the summer of 1993 ── dohwa baek - Chapter 13: Chapter 13

"Eunji. I can't."
"You absolutely have to."
"I am not in my element. Unhand me."
"Just go!"
Y/N was thrown forward with an unapologetically dangerous force, her body collapsing against the mahogany door of her house. She groaned at the painful impact, but twisted the knob nonetheless. A ripple of nervous excitement disturbed the surface of her usual calm demeanour.
She knew what was awaiting her. However, if she had any idea about it an hour ago, she wouldn't have left the house with Eunji in her father's white, wrinkly button-down and a pair of beige cargo shorts.
And there it was - a crowd of familiar faces 'hiding' in the dark living room. Y/N released an exaggerated sigh, flipping the light switch on.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
A balloon popped. Confetti spilt over the floor. To You by Seo Taiji and Boys played in the background.
My, such extreme theatrics.
"No way!" She feigned a gasp of surprise, "You guys scared me!"
Her parents grinned with satisfaction, but Seojun and Dokja knew how artificial her shock was. It was sweet; how they planned a secret birthday party for her every year, in the exact same way, and their beloved daughter pretended to be clueless about it. Every year.
She launched at the excited group with her arms wide open - the joy was genuine, after all.
"Eunji made the cake this time!" Her mother exclaimed, "She even added a mini Dohwa."
Right. The cat.
"I'm a professional already. I'll be stealing Dad's bakery from the evil clutches of Haneul in no time." Eunji pinched the bridge of her nose, making her distaste for her older brother evident.
Dokja shook his head. "Haneul is better."
Y/N was touched enough by their gestures to shed a tear or two, but not touched enough to endure an umpteenth argument over Haneul's competence. So, as quietly as she could, she tip-toed to the kitchen, grabbing herself a much-needed glass of water.
The loud sounds turned to distant, blurry chatters, giving her mind the space to invite more thoughts.
Thoughts about a certain blond.
She had never explicitly told not-a-cat Dohwa about her birthday. Maybe, in passing, she had slipped in a few details here and there, like how she got a camera as a pre-birthday present from her aunt. That was about it.
He was probably waiting for her to call... and she wouldn't be able to.
Should she inform him? Or should she wait and force her brain into having yet another lucid dream so that she could meet him?
Ah, the agony of an overthinker, always lurking in the unforgiving depths of anxiety.
"Y/N!"
Her head whipped back in an instant, her musings dissolving. A radiance found her features once her gaze settled on the voice's source.
"Seojun?"
Seojun with his sunshine smile. Seojun with his pretty dimples that were highlighted by the dim lights of her house. His dark curls bounced as he jogged his way towards her, his hands full with a brown paper bag. Now that piqued her curiosity.
"Happy birthday!" Seojun managed to breathe out, "I'm sorry - Eunji already gave me an earful for being ten minutes late. Please don't hate me."
Y/N snorted. "So you were her victim today. She'd been itching to bare her fangs at someone since morning."
"Guess I'm just unfortunate." He exhaled in a dramatic manner. Then, suddenly remembering the object in his grasp, he exclaimed, "Here! Your gift."
"Wait. Gift? As in, mine?" She tilted her head to the side, visibly confused. What could a paper bag possibly contain for it to be that big? A juicer? A heater? It was literally boiling hot.
"Yes. I... I hope you like it." He mumbled, a dab of pink over the apples of his cheeks. "I'll just keep it here. Let's go join the others in the living room, yeah?" His hurried words slid into each other like dominoes, fueling the girl's amusement.
Before Y/N could even thank him, he messily placed the bag on the counter and bolted outside, leaving her speechless. She controlled her urge to take a peek inside, because that would ruin the surprise. She'd need real reactions during the gift-unwrapping session.
Begrudgingly, she traced his panicked steps, completely forgetting about her idol friend.
Y/N didn't call.
Dohwa blinked, his eyes dry and scratchy from staring too long at his phone. Attending his dance practice after what seemed like weeks did not help his case either. He was exhausted.
Since his human diary got caught up with something, he had no other choice but to force his body to fall asleep. And with his serious disease of attracting bad luck, he failed at that.
No slumber, just fatigue. How amazing.
Well, not just fatigue. There was her, too. Haunting him.
It was weird - how she had become a habit. Was he even supposed to talk to someone this much?
There were worse questions to answer, though. Like was she even real? What if Dohwa was going insane and she was simply a fragment created by his own mind?
He'd run a long, long research a while ago, but he yielded absolutely zero results. There were hundreds of profiles named 'Y/N L/N' on the internet, hundreds of Google articles about girls with that name, and hundreds of images. None of them was her. He'd recognise her in a second, however old she was in his timeline.
Maybe she wasn't a part of Dohwa's world. Maybe she was merely a voice in an old telephone booth, a presence he manifested inside his head while dreaming. Maybe that was all there was to it; two people with an accidental connection, a leap through time, and an invisible wall separating their realities.
It hurt a little bit.
She was his friend. Probably the only one he enjoyed talking to, except for obviously Su-ae. Not getting her call was less about his sadness and more about his worry that the link their cell phones shared was ruptured, or, to word it practically, 'healed', because it was a flaw first, and a blessing second.
A sad smile tugged at his lips.
"Don't disappear without telling me goodbye."
So at least his heart could get the closure it deserved.