in bloom. | a lee juyeon love story.

II.

Home was never a place.

Home was where you felt at peace, whether it was with family or friends. Iseul never considered Geochang home, either. She had very little memories of the place itself since she'd spent all her school years in Seoul growing up. The train from the city was only just over two hours, but the bus ride from the station to her parents' home was a little too uncomfortable. It must've been the bumpy and uneven road from the station that led to the main town.

Climbing down from the bus with her luggage behind her, Iseul was greeted with two familiar smiling faces she hadn't seen in a couple of years now. Her parents looked thrilled to see their daughter again, although it hadn't been in the best circumstances.

"Our Iseul is finally home . . . Oh, how we've missed you!"

Her father's embraces were always the tightest.

"Thank you for coming," her mother sighed, and she could've sworn that she'd almost cried, "I think you really need this."

With all the change in her life right now, she certainly needed this. She didn't need to see all the places they once walked together. She didn't need to be in the apartment they always used to wake up in together. It was difficult enough to wrap her head around the fact that he was there one day and gone the next. And god, was it impossible to stop thinking about him. But one day at a time, it was going to happen. Iseul was so sure of it this time.

Geochang-gun was a place Iseul had never imagined. She had only really seen a few photographs of her family from when they had lived there, but the film never brought it justice. It was beautiful. Like a fresh breath of air. The flowers were all in bloom in the spring, the farmlands vast and the air was crisp. There weren't any tall skyscrapers in sight, and the roads were very few. If you needed to find your way around town, you either needed a car of your own or a pair of good shoes to walk you there.

Iseul should've known it would've been a mistake wearing her favourite sneakers. By the time they'd reach her parents' home, the dusty road had left an impression on them. The house was just as she'd imagined it. It was a hanok style home, with some rooms renovated with technology with the convenience they were so used to in the city. Apparently, the local aunties weren't the biggest fans of their ultra HD flatscreen television.

Iseul's mother helped her unpack her things in one of the spare rooms where a futon had already been set up for her. So this was home for the next few weeks. Her room was a lot larger than the room she was used to back in Seoul, an empty white desk in the corner of the room beside a large chest of drawers. It looked a lot like the furniture from her childhood, the ones in photographs, where Iseul and her older brother had been sitting on top of.

"I'll leave you to finish up here," her mother says, "I'll start preparing dinner with your dad, okay? Come out in about half an hour."

"Sure thing. Thanks, mom."

The door closes gently and Iseul falls onto her futon. She wanted to sleep. She hasn't had much of that in the past few days. Iseul glances at her phone. Great, poor signal. Not like she'd been expecting calls from anyone anymore, but she thought she'd at least update Aeri about her arrival. Two nights ago, she had decided to tell her everything through the phone. Of course, her friend apologised for not being there. For not being present in her life enough. Iseul knew it wasn't Aeri's fault. She should've always been reaching out to her best friend too.

She jolts up to a buzzing sound.

Her parents may have been playing around with the television or something.

But then she hears it again. And it's not exactly coming from the living room.

Iseul sits in silence, waiting for the sound again. But it doesn't come.