14 Days of Winter: A Journal by Kim Hajoon

Day Eight: Next Level

KIM HAJOON'S JOURNAL ENTRY
SUN, DEC 20TH, 2020. 11.54 AM GMT.
The Savoy. Junior Suite. My Room.

Journal-nim!

I am writing this in my room as we wait for lunch. I'm expecting Minjeong to do her 'Bab meogja' call any moment now, but... I had to tell you this story of what happened this morning.

This morning...

Was...

Interesting, to put it simply.

Here goes:

I woke up a little late today... Probably around 9am. But it's Sunday, right? I am allowed to enjoy a longer sleep! I didn't set my alarm for this morning last night anyway.

The thing is, Journal-nim, I woke up to a loud sound of music. I thought it came from the living room's TV set, but when I went out, I only found our breakfast on the dining table. Both of our sets were untouched, so Minjeong hadn't come out of her room either. The music came from inside her room.

Was she streaming a church service broadcast? I didn't know Minjeong was Christian, though. She was staying in Seoul right? Maybe I should bring her to SHSCC if I had the chance to meet her again back home after I graduated. Or maybe she was already a member?

I contemplated whether or not I should knock on her door and check on her. I wanted to, and I thought we were close enough for me to do it. After all, she entered my room a couple days ago, right?

Before knocking, though, I tried listening to the song from outside the door.

No. It wasn't gospel music. It was... Rap music? Why was she suddenly listening to rap music? Was it her band's song? No... The song she practiced singing a few days ago was a sweet ballad. This was powerful and edgy. I decided to just knock. A moment later, I heard Minjeong's cute voice from the other side of the door.

"Hajoon-hyung? Come in!"
"Minjeong-ah... Bab meogja!" I exclaimed, chuckling a little, returning the favor to her.

Then I heard her giggle. My gosh, Journal-nim...

"Just come in first! I'm stretching!"

Stretching?

Curious, I opened her door gently.

"I'm coming in, then..." I said.

I came into her room. It was pristine, clean, it was as if she didn't unpack her suitcase. Minjeong seemed to keep her room in its original state, only adding a cute husky plush toy next to her pillow on the bed. I saw that there was a bluetooth speaker and a laptop on her table.

Minjeong herself was wearing a white crop top over a pair of black jogger pants. I gulped nervously as I saw her exposed midriff. Shit.

"Morning, Hyung!" she chirped cutely.
"M–Morning, Minjeong!" I replied. "What are you doing?"

Minjeong laughed. She was limbering up, as if preparing herself to do some heavier exercise. She paused the music on her laptop and smiled at me.

"As you can see... I'm stretching!" she said happily. I scoffed.
"I know that... I mean, what are you stretching for?" I asked her.
"Oh? I'm practicing some new dance moves," she replied.

Dance moves? What kind of a band was she in?

"New dance moves?" I asked her. She nodded.
"Yup! Just received it from my dance instructor back in Korea. You wanna see?" she asked.
"Why not," I said, shrugging.