-SHIN HYE-
(name of the character stands for their point of view)
"You've been coming early these days," Mrs. Lee said as I took my coat off and closed the door. It was a freezing morning in Seoul. The windows were icing up a bit and the heat of my breath was clearly visible when I sighed. Although I was indoors now, I still shivered.
I woke up earlier than usual today and rushed to work -- I wanted to avoid my classmates, who would be waiting for me by the bus stop. They were about to go on our school trip. Given how expensive the trip was, there could have been no way that I could have even imagined going there in my dreams. I did not say this out loud, though. I mean, I could not have -- Mrs. Lee would have made sure I went and would have paid for it all. I cannot owe her more than I already do. Despite being my boss, she would casually let me take an off from the bakery to go on this trip.
"Shin Hye, you wouldn't believe me when I say this! We've been asked to bake for a big event!'' she said, cheerfully, breaking my chain of thought.
"Really?'' I asked, tying my hair up and securing my apron.
"Yes! I always tell you! You're my good-luck charm," she said, patting my back.
"Oh come on, ma'am, it's nothing like that. Anyway, tell me! What offer?'' I asked while washing my hands and blushing a bit. Mrs. Lee, somehow, always made me feel good about myself.
"A person stopped by from the Jeguk group. It's the second son, you remember the one who keeps popping up on the news these days?'' She asked.
"Uh, who?" I couldn't seem to remember.
"Ya! The one who came back from America! Kim Tan!" she said.
"Ah, yeah, him. What about him?" I asked.
"It's his birthday and we have to bake his cake!'' Mrs. Lee almost squealed.
''You are kidding, right?'' I asked.
"No, not at all -- this is probably the biggest project we're securing this year. I don't know how I entirely feel about this, though, " she said with a very determined look.
There was more to this event than just baking a grand cake for one of the richest and most prestigious families in our city. Mrs. Lee has baked for several big projects as such. She sure did not hold any special place for Jeguk group in her heart --- she hated these big companies and their existence. Like my friend, Cha Eun Sang. Well, Eun Sang really hates Jeguk in particular but that's another story. A few weeks ago her latest social media update was something around the lines of "I hope the Jeguk group goes bankrupt," or something of the sort. But, then again, she has her reasons.
Mrs. Lee gazed outside the icy windows and smiled with a spaced-out look. What was she thinking about? Was she looking forward to something? Imagining something?
Then it came to me.
Her son.
Her other son, the one she had when she was Mrs. Choi and not Mrs. Lee. She often talked to me about him and both of us usually ended up crying. She always told me that her son was the only good part of her past. I couldn't believe that he did not come to my mind right away when Kim Tan was mentioned. The both of them, from what Mrs. Lee told me, are best friends.
"Mrs. Lee...?'' I called out unwillingly, wondering if she was on the same page as me.
''Yes, Shin Hye, I'm thinking of the same thing. I guess I'd finally get to catch more than a glimpse of him, after all this time.'' Mrs. Lee said, her containing her enthusiasm. It was not a secret that she missed her son a lot. She did, sadly, fear that he would refuse to recognize her or accept her ever again. I, however, refuse to believe that. All of us, in some way or the other, find a way back to our mothers. It is not always an easy or pleasant road, though -- but I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt. Even a wonderful person like Mrs. Lee has had a horrid past. Nevertheless, she's very happy with her current husband, Mr. Lee, and her stepson. I have been with them for a long while and they have been very good to me. Their son, Lee Jun, is also my best friend.
It didn't seem like much from the outside but this was the closest thing I had to a family.
**
After a round of coffee, we began discussing our ideas. There was a lot of planning to do and we were full of ideas. Mrs. Lee tied her hair up in a bun and I put on my glasses. We took out our notepads and started jotting down all the good ideas we came up with. We were in the zone and did not notice that we filled the place with several cups of coffee and crumbled pieces of paper. This happened to us often -- we'd be so engrossed in our work, we'd never realize what was going on around us.
