Hyunwon had never been more excited about anything in his entire life.
Standing at the doorway of the quaint little church in their old neighbourhood of Gwacheon, he busied himself with checking that everything was in place for the tenth time. It didn't matter how many times he checked, each time he always found some little detail that needed improving. Everything had to be absolutely perfect.
Although both their families had since moved out of this little neighbourhood on the southern outskirts of Seoul, this place would always hold a special place in his heart because this was the exact location where they first met. Back then when they were both ten, he passed by the church one day and heard the sounds of a little girl sobbing within. Out of curiosity, he had ventured in and walked up beside the girl with pigtails who was kneeling down in the pews, blubbering to God for her mother's safety.
"Why are you crying?" he had asked. The rest was history.
His phone was busy vibrating in his pocket, but Hyunwon didn't have time to care. One of the champagne roses that had been tied to the side of the wooden pews had fallen off and was now lying helplessly on the floor. He needed to rescue it.
Rushing over to the rose, he gently picked it off the floor and tied it back where it belonged, securing it with the royal purple silk ribbon in an exquisite bow. There were tiny bunches of champagne roses and baby's breath tied along both sides of the aisle, and the aisle itself was littered with a mixture of champagne and pink rose petals. Champagne roses were Seorin's favourite, as was the shade of royal purple that Hyunwon had chosen. Up front, the pianist was already in position and doing a final rehearsal of the piece that Hyunwon had hired him to play.
Today, he was going to ask Seorin to be his wife. Soon, they would be walking down this very same aisle once more to say "I do".
"She should be here in five minutes," he turned to the pianist and said.
He could feel his heart racing in his chest as the nervousness began to set in. His tightly-clenched palms were getting clammy and he couldn't help but pace up and down while counting the seconds. "Nothing to be nervous about, Kang Hyunwon, you've rehearsed this so many times before..." He had been rehearsing for this moment ever since they graduated high school.
Looking around the church, he took a deep breath. He had done all that he could to re-create the dream proposal scene that Seorin had once described to him in passing over a glass of soju, yet at this very last moment he began to doubt whether he had got every single detail correct.
His phone began buzzing in his pocket once again.
Irritated by the constant vibration, Hyunwon dug it out of his pocket and quickly glanced at the name flashing across the scream. Remy du Pont. He hit the "reject call" button and stuffed the phone back where it belonged. Whatever Remy wanted could wait until his big moment was over.
Adjusting his white jacket and checking his reflection one final time in the window, he straightened his back and looked towards the huge wooden doors of the church. At any moment now, Seorin would walk in through those doors and his life would be complete. It didn't matter that the whole world thought he was a cold, heartless bastard as long as he had her by his side. She knew who he really was deep down inside.
As the hands of the clock continued ticking by, Hyunwon became increasingly nervous and edgy with every passing minute. He had asked Seorin's manager to bring her here at exactly 7pm, and it was now 7.01pm.
"It's raining, traffic's probably bad," the pianist offered helpfully when there was still no sign of her at 7.10pm.
They could hear the pitter patter of raindrops against the tiles of the church's roof; it started out as a trickle but slowly evolved into a torrential thunderstorm. Not uncommon for spring weather in Seoul.
Hyunwon took another deep breath and let it out slowly. He's right, it's raining so heavily there's probably a jam on the roads. She'll be here soon.
By half seven, he was beginning to get worried. It took approximately forty-five minutes to get from the broadcasting station where she had her last schedule to the church in the suburbs and although there were a couple of potential bottlenecks along the way, it was unlikely that it would cause a delay of more than half an hour. Taking out his phone, he quickly dialled her number.
"Come on... Pick up..."
No one answered the phone.
Walking straight towards the main doors, Hyunwon stood at the foyer and peered down the road through the pouring rain. There were cars shuttling to and fro, kicking up waves of water upon unsuspecting passers-by along the pavements, but none of the cars pulled to a stop in front of the church.
He dialled Seorin's number one more time.
"Pick up the phone..." he murmured to himself. Right now, he was beyond himself with worry. Given the torrential rain, he couldn't help but wonder about the worst. If he were to receive a phone call from the hospital right now, he would likely go insane. The dial tone went on for a couple of minutes, but still no one picked up on the other end.
