00 We Were Jjang Back Then
All These Years
2012; JUNG EUNJI
People called us "Jjang Street Gang".
Not because we were jjang (well we were pretty awesome back then, but that's not why we were called it) but because we lived on Jjang Street. All nine of us literally lived on a street named Jjang.
Chorong and I were the only girls in the group. The reason being that we didn't have many female friends. Truthfully, I feel more comfortable around guys than girls. Guys are simple, and girls are just so...complicated.
I'm not a tomboy or anything, but I wouldn't exactly call myself girly either. When I was in the second year of middle school, I stopped wearing skirts and dresses (excluding the school uniform, of course) for one whole year to prove a point. I eventually realised I was just being silly.
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The three years I spent in high school were the best three years of my life—even though I didn't appreciate my life as a high schooler at the time. The fun times my Jjang Street Gang friends and I had have become my most precious memories.
Ten years have passed since we graduated from high school. If I had one wish, it would be to revisit those three years of my life. And if I had another, I would wish that those three years would remain on endless loop. That's just how much I miss my Jjang Street Gang.
If I had written down and recorded every adventure the nine of us had together, the pages would probably be sufficient to become a book series.
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To say Jjang Street Gang were like nine peas in a pot would be an understatement. We were closer than that. I was especially close to Woohyun and Hoya. I trusted those two with my life—and I cherished my life very dearly. Even my bros-before-hoes friendship with Chorong couldn't compare to the special bond I had with those two.
I remember the first day I walked into Yeoju High School. The only Jjang Street Gang member that I was close to at the time was Woohyun. We have literally known each other since birth—Woohyun's mother actually brought infant him to the hospital to visit my mother the day she gave birth to me. Even though we lived on the same street practically all our lives, I never interacted much with the rest of Jjang Street Gang before that. Before high school, we were just casual neighbours that greeted each other when we crossed paths. But we somehow managed to come together and have been inseperable ever since—up till the day of our graduation.
Hoya was an extra addition to Jjang Street Gang. Yes, we were once Jjang Street Gang with eight members. The Busan boy moved to Yeoju halfway through the first semester of the first year of high school. I became his first friend because I was the only one who could actually understand what he was saying (my father was from Busan so he taught me Busan dialect). In no time, Hoya and I became the best of friends. He was a great friend and person in general; smart, athletic, good-looking, kind, and not to mention the most amazing dancer—he was the whole package. It's hard to believe I didn't fall for the guy instantly.
But of course the sixteen-year-old me at that time had the hugest crush on the golden boy in Yeoju High School. His name was Son Dongwoon. He was definitely eye candy, but he was a bastard. O ops , did I just say that? And I had to learn that the hard way. I will never forget how I shed my precious tears on that scumbag of a person.
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This must be a lot for you take in, huh? Let's slow down then, and I'll start from how all this began—twelve years ago in a small house on Jjang Street, Yeoju.
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