Time passed, it was almost midday, and we weren't still done. I stretched and yawned, realizing that I hadn't changed my position for hours. We were too busy drawing blueprints when I heard the door open. I immediately put my glasses away, fixed my look, and got up to welcome the customer.
"Hey! I received your messages! I'm sorry that you had to wake up early to escape those chicks!" Jun loudly disturbed our ambiance, as he entered, dropped his backpack on the ground, and walked toward me.
'Ya! speak softly, I don't want Mrs. Lee to hear!'' I whispered, lightly smacking his head.
''You don't want her to hear what?'' Mr. Lee came in right after Jun. ''Good Afternoon!'' I wished and bowed.
''Ma! Why didn't you let Shin Hye go to the school trip?'' Jun yelled and walked towards the kitchen. I followed him and smacked his head, hard this time, begging him to shut up.
"Shin hye, darling, what trip?" Mr. Lee asked as he followed us.
"No, it's nothing--" I began.
"Yeah, was dying to go on this school trip, but she won't say it out loud," Jun said, completely interrupting and ignoring my presence.
"Is that so? It's okay if you missed this one. Maybe you can go to the next one?" Mr. Lee suggested.
"Ah-ah! Yeobo, why don't you just enroll her into the same school as Jun? They'd have each other around! Isn't that what we've wanted for a while now!" Mrs. Lee chimed in.
"Wait, I don't think that's a good --" Lee Jun began, looking a bit peaky.
Well, then, I'll enroll you into the same school as Jun. I guess that would be easier for you both to be silly together?" Mr. Lee asked.
I bowed, gratefully. "Thank you, Mr. Lee, but I cannot accept your offer. Both you and ma'am have done a lot for me already," I said.
"Ya, Shin Hye! You deserve to start fresh -- besides, your parents would have wanted to do the same for you,'' Mrs. Lee said.
Funny how Mrs. Lee always has to emotionally blackmail me whenever I disagree. But, I guess she's right. My parents, probably, would have wanted this. They were no more. Both of them passed away in a car crash when I was very young. We used to be residents of the United States but after their death, I was brought back to Korea by my aunt. My old aunt, before dying, left me with Mrs. Lee, her employer. I remember very less about them, but a few memories, still, remain vivid. They loved me endlessly, my parents and my aunt. I guess time wanted us apart.
"I can help you with your studies, I guess. And you can come to work after school," Jun said, smiling. Wasn't he opposed to the idea just a while ago?
"Thanks a lot," I bowed. "The both of you are the reason why I have a roof over my head and I am doing well for myself. And now you're both even agreeing to provide for my education.'' I said, a little teary-eyed. "I'll return back everything that I owe you in installments," I smiled.
"You're no less than our daughter, Shin Hye. We'll get your supplies and uniform later this week, alright?" Mr. Lee said.
"Okay now stop being so emotional, ya! and palli! I need to show you something," Jun said while he grabbed me by one hand and grabbed my coat by the other. "Bye Eomma! Bye Abeoji!'' he greeted as I waved back at them.
**
"I need to get a grip on my Judo," I said.
"Ya! I am talking to you about Ye Sol and all you can think about is Judo?'' Jun asked with a sour look on his face.
''Ya! I don't have much say in your relationship because Ye Sol thinks I will steal you away from her," I said.
''Oh come on, that's not true! She doesn't think that way. It's just Bo Na planting all that in her head," he said.
''Ah, How's Chan Young? I haven't heard from him or Cha Eun Sang in a while. I heard the both of them were in America?" I asked. I didn't exactly envy both of them about being in the States. I'm still not ready to visit that place and neither do I have that kind of money on me, right now. I did miss them a lot, though. The vacation is coming close to an end but they didn't bother texting me back. I can't hold it against them, I guess. I did meet Cha Eun Sang's mother, occasionally.
