Post by Kang Hye-Rin on Apr 16, 2019 3:29:26 GMT -4
This was it, wasn't it?
Held in the small hand of Hye-Rin were five tickets- printed with the names of the same five individuals she'd take with her along this trip. With Spring break finally upon them and her bank account near emptied, a bright smile curled at her lips as she stared down at them with watery eyes. The body she'd nearly broken had yet to recover, yet the only thing she could think of was home.
Not the bed waiting for her in her dormitory, or the warmth of a red hoodie. But home- the smell of tangerines and the sea mixed into one strange scent, a bright blue ocean, and bittersweet memories. Jeju was far from where she was now, but the sights stayed fresh in her mind. At least, they had. It was this hunger to see them again that compelled her to give in applications to jobs she didn't want. The desire to hear her native tongue spoken again in passing, or the comfort food she used to gorge herself with often- it was the reason she worked herself sick.
In truth, her father had always planned on taking the both of them back to South Korea for the break. After all, little tied them to Japan other than Hye-Rin's studies, so money hadn't been the problem. The eagerness to take a small group of friends with her, however, was the reason that the Korean continued to push herself out of bed each morning. Past the perverted remarks she'd receive from patrons at the maid cafe and the bruises she near constantly came home with from her own clumsiness were never enough to break her spirit. Not even when she was sick in a familiar bed with a fever that refused to break did she, too, refuse to break.
And, it was now, when she dashed through the streets of Musatafu that she let herself cry. The tears dragged across her cheeks as she ran, passerby's giving odd looks to her. One hand clutched the tickets tightly to her chest while the other typed desperately into the chatroom for her friends. Wait for me, Jeju, she thought. Wait for me just for a little while longer.
The tears were long gone by the time she'd made it from the train station to the boy's dormitory, legs aching from a sprint that drew on much longer than it should have. Saito was first, always first, with a proud smile that made his eyes sparkle. Eli came afterward, and he just about filled in the cracks with the others. Though, the time frame they had to complete their packing was a real mood-killer.
The ten minute deadline was used wisely, thankfully, and no one was left at the gates of U.A.. Her father's van was cozy enough to accommodate for the many suitcases and duffel-bags, along with the six that would come along for what would hopefully turn into a pleasant vacation- Kang Doyoung and Hye-Rin, Yamada Saito, Fujioka Charlie, Eli Bantis, and Melody Miro. Hotel rooms were already booked for eight days and nine nights, and the flower pot held a small notebook in her hand of everything she wanted to do in their time there. Hiking, picking tangerines at an orchard, and hanbok rental were all listed, along with a few more activities scribbled down in rushed Korean.
Even now, as the six sat back for a long drive to the airport in Tokyo- Charlie at shotgun, Eli and Melody cozy in the very back seat while Saito and herself sat just in front of them- Hye-Rin couldn't help but smile down at her notebook with a pen in hand,"I think we could eat at Ujin Haejangguk if we wanted to! It's this cute little hole-in-the-wall place with the best soup!" Life had been breathed back into the flower on this day in Spring, and her honey-coated words made her father in the front seat smile to himself,"Appa! Do you think Hwaro Hyang still has their Tuesday Dinner special?! We could go there instead! They've never tried black pork, Appa! Never!" Jotting down the restaurant names in her flowery handwriting, Hye-Rin beamed all the while. There were so many things she wished to share with her friends that her heart was ready to burst, and she'd look back at the passengers behind her with eyes that shined of amber,"Melody-chan, you went to Korea before, right? Did you visit Seoul?!" The Korean would smile and nod happily to whatever the answer was, happiness boiling over as she settled back into her seat to look up at Saito.
What was that look? That dorky smile that moved to match her eyes with flowers dotting the apples of her cheeks. It was a warmth that filled her chest that lent him that look, as if she was looking at Korea but all that sat in it's place was a tired teenager,"Thank you for coming." The warmth burst into a song made just for him, said just to him, and a glare through the rear-view mirror from Hye-Rin's father would be given to the boy in response.
"Oh!" The chatroom came to mind, and she reached for the phone in her purse to check in on the odd bunch. The turn of the school year meant new and friendly faces, and Hye-Rin was more than determined to set an example as an upperclassman. A smile would be curved at her lips as she texted happily, the outside world moving past the car as the driver opened his lips for the first time to speak,"You are... all her friends?" Doyoung's voice was low and gruff- the voice one would expect coming from such a large man. Though, his words were that of a gentle giant's. His daughter was a lonely child, and it carried with her to secondary school as well. Seeing Hye-Rin cry was never easy on his heart, but there was never an ounce of spite in the child. She always excused the bullies, excused the way she was treated.
Not because of her naivety, but because of her will to see good in everyone except herself. That's why, when the words of this 'Hikaru' appeared on her screen and her smile slowly faded from her face, she didn't blame him. All of the confidence this rag-tag group of misfits had instilled into Hye-Rin after so many troublesome years of hating herself came crumbling down like a sandcastle in a windstorm, and she could only stare blankly at the word reading it over and over.
Disgusting.
