14 Days of Winter: A Journal by Kim Hajoon

Day Eleven: Freedom

KIM HAJOON'S JOURNAL ENTRY
WED, DEC 23RD, 2020. 11.01 GMT
Apartment, West End. Living Room.

Journal-nim!
FREEDOM!

I am finally writing this outside of that bloody damned room in The Savoy! (Yes, I know, it's The Savoy's Junior Suite, but 10 days inside that one room? Come on... I'm sick of it!)

So now... I'm writing this in an apartment living room. No, not in my apartment with Joseph, Ernest, and Ryan in Elephant and Castle near UAL. This is... Minjeong's rented apartment in West End. Minjeong is in the toilet, we had just finished our lunch (INSTANT RAMYEON!!!) and we're going to walk around Chinatown, the Theater District... Maybe all the way up to Piccadilly Circus.

How did I end up here? Well, it's a long story... I better recount everything that happened today from the start.

Minjeong and I got up early today (I think around 7am I could already hear her humming 'Forever' again), both eager to get out of quarantine. The problem was, the test results we had last night wouldn't return until after breakfast, so we both had to settle down for breakfast first.

It's alright. Who wouldn't want to have another breakfast with Minjeong, right?

As we were eating our last quarantine breakfast together, Minjeong suddenly called me.

"Oppa!"

And... My heart fluttered. Yes. I still need to get used to her calling me 'Oppa'.

"What's the first thing you wanna do after we get out?" asked Minjeong excitedly.

I thought for a moment. Naturally, I was supposed to return to my dorm, but I wanted to spend time with Minjeong a little longer, at least for today. I figured I could leave at night after I'd brought Minjeong around town, then maybe tomorrow I can visit her again, wherever she was staying in London before returning to Korea eventually.

There was one place that I knew for sure she wanted to visit first, so I looked up and replied.

"I should take you to the Twinings Shop, right?" I said. She gasped and laughed.
"Oh my God, yes! I'll buy a whole stock of Lapsang Souchong! My bandmates should try it!" she said. I laughed and nodded.
"Okay, Twinings Shop first, then!" I said, smiling wide.

Breakfast ended, and two NHS workers knocked on our suite to tell us that our test returned negative (But of course). They happily told us that we can leave the suite before noon, so we thanked them happily, and we prepared ourselves to move out of the hotel.

At around 11.30 am, both Minjeong and I exited the Savoy's Junior Suite. We walked happily to the lift lobby, took the lift down to the lobby, returned our keycards, and... Finally...

We walked out of the hotel, breathing the cold winter air of London.

"FREEDOM!" yelled Minjeong loudly.

I laughed and tried to shush her, for passersby were startled and looked at us as if we were two crazy (not rich–at least me... I mean, not rich) Asians. Minjeong giggled profusely, and then...

She hugged my arm.

My heart stopped, as usual, and I stared at her. Before I had the chance to stutter my way, she looked up and smiled behind her facemask.

"Hajoon-Oppa! Twinings Shop! Let's go!" she exclaimed, punching the air with her tiny fist.

I laughed and nodded, and we started walking.

I wished I could stay forever like this, enjoying her cuteness every single day.

"Alright, right this way, Kim-ssi!" I said, pointing towards the direction of the shop. She giggled.
"Is it far?" she asked as we walked. I shook my head.
"Nope. Literally just straight down this road... Maybe... 10 minutes of walking?" I said. She nodded.
"10 minutes is not bad! You should tell me what's on our left and right as we walk!" she commanded.