Catch The Stars

Chapter 7

The next morning, her grandmother asks her to go and pick up a delivery of her medication at the tiny shop Jennie spotted from the bus when She got here.

"But that's gotta be like, a thirty minutes' walk." Jennie mumbles, wiping her mouth on a napkin after finishing her breakfast.

"Oh, you don't have to walk, silly," She says. "Just catch uncle Changho's van. He drives to Cheumsan every day at noon."

Her social anxiety tells Jennie that it sounds like a very bad idea. That She would rather walk half an hour in the summer heat than doing something as terrifying as driving in uncle Changho's van.

"Okay, sure," Jennie says because She doesn't want her grandma to think of her as a freaking baby.

So by the time noon rolls around, Jennie leaves the house and acts like she's in a hurry to catch uncle Changho's van, and for a while she actually considers just walking up to the man and riding with him, but then she sees how many freaking people are climbing inside the van and she quickly disregards that idea.

And she does what any other normal person would do; She hides behind a tree and waits for the van to drive away before She leaves her hiding spot and-

walks.

Jennie walks and instant regret kicks in when She feels sweat trickling down in her back ten minutes later.

She's standing in the middle of nowhere, no sign of civilisation around her. Just wide and endless fields and the sorry road She's walking on right now.

And it's so hot. The sun is hanging at it's highest point in the sky, blazing and absolutely unrelenting and Jennie wonders if she would sizzle like an egg in a fry pan if She would take her top off and lie down on the pavement.

"Great job, Jennie," She mutters to herself, kicking at a pebble angrily. "You fucking moron. I hope you get a sunstroke."

She makes it to the shop regardless, thirty minutes later with her shirt soaked in sweat and her some hairs sticking to her temples.

Jennie sighs and feels like collapsing on the spot when She steps inside the shop, the old man behind the register giving her a curious look.

"Jesus, kid, did you walk?"

"Yes."

The old man laughs and gets up to grab a bottle of water from the beverage refrigerator behind her, handing it to Jennie, who nearly whines at the immediate condensation on the bottle.

"I don't have any money on me."

The man furrows her bushy eyebrows and simply shakes the bottle until Jennie takes it. "It's water, girl. I'm not going to charge you for that."

"Thank you," Jennie says, probably looking like an idiot with the surprised look on her face. She opens the bottle and almost empties it entirely in one go.

"I don't think I've seen you around before." The man regards Jennie with a curious look. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Jennie shakes her head after lowering the bottle. "I'm from the city. Visiting my grandmother."

"What's her name?"

"Youngja."

"Oh!" The man exclaims. "You're one of the Kims! Why didn't you say so before? Come here, kid." The man suddenly walks up to her and envelops her in a bone crushing hug.

"Uhm." Jennie awkwardly lets herself be hugged.

The man laughs and pulls away again. "Yeah, you definitely aren't from around here. What did you need?"