CHAPTER ONE

Returning

She lets her palm open as petals of cherry blossoms softly land. The hush breeze of transitioning season from spring to summer eases her mind. With a light blow, the pink flower dramatically flies off her hold before a wind has it glide the opposite way, leading her to turn around. She smiles at the sight.

“The view is better with your eyes than the lens.” She laughs once the mentioned boy shockingly lowers his camera from his eyes. He offers a heart-fluttering smile and from what she sees, he catches her steps to lessen the distance. He is quiet yet the atmosphere is being kind by not forcing them to make any conversation. It is just her, him, and the fine scenery to fill in the emptiness in her heart.

They stop on the other side of the lake where they can see their two friends are. From their spot, they can see the pair lying on the grass, completely the opposite of what they are doing. She chuckles as he shakes his head and continues to wander, and snaps a couple of random photos here and there. She does not have to turn her head to see what he is taking. Everything about Ilsan’s Lake Garden is beautiful. It would be a waste not to keep it in a physical form.

With the hectic week in the centre of Seoul, she does not want to go back. It is not often she gets to witness nature as pretty as this and she is sure he will agree with her statement. So she glances at the boy who is currently taking pictures of a little girl feeding ducks with her mother.

Now she is looking at him, she realises the spark in his eyes whenever he returns his gaze on the DSLR screen. She concludes he had taken a perfect moment. What is he thinking when he continues to eye on the small family? When he catches her eyeing him, he gestures her to join him in complete excitement. It appears that it is difficult to say no to him. Once she is in the same position as him, he points at the little girl. Confused, she asks a simple ‘what’ before he answers with a nod over at her direction.

So she looks and her sight blurs…

“Unnie. Wake up. Your phone has been ringing for a while now.” A voice shakes the sleeping figure from her dreamland. Groaning slightly at the beam of light coming from the window, she springs off her bed and glances at the scene beyond the closed window. The small bits of fluffy white clouds dotted across the sky. Her heart drops.

Oh, right… it is just another dream.

“What time is it?” Shaking her head to full consciousness, she questioned, still a bit drowsy. The light streaming in slowly gathers her mind gradually. Her younger sister, Kwon Siyeon, lets a lengthy sigh before forcing the older sister, Kwon Shinyoung, to get off the bed and wash up. Her gaze was soft despite the treatment she gives to the older female. “It is already ten minutes past ten. Mom already made breakfast and she’s out to the store already.” The girl informed helpfully.

“Oh,” She bobs her head. “Did you eat yet?”

“I only drank some tea and do some chores for the day.” Shinyoung lightly smiles upon hearing it. Her sister is six years apart from her yet she is holding a lot of responsibility, some that she is supposed to do after reaching twenty. She matures quicker than the rest of her peers.  It is not a major problem here though. Most of the girls in this village are smarter, practically wiser than the ones in the city anyway.

Since she just finished her morning routine, Shinyoung assumes Siyeon purposely starve to have breakfast with her. Simple vegetable pancake and tea were served on the small dining table situated in the corner of the kitchen. The house has a very limited space when it comes to furniture placing so it is better to have a decent place to have the meal rather than nothing at all. She has grown fond of the homey vibe compared to her apartment. However, she has to make her return soon. And by soon, she means today.

“Can I ask you something?” The younger sibling uttered a careful sip of tea. Without having any contact, the other merely nods. “What are you dreaming of? You look…happy.” Siyeon mentioned something she has been catching her sister doing for the past few months. For someone who claims to run away from responsibility, she is not sad? Not that she wants her to be in such state. It is just uncanny.

“It’s nothing.” Obviously, Shinyoung is far from ready to admit the truth. She has been hiding that story from her family. Talking about it feels a bit exposed. Also, she does not want to burden them with her story that will not have a happy ending. A bob of the head and Siyeon seems to buy it off. The older sister feels relieved when the younger does not push her to tell. “Are you going to visit us often after this?” Siyeon starts a conversation with the question, driving away from the unwanted silence.

Five months are not enough to learn a lot about her family since she has about another ten years to fully grasp everything happened to them. But she has to go back to Seoul regardless. She still has a degree to finish and earn. It will be such a waste to request another extension. Besides, the quicker she graduates, the faster she secures a job, the more she can provide for her family here in the village area.

“Do you need help with packing?” The girl kindly asked by the door. It feels as if it is yesterday she found her sleeping soundly on the village centre’s bench. The girl shakes her head. “No. I barely bring anything with me anyway.”

Shinyoung replied good-naturedly as she arranges her clothes in a neat pile. It was a good plan too to have a little travelling bag to stuff everything. When she is zipping the bag, Siyeon points behind her. As soon as she cranes to see what is in the direction, a frown finds its way on her face. She sighs.

Up by the windowsill is a stalk of blue carnation, standing firmly in a glass bottle. Water has long evaporated from it and she never bothered refilling them. There is just one instead of a whole bouquet though because the rest of them had w