Memories - Purinz

Chapter 5 - Parallels

Now

Her vision's blurry, and her mind is in a haze, Chaewon lets her feet take her outside. She momentarily forgets that she left Minjeong at the club because at that moment, all she could think of was Yunjin.

Yunjin.

She shakes her head, trying to get rid of the image of the girl in the arms of another person but it was no use. The vision remains stuck in her brain, like wine spilled on an otherwise clean white cloth, bloodstain on the floor, mold in the ceiling; it stays there as Chaewon stumbles blindly on the sidewalk.

Yunjin.

She desperately tries not to fall over and cause a scene, people still knew who she was and they would eat her like buzzards feasting on a rotting corpse if they saw her like this. She needed to get out of there, out of the open, and inside somewhere safe.

Chaewon ends up in an emptier part of the district, with only a few people seated on chairs and drinking 'til their heart's content outside a chain of convenience stores and small karaoke bars. Chaewon hears the echo of their laughter in the empty street, and thinks about the sound of Yunjin's laughter, she wonders if the guy she was with makes her laugh like that, like the way Chaewon used to.

The thought breaks her even more.

Yunjin was beautiful, famous, and rich. Not only that, she was also kind, warm, and funny, and she cooks good food. She would have no problem looking for and finding someone else, especially when she has the entire world at her feet. Yunjin finding someone else wasn't implausible, Chaewon knows it's always been a possibility. All the years she was gone, she was haunted by the thought of coming back and finding out that Yunjin had found someone else. And seeing it in action minutes ago, right in front of her eyes as her mind swam in ice and whiskey, made her feel like someone had torn her to pieces.

Chaewon just wishes it were true.

She continues walking aimlessly, her heels clacking loudly against the concrete, as she stares into the road.

Seoul has been nothing but cruel to her.

Chaewon laughs despite her tears.

It has been her home for years but ever since she came back, it feels like it was pushing her out, wanting her to leave and stay gone. All the signs of the universe point to the airport and a one way ticket back to Japan. Maybe it's the glasses of alcohol finally catching up to her but she's beginning to agree with the universe.

She laughs again, thinking that maybe she should just sign the god damn divorce papers and leave, that maybe she should just hop on a plane first thing in the morning and never look back this time around. A few bystanders look at her weirdly, Chaewon believes that they might think she's crazy. Not that she can blame them, she looked like she got shat out of a camel's ass; her makeup was runny, her hair was a mess, and she's laughing out loud, alone and with tears in her eyes. The image of her looking like a crazy woman out on the streets makes her bellow in laughter even more. Her guffaws die down quickly when she hears footsteps behind her. Chaewon immediately tenses up and she begins walking faster, her fingers tightening their grip on her purse as she prepares to hit whoever it was if they try something funny. Whoever it was behind her seems to notice her picking up her pace and begins to do so as well.

"Fuck," she mutters, cursing herself and her poor decision making skills. This was the last thing she needed. Chaewon breaks into a sprint.

"Chaewon!" the person calls her, loud enough for her to hear, "Fuck. Stop running."

She slows to a stop. She knows that voice all too well. For a split second, she wants to run away and not look back, she wants not to care.

But she was Chaewon and she was weak when it comes to —