little dark age

“Oh yes. It’s very wet. There’s always a bad risk of floods during this time of year.” Too much rain could be depressing, but it was something he was used to, especially in the summer time. “Ah yes, the life of a socialite. If you don’t mind me asking, what do your parents do for work?” Her words were painfully relatable to him. Working excessively and spending more time with other members of high society than his own children, that was the life of Jung Jin-Ho. Bon didn’t want that to be his life, but didn’t have much of a say in the matter.

“My dad was a businessman, I’m still not sure of the specifics entirely, my mom didn’t work but she was out doing socialite stuff, you know how it goes.” The talk of her parents made Cass a little sad. She collected herself for a moment almost forgetting where she was. “I’m sorry, this got a little sad, I didn’t mean for that. I never really talk about my parents honestly.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad. Saying hi wouldn’t be too much of a buzzkill…I don’t think.” Did students want to see their teachers outside of school? Most of his teachers he tried to avoid, but there were a select handful that he had a good relationship with. “I’d like an actual house someday. Right now I’m trying to decide if I want to go back to school and get my master’s degree.” If he did that, a house would have to wait a while.

“I had a pretty good relationship with my teachers in high school, but then again my parents were back in Maine while I was doing boarding school the next state over an hour and a half away.” The words came out too quickly, she had to pause for a moment. “I’m sorry, that’s a lot.” She felt way too comfortable around Blake. “Ah, yeah that’s pretty understandable to wait then. I got my masters right after undergrad, I just wanted to get it done.”

“Mine too! It feels overwhelming, but so far the majority of the people are really nice and helpful. The turnout is bigger than usual i’ve heard too so…I don’t think we’re alone with this being our first.” Taejoon considers some suggestions for her while he picks out a purple wristband. Knowing a few things that would be going on would help hype up the first-time experience. He  gestures to her wrist to put it on. “They’ve got lots of cool things lined up to do. A lot of people have been buzzing about the drag show. Or if you don’t mind getting messy, there’s a spot on the beach where they’re playing Twister but with paint.” 

“Oh good, I’m glad we’re in this together.” Cass smiled brightly holding out her wrist for the man to put it on. The purple was so vibrant against her skin. “Thank you, I will definitely have to watch out for those, they sound kinda fun.” Cass wasn’t sure if she would participate in a lot of the events, she was still a little shy, and didn’t know too many people around Santa Monica. She must be too wrapped up in work. 

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    [  Bodhi visibly brightened at that. “Honestly, I would love gold stars for adult tasks,” he replied. “Taxes deserve an actual medal, though. Them shits is a PAIN,” Bo sighed, agreeing with the woman. Giving a thumbs up, Bodhi shot a smile in her direction, “Good idea! Besides, you need hydration as well. We are, like 60% water. But other organs are more water than the body. Also eat something salty so you don’t sweat the water out as fast,” he recommended.

“Whenever I do taxes I treat myself to something sweet. Usually some sort of candy, which I also can use to bribe students into answering questions. Teenagers get so competitive for that last blue raspberry Jolly Rancher.” She chuckled at the thought. It made her happy to see the students engaged with the material she taught, even if it was food motivated. “Salty? Hmm, you think there’s any soft pretzels around? I could go for one of those.”

“It’s much more arid here than in Korea. Our summers are typically very rainy, and we have monsoon season, which occurs in late June-early July.” He frowned when she mentioned spending her formative years alone. “I’m sorry. Did your parents work a lot? I can relate to that.” Growing up, when their parents were busy, Bon-Hwa and his siblings usually did their own separate activities. His dad was the breadwinner of the family and was constantly going on trips to check on his different properties. His mom didn’t work, but she was generally busy taking care of the house, and when she wasn’t, she was either shopping or didn’t want to be bothered. 

“Monsoon season? That’s gotta be pretty wet. I don’t mind the rain every now and again, but if there’s too much in a row it can get pretty depressing.” Cass thought of the many rainy spring days during her time living in New England, too many in a row would really damper her mood. The California sun gave her that extra brightness to get through her day. “They worked a ton, and when they weren’t working they were social climbing at whatever country club.” Cass never really went with them to the country club, it was only when they absolutely needed her to go for some sort of event.

“I don’t expect them to want to hang out or anything. It’s summer and they’re having their own fun but…I don’t know…I figured it might be good for them to see a friendly face.” Now he felt silly trying to explain it, but it seemed like she understood. “Yeah, I live in an apartment so I can’t really do the hammock thing.” 

“I know, but I want to say hi or something, maybe give them a high five. I love my kiddos. I know they’re not my kiddos, but I just like to see them happy.” Cass was driven into teaching to share her passion with the youth, but she got a whole lot more out of the job. “I have a nice little starter home right now, my parents helped me get it when I first came here. Backyard is small but not too small for a hammock. You gotta get that vitamin D.”

