NOMAD.

@hsgijin​ — CANOLA, closing

the lock bolt shutters into place as charoen waves through the glass at the last of patrons. canola’s closing relatively early for how late customers often remain, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t treated well as they stumble tipsily over their shoes. laughter comes muffled through the door, and she giggles in return before turning on the heels of her sneakers and leaning dramatically against the frame.

it’s not every shift that the part-timers of canola get to work together, eyes falling on her coworker and sole person left in the bar, son gijin. it seems that jinjoo, canola’s owner, has business or another to attend to, partnering them for the night. now there’s tables to be bussed, chairs to be flipped, and back of house chores to be catered to, but all she can think about is the silenced left at the end of the track.

the blonde takes lazy strides across the bar toward the jukebox, approaching the records on display as she tilts her head slightly over her shoulder. “guess everyone’s headed out to look for those figurine thingies,” she muses, flipping through a couple tracks until she finds one, a 1940′s era song by some pin-up japanese ladies that has a funky groove. something casual to unwind. “what is that scavenger hunt even for? is it part of jeju-do lore, or just for fun?”

shoulders shimmy as she’s satisfied by the bop and starts for the bar. on her way, she takes a rag from the small apron around her waist and wipes down a table, flipping the two chairs on the lips of the surface. once behind the bar, she’s then grabbing a beer from underneath in the small fridges. she’s learned a trick working at canola, and places the edge of the beer cap on the bar. with the butt of her palm, she smacks downward hard, the cap popping off with a fizzle. the beer’s fresh and cool on her tongue as she takes a taste.

ACTION SHOT.

it’s unlike jiseong to head towards a tourist trap. that’s a lie. it’s like jiseong to head to a tourist trap, wait until peak hours have waned, take a few photos, and then complain to any soul who gives a damn about how overrated the place was. look — he ain’t picky or stuck up. just a connoisseur of travel locations ( self proclaimed ).

but seongsan ilchulbong is nice. unesco world heritage sites are usually nightmares. waaaaay too many people ruining a world heritage under their brand name joggers and the utter inability to take a single decent shot. unless you like portraits. but travel photography is about escapism not claustrophobia. point is, ‘ sunrise peak ‘ deserves its title. the journey to the highest vantage point spaces out the tourists enough.

or maybe jiseong just managed to avoid the peak hours by stopping to frequently to document his hike up the crater. ( shut up. his lack of stamina has nothing to do with this. it’s called stopping to smell the flowers or whatever the full idiom is. look, he didn’t pay attention in class and he’s doing f i n e. back off. )

so without care as to what he might be like in another individual’s eyes, he gets on the ground, kneeling for the best shot. honestly, he would get on his belly if it had to be done. when someone speaks to him.

“i’m not a nature photographer,” jiseong retorts. and frowns, realizing he probably sound really rude right now. cradling the camera in one hand, he swings behind the lady, using his free hand to point her in the direction that you were trying to photograph. sure it included wispy clouds but it was more about the vastness of the landscape below.

jiseong steps back quickly in case he infringed too much upon her space. “definitely not as exciting as ladybugs or feeding a chipmunk though,” he says with a smile, hands coming together to support his camera. “do you miss it?” he ventures, “taking pictures i mean.” his heart quickens because he knows what it is like to be excited about something like this. part of him wants to offer her a go at the camera suspended around his neck. dumb. stupid idea. she’s a stranger for crying out loud but…

jiseong thrusts out a hand. “sorry, i’m kang jiseong. i do this for a living so i got excited.”

at his first response, charoen thinks maybe somewhere in her word spillage she had offended. but suddenly, he’s springing up and now he’s the one guiding her. into really seeing what she had failed to see the entire trek up sunrise peak — the sight behind her.

no matter the sights she has seen or the sights she’s bound to see, the blonde will have the same reaction: a few beats of awe and then her mouth parts just slightly. as if that extra bit of oxygen is necessary to comprehend the image. concluded with a smile, that sort of elation that’s on a level of its own.

“huh, you make a good point. guess i gotta remember to LITERALLY turn around sometimes to enjoy the view.” the same could be said for her life but she tries not to dwell on that.

as he steps back, she turns her smile towards him, oblivious to what sort of space strangers should have. probably why some of her neighbours in her homeland thought her odd, not completely adhering to all the customs. “hi, kang jiseong! my name’s rien charoen.” shaking his hand, she’s already onto her next thought, answering, “yeah, i miss taking pictures, i guess. i think i miss the appearance of having a camera, y’know? like, the polaroid camera i had was antique — probably why it broke so easily. oh! and waiting for the polaroid to develop. you gotta do a little flappy-flap and watch it appear before you like a MIRAGE.” and she’s rambling. must be the air.

