had in a jar but otherwise nothing else. She’s surprised she hasn’t passed out from hunger.

“I’m guessing you guys don’t have Uber Eats out here?”

 

Yeji shakes her head, “I can put the frozen pizza into the oven though.”

 

“Perfect.”

 

+

 

Yeji opens her eyes to the soft sound of sobs coming from downstairs.

 

Her mind registers first - that she must be having a dream. She had been dreaming that she was driving down an endless road, it’s bright and sunny but it’s not long before she finds herself driving through a thick fog. The sound of a woman crying invades her surrounding and she steps on the pedal a little harder, wondering if it’s too late to turn around. In the dream she slams on the brakes hard when a silhouette of a woman appears right in front of her car. Her eyes fling open and she quickly buries her head underneath her blanket. She tries to calm herself down by taking deep breaths. “It’s a dream… it’s just a dream…” she tells herself.

 

Except as she slowly comes to, she can still hear the soft sobs. She wonders next, if her house is haunted. Now Yeji isn’t one to get scared easily, and yet the thought alone was enough to send chills down her spine. She tries to figure if she had known anyone who had died recently, anyone who would have unfinished business with her. Then she remembers that she has a guest downstairs.

 

Carefully she peels the blanket off her body and checks the clock on her bedside table. It’s just past midnight and the weather had dropped significantly over the last few hours. She wonders if Jisu is warm enough, if she needs another blanket. She wonders if Jisu is the one that had been crying.

 

She switches on the bedside lamp, pads her way across the room and down the stairs quietly. “Jisu? Are you ok?” Yeji whispers softly. “Do you need an extra blanket?” she asks. In the dimness Yeji could spot Jisu, a small lump huddled on the couch. “Jisu?” Yeji asks again a little louder. She doesn’t respond and Yeji wonders if she’s heard. Slowly she tiptoes down the stairs and across the room to Jisu.

 

Yeji shines her phone light not directly onto Jisu’s face as to not wake her, but just enough so that she can see her face. She’s sleeping still but it would seem as if she’s caught in a nightmare. Her fingers are gripped tightly around the blanket so much that her knuckles are white. Yeji wonders if she should wake her up as she watches her eyebrows knit together and creases appearing on the corner of her eyes from shutting them too tight. There’s a pool of tears forming in the corner of her eyes and her lashes are a little wet.

 

Just as Yeji is about to wake her, Jisu’s breath hitches and just like that all the stress melts from her face. Jisu turns to face the back of the couch which causes Yeji to jump backwards, almost dropping her phone. Either way she’s relieved she doesn’t have to deal with it tonight.

 

+

 

Her phone rings, vibrates and dances across the wooden surface. It reaches and teeters on the edge of the table threatening to fall. Just as it begins its descent towards the ground she catches it swiftly in her hand. She looks at her phone -

 

Office

5 Missed Calls.

 

Yuna

8 Missed Calls.

 

Yuna

If you don’t answer me today by 9 am I’m going to call the police! Where are you? You better still be alive! CALL ME!

 

Jisu

I’m fine… last minute emergency so I had to leave Seoul. I’ll be back soon.

 

Jisu holds her head and wipes the dribble from the corner of her lips quickly as she spots the woman standing in the kitchen smiling at her. The sun is bleeding into the kitchen, there’s no blinds in here at all which is amazing that Jisu hadn’t woken up earlier.

 

“Good morning,” Yeji greets her cheerfully, far too cheerful for - what time was it? Seven in the morning.

 

Jisu nods her head slightly, “How long have you been awake?”

 

“Long enough to make some coffee. Want some?” Yeji raises an empty glass in the air.

 

“That would be perfect,” Jisu offers her a sleepy smile.

 

“So I wasn’t really expecting to have a guest which means there’s no edible food in my fridge to make you breakfast. I was thinking… instead of me driving alone, we could drive into town together so I can get the parts to fix your car and we can go grab breakfast while we’re at it.” Yeji places the freshly brewed coffee on the table in front of Jisu.

 

Jisu only nods as she quickly sips on the coffee, blotting her lip when she accidentally burns it. She takes a whiff of her shirt and frowns, “Do you mind if I take a shower first?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Could I borrow some clothes as well?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Are you always this nice to strangers whose car is in your garage and have slept on your couch?”

 

“Ah you’ve actually got the premium service package.”

 

Jisu looks at her wide-eyed with confusion before Yeji bursts out into laughter. “I’m just kidding, you look like you needed a break.”

 

“I did?”

 

“Yeah, I felt bad for keeping you in the heat for two hours.” Her lips straighten out into a line, “So I’ll grab you some clothes and a towel. The shower is upstairs. We’ll leave in twenty minutes?”

 

Jisu nods.

 

+

 

It’s a forty minute drive into town from where they were which makes Jisu wonder how much of an effort it is for Yeji to live where she is. What if she ran out of food midweek? What if she was sick and couldn’t go out alone? It would be such an inconvenience to drive out this far each time.

 

It’s a nice quaint town nonetheless. The store fronts are are old and faded. There are old ladies sitting at the front waving to people as they walked by, gesturing for them to examine the fresh produce. Jisu’s trying her hardest to keep to herself and not get pulled into the stores - they seemed like chatty ladies and they had been staring at her for a while now. She figures that in a small town like this people would recognise each other and they definitely wouldn’t recognise her.

 

“So bad news…” Yeji says, kicking the gravel beneath her feet as she walked towards her. “They don’t have the part since we don’t really deal with your car model out here. It’s going to take three days before they can get it in.”

 

“Three days?” She places her thumb to her lips. Yeji takes her silence as her running through the logistics of it all. It really might be best for her to figure out a way back into the city even if it meant a two hour drive to the nearest public transport.

