~

If the town of Yunhwa ever needed a mascot, Jinah considered Serim to be an optimal candidate.

The woman had been walking through Sunjaro street, tasked with the responsibility of setting up decorations at the inn to prepare for the upcoming parade for the Wishing Tree festival. Unwillingness aside, Jinah spent the time she had on the street to peek at the up and coming festivities. It was her first time experiencing this festival, so even she couldn’t help be excited.

The candescent light from the sun’s rays caressed her skin with exuberant warmth as the breeze kissed with the taste of the ocean encircled her motions. And the calloused, violent grip of a stranger pushing her against the rough grit of cement winded her from an optimistic dream. A small cry was all she could muster as the stranger fought her small form for her valuables. “No...way! You-- bastard!” She kicked and screamed louder, fighting for her bags until the moment he raised his leg to kick her most valuable asset; her face.

With a prayer to a God she didn’t trust, Jinah closed her eyes and prepared herself for the blow that would surely take her out. Waiting. She waited. More.

...

Slowly, with care, her gold freckled eyes opened to investigate. Had he not hit her? Carefully, she looked up a bit more to see a new man standing before her while the other ran off into the darkness of hushed alleyways. Ah, she knew this person. Briefly, she recognized him from the grocery store.