#ywyihwa

[ywhyunseo-blog]

Dreams May Come

@ywyihwa  continued from here

Dreams were a weird thing to Hyunseo.  She was pretty sure that she had read that scientifically, they really didn’t have much weight to them, that basically, it was your brain just giving itself something to do during REM sleep, but a part of her liked the more romantic approach to dreams, that they had a deeper meaning than just your brain being bored.

If they did, though, then she supposed she understood this one.

Her friend’s words slipped into her ear and she met the other’s gaze before tucking some hair behind her ear before giving her an honest nod.  “It did feel real.” She knew she would have to give a little more information than that, but the simplest response was okay for the moment. “I know it’s silly, but I think it was a bit of my own thoughts manifesting.” She averts her eyes again, settling down at her own feet for the moment.  “I know it’s... not always easy being my friend and I worry that maybe a lot of people might actually hate me.”  It sounded even sillier to her now that she was saying it out loud, but it was something she did wonder, with how she was probably considered odd by a lot of people.

“And I really wouldn’t want you to be one of them.  The dream hurt a bit, but it would hurt more in real life.”

[ywjaebeom]

“How could you not realise you’re bleeding?”

Jaebeom’s face knots with confusion as the other asksher question, eyes cast downwards over his hands and the exposed skin of hisarms. He sees nothing but tanned skin and the telltale signs of farm work; afew nicks and scrapes from tools he’s yet to fully master and crops seeminglydetermined to protect their harvest, but nothing of any real note and certainlynothing to worry about.

They are an unfortunate reality of this new life, andone he’s grown used to ignoring. If he were to fret over every little scratchhe’d spend more time nursing himself than in the fields. One of the benefits ofmoving had been his hardening to the elements. Nine times out of ten it doesn’teven register in his mind anymore.

As is clearly the case here. There’s no blood visibleon his person, and so he’s as much befuddled as he is concerned. Glancingbetween the woman and his arms, he opens his mouth to speak only to fumble overthe words. A hand reaches up to sweep stray hairs from his forehead, and upon it’sreturn is painted with a tiny smear of crimson and only then does he remember.

“There was, uh- There was a stray cat wandering aroundnear the stall and I was trying to find it’s owner.” He explains with a nervouschuckle. “A kid spooked him whilst I was holding him and he-“ A short sharpscratching motion punctuates the end, partially for dramatic effect. (But mostlybecause he struggles to recall the correct translation.

A slight wince as he tries to wipe it clean, the stingof contact jolting him before the story continues. “I found his owner though,so every cloud I guess…” The smile that follows is warm, grateful that someonehad even paid attention long enough to notice. He’s so used to fading into thebackground, to flying under the radar unnoticed that it genuinely catches himoff guard. “Thank you for your concern, but I’m sure it will be fine. Just needscleaning and time to heal.”

[ywnyj]

“I’m sorry, I’m not good at saying goodbye.”

from this

it’s said so casually, he has to do a double take.

where they’ve stopped along the dirt path, the road diverges—one way back home, the other where it had been, temporarily. in due time, the sky will dim dark.

days come to an end, but the stories haven’t. lately, they’re condensed into small, passable anecdotes, or, if time allows it, stretched for as long as a tangent can be taken off topic. until next time, to the times where they’ll be picking up where they’d left off. 

what yihwa offers here though, is another foray into the next direction. even if it is a little too sudden and a lot of honest. 

“don’t expect you to be.” youngjoon shrugs, adjusting the strap of his messenger bag. only offering back at most a knowing smile that borders smug. 

“what’re they good for, anyway?” 

[ywhyunseo-blog]

“Do you always do what the elders say?”

“Hmm?” It takes a moment for Hyunseo to contemplate the question, but she quickly shakes her head. “No, not always, if I did, there would be a lot less adventure, right? And a big part of science is questioning why!” she muses to her friend.  Even though she isn’t saying anything overly scandalous, it still seems odd to question the elders sometimes.  Probably expectations from around the community, but how could they learn anything new if they didn’t try to push the boundaries a little bit?

“The elders say that we shouldn’t really go in the woods, right? But I’ve been out there thousands of times and nothing has happened to me!” she claims, not really counting the scrapes and bruises she usually has, or that time when she broke her arm when she was eight.  Trying to build a glider out of just branches and leaves was not exactly her brightest moment. 

“Plus, if we really think about it, the elders are our oldest residents… but the trees are even older than them, and with all the things I’ve learned in the forest, I’d say that the trees would absolutely think I should be out there, so maybe the town elders should listen to their elders a little more,” she pauses for a second, wondering if that made sense, but she figures if anyone might get her, it was Yihwa. 

“In the world, there are examples of surviving species from prehistoric times, like crocodilians and certain fish species that are still around from back then, like the coelacanth, did you know they thought that it was extinct before they found one? It was located in…” she trails off, realizing she had moved onto another topic… but couldn’t remember what the original one was anymore.  “What was the question?” she asks with a pout, feeling sorry that she likely had rambled on too much.