loop ||•annyeongz•||

chapter 8

Day 5

Yujin wakes up to a light blue ceiling and Liverpool posters. Sunlight tickles her skin from the window right by her bed. It was only when she sits up to face her trophy stand that she realises she's in her old room. A fat photo album sits by her bed on the nightstand.

She remembers asking Mr. Lee if she could stay in and the man had kindly agreed, leaving her in charge of the house. Yujin also recalls ordering takeout and spending the whole day either looking at old photo albums or strolling around the house, remembering the old days.

Now she was alone. She checks the time on her phone. 7:15 am, it read. Yujin is reminded of the loop when she sees the same date flashing by on the screen. She was living the same old day again.

Yujin descends down the stairs, fully dressed up and freshened after using the miraculously still functioning bathroom upstairs. She takes one last look at the old rooms.

The house was still pretty sturdy even though no one had lived in it for a while now. The familiar hallways that she used to run around when she was little and the once cozy living room where they used to spend Christmas together every year almost seemed too tempting. However, Yujin knew she had to go back to reality now. Her childhood was her past and she needed to make he present worth reminiscing.

She leaves the keys under the flower pot by the door to avoid any trail of suspicion. The big sign board greets her at the front yard. Yujin looks at it and temporarily wrestles with her thoughts. Afterall the house had practically all of her childhood in it. It would be a shame to see it being taken away all at once.

She pressed her lips into a thin line and instead jumps out the fence. Yujin ignites the engine to her motorbike and drives off.

Her thoughts consume her once more while driving. She realised she was not ready to see her old home being sold off. Yujin knew she probably would have nowhere to properly call a home if she does so. She thinks back to her humble culinary career and wonders if she had enough to save her family's house.

Yujin also wonders if things would have been different had she pursued her soccer career instead. She wonders if she would still be struggling with her finances had she went to those college tryouts a couple of years ago. She wonders of she would still be stuck in her old apartment, with her poorly stacked kitchen and her three sneakers. She wonders.

Yujin often heard news of her old teammates doing well with their athletic careers. Hyunjin was now playing on the national level, Ryujin had opened a soccer academy and she heard Hyejoo had been playing for a lot of different clubs. Yujin sometimes wonders if she should have just remained an athlete, she would be pretty much on par with her friends by now. Maybe it would have been enough to save the house too.

Unknowingly, she drives around the city thoughtlessly. The cool morning breeze blows against her skin and she could feel it through her thin jacket. It was only when her stomach growled that's she realised she hadn't eaten anything since the gross takeout she'd eaten the night before.

Yujin notices the buildings change as she speeds her vehicle along the road. She realises she is awfully close to Chaeyeon's apartment and wonders if the older girl was available for some breakfast together. Yujin soon recalls that the girl had always been an early bird, courtesy to her early dance lessons that she used to take while she was still in college. So she parks her bike at the parking lot and proceeds straight to the building.

For some reason, the elevator decided to break down that day and Yujin had to take those damn stairs. Again. She huffed and panted as she climbed through the ungodly number of floors. Her legs burned and Yujin couldn't help but think back to the stunt she pulled a few days before at the Heunkuk building.