WHERE THE SEA SLEEPS

MOONFLOWER AND LOST MEMORIES

Seung-Hee's sigh of relief once she landed her foot on the ground was taken away by the calm breeze roaming around Jeju Island, and with that her uneasiness flew into the unknown too.

The trees' leaves danced synchronized on the rhythm of the wind, whose old distant tune was joined by the acoustic splashing of the water against the asleep rocks of the coast. It was a symphony of exhilaration and comfort that allowed you to spill your thoughts on paper and empty your mind.

Seung-Hee looked at the limitless art unraveling in front of her with eyes drowned in yearning and ardor as if she didn't want to say goodbye because no bye would be good when said to the sea. It was hard to catch her eye whenever she would goggle at it, that's the reason why Yasuko didn't even try and separate Seung-Hee from the scenery.

What overjoyed Seung-Hee the most was that nothing could overtake the peace that ruled over the island, not even the thunderous engines of the enormous plane that brought her there, nor the chatter of her classmates or the cries of her soul. Nonetheless, the isolation of your thoughts that the place brings can be hair raising, because there's no one besides your own self, and that's the person Seung-Hee avoided the most. But she has loved nature too fondly to be fearful of its soundless tune.

"Where are you going?" she questioned, watching Yasuko fastening her pace, drifting away from the crowd that just stormed out of the airport's gates like a bunch of sheep released in the wild. The other girl, however, wasn't held back by Seung-Hee's words, so in order to not lose her, she had to hurriedly match her steps with Yasuko's. 

"Hell, most likely."

"That's an understatement, but I meant physically because I doubt you pulled up a Speedy Gonzales to reach Hell."

"I want to be swallowed by my bed, my shoes are uncomfortable, I have a headache with cramps in the bargain." The latter started to count on her fingers, waving the three of them lifted up in Seung-Hee's face.

And anyone could've guessed, with Yasuko's uneven steps and a lump of clothing material pressed with veiny fingers against her stomach. Her head fogged with thoughts was pulled by its forehead towards the pavement, or so that's how it seemed. Her voice was packed with distortions brought by a woeful shutter. Yasuko was down on her luck, surely.

"Withstand this sorrow, pretty lady," Seung-Hee encouraged her, "I have painkillers in my luggage, we just need to reach the hotel room." The black-haired girl extended her arm and wrapped her fingers around the handle of Yasuko's backpack, avoiding her eyes as she anticipated the complaints of her friend.

"I can carry that myself."

"I never said you didn't. You can cook me pancakes for breakfast tomorrow so we'll be even."

"You haven't learned how to cook yet?!" Yasuko's eyebrows raised to her hairline, far lost under her curtain bangs.

"Oh, why don't you say that louder? Canada didn't hear you!" Seung-Hee scoffed after dropping the surface of a serious tone. Her irritated eyes shaped like hearts after she recognized a silent giggle from her friend. "Cooking is a field with buried explosive material which I'm not willing to step on."

"I'm just saying. You always have your mouth stuffed so I assumed you'd have a thing for actually making whatever fulfills your hunger."

"Don't be so stupid, Yasuko." Seung-Hee scolded her, shifting the bags from one hand to another. The tips of her fingers turned blue as the heaviness of the luggage suffocated her hands. "If it worked like that, any loser would be able to make art."