Today 20**

“When I think about those days how many years ago…I don’t know how it happened, or why it happened. Coming to me like thin air, vanishing like a dream before I could even grasp hold of it. I thought it was all just a bad dream for a moment before I felt her cold hand on my face asking me to go with her. She was lonely, she’d been crying for so long, and I never heard her. So she wanted me to go with her. The rain was cold, it was freezing, it felt like winter had been there all along with me. My eyes rolled back but her voice called and she cried and apologized. And this time it wasn’t the girl that came to me like thin air and vanished in thin air. This was the girl…she had been there all along. Chingu…she was my chingu.”

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He gave a shout kicking his blue sleeping bag open. Sitting up he rubbed his forehead tousling his hair looking at the material of his red tent. Heaving a tired sigh he zipped his door open to feel the sunlight upon his face. Turning away quickly because of the flare he turned back blocking his eyes with the back of his hand. On the green field that surrounded them with tall pine trees he saw the other tents around him. Some occupied and others empty. His friends were walking about from picnic table to table with drinks of all sorts in their hands sniffing the air filled with scents from the cooking meat on the grills.

The soft wind of approaching summer bristled the light green grass making them wave back and forth. The purple lilies growing around stood out so clearly among the scenery just in front of him. Waving a fly away he stepped out from the tent zipping the door after him to make sure that no insects would get into the tent.

“I’m not the last to wake, right?” asked Leeteuk walking toward the grill to have a good look at the brats cooking.

“The last one?” repeated Shindong. “The last one is Sungmin. He was up all night staring up at the stars, seriously.”

A loud shout came and they felt a hand slap their backs leaving a painful sting. “Ah! Guys! There are some hot chicks over by the beach! Is the food ready?!"

Leeteuk turned to stare at Kangin, the president of the club he was going on the outing with. A man of large build, his muscles all made up of sarcasm. Sometimes Leeteuk had a hard time believing that he was the president.

“In half an hour, man,” Shindong replied turning the delicious light brown brats over, “unless you want to eat them raw and end up in the hospital with a hole in your stomach.”

“Tell me first when they’re done. I’m going to be back at the beach!” he said excitedly before running off.

“Like we’re going to come call you,” Leeteuk snorted.

“Hey,” Shindong said as if in a whisper, “were you at the bonfire last night? They were telling ghost stories.”

“Of course I was there. I wouldn’t miss the drinks for nothing.”

They leaned toward each other as if sharing secrets.

“Did you…hear about the long blonde hair lady?” Shindong asked raising both his eyebrows.

Somehow his face seemed larger than ever to Leeteuk now that he was so close to him.

“Yes.”

“Do you ever think back to the times where you were sleeping in a hotel room alone?” Shindong continued to ask.

“Not really,” Leeteuk said. “What if it’s not room 102 but room 400?”

“What?” Shindong became immediately puzzled and Leeteuk laughed.

“I’m going to the bathroom and I’ll be back,” Leeteuk told walking away.

About 45 steps away from his tent Leeteuk pulled open the door to the rest house. Stalls of toilets were lined to the right and after them were the showers. Walking toward the sink he rinsed his hands and stared into the mirror checking out his darn good looking eyes and admired himself.

“You just get more and more handsome. I’m afraid if you grow any older women will begin to drop,” he smiled and felt the cold water run over his hands.

It was that feeling again. Film strips of events from long ago flashed through his mind. Grey, black, grey, black. Voices and he couldn’t make out what they were saying to each other. Closing his eyes and opening them again the voices stopped flowing through his ears and the only thing he heard then was the running faucet. But it felt like there was a block of wood on his head weighing him down.

;;;;;

“Ah!”

Taeyeon turned to see her room mate, Im Yoona, moving in bed with the covers over her head. Picking up the books off the ground from the white painted chair she was sitting on she set them back on the white desk before her and turned to stare out of the square window. The yellow sun shone into the room clearly leaving a heap of dust flowing along with the rays onto the ground creating a shadow reflecting the window itself.

A boring end of the semester. Most of the students had begun packing and leaving for home just a few days ago. Carrying clothes, hangers, boxes, and the rails of their beds down the stairs to the vans outside, they were going home.

Kim Taeyeon had no home to go back to. No, she did have a home but her parents wouldn’t want her to go back. They would have liked for her to stay and take spring interim, the three-week cram class, and after spring interim they would like for her to take a summer class. And Kim Taeyeon would do it without rebelling.

Both her parents were busy people. Her dad was a doctor and her mother a strict lawyer. She was rich, her family had money, and they had connections. So from since she was young, Kim Taeyeon had to either look after herself or her nanny would have to follow her around. She mixed with druggies, when small she helped pick on the weak, in junior high she skipped classes and smoked; Kim Taeyeon was never a person who was weak and cried. She was those who thought of themselves as superior to others. Everyone else…were imbeciles. She was a hardcore rebel.

