#ilshailey

it seemed that as each day celebrating the festival passed by, there was more and more reason for seongyi to hate being a part of it. in all honesty, that meant his future looked pretty grim considering he was the owner of isang wonders. and therefore, obliged to take part by default whether he wanted to or not for the rest of his life. or, for as long as he continued to reside in ilsang. 

the question was, if he were to step down from being the current owner of isang wonders, who would pick up the job? would the mayor personally handle that considering how much revenue and attraction the business actually brought in? would the business just die out? would he get disdained for letting go of it from the community? maybe his parents?

man, oh man. he felt a migraine coming on.

as much as he had hated it, it was the perfect time to catch a ride on the ferris wheel. to just get stuck where no one could come to him for help or anything. bother him with questions. he wouldn’t have to interact with anyone. and he could just get some peace and quiet.

that’s exactly what he thought he would get. until he’s being ushered through the line to the front where he gets mixed in a large group of people who are all too rowdy and loud and demanding for what he was expecting such a quiet ride to have. and then there are hands pushing and pushing, some more yelling and arguing before he’s stumbling into one of the ferris wheel capsules.

“have some of the grilled mackerel! here pass the plate! my husband caught them fresh this morning!”

“take some the steamed monkfish, you know it’s my specialty!”

“try the pollock stew, it’s extra spicy. aya, don’t pretend like you can’t eat spice!”

“here’s the fried cod pancakes! i just finished cooking them so they’re hot!”

the chatter of all the neighborhood adults and elders flows effortlessly around seongyi as arms come and go, crossing in front of him as plates and platters are traded across the set table. young children are heard in the background as they run around, throwing rocks and catching crickets before their mothers and grandmothers tell them to sit at the table properly for a warm meal.

it’s when a hot steaming pot of fish stew gets passed underneath his nose that he’s snapped from his silent daze. his nose scrunches in absolute disgust and it takes everything in him at that moment to not gag openly over the uncovered food. so he takes a deep breath — a BIG mistake.

the scent immediately fills the hollow sides of his cheeks and he has to turn to the side to hide the retch from his throat in the corner of his elbow, hoping that all the noise around them is enough to drown his disgust out. 

when mrs. cha had invited him out for the neighborhood dinner, he hadn’t imagined it would be his biggest nightmare ever. every single visible inch of the table covered in dishes that contained his biggest enemy in some way or form. FISH. 

as if living in a fish infested vendor street wasn’t enough, along with the smell ingraining itself into every piece of clothing he owned in the smalle home of his late grandfather… he had to be haunted by it’s stench on the table that was meant to finally be the first real meal he had since arriving to ilsang. cup ramen was only so appetizing after so many bowls you see. especially at the rate seongyi had been emptying out the local corner marts of their stock.

despite being quite unreligious and indifferent in general…

seongyi resorts to praying.

‘god please.’

‘if you send someone who offers me something — ANYTHING — other than fish, i’ll, i’ll stop eating cup ramen so much and start i’ll start cleaning the house. i’ll have a better attitude about being in ilsang please.’