The beginning of their peaceful vacation away from the bustling city was proving to be a rocky one, and they'd only barely just started on the road.
Held in the small hand of Hye-Rin were five tickets- printed with the names of the same five individuals she'd take with her along this trip. With Spring break finally upon them and her bank account near emptied, a bright smile curled at her lips as she stared down at them with watery eyes. The body she'd nearly broken had yet to recover, yet the only thing she could think of was home.
Not the bed waiting for her in her dormitory, or the warmth of a red hoodie. But home- the smell of tangerines and the sea mixed into one strange scent, a bright blue ocean, and bittersweet memories. Jeju was far from where she was now, but the sights stayed fresh in her mind. At least, they had. It was this hunger to see them again that compelled her to give in applications to jobs she didn't want. The desire to hear her native tongue spoken again in passing, or the comfort food she used to gorge herself with often- it was the reason she worked herself sick.
In truth, her father had always planned on taking the both of them back to South Korea for the break. After all, little tied them to Japan other than Hye-Rin's studies, so money hadn't been the problem. The eagerness to take a small group of friends with her, however, was the reason that the Korean continued to push herself out of bed each morning. Past the perverted remarks she'd receive from patrons at the maid cafe and the bruises she near constantly came home with from her own clumsiness were never enough to break her spirit. Not even when she was sick in a familiar bed with a fever that refused to break did she, too, refuse to break.
And, it was now, when she dashed through the streets of Musatafu that she let herself cry. The tears dragged across her cheeks as she ran, passerby's giving odd looks to her. One hand clutched the tickets tightly to her chest while the other typed desperately into the chatroom for her friends. Wait for me, Jeju, she thought. Wait for me just for a little while longer.
The tears were long gone by the time she'd made it from the train station to the boy's dormitory, legs aching from a sprint that drew on much longer than it should have. Saito was first, always first, with a proud smile that made his eyes sparkle. Eli came afterward, and he just about filled in the cracks with the others. Though, the time frame they had to complete their packing was a real mood-killer.
The ten minute deadline was used wisely, thankfully, and no one was left at the gates of U.A.. Her father's van was cozy enough to accommodate for the many suitcases and duffel-bags, along with the six that would come along for what would hopefully turn into a pleasant vacation- Kang Doyoung and Hye-Rin, Yamada Saito, Fujioka Charlie, Eli Bantis, and Melody Miro. Hotel rooms were already booked for eight days and nine nights, and the flower pot held a small notebook in her hand of everything she wanted to do in their time there. Hiking, picking tangerines at an orchard, and hanbok rental were all listed, along with a few more activities scribbled down in rushed Korean.
Even now, as the six sat back for a long drive to the airport in Tokyo- Charlie at shotgun, Eli and Melody cozy in the very back seat while Saito and herself sat just in front of them- Hye-Rin couldn't help but smile down at her notebook with a pen in hand,"I think we could eat at Ujin Haejangguk if we wanted to! It's this cute little hole-in-the-wall place with the best soup!" Life had been breathed back into the flower on this day in Spring, and her honey-coated words made her father in the front seat smile to himself,"Appa! Do you think Hwaro Hyang still has their Tuesday Dinner special?! We could go there instead! They've never tried black pork, Appa! Never!" Jotting down the restaurant names in her flowery handwriting, Hye-Rin beamed all the while. There were so many things she wished to share with her friends that her heart was ready to burst, and she'd look back at the passengers behind her with eyes that shined of amber,"Melody-chan, you went to Korea before, right? Did you visit Seoul?!" The Korean would smile and nod happily to whatever the answer was, happiness boiling over as she settled back into her seat to look up at Saito.
What was that look? That dorky smile that moved to match her eyes with flowers dotting the apples of her cheeks. It was a warmth that filled her chest that lent him that look, as if she was looking at Korea but all that sat in it's place was a tired teenager,"Thank you for coming." The warmth burst into a song made just for him, said just to him, and a glare through the rear-view mirror from Hye-Rin's father would be given to the boy in response.
"Oh!" The chatroom came to mind, and she reached for the phone in her purse to check in on the odd bunch. The turn of the school year meant new and friendly faces, and Hye-Rin was more than determined to set an example as an upperclassman. A smile would be curved at her lips as she texted happily, the outside world moving past the car as the driver opened his lips for the first time to speak,"You are... all her friends?" Doyoung's voice was low and gruff- the voice one would expect coming from such a large man. Though, his words were that of a gentle giant's. His daughter was a lonely child, and it carried with her to secondary school as well. Seeing Hye-Rin cry was never easy on his heart, but there was never an ounce of spite in the child. She always excused the bullies, excused the way she was treated.
Not because of her naivety, but because of her will to see good in everyone except herself. That's why, when the words of this 'Hikaru' appeared on her screen and her smile slowly faded from her face, she didn't blame him. All of the confidence this rag-tag group of misfits had instilled into Hye-Rin after so many troublesome years of hating herself came crumbling down like a sandcastle in a windstorm, and she could only stare blankly at the word reading it over and over.
Disgusting.
The beginning of their peaceful vacation away from the bustling city was proving to be a rocky one, and they'd only barely just started on the road.
