after chuseok, with @gswharang.
chuseok is a simple affair when your family members are housed in urns shelved away in a glass cabinet.
she doesn’t make a habit of visiting her great aunt’s house; it hardly seems reasonable to travel all the way across the island to seomyeon only to be greeted with resolute silence and a wary stare. some of the old villagers from their home moved to the same area and still live there, therefore carrying old tales and rumours with them. it used to be far easier to tolerate when she could share the weight of it all.
so when she does, it’s a quick affair, done late in the afternoon so that she can go through the usual motions of cleaning and muttered prayer with ease, away from prying eyes. extra thought is given to gaeun’s, more as a precaution than anything, and gain makes sure to leave a pack of choco pies beside her urn. call it an offering or a bribe—neither have been particularly helpful.
the sun has long set by the time she makes it back to her neighbourhood, her pack of cigarettes woefully empty in her pocket. she makes a turn for the convenience store, but stops when she sees a familiar silhouette in her go-to alley nearby her apartment complex.
“hey, can i bum a smoke?” gain asks, approaching harang with her hands in her pockets. only when she walks further into the alley does she notice something off about him, the celebration from the families by the main street blocking out what she now realises is the sound of gagging. “uh, you okay?”