"Oh! You do know that Eun Sang joined us not only a week back, at Jejuk High? and it's been a very...weird.. week..." he said while texting."
"Oh, really? I guess I should meet her soon," I suggested.
"Sure, let's ring her up now," Jun said as he immediately called her.
We were to meet Cha Eun Sang soon and apparently she wanted to introduce me to someone special.
****
"Try to find out a bit about him. The type of person he is, the things he does, and stuff. You'd do that for me, right, Shin Hye?'' Mrs. Lee asked.
We were working on our project while talking about me joining Jeguk High. Mrs. Lee's first son also studied there. In all my time working with Mrs.Lee, I learned a lot about her previous family. She told me a lot about how awful her ex-husband was and that it wasn't a happy marriage. She felt extremely lonely with him until she had her son.
She often talked to me about her son. She told me a lot about his likes and dislikes. We were pretty similar, him and me, from what I know o him. I had obviously developed a little crush on him listening to all the stories about what a person he was. I could tell he might be caring and lovely just like his mother. Considering I didn't have a lot other than work to keep me going, I liked making up fantasies in my mind. He was a decent fantasy, our interactions were fun scenarios to build in my mind. Although Mrs. Lee never really spoke to me about going back to her old life, I never really judged her. She had made the right choices for herself. I believe Mrs. Lee's decisions more than mine, at times.
"Yes, I will," I said wiping her tears off her cheeks.
"Ya! Why are you making my mother cry again?" Jun walked in.
I immediately wiped off my little tears and put on a bright smile to get up.
"Eomma! Why are you making my best friend cry?" Jun said as he saw my face, hugged his mom, and placed his chin on her head.
"Ya! don't you have to study?" I asked.
"I already finished studying for the day. Unlike you, I'm a determined eighteen-year-old who wants to make his country, family, and friends proud," he said, pushing me up and grabbing my coat. "We will be back, Eomma!" he yelled as we walked out.
We walked in silence for a while. Jun knew that he was adopted but he didn't know about his stepbrother. He even knew this was his mother's second marriage and he never let these thoughts bother him. I knew he was about to throw a whole load of questions on me, so I was getting ready with answers in my mind.
"Ya... what do you and Eomma keep talking about? I hate seeing my family cry," Jun said as he put his arm around my shoulder.
"Consider it a segment of our girl-to-girl talk that you would not understand," I said and he nodded slowly. That's something I loved the most about Jun. He'd pick up clues quickly and understand things. He would never try to involve himself in things that are not for him. He just asked me way too many questions, for fun -- annoying me really gave him joy.
"Anyway, I have a surprise for you," He said, out of the blue, excitedly.
"For me? Ya! Is there something you need?" I asked, jokingly.
"Pabo! You cannot even thank me properly. Come on, now! walk faster if you want to see this surprise." He said.
We walked into the convenience store down the hilly road. Before entering, Jun covered my eyes.
"Ya! what are you doing?" I asked trying to get his hands off my eyes.
"Just stop moving and walk straight! Before you hit yourself." He said.
After a while of unsteady steps and knocking into tables, he let me see what was this surprise. It was Cha Eun Sang. She sat in a corner with a bright welcoming smile.
"EUN SANG-AH!" I yelled at the top of my voice and ran towards her. But we were to meet her, so what was the surprise?
She gave me a warm hug and I sort of lifted her off the ground. We did a little bit more of our silly girlfriend things, despite the fact that everyone was looking at us. She kissed my cheek and I kissed her forehead. She told me I got taller than the last time, which was a lie because I was just the same. Finally, we both sat down while Jun went to get us ramen. I didn't notice at first but there was a boy sitting next to Cha Eun Sang. He looked very familiar. He was a bit tanned, but his features were alluring. After solid two minutes of staring at him, Cha Eun Sang cleared her throat and I realized what I was doing.
"I'm sorry for not introducing myself, I'm Kwon Shin Hye," I said bowing down in front of the boy.
