Bows & Beauty

CHAPTER 1

The sharp tip of the arrowhead hits perfectly at the red dot. After missing for a couple of times, finally she hits bullseye. A relief sigh escapes from her lips as she put down her aluminium bow on the table while she unclasped the straps of her bracer from her right palm. A small random shape of redness on the side of her palm almost fades and she gently pokes to see whether it still hurts or not, and smile when it was the latter.

She then pick all the arrows on the target point and kept them back in a cylinder quiver before locking it inside a mini cupboard along with the other equipment's.

Again, it was her, the last student of the Archery Club to go back home. Not that she did mind, but since it was nearing summer, most members of the club tend to skip and seemed pretty laidback on the attendance. There were still a few who stayed for practice alongside with her these past few weeks, but not as long, as she was still, the last one practicing. She didn't mind as she always find peace and calmness when she release an arrow from a bow. It gives her more happiness if she could hit a target straight like she wanted. Oh, the joy of being an archer

As she walk outside the school compound, her stomach starts to churn, signalling her that she was hungry and she needs to grab food – fast. Contemplating whether to buy another tin of pringles but then the Son's bakery shop came into mind and she quickly skip on the path back to her home.

Ah, the smell of fresh bread. One of her favourite things she likes to smell besides, old books and the distinctive smell of a back quiver. She made her way past rows of variety of bread, arranged on her left and right, to greet the cashier.

"Hey Wendy!" Seulgi greeted the straight hair girl with blue highlight at the ends.

"Sup KkangSeul ! I suppose your arrow training thingy just finished huh?"

"Yeah and I'm hungry as hell ! So recommend me the best bread in this store right now." Seulgi cupped her chin as she waited for Wendy's response. "The best bread huh? All of em taste good I can't even choose." Wendy scratched her head as she walk out from the barrier to observe a few buns here and there.

"But I like this one the most though," Wendy points out at a simple croissant, "It has chocolate fillings in it and it's sweet as hell."

"Sure, I'll take that then" Seulgi agrees with a smile.

Back in the bustling streets of Seoul, she munched her croissant while waiting for the traffic to glow in green signalling the walkers to move. She was busy seeing the details of the bun when a few passer-by's bump her on the shoulder, indicating the green light ahead. She hastily walked alongside the road but soon felt something was off—again.

This feeling wasn't something unknown to her. Since she was a kid, she always felt like her insides did a sudden contracting movement, and the next thing she knew, something will occur in front of her. For example that one time, she bought an ice cream at the park and saw a few kids playing at the swings. As she licked her ice cream, the sudden tightness inside her happened, and soon one of the kids from the swings fall backwards, and got injured. Last 2 years ago, she witnessed a biker hit a dog while she, Seulgi, jogged behind the biker in distraught. It happened right after her insides shrivelled.

But not everything was a bad occurrence. Some were good. For instance, during a family gathering, her mom's family decide to gamble here and there. And her insides tighten once more, and in the back of her mind, she knows her mom is going to win the sum. And she did. She did not know why she was so sure of it, but it happened.

Seulgi had once talked to her mom about her sudden weird intuition, but her mom simply brushes it off and said it was just a normal hunch.

And here she is, on the streets, with a half-eaten croissant in her right hand, feeling the sudden contraction of her insides again. Seulgi scan her surrounding, to see if there are any possibilities of misfortune or good things going to happen around her but – nothing