𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬: The Trilogy

𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈: Chapter 1

📍 𝙰𝚑𝚢𝚎𝚘𝚗-𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚐 (dong = neighborhood)
𝙼𝚊𝚙𝚘 𝙳𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚝, 𝚂𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚕,
𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚊.

[𝗞𝗶𝗺 𝗬/𝗡'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩]

It was the night where my life completely changed.

It was back in Seoul, where it all happened. Now I'm in Japan, living with a friend of mine—Yoona.

As I look back at that night, and how everything completely changed right after that...I just wish I had known better. If I could go back to that night I would have changed my decisions and maybe the outcome of my life would have been far so different as it is right now.

I might have been better off, and save myself from all the pain that had unfolded. My life would have still been normal.

I was at my school library, completely exhausted from all the studying. My eyes were so strained and I feel like my brain was going to explode from all information I had cramped into my brain.

It was time for me to head home. I didn't realize how late it was. I decided to pack my stuff up and took the bus home.

If I had only knew what would have happened next, I would have stayed longer, and perhaps may have avoided upcoming events that had led to where I am now.

I was 19 years old, second-year nursing student at Seoul National University. I needed another 2 years to get my degree and finally be doing something with my life and make my mother proud.

My mother was back home in Boseong. It's a small town in South Jeolla Province but tourists had often come there wanting to see and taste the famous green teas it was known for.

I had missed waking up every morning to the sounds of birds chirping, the roosters and even my mother waking me up to go feed the animals in the backyard.

I missed walking out the door and seeing terrace farmlands, often occupied with local women handpicking the tea leaves. My house in Boseong was surrounded by a spectacular mountainous landscape with cedar trees, and farmlands, which I rather see everyday than seeing tall buildings and packed traffic streets polluting the air even more than it already is.

So you can imagine what my experience of living in Seoul had been. But I've brought along my pink bunny plushie that has a bold right eyebrow to Seoul with me. It was given to me by my mother and it was the only thing that felt like home to me.

I had lived in Seoul for two years during my university years, and remembered how I couldn't fully adjust to their lifestyle. I went from a slow-paced simple lifestyle into a fast-paced environment. Seoul is an insanely energetic city. Girls my age seem to be all about the nightlife, but it never really interest me. I was merely focus in my school, reading my books and watching anime.

My social skills had diminished and barely have any forms of social interactions. I couldn't connect with anyone, not even my two roommates. I was practically living in my own world.

I had realized how quite different everyone was. Everyone had seem to always be in a hurry and don't even have time stop to smile at one another. Back home, everyone knew each other and always happily greeting one another other, since it was a small community. Everyone was just so kind and trusting. We were all like a family.