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 Posted: Thu Nov 26, 2015 2:24 pm
November 26, 2015 The heavy smell of food filled the apartment as the sounds of talking, pots, pans, and other various sounds disturbed the air. His mother had been at it for hours now as she ordered him and his cousin and sister to and fro as various things were moved about and set into the oven, removed from a burner and put somewhere to keep warm. The whole of the kitchen was orderly chaos but it was chaos and with chaos came some frayed nerves, accidents, and other things. Already he’d had to remove his shirt due to gravy being spilled on it by his rushing sister. The shirt had been hit with a stain remover before being put into the wash. A new shirt pulled on he’d hurried back to the kitchen to help his family, his father had been shoved out of the kitchen early on and sent to watch tv.
As more and more things were finished the dining room table found itself filled with plates, bowls, and even pots littering its length. Food was laid out in the middle of the table while plates for everyone to eat off of were set up. Most of the foods could be managed with chop sticks but they also had fork, knife, and spoon at the table as well. The glasses had been set out towards the end when most of the foods had been brought out, so they couldn’t be knocked over by accident.
As the last thing, the turkey, was brought out and set onto the table his father was called in from the living room and took the seat at the head of the table. His mother sat to his father’s right and he sat to his father’s left. The girls came next, sitting across from each other. The food smelled good but would it be as good as it smelled? He hoped so, as he kept looking at everyone trying to gauge reactions and thoughts. It wasn’t easy to read his father; the man could keep a good straight face.
Hesitating a moment he glanced about once more before speaking to his family as a whole. <”I think we should each say one thing we are thankful for this year, to keep with the idea of the holiday.”> And he motioned to his father to start, as the head of house. His father was, predictably, thankful for the job he had which allowed for him to provide for his family. His mother was just as predictable, she was thankful for her family. His sister was thankful for the same thing and his suddenly teary eyed cousin was thankful for her aunt and uncle who had taken her in. Leaning over to hug his cousin, who was seated next to him, he finally answered the expectant looks he was receiving. <”I am thankful for the family I have, even those who have left us. I am thankful for the time we had together as a family and the time we here, still living, will continue to have.”>
Hugging his cousin again, pressing her to his side, as a new wave of tears came from her at his words. He knew it would upset her but there was no way around it. Letting her go finally after some moments of silence, his head ducked down toward her, he sat up straight in his chair and bowed while thanking everyone for the food and picking up his chop sticks he went to start piling food onto his plate, just like everyone else had done. The words of thanks echoed and the sound of chop sticks being picked up filled the air in unison as they started to fill their plates and eat. Waiting to hear the opinions of his family members, his mother hadn’t let anyone sneak tastes, he was happy to hear some praise to the foods. Some of the words lacked a bit but others seemed to be better.
This was good, nothing was hated – yet. They would make next Thanksgiving better, this was a learning experience. Word count: 679
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Posted: Fri Nov 27, 2015 12:57 am
November 27, 2015 Dinner was over; food they had liked but not finished was packed up and put into the fridge for tomorrow, or later that night. The foods they hadn’t liked, and there had been a few, had been thrown out. The table was clean and dishes were being done in the dish washer, while others waited for their turn in the washer. His shirt had also been washed and was hanging to dry as it would shrink if it was dried in the dryer, and he didn’t need it shrunk as it already fit him snugly.
With everything done, for the moment, his sisters had curled up in the living room to watch tv along with his parents. He didn’t know what they were watching, perhaps some movie, as he had decided to go to his room and rest after all that eating he was tired. He actually felt rather stuffed and bloated but some of the food really had been good, especially the mashed potatoes and the apple cinnamon pie he and his mother had made.
Pushing his bedroom door open he closed it behind himself and made his way toward his desk, snagging a certain picture off his dresser as he made his way to his desk to get the notebook he did his writing in. He hadn’t worked on his story in a while and he really should get back to trying to write some sort of a fantasy story, he was bored and once he started writing it was likely his pen and imagination would lead him without any thought needed. Tossing both notebook and framed picture onto his bed he went to change into something more comfortable, as his pants were far too tight about his stomach right now.
It was once he was in low fitting pajama bottoms and a t-shirt that was a bit too big for him that he lay himself out along his bed and reached for the notebook. Opening it slowly he pulled the pen from where he kept it inside the notebook. Reading over what he last had written he let his eyes drift a few times to the frame which lay there on his bed. Two innocent, smiling, faces staring back at him.
<”I don’t think this would have been a holiday you’d have liked. Dinner with your family…”> Not if the other had been so worried about his grades, had done so poorly (even if it was only in his eyes) on his finals that he’d had to kill him. Sitting around a dinner table with his family, being a failure to them, wouldn’t have been a good thing for his friend. <”I would have brought you home to celebrate it. But it’s not a Korean holiday, you had to eat with them every night but I wouldn’t have let you after failing. I’d have brought you home every night.”> He whispered softly. He knew how hard it would have been for the other to fail and then tell his parents, to sit with them during meals and listen to them and the disappointment in their voices. He had worried over that himself. He had worried about the possibility of failing, or doing poorly in his parents eyes, on the exams. <”You should have told me…I would have helped.”> He added then. He would have helped him study so he could have done better.
Shaking his head he went to start writing as he found himself able to pick up where he’d left off, ideas already coming to him. What he hadn’t expected was his sister to knock on his door and without waiting for a reply she bust into his room. Something about parade on tv and their father had taped it for them, while they’d all been cooking, and he had to come see.
Smiling he sat up and sliding off his bed he stood and shut the notebook, though it didn’t close all the way, as he headed out the door following his excited sister. His door was closed behind him but the notebook…the notebook was open to the first page which was dated: October 2010. The year they had taken the exams and just a month before them; before it had all ended.
He had started the story, which he was still working on, for his friend. Akihiko had been the more energetic of the two, though it was hard to tell as Seung was brought out of his usual shell by the others infections personality. Akihiko had liked to read but he didn’t like to read what he deemed as boring things, which most things were, he liked to read fantasy stories with magic and various creatures which ranged from elves and dwarves to dragons and other various things. He found them far more interesting, even if they served no purpose other than entertaining him. When not doing school work, or with friends, Akihiko would spend his time reading such books. He had wanted to write a book for him, even if no one else ever liked it, it was something he wanted to one day gift his friend. When the other had died he had stopped writing for a long time, devastated as he was and seeing no point to continue it. But after a long time spent mourning, and avoiding the notebook, he had finally picked it up again and decided to continue with it but slowly. He had notes on the last pages of the notebook, ideas and various other things he felt he might needed. He was adding to that more often than to the story it seemed, but he was progressing right?
One day it would be finished…but today was one more day away from it, one more day added on to how long it would take. Seung had curled up in a chair to watch the parade with his family, thinking for a moment how much the other might have liked this part of this American holiday. One day he’d finish the story and keep it for himself, a completed promise and nothing more. Word count: 1,017
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Posted: Thu Dec 03, 2015 12:42 am
December 3, 2015 (Back dating to December 2.) Seated with his sister and cousin, their parents were busy reading in their bedroom, the Asian music awards had just ended and the three of them were still seated at the kotatsu that they had recently bought online and had delivered. It wasn’t something they’d ever had in Japan but the floors here weren’t heated, as they were back home, so they had decided to purchase the piece of furniture.
Seated under it with the girls on either side of him, his pajama covered legs folded under the table and blanket he looked between the girls and smiled. “That was a good show. I’m glad to see Shinee won something and EXO. I had hoped VIXX would have won though.” He said casually. His sister responding with how happy she had been to see Big Bang had won, several awards.
The talk went from who won what, who they’d have liked to have seen win, to the performances which was where he again complimented Shinee and EXO though he did, as he always did when discussing EXO, lament over the loss of three of its members especially Tao and Luhan. Those two had been sick, injured and treated like s**t even when compared to the first of the three who had left – Kris. The girls already having heard it all weren’t subjected to it again, though he did sigh and say how he missed the three members but he understood. A lot of fans had been upset when they’d left, especially Tao, but he hadn’t been one of them. He’d supported all three and still did, even as they were still caught up in lawsuits with SM Entertainment.