Sighing, Hyunwon ended the call and was about to dial for Seorin's manager instead when an incoming call got in the way. Without even stopping to think for a second, he immediately hit the "answer" button and placed the phone against his ear. "Seorin? Is that you? Are you alright?" he burst out.
"It's me," Remington's voice came echoing from the other end.
When he recognised the voice, Hyunwon's shoulders sagged downwards in disappointment. "What is it, Remy? If it isn't important then I'll talk to you later. I need to make some calls now alright?" he said irately.
Before he could end the call, Remy's voice quickly called out again, "Don't hang up on me! I think you need to hear this. It's about Seorin."
The mention of Seorin's name managed to grab his attention. He gripped his phone tightly in his hand, keeping the receiver pressed against his ear.
"Are you near a television at the moment? If you are, you should quickly turn on MBC news," Remy continued.
"How is this relevant right now, Remy!" Hyunwon shouted. Seorin could be involved in an accident, yet his friend was telling him to watch the news. It was ridiculous. "You said it was about Seorin. What is it exactly?"
"Trust me, you'll want to see this."
Sighing in exasperation, Hyunwon looked around. Across the road from the church was a row of shops, one of which appeared to sell electrical appliances including television sets. There were several television screens showing music videos and other programmes in the shop window. Since there wasn't time to look for an umbrella, Hyunwon decided to brave the rain and dash across the road.
Running into the shop quickly, he parked himself in front of one of the television sets and flicked the channel to MBC, ignoring the cheerful greeting of the shop assistant.
"—spokesperson for MX Entertainment announced that rising star Kara Jung will be making her debut on the international movie scene through the romance film 'The Last Goodbye', starring alongside the likes of international stars Chris James and Keira Grey. According to the agency, Kara will be flying to Los Angeles tonight for the signing of the contract and filming will begin in a few weeks' time. MBC News reporter Im Hansuk reports from Incheon International Airport."
The studio footage of the news anchors gave way in exchange for a live report from the airport, with which an all-too-familiar face entered the screen.
"Kara, how do you feel about participating in your first major international project? You will have the opportunity to act alongside big names like Chris and Keira. How do you feel about that?"
"I'm very excited and thankful for the opportunity. I have always hoped to be able to learn from international artistes and be able to showcase my acting to a wider audience. I will do my best and I hope that everyone back home will continue to show me your support."
"How long will filming be and when will you be returning to Seoul?"
"We are not too sure about the duration of filming for now. It could take anywhere from three months to a year. There are likely to be a number of overseas shoots in different countries, which could lead to an extension in filming time. I hope to be back in Seoul as soon as I can so that I can reunite with my fans here as quickly as possible."
The television footage switched back to the studio, with the anchors continuing with their report on the breaking headlines for the day.
"This is some sort of a joke right," Hyunwon said drily into the phone.
"Dude, this is no joke. It's real. Everyone who's anyone in the industry is talking about it right now. Apparently they sealed the deal earlier this morning and she's flying off on the 8pm flight tonight. She's not coming mate. I'm sorry. If you rush to the airport you might still be able to—"
Without waiting for Remy to finish, Hyunwon ended the call and hastily dialled Seorin's number once more. There was no way he was going to believe that this was true, not unless he heard it from her himself. This time, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Seorin? Is that you? What's going on, where are you?" Hyunwon asked.
"Hyunwon... I'm at the airport," she replied. "You must have heard the news by now. I wanted to be able to tell you this myself, but there just wasn't the time. I'm sorry. I didn't expect that the offer would come through. They said that there were many other actresses that they were considering, so I really didn't think that I would get the role. You know this is my dream right? I'm finally going to Hollywood..."
"So it's real? You're flying to L.A. tonight? What about our date? I told you this was an important day right?" His voice was beginning to crack, with disappointment hanging from his every word.
"I know, but you know I'm not ready for it. I've been trying to tell you this for a long time. Can't this wait for a couple more years? My career is only just beginning to take off, I can't afford to have anything derail it right now. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Will you please support me?"
"If this is so important to you, then what about me? Do I mean nothing to you, that you could just blow me off without a single word? If I didn't call you, were you just going to board that plane without even saying anything?" Hyunwon replied agitatedly. "Seorin, you knew how much this means to me, how much youmean to me! How could you do this?"
"I'm sorry... I really am... They're calling for boarding now, can we talk about this later? I'll call you when I reach L.A., alright?"
