Found my world in a small town | Winrina

Chapter 21- Before You Go

Jimin received Winter's cremains a few hours later in a small urn made of dark wood. There was a silver dog tag glued to the front that simply read 'Winter'. She cleared some space for it on one of the shelves in her room and decorated the little shrine with pictures of the small dog and her favorite toys.

Jimin also got a little better over time. On the day of Winter's death, she did not leave her room and let nobody in. Her mother put some food and something to drink on the floor in front of her door but Jimin did not eat much. Wednesday, she appeared at the dining table for breakfast, pale and silent the whole time but present. She went out into the mountains alone that day and when she came back her eyes were red-rimmed but she seemed to be more at peace with herself. On Thursday, they had a quiet day alone at home and watched movies on Minjeong's laptop in her room.

In addition to grieving Winter, both girls also knew that the departure of Minjeong and her family grew closer and closer. They were to leave on Saturday morning to catch their flight at the nearest airport and therefore, Friday was the last day the girls had to themselves.

Jennie was working that day but the other three adults stayed home to pack their bags. Minjeong had thrown most of the stuff she would not need anymore into her suitcase before breakfast already and the room was looking oddly empty now. In her three months of living in Kwangya, her personal belongings had found their way to most of the surfaces: her laptop on the desk, books in the bookshelf, clothes in the closet and a few cosmetics on the nightstand.

Now that the room was bare and clean once again, it did not feel like her room anymore. It had never been hers to begin with but the three months (especially the last two) had made it feel like a sort of home.

It was weird to think that tomorrow morning, she would leave this place, possibly forever.

In order not to see the empty room, Jimin and Minjeong spent the majority of the day outside. They went skiing together one last time — this time not in the deep snow — and then took a long walk around town. They also visited both Irene and Mr Lee one last time so that Minjeong could say goodbye to them. At the café, they got free cupcakes to take home with them which they ate on their way back.

And then the last evening in Kwangya came.

Neither of the adults wanted to cook so they ordered dinner from the restaurant and ate Sushi and roasted duck and chicken in the living room, talking about their time together. It was mostly their parents who talked, though. Minjeong and Jimin went up to Jimin's room with their desert after dinner, put on a movie to drown out the noises of their conversation and sat on the bed to talk. Neither of them wanted to mention how they would not see each other for a long time after tonight.

It was sort of bittersweet. Sweet, because they now knew each other better than ever and enjoyed each other's company. Being together felt good and talking about all kinds of topics came naturally to them. But that also made it bitter since starting from tomorrow, they would not be able to do any of this anymore. Sure, they could text and talk on the phone but it would not be the same. And the physical aspects of their relationship would also not be possible anymore. Minjeong hoped that this would not put a damper on their relationship, but she was well aware of the fact that once she was back home, her time at college would probably impact how frequently they would be able to talk. Not to mention that Jimin also had her own life here. She would be busy with work and spending time with her friends.

"You know what?" Jimin asked after a short sequence of silence, "We could carry your mattress over to my room and have a sleepover."

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Minjeong agreed.

"Let's go do it!" Jimin was up in an instant and strutted over to Minjeong's room, "Mom's going to wash everything tomorrow anyway so it doesn't matter if we make a mess."