001: Welcome to The Town

       "Is it really necessary for us to move?" Jieun grumbled as she looked out the car window. 

It was the third time she changed schools and Jieun was getting sick of always having to say goodbye when she was just getting settled in. The first time she moved was because of her Father's promotion, and the second time was because of her sister's acceptance into an elite high school, and now she was moving for the third time because of her Mother's promotion.

    Jieun used to love moving to new places and experiencing new things. But each time she moved, her friends shifted out of her life and the boys she loved all walked out of her life. She didn't know how important it was to settle before, but now she wanted it more than anything.

     But here she was, moving to a completely different city. 

"All the kids are very nice there," her mom replied, excited. "You'll fit in just fine."

"You mean elite?" Jieun rolled her eyes and rolled the window down, letting the cold air hit her face.

"I think it'll be great," her sister said. "It's an upper-class town. It'll be different from where we lived before." 

"You're just saying that because of the hot guys in that town," Jieun sighed and glared at her sister Jiwon who was busy fixing her make-up. It was different for her; she was a college student and didn't have to move around during the most important periods of her childhood. She had her set middle school and high school friends, and she had her current college friends. 

It's all fun and games for her. 

"It won't be so bad honey," her Dad looked back at her from the front seat. "It seems like a nice town, very residential." 

"Why do I have to move so many times? I have no set friends from anywhere." Jieun grunted.

"You're young," Jieun's mother eyed her through the front mirror. "You'll make new friends." 

"Until we have to move again," Jieun muttered under her breath.

"It'll be the last time," her Dad assured her. "I promise."

     Jieun forced a smile and looked out the window as they drove into a large black gate. Jieun stared up at the gate and stared at the big marble town welcome sign that read The Town: Luxury residential neighborhood.

    Jieun sat up and looked out the window, internally surprised at the town. 

     On each side of the roads were contemporary suburban houses lined up side by side, complimented with the sprinklers going off its green front lawn. The houses looked like the little doll houses that Jieun had begged her mother to buy her when she was little, and the people in it fascinated her. Jieun stared at the woman standing at the porch of her house with a robotic smile that gave Jieun the creeps. She was dressed in a floral pink laced collar dress complimented with a pearl necklace. Jieun looked up at her face and stared at her perfectly tied back hair and the ponytail that rested just above her shoulders. She was so pale but well groomed that she looked like one of those dolls she would keep on her toy shelf. The woman walked across the lawn like there were pins attached to her joints to prevent her from walking like a normal person. She walked like a barbie doll; poise yet robotic.

"That's weird," Jieun murmured under her breath.

 There were a few scrubby looking men mowing the lawn every 3 or 4 houses away and as the car made a turn, they entered a different section of a town. 

     There were shops and bistros on either side, and a big cinema sat on the right side, showing movies from months ago. Jieun watched strangely as the kids and teenagers in the streets walked the streets. They were all dead silent and would only greet each other as they walked past, with only a single eye contact. All the girls were dressed in pastel-toned dresses with an alternation of collars and laces, and their hairdos were so tidy and well done it reminded her of a 50s high teen movie.

     Her eyes rested on this one tall boy that walked across the road and eyed her car a single time before he crossed the road with robotic steps. His collar shirt stuck tidily above his green knit and his hair was neatly combed up, showing his soft features; his thin but twinkling eyes and his sharp nose that highlited his entire face and his soft pink lips that rested on his pale skin. 

Jieun's eyes stuck on him as the car drove through the street. 

"This is us," her Mom said excitedly as she got out of the car.

     Jieun got out of the car and her jaws dropped at the sight of her new house. It was a large sized modern house that was almost three times the size of their old home. Jieun slowly walked towards the house, lost for words. She was aware that her mother's promotion was big, but she didn't know that it would be this big.

"Mom," she stuttered. "Is this really our house?" 

"Yes Jieun!" her mom said excitedly as she waved at the moval truck driving into the neighborhood.

    Jieun looked around the neighborhood, noticing that all of the houses were similar to hers - just with minor variations of colors and shapes. The entire place looked like a rich American suburban area, but it was giving Jieun the creeps and she didn't know why. 

     Jieun entered the house and stood at the foyer, shocked at the size of the house. The foyer itself was twice the size of her past room and the flooring was smoothly paved with beige marble and led to the large staircase in the middle of the corridor. Jieun turned her eyes and the house led to a large living room that seemed to be the size of her previous house. Past the living room was a wall replaced by a window door and the large view of the town park came into view. 

    "Damn," Jieun said as she walked up the staircase and walked past her sister's room as she was busy unpacking her things and decorating her room. Jieun walked into the room next door and stared at the tremendous size of the room. The first thing that came into her eyes was the large window that took up half of the wall. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling, lighting the room much brighter than her past house. There was a wall that divided a part of the room; Jieun walked behind the wall and saw a separate section for an open closet and a huge bathroom with a oval bathtub that they didn't even have in her parent's bathroom at her previous house.

    Jieun walked towards the window and sat on the seat sticking out on the window, staring at the house next to her. 

    An identical window sat opposite her and the sun shone into the room. The entire room was so dark and messy; there was laundry strewn everywhere and strange maps and pictures of people were plastered all over the walls with drawings of arrows all connecting the pictures together. The desk leaning against the wall were filled with unidentifiable objects that all looked like weapons and books, baffling Jieun. 

It was such a contrast to what she had seen earlier. 

