Presence: A Blogsary Short

Atlanta, GA

United States of America

February 2017

“You have to admit that it was a pretty bold choice,” Eun-seok commented. Jin-kyong could only smile. “And I’m surprised that the higher ups were okay with you choosing to, you know. Doing that.” 

“They’re not that cold-hearted.” she rolled her eyes and nudged him to a nearby coffee shop, “Now let’s eat. Please? I’m feeling a little hungry from that.” 

“Got’cha.” the two entered, Jin-kyong sighing happily and immediately going towards the front to order. He watched her with a tiny smile before following, seeing the barista go a little starstruck at the sight of the two of them. 

Eventually they were seated at one of the booths, Jin-kyong sipping at her drink. Eun-seok glanced at his phone. “The twins want to hang out here for lunch. You game for staying a little bit more?” she nodded and he sent an affirmative text back at Hae-won, then turned his attention back to Jin-kyong. 

It almost felt normal, he decided. His eyes fell on her, the latter absentmindedly reading something on her phone. It almost felt like a normal day; they were busy chilling during one of their freer weekends, acting as if they were happy for once. 

(It nearly felt like Soo-yeon was still there.) 

It had been a couple of months since the bleached blonde’s death; Kim Soo-yeon had gotten into an accident earlier in October which caused her untimely death. It blew up, especially after there had been some whispers that claimed her death wasn’t an accident at all. But eventually, when it finally came to a close, they started moving on for real. 

Including Jin-kyong, thankfully. Out of all of them, she was the one who was the most affected. For a period of time, Jin-kyong refused to come out of her apartment and refused to take jobs until she was forced to. It was in those months wherein she lost herself temporarily—especially considering that she had felt something for Soo-yeon and was never able to tell…

His gut wrenched at the thought. 

But she was better now, he knew. She wasn’t fully healed, but she was doing better than how she was in the months of the death and the investigation. Jin-kyong took jobs, hung out with the rest of them again, and somehow it was like the small spark in her was coming back, ever so slightly. 

“Kyongsies!” he looked up; Hae-jin had looped her arms around Jin-kyong’s figure, the latter giving her a quiet pat and a greeting of her own. Hae-won regarded him with a quiet nod and sat down next to him, bearing two drinks, most likely his and his Hae-jin’s. “Did you push through with it?” 

“I did.” the female twin, whose hair had recently received golden ombre additions, flashed a bright smile and sat down next to her. “I thought you guys had something today?” 

“Cancelled.” Hae-won shrugged after taking a sip from his green tea, “But that’s alright, Hae and I weren’t really looking forward to it.” 

“He’s lazy,” the other chimed, to which he shot the rest of them a bemused smile. “But yeah, it wasn’t something we felt strongly about. It’s just the same old, you know?” the conversation continued from there, Jin-kyong listening and Eun-seok talking from time to time. Soon enough did the talk die down, the four of them glancing at their phones. Some onlookers threw curious looks their way, but Eun-seok knew that they were used to it. 

He didn’t mind, and neither did any of the others. Soo-yeon was the one who liked the attention, and was the most willing to go and have pictures taken. She and Hae-jin, at least—the two were most interactive with their fans, while the other three were still unused to how much popularity they had gained. 

Granted, it wasn’t at such a high level, but they were pretty much familiar faces at that point. The thought of it made him smile just a bit. 

Soon enough, it was Hae-jin who broke the silence. “You know,” she began slowly, “Yeonnie would be really proud if she could see us now.” 

The rest of them were shocked to varying degrees. Hae-won cautiously threw her a look, but Hae-jin didn’t seem to notice. She kept smiling. Eun-seok wasn’t thrown as much, though his attention was definitely on the girl across him. 

Jin-kyong’s eyes widened for a moment and eventually she cleared her throat. “…why do you say that, Hae?”

“Look at us. We’re doing alright.” she shot them a smaller but gentler smile, “We’re doing better, aren’t we? Isn’t that what matters more?” 

“She’s right,” Hae-won agreed. He fiddled with his straw, “We are doing better. Think about it from Soo-yeon’s perspective. I think she’d rather see us happy and moving on than just being sad over what happened.” his gaze held Jin-kyong’s, “Soo-yeon was the type who wanted her friends to be happy. And that’s what we’re doing. We’re not a hundred percent there, but we’re on the way.” 

Jin-kyong looked away. Eun-seok cleared his throat. 

“I think she’d be happy with us.” he said finally. And directed at Jin-kyong, he added, “We shouldn’t beat ourselves up over it anymore. She’d be happier if we kept going. If we kept living her dream.” 

“Her dream,” Jin-kyong repeated. The rest of them nodded, and she finally managed the smallest of smiles. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.” Hae-jin leaned her head on the other’s shoulder and Jin-kyong let her, Hae-won eventually excusing himself to buy something for all of them to eat. 

Eun-seok saw the black ink peeking from underneath Jin-kyong’s sleeve. A few strokes, familiar letters—

He assured himself that they indeed were on the way to moving.