The sun dipped below the horizon in two bustling cities, while it still shone in another. The winter season was harsh, thick snow blanketed the streets and covered lamp-posts damping the light it emitted. Over three swift months, the cities, filled with bustling life and activity, experienced a unique change to the atmosphere, emerging as even more vibrant than it was before. It was just a week before Christmas.
The streets were noisy, but it was enough to bring a smile to one's face. Small crowds were enjoying various events in the plazas, carolers going from house to house singing and spreading cheer, and cheesy Christmas songs–that never seem to get old–playing on the speakers of shopping outlets and nearby malls.
People spend days like this with family, friends, and even lovers yet in the heart of one of the cities, Osaka, Maekawa Megumi, a first-year college student, spends it sleeping in the campus dorms. The student was sound asleep in her bed when her phone suddenly rang, vibrating in her hand where she had left it while scrolling through social media last night.
The sudden noise jolts her awake, releasing the phone from her soft grip and letting it fall onto the ground with a loud thud. She lets out a groan and ruffles her hair, picking up the vibrating device from the floor, she looks over the screen and reads that it wasn't an alarm but a friend calling. It was Baek Yun-hee.
. . .
Baek Yun-hee was inside her bedroom in a manor near the outskirts of Seoul City when she was dialling the student. Even within the large, luxurious home, 20-year-old Yun-hee felt trapped inside it. Her parents were protective if not controlling – they isolated her, oversaw what she learned, and even went as far as limiting her interactions with other people, all under the guise of "protecting" her. Soon enough, they controlled the woman's very future.
Yun-hee had never been her own person–was never able to make her own decisions—as far as she knew it was her parents who'd always made them for her and there was nothing she could do about it.
The only salvation she sought was the old phone she secretly bought on her fifteenth birthday with the money given to her by her grandparents. The device where she discovered the world of novels and novelists; was also the world where she had found her first friend, Megumi.
Megumi let the phone ring in her hand, she made many author friends but this one bothered her far more than the others. She didn't mind it; she felt less lonely with her constant company, but sometimes she thought the woman was just crazy. Letting the phone ring, the student left it for a few minutes so that she could reach over to her bedside and switch on the lamp before finally picking up the call.
"Yunhee sis~ do you know what time it is?" she asks, sounding more angry than endearing.
"Ah," she says looking at the clock, "Good evening Megumi. I need your opinion."
The student takes the phone away from her ear and looks at the screen to double-check the time. It was a little past 1 A.M.
"...Good—good evening?! Yun-hee sis, it's one! In the morning?! Could this not really wait until tomorrow??"
"I'm afraid…it is tomorrow, and you told me I could call anytime…" she pauses, "Was this not a good time?"
Megumi groans, becoming fully awake because of the absurd situation. She shut her eyelids for a moment and gave herself time to think, "I did say that but...that's seriously not what I meant! And I didn't think you'd be calling at 1 A.M. on a weekday of all days!"
The student sighed, narrowing her eyes on the screen and gave in knowing that this was what Yun-hee did. That this wasn't new. This happened more often than one could imagine. This was normal. So Megumi decided to listen to what was bothering her, whatever it was.
. . .
In the meantime, in a city situated on the opposite side of the world, the sun still lingered in the sky, casting its warm glow as the clock struck three in the late afternoon. Despite the hour, the sun had already begun setting just like it did every winter.
In that very same metropolis lies an office in downtown Chicago, a woman in her late 20s was heading down on an elevator bundled up with warm clothes, wrapping a worn-out black scarf around her neck and bringing her bag over her shoulder.
Emily Hughes was a twenty-eight-year-old office worker for a sales company who was now ready to head home for the day. Descending to the ground level, the elevator doors slide open and she steps out onto the spacious lobby adorned with a marble front desk and plush seating. The worker looks toward the concierge, smiles, and nods her head signaling a goodbye as she heads to the glass doors that open up to the bustling cold city outside.
