Beach House - Chapter 01
I don't know why it took me a long time to post the next one XD I have no lame excuse this time, except that maybe I had all the willingness to do so, but kept on forgetting. I think I might have a memory of a goldfish. Sigh.
Anyway, here it is. I hope you enjoy!
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take this to the truck, so that it’d be easier for you to move around here.”
Jang Riin looked at the man standing in front of her, holding a big box. Inside were the precious books she purchased since she was sixteen. She was in love with books then, more so now. She felt sorry for the man as she knew how heavy her collection might have been.
“Yes, please, but do be careful with that,” she answered. The man nodded and proceeded outside the house.
Right behind the Beach House was the big truck that would carry her things back to Seoul. It hasn’t been long since she moved in, roughly four months, she counted. She didn’t want to let go of the house yet, in fact she had dreamed of living there for the rest of her life, but Kim Jaejoong would want her closer so he begged her to live nearer to him.
Her thoughts were distracted as a bark resounded in the room. A white Samoyed ran across the room to where she was standing. It continued to bark until Riin shushed it by scratching its chin.
“You’re such a big baby, you know that, Shaki? You know we have to move out today, but why do you keep on hiding? Do you think I’ll leave you here alone?” she continued to scratch his chin until the big dog decided to sit down and enjoy her little massage. “Now, Shaki, I won’t be doing this the whole day, you know! Get up and go to the car, we have a long drive ahead of us.”
The dog stood up and barked again, until it went out the kitchen door, the noise it was creating slowly fading away.
Riin once again looked around the room. The now empty fire place sat lonely at the right side of the room; the white cloth that covered the furniture fluttering gently in rhythm with the wind; her reflection tearful in the only mirror that hang above the fireplace. Once, the room was filled with light, with joy -with life. Now, it’s once again the way it was when she arrived four months ago.
In her hand, she grasps a letter. Not a welcome, more like a goodbye to the house. But she knew she had to at least greet the next owner. It was only right. She clutched it tightly, not minding if it gets crumpled due to pressure. Going to the door, she bid the house good bye once more, turned off the light, closed the double doors, and proceeded to the mailbox.
She placed the letter inside, and raised the signal flag to indicate that there was mail inside. She heaved once more, and blew the cold air out.
This is going to be a long and lonely trip.
She went into her car and beeped once more. She turned to her passenger and was surprised to see that Shaki is still not in. she went out again and called for her dog for ten more minutes until the dog reappeared from behind the house and by itself jumped in the car.
Riin got in and ignited the engine, not long after, they were on the road back to Seoul.
***
“Riin ah, what took you so long to come? It’s not like you have a lot of things to pack. Besides, I thought you were done already last night?”
He isn’t usually cranky like this, but Jaejoong’s mood seemed to be off this morning. First, he didn’t stop calling her on her way, and he was a bit pissed that she was not answering. Riin has every reason not to, she was driving after all, but her boyfriend insisted that she could have stopped the car and answered. Inside her head, Riin was contemplating that had she answered that phone call, it’s either she’d be a lot later or well, she’s late already, might as well cancel her lunch date.
Adding to Jaejoong’s annoyance, Riin continued to keep quiet while eating her food. He didn’t want to annoy her, but him being clueless as to why it took her such a long time to travel annoys him more. He knew he shouldn’t peek into those things but it’s just making him crazy. He knew he shouldn’t have watched the sad morning drama. If he didn’t, he could have been in a lighter mood around his beloved Riin. Him and his stupid love for early morning dramas.
“Alright, I’m sorry, please stop ignoring me,” he pleaded, showing off his puppy dog eyes.
Riin looked at him, and smiled amusingly. “That shouldn’t be working at times like this!”
Jaejoong smiled at her childishness. He was more than happy that she’s living back in Seoul again. Four months of barely seeing her made him close to insanity, so she pleaded Riin to go back to Seoul and continue her writing there. His girlfriend was an award-winning novelist, and he knew perfectly well that Riin writes best when she’s alone with Mother Nature. But his selfishness forced her back to the busy city life.
He was selfish, yes, but he knew that nobody can compare to his love for Jang Riin.
He held her hand and clutched it tightly. “Riin ah, I never want to lose you.”
“You won’t, oppa.”
