#gswnamra

[gswmiri]

@gswnamra | winter 2018

miri doesn’t know what she’s doing. nor does she know where she’s going. she’s too high on adrenaline for her thoughts to even matter. the only thing that miri knows for sure in that moment is that she wants to be as far away from that thing as she possibly can.perhaps that’s what brings her to gwasuwon. it was the first ferry that she found herself stumbling onto. no thought behind the process. simply the instinct to flee. 

it’s cold outside. miri isn’t dressed for the weather. she only has the clothes on her back (and the hospital bracelet that she hasn’t yet thought to remove in her panicked state). it’s at this point that she realizes just how fucked she really is, the tips of her fingers beginning to turn blue from the exposure to cold. she doesn’t know where she is. she’s hungry. and, as much as she doesn’t want to admit it, she’s scared. 

the door of the store seems to call to her, the light inside beckoning her to make her way in from the cold. and so she does, breathing in a sigh of relief as the warmth of the inside instantly soothes her numb body. she fishes through her pockets for a moment, examining the small pile of cash that she is able to procure. miri is starting to wish she had thought through her plan just a little more.

how far can the 60,000 won in her pocket really get her? taking a deep breath, she tries to pull herself together. right now, all she needs to do is find something to eat. 

[gswhan]

zest for life // @gswnamra

It's supposed to be another day of celebration and relaxation ㅡ the beginning of the mid-autumn festival. Any other year Hangyeol decided to take a stroll down the residential streets, he would be inundated with bustling conversation, boisterous laughter of reunited families thankful for the time off and for each other. The ghost of happiness still remains, however. As he walks along the very same path, he can see families clamoring together, this time thankful to simply be alive. His careful eye spots parents embracing their children and promising to never let go; children, in turn, comforting, trying to bring the smiles back to their faces. There is still a trace there. It's dulled ㅡ like the impressions of a previous drawing on a new piece of paper ㅡ but it's still there.

He glances down at the bandages coiled around his arm and hand, tugging on the edge of one to scratch at the healing skin. The clinic doctor urged him that the wounds are not too severe but had he waited any longer to be ushered to treatment, he could very well still be sitting on one of the beds. The forceful nihilism he usually wears on his sleeve dissipates for today. He, too, is thankful to be alive.

( He surprised himself during the incident, that he was able to push through and not succumb to an attack from his own mind. It replays some of that incident from five years ago. The cut on his arm is merely inches away from another deep scar. )

The sound of his footsteps echo with every step he takes down the inclined street. His eyes focus on Sodong Harbor in the middle-distance, seemingly determined. Along the way, he scans the ground, searching for something of obvious importance. He intends to go back to retrieve that silly hat ㅡ the one he bought while he was chatting with Dohyun, when everything had every intention of being normal for once. Perhaps it's a foolish goal of his. With the amount of authorities and lab coats spotted from afar, it could have already been bagged for evidence.

For once, Hangyeol isn't watching where he's going, zigzagging across the empty street. Until he comes across another pair of feet in his way. His gaze traces upwards to meet her face.

"Namra," It feels as if it's been ages since he's seen her again. The dyed blond locks cascading down her shoulders is still a change in appearance he cannot grow accustom to. "What are you doing out right now?" The sun is out in the full force of midday but a notable darkness lingers in the air. Are you okay? He wants to ask. It sticks to his tongue like sea mist. "It's rare to see you off work."

[yiminggsw]

ghost sighting.

for namra ( @gswnamra )

He had intended to take a picture of the ghost town from the outside only but upon review, a little bonus had also appeared: There was a woman’s blurry face right in the centre of the photograph, her eyes wide and dark as if surprised by his presence at the ruins. 

How very video game like - a photographer in a isolated, potentially haunted place. Snapping photos and wondering what unknown creatures he would encounter. Though to be fair, in a game, Yiming would be doing this in the dead of the night, not in the early afternoon under the warm sun.

“What’s up,” he greeted the ghost lady casually. Outside of his camera lens and unaffected by his poor photography skill, the woman looked very much alive and well. “Do ghosts typically ride bikes?” Yiming walked up to her. Choi Namra was the woman’s name - he’d overheard it once and managed to remember it. She was telling some tourist a story about the village, and while he couldn’t catch all of the tale, it elicited enough curiosity for him to make his way to the opposite side of the island.

“Here to explore?” He didn’t mind having a companion, especially a local.