SUMMER!!!
Water Maze
Narrator’s POV
Yoomi and Hwayoung had to strain their ears to hear the last bell of the year ringing, if they even cared. They joined in the screaming of the rest of the students who rushed out of the school and into the welcoming arms of summer.
After sprinting to the grass, Hwayoung laid down and closed her eyes. “I am so done with school!” she yawned.
Yoomi sat next to her. “So am I. I can’t wait to go home and take a super long nap and not even bother to touch my bag.” She opened her bag and shoved papers in she’d forgotten she was still holding.
Hwayoung covered her eyes. “I just know one thing: I am DONE with school.”
“At least you get good grades. Have you seen mine?” Yoomi closed her bag.
Hwayoung rolled over on her stomach. “Yeah… I guess,” she shrugged. A smile spread across her face and she punched Yoomi’s arm. “Well you barely do your homework, but it got worse after you and Kwangmin!” She shook her head and looked toward the main doors.
Yoomi opened in protest, but Hwayoung interrupted her. “Speak of the devil!” She waved to the doors. Yoomi followed Hwayoung’s line of sight and spotted Kwangmin shyly waving back.
Yoomi stood up quickly and helped Hwayoung up just as he approached them. “Are you ready?” he asked Yoomi.
“Yeah,” she grinned.
Hwayoung winked at Yoomi. “See you later!” She spun around and walked in the opposite direction.
“Bye Hwayoung!” Yoomi waved. She turned her attention to Kwangmin once Hwayoung’s swinging ponytail disappeared down the next street. “How are you?”
“Are you going to work today?” he asked abruptly.
She furrowed her brow. “No, I get a day off today… Why?”
Kwangmin smiled. “Nothing.”
An idea popped into Yoomi’s head. “Oppa, let’s go!” She snatched Kwangmin’s hand and dragged him down the street.
“Where are we going?” Kwangmin tried to keep the laughter out of his voice.
“You’ll know when we get there!”
Her excitement energized her, her brisk walking pace quickly reaching a sprint. Kwangmin had some difficulty keeping up with her, but she didn’t notice and he didn’t care. If his lungs weren’t bursting with lack of oxygen, he’d be laughing.
Without warning, she skidded to a halt. “We’re here!” She released Kwangmin’s hand.
He nearly ran into her with his momentum. “If you ran that fast on that night,” he panted hanging his head over his knees, “I would’ve had to carry you up the hill.”
She suppressed a smile. “Stop talking and look!”
He straightened. Facing him was the beautiful water maze of lore-- there wasn’t a sign saying so but he just knew. “Do you know what this place is?” his eyes never leaving the giant hedges.
She elbowed his side. “Of course, otherwise I wouldn’t have taken you here! Let‘s try it!”
The pounding against his ribcage couldn’t be described in words so he remained silent. For as much as he believed he and Yoomi were the perfect match, now faced with the water maze, he feared for their relationship. Struggling to find words, he finally sputtered “Do you really believe in this kind of stuff?”
Yoomi’s face instantly became serious. “Yes, I’ve always believed in this one. My mom told me this is how she met my dad.” Her eyes were now dreamy. “She was playing around and they met in the middle of this maze and nine months later…” She smiled fondly. “…Yoomi Jung was born healthy.”
Kwangmin tried to ignore his heart desperately yearning to break out of his chest. Her parents met here? What if he and Yoomi didn’t? So much pressure in this.
“Please? Can we please at least try?”
He swallowed hard, then nodded hesitantly. “Okay.” Yoomi’s smile brightened and he nodded more enthusiastically. “Okay. Let’s try it out,” he said.
She jumped up and down and clapped. “I’ll start on the other side, so just go ahead and start!”
As he approached the middle of the maze, Kwangmin felt even more nervous. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he was even going to make it. He decided what he must do. Slowly he turned around and walked back the way he came. He looked over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of Yoomi walking happily toward the middle.
“I can’t do this,” he muttered. Shaking his head, he continued toward the exit. “Something is telling me this is just not going to work,” he convinced himself as he took a step outside the water maze. “I’d rather disappoint her this way instead of finding out we aren’t a match…”
He kept telling himself that as he walked home, leaving Yoomi alone in the water maze.
Youngmin’s POV
I needed fresh air to clear my mind. The last day of school and I already saw Yoomi walking away with Kwangmin. She couldn‘t keep consuming my thoughts… So I went for a walk. Somehow my feet led me to the water maze. I hadn’t been here in years. My eyes shut tightly to block the memories but they flooded me too quickly and I surrendered to them.
“Oppa, let’s try it out. I bet we will meet in the middle!” Naeun’s smile shone brighter than anything back then.
I could never say no to her. “Why not? Come on, let’s give it our best!”
We parted and entered the maze on either side.
“Oppa, we’re almost there!” Naeun squealed as she hopped around in the maze. I couldn’t help smiling. Everything she did made me smile.
“One more step. Are you ready?” I asked, surprised at the nervous tone. It never occurred to me before that maybe…
“Let’s jump together!” Naeun said. “One, two, three!“
We jumped, but hit a thin wall separating us. I bounced back while trying to hold down mixed feelings in my gut. Naeun’s face was the worst. Crumpled and spirit broken, it almost physically pained me… But strangely enough, I almost didn‘t feel disappointed. Like I expected it.
“Ayyy Naeun, this isn’t even true, it probably doesn’t work on anyone,“ I said calmly. Hopefully she would be convinced. “Let’s go, I’ll treat you to some ice cream.”
I gulped summer afternoon air and stepped inside. Reliving the memory was interesting. It was easy to lose track of time here. I walked into something and recoiled back in surprise. Staring at the ground, I realized I was in the middle of the maze. My eyes widened, I slowly looked at what--who--I wandered into.
“Y-Yoomi?”
I wouldn’t doubt at that moment her eyes were bigger than mine.
“Youngmin?! What? How? When? What?” Each question slung sharply at me, each hurt as if they cut my heart. I was still trying to wrap my head around that Yoomi was here.
She avoided my eyes and scanned around the maze.
I reached out to touch her. I needed to know if there was a wall between us. My hand barely brushed her arm before she yanked it away. “Where’s Kwangmin?” she demanded. Although her voice was harsh, a trace of a wobble was there.
I laughed. “This has to be a joke.”
Her eyes shined and her hands balled into fists. “No, you’re the joke! I was here with Kwangmin, we were supposed to meet in the middle!”
“Did you meet here already?”
“No! The person who should be talking to me right now is Kwangmin! Not YOU!” she screamed. I stepped back. She raised one of her hands and it wildly gesticulated. “Why are YOU here? Trying to ruin my PERFECT relationship with Kwangmin?!”
I put my hands up in surrender and backed away again. “When I got here I didn’t see anyone but you. Why are you blaming me?”
She blew a piece of her bangs out of her face. Her face was rigid.
“He probably got scared and left,” I said gently.
She inhaled deeply. With a heavy exhale, she wiped away a tear and her heel, leaving me alone in the middle. Was this fate or coincidence?
Co/AN: I AM A TERRIBLE PERSON I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO DO
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