Slowly he got up; stretching his legs, and sliding his feet into his house slippers he shuffled into the kitchen to get a drink. The awards show had been nearly five hours in length and none of them had gotten up longer than to grab a drink or use the restroom, no time spent really stretching the legs.
Opening the fridge he grabbed a small, personal, bottle of orange juice and headed back to join the girls. He didn’t sit down with them though; he leaned down to talk to them both. <”I’m going to turn in. I suggest you two head to bed soon also.”> He said before heading back to the kitchen, sipping from the bottle he’d opened on his way into the living room. Grabbing a sharpie marker he wrote his name on the cap and returned the bottle to the fridge before heading for the bathroom to shower, brush his teeth, and ready himself for bed. He didn’t intend to go right to sleep when he got to his room, it was still a bit on the early side, but he was planning on trying to get to bed as he had school in the morning.
The last part of his routine before going to his room was to fill the holes in his ears with simple little silver studs. Each stud, with the exception of two, were stars. Each ear had one crescent moon and a several stars filling the holes he decorated in a more elaborate way during the day time. Those earrings though were uncomfortable to sleep with in. So while he wore these his other ones were in a cleaning solution and in the morning he’d rinse them off and select what he felt like wearing, as he had a collection of decorations for his ears, and the moons and stars would go into the cleaning solution for the day. He knew it might seem over the top, to keep cleaning them before each use, but he wanted to keep them nice and clean and he had long ago noticed that ear holes could smell and so could earrings, they also gained white stuff on them when you removed them at times. So he kept them clean at all times.
With the studs in he shuffled into his room, fingers running through his hair, he closed his door and slipped off his slippers as he climbed onto his bed and slid down under the covers. Tomorrow he needed to get up early for a delivery before he got to school, since no one else would be home as everyone would be off to work or school before he had to be at school. He had ordered clothing, from home, and the delivery information said it would be the first drop off in the morning.
Shifting he got comfortable and reaching out for his bedside lamp he turned the light off and closed his eyes. His alarm was already set, he’d set his cell phones alarm earlier, and tried to calm himself enough to drift off. The awards show still playing out in his mind behind his closed eyelids, it really had been a good show. He missed being home, he missed his friends, he missed a lot of things. He couldn’t go back, well he could but only to visit.
<”I don’t like this place…but I don’t hate it. I miss home.”> The words where just above a whisper, he didn’t want to risk anyone hearing him through his closed door, as he didn’t want to inconvenience either parent or have either of the girls trying to perk his mood up. He was just hitting a touch of a down right now because he did miss sitting at a friend’s and watching the awards show. It wasn’t easy talking to them online and yet not see them and missing out on things which happened, inside jokes and other things.
Squeezing his eyes shut they drifted open then and he had to stare upward and blink several times in order to fight back the tears. Yes, he really did miss being home and this wasn’t the first time he’d put himself into such a mood. Korea town and being around people who spoke the same language, around products and foods that he knew, helped but overall it wasn’t perfect. He didn’t attend school with his friends, he’d had to drop down to the school he was in now rather than go right into university.
Shifting he rolled onto his side and hugged his pillow close and pressed his face into the soft fluffy pillow, in order to blot up the salt water which filled his eyes and threatened to spill down his cheeks. Controlling his breathing he worked himself to calmness, worked himself till his eyes were dried up and gone. That was how he fell asleep – hugging his stained, damp, pillow and under his blankets. Word count: 1,101
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Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 5:10 pm
December 7, 2015 It was over two months away, two months and one day to be precise, but his family were already preparing for Seollal and the trip back home it would mean for them. His cousin and sisters school already knew they would be absent for seven days, for holiday purposes and would be out of the country. He’d contacted his own school and let them know as well. It gave them time to prepare all they’d need for school work and they could work on it in the days leading up to the departure back home to Korea. They wanted to have nothing undone when they left and the day they returned, a good start to a new year for them.
While his mother had been purchasing herbs and other things, which would keep till then, for cooking and other purposes they knew there were going to be things which would be harder to get such as the fruits they would normally gift to people. The prices would be higher, much higher, but also by the time they arrived in Korea many stores may be sold out due to the rush to purchase the special fruits. There were other gifts they could, and would, give of course and those were being thought out. He had a list of relatives he needed to purchase gifts for, as he was considered an adult, and some ideas jotted down for each. He still had to finalize the ideas but that would happen as he got closer to the date of departure as many things he might bring with him from here, as he may not have time to purchase things once he got home.
They also needed new clothing and that was why Seung had gone out the day before to purchase fabrics so he could make the new clothing for his family, they’d have to purchase new shoes as he wasn’t as adept at making slippers, but his family would have all new hanbok for all three days of Saollal as he was intent upon providing the clothing for this years festivities, it was a bit cheaper he do it this way as well.
His father had earlier in the day announced that he had purchased the airplane tickets and called his parents to let them know they would be arriving for the holiday in February, something they may have been worried over. His mother had also called her parents and let them know the good news, as he knew they’d been worried about not seeing their daughter and grandchildren for the holiday. The move from Seoul to Destiny City had put a lot of distance between the family, more than there had ever before been, and caused worry about them not making it for holidays or what if someone died or was getting married? Or the birth of a new family member? All legitimate worries which they’d understood as they’d departed for Destiny City. They had assured their family they’d return for the important things, they were family after all, but it had not had to be proven till now.
The rental car had also been rented ahead of time, before people returning to Korea from elsewhere flooded and crashed websites to book rental cars. It was common to have sites for train tickets to crash the moment they opened to the booking of tickets for the holiday. His father had wanted to make sure they were set and would not run into trouble this year, since they were so far away.
Looking at his phone, he was sitting on the living room floor with fabric, pins, pin cushion, needle, thread and more all about him as he worked, he picked up his phone and unlocking the screen decided it was time he let his friends back home know that he would be returning for the Lunar New Year. So hopping onto his various social media sites, one at a time, he posted a quick message letting them know that he and his family would be returning and spending the holidays with his father’s family than his mothers; and he couldn’t wait.
Once his message had been posted to the various sites he set his phone down on the low table he was seated at, picked up his glass of juice to drink, and once his glass was set back down he went back to his sewing as he worked with the silk fabrics for his sister first hanbok, as he was planning to make a few of them. It wasn’t the first time he’d made them this year but once he was done it would be the last until next year. He was, again, glad he had learned to sew from his mother so long ago and that he was used to stitching and sewing from patterns as he did cosplay outfits for himself. This was going to be time consuming though, and he did wonder if he’d be able to get them all done in time and have them all looking nice. For his sisters first one he was going with a soft spring green and pale blue color. He’d add a dash of a lavender color as well but he was trying to keep them simple and pretty.
For his own he’d gone with dark and light colored fabrics, to offset the dark so it wasn’t the only thing he was wearing. For his father, as he was older and more mature, he had gone with darker colors. For his mother he had gone with all soft colored fabrics where as for the girls there was only enough softly colored fabrics for one hanbok as the other two would be brighter in color and more cheerful. He thought his ideas and colors would work well together for everyone, as they would fit personalities and ages rather nicely. He just had to hope he could get them all done and that slippers to match them all could be found.
Finishing the juice in his glass he stood slowly, setting aside his work, and stretching his legs he headed to the kitchen to get some more juice for himself as he planned on spending the night at the table sewing. The tv was on, to give him some background noise, as he worked and stitched and would glance over to the design and pattern to make sure it was all right so far. He may have done this before but a hanbok was still a new thing for him to put together so it was something he was still nervous about, he didn’t want to mess up. Biting down on his bottom lip as he returned to the table and sat himself down he went back to work slowly, humming to himself as he worked. Every so often he’d check his phone and see what was being posted by various people he was following on the different social media sites. Word count: 1,159
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Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 12:35 am
December 23, 2015 (Back dating to December 10th.) He’d done it back home in Korea when he’d been studying for his finals, which would decide his whole life, he had spent days with so little sleep it would surprise his classmates here if he ever mentioned it to them. How many of them really studied much? How many spent their time in class, work, and then went and studied to the point that they ran on three hours sleep for days? He doubted any of his classmates did such a thing but he was doing it now just as he had years ago. He didn’t have a job back then which had meant more time studying, a lot more time, but the exams were important then just as they were now.
