the yeosu night sea

taehyun jeon and eunshil shin, by their own admittance, don't have the most interesting of stories. like a million other couples, they both met while studying at university, and like many of them, marriage most definitely didn't seem like it was in the cards. while eunshil was a focused and hardworking student, taehyun - although he did care about his schooling, to some extent - was usually more occupied with staying awake in class after a night of drinking than actually paying attention to what his professors were saying. while many girls found him to be "charming" and "fun", eunshil simply thought he was, to put it nicely, a bit of an idiot. usually, she wouldn't have spared him a passing moment, but thanks to mutual friends, she found herself spending more and more time around her classmate; and to her dismay, occasionally found him to be a bit endearing. as she was sure that they would be, eunshil was taken aback when she realized that very few of her friends were surprised that the pair had gotten engaged in taehyun's last year of university.

it was two years after her parent's marriage, on april 25th, 1993, that hyejin jeon was born. while the young couple weren't expecting a child just yet, they were overjoyed at the arrival of the healthy baby girl - even upon realizing that raising a child and trying to work to keep their family afloat wasn't the easiest of tasks, especially with a child as energetic as hyejin. growing up, her parents constantly enrolled her in various clubs and programs to alleviate her energy - from ballet to soccer to taekwondo - but she often grew bored of the activities, and seemed much more interested in simply running about outside with her friends than she was dealing with early morning practices and meetings. even as a child, there was just something about waking up early to go and be yelled at that didn't sit well with her - although that could have been her bad luck of the draw when it came to coaches. besides, being what most adults called a "leader" herself (which even she admits is a euphemism for "bossy as all hell"), she didn't take kindly to being told what to do.

due to her parents both working full time, by the time hyejin reached elementary school she was - or at least she felt - quite independent. the fact that she was on her own a lot during the day never bothered her; actually, having the house to herself was a luxury - one she appreciated more and more the older she got. however, with that independence, she decided that it was her time to be responsible. slowly, the energetic child she had been for so long morphed into what many of her parents friends thought was an "ideal" daughter - she didn't miss any of her practices, all her homework was done properly (and on time, strangely enough!), and the young girl suddenly felt quite grown up. even in elementary and middle school, there was a lot of pressure on hyejin and her peers to do well in school, and taehyun and eunshil found themselves worried about their daughter's transition into high school. they already barely saw her, between leaving for school so early in the morning and not coming home until past 10, and they knew from experience that things would only get harder as the years went on. they had no doubt that she could do it, but they weren't sure if they wanted her to have to. that was part of the reason why, when her english teacher suggested the opportunity of studying abroad in the united states (boston, to be exact), hyejin's parents encouraged their daughter to go, despite whatever worries they may have had.

it was at fifteen years old that a nervous hyejin landed in boston, and found herself suddenly thrust into a whole new life. while back home, the teen was, to most, very friendly and outgoing, the move left her feeling shy and introverted - at school, at least. strangely enough, her homestay house (a nice way to say, a strange family's house that she was staying in) was the one place she could be herself, thanks largely to their kind demeanor. her subpar english caused a few hiccups for her along the way, but, thankfully for her, her high school housed more than a few very friendly people, and after a short time she found herself slowly making a few good friends. by her junior year, hyejin felt much more at home, and homesickness was slowly creeping to the back of her mind. it was part of the reason that, after she graduated, she made the decision to stay in the states for university - after all, by that time, it seemed like it would be like leaving home all over again.

when she told her parents about the plan, they weren't exactly pleased with her decision; they had assumed she would come back to korea after high school, move back home, and focus on school. instead, she had to break it to them that she was getting a job, and attending boston university (which, once they looked it up, they were a bit more pleased about). she didn't mention that she was leaving her homestay family, however - the last thing she wanted was them to start yelling at her about how dangerous it is for her to try and share a place with a stranger, as well as how hard it is to pay rent and focus on school. of course, they were absolutely right about the last point, and she couldn't help but wonder what she was getting herself into. still, every time she talks to her parents, they have to mention that she's free to come home whenever she pleases, and make quite the effort to talk up all the great things going on back in suwon. unfortunately for taehyun and eunshil, their daughter inherited their stubbornness, and refuses to change her mind.

now, hyejin finds herself totally on her own, and while she was absolutely confident beforehand, she can't help but feel a bit nervous; sure, it's easy to talk big, but she's realizing that four years in a foreign country doesn't exactly make you an expert on living life there. between school, work, rent, and trying to keep up with normal life, she's just hoping that she'll have enough money to get back home if something goes horribly wrong.