"I'm Kim Tan, Shin Hye, nice to meet you," The familiar-looking boy said.
"What?" I said while my eyes widened. I was sitting in front of Kim Tan, the second son of the Jeguk Group. I think I understood what Jun meant by surprise.
Jun come back with ramen and he noticed that I was gaping at Kim Tan.
"Ya, Shin Hye! you'll get to see more of this surprise. He would be tagging along with Cha Eun Sang often, now," Jun giggled.
"Jun! stop it!" Eun Sang said, blushing slightly.
"What?" I asked, still staring at Kim Tan.
"We're together." Kim Tan said.
"WHAT?" I yelled, once again. It made the boys laugh out really loud and Eun Sang turned into a shade very similar to a tomato.
"When? Where? How?" I asked Eun Sang.
"You question so much, ya, Shin Hye!" Jun had to add. Rich coming from him.
"I met him in America..." Eun Sang said.
"And the rest is history.." Tan completed her sentence.
******
After long conversations between the four of us, mostly Eun Sang and me catching up, and many trips down memory lane, loud laughter from both the boys, bowls of ramen, and the unnoticed evening sky prevailing over us, we were planning to head back home.
Jun and Eun Sang were the first ones to get out and take a little stroll outside enjoying the weather Seoul City came up with today. I took the opportunity to speak to Kim Tan about someone. I guess he was the right person to get a bit of information off. After all, I knew about Mrs. Lee's son only from what she told me. It had been almost four years since she saw him. He might be a different person now. I just knew what he looked like when he was fourteen, through the few pictures Mrs. Lee had of him. He wasn't exactly fond of getting his pictures clicked. I was certain that his best friend could tell me a little bit about him without getting too suspicious.
"K- Kim Tan?" I called out, hesitantly, as he was scrolling through his phone.
"Hmm?" he asked without paying much attention to my looks. So, instead, I made my voice sound a bit serious.
"I need to ask you something important," I said. This time, he looked up, kept his phone on the table, and nodded.
"Look, uh, promise to keep this between us? I know, we just met, but, uh, please?" I asked.
He laughed at first. "Sure, Shin Hye. You can trust me." He said.
"I need to know about this boy called Ch-" before I could even finish my sentence, out of the blue, Kim Tan got up and headed outside. My gaze followed him and I tried to catch a glimpse of what made him rush outside. He must have been keeping a lookout for Cha Eun Sang and Lee Jun.
I could see a person on a bike standing right in front of Lee Jun and Eun Sang. And then, the biker attempted to push Jun away. I immediately rushed out after Tan who went and stood in front of Jun and Eun Sang.
"What are you doing in my neighborhood?" Kim Tan asked the biker.
The biker took his helmet off. It almost felt like all of this happened in slow motion. The wind stopped when the biker slightly tilted his bike and got off. He fixed his hair and raised his face up. He had the typical bad boy looks and I was enjoying the sight. His raised eyebrows and crooked smile made my spine shiver. It probably wasn't as dramatic but this is how I would like to remember it.
"Ah, dear old friend! and of course, Cha Eun Sang," he acknowledged the couple and bowed, completely avoiding Jun and my existence.
I walked right up to Tan and stood by his side to get a better look. The wind came back in action and my hair flew and managed to cover my eyes for a bit. I immediately shoved it away as I didn't want to miss even a single glimpse of this biker.
He spared me a look and my body stiffened at his sight.
Wait.
I recognized this biker! I recognize him from somewhere. Oh God, his face was so familiar, that the curiosity was killing me. He must be a model from TV, considering how dashing he looked. Oh my God, I couldn't believe that I was seeing someone so good-looking in front of my eyes. Did he go to the same school as them? Was Cha Eun Sang his friend? My mind was going all over the place. I'm usually not like that.
And finally, Tan crumpled my curiosity.
"What do you want, Choi Young Do?" Kim Tan asked.
Choi Young Do.
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