Words Collide

4 - Summer's Scent

14 years ago in Busan...

"Seri, can you just relax?" Seo Dan chastised her best friend. "Your future won't go to waste just because you're not cooking something for a day."

Seri rolled her eyes. "You know I'm not good in large crowds! Why couldn't you just take me to a restaurant as a going away present?"

"So you can critique the food and ruin the entire experience again? I don't think so," Dan huffed indignantly. "Again. Relax. You'll like it here. Everyone's just jamming."

Jamming. Seri couldn't remember the last time she jammed.

What compelled Dan to take her here she'd never know. Seri didn't even like rock, she was more of a classical gal. Rock was too... noisy. And angry. Sometimes. Maybe all the time.

Ugh, she definitely was starting to sound very pretentious.

Dan and another girlfriend, Hye Ji shoved a beer in front of her and she took it without hesitation, feeling she may need the buzz to loosen her death grip on her relentless anxiety.

Dusk crept into the horizon by the time Seri formed another thought and she was starting to enjoy her time a little bit more. She smiled at her friends, who were 'jamming' it and dancing to the beat of the music being played.

"Seri, come and dance with us!" Dan exclaimed with Hye Ji as they held each other's hands and moved their hips in a rolling rhythm.

Dressed in matching white crop tops and blue shorts with their hair in double French braids, the two looked like they've bounced back to their preteens.

Tall and willowy and whom Seri knew since primary school, Dan was the model friend in their group. She had signed on with an agency about a year ago and has appeared in a few fashion photoshoots already.

Originally a law student, Dan was currently trying to do both simultaneously, but her personality wouldn't manage well as a lawyer. Dan's affinity to not take anyone's bullshit scared the living daylights out of most people; she surely would not be able to retain clients.

Do Hye Ji was a nurse in training, as bubbly as a child on sugar high and didn't know how to filter herself in public, making her hilarious and embarrassing to be out with. Though the oldest out of the three, her baby face had her constantly mistaken for the youngest.

It was amazing how such different personalities could come together and become close friends. Seri is going to miss them once she moves to Paris, where she will be living for a couple of years.

Waving at her friends, Seri pointed backward, indicating her intentions to break off and take a pause from the crowd. They shot her funny faces but returned to their dancing.

Shaking her head, she weaved through the massive horde that seemed to grow thicker and thicker as she passed. The music from behind her, which was blasting around her for a few hours now, was slowly fading as she traipsed further and further away from the group.

Finally able to see more grass than feet on the ground, she blew out a breath of relief when she could hear herself think.

Fifteen more meters and the sounds from the far distance became tolerable background noises. Spotting what looked to be a torn down stage platform cast to the side, she eagerly walked towards it and quickly planted her bottom against the surface, resting her legs.

The warm air was surprisingly tolerable for what was supposed to be one of the hottest summers in years. In fact, she'd gotten some shivers from gusts of breezes from the approaching night.

As she watched the throng of people enjoying their evening moving along with the music, she didn't notice a figure coming until the rattle of footsteps against the grass.