Sixteen Again

21

Hyunjung noticed Jiyeon staring at her jade bracelet and suddenly leaned over, “Does it look pretty?”

Jiyeon nodded, “Pretty.”

“Have you seen a similar jade bracelet before?”

Jiyeon searched through her memories: “No.”

Hyunjung seemed to be a little disappointed. She lowered her head and slumped under the thick blankets. Jiyeon picked up her phone and saw that it was almost midnight, “It’s time for bed. I’ll get a hot towel for you. You can go to sleep after applying it.”

After saying that, Jiyeon jumped off the bed. Hyunjung's gaze followed her figure until she disappeared into the bathroom.

Then her eyes moved back to her wrist again. She raised her right hand, the jade bracelet shaking lightly with her movements. The three jade ropes of the bracelet lightly bumped into each other, making a clear and sweet sound. As she stroked the smooth and cool surface of the jade bracelet, she closed her eyes and lost herself in her emotions.

***********

May 4, 2008 

Jiyeon blindly stretched out her arm, her eyes still closed as she fumbled around for her school bag. After grabbing onto something she hurriedly wore her bag over her shoulder and walked out the door. 

Her wacky diamond bear keychain swung wildly on her keys as she took them out to lock the door. She quickly checked it was locked before rushing towards the back gate of the school. 

Chu Sojung was already waiting for her at the back entrance, looking up from time to time, searching for a certain someone. When she finally spotted a familiar figure, she stated with a deadpan expression: “You’re five minutes late.” 

“It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll make it in time. Let’s go, we can get a taxi at the intersection up front.” 

As she spoke, she reached out and grabbed her friend by the wrist. The latter was still a little hesitant as she spoke, “Are we really going? I haven’t finished my homework and they released the practice entrance exam today. I’ve finished the literature portion but haven’t started the math portion yet. And besides our school’s practice exams, there’s the No.4 High School’s practice exam as well. Although we don’t have to turn them in, the teacher will still go over them in class and…” 

Jiyeon quickly stopped a taxi and then pushed Sojung in, stuffing her into the car. She’s known her for so long that Jiyeon has developed an automatic tuning-out instinct. As long as Sojung starts speaking about homework or studying, her ears will automatically stop working. 

As the two of them sat in the back of the taxi, Jiyeon patted her chest and vowed, “When you see Kim Hyunjung, you’ll finally understand why I like her so much. Tonight will be the most unforgettable night of your life!”

She was correct, tonight really would be an unforgettable night. 

The crowd was like sardines trapped in a fishing net, and although Sojung originally tried to stay near the edge, she was involuntarily squeezed back and forth. One moment she was pushed into the center by the fierce and violent fangirls and then the next, squeezed out to the edge again, only to be squeezed back into the center a moment later. 

After this repeated several times, Sojung thought, as she was being slowly suffocated to death, is this how she will die? Her life ended at the ripe old age of 16? 

Kim Jiyeon, wearing her mighty school uniform as armor, fought side by side with the angry fans. A little bit later, she realized that these fangirls were a lot stronger than her and with the possibility of getting injured accidentally, she decided to make a retreat.