***
It has been three days since she moved in this spacious apartment. And after three long, torturous days, she still hasn’t added a thing to her chapter. Not even a full length paragraph, not even a conversation, not even a sentence, heck, not even a word. She’s pretty desperate. Riin needed inspiration more than anything to finish her novel and beat her editor’s deadline.
Shaki came into the room, a big empty bowl in between his teeth. The dog dropped the bowl and barked at Riin. “Oh, sorry Shaki!” She immediately ran to the kitchen and filled the bowl with dog’s food. She had forgotten to take Shaki out for a walk that morning, forgot to feed him breakfast, and hadn’t the dog begged for lunch, she would also forget feeding him.
Riin’s stomach started to make noise. She realized that she has also forgotten to feed herself. All the stress about completing her novel distracted her from doing her daily routine. Setting Shaki’s food on the floor, she grabbed the fridge handle and searched for anything instant to eat. Her eyes landed on a box of leftover pizza; not minding its coldness, she put it in her mouth and swallowed hungrily. A glass of water pushed everything down her stomach. She let out a small burp, and scratched Shaki’s chin before going back to her couch in the living room.
She hasn’t been eating a lot but she gets full anyway. Maybe it’s due to stress, she thought.
***
A few hours later, Riin was still staring at her laptop, a blank Word File opened before her eyes. She has typed a paragraph or two in 30 minutes, but deleted it after rereading. Her desperation for inspiration is growing, but she can’t do anything now. Her wall clock -a gift from Jaejoong -read five thirty. The day passed without her being productive.
She sighed and inclined her head on the sofa, and then she closed her eyes. But no sooner than she closed her eyes, her phone rang loudly through the house. She reluctantly stood and picked up the phone.
“Yes, this is Jang Riin, how may I help you?”
She listened intently to the speaker telling her that he was a realtor hired by a Kim Jaejoong to help her sell the Beach House.
“My name is Park YooChun, but you can just call me Yoo or Chun or Park, whichever you prefer.”
She smiled at the failed humor of the realtor, but thanked him nonetheless for calling. Riin told him that she’d just be calling Jaejoong to check on the guy’s background. Park YooChun left her his contact number.
“Jaejoong ssi, did you hire a certain Park YooChun to help me sell the house at Busan?”
“Yes, honey. I thought it would be easier if we get someone to sell it for you. Less job for us, more money for him.”
This time Riin let out a laugh at how Jaejoong looked at things. She knew he was a busy person, being a full-time business man and all that, but she was not in a hurry to sell the house. In fact, she was thinking of going back there at least four times a year, to experience every season in her treasured Beach House.
“You didn’t have to; I wasn’t planning on selling it anyway.”
“But I thought you said you were going to sell it?”
Riin stopped to think for a moment. She did tell him that she wanted to sell the house, but situations like this couldn’t be blamed to a woman who loves to change her mind.
“Alright, I’d deal with it on my own. But still, I don’t think I can sell that house just yet. I don’t want to lose something so precious in just a short time.”
“Whatever makes you happy, sweetie. Listen, I’ll call you back later, I’m kind of in a middle of a meeting. I’ll drop by to pick you up tonight, let’s have dinner.”
She contemplated on what to say. She didn’t want to go out just yet, not until she finishes something for her novel. “I can’t go out tonight, but do drop by if you have time. I’ll just cook dinner. Bye, honey, and good luck with that meeting.”
She ended their conversation and returned call to Park YooChun. “Hey Mr. Park? Yes, it’s Jang Riin. Is it possible to meet you at the site tomorrow? At around 10 in the morning? I’d like to discuss to you some things about the house.”
YooChun agreed to her and they ended their conversation but not until YooChun finally told her to call him by his name. He admitted that Mr. Park sounded weird, and taking his first name and middle name separately just made it weirder.
***
The next day, Riin came to the site at about 9 in the morning. She brought Shaki with her for company, but the dog let loose the moment she stopped in front of the Beach House. She missed the house already, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She called Jaejoong on her way to Busan and the latter almost scolded her for not letting him know ahead of time.
“I could have come with you!” he said.
But she didn’t want to disturb him any further. It was after all a very sudden decision, and she didn’t want him to take a leave from work just so he could accompany her to fix her mood for writing. It was a late realization, but somehow, the house helped her write through most of her time. It has saved her from countless writer’s block that she had depended her writing on it solely.
She walked over to the mailbox to check if her letter was still there. The signal flag was raised, but she had to make sure that no one has trampled in her property. She removed the lid, and a letter sits there. But it was no longer the letter she wrote…
Hello, Miss Jang,
I think there must be some kind of mistake… .
