2016 Seongbuk-dong.
The car didn't stop immediately.
The sun was down, and the place was almost pitch black. Rain tapped the windows in a rhythm that felt like counting down to something. The car rolled slowly past the gates, headlights cutting through the quiet like they didn't belong there. Lonely. Too still. Too careful.
Finally, the car paused at a black gate on a nostalgic-looking street.
A middle-aged woman stepped out, short hair, short and chubby, the kind of aggressively funny Asian mother from dramas. She pulled open the backseat door.
"Ji-ya! Soo-ji-ya! Lee Soo-ji!"
She tapped her daughter until her eyes fluttered open. They were swollen. Not just from last night's fight, but from the one before that, the one where her mother had broken the news about their return. She'd been crying until she slept off in the car.
"Mother," she murmured, sitting up. Hair stuck to her face, tangled.
"Get up. We're here," Mrs. Lee said. No warmth. Just fact.
"I don't want to."
"We've spoken about this. Nothing you say is going to change it."
"Mother!" A masculine voice broke through.
A young lad walked toward them, an easy smile played on his face. Seo-jun, the elegant favorite kid of the house, a walking mathematical equation, the brain box, resurrected Albert Einstein.
"Mother, when did you two get here?" He looked down at Soo-ji. "Hey. Are you blind now? That's how you greet your elder brother?"
She rolled her eyes ignoring him completely.
"How far with the arrangements?" Mrs. Lee asked.
"All done. Got some friends to help clean and arrange." He puffed up with pride.
She ruffled his hair. "You're the best."
Soo-ji stepped down from the car. Rain touched her face immediately but she didn't flinch.
"I'm stepping out for a while."
"Don't stay out too long. Come back before dinner," Seo-jun said almost scoldingly.
"Mind your business."
"Ji-ya." Her mother's voice went quiet. Not loud. Quiet was worse. "If you think of doing anything stupid, know that I will come to the afterlife and kill you again. Do you understand?"
Soo-ji almost smiled. Almost. "Yes, mother."
She walked away into the rain.
---
The streets of Seongbuk-dong hadn't changed. Neither had the ache in her chest not until she saw it.
The bookstore.
Golden-lit, warm, exactly as she remembered. Her chest unlocked. She hadn't realized she was holding her breath until the light hit her face. She rushed in without thinking.
"Welcome to Chaegigessji. We're closing soon, though," the owner said, focused on his shelf.
"Samchon!"
He turned. Puzzled. Then his face exploded into recognition. "Soo-ji?"
"Samchon!" She laughed. "No — Han Samchon Chaek-chaek! You still remember me!"
"What is this? When did you return? Please, sit."
She sat still smiling. "I'd have been so disappointed if I didn't find you here."
"Lee Soo-ji, you've grown so much. Really."
"And you haven't aged a bit."
He smiled and pulled a lotion from his drawer. "Ultimate Illiyoon."
"Wow." She nodded, grinning for the first time in weeks.
"When did you come back?"
"Today. We're back in Seongbuk-dong." She exhaled, part sigh, part surrender.
He patted her hand. "Don't feel down, Ji-ji. Now that you're back, samchon Chaek-chaek will flood you with new books every single day."
She chuckled. "Thank you, samchon." A pause. "Is there anything new?"
He smirked. "There's always something new." Pause. "Noblesse."
Her eyes shot up. "No way. I've been trying to get my hands on that for months."
"Plus, I have it in Korean. Only store in Seongbuk-dong with that edition." He dusted off his shoulders, playful.
"You're amazing."
"I know. Oh, one problem, there's a guy inside reading it. He should be done in a few minutes."
"It's fine. I can wait. Can I go inside?"
"Of course."
---
She walked into the reading space. Her eyes drifted across the room until they landed on him.
Legs crossed. Glasses. Casual clothes. Hair falling over his face, damp at the ends, he'd been out in the rain too. Headphones in. He didn't look like autumn. He looked like the kind of rainy afternoon you don't mind getting soaked in.
She approached. Tapped his shoulder softly.
"Excuse me."
He turned. Looked at her face, then down to where her finger had touched his sleeve. His expression flickered, annoyance, yes, but something else. Something almost like disgust. Then he did something worse than disgust: he looked away first.
He dusted off his sleeve where she'd touched him. Picked up his things. Walked past her without a word, dropped the book at the counter, and left.
The door chimed. Rain swallowed him.
Soo-ji stood there, frozen. Her face burned.
She couldn't explain what just happened. But her stomach could.
"Ignore him. He's always like that." Jae-woo appeared beside her with a fresh plate of ramen. "I know you haven't eaten yet. Eat up and go home before your mom worries."
She took the plate "thank you" Stared at the door.
"What a total bitch," she muttered.
Then she slurped her ramen, angry and hungry and something else she wouldn't name.
Tomorrow, she decided. I'm coming back tomorrow.
She was ready and in for a fight, finally something to battle with after returning without her consent.