Chapter Text
The street smelled of fresh bread. The only noticeable thing in her distress as she chased after the the black hooded figure making away with her purse. She called out to him; called out to anyone, alerting them of the thief. But as her heel clad feet began to ache and he wove through the disinterested crowd gaining distance, it all seemed a bit hopeless.
As if on queue, one of her heels chose that moment to snag on the pavement and down she went. With a squak of surprised indignation and a hiss of pain she watched as he rounded a corner and disappeared with her possessions. Everything was in that bulky bag, credit and debit cards, her citizen ID, driver’s license, cash,, apartment key, and even her cellphone. Prone as she was on the black pavement of the heavily foot trafficked road, Wheein felt truly and fully fucked.
With a wheeze that sounded like the distant relative to a sob and a face pinched in pain and fury, she gingerly got to her feet. Once they were under her she stumbled a moment feeling an ache in the ankle of the foot that had been her demise. Honestly the whole heel business was a complete farce and she had the distinct sinking in her gut that many mistakes had been made that day.
She began limping ahead as she wondered which one may have been the biggest mistake of them all. Perhaps the worst of them had been the entire outfit in general. She wore a navy and gray outfit that consisted of a pencil skirt and a smart suit jacket layered over a blouse and completed with stockings and that god awful expensive seeming purse. The kitten heels couldn’t be all to blame. Had she been dressed as her usual slob self the thief may not have singled her out.
Maybe her big mistake had been going to the job interview she had dressed for. The interview she completely tanked with her ‘utter lack of tact and womanly civility’. The interviewer had personally informed her on the spot that she came off as abrasive due to her accent and that she ought to think about braces. Apparently she would never be chosen to be the face of any company without an investment in her smile. As if secretary work was more looks than actual paperwork and schedule shifting.
If she dug really deep in her self wallowing as she aimlessly limped down the road, the true ‘biggest mistake’ had been moving to the city in the first place. She had a perfectly good life, good prospects, okay friends. Since she had outgrown the group home she was raised in and finished her way through general studies in college they had been more than happy to offer her a position to work where she grew up. And she had considered it for a moment. Give back in a way by giving other girls like her a home when they had nothing.
She would have had a place to stay, a steady income, known her way around both the job and the neighborhood, and been friendly enough with the staff. Her life could have been grand, whimsical even. But nah, she had to defy the easy destiny laid out before her. Step off the pale yellow brick road for a more vibrant seeming color. Puke green, repugnant but vibrant in it’s own way perhaps.
Yet the thought of staying in the same place she had grown up in, and never ever leaving, had suffocated her to the point of acute nausea. But at least she would have her purse, wallet, and phone. She didn’t even know any numbers to call for help past getting a hold of the police. Not that she had made any actual friends to call on in the city. But still, it was the principal of the thing.
This was her 5th interview since losing her first job in the city which had been the reason she moved out here at all. She was laid off when the company went under due to corruption that went all the way to the top and she hadn’t even been a full month in. Now she was a full month late on her rent and suddenly completely cut off from her piddly savings as well as quite actually lost in the confusing city of Seoul.
Turning around in a complete circle did nothing but confirm that she did not recognize the street she found herself on. And after turning she could not figure out which way she had actually been walking from so as to retrace her steps. Wheein was truly and fully fucked. She’d be homeless, lost, and walking with a limp until the hunger got to her and she expired, like puke green milk. Already feeling the panic set in Wheein found a curbside and plopped onto it unceremoniously with a huff that could have maybe been a sob’s uncle.
She hadn’t come to the city with a dream and as the tears built up behind her eyes and she began to feel the first few drops of rain on her forehead, she realized that was her biggest mistake. Aimless and the city did not go well together. She was living, breathing proof of why.
Just as her tears began to spill over, most likely pulling some mascara along for the ride, and the rain began to pour more significantly to earth, a pair of baby blue sneakers stepped in front of her. Looking up the body attached to said sneakers brought her eyes to meet her stolen forest green purse blocking her view of the face of this new stranger. With a sniffle she reached out and took the stupid bag and checked the contents before sagging in acute relief that threatened to bowl her over. It was really her purse.
The sneakers shifted in front of her like the stranger, her savior, was rocking back on their heels and she reached out to wrap her hand around their closest dainty ankle before looking up to the sharp gaze of the woman standing over her holding an umbrella above them.
