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i.
similitude
hyunjin & yeji
his, hers
When Hyunjin wakes up, it’s already close to afternoon. He’s already poured cereals into the bowl when he realizes they’re out of milk. The fridge is kind of bare. He’s supposed to go for a grocery run yesterday, but it had been raining, and the supermarket is kind of far.
He grabs his bowls and goes to sit on the left side of the couch, looking out at their wet yard. Yeji is sitting on the other end, remote control in her hand. “Is that breakfast or lunch?” she asks.
“Snack,” he says, popping a handful of cereals into his mouth. It’s the pillow shaped kind with a chocolate center. His favourite kind. Yeji prefers the puffed rice type of cereals, so their mum always gets both. “It’s still raining.”
“Yeah. i thought it would stop last night, but it didn’t. I woke up shivering,” says Yeji.
“What if it floods?” he asks. “We don’t have food.”
She chuckles. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
He turns to her. Her hair is still wet on the ends, dripping onto her t-shirt. “Then what should I be worried about?”
“How mum and dad would come home?”
“Right.” He munches slowly. She’s watching a home renovation program. Something about watching an old, abandoned house being transformed into a warm and cozy home calms her, she said once. He prefers dramas. She laughed and called him a housewife when he told her that. “Maybe it will stop raining in the evening. It can’t continue that long, right?”
“What if it doesn’t stop? What if it floods?” she asks, raising her brows at him. People always tell them they have identical eyes. When they were eight, the boy she liked told her that he liked girls with double eyelids, and when she came home she told Hyunjin she wished she didn’t have his eyes. “What are we gonna eat?”
“I have Ottogi ramen in my bag. I’ll be a nice oppa and share with you,” he says, grinning.
She throws a pillow at him, but it misses. She’s the best at aiming. “You should have gone for that grocery run yesterday.”
He turns to the yard again and pops another handful of cereals into his mouth. “Yeah.”
The rain doesn’t stop that evening, but it doesn’t seem like it will flood. Hyunjin slips into his blue hoodie and cycles to the supermarket anyway.
He forgets the grocery list on the fridge door and comes home with two boxes of cereals, three tubs of milk, a pack of Ottogi ramen and Yeji’s favourite Melona ice-cream. It’s all melted by the time he reaches home, even though he’s already cycled as fast as he could.
“Hwang Hyunjin, you’re an idiot,” Yeji tells him as he downs almost the entire jug of water. He’s soaking wet because his raincoat ripped when he was trying to take it off at the supermarket, and the milk tubs were so heavy.
“I’m a genius. I bought survival food,” he replies. ”I even bought your favourite cereal.”
She laughs at him, eyes crinkling up into crescent moons. The day after she told Hyunjin she hated her eyes, he took the boy’s expensive mechanical pencil and threw it out, then he got punished by their homeroom teacher. Yeji told him he was an idiot and cried. He cried with her. “You’re seriously an idiot.”
“Don’t say that. Who knows? We might have identical brains too.”
“Shut up! I will seriously hate you if we do,” she says while pouring hot water into the mug and stirring the hot chocolate mix. His favourite kind.
once in a long, long while
nayeon/seungcheol
some things remain unchanged
That evening, Nayeon finds him sitting by himself at the beach in front of a small fire.
“Didn’t you know that it’s illegal to make a fire here?” she asks.
Seungcheol doesn’t look startled by her sudden question. He probably heard her coming. “You can report me if you want,” he says without looking at her.
“I won’t,” she tells him, then crouches down next to him. He’s just staring blankly into the fire while hugging his knees, like he’s thinking everything and nothing all at the same time. “Everyone is looking for you.”
“I know,” he says.
“Your mum’s really worried about you, you know. She called me when I was on my date and asked me if I’d seen you.”
He finally raises his head and turns to look at her. “Oh, your date was today. I forgot about it,” he says, sounding apologetic. Seungcheol has this certain look on his face when he feels bad about something. “How did it go? Wait, did my mum interrupt your date?”
