Forgotten Reminiscence || 2Kim IZ*ONE

Chapter 1 : A Video Tape

"Minju-ah we're almost there"

From the backseat of the jeep, Minju heard her father's voice call out to her. It was low, deep and filled with enthusiasm although Minju perceived that the last part was faux. He was trying too hard to sound joyful as if this bit of eagerness would rekindle their estranged relationship.

"Apparently, this mansion had been here since the 1960s" Her father continued to explain in a light tone, a smile on his lips, ignoring - or rather not noticing - that Minju wasn't paying him an ounce of attention "And from what I heard, it was specifically built for-"

Placing her Airpods into her ears, Minju drowned out his voice, not caring about whatever history of the place they were going to was about. Her father seemed notice this as he eventually stopped his rambles.

Good.

The melody coming from the earphones was too upbeat for Minju's liking, yet anything was better than withstanding the awkward silence in the van, the only noise being the breeze blowing out rapidly from the air conditioner.

The tension was thick.....and so so heavy that it almost felt like someone was pushing them down from above with immense pressure.

This situation wasn't a surprise. After all, things changed between Minju and her father ever since the accident three years ago.

Crossing her arms, Minju turned to look out through the the window, her forehead bumping lightly against the cold glass.

Judging from the absence of high rise skyscrapers, Minju figured that they were somewhere in the countryside and the mere thought of spending her summer in an isolated who-knows-where made her want to groan out loudly.

The sky was especially blue today and for some trivial reasons, it got on Minju's nerves.

She had always hated bright places.

The light rays from the sun reflected off the vast wheat field passing by them in a flash, making the surroundings glisten in a golden hue, just like a scene from a movie.

Despite that, Minju's thoughts were filled with regrets.

Why am I even here?

Her father had pleaded her to go on a 'summer vacation' with him for some father-daughter bonding time and even after countless rejections from Minju, he persisted, leading to Minju reluctantly agreeing to come along.

No, Minju didn't hate her father. She just felt........distant from him as they hadn't spoken properly to each other in years.

Not so far away, there was a little boy playing with a red ball amidst the fields, a jovial grin evident on him as he found content in such an insignificant matter.

How naive.

If only he knew how cruel this world could be.

Pressing her lips together, Minju's gaze settled upon an old lady, a watering can in her hand as the droplets from it sprinkled onto the base of the tree in front of her, it's green leaves contrasting greatly from the yellow fields in the background.

Diverting her gaze away from the window, Minju was about to play another song when she realized that the car wasn't as bumpy as before. Due to the uneven surface of the roads in the countryside, the car ride was quite rough throughout the entire journey but now, it was smooth.

Very smooth that Minju could've thought the car wasn't moving at all if she didn't see the fields passing by outside.

"It's a good road right?" Her father quirked an eyebrow, looking at her from the front mirror.