“Thank you.” Wheein said. It didn’t feel like near enough, but the woman smiled all the same and reached her free hand down to pat the top of Wheein’s head.
“Us girls gotta stick together.” The woman’s voice was slightly nasal and deep and warm and wow it sunk into her bones like hot tea and settled something in her that had been on the verge of completely cracking. Wheein’s smile grew and she nodded.
“My hero. I wish I could repay you.” She found herself talking before really thinking about the words but it felt good. How long had it really been that she talked to someone outside of interviewing for jobs and pleading with her landlord to give her a few more days to pay rent. The woman scrunched up her eyes in her answering smile. Her teeth definitely were ‘face of the company’ worthy and Wheein thought that maybe she could see the importance of good dental hygiene when this woman smiled like that .
“Just be careful. Make sure to keep a good grip on your bag and try not to look like so much of a tourist. Ogling always draws in the worst sort.” The woman said. Unsolicited advice had never been something that Wheein took kindly to but those words took her breath away.
“I’m Jung Wheein.” She blurted and the woman giggled after her eyes widened in surprise at the unprompted introduction. Wheein could care less, she had to know this woman’s name and it was her brain’s first plan of getting it. It turned out to be a good plan when the woman answered in kind.
“Ahn Hyejin. You should probably not go around giving your name out like that to just anyone. Just another tip.” Hyejin said. Hyejin. It became Wheein’s new favorite word. Her mind repeated it on a loop leaving her at a loss for how to actually continue the conversation with this woman who had shown her the first speck of kindness in this cold impossible place.
Her knees knocked together with her effort but she jumped to her feet all the same. “Let me treat you to dinner.” Wheein said perhaps a bit too desperately, judging by the furrowing of Hyejin’s perfectly sculpted brow. She wore very little makeup past light foundation, the brows, and mascara on her lower lash lines and she looked a particular way that Wheein was sure many would see as drop dead gorgeous.
“Right now?” Hyejin clarified. She also maybe glanced at an honest to goodness non digital watch on the wrist of the hand still suspending an umbrella over them to shield them from the rain falling in a steady rhythm around them. Without trees and grass the rain didn’t smell of much amid the faint scent of mildew rising from some nearby building or alleyway.
“Or um, when you’re free. If it’s a bad uh, time.” Wheein tripped and tumbled and still felt irredeemable by the end of her sentence. Steeling herself for rejection, she continued to keep eye contact with Hyejin while she watched the woman think over her offer and glance at her watch again which caused her lip to be clutched between her teeth.
“But it’s not even noon yet.” Hyejin softly informed Wheein and it felt like falling off a cliff where the bottom was just embarrassment goo and Wheein was hitting it hard and sinking in.
“Yeah, dinner is kinda a uh, more of a hum, state of mind y-you know?” Her cheeks felt hot and her tears from earlier roiled in her throat like they were waiting on standby. Hyejin laughed at her words and reached up to pat her head again and somewhere, in another universe, Wheein both imploded and exploded and was shocked she wasn’t actual fleshy shrapnel on the pavement around them.
“I’ll give you my number ok? I couldn’t say no to a free actual dinner. Maybe I can give you more pointers for keeping your purse.” Hyejin held out the head patting hand after she spoke. Wheein reached into her purse like a madwoman and wrenched out her phone to place it in Hyejin’s waiting palm. Hyejin laughed at that too and waited for Wheein to actually unlock it before inputting her number into her contacts. “Next tip, don’t hand your phone or your phone number out to complete and total strangers.” Wheein was struck with a devilish grin while the phone in Hyejin’s own pocket gave a chipper chime indicating an incoming message. “Unless that stranger is me of course. I’ll text you when I’m free.”
Hyejin handed back her phone and walked away. Wheein barely felt the rain as she clutched her bag tight and watched Hyejin’s figure as she faded off in the distance. Her phone vibrated in her hand and when she checked there was a new text from Ahn Hyejin ‘ Get home safe’.
Imbued with the importance of her first goal in Seoul, Wheein plugged her address into her phone and followed GPS home. Limping and smiling and working on constructing the best answer in her head she did just as directed. As she closed the door to her rundown apartment she couldn’t help but reply back on her success. Falling asleep that night was easier than it had been since she made the decision to move. The butterflies kept her company in her dreams.