 

“Yeah, sorry, I already told them to order it but if you don’t want to wait around...”

 

She looks up at Yeji like she’s already decided, “It’s alright, I can wait.”

 

“Are you sure?” Yeji’s clearly taken back by the response. Especially since she was well aware of how Jisu’s phone kept ringing all morning. “Mr Lee’s pretty slow, I can probably go back in and he’ll still be typing up the order form - old people and technology you know.” The left corner of Yeji’s lip tugs into a grin she’s trying to desperately suppress.

 

“Yeah, it’s a good excuse for a break…” she leans back against Yeji’s car, deflated or relieved Yeji isn’t entire sure just yet. It’s not until she notices Yeji’s eyes running up and down that she perks back up again, “W-what are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?” she swipes her face with her hands.

 

“No, you look like a real model in that outfit,” Yeji winks and walks past her leaving Jisu feeling flustered.

 

“...Hey! W-wait up! Are we going to eat now?” Jisu shouts chasing after her.

 

+

 

There’s a restaurant on the edge of the town that’s small and quiet. There’s a sign at the door that says they’re famous for their soup - so famous in fact that MBC had done a show with them on it as evident by the screenshots. “Don’t expect it to be this way for too long though,” Yeji takes a seat by the window and Jisu sits opposite her.

 

“I’m guessing we should order their soup?” She points to the sign at the door and Yeji nods.

 

“It was a national secret before they came.”

 

When the old lady comes to take their order she does a double take on Jisu. Jisu is usually never one to avoid eye contact, especially when she was being looked at twice over but for some reason she could only awkwardly smile at Yeji. “Is something the matter, Aunty?” Yeji tries to understand the situation, cocking her head sideways to get her attention.

 

“Oh, she’s just very pretty. A friend, Yeji-ah?” she asks, excitement in her voice.

 

“She’s a customer from out of town. Her car broke down as she was passing through.”

 

“Ah well you’ve come to the right place, there’s nothing here that our Yeji can’t fix. Two soups for you?”

 

“Yes please!” Yeji chirps. She nods her head and walks back towards the kitchen, “Oh and Yeji I’ve got some stuff for you to take home as well from Mr. Lim. Since you’re here you can take it now.”

 

“Thanks Aunty!”

 

“Mr. Lim?”

 

“He owns the grocer in town. Since I live so far out sometimes Aunty Park takes stuff home for me to pick up. She lives fifteen minutes from town, I live thirty so I meet her halfway.”

 

“That’s nice, but what about your parents aren’t they nearby?”

 

“They moved to Jeju a few years ago to retire, it’s better for them over there than back here. The air’s fresher…” her voice trails off when two bowls of soup are placed in front of them.

 

“Eat up girls, this soup is very good for you, very detoxing…”

 

“You know I’d come here every day, aunty, if I could.”

 

“You choose to isolate yourself out there, we’ve told you to move the garage closer to town.”

 

“Well, see aunty, if I move 40 minutes into town, what will happen to people like Jisu here who’s car died an hour out from my place? It would take her another hour before she could get help and we can’t have people stranded that far away from everyone else”

 

“You’re acting like you’re the gatekeeper or something, you rascal,” the older woman playfully pokes the side of Yeji’s temple tipping her over gently. “Always thinking about others, never thinking about yourself.”

 

“You think about me, aunty!”

 

“I worry about you.” The older lady shakes her head, “So stubborn. Just eat up. I honestly don’t know what would happen to you out there alone…” she mumbles as she walks away.

 

Yeji looks back over at Jisu who had been quietly staring at her, “Eat up,” Yeji mimics a spooning motion before she picks up her own spoon. She watches Jisu with anticipation as her eyes widen.

 

“It’s delicious!”

 

“Told ya.”

 

+

 

Jisu sits herself down on Yeji’s seat and twirls around.

 

She had spent the whole day loitering around, watching as Yeji fixed cars and dealt with clients. It’s quite busy but Yeji reassures her it’s not normally like this. “Maybe they heard there was a pretty girl in town and wanted to check her out,” Yeji teases.

 

“You don’t get a lot of fresh meat around here?”

 

“Nah not really… I’m one of the younger ones around here, most of my friends have left for the city or another country even to live their dreams.”

 

“Why do you stay then?” Jisu wonders if Yeji feels lonely out here. It doesn’t make sense for someone at the prime of their life to be spending it in isolation like this. In fact the only friends Jisu’s seen Yeji interact with were the old folks in town when she was going through.

 

“I don’t know. Who’s going to fix the cars around here once I’m gone? They’re old people no one can do the heavy lifting around here…”

 

“Sure sounds like an excuse if I’d ever heard one,” Jisu sounds nonchalant as she twirls the pen in her hands and scribbles some drawings in a notebook on Yeji’s desk.

 

Yeji rolls out from underneath the car and sputters in disbelief at the accusation. “What are you saying?”

 

Jisu straightens up realising she had accidentally been too careless with her words. Whilst she was used to being blunt in her position it probably wasn't the best idea to act that way towards the woman letting you stay at her house. “I meant…”

 

“No, please, tell me,” Yeji says with a smile. Jisu doesn’t see a trace of a shadow in it at all.

 

“It just sounds like you’re complacent with everything when you could be doing so much more. There are so many opportunities out there but you’re running away from them as opposed to running towards them. You’re young and you can go places but you’re choosing to stay in this country town as opposed to…”

 

“As opposed to moving out to the city where everything is big, bad and terrifying?”

 

“Maybe the answer isn’t in Seoul, but it definitely can’t be here for you.”

 

Yeji nods