He had pushed himself back then to the point of exhaustion and pushed past it as he’d gone to the doctors for a iv drip of glucose. It wasn’t something uncommon, it was heard of being done for people and more commonly idols and those who acted in dramas. So the fact he’d pushed himself to that point hadn’t been an odd thing, though he did remember Akihiko had become worried and embraced him after finding out the first time he’d done it. His friend had pushed himself, without a doubt, but not to the point which Seung had pushed himself. He didn’t want to think that it was the reason his friend had not been doing well on the exam, any time the idea ever surfaced in his mind he’d push it away before it could manifest fully, but it was something he could see people thinking – he knew people had thought it at the time.
But that was then and this was now and he was working himself just as hard now with studying, minus the time spent at his job of course, and he had run himself ragged. He had been nodding off at his desk, and found himself unable to focus. It was why he had found, from some of the a ahjumma who went to the convenience store he worked at, where he could find a small clinic that did the iv drips which you couldn’t get as easily here as you could back home in Korea. He knew it wasn’t exactly something done here, not by most people, but he had pocketed some money and closing his books because there really was no point in continuing as tired as he was. Heading out of the apartment intent upon a quick trip to Korea Town and the clinic he’d been told about, one of the ahjumma had noticed how tired he was and had inquired about his health two days back, for a quick pick me up so he could come back home and continue his studying. He needed to pass the exams as they’d help get him into college, or university, and while he didn’t plan on leaving Destiny City just yet, not with everything going on in this city and his family being new here, he had plans to eventually go to a better place so he had to do well!
After a nice walk, trip on the subway, and more walking he’d arrived in Korea Town and with the address noted in his phone he soon found the small little clinic and stepping inside bowed while greeting the two older women at the front desk. Approaching the desk, he made sure to let them know what he was there for, or hoped he could get, all the while raising a hand to cover up the yawning he was doing. He really should sleep but he really had exams to study for and he needed to do well.
Taking a seat, as indicated, after paying he didn’t have long to wait before being escorted to a back room and behind a curtain where two beds where. The other was unoccupied but after being asked a few questioned he was left to himself as a doctor would be with him in a few minutes. The small curtained off area, as the nurse had drawn the curtain behind her, had a small wall mounted tv and two small beds along with a table by each bed filled with magazines. The magazines were ignored as he stretched out along one of the beds and set his tired yes on the tv screen as he waited.
The wait wasn’t long and soon he was lifting his head and bowing to the doctor, greeting him politely, as he explained things and was somewhat happy that the man was willing to provide what he needed, especially since he’d paid for it already, the doctor seemed to agree that his problem was lack of energy as well as dehydration as he’d been too busy to properly take care of himself and needs such as water.
He didn’t have an issue with needles, thankfully, so he was able to sit and watch as soon a needle was sliding into his arm and a bag was being hung from a small, until now unnoticed, hook from came out from the wall by his bed. With his arm stretched out and the needle in place, and held there securely, he was able to relax and watch tv in a rather half hearted manner as he let himself rest as much as he would permit it. He would, once this was done, go home and go right back to his books until his body gave out and forced him to sleep. It was just this way when it came to exam time. He knew it wasn’t normal here, that his classmates wouldn’t understand, but this was how it was. You did what you had to in order to go forward in life and if that meant you pushed yourself a bit too far than it was fine. There was a line and he hadn’t crossed it – yet. But just where was that line? He honestly, not that he’d ever admit it, didn’t know where it was. Passing out, hospital trips, and this were certainly not crossing the line, though he’d never passed out or been taken to the hospital. It was something people pushed themselves to, not typically over exams but it did happen.
Biting his lip he focused a bit more on relaxing, this was a small break which he knew he needed, because when would he next have a break? When the exams were over and this Christmas vacation thing started. Then he would allow himself a break and to sleep properly again. He just had to do well with his studying and on these exams and then he could go back to normal. Soon…very soon. Word count: 1,117
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Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2015 12:18 pm
December 23, 2015 (Back dating to December 12th.) The girls had taken off for the Christmas ornaments and lights, planning to purchase enough to cover a tree with and light up the apartment, as they would be celebrating the holiday for the first time in this new country and previously they hadn’t really celebrated it. Already he had purchased cheap Christmas cards, all saying season’s greetings, and sent them to friends and family back home. He knew his parents as well as the girls had done the same thing, Why people spent so much on cards, he had gawked at some of the prices, was beyond him. They were used just once to convey a message and would get thrown out in the end so why bother?
In previous years they’d done gift exchanges, between family members, but the whole lights and decorations thing had not been a part of things for the family. This year however they would have a tree, which was where he was headed with his father, and it would be decorated. His parents were planning on going out for Christmas to do something together, he didn’t even know what they had planned, leaving him and the girls at home to watch tv and spend the day together as they doubted they would be invited to friends’ homes or any such thing. There would, before his parents left, be a quick gift exchange and then the day would return to normal for them. The tree would remain up for a few days, they’d already discussed it, but by the first of January the tree would be out and on the side walk, as a neighbor had told them that was how they were dealt with.
As the doors to the store whooshed open allowing him and his father access to the outdoor garden center, which was filled with Christmas trees, the two men headed toward the trees to pick one out that wouldn’t be too large, or too small, that they could get up into their apartment with a fair amount of ease and set it up. They’d never done this before and as he told this to someone, and gave a height idea, they were lead off by a worker dressed in some rather garish clothing of red and green stripes with bells hanging here and there. Did they realize how ridiculous they looked? Did they even care? Judging by the smile, and the fact they had too much blush on their cheeks, he was guessing they didn’t care one bit over the horrid outfit they wore. It had to be something dealing with the holiday but still – why? The clothing was just…bad.
Speaking with his father, pointing out the horrid clothing, Seung was happy that they didn’t have to go through dozens of trees as they found one rather quickly, with the help of their...colorfully dressed assistant. With a tree picked, and his father going to get his car, he had one due to his job, Seung waited for his father to pull up outside the garden center so it could be tied down to the roof of the car. Once that was being done he went to find the girls and assist them, or just watch over them.
When he found the girls they were already carrying a basket each filled with boxes of lights, and garland (whatever that was). They were onto the ornaments now and were looking over different ones, trying to pick “cute” ones and what looked the best. Rolling his dark eyes he moved to join them and toss in his opinion, as well as letting them both know that a tree had been picked. They both were happy with that, not either thought a tree wouldn’t be found, but that seemed to give them more energy and had them going through all the ornaments they could as they put more and more boxes of them into their baskets. Sighing he shook his head and settled for watching them, nodding or shaking his head here and there, and otherwise not getting too involved. At some point he even wondered off to find lights for his own room, deciding to light his room up again, he settled on nice ice colored lights that dropped down like icicles. Between the color and style they would look nice and he’d keep them up for a while, they wouldn’t bother anyone in the house so why not?
Returning to the girls side the lights for his room were put into a basket with a quick explanation given to his curious sister. With the boxes of lights in his sisters basket he was comfortable in going back to watching the girls and giving minor input here and there. When their father arrived he seemed to the same as his son – watch the girls. When it was finally over they had a cart, the baskets couldn’t fit everything, and were moving toward the check out to pay for everything.
Watching as everything was rung up, and the cost went up, he wasn’t surprised when it was simply paid for by his father. The man did want to do this, it would be something he could talk with his co-workers about. It was one of the many reasons for trying to fit in and take up some of the American holidays and celebrate them in a similar manner.
Pushing the cart out of the store, toward the parked car with the tree tied down on top, he listened to the girls talking excitedly and glanced to his smiling father. The man was clearly happy with this. So was he. Word count: 935
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Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2015 7:09 pm
December 30, 2015 (Back dating to Christmas eve.) While Christians went to mass at a church Seung went to the only Buddhist temple in the city. There was only one, he’d looked it up, and had found the temple to be not all that far from home so he had gone there on Christmas eve.
