Pandora's Box | kim mingyu & jeon wonwoo

01

The cold air stung my face as soon as I got off the train and stepped onto the platform. The cold was so shocking that I opened my mouth and huffed, and I watched as my breath took the shape of a misty cloud. As my eye took in my environment, I could not help the way my body froze at the familiarity of it all.

I had not returned to my hometown in seven years.

And yet, I thought to myself, nothing had changed. My hometown seemed to be frozen in time. The train stations were nothing like those of the city and instead seemed very pale. The very benches that adorned the platform were in painful need of maintenance. It didn't help that as I looked beyond the train station and onto the parking lot, I was startled by the sight of a riverbank.

And it wasn't just a riverbank. It was the riverbank.

There was considerable distance between the riverbank and the train station, yet I could still make out a good amount of detail from where I stood. The waves of nostalgia that continued to hit me seemed to be relentless; the water would wash away, and I barely had seconds to recover before another wave hit.

I was drowning, and the only thing that pulled me out was the shock of seeing someone I thought I had buried long ago.

Jeon Wonwoo was a walking zombie, reigniting a set of feelings I thought I had overcome long ago. Suddenly, my soul was consumed by feelings of rage, confusion, anger, concern, longing, lust, and worse of all: love.

Wonwoo stood just across the platform from mine, and as we stared at one another, I half-expected him to disappear. He never did. Instead, as Wonwoo and I continued to stare at one another, I watched as Wonwoo pulled out his phone, pressed something, and then pressed his phone to his ear.

Suddenly, my own phone began to ring. Unable to process what was happening, by instinct alone, I answered the phone. "Your mom asked me to pick you up."

Goosebumps. The clothes on my back suddenly felt insufficient, and my entire body began to shiver at the very sound of his voice. Still, I almost couldn't believe it, and yet I couldn't deny it. With my own two eyes, I had watched Wonwoo's mouth move.

After a moment of silence, I opened my mouth to say something in return but was quickly cut off by Wonwoo hanging up on me.

And as I looked up at the little shit and made eye contact with him once more, I flipped him off and made my way to the exit.

10 YEARS EARLIER

"Mingyu! Would you hurry up and lend me a hand here?"

I had been sitting by the counter of my uncle's small grocery store. His voice, as always, was boisterous and carried throughout the entire vicinity. Startled, I jumped out of my seat and rushed by my uncle's side.

I found him all the way in the back. As soon as I saw him, I immediately understood why he had called for my help. Alone, he was carrying one of the biggest boxes of inventory I had ever seen. Just looking at the damn box was enough to make my back hurt. Still, I obediently rushed to my uncle's side and took up the other side of the box. Together, we carried the damn thing to the correct aisle.

When things finally settled, I stood beside my uncle as he began to restock, and while I tried desperately to catch my breath. As I huffed, I was once more startled when my phone suddenly went off.

And while at first, I was annoyed, my feelings of annoyance quickly transformed into those of joy. Heart skipping a beat, I smiled at the name that flashed on my home screen: