This is a collection of one-shots and short stories based on the writing prompts I received from fellow authors and readers for my birthday this 2022.
Will be updated sporadically, as prompts are fulfilled and stories are finished.
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JOONGKI
Joongki didn't need to wait for Saturday to see Jinah. He often saw her at the cafeteria having salad and orange juice with the other girls from the cheering squad. Every once in a while, he would see Jang Kiyong from the baseball team hover over their table and flirt with her. It wasn't his business, but he wondered sometimes if they were a thing.
Today, he saw her at the cafeteria again, and he was sure she'd seen him when she made her way back from the counter to their table. He awkwardly waved his hand at her, but she looked away.
What was he even thinking, waving like that? Spending six hours at the orphanage during the weekend didn't mean they were friends.
Still, it would be nice if they could at least be that before she finished her 100 hours was up.
. . . . .
Anxiety bubbled up his chest Saturday morning when the bus driver announced they were leaving in five minutes and Jinah was nowhere to be found. Maybe she woke up late? There was a basketball game last night after all.
He pulled out the volunteer forms from his backpack and leafed through the pages to find Jinah's number. She probably wouldn't mind getting a call from an unknown number, would she?
But what if she really is asleep? What if I wake her up?
The last thing he wanted was for her to get mad at him for disturbing her sleep.
"Song Joongki-ssi, are we still waiting for more students?"
"Just one," he replied and keyed in Jinah's number on his phone. He'll call just one time and if she doesn't pick up...
"Joongki-ssi!"
He froze at the sound of her voice on the other line.
"I'm so sorry I'm running late! I'm on my way to school now!"
"Uh...that's—that's fine, Jinah-ssi," he said and looked at the bus driver, whose face clearly said it's not fine. "How long do you think it'll take for you to get here?"
"Around fifteen minutes."
"Don't worry about it. I'll wait for you."
There was so much space between them inside the cab, it was almost funny.
After apologizing a million times, Jinah kept looking outside the window and touching her hair. Or fidgeting with the small fuzzy toy hanging from her phone. Meanwhile, Joongki pretended to read a book that's been sitting in his bag for the longest time.
"You're not going to get in trouble because of me, are you?"
He looked up from his book and saw tears welling up in Jinah's eyes. Immediately, he felt his throat closing up, reminding him of the time he accidentally ate something that had shrimp in it.
