𝐀𝐋𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 ‣ jjk

四十 ; andong village

day 16
11.20 am
lee haru

andong village

andong
the tiny folk village that caught my attention
while i was researching before i ran away
it's the last destination before daegu
and my legs are itching to get back to civilisation

as amazing as it had been
being wild and free and
invisible in the woods for a week
i miss being out and about
i miss the bustling streets
the busy people, the loud cars

but what i certainly do not miss
is the MISSING PERSON notice
on the lampposts and walls
with my name on it

i should've known that
i wouldn't be able to keep my name
a secret to jeongguk
if it keeps appearing in every road we turn into

we stop the car somewhere
and take our belongings

jeongguk keeps the key
with the excuse that
we would get back to it
when we're ready to move to the next destination

"it's you isn't it?" he asks
when we stop infront
of a MISSING PERSON notice

my face looks back me
and i sigh loudly
"it's me"
i glance at the name below the photo

LEE HARU written in bold letters

jeongguk stares at it for awhile
and then turns away casually
taking my hand in his
"i'm still gonna call you pinky"

before i can open my mouth to ask why
he beats me to it

"because it's cute"

i smile
thankful

we walk through the small town for awhile
seeing the traditional buildings
with beautiful carvings
and people dressed in hanbok

the town is better than i expected it to be
calm and peaceful
with very few cars
which makes the air as fresh as spring

jeongguk and i continue to walk
with no specific destination in mind
we pass a lake and he suggests we
go over the bridge
and feed food to the koi fishes

"it's going to snow soon"
he says as he throws
a handful of fish food into the lake
the fishes rush to the surface
and the food disappears instantly

i didn't realise that we are already
in early november
the exact time that the snow would fall
if i recall correctly
there was something about snow
on my list

the first snow
i'm just going to have to be there when it falls

i lean over the railings of the bridge
emptying the last of the fish food
from the tiny plastic packet

"won't the lake freeze up?"
i wonder where the fishes will go

jeongguk smiles
"they're gonna be somewhere at the bottom
until winter ends"

"really?"

"they'll know what to do"

we spend the next hour walking around andong
and catching the glances of passerbys
but none of them look like
they recognise us
which is a plus one

"i've always wanted to try something though"
jeongguk suddenly says
when we stop infront of what looks like
a tradisional boutique

"hanbok?" i raise an eyebrow

he nods and before i can respond anymore
he pulls me by the arm into the store

we come out later
dressed in matching pink hanboks
one that he had personally picked out
and said that it suited me

making my heart flutter yet again

he tells me to walk around in it for the whole day
since everyone else is doing the same

i'm hesitant at first
the dress might've been a little too long
because it starts to sweep against the
rough cement ground

but when i see the excited expression on his face
he reminds me of a child
a happy, innocent child
with no worry in the world
and i don't want to ruin that

so when he asks me to walk with him
around town for the rest of the day
in our matching hanboks
i say yes without a second thought

[For those of you who are wondering what Andong's Folk Village looks like]