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"Come on, Jeong, a vocation is the only thing you need right now and you're super lucky because I got us the perfect destination."
That's how it all started and now, Jeongyeon was waiting in her car, fingers tapping impatiently over it's leather sterring wheel as she waited for her sister Momo to come out of her apartment.
Momo, Jeongyeon's adoptive sister has been a part of their family since she was thirteen, after getting moved from an orphanage in Japan to the one close to Yoo's family house in Suwon. Jeongyeon's family was decent, although fighting to get over her older's sister loss, they provided everything nessecary to Momo and more. They all got along really well, even though communication was hard sometimes,--Momo didn't know the language well when she first moved in--but both of Jeongyeon's parents grew to love her like their own child.
As for Jeongyeon, their relationship was complicated.When Momo first moved to the house, Jeongyeon was hesitant to approach her. She felt really weird, suddenly having a new sister after saying goodbye to one. The girl believed Momo could never replace her sister, not that she didn't like the Japanese native. It took a while, but eventually, the two girls decided to start getting closer or at least attempt to. It's not like Jeongyeon didn't like Momo or the opposite, it was more like they were polar opposites. Something that made their and their parents' lives harder.
Jeongyeon was more of a quiet person, a book worm. She always followed the rules, she did good at school without having to try that hard, but still studied until dawn. The girl didn't have a lot of close friends, only two to be exact. Jihyo and Chaeyoung, both younger than her. Jeongyeon and Jihyo shared the same passion, entering medical school while Chaeyoung, well, she was in her own world. While Jeongyeon and Jihyo planned on openning their own medical office, Chaeyoung--who dreamed of being a professional track athlete--always joked about coming for check ups and injuries there in the future.
"Maybe I'll get discounts too." she would say, leaning her head on Jeonyeon's shoulder as she laughed.
And to their surprise, whatever they had planned worked out.
Well, not exactly.
Jeongyeon and Jihyo did open their medical office that they still work into to this day while Chaeyoung would frequently visit them. The youngest had given up on her dreams of being a track athlete and instead joined the special forces. And even if they were always provided with health care, Chaeyoung would visit her friends and her friends only, still asking for a discount she never really got.
As for Momo, the girl was the biggest extrovert you will probably ever meet. Even if not fully knowing the language when moving to Korea, she still managed to make a lot of friends. Most of which are still by her side, never loosing contact. The most important of them being Mina, Nayeon, and Dahyun. Mina was the one Momo knew the longest, they were moved together from the orphanage in Japan to the one in Korea. However, Mina never got adopted and moved to Hawaii when she turned eighteen, chasing her dream of being a designer. Nayeon followed soon after, getting offered a job as an officer in Honolulu. The oldest of the group had never thought of becoming an officer, but the many police-themed movies she watched got to her head. Last but not least is Dahyun, Momo's girlfriend of five years. The younger out of the four had a passion for writing, something she never went to school for but still managed to succeed in. Dahyun's first book was a best seller, moving the whole country--and probably a lot more people--to tears. It was a sad story about love like every other book you'd read, though, it had her own touch. Inspired by the tragic story of her parent's happy marriage that turned into a nightmare when her mother got diagnosed with schizophrenia, the girl managed to win several awards at the very young age of eighteen.
But what about Momo, you might ask?
Momo was a photograpger, a photographer like no other. She was one of a kind. The university she studied in basically begged for her to enter, and she did. The girl graduated with one of the highest scores--something that surpised her, she wasn't usually good at studying--and now traveled all over the world to capture the beauty of every country as well as update her personal blog that would receive millions of clicks every day, the one that got her name out in the world. She of course had some more jobs on the side; magazine photoshoots ect. Everyone wanted to work with her.
Actually, Momo's exceptional talent in photography was what got her with Dahyun. The older took and edited the picture of Dahyun's first ever book cover. Momo was the only person that knew what occured in Dahyun's life and was always there to help her, envelop her in her arms whenever she needed it the most.
Needless to say, Jeongyeon and Momo were not very alike. One very quiet, one very loud, resulting in them always fighting. Especially since they had to share a room before Jeongyeon moved out Suwon for university, eventually having to bear Momo following her soon after. Their relationship wasn't bad, no. They loved each other, though always getting on each other's nerves.