Dressed in warm clothing, a beanie covering most of his dyed and shaved hair, his hands were in the pockets of the long puffy coat he wore as he climbed the steps to the temple ground and headed for the main building where he could put some money and where he could offer up his own prayers. He had already been through a lot since moving here, including being sort of dead, and he had only now found a temple; the only one. He should have done this sooner, someone in his family should have.
Slipping his shoes off before entering the main building, finding the small set up for shoes to be put into, he headed inside bowing his head as he entered, hands together in front of himself. Making his way inside his coat was unbuttoned as he went to front where the statue of the Buddha was and lighting an incense stick he left it with the others before bowing his head over his clasped hands together as the bracelet of crystal beads he wore were brought further down his wrist and into his hands and held between them.
Bowing his head as he offered up a prayer for his own safety and that of his family, for courage in this new city with the darkness that filled it. He prayed for all these things with his head bowed and eyes closed, his thoughts focused as the words passed his lips in whispers of Korean. He was so focused and unaware, due to his closed eyes and bowed head, that he didn’t notice the darkness creeping through the temple until it was upon him and slamming him almost into the alter. Just missing the alter, as he angled himself to the side, he hit the floor with a thud and a pained sound of surprise.
Turning he found himself staring at some sort of…dogish creature but it wasn’t’ a dog, that much he was certain of. Wiggling to get free he knew what this was – youma. He’d encountered one before and this time who was here to help him? He wanted to call for help, to scream for anyone, but he wouldn’t risk a monk coming to help him. No, this was something he had to deal with and he kicked out at it as he brought his legs up and under himself in order to do so. Free, for the moment, as his kick sent it across the room he jumped up to his feet. Backing up, to put distance between himself and the youma, he was taking another step backward when his foot landed on something and rolled. Taken by surprise, and the youma charging him, he fell and lifting his a** off the floor he saw some sort of…duster? It was too fancy though to be a normal duster. Picking it up he gave it a wave, checking it’s weight, before he brought it down on the youma’s head as it made a lunge for him.
Getting up onto his feet, as it seemed rather stunned at being hit, he was shocked when he noticed a change in his own clothing…his arms were mostly bare and his clothing – what the hell was he wearing? He could only conclude one thing and right now that was something to think about later – not now. Now he had a youma to deal with and when it next came for him he kicked out at the thing, sending it backward across the room.
The fight continued on for several minutes before a solid kick to it’s underbelly, he’d caught it with a kick to the underside as it leapt at him, sent it crashing to the ground where it burst into…dust after a rather pained whimper. Breathing hard and staring at the duster in his hand and then the spot the youma had died he took off before anyone could come and investigate.
Just as he was yanking on his shoes, having returned to his previous clothing, he heard voices coming his way. Taking off, quickly, he sent one more prayer up to whoever, or whatever, might be listening. Praying for the strength he would need and guidance – as he would need both. He was somehow now involved in this war and it wasn’t something he would run away from, he would face it, at least he wasn’t as clueless as others who were brought into it might be if others were suddenly pulled in like he just was.
As he made his way home his thoughts were all over the place, bouncing about at a million miles an hour, as adrenaline continued to surge through him from the fight and the new found power he had, not that he thought it such a good thing at the moment. A lot had happened and he couldn’t much focus his thoughts enough to decide what he thought of his new position in things, he would think on it later when he could. Maybe a hot shower would help, would let him relax and focus his thoughts. It was the best idea he could come up with at the moment, and that said a lot considering how fast his mind was racing in all different directions.
Reaching his home, he let himself in and greeting his parents quickly, while making sure they didn’t catch sight of him as they’d notice he was acting off, he hurried to his room to get what he’d need for a bath and hurried then to the bathroom while calling out to them that he was taking a bath and turning in – he was tired and tomorrow was Christmas. He needed his sleep – more than they could possibly know. Word count: 1,001
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Posted: Fri Jan 01, 2016 12:07 am
January 1, 2016 (Back dating to Christmas.) Christmas morning came early and chilly, until he rolled out of bed and rent to turn the heat up before returning to bed for a bit more sleep. He was unaware of what had transpired the night before as his starseed awoke as he came into his powers as a knight. He had been unaware of what had happened across the city as he powered up for the first time, as he went home after defending his life and slept. He didn’t know a battle had transpired. He didn’t know the full scope of what he’d just been brought into, not against his will but certainly without his acceptance.
He knew he had joined the war that Polaris had told him about so he wasn’t entirely clueless. Laying down in his bed, pulling his covers up, he turned to lay on his side as one arm curled under his pillow and dark eyes drifted closed again.
He couldn’t do nothing; he couldn’t avoid it. He was sure he could but also he couldn’t, not knowing what he did. He had almost died, or had he actually died that night? He knew the city wasn’t safe, first hand, and now he could do something about it in order to try and make it safer. That knowledge sealed his fate with a bond that nothing aside from death would break. He had family to protect and he supposed other innocent, and clueless, people. Knowing what he did from his previous encounters he couldn’t let this go, couldn’t just ignore it. He would join this war…he just needed to learn to fight. He had the discipline and he certainly had the drive.
Shifting, wiggling his hips, he got himself comfortable and snuggled into his pillow. This was not going to be easy, he’d been to figure things out on his own. No instruction manual had come with this all…but there was Aurora…she had given him her number.
Biting his lip he shifted, huffing out a sigh, and sat up and grabbed for his phone and pulled up her number once his phone was unlocked. s**t…he hoped she could translate it or her phone would translate it because his phone was all in Korean. Quote: Auora, I hope you remember me. You saved me that night in Korea Town. We need to talk, something happened last night. I need to know more – I’m like you. Word count: 522
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Posted: Sat Jan 02, 2016 11:40 pm
January 3, 2016 Sometimes not knowing the native language, at least not very well, didn’t matter. That was something he knew from back home even as some places he went, certain clubs, were in an area known as a foreigner’s area. So most of the people didn’t speak Korean or weren’t fluent in it. So to go to a club here wasn’t much different, aside from less Asian men being there and hearing no Korean spoken. The idea was the same – drinking, dancing and leaving with someone.
That had been the idea the night before and it had, like in the past, gone just the same – as planned. The drinks were good and the music…well that could have been better. The men weren’t bad looking at all and after dancing and drinking, not enough to pass out or be too unaware of himself and his surroundings, he’d left for a hotel with one of the people he’d been dancing with a lot.
At some point he’d managed to send a text to someone in his family, he honestly didn’t remember who, tell them that he was spending the evening out at someone else’s place and would be home in the morning; and he would. That was one thing he always made sure he was – home in the morning. He was normally home for breakfast, or at least he tried to be.
This morning was no different as he woke up first, he had to gently wrestle an arm free, and headed for the bathroom to wash up before he used the toothbrush they had there, there were two wrapped toothbrushes in the bathroom. When he came out of the bathroom, toweling himself dry, the other was just waking up and groaning as they likely had a hangover and who knows what else. Greeting them, to be polite, he started to pull on his clothing as the other figure sat up and stretched.
Already he was planning on getting out of here as quickly as he could no morning round or anything else. He was going home and having breakfast and heading to work. He wasn’t going to risk being late for work and he wasn’t going to work on an empty stomach either, he needed food. He also, however childish as it may sound, needed to check in with his parents so they knew he was alright.
Ignoring the other when they came toward him, it seemed they had other ideas in their head, he tried to push them toward the bathroom before deciding to play along and tell them to go wash up while he worked himself out of his clothing. Instead however he finished dressing and while they were showering he left the room as silently as he could and headed for the elevator and down into the lobby.
Stopping at the reception desk he handed over his key card and paid for the room, he had a small account with money he’d been earning from work, and after paying and informing them the other was still in there and would be down soon, he left and headed for home. Rather than walk he did take the subway to get as close to the apartment building as possible and walked the rest of the way.
A few minutes after reaching the apartment building Seung was sliding his key into the lock of the apartment and turning the knob he let himself in and quietly shut the door and went to get a second shower, considering what he’d just come home wearing was dirty he felt the need for another shower, and after that he dressed he joined his family for a quick breakfast, greeting his parents and the girls, he finished up his breakfast with a glass of juice and then, second glass in hand, headed to the bathroom to get ready for work.