"Forget it. You know what? If you board that plane now, then it's over between us. I can't continue living like this, being second place to your precious career. If Hollywood means so much to you then by all means go ahead."
There was a moment of silence from the other side.
"I'm sorry, but I need to do this. I hope you'll understand..." And the line went dead.
Hyunwon didn't know what it was that she expected him to understand. That she chose Hollywood over him? Or that she would have found an excuse to not show up anyway because she wasn't ready for this? He had heard her message loud and clear. Even if she was standing in front of him right now and he got down on one knee, she wouldn't have said yes. She had chosen to be Kara Jung over Jung Seorin.
Walking out of the shop, he stood in the middle of the rain for the longest time, letting the rain disguise his tears.
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Her brother came home just like he said he would, and Hyejin lied that she was meeting a friend for dinner.
"I know Hyukjin is home, so the two of you just have a nice dinner, alright? Don't worry about me, I'll come home as soon as I can," she fibbed into the phone. She made a couple of grunts in response to her father's nagging before ending the call.
Sighing, she stirred her cup noodles and watched as the steam slowly rose from the lava-red soup. Extra spicy, just the way she liked it. "I guess it's just you and me tonight, ramen," she said to her noodles.
She wasn't a coward, she just figured it would be best if she stayed out of her brother's face for a while, at least until she felt like she could hold a decent conversation with him without punching him in the face and demanding that he return her all her college money. At the thought of that, her blood began to boil once again and the extra spiciness of the noodles didn't help matters.
If not for Hyukjin making off with what little she had saved and her parents needing to bail him out of his debt, perhaps she would now be in a dorm room at vocational school, making small steps towards her dream of becoming a renowned stylist one day. Looking around the barber shop, she sighed. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy cutting hair, because she genuinely did. It was as if God made her ambidextrous just so she could wield scissors with both her hands. The problem was that she didn't want to be stuck here cutting the same old hairstyle for army boys and old grandfathers day after day, yet it was obvious that the clientele of Gongja wasn't about to change anytime soon.
Slurping up her noodles, she muttered to herself, "Jerk. If only he weren't my older brother, I would have socked it to him a long time ago. I'm not going to buy his bullshit about turning over a new leaf..."
In less than five minutes, the entire cup of noodles had slid down into her belly. Burping loudly, she set down her chopsticks and looked out of the shop window. It was raining cats and dogs, the best weather for staying indoors and slurping extra spicy ramen.
Hyejin stared at the falling rain until the sky turned dark and she couldn't see very much outside anymore.
Picking up the broom, she began sweeping the floor lethargically. She had purposefully left the floor unswept today in anticipation that she would need something to occupy her time with. As she swept, she kept thinking about all the dreams she used to have while growing up, and the bitterness inside her continued to grow. She didn't even look up when she heard the familiar jingle of the doorbell and the squelching of wet boots against the shop floor.
"I'm sorry, we're closed."
Whoever it was didn't turn around and leave. Instead, the bastard took a couple more steps forward and sat himself down in one of the empty barber chairs.
"I said we're closed," Hyejin repeated herself, a little more firmly this time. Her grip on her broom tightened slightly, readying herself to give the arsehole a good beating if he insisted on creating trouble. Scowling, she realised that he had created a water trail on her black-and-white tiles, which would only make it more difficult for her to sweep up the remaining strands of hair that still littered the floor.
The lard bucket didn't move.
Marching up to him, Hyejin raised her broom into the air and stared him straight in the eyes. "I think I made myself quite clear the first time round," she said irately. It had been a long day and the last thing she wanted was to deal with something the dogs dragged in. He was wearing a black trench coat with a hood covering his head, a couple of strands of his fringe matted against his wet forehead.
"I want a haircut."
"Then cut it yourself." And she tossed a pair of scissors into his lap.
The man jumped a little when the scissors was flung at him, letting out a sharp yelp in alarm. "What do you think you're doing? I'm a paying customer. I can pay you two times, three times—no, ten times what you normally charge. Just cut my goddamn hair now!" he wailed. "Don't you know who I am? I can't go around town looking like this. Do something about it right this instant!"
Hyejin was a little surprised that the fellow had begun going off in hysterics. What kind of a looney bin is this? she wondered to herself, edging towards the phone so she could dial for the police.
"Please, just cut it off, I beg you." The man suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand. With his free hand, he removed his hood, unveiling... possibly the greatest hair disaster that Hyejin had ever seen.
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