Anyway, here it is. I hope you enjoy!
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take this to the truck, so that it’d be easier for you to move around here.”
Jang Riin looked at the man standing in front of her, holding a big box. Inside were the precious books she purchased since she was sixteen. She was in love with books then, more so now. She felt sorry for the man as she knew how heavy her collection might have been.
“Yes, please, but do be careful with that,” she answered. The man nodded and proceeded outside the house.
Right behind the Beach House was the big truck that would carry her things back to Seoul. It hasn’t been long since she moved in, roughly four months, she counted. She didn’t want to let go of the house yet, in fact she had dreamed of living there for the rest of her life, but Kim Jaejoong would want her closer so he begged her to live nearer to him.
Her thoughts were distracted as a bark resounded in the room. A white Samoyed ran across the room to where she was standing. It continued to bark until Riin shushed it by scratching its chin.
“You’re such a big baby, you know that, Shaki? You know we have to move out today, but why do you keep on hiding? Do you think I’ll leave you here alone?” she continued to scratch his chin until the big dog decided to sit down and enjoy her little massage. “Now, Shaki, I won’t be doing this the whole day, you know! Get up and go to the car, we have a long drive ahead of us.”
The dog stood up and barked again, until it went out the kitchen door, the noise it was creating slowly fading away.
Riin once again looked around the room. The now empty fire place sat lonely at the right side of the room; the white cloth that covered the furniture fluttering gently in rhythm with the wind; her reflection tearful in the only mirror that hang above the fireplace. Once, the room was filled with light, with joy -with life. Now, it’s once again the way it was when she arrived four months ago.
In her hand, she grasps a letter. Not a welcome, more like a goodbye to the house. But she knew she had to at least greet the next owner. It was only right. She clutched it tightly, not minding if it gets crumpled due to pressure. Going to the door, she bid the house good bye once more, turned off the light, closed the double doors, and proceeded to the mailbox.
She placed the letter inside, and raised the signal flag to indicate that there was mail inside. She heaved once more, and blew the cold air out.
This is going to be a long and lonely trip.
She went into her car and beeped once more. She turned to her passenger and was surprised to see that Shaki is still not in. she went out again and called for her dog for ten more minutes until the dog reappeared from behind the house and by itself jumped in the car.
Riin got in and ignited the engine, not long after, they were on the road back to Seoul.
***
“Riin ah, what took you so long to come? It’s not like you have a lot of things to pack. Besides, I thought you were done already last night?”
He isn’t usually cranky like this, but Jaejoong’s mood seemed to be off this morning. First, he didn’t stop calling her on her way, and he was a bit pissed that she was not answering. Riin has every reason not to, she was driving after all, but her boyfriend insisted that she could have stopped the car and answered. Inside her head, Riin was contemplating that had she answered that phone call, it’s either she’d be a lot later or well, she’s late already, might as well cancel her lunch date.
Adding to Jaejoong’s annoyance, Riin continued to keep quiet while eating her food. He didn’t want to annoy her, but him being clueless as to why it took her such a long time to travel annoys him more. He knew he shouldn’t peek into those things but it’s just making him crazy. He knew he shouldn’t have watched the sad morning drama. If he didn’t, he could have been in a lighter mood around his beloved Riin. Him and his stupid love for early morning dramas.
“Alright, I’m sorry, please stop ignoring me,” he pleaded, showing off his puppy dog eyes.
Riin looked at him, and smiled amusingly. “That shouldn’t be working at times like this!”
Jaejoong smiled at her childishness. He was more than happy that she’s living back in Seoul again. Four months of barely seeing her made him close to insanity, so she pleaded Riin to go back to Seoul and continue her writing there. His girlfriend was an award-winning novelist, and he knew perfectly well that Riin writes best when she’s alone with Mother Nature. But his selfishness forced her back to the busy city life.
He was selfish, yes, but he knew that nobody can compare to his love for Jang Riin.
He held her hand and clutched it tightly. “Riin ah, I never want to lose you.”
“You won’t, oppa.”
***
It has been three days since she moved in this spacious apartment. And after three long, torturous days, she still hasn’t added a thing to her chapter. Not even a full length paragraph, not even a conversation, not even a sentence, heck, not even a word. She’s pretty desperate. Riin needed inspiration more than anything to finish her novel and beat her editor’s deadline.