Answering his mother’s questions, and making room for her so she too could get ready for work, about his night out. He didn’t tell her a bit of the truth. He lied and claimed to have been at the movies with a few classmates and slept over one’s house, he’d slept on the couch. He would do his wash as soon as he got home from work, since he needed some things from there, and he’d than do the rest of the wash as he had taken that on as a household chore some time ago and had kept to it.
Once he was done preparing, his mother was still working on her make up, he headed from the bathroom down the hall to his room to get the bag he took with him to work. His cell phone went into the bag as well as his wallet and a few other odds and ends. Grabbing a small bottle of v8 from the fridge, the original v8 blend, he slipped the unopened bottle into his bag and headed for the front door. His ear buds being put into his ears as he called out to his family that he was off to work.
Slipping shoes on, having taken them out of the closet by the front door, he headed out into the hall, locking the door behind him, and headed down the hall to the elevator and once he hit the street he was headed for work. Along the way he picked up, from one of the little convince stores in Korea Town, a small container of banana milk to drink as he walked the next two blocks to work. He couldn’t get it at work, not in the morning, and have time to finish it. So he bought it at a different store and finished it on the way to work, tossing the container out in the backroom of his job. His boss clueless that he bought it every morning on the way in to work. The old owner thought he brought it from home – oh well. He bought enough of it from here also, to keep some at home. He could bring it with him in fact but he didn’t. That was for his home supply and not to be used when on the way to work, but rather when at home.
Greeting his boss as he entered the store he tossed out the now empty contained and headed for the backroom to get on his apron and start his shift. Just another normal day, even if his life wasn’t so normal or average any more. It still seemed like it when looking at how his days went. Word count: 1,093
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Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:57 pm
January 5, 2016 From Polaris he had learned a lot, both the first and the second time they’d met. He knew he was a knight now, and not a senshi like she was. The weapon he had was the feather duster, which really didn’t look like a feather duster to him but rather something else. He hadn’t mentioned to her just what it looked like, it would be impolite of him to do so, but he now knew what he was and more of what it meant.
There was more than just the war but also various planets, stars, moons and other such things and places there - wonders. Wonders belonged to knights, like himself, and he could go there and see this wonder. The idea that he could go to space was still a bit unbelievable but that was mostly because it was such an outlandish thing – space travel with no rocket or anything else. But the whole magic thing…he did have to believe it as insane as it sounded to him. He doubted Polaris would lie to him about such a thing, and he had seen magic first hand so there was no lying about that to him.
He didn’t know what he’d see when he got there, didn’t know the weather to expect or anything else so he was packing his backpack full of various things in preparation for…space travel, it really did sound odd to his own mental ears saying, or rather thinking, it.
Inside his bag was a flashlight, extra batteries for it, his mp3 player, a bottle of juice, two bottles of water, his cell phone (for picture taking purposes), some food also for when he got hungry. He had decided on simple foods he could eat and not risk making a mess with. It wasn’t all that hard to pack, everything was fairly obvious and had a purpose. For clothing he had on his normal clothing but as he headed down the hall he grabbed a nice long puffy coat from the closet by the door and pulling it on, zipping and buttoning it up, he told his mother he was going out and would be back later. Asking her to leave a note for the girls, since his mother would soon be off to work. Having today off was very helpful, it would allow him a good amount of time to do this.
A few minutes after leaving the apartment he was walking away from the building, wanting to put some distance between his home and from where his energy signal would come from. He didn’t want to risk his family and home, even in the slightest of ways. The banana milk he’d gone back into the apartment to get was set down as he entered an alleyway. That was where he powered up once his things were on the ground, his bag, his coat, his drink. Once powered up the coat came back on, quickly as it was freezing out, his back pack was hefted over a shoulder and his banana milk was picked up and the page of Ganymede his focus on just where he wanted to go – Venice. He wanted to go to Venice, and not the Venice in Italy either. He was focusing on the feeling, on a calling, to some other place far away. Eh could feel it the more he focused and that was when he felt it – a shifting. The shifting was startling at first but so was the coolness, it wasn’t freezing but cool, and when he opened his eyes he knew he was no longer in Destiny City or on Earth.
He had done it! For a moment he considered jumping for joy or shouting something but instead he went right into his bag and dug out his cell phone for a selca. His hair checked before he was snapping the photo of himself with his fingers up in a v sign and his drink visible as well. Another picture and he was giving a cute face and a third with him winking. When he put his phone away Venice finally took a look around and wondered just what had happened here. The place had obviously been rather grand and well decorated – once upon a time. Now it looked like an army had run through here, a very long time ago, and no one had decided to clean up.
It seemed as though he’d arrived in the entrence, where people would enter first when coming in from the street. The area was large with flooring that looked like it may have been marble, or something similar, but it was cracked and pulled up in places. Broken pieces littered the ground as well as a good thick layer of dust. Actually the whole area was covered in dust which muted the colors of things, as if the age didn’t do that already. He was lucky he didn’t have an allergy to dust, if he did this would be a nightmare for him. The area wasn’t just large though it had stairs, a grand set, leading up to what he didn’t know, though he did intend to find out. There was a fountain in the center of the room, a large one made of some white material. No water spilled from the top into the basin to fill it, in fact it was a good idea no water did come. The base at the bottom seemed to have gained a large crack in it, and would leak. Was everything going to be ruined and damaged?
Curtains covered the ground and left a hallway uncovered, as he assumed the curtains likely once covered the entryway to the hallway, again it went to somewhere he was unsure of. He’d do some exploring now that his phone was away in his bag. Setting his bag on the ground and kneeling he riffled through it for several minutes before he came out with his mp3 player and his flashlight. It was dim in here and there was no functioning lights as far as he could tell. The chandelier above was there but hung at an odd angle, it might fall at some point in the near future.
Deciding to head for the stairs he took them to the second floor landing, ignoring the fact they went up another floor for the moment, and looked to his left than his right. Standing there, flashlight in one hand and mp3 player and drink in his other hand he figured it was best to settle his full hands now. Ear buds were put into his ears and the device turned on and a song selected and turned on low, so it wasn’t too distracting. The device was then put into a pocket of the coat which was unbuttoned slowly. The straw his drink came with was used to stab through the top before being placed inside so he could take a sip. Now he had one hand with a drink and the other occupied with the flashlight that he clicked on.
Pointing it down the left hall than the right he figured both looked the same. Red carpeting on the floor in either direction, looking rather destroyed and hole filled, he headed down the right hall as it didn’t seem to matter which way he went. Sipping on his drink as he went, flashlight moving around, he saw what remained of light fixtures on the walls and curtained off areas evenly spread out opposite the fixtures. Using the flashlight to move aside one of the curtain he stepped on through, ducking his head to avoid the dust covered hole ridden curtain. Once past the curtain he discovered what this place was. <”A theater.”>
It had to be. Right in front of him were a few seats, balcony seating he was in, and down below was floor seating. The seats were torn from the ground and tossed about but still there at least. The stage itself seemed to need a lot of help. There were holes you could fit a small car into and the curtains looked a mess, torn and on the ground and ripped apart. He could see it even from up here where he was. Stage lighting was nowhere to be seen, but given the looks of it he was expecting the stage lighting to be old fashioned and he didn’t see it. He saw nothing above the stage either. While he saw the chandelier which had hung over the seating area on the ground a warped tangled mess of metal and other materials.
Shaking his head, he looked away from there and looked up, though not toward the ceiling. It appeared there was a higher level of balcony seats as well as a massive box seat right in the back of the place, across from the stage with all the floor seating separating the two as well as height. <“More important people.”> He said to himself, figuring that was the only explanation for the massive box seating as well as the higher level of balcony seats.