And that's how they had ended up fighiting inside Jeongyeon's car, hurrying not to miss the flight Momo had succesfully convinced her sister to buy tickets to.
"Honestly, your lack of time consciousness is irritating." the brunette groaned when Momo got in the car panting, whining because she had overslept.
"Less talking, more driving!" Momo shouted, receiving a glare from her sister who speeded to the airport "Dahyun is already there waiting, we don't have time."
"You're so disorganized," Jeongyeon mumbled as she checked the time on her watch. They had to be in the airport in at least fifteen minutes. "I wish I had stayed back at the office. I would have more fun working than with you."
"Lies," the raven haired girl chewed on her gum, rolling down her window and letting the soft breeze dry her sweat. Today was surprisingly hot, settling the realization of summer finally being here at the back of everyone's heads. "It's the first time in years I successfully dragged you away from work. Even Jihyo is going on vocation."
"Jihyo, sadly, has a girlfriend as maddening as yourself." Jeongyeon sighed, wiping the sweat trickling down her forehead with the back of her hand.
Truth is, the girl was a workaholic. She wasn't fond of taking time away from work, the definition of 'rest' was unknown to her. Momo was astonished when Jeongyeon gave in on her nagging and agreed in traveling all the way to Hawaii, where the raven haired girl would finally reunite with her friends after a long time.
"Excuse you, doc, Sana is amazing!" Momo stated, pushing the door to her sister's car open and speed walking to get her luggage from the back "Being excited about life is not a bad thing, most of the people our age feel that way. Our real life is starting now, after the whole crap with school. You're just too boring."
"Sana-ssi isn't excited about life, just obnoxious," the blonde shook her head as she carried her bags to the entrance of the airport, looking for Dahyun "I sometimes think Jihyo truly is God, for putting up with her."
Momo only laughed at the comment, running to the get her tickets and then rushing to back hug Dahyun. However, the younger was too engaged in what she was typing away on her laptop to notice the sisters approaching her.
"Hi, babe." the raven haired female whispered by Dahyun's ear, kissing ther jawline.
"Hey, Mo, Jeongyeon unnie." she teasingly saluted, eyes scanning her girlfriend for a while before falling back onto the screen of her laptop in front of her.
"This thing will swallow you one day," Jeongyeon teased, "Don't even get me started on how much the overuse of electronics can harm your eyesight, it's not even my department-"
"How about you chill, Jeong?" Momo yawned, making herself comfortable on her seat next to Dahyun and deciding to momentarily disregard the fact they have to board on the plane in a bit, closing her eyes.
"Momo it's 2:00 PM, how can you still be sleeepy?" the blonde groaned, earning a giggle from Dahyun and a whine from Momo who simply tried to explain that partying the night before having to board on a long flight was not a good idea. To which both Jeongyeon and Dahyun rolled their eyes.
Soon, all three of them were in the plane. Momo and Dahyun seated next to each other while Jeongyeon four rows behind, trapped next to an old man and a ten year old that begged his mother to let him play on his Nintendo switch.
The flight was chaotic for Jeongyeon. There was noise everywhere that distracted her from reading her book about the heart's anatomy. She had read plenty of those books, but still found them intresting. The girl even tried to look outside the window, examine the big, full clouds. Nonetheless, the man next to her objected, saying he was afraid of heights and asked if she could shut the shades.
Things only got worse when they landed after a torturous seven hours in the plane. Mina was the one to pick them up in her car--in which they could all barely fit--and dropped them at their airbnb while also trying to calm Momo down, who had clinged onto her almost crying when seeing her. Mina had grown a lot, Jeongyeon noticed, her face features were sharper and her usually pale skin was tanned. She might have even gotten a little taller or it was just her shoes.
"Rest well tonight," she said when they arrived "Tomorrow we're starting the tour, I know Momo would love to take pictures for her blog." Mina smiled as she waved, driving back to heir own place and leaving the group of three wandering around the small house.
