Love Across Universe

House Hunting

Soojin

Weekends came and here I was standing outside the office, waiting patiently for Ren and Sakura. I got a glimpse of Sakura's brown hair which was neatly tied with a pink ribbon, matching with her outfit. Running behind her, I saw Ren- his sparkly eyes, looking lovingly at Sakura as she ran and hopped down the street.

"We didn't delay, right?" she asked flashing her big, bright smile.

"Nope."

"You know what Sakura you must slow down now- gosh I am not an athlete like you," came Ren panting.

"You're an athlete?" I asked with wide eyes, covering my mouth with my palm.

"Haha, I was. Back in High School. A really good one."

"She is full of surprises Soojin, let's go," Ren said looking at his watch.

It had been more than an hour since I was in a metro. If I got a house there, ahh...I would be struggling a lot. I sighed and looked at my companions who seemed to be unbothered of my presence. Thankfully, I got the window seat and watched as the metro passed through stations, cities and people.  Tokyo disappeared far behind as the sight of towering grey walls and stretched highways got replaced by rolling fields and trees.

"Tell us something about yourself too Soojin. Sakura has ranted a lot," Ren said and she gave him an angry pout.

"No, let her speak. There is nothing much interesting about me to know," I said, resting my chin on my hand.

"I don't think so. You're from The States and people there always have something interesting to share. Tell us about your family, childhood and your first love," she said with curious eyes.

"The last question isn't necessary," Ren said hitting Sakura's arms. "Please grow up Sakura," he whined.

My breath hitched, but I managed to make up something. "I was 5 when my parents moved to The States. I did my schooling and everything there. I got my first job there and even my first love, guess US means a lot to me."

"Your first love?" she asked with mischievous eyes and Ren looked utterly frustrated.

I chuckled and replied, "It was my childhood best friend, but their family went missing mysteriously..."

"You're full of surprises too, Soojin!" Ren cheered.

"Tell me something about yourself Ren," I asked and his eyes sparked.

"I was born in Canada and did my higher studies here. I am not a full Japanese. Be ready girls, we have to get down," Ren said as he picked up his bag and went towards the gate. I and Sakura, both hand-in-hand followed him. 

The station area looked pretty busy with little shops and eateries. I arched my back, well, I was sitting for a long time.

"You have to make it a habit, haha," Sakura chuckled and ran to greet a shop keeper. 

"Let us treat you with some Yukimi-daifuku," he said and pulled me towards the shop with a name plate 'Cold Sweat'.

It was a wooden small shops with small lanterns hanging at the front. We bought 3 daifukus and rode on a bus. The daifuku had mochi dumplings with red-bean paste in the middle. It tasted heavenly as my tongue licked and saliva engulfed the creamy textures.

It was noon when our bus dropped us at a bus stop which read 'Hinotani'. The place was surrounded by lush green trees and fields. It was a peaceful place, a breath of fresh air. I didn't realize how much I had been drowning in concrete walls and car smoke once I got away from it. 

Turning left, we walked for 2 mins and passed under a tunnel of greeny trees. We came across a bridge built on a peaceful river. We walked further up the main road and entered a village....?

"You both stay at a village?!" I exclaimed.

"Ahh, Hinotani is a town. We live in the interior part. We turned left nah, that's why we are here. On turning right, you would reach a town. We will show you both the places, it's upto you where you would choose to reside," Sakura explained as we walked further passing old homes and the people going about their days.

"Please wait here," Sakura bowed as she quickly entered into a big wooden house.

"This is Sakura's home. The Chisaka family looks after the Village Administration. There towards the left, you see, another house - The Parks stay there who look after the Welfare of the village. Their ancestors fled to Japan during the Korean War and since then, they had been residing here," Ren explained as I looked around taking every minute detail.

A few mins later, Sakura came down with an old lady. "She's her mother." Ren told me and we both bowed. 

The old lady told something in Japanese and flashed her gummy non-teeth smile. 

"My mother gave me the addresses of a few houses and I will be guiding you there. Hope you will like it,"

"Thank you ma'am," I bowed.

Sakura translated it to her mother and she chuckled. She stood by the road as our trio disappeared following Sakura. 

After passing by a bamboo grove, I got a glimpse of an old, but beautiful wooden house. The house stood under the rays of sun filtering through the leaves like it had waited patiently for a soul to welcome into it's ambience. An overgrown garden surrounded the house, nevertheless it looked beautiful.

"Isn't it pretty? It's the oldest one in the village," Sakura said as she opened the door of the house.

"It's quite clean," I remarked seeing some specks of dust which were dancing under the musical rays of the sun.

"There are some people here who clean old abandoned houses so that new people won't be facing a lot of troubles settling in," Ren said as he took a good-look of the surroundings.

We explored the house carrying some flash lights. After an hour of seeing some other houses, we returned back to Sakura's home.

"I would like to take the 1st 1," somehow the 1st house appealed to me the most, because of the surroundings I thought.

I paid the price and signed a few documents after showing some proofs. I would be settling here from next week. Ren was kind enough to help me with the moving.

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Hope you're enjoying 😊
A bomb will blast in the next Chapter 😏
This was a peaceful chapter before the blasting of a bomb.
(Double meaning things, figure it out yourselves what I exactly mean)
Stay good everyone!
I love you all <<33