Knowing what was there did he want to go up there? Was there a point? Shaking his head, deciding he wasn’t going to venture there, he decided on something else instead. Reaching the balconies rail he grasped it with one hand and launched himself over it and toward the ground below. It was a hell of a drop and jarring, sent him to his a**, but he picked himself up with no real damage though his tailbone did hurt from it. Rubbing lightly, in a circular motion, at his tailbone the page headed his way toward the stage and climbing the stage, as there were steps off to the left side of the stage, he hoped the floor of the stage would hold his weight. Getting past the mess of tossed about chairs and mangled chandelier was enough for him – thank you very much. He did not need a floor to give out under his slight weight.
It seemed however that he was in luck, the floor held for the most part as only one foot got stuck when the floor gave way just a bit under the left foot. With his foot free he bent, spreading himself across as much of the floor as he could so he could distribute his weight, and peered down into the hold he’d just made.
Down below it seemed like a whole open room filled with gears and other things - how interesting. Standing up he made his way, slowly, toward one of the larger holes and sat himself at it’s edge, feet dangling into the hole as he pondered how bad of an idea this might just be. Flashing the light down there he took the last sip of his drink, which he’d been sipping at very slowly. Shifting his bag off his shoulder the container, and straw, went into the smallest section of the back pack before it was shouldered again. Looking once more into the darkness, the flashlight lighting it up, he took a deep breath before sliding off the edge and plunging into the basement, or so he assumed it was the basement. He was assuming there wasn’t another lower floor though he could very easily be wrong in that assumption.
Jarring and jolting was the landing but as he straightened himself he was able to walk around, moving his flashlight, and explore. It seemed that down here was where platforms could be moved up, via big gear arrangements, as above there was at least one distinct trap door. The others had likely given way to the gaping holes in the floor of the stage, like the one he’d gone through. Also it seemed costume trunks and some set pieces, big ones, were down here but the costumes were all ripped, torn, and disintegrated due to time and how unkind the years had been. The sets were in mostly the same state of ruin, although it wasn’t quite the same as the costumes due to different materials. But he got the gist of what was down here and what this had once been.
As he continued to explore he found a few doors, each one seemed to be preparation rooms. One door however he couldn’t get into, the door either was locked or blocked by something, one door however led to a hallway which led up a small flight of stairs and to another door. Opening the door, unsure where it would lead to, he found himself being splashed by…water – rain? Looking up he realized he was outside and it was raining lightly. The sky was cloudy and the rain felt nice, even though it was on the cool side out. Pulling the hood of his coat up, the edge of the hood trimmed in fake fur, he buttoned his coat up and decided to continue to explore some.
Walking around the cobbled alley and out onto the street gave him time to think and sing, softly, to the music playing over his ear buds. The theater was big and walking around part of it’s back side and one whole side of the building, till he reached the front and the street, told him as much. The street though and the buildings around it told him even more about what may have happened here. A burnt out looking building across the street and the cobble stones looked pulled from their places, broken, and worn by weather. They’d suffered and the sidewalk was just as bad, perhaps a bit worse. Whatever had happened here was no good as he glanced around from under his hood. The flashlight clicking off as he felt it was unneeded at the moment.
Right out in front of the theater was a street, perhaps cobble stone since it was too far for him to see properly, and the street allow people to turn off into a street, or perhaps he should call it a que, in front of the theater that was like a half circle. So you turned right off the main street onto the half circle in front of the theater, dropped people off, and continued and got back onto the main street. It was interesting and just made it seem like this theater was more important than he’d thought when he’d first realized what sort of building he was in. He had, of course, noticed it looked grand inside but not as grand as he was now figuring this place had once been. Time, and whatever had happened to the place, had swept away some of the theaters grandeur but the outside gave him more of an idea behind it.
Raising one hand and worked his fingers through his bangs to get his hair out of his face, tucking the long locks of dyed hair behind his ear. Deciding to eat now he decided to sit himself right on the wide sidewalk in front of the theaters stairs, which led to a lineup of numerous large doors. Seated he shifted his back pack in front of himself and started to dig through it, putting his flashlight back inside of it. The food container he had was then removed and set onto his lap before the bottle of v8 was taken out as well. The bottle was set onto the sidewalk and his bag was closed again.
Uncapping his drink, cracking the seal, he took a sip and once it was capped he went for the food. White rice, kimchi, soegogi-jeon, Kkwarigochujjim, and some other vegetables. He had gone heavy on the vegetables and as he took his chop sticks, a nice metal extendable set, from the lunch box he gave them a flick to extend them and started eating then. Expertly picking up things to eat he stopped every so often to have a sip of his juice. As he finished eat, he really didn’t know how long had gone by and the rain was just starting to pick up from a drizzle to a down pour, he packed up the empty box and his chop sticks that were shrunk back down.
Shoving the box back into his bag he shifted it up onto his shoulder and stood up and hurried inside, using the front door this time, he had for a moment worried it wouldn’t open for him but it had – thankfully. So now he stood there where he’d first arrived only now he was wet, well fed, and with a bottle of juice in hand rather than a flashlight and bottle of banana milk.
Pulling his music device from his pocket, where it had been all day, he took a glance down at the screen and took note of the time. <”Aish!”> He’d been here for nearly four hours! It didn’t feel like that but the clock said it had been. Where the time had gone he didn’t know but it had gone somewhere.
Pocketing the device and slipping the bottle into his other pocket, stretching said pocket in the process, he summoned his feather duster to himself as a sort of anchor and focused on where he wanted to be. As he focused his dark eyes fell closed, as it helped to block out what was around him, and soon enough the coolness turned to freezing cold and powering down quickly, not wanting to attract attention to himself, he hurried his way home intent upon a warm shower and doing the dishes then before settling in to watch some tv in the living room. It had been a good first trip and he hoped others went just as well, he also wanted to get into that locked room eventually…he wanted to know what was in that room, if anything. Perhaps it was just a feeling, he had but he had learned to go with his feelings, but that room felt or seemed different to him – important somehow and he wanted to see if it in fact was special or different. But that would wait till another trip. Word count: 3,012
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Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2016 9:30 pm
January 8, 2016 He should have figured his cousin and sister had ordered them this year, they did every other year. He had thought that the change in countries however, as well as services and such, would mean they wouldn’t be ordering them this year. But as he brought the packages, he’d had to make several trips to the elevator that someone had kindly held open for him, out of the elevator rapidly as he didn’t want the doors closing on him he cursed the girls. He didn’t need to have the packages open to know what they’d ordered and he really wished they had told him. They were off shopping and his parents were out at work, which he didn’t have today, so he was left to bringing all the packages, which he was slowly pushing and carrying down the hall to their apartment door.
Once he had all the packages at the door he slid his key into the lock, unlocking the door, he pushed it open and started to shove all the packages into the apartment before shutting and locking the door behind himself. Once that was done he sat down on the floor for a moment before moving to look at each package. How many had they gotten? There was also something for himself, which he had been expecting and knew what it was.
Moving things about he divided the packages before opening them so what was left on the floor, still divided into two piles, were the bags from the various shops his sisters had ordered from. The bags were varied in design, size, and material they were made from but they all had one thing in common – they were fukubukuro. They weren’t a Korean thing but rather a Japanese thing they’d learned about a long time ago, back when his cousin and sister were both much younger, when an elder cousin of his had studied abroad in japan for a year. They had been in Japan for New Years, January first, and had gotten several fukubukuro for themselves and when they’d told, and shown, their family the bags it had become something various members would order online and have shipped from Japan to Korea.
He hadn’t ordered his, he couldn’t, it wasn’t possible to order one from Apple. One of his aunts had known he’d tried last year, he’d waited nineteen hours in line, but hadn’t been able to get his hands on one of the bags. His aunt had offered to wait for him, since she was sure he would have done it this year had he not been in Destiny City and so far away. He’d declined the offer, telling her not to – it would be a long wait. She had called him later that day, leaving a message on his phone, telling him that she had gotten him a bag and he owed her the money for it. The money wasn’t an issue, he had a job and didn’t spend his money so easily, he’d been upset that she had spent so long in the cold waiting just so she could get him the lucky bag though. He had called her back and thanked her many times, it seemed like a dozen or more times really. She had told him, at the end of the call, that she would be shipping it to him and using a three-day delivery service so he’d have it soon – soon was now.
