Jiyeon's Memories:

"Eomma, where are we going?"

"To my hometown in Mungyeong."

"Well, does Appa live there too? Did the two of you meet there?"

Eomma didn't smile. She didn't even answer my question. And so, I looked at Cute Cute, who looked at me. I placed my cat in his cage so that I could carry him  on the trip. 

I could recall me and eomma riding on a bus. But for a kid like me, it took us forever to reach Mungyeong. I didn't care though as I slept throughout the whole trip. Eomma even commented I wasn't like the other kids who puked during a journey. Well, I was asleep. Why would I care?

Her maternal house was a decent one. With only two bedrooms, I could say I feel lucky to live in Seoul with a lot of bedrooms in my house. Eomma's house is just a bungalow. The paint had grown dry, the door had almost fallen, and the floors were dusty. The caretaker only came once every two weeks to clean. Even the restroom had a funny scent to it. Not that it was bad. It was just unlike mine with all the scents eomma bought for me.

I released Cute Cute from the cage, but he didn't start to run around. As cats had their own terretories too, my cat didn't feel comfortable being in a new setting. He probably felt how I felt now. But eomma kept sighing every time she opened a window. It seemed to me she terribly missed this place. She then took me by the arm and we sat in a dusty wicker chair by the window. She had me sit on her lap as she combed my hair.

"Jiyeon, Appa and I are quarreling now. I wanted to get away for a while and clear my head. You know, it is not easy to be living in an argument and then you decide to have a divorce."

"Eomma, what's a divorce?"

"Mianhe, but I can't explain it to you right now. You're only eight. However, I don't want to go separate ways with your Appa. Everything's heated up now, and I don't want to regret if I said things I shouldn't have said. I tried my best to point out to him his mistakes, but he would always blame me. Well, he's part of the problem too. Your appa never listens to me. He thinks he is always right. Yet, I also stood my ground, I had my pride too. So, as things got so intense, I told him I'd be someplace where he wouldn't see me. And no, your Appa and I met in Seoul; he doesn't live here. I was an ambitious, gutsy country bumpkin, while he was a rich, arrogant city boy. He told me he wouldn't look for me, even if I go out of Korea. He didn't even ask if I'd take you with me. You see, he never really care at all."

"Eomma.."

That afternoon, while I was sleeping, eomma left to go to the market. A little after 2:30 in the afternoon, I woke up. I called for Cute Cute, but he didn't respond to my call. Worried that I was, I went out of the house. I called for him, searching in every nook outside the house and in some of the junks in the yard. Finally, I decided to roam outside.

On a small hill on the east side, tall grasses grew. The zephyr blew peacefully, but the sun made me sweat. I went up the small hill, calling out to Cute Cute. And suddenly, there I saw them, especially him. Little Jin Woon Oppa. He was playing with his brothers, and they were very noisy. I envy them because they were playing together, while I'm stuck in my miserable world of my fighting parents and my lost cat. I watched them, and I wanted to play with them. And suddenly, Jin Woon Oppa ran straight right to me. We bumped and rolled down the small hill. When he got up, he was very angry. His brothers came down to help us. When I told Yong Hwa Oppa I wanted to join them, Jin Woon Oppa said no. Yong Hwa Oppa seconded his brother's reply,so I was left without a playmate. Incidentally, Cute Cute came out from the thick tall grass and walked by me. I called to him and he ran to me. When he was at my embrace, I could hear his loud purr. It seemed to me he missed me so much and he was so happy I looked for him. I guess he got a little curious and went out of the house and got lost. But cats are supposed to have a biological compass. I wonder why Cute Cute didn't find his way home.

"I don't have any playmates. You wouldn't mind being my playmate, would you?"

"Meow."

"Gomawo, Cute Cute. Jiyeon Noona is so happy to see you back to my arms. Gaja."

"Meow."

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Jin Woon's Memories:

I don't remember dozing off. I remembered that the cafe was kind of quiet that afternoon, and Nicole was in the counter reading a manhwa. But I was suddenly dreaming of my childhood in Mungyeong. The place was like a ghost town for me. I hated it for the most part, precisely because there wasn't not much to do. I had lived there probably till I was eleven, when Eomma and Appa decided to work in Seoul as chefs in some restaurants. Life really wasn't bad in Mungyeong. But my parents said that since Il Woo Hyung would be attending middle school, we might as well study there too.

But at Mungyeong, when you want to sleep in the afternoons, you could do so. Life was simple and serene. But as a kid, I didn't like to sleep in the afternoons, and neither did my brothers. We wanted to make use of our day, so we played outside. That was during summer vacations. On school days, we studied. We studied hard, and played harder. That was our motto till we grew up. But we took our crafts seriously, and we formed a tight bond for ourselves. Other children rarely joined us because I was like a wolf who had my own pack and territory.

One afternoon, my brothers and I were playing among the tall grasses. I had that to my advantage since I was the shortest one. I let them chase me around until I bumped into someone, rolling us both down the hill. When I got up, I was so angry because the girl was spying on us. But she said she was curious seeing us play. I didn't believe anything she said. She even wanted to join us, but I hotly said no. Yong Hwa hyung agreed too not to let her join us. But as I turned my back to go back up the hill, I heard her talking to her cat.

"I don't have any playmates. You wouldn't mind being my playmate, would you?"

"Meow."

"Gomawo, Cute Cute. Jiyeon Noona is so happy to see you back to my arms. Gaja."

"Meow."

Then, I opened my eyes. I realized that had been my first encounter with Jiyeon.