LOST

Chapter 20

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Violence/mention ofkidnapping/foul language 
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   As the dust settled, Ji-Yeon found herself in an unfamiliar yet familiar place. The dark walls, grey tile floor, and monochrome kitchen felt odd to her. Standing in the center looking out to the place she once called home, she felt nothing but emptiness. In the living room, the couch had been pushed over to its side and the coffee table lay flat on the ground with its legs broken and tossed across the floor. The pictures she had hung had been torn from the wall and smashed on the floor.

Turning her head, she looked directly at the kitchen. Her once happy place, where she spent time cooking with Ren behind her and teasing her. She walked closer and held her breath. She half expected to see herself cowering behind the counter like that night. To her surprise, there was no one. As she studied the kitchen, she looked over to the counter and paused when something small and shiny caught her eye.

The engagement ring Ren had given her sat right where she had left it. When she arrived home that night, her anger with Ren had boiled to the point of no return. She had slammed the door behind her, tossed everything aside, and threw the ring on the counter. As she stood looking at it, the anger rose to the surface. How could he not defend her?

"Don't make a scene."

Those words had lingered in the back of her mind for hours that night. Had she had known she was going to be kidnapped that night, she would have stormed off and would have given him a piece of her mind. But something that night told her to stay there. To get kidnapped. To be taken to a decaying city full of beauty.

A gentle breeze blew through the tarped up living room window. Ji-Yeon drew her attention toward it. As the plastic wrap danced along with the wind, she couldn't help but hear voice's echoing below. They were hard to make out at first. And as she walked closer, she found it even harder to identify them. For a second she swore she had heard Luna's squeaky voice calling out to someone. And another, she thought she heard Vincent's deep laugh.

In a blink of an eye, her home soon became the inside of Wonho's shop. The familiarity of it, made her feel more at home than her apartment had. However, something seemed different. The shelves still held the many cases of scrap metal and random unfinished pieces that Wonho had started. She walked over to the small work table and stood right where she was the first time she saw him. The faded image of the sparks that ignited as he touched two pieces together, both frightened her, and excited her. Wonho was another person when he was working. The concentration in his eyes, the steadiness of his hands, as well as the absence of any real protection made him seem invincible and unapproachable. However, that wasn't the case. Though Wonho was cold towards other people. Ji-Yeon felt he had shown her a part of him that he never showed anyone. Even Luna.

Ji-Yeon let out a soft sigh as she stared at the empty anvil. The lack of his presence made the room seem less alive. However, the longer she stood gazing into the void, she began to hear the rhythmic beats of his mallet making contact with the steel. Pushing her thoughts aside, she decided to go elsewhere.

When she entered the small kitchen, she stood between the back door and the door to the small room. Her face fell flush with the thoughts of what had happened in that room. And though she wanted to go back there and relive those moments. Something beyond the door seemed to be calling her.

With each step she took, the loud crunches from the dried grass seemed to carry out into the distance. She could feel her heart race within her chest and her hands started to feel clammy as she got further and further from the shop. It was like Déjà vu. She had been here before. Felt this way before. And yet, it seemed so unfamiliar to her. The one large tree off to the left seemed out of place in the darkness of the night. As did the bush that sat on the opposite side. Ji-Yeon looked around her and found the road back to the shop had vanished, as well as the grass below her feet.