✓ nostalgia | jungwon

chapter 01.

nostalgia, one.
❛ the normal rate of things ❜

"Happy birthday, Jungwon!"

     The boy stopped midway down the stairs, a smile stretching across his face as he spotted the decorations all around the house. Adjusting the backpack on his shoulder, he rushed down to thank his parents. They did this every year.

     They were standing behind the kitchen island, and Jungwon tossed his bag on the floor as he took a seat. On the table was a delicious plate of tteokbokki.

     "My son's seventeen now." His mom smiled as he excitedly prepare to eat the homemade dish. "You know what happens when you turn seventeen."

     "Mom." Jungwon sighed, picking up a set of chopsticks.

     She laughed when he sent her a glare. "I'm kidding."

     His dad raised an eyebrow. "What's the big deal? You never know, right?"

     "I don't like made-up stories." Jungwon shrugged. "And that one's just stupid."

     "Hey, don't say that. Your soulmate might hear you," his dad joked.

     Jungwon groaned, eyes closing in frustration. He was trying to eat his tteokbokki in peace. Just then, his phone chimed. It was a text from one of his friends.

heeseung
hey happy bday man
also wya? I told you to get here early today

     Jungwon nearly choked on his rice cake, scrambling to check the time— 7:25 am. He'd signed up to help out at some assembly event last month, and if he wasn't in school within the next five minutes, he'd miss the trip there.

     It was a fifteen-minute bus ride from his house to his high school.

     "I have to go," Jungwon declared, taking one last bite of tteokbokki before scooping his backpack up. "Thank you for the food!"

     "Oh okay, well. Don't forget about-" He was out the front door before his mom could say more. "-the dinner later."

     Jungwon jogged towards the bus stop, which was conveniently near home. It had one pick-up point and one destination, Sanheoli High School, which he'd been attending for the last two years. Boarding the vehicle, he took a seat at the back row and opened his phone to text Heeseung back.

jungwon
on my way but there's a traffic jam sorry

     He winced after hitting send, wishing he'd come up with a better lie. There was little to no traffic at all in Jeju, especially on this side of island. Leaning his head on the window, he looked out. The sun was shining and the sky was clear, despite the chilly February temperature.

     The same sun was shining on another house in the next neighborhood, where a similar scene was taking place.

     "Happy birthday, Yebin!"

     The girl only buried her head into her pillow, still half-asleep. "Happy birthday, guys."

     "Yah!" Yeori exclaimed, pulling her older sister's blanket away to reveal a drowsy Yebin.

     Blindly reaching for her blanket, Yebin put all her weight on one arm and ended up tumbling down the side of the bed, jolting awake when she hit the floor.

     Her parents grimaced, her grandmother raised her eyebrows, and her sister stifled a laugh.

     "It's time to get ready for school, dear." Her mom smiled.

     "Yeah, you need to look good when you meet your soulmate." Yeori wiggled her eyebrows. "Because he's going to run away from you if you show up looking like that."

     "Yeori."

     The fourteen-year old shrugged unapologetically at her mother's warning.

     After a quick family picture with Yebin's disheveled appearance, she was left to prepare for school. Within several hurried minutes, she was in her uniform and heading downstairs for breakfast, bag slung around her shoulder.

     Her parents had said goodbye earlier, heading to work with Yeori, who still went to the middle school on the other side of town. The only person left in the house was her grandmother, who Yebin had always been close to, much to her mother's dismay.

     In her younger years, Yebin wasn't allowed to spend too much time with her grandmother. Her mother thought she'd be influenced by the old lady's strange tales and loony sayings.

     Yebin didn't listen to her mom, finding her grandmother's presence comforting. She'd listen to her stories, but that didn't mean she believed them. Even she had to admit they were rather iffy sometimes.

     "Good morning, Halmeoni!"

     "The little troll's finally awake," her grandmother mused, causing Yebin to roll her eyes with a smile as she set their two plates of radish strip kimchi on the table.

     "I'm not a little troll," she said.

     Her grandmother hummed, slowly taking the plate. "You looked like one earlier."

     The two exchanged a few more words after that, animated stories about school and random contemporary issues. But, when the conversation steered back to Yebin's birthday, she knew what was coming next.

     "You know what's going to happen after you make your wish at the dinner tonight," her grandmother pondered. "Ah, I can't wait for everything to unravel."

     "Halmeoni, you're talking nonsense again. I think you're still sleepy." Yebin sighed.

     "I'm not the one who fell off her bed this morning."

     "Okay, okay. I have to get to school now." Yebin laughed as she stood up to give her grandmother a short hug. The elderly woman only nodded, making a shooing motion with her hand.

     Yebin made her way out the front door, plugging her earphones in as she began her walk to the bus stop. She smiled to herself as she opened her phone, seeing a few birthday messages from her friends.

     Greeting the bus driver as she boarded, the girl made her way to the back of the vehicle just as it started to move, and she was off to Haean High School.

     From a bird's-eye view, one would have seen the two buses on parallel roads. And if they zoomed in, they'd see two birthday celebrants with their eyes both glued to their phones.

     But the two bus lines ran on one-way streets that went in opposite directions, picking up their respective groups of people for the last decade or so. With different stops and destinations, it was highly unlikely for its passengers to cross paths. At the normal rate of things, at least.