DS9/A05 - Holosuites

[Jennifer Braggins]

==

[Eun Ju Han]

There was just something about coming home that created a peace from within. As much as she had always loved the stars it just wasn’t the hustle and bustle of Seoul especially in the spring time. The scent of the flowering trees overhead hit her senses, while the breeze that carried with it the flavors of the Han river carried her hair slightly around her, Han Eun Ju stood in the center of the walk way. This was everything that made her feel at home. The trees, the soft rustling of the flowers and leaves, the air filled with falling petals which cascaded towards the ground.

Opening her dark eyes Eun Ju just stood there taking in the beauty of her home land. The holosuite had gotten the details to absolute perfection. Down to the street carts selling their little baubles for lovers gifts as well as some which sold little snacks on the go. Eun Ju was wearing a traditional Korean garment, the Hanbok. The long high waisted skirt was a lavender color with golden embroidery on the hem. The top was an opal color with the same lavender color as a trim around her neck. Her dark hair was pulled over a single shoulder and tied with a lavender and gold ribbon knotted in the traditional way.

“Eun Ju-a,” came a familiar voice from behind her.

With a quick turn, her face lit up as she saw her brother running up to her dressed in his own traditional Korean clothing. “Oppa!” With a hug that further grounded the young Korean woman, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Gwaenchanh?” he asked pulling her back to look in her eyes.

“Oh,” she nodded giving him a bright smile.

She and her brother had set up this little meet up against Holosuites last night so they could actually catch up without being over the phone. It was nice to see him and feel as though she was actually back in Korea for a little while. Who knew when they would be back in a place where she would actually will be able to see her home country in person again.

“Halmoni would have been proud,” he said with a bright smile on his face.

“Naturally,” she laughed as they linked arms.

“To the festival?”

“Absolutely. How was the real festival this year?” she asked curiously as they headed towards where the lanterns were strung, live music was playing. The traditional Korean instruments made a very specific sounds but there was a band who had mixed Korean traditional instruments with the modern day instruments playing right now and the mix was unique and satisfying. The two of them paused among the group of others who watched and listened to the music.

“It was great. I didn’t get to stay long because of work but it was nice to see. Much quieter without you asking for food.” He nudged her with a grin.

“It’s the best time to get the best food!” she cried. “I definitely want to get the poured sugar designs, cotton candy, and ttubeoki.”

“Yep. That’s the sounds of the festival I remember.” Jun Ho grinned at his little sister. “Have you made friends?”

“I have! Though I also got in trouble…” she sighed softly.

“What happened?” he asked genuinely concerned for his little sister.

She began to fill him in on how she had stood up for herself and ended up stepping too far over the boundaries and landed herself kicked off the away mission.

[Eun Ju Han]

Her brother finished listening to her story as they stood there listening to the band. The music wasn’t so loud he couldn’t hear her over the tunes which play out against the cobbled road beneath them. The pennants and ribbons hanging from the trees flowed upon the breeze like they had lives of their own creating a beautiful cascading effect around them.

“You have to be careful. You know that there are some people who will not take kindly to your humor always especially in stressful situations,” he admonished her with a bit of a sigh.

“I realize that, I just, I was nervous too. It was my first away team mission, my first mission period, there had been a lot that went on I’m not even sure I’m aloud to say..” she matched his sigh.

For a few moments the pair fell silent, the calls of excited Korean children filling the air as they ran around at the festival and their exhausted parents calling after them trying to get them to come back or at least slow down. Eun Ju remembered running through festivals just like this when she was little trailing after her older brothers as they met up with their school friends planning which booths they would visit. She remembered wearing her hanbok and being frustrated with it’s long skirts which caused her small legs to run much slower than her brothers.

A familiar hand ruffled the top of her hair. “This is part of learning Sis. You just have to take the lesson and change what you do in the future. A good commanding officer will expect that you’ll make mistakes moving forward because you’re new. This is how you learn. I was much the same when I started my job. That’s why you start at the bottom and you don’t get to make important decisions yet, but you’ll get there with time and experience.”

Eun Ju couldn’t help but beam under the thoughts her brother shared with her. She had really needed this time to check in with some of her family and kind of re-ground herself. “Thanks, oppa.” She leaned in and gave him a hug.

“Now, lets go get some fishcakes.”

The two of them left the musical center and walked at a leisurely pace towards the food stalls. They pockmarked the whole festival but there was a concentrated area with tables, chairs, umbrellas and such waiting as well. Some of the stalls were run by students who were trying to fundraise for certain things, usually sports or trips. Most of them were run by local area businesses who were trying to bank on the revenue that would come in from a festival like this. The festival would run all day and end with fireworks late into the night. Many stayed even after and pick up wouldn’t be until mid-next day. But, she didn’t have to worry about any of that.

“I applied to transfer to another ship.” She said as they walked towards the stall, causing her brother to raise his brow.

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, I just.. felt like I couldn’t come out of what I had done, I’d be marked a concern.” She admitted with a shrug.

“You can’t run away from every problem that you have, Eun Ju. You have to stand your ground and show you can’t be pushed away even if people are jerks. What ship are you going to?”

Eun Ju had recently gotten the acceptance letter so she knew which one she was going to as soon as they came back to port. “The Artemis.”

“I really don’t know anything about that ship, but I’ll have to learn about it. Just.. be yourself, and remember your respect. Halmoni taught you well.”

“You mean she beat us well.” She grinned as they got to the fish cake stall and began eating. The fish was fried and impaled on long wooden sticks. You just ate your fill and paid afterwards once the woman counted your sticks. It was still warm and as good as she remembered. Even though she knew this wasn’t real it sure felt as though it was.

“Well, Halmoni had to teach us, she raised all three of us and you know we were a lot.” He teased taking a bite of his fish as well.