Prologue: Looking Back

 

May 15, 2019

As the afternoon bus reached its final stop, the central terminal of Gwangju, a 23-year-old woman accidentally dropped her pouch as she inhaled the familiar scent of her hometown. Normally, she would take her pouch out of her bag to fix herself up after a long trip but excitement took over her completely. It has been years since she returned to her homeland because of her work in Seoul that demanded most of her time.

Although Seoul’s constant changing environment is a perfect fit for her fast paced lifestyle, she couldn’t help but miss the comforting and homey aura that only Gwangju can make her feel. Walking by the central lake of the city beats watching the night lights, at least for her.

Gwangju is the sixth largest city in South Korea and was the capital of Jeollanam-do (South Jeolla) province until it was changed to Namak in 2005. Besides the surrounding buildings in the area, what makes the town unique from an aerial perspective is the central lake on how it’s uniquely placed at the heart of the town.

As the pouch of the woman fell on the floor, she heard a small “ouch” which made her widen her eyes in surprise. “I’m sorry!” she apologized. While bowing her head in embarrassment, she heard a female voice that is big in a familiar way.

“Wendy Son? No way!” the voice exclaimed.

Wendy Son lifted her head in surprise and gasped when she discovered that she has been sitting beside a friend of hers throughout the entire trip.

“Amber, is it really you?” Wendy asked in surprise.

Amber Liu has been a friend of Wendy since the sixth grade because of how her first house is a few blocks away from Gwangju Private School. The pair used to walk to and from school together before she moved to a new house along the Pangan Reservoir. They have never been classmates until the final year of high school.

“I can’t believe I’ve been sitting next to you the whole time! I thought I was sitting next to some random antisocial girl who covered her entire face with her handkerchief,” Amber admitted.

Wendy giggled at Amber’s remarks, her witty observations towards different kinds of people never changed. “I’m sorry for looking so weird. It’s just that I was so tired from work yesterday that I used the entire trip as a way to catch up with my rest. I only realized that we’re already here when I inhaled the familiar scent of Gwangju.”

“It’s no biggie! I didn’t realize that your work is that hard. I’ve seen your posts and pictures in the internet and it says otherwise,” Amber replied.

“Well, I guess it is what really happens when I feel over the moon everyday,” Wendy remarked while blushing.

“Aye, you already and your oh so blissful life!” Amber teased while Wendy giggled in return.

“I didn’t mean to ask this but what happened to your hair? Wow!” Wendy questioned.

Throughout their stay in Gwangju Private School, Amber has always kept her hair in a low ponytail. The only events wherein she allowed herself to let it down were during prom and graduation. The woman that Wendy is facing right now has dark, spiky hair in a boyish cut.

“Yeap! And please don’t throw the usual w, h questions about my hairstyle please? It’s frustrating!” Amber pleaded.

Wendy jokingly raised both of her hands and made an expression of mock fear, “Alright, alright. I won’t!”

“Thank God! Whenever I bump into our high school batchmates in Seoul, they would bombard me with so many questions! I just wanted a change because my hair used to be a hassle to manage,” Amber explained.

“I don’t know if I should agree with you because I love my hair now,” Wendy replied while flipping her dark, wavy hair.

“So I guess most of the people in our batch, including you and me, changed our hairstyles then,” Amber joked.

“I guess so!” Wendy agreed.

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After stepping down from the bus, Wendy and Amber hurried to the small snack joint at the central terminal. Because of the trip that took two and a half ours, including the heavy traffic encountered, they are excited to stuff their stomachs and to stretch their legs.

While eating a generous helping of spicy rice cakes from their own bowls, the pair couldn’t help but admire and observe the scenery of Gwangju, especially on how some of it has changed through the years.

“I can’t believe a lot more buildings are currently in construction! Although Gwangju is a city, I don’t want it to be completely urban,” Amber remarked.

Wendy nodded in agreement. Although she was born in Seoul, her parents immediately moved from Incheon first then to Gwangju because of how they desire a simple but productive lifestyle. A small smile crept on her face when she remembered how she used to run on the ricefields as a little girl. Now, almost 50% of the ricefields have been converted into sites of foundation for new buidlings.

Amber observed Wendy’s nostalgic expression and jokingly hit her right hand with her cellphone. “Hey, did you miss Gwangju that much?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s been so long since I’ve been in here. As much as I wanted to visit home, my schedule and work didn't allow me to do so,” Wendy replied.

“I guess being a publishing assistant and a writer is intense, huh?” Amber questioned.

“Yes, but what’s important is that I love what I’m doing. Even though work has been so hard, I don’t mind its load because drowning myself in words is an amazing experience,” Wendy answered.

“Wow, you’ve grown so much!” Amber teased.

“Was I really that immature back then?” Wendy wailed.

“Of course not! We have our fair share of actions wherein we want to cover ourselves in shame when we remember them,” Amber assured.

“Tell me about it!” Wendy seconded as she finished her final helping of spicy rice cakes.

“Are you done already? Shall we rent a car and book a hotel first before proceeding to the cathedral near Gwangju Private School?” Amber suggested when Wendy finished scooping the final bits of food from her bowl.

“Sounds great to me!” Wendy agreed.

---

After renting a car and booking two hotel rooms for themselves, Wendy and Amber piled themselves inside the car and went on their way. The woman in dark, long, and wavy hair controlled the wheel while the woman with dark, short, and spiky hair is sitting shotgun.

“I can’t believe that you’re actually one of the first people in our batch who has her own driving license. You have always been the girl who was scared to explore different places and would stick with the basics,” Amber commented.