Outside, just inches away from the entrance Emily lifts her hands, palms facing upwards to feel the snowfall when a rush of cold wind brushes against her face and the tall woman shivers, tightening the scarf while she looks up to the orange hue skyline. Emily exhales, hot steam pouring out of her breath when she finally starts to make her way to the subway hoping to reach it before it gets dark.
Realizing she had been walking too slowly, Emily checked the time and began to run when she learned that the second train had already arrived. The frustrated woman rushed and, out of the corner of her eye, noticed a small lit-up bakery next to the underground stairs that she couldn't recall ever seeing before. Yet, before she could continue that train of thought, the speakers below echoed and announced the final call for the train. Reaching the stairs and hurrying down to get to the platform, the subway doors shut and Emily was too late.
"Shit! No!" she shouts, the words sounding strained as she stops running to gather her breath. Emily was on the second last step, dragging her feet looking dishevelled and crouching with her hands on her knees. "If only I hadn't worn these stupid heels!" she grumbles in between breaths while also checking her phone for the next train only to find out it was going to arrive in twenty-nine minutes.
Emily groaned, "God, What a day this is," she thought wondering what could she possibly do with so much yet so little time. She heads up the stairs, hoping to find somewhere to wind down when she catches sight of the bakery. There was nothing else interesting, so she walked over to where the store was, just a few steps down along the subway stairs and entered through their doors.
Emily enters the bakery and notices a young pretty woman—who seems to be the only staff around—outside the counter adjusting the cakes on display. Upon hearing the bells of the door Emily just opened the young woman meets her face and greets her, "Ah! Welcome to Mirae bakery! I'll be with you in just a sec." she finishes up and hurriedly walks back to the cashier. Emily shoots her a smile closing in the distance between her and the register while taking in the small but cosy space.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Upon entering the bakery, Emily was already captivated by the distinctive interior. She takes it in closely this time and notices all the unusual pieces of decor. The intricately designed potted vines graced the shelves, while the furniture showcased elegant glass and lavishly carved wood, lined with unique metal sheets. The walls, adorned with stunning wood panelling, diverged from traditional brick and the young woman behind the counter aptly reflected the store's unique and stylish aesthetic with her attire.
She gazed upon a scene straight out of a fairy tale, something one could only dream of witnessing. A wide smile graced Emily's lips as she imagined the possibility of returning to this place one day, perhaps with her son Theodore by her side.
Setting down the finished coffee in her hands, Emily looks at the time and realises that twenty-three minutes have already passed. The worker didn't want to miss the third train so she decided to finally leave, raising the bag she placed next to her on the ground, grabbing her wallet, and leaving a five-dollar tip. She stood up and straightened her coat while also grabbing her scarf from the backrest and wrapping it around her neck once again.
The satisfied woman looked toward the register, but the young lady wasn't there. "Ah, she must be in the back room," she thought to herself as Emily left without meeting her face.
When Emily finally arrived home, she entered her small house just outside the main city. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, dropping both of her bags and setting aside her scarf and coat on a coat hanger. As she took in the sight of her home, she noticed that the lights were off, the kitchen and cabinets were ransacked, and in the living room, her husband passed out –– she looked at him like this wasn't anything new to her, as this was a daily occurrence to her.
Regardless, Emily had more pressing matters to attend to than her lost cause husband. The woman's son, Theodore, had been diagnosed with heart failure last year, and Emily had been working two jobs, which was almost ten times harder than she normally did to pay for her son's overwhelming medical bills and afford their necessities.
She walks up the stairs with the macaroons on a small plate and reaches for the doorknob of the first room.
Emily slightly opens the doors and sees Theodore sitting on the bed, reading his favourite book yet again. The tall lady opened the door more widely this time and greeted her young boy. Theo looked her way and lit up, he put his book down and tried to get down before falling—coughing up blood—Emily was horrified and quickly dropped the macaroons. She made her way to Theo and quickly reached for the medicine and water on the bedside table before setting him back down on his bed, looking at him with sad eyes before he spoke up.
