Annyeong!

This is my entry for the WattpadKDramas Cherry Blossoms Festival | April 2022 contest.

Prompt 2 – You can't attend the cherry blossom festival so you watch it on your screen. And your mobile says "Software Renewal" but what if it renews your life?

I hope you have fun reading ^^

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🌷Flower Girl
Hi, are you awake yet? Yes, I know it's a crazy time, but I wanted to make sure I had the best spot. It's eerily quiet and there is even a slight fog on the water. There's no one around, which kind of surprises me, because even though it's five thirty in the morning, I thought today of all days it would be crowded at Gyeongju.

We met in a Discord chatroom, an international one about historic places and films and stuff. We sort of got evicted when we kept on teaching each other languages instead of actually talking about history. So we decided to go private instead. That was a year ago.

🌷Flower Girl
I guess you're still asleep. Did you know the pavilion I'm in right now is the original one from the late 15th century? It says here on a plaque. Oh shoot, there goes my laptop. Aaargh, it keeps bugging me to do an update, but if I do that now, I might never get it up and running again.

I have an extra powerbank with me, just in case, but the sign says the battery is full, so I should at least have half a day. A deep sigh escapes me as I stare at the blossoming trees in the distance. Every time I think about the money I spend to actually get here, I feel my heart—and my bank account—constrict. Still, when I look at the dark blue sky that announces a glorious sunrise in about half an hour, I know it's worth it.

It's spring and not terribly cold, but without the sun I'm very grateful for my extra layers. My frozen fingertips type a new comment:

🌷Flower Girl
If you would see me now, you'd probably think I'm some homeless person, I'm wearing two coats, my woolen scarf, a beanie I crocheted myself and two layers of socks in my boots. Don't worry, I brought an extra large bag to put everything in once I peel the layers off. I'm talking nonsense aren't I. It's because you're not here yet. Pleaeaeaease wake uuuup!!!

I can't watch Netflix, that will drain my battery, so I decide to leave my laptop on the wooden bench next to me and grab the book I brought. That would help me pass the time. The small lights in the pavilion provide me with just enough light to read by and soon I'm immersed in the manhwa I bought at the airport yesterday. The cartoons help me understand the hangul a little better. I'm learning, but nowhere near fluent.

About fifteen minutes later I reach for my bag to grab the canteen filled with coffee, when I see a countdown on my screen.

"No, you don't!" I yell and hear my voice getting carried across the still water of Bomun Lake. With three fingers I quickly halt the update process. Just in time.

🌷Flower Girl
Please don't be alarmed if you suddenly don't hear from me anymore. I'm rooted to my spot, but my laptop keeps wanting to renew my software. Oh, can you translate this for me?

I hold the comic book behind the camera and send a picture of a part I really want to get, it's barely visible. After that I warm my hands on the canteen and pour myself a cup. Not too much, cause I haven't seen a toilet anywhere nearby. I'd have to walk back to the hotel and I don't want to miss the sunrise.

Just when I turn to the next page, a beep makes my head shoot up. I nearly throw the manhwa in my bag and pull the laptop towards me.

Flower Boy
Wow, jal jasseo, you really did it? Respect!

Warmth spreads through me as I see his words appear in the chatroom. Our names are what made us connect in the first place. I keep seeing the picture of those pretty boys with long hair, who sword-fight all day, every time I see his nickname. Of course I have no idea what he looks like in real life. We keep our private lives completely private. I only know he's Korean, because that was the first thing we talked about.

Flower Boy
Are you at Bomun Lake? That's strange, I thought that area had been cordoned off.

🌷Flower Girl
Why?

He sends me the translation of the picture I send him.

🌷Flower Girl
Oh thank you, eh ... gahmsahabnida?

Flower Boy
That's very formal. To me, you can just say gomawo. And gomawo for giving me a heads up about your laptop. I hope it keeps running well. Will you go back to the hotel after sunrise?

🌷Flower Girl
Yes, I think so, just for a while, to have breakfast and loose some of the layers of clothing. But after that I'm going straight back. There might not be a cherry blossom festival this year, but they promised to show some of the stuff online and I can still enjoy the trees themselves. Are you sure you really can't go to a festival today?

