Dormitory (1)
Dormitory (1)
A thin ray of sunlight stretching long through the gap under the dressing room door told me morning had come.
To be honest, I hadn't slept a wink.
I tossed and turned all night unable to get a grasp on what to do, and even if I barely fell asleep I woke up again right away.
"Haa......"
Contrary to the fluffy king-size mattress, my head was extremely complicated.
To begin with, I couldn't even tell who I should trust.
Naeun who said she'd help but never let go of the remote until the end, or Yujin who took that remote while smiling kindly.
Both acted like they were for me, but both were also the side that locked me up.
In the midst of that, Yujin suddenly said to go to the past dorm.
Of course it wasn't the first time Yujin brought up past stories.
Rather she did it often. Stories before debut, stories of the semi-basement days, stories of when we all suffered together.
But that was just stories after all.
Memories were sufficient just to put in the mouth, and Yujin always stopped at that line.
But why, of all times, is she doing this now?
At this time the sound of slippers dragging from outside was heard, and soon with the sound of the door lock unlocking Yujin entered.
She was pressing down a hoodie with a hat, holding a small bag in one hand.
"Oppa, are you up?"
"......What time is it now that you're already preparing."
"I wanted to go see quickly. It's already 7 now?"
Yujin went toward the closet, picked up clothes and held them out to me.
"Wear this. The weather's good today."
I silently changed into the black hoodie and cotton pants I received.
It wasn't a situation where I could refuse anyway.
"All done? Then let's go."
Yujin grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the dressing room.
Whether everyone was still sleeping, the living room was quiet with no one.
When we reached the entrance, I unconsciously turned my gaze to the shoe cabinet side.
As a habit started from when I first began as manager, I checked the shoes first every time I entered the dorm.
Because that way even in sleeping time I could know who is in now and who hasn't come in yet.
There were five pairs of shoes in the shoe cabinet.
The neatly arranged white sneakers were probably Yujin's.
Next to them the platform heels carelessly taken off were Suah's.
The loafers with toes neatly matched were Naeun's.
And there were also boots with flashy decorations and a pair of small worn-out sneakers.
'......Eri and Taehee are in too.'
The boots were obviously Eri's, and the youngest Taehee's shoes were the ones she wore from debut so I could easily recognize them.
Five pairs. Meaning only five out of six were in.
"......Hasn't Somyeong come yet?"
"Yes. Apparently there's still more filming left."
Somyeong left last week because there was variety filming overseas, and it seemed she still couldn't return.
Yujin who put on shoes first looked back at me.
"Oppa. Hurry up."
"......Yeah. Let's go."
I withdrew my gaze from the shoe cabinet and stepped out the entrance.
***
The car ran as if sliding on the quiet morning road.
Yujin held the steering wheel.
I sitting in the passenger seat was staring blankly at the scenery flowing outside the window.
Perhaps because it was early time the road was empty, and only the low radio sound flowed in the car.
"Oppa."
"......Why."
"You didn't sleep, right."
Yujin asked while looking ahead.
No. Rather than asking it was a tone of already knowing.
"......No."
She smiled small at my answer.
"It's all showing under your eyes."
I didn't answer and only looked out the window.
"Don't be too tense oppa."
Yujin opened her mouth again.
"Today is a really good day."
"......Good day?"
"Yeah."
Her voice rose one tone.
"To show everyone, I prepared really long."
"What."
"Surprise"
Yujin moved her gaze to the room mirror then faced front again.
"You'll know when we go. Oppa will definitely be surprised too."
If another person said that it would have been just an exciting word.
But now, that word coming from the mouth of the person who locked me up sounded completely different.
'Just what did she do in that old semi-basement.'
"......I'll look forward to it."
I answered halfheartedly as if having no interest at all, but Yujin seemed satisfied and hummed a small nose song.
The car was gradually entering a familiar neighborhood.
Narrow alley, old signboard, scenery that seemed never changed even once.
It was that path we went up and down together every day 25 years ago.
The place the car stopped was in front of an old villa.
I slowly got out of the car and looked up at the building.
