In the realm of dreams

Part 3 - Second day

Baek Yoona

Cleaning the old training room turned out to be quite fun. I put on a Kpop playlist on my portable speaker and played all the songs from the trending groups: SISTAR, EXO, BUSKER BUSKER. Of course we had to wear gloves and masks and our PE uniforms. Sooho turned out to be quite strong and together we moved all the old gym equipment to a corner next to the lockers, swept and mopped the floor. As we waited for the floor to dry out, I handed him a banana milk and sat down on a folding chair.

'Cleaning the gym has been quite the workout,' I said, pointing at my sweaty face. Strands of hair stuck to my face in what I can only assume to be in an unflattering manner. I tried to move some of the hair from my face with the back of my hand.

'Quite', Sooho replied.

He didn't look like he broke a sweat; which was odd given how his biceps flexed when moved the old treadmill out of the way. Guess he was one of those people who always looked like they just stepped out of the shower. He took his glasses off and rubbed them with the end of his t-shirt. His eyes were dark pools of lava. They didn't give much away.

'You need to be careful when using this gym outside of regular school hours as it's quite isolated. Always make sure to lock up after you. And if you are unsure about being here by yourself, bring a friend along. There are showers and changing rooms at the back,' he said using that gravelly tone he uses when he is explaining things. It made him sound so smart. That's not a surprise though. Jisung told me Sooho was a class-topper.

'Noted Banjang,' I said, 'Tomorrow after school I will treat you to tteokbokki, as promised'

'Okay. There is a tteokbokki place near school. We can go there.'

Choi Sooho

I waited at the bus stop. My bus arrived and I didn't get on it. What's taking her so long? Surely, she should be ready for home now after all that cleaning up. I dug into my bag for a book to read to kill the time.

'Banjang?, You didn't go home yet?', she exclaimed, startling me.

'I had some classroom duties,' it was half a lie.

'Ah okay. Five more minutes for my bus. Which bus will you take?'.

I told her the bus number, knowing full well she would be taking the same bus.

'Jinja? That's my bus too! Where do you live? I live in Munghwa-dong.'

'I am at the stop after you. Not too far.'

'Daebak! That means we can be travel buddies!', she said excitedly.

I relish that thought. Travel buddies. Everyday coming to school together and leaving together. All those hours before and after school, exchanging little stories about our days. The summer was looking promising.

'Banjang,' the word Banjang seemed to dance around in her mouth before coming out of her lips in a playful twist. As cute as it sounded, I wished she would call me by my name. Wouldn't that feel more intimate? 'Jisung said the world might end this year in December according to the Mayan calendar. My first thought was if that's the case then we don't have to worry about taking our CSATS!'. She laughed. A tinkling of wind chimes. 'What do you think of it?'

'Erm....I am not sure,' Was Jisung filling her head with nonsense?

'Ah I get it, you don't need to worry about CSATs because you are confident. It's people like me who worry. I bet you know what you are going to study at university. Which university would you like to go to? Somewhere in Seoul? I was in a school in Seoul before I transferred here.'

So many questions! Did her mind race at 100mph? Thankfully our bus arrived just then and we found our seats. It would be rude not to sit next to her so I took the aisle seat beside her taking care not to invade her space.

'What's our neighbourhood like, Banjang? I am new to the area so I don't know it very well. Have you lived there long?', more questions. She looked at me expectantly.

'Yes, for a few years now.' I didn't want to give her details. She would probably ask more questions about where I was before and why did I leave that place. That's a topic of conversation I would rather avoid.

She was in middle of her story about how her pet hamster had tragically died when she was ten years old and didn't even notice her stop has arrived.

'It's your stop, you need to get off the bus', I told her.

'Oh'. She jumped up, and crossed over me hurriedly, her leg brushing against my knee, and rushed to the door. 'Naeil booja Banjang,' she shouted as she hopped off the bus.

I waved at her from my seat, still enveloped in a bubble of her fragrance and traces of her personality which she left behind. Yes, I will see you tomorrow Baek Yoona, but until then the rest of my day would be spent in a daze.