Third year of junior high her parents managed to send her off without her knowing. She thought she was going on a vacation to the states but her parents sent her to the lowest point. She grew up with her almost homeless uncle on the streets in Australia and somehow also went to school while fighting with him to survive. And ever since, the rebel in her died.

She had just came back to her home in Busan, South Korea after she graduated high school. They didn’t tell her, her uncle managed to send her back without her knowing. She hadn’t spent a single hour with her parents sincerely after returning, no, she hadn’t spent one day in the house with them since she’d returned. Work, they were still busy with work so she busied herself with school. They had psychological problems. Or maybe it was the consequences of the sins she’s created for herself that she now had to bear with.

Her face expression was still as she browsed through the school website. As usual she’d aced her classes. Turning her laptop off and closing it she got off her chair half slapping Im Yoona.

“Yah, get up. Lets go do something today.”

;;;;;

Leeteuk had chosen not to drive on the way back to Seoul but he still sat at the front anyway. As they drove down the country highway back to the city he stared out the side window. Tall golden colored cattails stood by the side as if they were fences. Farm houses were in sight. The scenery gave him strong feelings of nostalgia and he almost felt literally sick.

They all returned to university unwilling to part from each other yet. Some left their camp equipment in the car and others brought them back to the dorm with them promising to meet up in a bit. Leeteuk was one of those who’d gone back to the dorms with the group lugging his sleeping bag and tent after him. The boys chattered unstoppably.

;;;;;

Taeyeon had been walking down the stairs in the memorial union hall beside the sleepy Yoona with hands tucked into the belly pocket of her sweater. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Yoona’s attention turned elsewhere quickly and began running out the door.

“Oppa!” her voice was loud as usual.

Kim Taeyeon followed her out slowly feel no adrenaline flowing through her. Pushing the door open she stopped to see a group of boys carrying what seemed to her like camping equipment. Silently wondering where they’ve been she listened in on their conversation.

“You never told me you were going to go!” Im Yoona declared as if angry, but she was just playing with the tall boy she was talking to.

“There were lots of girls around.” He told her as if bragging about himself.

“Pretty?” she asked.

“Pretty. You should have gone.”

“Oh well, next year then ok? I wanted to stay behind with Taeyeon.” Yoona told pointing her thumb back at Taeyeon.

Yoona’s oppa suddenly looked over and Taeyeon immediately recognized him. Im Yoona had brought him to their room drunk one night asking if she could sleep with her while he slept on her bed.

“Ah…Kim Taeyeon right?” he asked slightly turning his head toward her as if nodding at her.

Kim Taeyeon gave him a 45 degree bow.

“Do you remember my name?” he asked.

“Choi…Siwon?” she almost stuttered over the words.

“Eh, what are you doing flirting here?” someone cut in. “Ok, enough, enough. If everyone passed their exams lets go hang out later.”

Chatter suddenly flooded her ears before someone’s cell phone began ringing creating a few seconds of silence. Taeyeon turned to see a thin boy with dyed hair and something about him caught her attention. She watched him walk away after waving to the guys.

“Taeyeon, lets go!” Yoona called.

;;;;;

“Where were you?” a low stern voice with the power of authority questioned.

“I just came back from camp, mom.” Leeteuk replied walking up to his room closing the door after him.

“I thought I told you not to go?” she didn’t sound concerned.

“It’s my last year here. It won’t hurt mom.”

His mother seemed to sigh from the other end of the line, “When are you coming back?”

Leeteuk paused to think things through. If his mother was asking him that question it meant that they wanted to take away his free time. And that meant no partying.

“I don’t know.” he lied. He actually had planned his summer in Seoul.

“Grandma is sick. Truthfully, I don’t want to send you there, but your father is in the states right now,” his mother began and he felt a lump in his throat, “I don’t like you going there, but there’s no one left. All your aunts, uncles, and cousins are all busy this summer.”

Leeteuk quietly listened to his mother’s words.

“Your father has arranged special treatment for grandma in England, we’re going to depart by next weekend. Do you think you can watch over grandma’s house while we’re gone?”

“What!” Leeteuk exclaimed not believing what he’d just heard.

Grandma’s huge mansion was in the countryside near out the outside of Incheon, but about 3 hours away from that city. The place his mother had forbid him to go to ever since…the boating accident. The house he’d only seen twice from the view of the car his parents had made him sit in and wait while they went in for a visit and came back an hour later. His mother…was entrusting the place to him? The large green field that surrounded the mansion which was, for some reason, the land that the mansion was built on. Basically the middle of no where.

“That place is creepy,” Leeteuk told.

“Your grandma is allowing you to invite a few friends along with you if that’d make you feel better Teukie,” his mother added, “hmm? How about it? A summer in the huge mansion? But…you have to promise me one thing when you come.”

“I didn’t say I was going to…”

“Don’t talk to anyone who suddenly appears. I know you’re of age, but I’m just warning you. There are thieves around and you can’t just trust or talk to anyone. I’m serious about that.”

“Mom, I don’t want to…”

Again she cut him off, “We’ll see you by next week then, ok?”

She hung up before Leeteuk could even try to retort.