"You look like you're about to cry," he says mockingly, "Don't, that's embarrassing and…I won't know what to do." Suddenly looking away, flustered at what he said. When she hears those words, she lets out a small laugh and puts on a weak smile.
"I'm not going to cry. I'm just…tired is all. Your fathers' been a pain in the ass lately."
He scoffs, "Lately? Like that's not normal in this household. Just divorce the loser if he's such a bother."
Emily looks down for a few seconds then looks at Theo, "He has nowhere else to go if I did." she says weakly.
"And why would you care if he has nowhere else to go Mom? You said it yourself, he's a pain in the ass! That bastard's just leeching off you, he deserves what's comi—" Theo's voice had gotten louder but whenever it did, it was quickly interrupted by hard coughs.
Emily's eyes widen as she crouches down with both her hands on his shoulders, "Okay, Okay. Don't overdo it, Theo, just rest. Forget about your father. I can worry about him for the two of us."
The worried woman walks over to the scattered macaroons she dropped, crouching low enough to pick them up. "Look, after you're well-rested, you can come down and have the other one of these."
Theo sighs, "Alright. But you rest too, Mom. You look like hell."
She stood up and smiled at him. Walking towards the doors with the plate of macaroons in her hand she closes it and once outside she leans on the door. She didn't want to cry. Not when her dramatic teenage son was in there staying strong. She tries to get a hold of herself when the left side of her dress pants' pockets vibrates. She pulled it out and looked at the screen, it was the group chat that consisted of two younger novelists she met and befriended on the novel-writing website and app,
[Novels Come to Life]
These two were chaotic and kept the empty parts of her life occupied so she didn't mind that they bothered her.
Once she clicked on the join button, the two were in the midst of an argument – well, more like Megumi was arguing and Yun-hee was just answering back in a composed manner like she usually did. They fought for a bit before finally acknowledging Emily's presence, "Big sis! What do you think?!" Megumi shouted through the screen, the office woman was dumbfounded. Context was nowhere, Megumi was just insulting Yun-hee and Yun-hee was correcting her insults. The question was vague and she didn't know what she fell into.
She laughs weakly before she finally replies "What exactly should I think?" trying to go for the safest answer.
"We're talking about Yun-hee's arranged marriage with some man!" she fumed, "I'm telling her to accept it! To leave her oppressive parents! But she's so adamant about not marrying!"
"She's getting married?!" Emily was even more stunned than before,
"The entire point is that I don't want to get married," Yun-hee remained resolute about her opinion, while Emily was herding her thoughts.
"So you're saying you don't want freedom either?" Megumi argued, everyone feeling her anger through the phone.
"You are putting words in my mouth Megumi. It's more complicated than that."
"Then why don't you just run away?" Emily gives a joke suggestion. Trying to lower the tension.
"Run? Away?" Yun-hee asked, confused.
"Yeah? leave your home Yun-hee. Did you not think about it?"
"I've never thought of defying my parents, so n—" The young woman was swiftly interrupted by the hyper student.
"See, that's what's wrong with you. You need to stand up for yourself! Why are you letting your parents decide your life?!" she pauses leaving a gap of silence in the call,
"Why don't––Why don't we meet up then." she posed.
"Meet up?" Yun-hee asks another question, Megumi rubs her temples with her fingers, "What are you? Slow? Yes!? Meet-up! I'll teach you how to stand up for yourself because you're clearly not getting it through this screen?!"
"Megumi...some of us don't have funds for it," Emily says, her words laced with worry.
"Well then, you can borrow from Yun-hee. Bring your son or husband too or whatever," quickly trying to patch up the financial problem.
"But—" the worker tries to protest, "No! it's final. We're meeting this weekend." Megumi objects before ending the call.