“Lipstick, check. Hair style, check. Perfume, check. High heels, check. Did I miss anything else?” Sooyeon muttered to herself as she slipped on her heels.
“This!” a bubbly voice said.
Yoona, Sooyeon’s younger sister, bounced in front of the nervous blonde. She used her fingers to part the furrowed brows on her elder sister’s face and pulled the corners of her lips upward.
“Smile, check. Good to go!” Yoona beamed.
Rain pelted against the windows like bullets and the wind was howling. Dark clouds loomed across the sky and it seemed they would be here to stay for the rest of the day.
When Jessica opened the door, she was greeted with a sheepish smile by the person standing outside the apartment. Taeyeon was completely soaked from head to toe and she was holding her backpack in her hand. Water was dripping from her backpack. It was evident she tried to use her backpack to shield her head but that move was rendered useless in the strong wind.
Jessica was visibly upset, especially seeing Taeyeon shiver in her wet clothes. “Taengoo! How many times have I reminded you to bring an umbrella out?!”
Red. It is a colour of passionate love, seduction, anger, power and desire. It is sensual when it is on the lips, beautiful when it is the colour of fabric on someone’s body, striking when you drive a car in that colour and festive when it surrounds us.
Once upon a time, there lived a King and a Queen who stayed at a castle by the lake. They had two beautiful daughters. The elder one was Princess Sica Sleepalot and the younger was Princess Yoongie Chompalot.
One morning, three members of the royal family were having breakfast at the dining hall; King Kyung Ho, Queen Soo Young and Princess Yoongie. It wasn’t unusual for Princess Sica to miss breakfast as she preferred sleeping to eating and would often sleep till it was nearly lunch time.
The King and Queen were getting concerned about their elder daughter’s future as she was of age to get married. However, Princess Sica often stayed at home and didn’t like to go out to socialise unlike her younger sister Princess Yoongie.
The chatter of numerous students at the main entrance signaled the start of a new year at university. Taeyeon opted to major in Finance in her second year and she had decided to move into the student hostel in order to reduce the travelling time to and from home.
Clutching her duffel bag nervously, Taeyeon knocked on the door of the room she was assigned to. Unlocking the door, she pushed it gently and stepped in. Judging from the huge stack of randomly strewn clothes on one of the beds and piles of books on one of the study tables, it appeared that her roommate had moved in. Taeyeon shook her head and sighed. She could only hope that her roommate was someone she could get along with.
Colourful lights spun around the crowded dance floor while rock music pulsated through the huge speakers. Dancing sweaty bodies were squashed against each other as everyone soaked up the hot and electrifying atmosphere in the club. Tonight, the popular in-house DJ was at the helm, mixing a range of tunes to get her customers up on their feet.
“Hey Yulster!”
The DJ caught someone waving to her from the dance floor. She waved back, her other hand still supporting the head phones that was pressed onto one ear. Her head bobbed along with the beats of the music and she mixed song after song.
“What? The flight’s delayed? Delayed for six hours??”
I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard the announcement over the public address system at the airport.
Grabbing my backpack, I went to the nearest TV screen to check if I misheard the annoucement. I blinked twice when I saw the new flight time. It was indeed six hours later, at 4.18am. That meant a total of eight hours roaming around the airport because I had to arrive two hours than the earlier flight time to complete my check-in procedures.
“Yes you did!”
“No I didn’t!”
“It was obviously you, who else would be so clumsy and careless?!”
(sound of a door slamming)
“See I’m right! Childish fool! Can’t get any sense into your thick head! Argh!!” Taeyeon yelled. He had been arguing with his younger brother Taejin the whole night over a trivial matter that grew out of proportion. Feeling very frustrated, he decided to get out of the house to cool himself down.
Two teenagers were creeping along the fence separating the two houses in the quiet neighbourhood, trying not to make any sounds. It was late at night and they were trying to sneak into the house as silently as they could.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Taeyeon was threading behind Jessica carefully, minding his steps lest he knocked over something.
Jessica stopped in her tracks and turned around.
“Are you changing your mind right now, Kim Taeyeon?” Jessica hissed.
sillage (n.) the scent that lingers in the air, the trail left in the water, the impression made in space after something or someone has been and gone; the trace of someone’s perfume
Darkness filled the apartment when Jessica unlocked the door. She reached for the switches next to the main door and turned the lights in the living room on. She kicked off her heels as she walked in large strides towards the master bedroom.
After pulling out her clothes from the drawer, Jessica heard Taeyeon shuffling in bed. Taeyeon peeked from underneath the blanket upon hearing someone entering the bedroom.
A Time Traveller's Tales 