Nayeon shakes her head. “Actually I was getting bored. We went to the aquarium and sat down at the cafe afterwards. We ran out of things to talk. Your mum’s phone call actually saved me, so I had an excuse to leave.”
“But you’ve liked Park Jinyoung for a long time.”
She gives him a shrug, staring off at the sea ahead of them. “Yeah, but liking someone doesn’t mean you’ll automatically click with them.”
The sun is already halfway down into the horizon, and the orange glow it casts off on Seungcheol’s face makes him look a lot younger somehow. Maybe it’s the tan. Both of them spent pretty much everyday here at the beach this summer, and thinking about it again now, Nayeon almost can’t remember spending time elsewhere. It’s like you can almost always find them here, just sitting around or walking along the shore with Seungcheol’s dog.
And now it’s just the two of them.
Nayeon turns to him. “Did she... go well?” she asks carefully.
“Yeah. It didn’t look like she was in pain,” he says. “I hope she wasn’t in pain.”
His dog has been sick for a long time, yet for some reason she was healthy enough to go on walks with them this summer. Seungcheol’s mum called it a miracle. “She’s probably happy to see you,” she said to Nayeon, the first day she came over after coming back to this town. Nayeon smiled at her, front teeth peeking out behind her lips. Some things remain unchanged no matter how much you grow.
The crackling of the burning wood in front of them mingled with the sound of the waves. The sun can’t be seen anymore, and the sky is darkening so quickly. It feels like everything is leaving all at once. Summer, too, has turned its back on them, and soon she has to leave as well.
“I’m sorry about your date,” Seungcheol tells her.
“It’s okay,” she replies. The ocean continues to roll itself towards the shore. Some things remain unchanged, she thinks. “I’m sorry about your dog.”
“It’s okay,” he says, then looks over to her. “Thanks for coming back here, Nayeon.”
hyunjin & yeji
his, hers
When Hyunjin wakes up, it’s already close to afternoon. He’s already poured cereals into the bowl when he realizes they’re out of milk. The fridge is kind of bare. He’s supposed to go for a grocery run yesterday, but it had been raining, and the supermarket is kind of far.
He grabs his bowls and goes to sit on the left side of the couch, looking out at their wet yard. Yeji is sitting on the other end, remote control in her hand. “Is that breakfast or lunch?” she asks.
“Snack,” he says, popping a handful of cereals into his mouth. It’s the pillow shaped kind with a chocolate center. His favourite kind. Yeji prefers the puffed rice type of cereals, so their mum always gets both. “It’s still raining.”
“Yeah. i thought it would stop last night, but it didn’t. I woke up shivering,” says Yeji.
“What if it floods?” he asks. “We don’t have food.”
She chuckles. “That’s what you’re worried about?”
He turns to her. Her hair is still wet on the ends, dripping onto her t-shirt. “Then what should I be worried about?”
“How mum and dad would come home?”
“Right.” He munches slowly. She’s watching a home renovation program. Something about watching an old, abandoned house being transformed into a warm and cozy home calms her, she said once. He prefers dramas. She laughed and called him a housewife when he told her that. “Maybe it will stop raining in the evening. It can’t continue that long, right?”
“What if it doesn’t stop? What if it floods?” she asks, raising her brows at him. People always tell them they have identical eyes. When they were eight, the boy she liked told her that he liked girls with double eyelids, and when she came home she told Hyunjin she wished she didn’t have his eyes. “What are we gonna eat?”
“I have Ottogi ramen in my bag. I’ll be a nice oppa and share with you,” he says, grinning.
She throws a pillow at him, but it misses. She’s the best at aiming. “You should have gone for that grocery run yesterday.”
He turns to the yard again and pops another handful of cereals into his mouth. “Yeah.”