With the bags for his sister and cousin divided, and out of the boxes they’d been delivered in, he set about moving them all to the girl’s rooms, his sister first than his cousin. Stopping by his bedroom he grabbed his phone and sent a text to them both letting them know of the numerous purchases which had arrived and that they were unboxed and in their rooms. That done, which took a good amount of time, he went to unbox his own purchase and grabbing the bag he headed into the kitchen, to grab a drink, before heading for his room with the bag and a glass of juice. Sitting himself on his bed, bag on his bed as well, he set about opening it with one hand while sipping his juice. Once the bag was unzipped he leaned toward his bedside table and set the glass down, so it didn’t spill and he had use of his other hand, and then went to seeing what was in the bag.
With his drink down on the table and his focus on the unzipped back, which he hadn’t even peeked into yet, he finally opened it and was greeted with what he hadn’t even figured was a possibility. He knew it was but the odds were so against it. It was the rare bag, he’d gotten the rare bag! He almost laughed but the smile which spread across his face prevented the laughter as he couldn’t seem to stop smiling, even in order to laugh.
What was pulled out from the bag was an 11 inch macbook air. He’d seen videos, and talked to people, who had bought the bags in previous years and while none had won what he just had they had seen people who had. He knew an air jacket would be in his pack and he wasn’t surprised when he pulled that from the bags depths. The apple tv wasn’t something he’d use but it was something he would toss into the living room for the family to use, as it would be something the girls would like and so would everyone. It would be put to use. It wasn’t why he’d bought the bag but he had considered that it would be in the bag and everyone could use it. The headset which was in the pack was put onto his bed to the side, they would be nice but he had a good headset already. These new ones would serve as a backup for if he lost his current ones or they broke. The other items were also put onto his bed, the air jacket and airbook were kept together so he could unpack them both and put the jacket onto the book so it had a nice cover., it wasn’t showing off in his mind as no one here would know he had nearly gotten the items for free (having only spent around 33o dollars). The other items were really all accessories, ones which would be useful but were still just accessories. Unpacked and put away, as he moved around his room to do so, he finally got to the main thing – the airbook and air jacket. The airbook was opened first followed by the cover which was put onto the laptop.
The laptop was set onto his desk and smiling, still, he finished off his juice and went to turn it on and at least set up a few things so he could get put it to use, he could take it to school with him when he started Destiny City University in the fall. It was, as the laptop started up, that he went to get his phone and snapped a picture of it as well as a selca with it and sent both to his aunt and posted the selca to his twitch and Instagram sites for his friends to see. Adding in a few words and a few emoticons he made his posts and setting his phone down, next to the laptop, he sat himself down and started working on arranging things.
His sister and cousin both followed him on social media, no shock there, so had apparently gotten the notification of his postings and had seen them. As he was setting his browser he got a text from them, one from each, with lots of exclamation points and emoticons from them. Though both girls knew he’d been hoping for the ipod touch, his old ipod mini needed replacing really as it was several years old. That was why he’d bought the bag, it wasn’t the rarest of the items to get. It was the second rarest one but with odds that weren’t all that bad he’d decided to give it a try and hope for the ipod touch he’d been wanting, but hadn’t wanted to spend the money on. So they understood he was happy, which he was, but that he’d wind up now having to spend the money for the item that he’d wanted but hadn’t been granted – so sad.
Responding to his sister, and telling her to show their cousin his response, he was suddenly hit with an idea which brought him to his feet. Pushing his chair back he got up and went to get a few things. He knew just what the pack everything had come in would be used for!
Within a matter of minutes he was placing a flashlight in the pack and making a list of things he would need. He was going to use the pack as a travel bag for when he went to Ganymede! It would be separate from his schoolbag, so he didn’t need to keep changing up what was in the bag. He would keep it as a constant with a flashlight, a small first aid kit (which he’d purchase) and some other basics. He’d of course bring food each time, as well as chop sticks and rinks, but some things would remain in the bag no matter what including his ipod mini and its headset – once he bought a new ipod. Yes! It was the perfect idea and he was pleased with himself as he sat down again to finish things up, the list also now written out and planned. He now knew how he’d be spending Saturday once he got paid – shopping for the packs supplies for space trips.Word count: 1,639
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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 7:54 pm
January 27, 2016 (Back dating a few days) Sitting on his bed the airbook he had was sitting on his comforter as he typed away at the keyboard. He was searching for any local martial arts studios. Next to him he had a capped pen and a spiral notebook, a list was already written out of various martial arts styles. He was doing his research and recon work. He had looked up various styles, at the top of his list were the ones native to Korea, but there were other styles; none which used a weapon as a primary thing.
As the search began he uncapped his pen as he looked over the search results for tae kwon do schools in Destiny City. Flipping the page in the notebook to a clean page he jotted down several addresses, websites, and other information provided as he looked over the list. Five tae kwon do schools, not bad, he hoped he would get lucky with the other styles he would be looking up. As the information on the five schools was jotted down he flipped back to the first page to look at next style on the list – tang soo do. That one he found nothing for and while perhaps disappointed he wasn’t too surprised either. It likely wasn’t popular here or even well known, if it was known of at all.
The third on the list was taekkyuon and for that he found two schools, well at least it was better than before. The information was looked over and written down on another clean sheet of notebook paper. He would check out each place online at their website and in person. He wanted to see how each place was run, how many people, and a few other things. He didn’t want some watered down or American version of the style. He wanted what he wanted, whatever that may be, and he wasn’t going to take anything less. It wasn’t being picky but rather remaining true to what the style was, it’s origin, and this could save his life one day so he needed it to be as serious as he would be.
Hopkido was looked up as well and three schools were found, not as many as he’d have expected. Noting them down he continued on with the list as he had been going. Looking up styles and listing locations and information on a new clean page meant for that style only. Some were popular where as others were less popular. Some he could predict would either turn up no results or very few, and he was right on a few of them where as some surprised him.
As he finished his work he leaned back on his bed and sighed. Time to check out the websites and see what he made of them, what they wrote and thought was important for people to know. Check out the instructors and their information and whatever else they had to offer. Filling the notebook with information they provided as well as his own thoughts and opinions on things, for later reference since this was going to be a long process.
He would find a place, he knew that, it was just going to take some time – a few days at least. He wasn’t going to just pick a place, any place, and throw money at them and jump right into learning a style of martial arts. Nope, he wanted to make sure it was the right place, one which worked for him that he would continue to go to. He didn’t want to go to a place, sign up and pay money, and not like it soon after and have it all wasted. He would find the right place and be able to dedicate himself to it. This was what he wanted and what he would find – a place to dedicate himself to.
That in mind he started on his search of websites and more information writing – it was going to be a long night. He wouldn’t be patrolling tonight, he had other important knight things to do. Word count: 677
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 10:59 pm
February 8, 2016 (Back dating to January 30th) Stepping into his room after a shower, the towel hanging low on his hips, Seung’s dark eyes traveled about his room from behind his glasses. They looked everywhere but his dresser as if he couldn’t face it…but it was him he couldn’t face. He knew he had to after what had happened earlier but that didn’t mean he wanted to. Taking a deep breath, bracing himself, he nudged his door closed and locked it. His attention, for the moment, focused on changing into bed clothing consisting of boxers and a long black and white shirt.
Once that was done he had no more stalling tactics and he really had to face something he didn’t want to, the emotions had always been there just under the surface but so strong. As he turned, finally, to his dresser he went and took the picture frame from its position in the middle of every other framed picture he had. A younger him and Akihiko’s dark eyes stared back at him, both seeming so innocent. Biting down on his lip, in an attempt at holding back the tidal wave of emotions, he shook his head. <”You wouldn’t have wanted this.”> The words in his native tongue, no need for English here. Stepping backward toward his bed he sat when the backs of his knees hit the mattress.
Drawing his legs up he used his feet to scoot himself back till his back hit the headboard of his bed. Pillows under his a** and behind him giving him a nice cushion. <“I wish I could have told you, it would have been wrong though. In another place, like here. Here….I found someone…or they found me.”> Laughing he choked on a sob. He didn’t know how but somehow or other Terry had gotten past the usual coldness, it just hadn’t been present to push the other away. He’d needed people also involved in this war…but to let him so close, so quickly… <”Maybe this was meant to be and not us. Not this life time anyway.”> He whispered down to the picture, his thumb gently running over both their younger, happier, selves. He had been so innocent then…so clueless and his friend..forever young and never to grow old – how terrible.