FRESH START.

jinjoo’s busy setting canola up, inventory having been taken in the morning; setting up the tables and chairs is easy work when the bar’s so small, and the long bar counter just needs a quick wipe down for it to be presentable. she’d run her newest hire through the whole process just in case, but living above her place of business means jinjoo’s usually going to be the one opening up. plus, she likes the routine of it, and charoen’s better off getting acquainted with the bar itself before canola opens its doors.

the part timer is busy with a drink that reminds her of forget me nots, a swirl of cool tones against the setting sun. jinjoo finishes setting the coasters up on the last table and turns on the jukebox, flipping through the songs to select an upbeat pop song, one of the american records that its previous owner had provided her with. she does a little spin to the intro, walking over to the counter where charoen’s testing out her concoction.

“ooh, that’s pretty,” she says, smiling at charoen. the younger girl makes a self-deprecating comment and jinjoo has the instinctive urge to prove her wrong, so she leans forward to steal a sip—and her nose immediately wrinkles up. sometimes self-deprecating comments are actually warnings, huh. “charo, what did you put in there?”

though the drink is subpar, the song definitely isn’t, and as charoen washed down the taste with some water, she’s dancing in place to the jukebox. that was one of the best parts of the joint — she LOVES jukeboxes. they’ve always held some measure of sentiment to them that she could appreciate. they stood the test of time in an ever-changing world, and that was the sort of thing she hoped would happen with her.

drawing herself out of that moment’s gap of existentialism, charoen sighs. a hand spins the mentioned drink on the bar. “i mean, i only glanced at a recipe i found online but i figured CAREFULLY portioning the alcohol wasn’t really necessary?”

@hsjiseong​ — JEJU, somewhere in nature

guided tours? maybe one day. but that day is not today. it’s been a couple of years of being her own guide, namely travelling further south through thailand, a bit in south korea, and now she’s here.

jeju is beautiful, and she’s smiling not for the first time at the nature. a gentle wind caresses her shoulder, the sun warm on her face, and she has half a desire to take off her shoes and socks to feel the grass between her toes. that part’s not as wise considering her often need to climb the first cliff she spots in order to gain a better view of the land. blisters are NO friend to her.

her hands feel oddly empty when she spots yet another islander toting a camera of their own. their’s looks nice, expensive, advanced. certainly foreign to someone with her experience. the whole idea of taking pictures is to just point and shoot at will, with whatever sort of device she has.

despite herself, charoen finds herself approaching the man with the camera, lifting a (self) manicured brow. he’s positioned at such an angle that she can’t possibly imagine what he’s actually taking a picture of.

@hsjinjoo​ — CANOLA, shortly before opening

a glance at the dainty watch on her wrist and she tries not to let the anxiety settle in her belly. instead, it comes out as a smirk. good thing she didn’t gamble, it was a dead give away. but she does attend to canola now and while she nailed the interview, promising to pick up the trade swiftly, she never tended bar before either.

garnishing the glass as a final touch, charoen takes a deep breath and jams a straw through the ice. the purple and blue tones collide, and it looks delicious. LOOK, being the definitive word here.

footsteps are heard, and without looking up, the blonde puts her effort now into not spitting up her concoction. sweet and sour is supposed to compliment each other, not sting the tongue and taste all around bad.

(tw: drugs)

issa baby 🌸💖✨

only 23 but facing such existential crisis, calm down

immediately after high school decided “i wanna travel the world!”

has only been a couple of places, namely inside thailand

gets by with odd jobs

likes to pack up and leave every time something spooks her (or she catches feels, calm down)

loves the ocean but will only go as far as she can see her feet cause sharks nope nuh uh

dream destinations include cambodia, iceland, and new zealand

always eating — check her knapsack for snacks

likes to call her younger brother randomly, check in

now we’re getting deeper here

she’s basically running away from her past and a little bit from herself

has a former addiction to a particular hard drug which sort of ruined her life but in secret because the shame of her family finding out was worse than trying to fight her addiction

she sort of lost her way, lost all her interests, didn’t see much of a future

hence the travelling

couple with commitment issues, is a tough cookie to pin down

BUT tries her hardest and pretty friendly to be around, so please don’t be shy to get to know her more and plot! i left her story pretty open for a reason : )

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