A Story From The Archives Of My Mind

*Continuation of Han Su Jin's story. Set in the past, three years ago*

She was wearing a purple and dark blue hanbok. It had flowery patterns all over it; her hair was tied around in two large layers. She looked like a queen from the Joseon dynasty. It was that time of the year; we had a field trip to the "Gwangseongbo fortress" (a historical military outpost that fought bravely against the Americans during Sinmiyangyo - the American invasion in 1871). I was wearing a black hanbok too; my baji and jeogari were both black.

"Ya (hey), I love how you maintained the complexity of the hanbok with just one color," she said, "but what's your obsession with wearing black?" This was the first statement she said to me.

I looked at her with emotionless eyes, feeling a little bit shy and embarrassed at the same time, trying to maintain my cool and not show that I was starting to develop cold feet.