The place had only one bedroom, which meant one of them had to sleep on the couch in the living room. And of course that one was Jeongyeon, the third wheel, that had to put up with the pair's loud giggles and moans during the night in most days of their staying there. It was rather hard, but Jeongyeon never said anything. Whenever they would step their foot into the house, she would be too exhausted to even wash up. She let it pass, like she always did. Besides, they were on holiday and Momo was kind enough to invite her.
And so, their first few weeks of vocation went like that; waking up early, getting picked up by Mina and exploring the country. Later, eating dinner out together and finally going back home. It wasn't the lifestyle for Jeongyeon, it was all too draining. But she tagged along either way, at least now she knew a few places where she could go by herself and calm down. The loudness and busyness of Hawaii was getting on her nerves.
"Hey Jeong, we'll be going out for drinks with Mina and a few friends tonight," Momo excitedly squealed as they we're having lunch, her already sun burned skin making her look like the lobster they were eating "Are you coming?"
Partying, drinking, bars, and socialization; every antisocial person's nightmare, hence Jeongyeon's. The girl pretended to think about it for a while although she had automatically thought of an answer to Momo's proposal.
"Uh, no," the blonde scratched the back of her head "I think I'll just stay in for today."
"Party pooper~" Momo laughed, helping Dahyun out with cleaning out the table as Jeongyeon joined too. The blonde was in need of some peace and quiet and while exploring Hawaii with Mina a place not far from their airbnb caught her eye.
So before the sun could set and after making sure no one would bother her, she turned off her phone and got out of the house. The sun was still up, it's beams slightly burning the fair skin of Jeongyeon's as she hadn't bothered to put on sunscreen. She walked down the street, her shades sligtly falling down on the brigde of her nose as she looked around. The weather was perfect, although really hot, and as she walked further from their airbnb it got even more quiet. People, cars, and any source of loudness were slowly replaced by sounds of nature. Jeongyeon could see the sea as she walked, hear the waves clinging onto the silky sand, smell the odor of the sheasore in combination with the sweet one of Haupia Pie from an canteen somewehre near.
Jeongyeon breathed in, letting all her nerves out with a loud exhale as she continued walking down the street in search of her quiet place. She wasn't a big fan of Hawaii so far. However, it was very beautiful. Everyone there seemed overwhelmingly kind and friednly, which was not a problem, but still too out of the girl's comfort zone. Even if a Seoul citizen for lots of years, the peoples' behaviour in Hawaii was far different from the one in Seoul. In Korea, no one ever bothered Jeongyeon, on the contrary, they ignored her even. They were too busy running around and working to ever talk her. Something that she appreciated, Jeongyeon wasn't outgoing. The girl was so used to her life back in Seoul that everything in Hawaii seemed strange and slightly annoying. She wished she could back home for a while. Jeongyeon was tired.
"Finally." the blonde sighed, bending down to take off her shoes as she jumped over a fence that clearly had a sign 'Do not cross' on it that she decided to ignore.
The place was the most beatiful she had ever seen, it was untouched. A small beach with nothing other than a few rocks and the clean, blue water cascading the golden and soft sand. Jeongyeon walked closer to the water and sat down so the water could touch her toes, cooling her from the sunny and hot weather.
The girl sat there for a while, not realizing how quickly time passed. She was staring into the horizon as she felt the sunbeams dancing around on her skin, moving lower from her face to her neck and down her shoulders as if teassing her, tickling the somewhat bruned skin. The sunset was close, she thought to herself and smiled. It was the best hours of her whole trip in Hawaii, just silently sitting on the sand and awaiting for the sunset to cool down the atmposhere. It was perfect.
"Sumimasen," a voice sounded and Jeongyeon sighed loudly "Son'na koto o shite wa ikemasen."
(A/N: すみません そんなことをしてはいけません [Sumimasen son'na koto o shite wa ikemasen]= Excuse me, you're not allowed to do that]
Something had to go wrong, hadn't it? Jeongyeon brought her hands to her face and cursed as a figure of a woman jumped over the fence and moved close to her. The sounds of her boots sinking in the sand and the jingling of what seemed to be keys around her belt got louder as the woman hovered above her.