<”You’d like this life I find myself in now. Magic and an ancient war…it’s like all the books you loved but different.”> Shaking his head he drew his legs up and let the picture rest between his chest and his thighs. His arms going about his legs to hold them in place. <”I think you would approve of him…if you could get over me being different. I think you’d have accepted it – accepted me. I don’t have to hide here from other people.”> He still had to hide from his family, he always would. But he didn’t have to hide from everyone and he appreciated that, it was like a breath of fresh air.
<”I – I should have seen it Hiko.”> Using his nickname for the other, something he hadn’t done in how many years? Not since the morning of the final exams when he’d been wishing him luck and talking about going out for dinner that night to celebrate. <”You should have told me…but you left me instead. It hurt – it still hurts. But I need to move on…to put things to rest so I can move on. Not this life time…maybe another. But I will always love you – as a friend. I – I have a chance here at what I couldn’t back home.”> He had a chance at a few things he hadn’t back home and this was one of them, for now it was the biggest one. He would take it and hold onto it, treasure it, and see where it went with the hope that it would last and hold up against the storm that this war was.
<”I know you would want me to be happy…to enjoy life – like you always did.”> How odd to say that when it was Akihiko who had taken his own life. He had been the one with all the energy, the one running around and who wanted to do all manner of things. He’d been the one who wanted to travel and wasn’t sure if he wanted to live in Korea or Japan once they’d gotten out of university. He was the one who seemed to savor life the most and was active and had a brilliant smile always ready. <”Please be happy for me now and bless us with luck. We fight in a war and I do not want it to end things.”> Hugging the picture frame to himself he slowly got up from his bed. The picture held close to himself as he approached his dresser. Slowly he set it down again but this time it wasn’t in the center. It was with the rest of the pictures he had of friends. It was in front of the others but it was not the center of everything. That spot was open and waiting for some other picture to fill the spot – soon.
<”I will continue you’re story Akihiko…but I will find my own way as a writer and in life…”> He would continue with that story, perhaps never show it to anyone, but he would work on whatever interested him as well. He would make his own way and write what he wanted – for himself. It was time to move on and walk his path how he wanted to, without such baggage.
Wiping at his eyes he shook his head, fingers running through his hair, as he headed back to his bed and crawled up under the covers to sleep. His glasses placed on the bedside table he had before the light in his room was turned off. Tomorrow would be a new day for him…and he looked forward to it, come what may he would face it. Word count: 986
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 5:20 pm
February 9, 2016 (Back dating to February 2nd) He knew his parents wouldn’t be happy, this was an important holiday, but he had to tell them. He didn’t feel any guilt, or anything else, that what he was about to tell them was a flat out lie. The only truth was that he couldn’t leave with them for Korea to spend the Lunar New Year. The reason he was going to give, that he’d already come up with, was a flat out lie and he knew it – they wouldn’t though nor would the girls. He couldn’t exactly tell his family he was a knight and had to stay because some big fight might be happening this week…or next…he didn’t honestly know. He just knew he had to be around for it, there was no way he was going to avoid what he’d gotten involved in.
After some time spent in his room, going over the words in his head, he stepped out of his room and headed to the small dining room to join his family for dinner. When he sat himself down he waited till dinner was set out, going through the proper table manners. <“I will eat very well.”> Bowing his head he took his chop sticks and started to eat, having waited first for his father to start. When it seemed that everyone was relaxed and eating he cleared his throat to get his parents attention.
<”Father, mother. I know the Lunar New Year is coming up and we will be leaving to spend time with family, as we should. I cannot go with you, I may be able to arrive but after everyone else. I have a school project and the partner I was assigned is not doing their part. I have to finish my part and do theirs now.”> Yes, he was trying to blame it on some mysterious classmate and a project, which he didn’t have. He knew if he used school as an excuse they would allow it, explain it to family, and it would be understood. He could already see that they disliked it but were accepting it, he could read them like an open book.
<”I will do my best to finish it in time. But I cannot sacrifice quality.”> If he did they wouldn’t approve anyway. So he knew he was adding more to back up his need to not go with them now, they would get it. <”I will try and make it in time and if I can I will let you know. Please, explain it to everyone for me and bring my gifts to them.”> He added before looking to his sister and cousin. <”Please be good and keep safe, in case I do not make it.”> He hoped to but with some battle on the horizon he didn’t know, wouldn’t dare predict and promise to turn up for the holiday. He didn’t want to let his family down by promising something and not delivering on it.
It took time, silence, after that before his father finally set his chop sticks down and clapped a hand on Seung’s shoulder. The older male nodding his head in a solemn manner, acceptance shining in his dark eyes. He did indeed accept this and would of course tell their family. Being wished the best of luck on the project, told to do his best, he nodded his head firmly. <”I will father.”>
He had secured just what he needed, their blessing. Now though…what if he didn’t make it out of this fight? It was a chance and he knew it, he accepted that he could die. As he went back to his meal he took his time pondering what to do. Should he leave a letter to his family? It was an idea…perhaps it was something he should work on when he had the time to write in private – late night when everyone else was asleep.
The rest of the meal was spent with him lost in thought, excusing it once as thinking of what he was going to do with the project, but once dinner was over and he was going to put his dishes in the sink he headed to his room. Grabbing a coat as he planned to go for a walk. He had lately taken up his cousin’s habit of wandering about the city and just letting his feet lead him, though half the time he was powered up when he did this.
Letting his parents know he was going out, that he was going to take a walk so he could clear his head and think about the direction of the project, he headed off for a nice evening walk. Word count: 777
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Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 6:34 pm
February 9, 2016 (Back dating to February 5th) Everyone was packed, he’d been helping the night before, and were ready to head to the airport – all but him. As much as he wanted to go Seung was unable to due to other obligations, which his family didn’t know the truth of. The lie had been offered and they had bought it. He was glad for it, not an ounce of guilt felt, as he helped his sister bring her luggage down the hall and to the living room where his parents and their luggage was waiting. His father stood there, in a coat and slacks, with all the papers they’d need for the travel in his hand. It was likely his mother would hold it during the drive to the airport where upon arrival, and exit from the car, his father would take the papers and hold them the whole time till boarding. He wouldn’t risk putting them down somewhere and losing them or forgetting them.
As he set his sisters two bags by his parents he went back down the hall, this time to get his cousins luggage, and back down the hall into the living room he came with two more bags. The girls were waiting with his parents and their carryon bags in hand. <”I’ll help get it all downstairs and outside.”> He offered, knowing they’d accept the offer of help. Pulling on his outdoor shoes he did indeed help them and after fifteen minutes of getting things down the hall, into the elevator, and outside the car was packed and he was waving as his family pulled out of the apartment buildings garage.
<”Alone…now what?>” Truth was he owed nothing in school, and there was no project, and no one knew he was still in the city. He had off from school and work because he was supposed to be on vacation! There were, thankfully, supplies in the house for him to eat and drink without worry of running out of things. He couldn’t go to Korea town, as he had time off work, and couldn’t be seen. It would be hard to explain the sudden change in plans especially if things ended before his families’ vacation ended and he went to meet them. Too much confusion. He also had to worry about going out, in general, because of teachers and classmates who knew he had taken time off of school for the holiday. He couldn’t, for the same reason as work, return to school.
His parents, understanding as they were, had purchased enough food and had gotten the number for grocery store which delivered groceries. It was helpful and would pull him through whatever amount of time he spent alone, it was a good thing he knew how to cook.
Turning slowly, fingers ran through his hair, as he headed back inside. The only things he could do – watch tv, white, study, occupy himself online, social media, read. Well, he could study, that wasn’t a bad idea honestly. So with that in mind, and his stomach informing him it needed food, he headed back inside intent upon food and then hours with his nose buried in books as he studied various subjects. Word count: 529
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