    Jieun watched as a boy entered the room, slamming the door behind him. He threw the backpack onto his bed and grabbed a marker, busily writing something above the pictures and drawing more arrows to link something together. Jieun stared at him and his unkempt appearance; he was wearing a black hoodie and his hood covered the unbrushed hair that was sticking out. His entire aura was so dark but it was so familiar; he gave off a human vibe unlike the other kids she saw earlier. Jieun stared at his hands and noticed the numerous scratches that were on it, baffled. 

     The boy threw the marker across the room in anger and jumped on his bed, getting up instantly after he noticed Jieun. 

"H..i?" Jieun mouthed as she waved awkwardly.

The boy glared at her for a split second and pulled the curtains, blocking out the view. 

"Geez," Jieun scoffed. "I was just trying to be nice."

"Where should we put the bed?" The movers walked into the room with her furniture. 

"Oh here!" Jieun got up from the bed, returning to her frenzy of organization.

--

     It was early evening and all of the furnitures had been moved into the house and Jieun was worn out from all the action. She wasn't used to having to walk up and down the stairs in her own house, it was something she only did at school. These flight of stairs were already giving her a cramp on her muscles. 

     Jieun walked into the large kitchen and sat at their newly bought dinner table, staring at the food on the table. 

"It's not so bad is it?" Jieun's Mom smiled as she began digging into her food. 

"I guess," Jieuns shrugged. "My room's huge."

"We're going to need to buy some more furniture to fill all of our rooms," her mom said excitedly. 

    Jieun's Dad eyed her as she ate her food silently. Jieun was usually never the silent one, and her Dad knew her when she wasn't feeling happy or if she was scared about something. 

There were a million thoughts running through Jieun, but there wasn't a single one she could slip out of . 

     After dinner, Jieun went back to her room and sat on her bed, just staring at the wall. 

"Can I come in?" Her Dad knocked on the door and walked into the room slowly, looking around her room. 

"Hey Dad," she forced a grin and eyed the room.

"It's a huge improvement compared to your last room, hm?" Her Dad joked and the two of them laughed. 

    Jieun loved her Dad. He was the only family member who could read her mind when she was feeling sad or scared and was the only one who genuinly cared about her emotions. Her Mom and Sister were so self-absorbed sometimes it felt as she wasn't her mother and sister. 

"It's nice here, isn't it?" Her Dad asked, smiling. 

"I guess," Jieun shrugged. "Everyone here just seems... different."

"Different?"

"I don't know they just seem... like robots. You know?" Jieun eyed her Dad, stifled for words. 

"I noticed it too, huh?" Her Dad made a funny face and nodded, making Jieun laugh. "Your mother says it's an upper-class people thing, but we refuse to believe.

"They just seem... so different than me." Jieun sighed.

"Is that what was bothering you during dinner?" Her Dad asked with a soft grin.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" Jieun chuckled. 

     "When I was in High School, I moved to a high school in the city from the countryside. The first few weeks nobody talked to me because everyone saw me as a country bumpkin and they all thought country bumpkins were low class and dirty, just so different to them. I also had a dialect which they would make so much fun of. I remember during lunch times, they all had expensive meat in their lunchboxes while I only had mere fried kimchi, eggs, and rice. They wouldn't sit near me because apparently I smelled. But one day, our class had a picnic and one of the rich boys forgot to bring their lunchboxes. No other kid would share theirs so he was just sitting there alone, and I offered to share my kimchi lunchbox with him. He refused at first but after his stomach growls, he took a bite of my lunchbox and finished it in seconds. When the other rich kids saw that, they were disgusted but at the same time curious about my lunchbox and then me. Then all these rich kids started taking a bite of my lunchbox and then they started talking to me, one of them being your mother."

"What?!" Jieun laughed, so surprised. "Mom?" 

"Your mother was a picky one," he chuckled. "I chased after her though."

Jieun smiled, amazed at the story. 

"What I'm saying is, put it this way. These kids may be so different, but these... elite, rich spoilt kids haven't experienced the big world outside of their safe nest. When they see this...awesome girl called Lee Jieun walk through their high school, they're going to be blown away at what she'll show them. Aren't I right?" 

"Definitely," Jieun laughed and hugged her Dad tightly. He had a knack for making her feel better.

     Suddenly, the doorbell rang and Jieun was surprised as she looked down at the foyer.

     "I'll get it Dad," Jieun walked down the staircase and peeked through the door hole, seeing a boy standing infront of their door. Without much thought, Jieun opened the door and her time stopped as she stared at the boy infront of her.

   It was the perfect looking boy in the green knit that she had seen earlier on in the street. 

He had a large plate of fruit pavlova in his hands, and he smiled as he made eye contact with Jieun. 

"Hello, good evening." He said in a pretense tone as Jieun stared at him, surprised. 

"H...ello," Jieun stuttered.

     "My name is Cha Eunwoo. I live across the street and we are more than thrilled to welcome you as our new neighbors. Here, my Mother made this fruit pavlova as a welcome gift for your wonderful family."  

Jieun received the pavlova from Eunwoo and stared at him, flabbergasted. 

     "I hope to see you around more often," Eunwoo said politely as he smiled one last time and walked back to his house in such a polite manner that it almost scared Jieun a little bit.

"What's that?" Her sister walked up and took the pavlova off her hands.

"It was the...uh, neighbor." Jieun said awkwardly. "Welcome gift."

"Oh how nice of them!" Her Mother said as she walked out of the kitchen, dressed in a floral lace dress.

"Mom?" Jieun raised her eyebrow. "What are you wearing?"

"Honey," she said in a forced posh tone. "We need to adjust into this town." 

    Jieun shook her head in annoyance and walked back to her room, the face of Eunwoo stuck in her head.

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