"Son'na koto o shite wa ikemasen." she repetead and the blonde thought that if she acted like she didn't know the language the woman above her would let her leave.
However, the woman had started to get irritated by the way Jeongyeon had her back turned to her and ignored her, lighting a cigarette and bringing it to her mouth so she could calm down.
"Watashi to issho ni kite kudasai." the police officer said again, making Jeongyeon finally look up and let out a rather loud chuckle. Exhaling a puff of smoke, the police officer made eye contact with the girl on the sand and her brows raised as a very audible gasp spilled from her lightly coloured lips.
(A/N: わたしといっしょにきてください [Watashi to issho ni kite kudasai]= Please come with me)
"Gobusata shiteorimasu," the blonde teasingly said, exaggerating her Japanese accent in front of girl in suit she hadn't seen in years "I see you didn't quit smocking."
(A/N: ご無沙汰しています [Gobusata shite imasu]= Long time no see)
"No I didn't, doc." Nayeon spoke, taking another hit of the deadly yet addictive cigarette.
Im Nayeon was one of the first friends of Momo's and surely one of the best as she would frequently visit the siblings' family house. Jeongyeon and Momo's parents loved her, besides they were really close with her family.
"You should," Jeongyeon sighed and looked forward when Nayeon took a seat beside her "Unless you want to get sick, or perhaps, die."
Nayeon and Jeongyeon knew each other very well, the older being the only friend of Jeongyeon's sister she didn't find that annoying. Not that she wasn't, no. Nayeon was the most annoying out of all of Momo's friends, but somehow got Jeongyeon not to hate her.
"It's okay," Nayeon chuckled, exhaling another gray cloud "You will save me."
She even got Jeongyeon to like her. But that's something none of them ever talked about.
"Will I?"
"Yes, because you have a soft spot for me." the older replied, finally putting her cigarette away and joining Jeongyeon in observing the sky. Nayeon was right, although Jeongyeon could never admit it.
"You wish."
However she didn't have to, the kiss they shared the day before the older's departure for Hawaii years ago was enough for Nayeon. And as much as she wanted to stay and do much more, she had already chosen another path that she couldn't leave behind.
"I've been in Hawaii for years," she suddenly spoke, eyes scanning the matured face of the blonde sitting next to her "But I still can't get over how beatiful this place is."
"It's shit," Jeongyeon groaned, feeling the eyes of the older on her "Apart from this."
Nayeon's shoulders shook as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and forced herself to move her gaze from the younger's face to wherever her slender finger was pointing at.
"What?"
"Sunset," the blonde spoke, mesmerized by the combination of reds and oranges with just a little hint of pink that the once bright blue sky had turned into "It's hard to even look at it-"
"Without burning your eyeballs off, yes." Nayeon laughed as she cut into Jeongyeon's sentence and making her roll her eyes. She loved annoying the younger because she knew she would never do anything about it, just suck it up and wait for the teasing to stop.
"Without being reminded of you." Jeongyeon muttered, back falling onto the sand.
The older's laughter stopped abrubtly. Jeongyeon's words were unexpected but made complete sense seeing as she, too, couldn't look at the sunset without having constant flashbacks of their last day together. The day that everything was revealed, but nothing other than an innocent kiss was shared, no words, nothing. And if Nayeon was being honest, it made her feel bad.
"I'm actually leaving tommorow." Nayeon sighed, walking beside Jeongyeon, her friend's sister, on their way to the latter's apartment where Nayeon would bid goodbyes to her bestfriend, Momo.
"Mhm." the medical school student hummed, eyes fixated on the pavement as they walked closer to the apartment.
None of them could really explain their relationship. They were friends, but not exactly. They would never hang out to be considered friends yet whenever they were together they acted like they were the best of friends.
"What are you thinking?" the older asked, pausing her walking for a second to look at the taller female who was deep in thought.
"Nothing." was Jeongyeon's answer, bottom lip slightly quivering while her brows were furrowd and hands burried deep into the pockets of her jeans.
"You can talk to me," Nayeon said "I won't tell Momo."
"I--No, never mind. It's complicated." the blonde didn't really care if Momo knew what she was thinking right now. All she needed was some courage.