Flower Boy
Ani, I have to work.

I don't know what kind of work he does, I don't even know in what part of South Korea he lives. We talk about everything, except ourselves. Sometimes I just want to break the rule and tell him something about me. About my home in The Netherlands, about my tiny apartment and my parents that live around the corner and take care of my fish for me.

I want to tell him I'm a History student and currently in my final year of my Master's. It's part of the reason I'm in Korea right now. My thesis is about the social-economic effect the orient trade routes had on European development. Of course, the real reason for my being here is my obsession with sageuk Kdrama's and my wish to immerse myself in this tiny little bit of history my professors don't particularly care about.

The only personal thing we know about each other is that we're both between twenty and twenty-five years old. We agreed to tell each other that much, because he kept using honorifics on me and I felt I was way to young for that.

🌷Flower Girl
Oh, they're turning on the fountain. They strung up lights in the cherry trees all around the lake, it looks like a fairy tale. Wait, I'll show you.

When I am about to make an other snapshot, a new warning about the upcoming system reboot threatens my peace. In my haste to cancel it, I almost drop the laptop and press restart now instead.

"No no no no no, don't do this to me, nooo!" I wail as the screen goes dark and a hateful little round of dots begins to circle on and on and on. Pouting I stare at it for a few minutes, until I am sure I won't toss the infernal machine into the lake.

Why, oh why didn't I allow the software renewal before I left the country? Probably because my head was already in the clouds, dreaming about accidentally bumping into my dream guy while gazing up at falling petals.

I hit myself in the head.

I promised myself not to use my phone, unless for emergencies, and since I already gave Flower Boy a warning about my laptop going AWOL, I can't convince myself to open the Discord app to talk some more.

My only hope lays in the possibility that the updates go smoothly and fast. I scuff. When does that ever happen.

I put the laptop down next to me and notice that the air is brighter than before. With both hands on my forehead I try to press all the negative emotions out of my brain as I refocus on the spot on the horizon where the sun will be rising.

A warm breeze touches my face and for a moment I close my eyes. This trip kind of feels like a software update for me as well. My parents were against it from the start, but they never understood my love for the past. They kept trying to pull me into the future by talking about politics, environmental problems and world economy, while all I want to do is disappear into a romantic version of the history I know so much about.

Being the dreamer that I am, I could always picture myself inside the stories I read about. When we talked about ancient Greece, I was fighting along in the Persian wars or walking down the streets of Athens in my chiton. When discussing the connection between Egypt and Rome, I was one of Cleopatra's maids and cried over her suicide. Nothing, however, compares to the flutterings I feel in my heart each time I imagine myself as living in the Joseon era.

The colors of the silk robes, the smells of the spices, the sound of clattering swords. I can actually hear them right now, in the distance.

The noise grows louder, and with my eyes still closed, I scrunch my face. My laptop produces a pling and a little startled I turn towards the screen. 'Software update complete' it says. With wide eyes I stare at it, until suddenly two figures, clad in black, jump into the pavilion and begin attacking each other with their swords.

Screaming my lungs out, I hide my face in my hands and try to disappear under the bench. What is happening? Did I get transported back in time somehow? Is this real?

Someone in the distance yells: "Cut!" followed by a whole string of Korean words that sound like profanities.

A small tap on my shoulder gives me a jolt and my eyes fly open to see a dark shadow standing next to my hiding spot on the floor.

"Please don't kill me", I shriek, holding my laptop as a shield in front of me.

Like a statue come to life, clad in black robes and wearing his long hair in a messy ponytail, there is a warrior who looks at me with a curious expression. His dark eyes are smiling and his hand is stretched out to offer me aid in getting up.

I blink a few times, before accepting the help. Am I still dreaming? With the outfit, the sword in his other hand, but most of all his incredibly handsome features, he seems to have walked right out of a sageuk.

Standing up, I swallow and pinch myself to make sure I'm awake. He's still holding my hand and I feel my cheeks redden the longer he simply remains standing there, staring at me.

Finally, just as the first rays of sunlight peek over the horizon and bathe the whole lake in soft colors of pink and orange, he smiles and says: "Hello, Flower Girl, nice to meet you."