chapter one!
GAUCHE
SOCIALLY INEPT.
She's kept that kind of image from the first day of high-school. It's not that she really was, but the fact that she had recently moved into Japan with a minimum amount of understanding in the language was a big hurdle she was trying to overcome. Whenever someone talked to her, it seemed like her throat would get clogged up by the words she wanted to say.
Living in a different country as a foreigner definitely sucked big time.
LEE MINA definitely didn't want to stay with the image of having no social skills whatsoever. If only she could've transferred a little bit of her native language skills and over to the other, maybe then she'd be better at understanding Japanese. Maybe then she wouldn't look like a lost puppy most of the time.
"Mina-chan, dinner's ready."
She looked up from her homework to see her mother's friend, Keishin Ukai motioning her to come out with his apron on. Sometimes, she'd wonder how her mother had been so close with a man such as himㅡ he looked like someone who definitely wasn't favored by teachers. With his blonde dyed hair, piercings on both ears and a head band to keep his unkempt hairㅡ yeah, it was a wonder how they became buddies 'till now.
She followed him down to the dining room and a mere distance away from the sliding door, Mina could smell the food he bought. It smelled like Tonkatsu from the restaurant nearby. She knew Ukai couldn't cook to save his life as she had witnessed it. The day she arrived, the man decided to try and cook her an authentic meal as he had said, to try and taste how Japan really was like.
And she anticipated, but boy, was she wrong to do so. Once he did cook, it almost seemed instantaneous for the kitchen to reek of burnt rubber. It didn't matter what he cooked, but the way the food looked, it nearly seemed like it could self combust at any time. From that day on, it was either her cooking or him taking food outㅡ Ukai was never to step foot in the kitchen other than to make his coffee.
"Itadakimasu,"
Both clapped their hands and mumbled before grabbing their chopsticks to dig in. It was terribly hard for Mina to use the term other than the one she mostly had said back in Korea. She mostly fumbled with her words the first few weeks she arrived and almost said it in her native language.
"How was school today?" Ukai brought up his usual conversation starter. "Learning any new words or..?"
She mused for a few seconds. "Takeda-sensei said, 'Rika no kanmuri o tadasazu," Mina spoke with a bit of accent. "Not sure what it means. Jii-san, do you know?"
The latter coughed, nearly sputtering the food he was chewing. Did he know what that meant? Not a single clue. Ukai barely held onto the strength of having to stay in school if it wasn't for the fact that his grandfather was the coach of the volleyball team. Other than the sport, the man barely knew anything due to his attention span that depleted in class.
"A-Ah, that's kind of hard to explain," He laughed nervously. "Anyways, why don't you come visit the volleyball club? You remember I'm coaching the team, right?"
What was the word for uninterested again? Mina barely did any sports and really didn't try to involve herself in them. The fact that she had done dodgeball and got whipped in the face during gym was enough of a wake up call to be scared of going near circular inflated objects.
"Ah, not reallyㅡ" She paused, not knowing what to say. This was so much struggle. "Volleyball is scary. I do not like balls."
This seemed to have piqued the latter's attention. Ukai blinked before releasing a loud laugh. "Hah? Mina-chan, you're scared of balls?"
The brunette pouted at his response. "Not funny, Jii-san! Get hit by ball hurts lots."
"Right, it does bruise up pretty badly for beginners," His laugh slowed down. "Too bad, huh? I was gonna ask you to join the team and become a manager."
"Eh? Me as manager?" She pointed to herself in confusion. "What I do?"
The concept of becoming a manager for a club never really entered her mind before she came to Japan. Apparently, students were able to become a manager for a sports club, which never really was a thing back home. Teachers would always organize things for them, never the students. For Mina, it was pretty fascinating but she wasn't too keen on joining a sports club.
"Well, you help out the team," Ukai replied. "Refill their drinks, observe and take notes down during practice, do the laundryㅡ it's pretty domestic. It's kind of like taking care of a bunch of little brats except they're in high-school."
"Ah," She nodded, still a bit troubled. She should really study soon. "Take care of them is job, then."
That didn't pique her interest.