The rain doesn’t stop that evening, but it doesn’t seem like it will flood. Hyunjin slips into his blue hoodie and cycles to the supermarket anyway.
He forgets the grocery list on the fridge door and comes home with two boxes of cereals, three tubs of milk, a pack of Ottogi ramen and Yeji’s favourite Melona ice-cream. It’s all melted by the time he reaches home, even though he’s already cycled as fast as he could.
“Hwang Hyunjin, you’re an idiot,” Yeji tells him as he downs almost the entire jug of water. He’s soaking wet because his raincoat ripped when he was trying to take it off at the supermarket, and the milk tubs were so heavy.
“I’m a genius. I bought survival food,” he replies. ”I even bought your favourite cereal.”
She laughs at him, eyes crinkling up into crescent moons. The day after she told Hyunjin she hated her eyes, he took the boy’s expensive mechanical pencil and threw it out, then he got punished by their homeroom teacher. Yeji told him he was an idiot and cried. He cried with her. “You’re seriously an idiot.”
“Don’t say that. Who knows? We might have identical brains too.”
“Shut up! I will seriously hate you if we do,” she says while pouring hot water into the mug and stirring the hot chocolate mix. His favourite kind.
once in a long, long while
nayeon/seungcheol
some things remain unchanged
That evening, Nayeon finds him sitting by himself at the beach in front of a small fire.
“Didn’t you know that it’s illegal to make a fire here?” she asks.
Seungcheol doesn’t look startled by her sudden question. He probably heard her coming. “You can report me if you want,” he says without looking at her.
“I won’t,” she tells him, then crouches down next to him. He’s just staring blankly into the fire while hugging his knees, like he’s thinking everything and nothing all at the same time. “Everyone is looking for you.”
“I know,” he says.
“Your mum’s really worried about you, you know. She called me when I was on my date and asked me if I’d seen you.”
He finally raises his head and turns to look at her. “Oh, your date was today. I forgot about it,” he says, sounding apologetic. Seungcheol has this certain look on his face when he feels bad about something. “How did it go? Wait, did my mum interrupt your date?”
Nayeon shakes her head. “Actually I was getting bored. We went to the aquarium and sat down at the cafe afterwards. We ran out of things to talk. Your mum’s phone call actually saved me, so I had an excuse to leave.”
“But you’ve liked Park Jinyoung for a long time.”
She gives him a shrug, staring off at the sea ahead of them. “Yeah, but liking someone doesn’t mean you’ll automatically click with them.”
The sun is already halfway down into the horizon, and the orange glow it casts off on Seungcheol’s face makes him look a lot younger somehow. Maybe it’s the tan. Both of them spent pretty much everyday here at the beach this summer, and thinking about it again now, Nayeon almost can’t remember spending time elsewhere. It’s like you can almost always find them here, just sitting around or walking along the shore with Seungcheol’s dog.
And now it’s just the two of them.
Nayeon turns to him. “Did she... go well?” she asks carefully.
“Yeah. It didn’t look like she was in pain,” he says. “I hope she wasn’t in pain.”
His dog has been sick for a long time, yet for some reason she was healthy enough to go on walks with them this summer. Seungcheol’s mum called it a miracle. “She’s probably happy to see you,” she said to Nayeon, the first day she came over after coming back to this town. Nayeon smiled at her, front teeth peeking out behind her lips. Some things remain unchanged no matter how much you grow.
The crackling of the burning wood in front of them mingled with the sound of the waves. The sun can’t be seen anymore, and the sky is darkening so quickly. It feels like everything is leaving all at once. Summer, too, has turned its back on them, and soon she has to leave as well.
“I’m sorry about your date,” Seungcheol tells her.
“It’s okay,” she replies. The ocean continues to roll itself towards the shore. Some things remain unchanged, she thinks. “I’m sorry about your dog.”
“It’s okay,” he says, then looks over to her. “Thanks for coming back here, Nayeon.”