“I guess the experiences that I had during my final year of high school, especially the regional writing competiton were the ones who served as a teaser of what I’m missing in life. College made me explore various possibilities in life further,” Wendy replied.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect that you will visit Gwangju for his fifth death anniversary. It seemed like you’ve forgotten a huge chunk of your life after our high school graduation, at least that’s what I’ve observed through your social networks,” Amber confessed.

“I don’t want to leave out a man who has been a good friend to me during my final year of high school. It is my only way of showing my gratefulness towards him and how he inspired me to write that article which made a lot of people cry,” Wendy remarked as she made a sharp left turn.

“You’re right. Even if that article of yours wouldn’t come close to your standards in writing now, I’m sure that it meant a lot for you,” Amber said.

“It did, it opened so many doors in our lives,” Wendy agreed.

As the familiar trail of trees were seen through the car windows, Wendy’s heart was racing with both anticipation and fear because she never dared to set foot in her previous school again. It doesn’t automatically mean that she hated and forgotten the memories, it’s just that she wanted to immediately get a head start and move on with her life. Now that she has a prosperous living, she couldn’t help but go back to memory lane.

“Wow, this is Gwangju Private School now? There are so many students compared to before!” Amber exclaimed when they saw several groups of students going in and out of the school and heading off to different directions.

“Yeah, this is how it looks now,” Wendy whispered to herself.

Although Amber has been one of Wendy’s good friends in high school, she never came close to her closest group of friends wherein she would confess her deepest secrets. What her seatmate doesn’t know is that she used to secretly visit her former school several times during her freshman and sophomore year in college.

---

As Wendy and Amber appeared inside the chapel, they were immediately greeted by familiar faces, several people who has played a big part in their lives.

Besides the five buildings that is situated in Gwangju Private School, there is a gymnasium and a small chapel that is always used for special events. Currently, the latter is rented by the 2014 high school batch as a location for their celebration of an important person’s fifth death anniversary. The interior is decorated with flowers and white ornaments to symbolize a peaceful atmosphere to bring back and to pray for someone’s memory.

“Joohyun?” Wendy called with surprise when she saw a familiar woman with straight brown hair. As one of her closest friends from high school recognized her, they immediately ran and enveloped themselves in a hug.

“Wendy, ohmigosh! I missed you so much!” Joohyun cooed as the pair were wrapped in a nostalgic hug.

“Me too! I can’t believe it’s been five years since we last saw each other!” Wendy exclaimed.

“I know and I’m sorry that I haven’t kept up with you guys. Being an electrical engineer is so hard that it took most of my time,” Joohyun apologized.

“I understand! At least we finally seen each other! Where are the others?” Wendy asked as she looked around the area.

“Seulgi, Sooyoung, Sunyoung, Krystal, Solbin and Yulhee are on their way, don’t worry!” Joohyun assured.

The reunion between both friends was interrupted when Wendy’s cellphone suddenly rang on an unexpected notice.

“Hmm, it’s your significant other again. I guess he missed you a lot, eh?” Joohyun teased as she looked at the screen along with Wendy.

Wendy blushed and smiled to herself as she took the call. She raised her hight hand towards Joohyun to signal a moment of privacy for the meantime. Her friend nodded in understanding and walked away to talk to Yoon Bora and Kang Hwasa.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Wendy asked when she placed the phone on her ear.

“I’m fine, I’m actually heading over there right now,” the male voice responded.

“Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me, I should have waited for you so we could watch the scenery together,” Wendy said.

“I’m sorry, I had to ask for the permission of my boss so I left Seoul late,” he apologized.

“Okay, I can’t wait to see you. You owe me a cheesecake,” Wendy reminded.

“What kind of flavor do you want this time?” he questioned.

“I want a strawberry amaretto flavored cheesecake, I missed its wonderful taste,” Wendy replied in a knowing tune which made the voice on the opposite line giggle.

“I missed its taste too,” he agreed in a smooth voice which made Wendy’s toes curl in bliss.

“Shut up, don’t you realize that we’re about to attend a death anniversary party?” Wendy mockingly wailed.

“Okay, I will!” he answered.

“I miss you so much, I can’t wait to see you here,” Wendy confessed.

“I miss you too. Hey, I have to hang up the phone now, I’m already making my turn towards the school,” he reminded.

“Sure, keep safe! I love you, cheesebutt!” Wendy gushed.

“I love you too, cheesecake!” he responded.

The delight was obvious on Wendy’s face as she ended the call and returned her phone in her pouch. Since she was so into the call, she couldn’t help but walk around the chapel. It’s a habit that she does when she’s enjoys a phone conversation a lot. She didn’t realize how far she strolled when she realized that she reached the main doors of the chapel.

After keeping her phone in her pouch, the main doors of the chapel opened. Because of its heavy weight, one couldn’t help but make a loud sound when opening it. A familiar man wearing a brown hoodie and dark blue jeans entered the room. Wendy couldn’t help but gasp in surprise because it’s a face that’s always been recognizable for her yet it’s been so long since she last saw him.

When the man recognized the woman in dark, wavy hair in a white dress along with a black cardigan, he immediately came to her and asked, “Did you miss me?”

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Author's Note:

Welcome to the prologue of "Total Focus!" I am so sorry for just updating now because the internet has been a pain for the past week that it's just been fixed now ugh. At least, I finally posted it already! I hope that everyone would like it!

You can actually see that were a lot of blind items and unanswered questions, right? Heehee. Please pay attention to every detail in the story since it will be explained on the next chapters. Especially the article that Wendy wrote in the past, the regional writing competition, the batch mate of Wendy who has been dead for five years, Wendy's boyfriend on the other line (especially its sweet nothings and the things that they do together), and the man who entered the chapel wink wonk. ;)