“I’ve never been to the east coast of the U.S. before. Does it rain there a lot?” It was a lot hotter and more arid in California than South Korea, that was for sure. This was his first summer in the states, so he had a lot to get used to. “I am from Seoul! I moved here this past February with my father and sister. I miss it. I don’t know when I’m going back, but I’m fairly sure I’ll be visiting in September for my mother’s birthday.” His mother and brother were still in Seoul, and he wished he was there too, but he couldn’t always get what he wanted in life. “I’ve been to a few countries in Europe on holiday. Italy has a lot of nice architecture.”

“Not as much as Washington probably, but there is a lot of weather. Rain, snow, lots of wind, it all happens.” Cass did miss the cooler weather of the east, but being able to wear short sleeves in the winter was nice. “That’s really awesome. It’s good to move with family, I came to California last July, and if I hadn’t spent most of my formative years alone I’m not sure how well I would’ve adjusted to being away from everything I knew.”

“What do you have in the Mary Poppins bag? Do you have an umbrella like Mary Poppins? Can you use it to fly?” He knew you couldn’t actually fly with umbrellas, but he wanted to keep the joke going. “No, but they look cool at least. These are my party pants! I wear them to parties, and this is kind of like a party.” He needed to invest in a pair of party shorts for the summer. “There’s a festival in Seoul that happens every year, but I’ve never been allowed to go.” He wanted to go for reasons of curiosity more than anything else, but it was considered taboo. 

“I wish I had a flying umbrella, but unfortunately I left my regular umbrella at home. If I were back on the east coast however, my umbrella would definitely be on me at all times.” The shift in weather from moving coasts was expected, and Cass knew that it hardly rained in California, but it was still a shock to wake up to near perfect weather almost everyday. “Oh, are you from Seoul? Or the area? I’ve heard the city there is stunning. The only place I’ve been outside of the country is Italy with my parents, but I was young so I don’t remember a lot.”

“That’s alright, don’t worry. I’ve seen worse.” Heather reassured Cassandra as she tried to help with something else, appreciating the other’s good disposition to offer a hand. The redhead grabbed the bottle and used a bit of water to clean her hands before tapping a bit on the wound with the wet paper tissue. She giggled at the female’s suggestion though she couldn’t fully disagree. It surely offered an attractive repertoire of options but that wasn’t a priority of hers at the moment - it would’ve been if she hadn’t walked into that restaurant a few days ago. ”Well, someone from the medical field would be new for me but I believe my knee can wait if it comes with such possibility of commitment to be honest. I mean, third time’s a charm right? If I’m gonna have another go at it and it’s meant to be the last one, I should probably look smarter.” Heather titled her head, putting more thought into the hypothetical situation than needed. “Besides, I think that I’ve already found one of those with whom my knee will continue to meet the ground while skipping stair’s steps but at least can get a broken heart mended…” She trailed off for a moment before focusing on Cass again apologetically. “Sorry, I’m Heather, by the way. Thank you. For the bottle. And being the first listener of my unnecessarily deep and spontaneous podcast about getting hurt and married.” She smiled widely, rolling her eyes a bit. “Oh but if you want to check them out, I can always fake cry in pain for a friend. As long as that grants me an invitation to the wedding, of course.”

“I’m Cass, or Cassandra. I’ll answer to both really. I will not however answer to middle name. My parents got a little pretentious with the naming.” Cass rolled her eyes at the thought of her parents. She wondered what was going through their heads when they named her. Cassandra Yvonne Duke. Ugh. She shook the thought away before she could think too deeply about it. “Oh I’m not looking for any EMTs. I’m more into the bookish types. There’s actually someone I work with I’ve had my eyes on for a while, but I don’t know if he’s into me.” She gazed away from Heather for a moment, focusing her attention on a tree. Cass sighed. It was hard to tell if Blake just thought she was good friend or something more. Sometimes something would cue her into him being interested, but then it would be quickly countered. “I’m not good at the whole dating thing. Not anymore at least. I had a fair share of relationships in college, but once I graduated and started teaching I just got so busy. I was busy in college too, but I had way more energy to put into it.”

“Oh, no need to tell me twice! I gotta stay mega hydrated between now and show time cause the last thing I wanna do is pass out on stage,” Trixie admitted with a sheepish grin. “Yeah! My bestie Maya and I are gonna perform on this huge beach themed float and we’ll be performing a few songs from our set for tonight!” 

“That’s going to be incredible! I’m not sure how long I’ll last into the night if I’m honest.” Cass shrugged, she wasn’t proud to admit her 8pm bedtime. “I’m a little more of a morning bird. I’m gonna try to stay up with the help of a Redbull.”