Shaki came into the room, a big empty bowl in between his teeth. The dog dropped the bowl and barked at Riin. “Oh, sorry Shaki!” She immediately ran to the kitchen and filled the bowl with dog’s food. She had forgotten to take Shaki out for a walk that morning, forgot to feed him breakfast, and hadn’t the dog begged for lunch, she would also forget feeding him.
Riin’s stomach started to make noise. She realized that she has also forgotten to feed herself. All the stress about completing her novel distracted her from doing her daily routine. Setting Shaki’s food on the floor, she grabbed the fridge handle and searched for anything instant to eat. Her eyes landed on a box of leftover pizza; not minding its coldness, she put it in her mouth and swallowed hungrily. A glass of water pushed everything down her stomach. She let out a small burp, and scratched Shaki’s chin before going back to her couch in the living room.
She hasn’t been eating a lot but she gets full anyway. Maybe it’s due to stress, she thought.
***
A few hours later, Riin was still staring at her laptop, a blank Word File opened before her eyes. She has typed a paragraph or two in 30 minutes, but deleted it after rereading. Her desperation for inspiration is growing, but she can’t do anything now. Her wall clock -a gift from Jaejoong -read five thirty. The day passed without her being productive.
She sighed and inclined her head on the sofa, and then she closed her eyes. But no sooner than she closed her eyes, her phone rang loudly through the house. She reluctantly stood and picked up the phone.
“Yes, this is Jang Riin, how may I help you?”
She listened intently to the speaker telling her that he was a realtor hired by a Kim Jaejoong to help her sell the Beach House.
“My name is Park YooChun, but you can just call me Yoo or Chun or Park, whichever you prefer.”
She smiled at the failed humor of the realtor, but thanked him nonetheless for calling. Riin told him that she’d just be calling Jaejoong to check on the guy’s background. Park YooChun left her his contact number.
“Jaejoong ssi, did you hire a certain Park YooChun to help me sell the house at Busan?”
“Yes, honey. I thought it would be easier if we get someone to sell it for you. Less job for us, more money for him.”
This time Riin let out a laugh at how Jaejoong looked at things. She knew he was a busy person, being a full-time business man and all that, but she was not in a hurry to sell the house. In fact, she was thinking of going back there at least four times a year, to experience every season in her treasured Beach House.
“You didn’t have to; I wasn’t planning on selling it anyway.”
“But I thought you said you were going to sell it?”
Riin stopped to think for a moment. She did tell him that she wanted to sell the house, but situations like this couldn’t be blamed to a woman who loves to change her mind.
“Alright, I’d deal with it on my own. But still, I don’t think I can sell that house just yet. I don’t want to lose something so precious in just a short time.”
“Whatever makes you happy, sweetie. Listen, I’ll call you back later, I’m kind of in a middle of a meeting. I’ll drop by to pick you up tonight, let’s have dinner.”
She contemplated on what to say. She didn’t want to go out just yet, not until she finishes something for her novel. “I can’t go out tonight, but do drop by if you have time. I’ll just cook dinner. Bye, honey, and good luck with that meeting.”
She ended their conversation and returned call to Park YooChun. “Hey Mr. Park? Yes, it’s Jang Riin. Is it possible to meet you at the site tomorrow? At around 10 in the morning? I’d like to discuss to you some things about the house.”
YooChun agreed to her and they ended their conversation but not until YooChun finally told her to call him by his name. He admitted that Mr. Park sounded weird, and taking his first name and middle name separately just made it weirder.
***
The next day, Riin came to the site at about 9 in the morning. She brought Shaki with her for company, but the dog let loose the moment she stopped in front of the Beach House. She missed the house already, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She called Jaejoong on her way to Busan and the latter almost scolded her for not letting him know ahead of time.
“I could have come with you!” he said.
But she didn’t want to disturb him any further. It was after all a very sudden decision, and she didn’t want him to take a leave from work just so he could accompany her to fix her mood for writing. It was a late realization, but somehow, the house helped her write through most of her time. It has saved her from countless writer’s block that she had depended her writing on it solely.
She walked over to the mailbox to check if her letter was still there. The signal flag was raised, but she had to make sure that no one has trampled in her property. She removed the lid, and a letter sits there. But it was no longer the letter she wrote…
Hello, Miss Jang,
I think there must be some kind of mistake… .