"this can't be!" you wailed.
it's been 30 minutes and you've been pacing around your cramped childhood room that you grew out of a long time ago.
you slid down your bedroom door and sat yourself on the ground, hugging your knees tight to your body, like how they did in the movies. that meant that this was a serious matter. really, serious.
staring at the faded, peeling wallpaper in the corners of your room, you reminisced on the days you spent your childhood as a little girl in that very room you sat in. now, the old-fashioned vanity you begged for 10 years ago was soon to be gone. not only that, the princess canopy bed you got as a gift in 2009 would be too. you stared down at the wooden ground and smiled at the permanent marker scribbles that your parents gave up on washing off years ago.
"y/n, we're moving."
that very sentence jolted you up from the living room sofa, previously eating a bag of chips while catching up on the weekly episodes published by your favourite rom-com. a few of the chips might have flew out of the bag, too. you stood up in disbelief.
"what?"
you asked.
"mom, what?"
again.
"i'm sorry, you know i dropped my job at the bank ever since dad passed just so that i could stay home and take care of the children, and you. we can't, i mean, i can't hold us up anymore."
"we're moving to nonhyeon-dong."
"mom, you can't be serious."
"i am, it's cheaper there with more job opportunities. you know how much it's growing and bustling there?"
"that's gangnam, mom! we're all the way in gwangju!"
and that's how you ended up pacing around your room for what seemed like eternity. the first thing you did was rummage through your messed up bedsheets and blankets for your flip phone, to dial your best friend seung-ja. both of you had been inseparable since birth as both your mothers worked at the same bank. ever since then, you were raised alongside seung-ja like blood sisters until your mother decided to have more children when you were slightly older.
it did get cramped and claustrophobic in your humble little home you shared with your parents and your younger siblings, iseul who's currently 13 years old, and duri, the youngest of the three offspring, 9 years old. despite that, it was harmonious in the household as everyone lived together happily like a picture-perfect family. though, that was until your father had unfortunately passed away in a car crash due to his drunk driving. your parents had been going through a rough patch in life, it got harder as the years went by and the cost of living rose by the year. it got harder to provide for a growing family especially when duri was born, but they fought through it until it got impossible to handle. dad's job at the construction site didn't pay much and mom's salary at the bank remained stagnant. due to the financial struggles, your father took up alcohol and that was what cost his life and the family's happiness.
together with your sisters and your beloved mother, you grieved for your father's life and your mother's mental health only got worse, not only was the family financially unstable, the love of her life and father to her children was gone.
with no choice left, she resigned from the bank to be a stay home mother. her savings did hold the family up for some time, but not long enough. you were busy with school and final graduating exams, mom decided that paying for the usual nanny would be crucial to her financial status and her parents couldn't be bothered to help out even though they lived a few streets away, and still dared to ask for money occasionally.
the savings couldn't suffice, so mom was forced to sell the house and move to a cheaper area in korea which unfortunately wasn't down the street or in the next district, it was provinces away, gangnam.
"seung-ja, has your mother told you? i'm moving, seung-ja, to the other side of the world!" you cried out to the other line.
"no, y/n. you're joking! you can't."
...
"very funny, y/n. so what did you do today?"
"gangnam, seung-ja. i'm moving to nonhyeon-dong."
there was a piercing silence on the phone.
"not moving schools though, right?"
"girl, gangnam is provinces away. our plan to go to the same university can't go on."
you stopped yourself.
"i'll be lonely there! you aren't going to be with me, i'm miserable," you cried out.
"wait, y/n,"
"you're single, aren't you?" seung-ja sneered.
"that's not the point!" you groaned. what was she on about?
"i have a cousin who lives there.."
"his name's taehyung."