"Alright then," Nayeon smiled bitterly, she was hoping for a chance to finally confess the reason she had always been purposely annoyig the younger all those years "We better get going. I need to be home by ten, my flight tommorow is early." she sighed, resuming her walking.
"Nayeon-ssi?" the blonde called out, her hand gently tapping the older's shoulder "Will you ever come back?"
"Only when a better opportunity arises." Nayeon said, turning to the side so she could look at the younger .
"Alright." she whispered, using her right hand to cup Nayeon's face and the left to hold her waist, awkwardly halting her steps.
The sun was slowly setting, it's sunbeams that started to loose their brightness carresed the older's face beautifully. All of her features were suddenly stronger, standing out more and Jeongyeon swore she should've examined her face from this close earlier as she looked up at the sunset for a while, trying to gather up every bit of unused courage bottling up all the years of her life.
Jeongyeon never seeing Nayeon again gave her the last bit of courage she needed to lean forward and connect their lips, something she had been constantly thinking about everytime she saw her, or closed her eyes. If Nayeon was to never come back, the younger had to at least show her in a way what she really felt behind the 'Nayeon is just so irritating' facade.
The kiss was short yet one of the best experience both girls had and from the moment they pulled away even until they had to part ways it was never brought up. However, Jeongyeon could still see the reflection of the sun in Nayeon's eyes as she talked to her sister, shedding tears of sadness for her departure.
And she stood there, getting lost in the light emitting from her eyes. Burning hot, like the sun as they softly kissed, reminding her how much time she had lost.
"This..brings back memories." Nayeon chuckled, looking at the sunset one more time before turning around to face the younger.
Jeongyeon was lying on the sand, hands behind her head as she watched the sun set like the most interesting movie ever played in the big screen. And it was indeed interesting, how they met again under the sunset. A sunset similar to the one they bid their goodbyes under, but never identical. No sunset could beat it, they both thought. No other sunset could beat the beauty of their last meeting.
"How come you're not out with my sister?" Jeongyeon asked "We've been spending time with Mina but not you."
Nayeon laughed, it was the first time the younger had indirectly told her she wanted to hang out with her by using words. The blonde would usually give her a look that screamed 'Leave Momo and meet me in the bathroom, I want to tell you something' whenever she was hanging out at the siblings' house. And when she did meet her in the bathroom, Jeongyeon said nothing. Just smacked the back of the older's head and asked what they'd like to order, because her mother had supposedly 'made her ask them'. Though Nayeon knew the younger would come up with it from the back of her head as she saw her paying for the meal from her own savings everytime and smiled to herself when she sheepishly handed her the food and disappeared in her room. Nayeon knew Jeongyeon liked taking care of others and felt blessed she was one of them, despite the younger acting like she didn't like her.
"I'm, uh, actually leaving.." Nayeon said "Again."
"Deja vu."
"Not entirely." the older laughed, fingers fidgeting with her lighter.
"Where are you going anyway?" Jeongyeon disregarded the older's comment, refusing to look into her eyes again even if Nayeon's gaze almost pleaded her to.
"Incheon," the girl replied "My transferring paper finally got reviewed and accepted. This is my last patrol here."
"When did you make the application?" Jeongyeon asked again, pouting because the sun was close to setting.
"On my first day at work." Nayeon said as she reached out for the younger's hand.
"That was years ago," the blonde breathed out finaly meeting Nayeon's gaze "Why did it take them so long?"
"I don't know," she shrugged, moving closer "All that I know is that a better opportunity has finally arised and that I'm going home."
"Why are we like this?"
"Like what?" the older asked, fingers tracing circles on Jeongeyon's thigh.
"So bad at timing," Jeongyeon laughed "And I thought Momo had the hate relationship with time."
"We can still beat time," Nayeon whispered "I mean, it's never late."
"Late for wh--" a pair of lips shut Jeongyeon up who responded Nayeon's passionate kiss, pulling her on top of her body.
"That's deja vu." Nayeon smiled, hands resting on either side of the younger's face before kissing her again.
"Hawaii is suddenly really pretty." Jeongyeon mumbled, getting lost into the sunset still reflecting in Nayeon's eyes.