Do Not Feed Recklessly - Chapter 2. Part 1

Time flew by. The once small children had grown into adults, now tall enough to easily tower over the wooden fence. Jia, who once stammered with a thick accent, had long since become more comfortable speaking English than Korean.

As she sat in the wide yard, the occasional sound of passing cars mixed with the clean, dust-free air that gently filled her lungs. Jia had come out to tidy the flowerbed but paused to sit in a chair and look up at the clear blue sky.

‘It’s almost time to say goodbye to this place…’

The soft texture of the grass beneath her feet and the refreshing, crisp air would soon be just a memory. The thought stirred a bittersweet feeling in her, filling her with both relief and nostalgia.

Jia slowly took in her surroundings—the uneven wooden fence, the quaint wooden house, and the small garden that had been transformed into a flowerbed in the corner of the yard. It was all so familiar, yet Jia was now preparing to leave it behind.

Taking a deep breath, she picked up the small shovel and returned to the flowerbed. She wanted to plant some of her favorite flowers in the garden before she left, as a final farewell.

Sitting crouched in the corner of the yard brought back memories of her childhood. She couldn’t help but think of how Ethan would appear out of nowhere, squeeze his face through the gaps in the fence, and throw a caterpillar at her.

On any other day, Jia would have rolled her eyes in frustration at the thought of Ethan. But today, her expression was unusually soft as she remembered those days.

‘Yes, there was such a time.’ she thought, recalling the memories as she continued to work in the flowerbed.

“Hey, loser. What are you up to?”

How long had her peaceful digging lasted?

As always, the familiar voice called from beyond the fence. Jia paused from planting flowers and looked up. Sure enough, there he was – Ethan, taller and grown up now, standing nonchalantly outside the fence as if nothing had changed.

When they were younger, Ethan had to crouch down and look through the gaps in the wooden fence. Now the fence barely reached his waist, giving him a full view of Jia’s garden and leaving her with little privacy when he was nearby.

Ethan grinned mischievously, his usual playful smirk in place. Jia clicked her tongue in annoyance and, with a short response, turned her attention back to the flowerbed.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m planting flowers, obviously.”

“Wow, I didn’t notice. Your ugliness is blocking the view of the flowers.” Ethan teased.

“Well, they say you see what you are. Your eyes must be filled with ugliness, poor thing.”

“What was that? Sorry, Jia, you’re too short—I couldn’t hear you!”

Ethan snickered, teasing Jia by targeting her biggest sore spot—her height. But instead of the usual outburst, Jia simply shrugged, unbothered. It was such an unusual reaction that even Ethan noticed something was off.

He stared at her, trying to figure out if she had some hidden plan, but nothing about the situation made sense. Finally, his curiosity got the better of him and he asked carefully.

“What’s going on, shorty? Why are you so calm today?”

Jia, unfazed, simply hummed a little tune and continued working with her small shovel, tending to the garden without giving Ethan a second glance.

It was clear something was different, far too different from the Jia he knew. Baffled, Ethan asked again, this time with more urgency.

 “Seriously, what’s up with you today?” 

“Jia, did something good happen to you?” 

“Yup.” 

“What is it?” 

“Even if there is, I’m not telling you.” Jia teased with a mischievous giggle.

Ethan caught off guard, stood there with a dumbfounded look on his face that was quite a sight. Trying to hide his surprise, he bit his lip and replied, pretending to be unaffected. 

“I didn’t expect you to tell me anyway.”

But despite his attempt to sound casual, his voice stumbled awkwardly. It was clear that today’s version of Jia was giving him an unpleasant sense of defeat.

Just a few days ago, Jia would have become flustered and flushed at the slightest provocation. But today, no matter what he said, she seemed indifferent, leaving Ethan genuinely confused.

Growing increasingly impatient, Ethan continued to push Jia, unable to hide his frustration. 

“Are you really not going to tell me? What is it?” 

“Yeah, it’s a secret,” Jia replied with a playful grin.

The truth was that Jia was in such a good mood because she had finally landed a job with a Korean company. It wasn’t that she hated Australia, but lately, the urge to return to Korea had grown stronger. Now that she had passed the final interview, all that was left was to move to Seoul in a few weeks and start her new life.

And as a bonus, she wouldn’t have to see Ethan’s annoying face anymore.

Just imagining the situation made Jia unable to stop the grin from spreading across her face. When she stopped in the middle of digging and started grinning to herself like some kind of weirdo, Ethan looked at her with a mixture of confusion and discomfort.

“You’re not going crazy, are you?”

Seeing Ethan’s curious eyes still fixed on her, Jia decided to throw him a bone.

“This is good news for both of us,” she said with a teasing smile.

With that, Jia stopped responding to Ethan altogether, concentrating on her task and leaving him hanging, his curiosity piqued even more.