Landing in Your Inbox

84 - a day of rest

March 21, 2021 2:18 PM
Estrella Hills Townhouses, Yongin

Weekends were like staycations in Ma Young-ae's residence located in a small townhouse community nestled among towering pine trees as though they were in a scene cut from a European country retreat and not in Gyeonggi province. For that day, the founding members of the Korean Airways Pilot Wives club gathered for a morning bible study and later for an afternoon tea while their children played at the indoor swimming pool.

The afternoon meeting was presided by none other than the house owner herself. Young-ae was praised for her goddess appearance and elegant silhouette in a belted maxi dress cut from swathes of devoré cotton and silk. She held their session in the kitchen that had white cabinets, an island bar and a cozy fireplace by an eight-seater dining table with trays of corn scones, green tea almond cakes, pistachio cakes, coconut lychee tarts and chocolate mille feuille. Though all of it was ignored in favor of the honey butter chips bag that Yang Ok-geum brought.

"What we know is that she is 33 years old. Geum-soon confirmed that the items she listed in her message are likely true." Young-ae shared.

"Oh my, that is exactly the same age as Captain Lee." Ok-geum noted with a clamp of her hand to her mouth. The beautician presented herself that morning with her wavy hair tied in a half pony-tail and a new knitted teal striped wrap dress that she purchased on Shopbee at a bargain price.

A useless observation in Na Wol-suk's opinion whose face was bare, unlike Ok-geum who applied the blush-on liberally. Wol-suk was a bit rugged in appearance, dressed in an everyday oversized blazer over a v-neck shirt, her only luxury accessory was a pair of dangling earrings. Everyone knew when Captain Lee's birthday was, even her son. It was elementary. "I have high doubts that a person so full of herself and who doesn't even follow the basic rules of the club would be someone Captain Lee would date. Our captain is too strict to do such a thing. Didn't his co-pilots always say that he dislikes it when they don't follow protocols??"

Young-ae nodded while crunching a butter chip, "I sent her a private message introducing myself as the moderator but she hasn't responded."

"See? How rude is that!" Wol-suk exclaimed, reaching for a handful of chips.

"Should we kick her out?" Ok-geum suggested, switching from Wol-suk to Young-ae.

The club moderator thought long and hard about that, it even kept her awake at night more than her son's problematic grades. "No, we shouldn't. Not yet."

"I completely agree, Young-ae." Wol-suk's hand fell on the table with a thump. "It's as the saying goes: keep your enemies closer. We need to watch her next move."

Young-ae nodded. "With Captain Lee's forthcoming campaign I'm sure she might have something to say..."

"What do you think about her username?" Ok-geum asked. "Swallow? Do you think it's symbolic? My daughter said they are symbols of love and good luck. Did she choose that on purpose?"

"Like Nokdu and Heongbu? Pah! A likely story." Wol-suk rolled her eyes. "She is disrupting the harmony of the club."

"Who is disrupting what?"

The three women looked behind to find a newcomer in the dining room holding boxes of chicken.

"It's Myeong-sun!" Wol-suk announced.

"Oh Myeong-sun! Come in, come in!" Young-ae stood up.

"It's so good to see you!" Ok-geum followed behind the two women.

The director of the children's outreach fund smiled as she was taken affectionately by her arms, her friends taking the boxes of chicken that will be enjoyed by the children later.