Cracked cement outer wall, rusty iron railing and house number sign half fallen off.
And a narrow steep staircase going down to the semi-basement was visible.
"This place hasn't been demolished and is still the same."
"Yeah. It wasn't demolished"
Yujin who came to my side before I knew it, looking at her her eyes looked distant.
I looked at that scenery for a moment then turned my body back to the car.
"I've seen it all."
"Huh?"
"Just, you wanted to see it from afar once, right? Since we saw it now let's go back."
Just standing in front of this, the buried emotions kept squeezing up. I didn't want to go in deeper.
But Yujin shook her head.
"No. What I really want to show is inside."
"......Inside?"
She took something out from the bag.
It was a small key bunch.
"Here, I bought it."
"......What?"
When I asked back blankly, Yujin smiled as if nothing.
"This house. I bought it."
In an instant, my head went white.
"......What does that mean. Why did you this......"
"It was about to be demolished."
Yujin fidgeted with the keys and continued speaking.
"They said redevelopment is going in. So I just bought it. Because I hated our memories disappearing."
She grabbed my arm and led the way down the narrow stairs.
"Let's go in oppa."
I stood still in that place for a moment, then eventually was pulled by her strength.
I wanted to refuse but the slight emotion of wanting to confirm how it is inside was too big.
When we finished going down the stairs, a familiar iron door was visible.
"In the past we hid the key behind the flowerpot... now I have it."
When Yujin inserted the key and turned it the door opened with a cheerful sound.
"......Welcome oppa."
From the air leaking through the door gap, a familiar smell came.
The smell of that semi-basement where we lived bumping into each other in those old days.
The moment I stepped inside, I froze as is.
There, it was as 3 years ago.
No, it wasn't as is.
The old flooring, the faded posters attached to the wall, the small dining table placed in the corner, all were placed exactly the same in that time's place, but it was overly clean somewhere.
It was a space where memories were taxidermied whole, with broken things newly fitted, faded things painted again.
"How is it oppa?"
Yujin took off shoes and stepped inside, spreading both arms.
"It's the same right? I made it so really not even one is different."
Pride seemed mixed in her voice.
I couldn't say anything and looked around the room.
On one side of the wall a photo of the music broadcast 1st place trophy we received first was attached.
Next to it there were doodles the members wrote themselves with magic.
"Do you remember this? The one oppa bought."
Yujin pointed to the small dining table in the corner.
It was that dining table with one short leg that we always propped with newspaper.
"You bought it used for 10,000 won."
"That's right. But oppa doesn't know how much we liked it when we received that."
Yujin squatted in front of the dining table.
"Six people sitting around this one, eating cup ramen... that time was the best for me."
Her fingertips slowly stroked the dining table corner.
"Back then oppa was truly completely ours."
"...What are you saying."
"Just. Because back then oppa didn't have to go elsewhere."
Yujin lifted her head and looked up at me.
"Not many schedules, company small, and oppa just had to take care of us."
"......Yujin-ah."
"But as we succeeded. Oppa started getting farther little by little."
"......"
"When you said you'd take another group. I was actually really scared a lot."
"......"
"The person who raised us, leaving us and going."
Yujin slowly stood up and took one step toward me.
"So I made it again. Because if it's here, I thought we could return to that time."
"......"
"Oppa. Can't we start again here?"
"...So you think making me wear a torture tool now makes sense?"
"It's because oppa left."
Yujin's smiling faces were crumbling little by little.
"If oppa hadn't left us, we wouldn't have grown apart."
"Yujin-ah, calm down..."
"Calm down?"
She quickly narrowed the distance.
And before I could even step back, she grabbed my face with both hands.
"I am calm. I calmed down and made all this like this."
"......Let go."
She ignored my words and overlapped her lips.
"Haa... haa... Oppa. I don't want to use things like the remote."
The face I met was as if cold yet her cheeks were slightly red flushed.
"So oppa... just needs to stay still."
Her fingertips slowly stroked the choker on my neck.
I felt the feeling of her chest pressing and crushing on my body.
"Let's try acting like the old days once."