What's This? What's That?
A Love from the Past
"W-Where am I?" Jongup pressed himself against the wall and held himself, looking at the lights and the tv that sat near my bed. "What is this stuff? Why does everything look weird?"
I asked the teacher to leave and locked my bedroom door, slowly approaching him. "J-Jongup, relax," I sat on my bed. "You're, um, in my time."
"W-What do you mean?' He looked at me with frightened eyes.
"You.. You know how your sister can go to different places when she sleeps?" He nodded slowly. "Well, I can do the same thing, but I can go into the past, which is where you were."
He seemed to understand easily enough. "But, why am I here?"
I didn't know how to explain that part to him, because I didn't really know myself. I looked around my room and noticed my flection in the mirror, seeing that I was still wearing the hanbok he had given me. I smiled at an idea. "If I fall asleep holding or wearing something, it follows me to the past. It's the same if I'm holding or wearing something when I wake up, it follows me to the present," I handed him a rock I had brought back a few years ago. "Maybe it's the same if I'm holding a person."
He nodded slowly then looked at me. "So... You were holding me?" His cheeks flushed pink as well as mine. I nodded and looked away nervously. "What is all of this stuff?" He asked slowly as he reached for the light bulb in my lamp.
"D-Don't touch that!" I quickly pulled his hand away. "It makes light and it's really hot." He nodded and climbed out of the bed, heading towards the tv. "That's a television." He curiously touched the screen. "It's hard to explain." I smiled lightly and turned it on for him, the noise and picture making him jump back. "People watch it when they're bored."
"You don't go outside anymore?"
"We do, but sometimes we can't go outside, so we watch this." I sat beside him and the news. "It can tell us what is going on around the world."
He smiled as he watched, his eyes flickering all over the screen. His curious smile was turned to a frown then he looked at me. "North Korea and South Korea?" He blinked.
I sighed. "North Korea was very difficult and... They decided on becoming separate countries. There was a terrible war as a result." He looked down and nodded.
"I don't want to listen to this now." He stood up and looked around the room for other interesting things. "This stuff is weird... I don't understand it..."
I sighed. "I'll take you back tomorrow," I said, not feeling extremely tired for once. I groaned and laid back on the floor. "I have to go shopping today..." I mumbled and looked at Jongup who still wore his hanbok. "I'll have to let you borrow some clothes..." I stood up and pulled a pair of jeans and a shirt from my dresser and handed them to him. "Put these on, it'll help you blend in." He nodded and changed into them slowly.
"They're too big..."
"People wear big clothes now," I chuckled lightly. "It's only for today, until I can take you home." He nodded in agreement. I pulled my phone from my pocket to call my parents and tell them I'd be gone for a while. Jongup stared in confusion. I put it away when I finished talking to them and pulled Jongup out of the house. "It's a phone." I took him down to the market and handed him a basket. "Hold this and just follow me. Try not to get lost." He nodded and obeyed, following close behind me and looking around at everything.
"So, people don't grow their own food? They take it form here?"
"Someone grows it and then they bring it here for people to buy." I put a few bags of fruits ini the basket and pulled him along to the vegetables. "It's a lot easier for people who live in the city." He nodded even though I knew he was confused.
He stopped and stared at two boys who stood on the other end of the produce section, watching at they talked and held hands. He bit his lip when they kissed and looked at me. "Those boys, what are they doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"They're acting like a couple, isn't that bad?"
I looked at them and smiled, feeling a bit envious of them. "They're a couple. It's alright now, but they still don't have some rights that a man and his girlfriend would have."
"So, they won't be punished?" I shook my head. He looked at me. "I don't want to go home, I want to stay here." He smiled at the couple and watched as they left. "I don't have to hide here."
"What do you mean?"
"I can love here, but I can't at home."
"Why can't you?" I tilted my head. "You have ladies at home that are interested in you, don't you?"
He held my hand and looked at me. "I am not interested in ladies, I told you that before, remember?"
I gulped lightly and pulled my hand away. "O-Oh... I just thought you didn't like the girls that you met..." I bit my lip and began to pick out random vegetables and drop them into the basket, my cheeks flushing a bright pink color. I tried to hide it, but I knew he could see.
"Do I make you uncomfortable now?" He touched my shoulder. "Is it because of what I said?" I shook my head and kept picking out vegetables. He came in front of me and hugged me. "You're already my best friend, Daehyun-ssi, and I really don't want to lose you."
I sighed softly and looked at him. "I can't keep you here forever, Jongup." I ruffled his hair. "Eentually, you will have to go back to your family."
He looked at me and smiled. "I could run away from my home and come with you, so they won't look for me."
"They will still look for you, Jongup." I sighed. "You can stay for a few days, but that's it." He beamed and hugged me again. I sighed again and pulled him to the checkout then took him home. "Are you hungry?" He nodded. "I'll make you something to eat."
"What food do people have now?"
I chuckled lightly. "A lot of unhealthy food..." I went to the kitchen and pulled out a chicken and dropped it into a pot. "It'll take a while to cook." He nodded in understanding and looked around the kitchen. "It'll take getting used to."
"Daehyun? We're home."
Dammit.
Short again *sighs* sorry about that
*hides*
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