Seoul, Mondo
At the sound of the bell, Jin Ah dropped her measuring glass and cheerfully walked to the entrance. This morning, she was in a particularly good mood. She felt like she was floating in the air and capable of anything. That's why she got up early just to make soft walnut squares. This cake was the peace pipe of the house. The girls liked it particularly because it had a lot of chocolate and thanks to the whipped cream, it was never too sweet or too bitter. The nuts provided a delicious crunchy taste and it could also be eaten at any time of the year: it was as good iced as it was hot.
Jin Ah and Yoo Jin loved to wake up the house with a sweet pastry smell. Later, Yoo Jin had also planned to make orange cookies and some croissants, but for the moment, she was taking a shower.
As she walked past the bathroom, Jin Ah could hear Yoo Jin's voice humming Let me Know mixed with the sound of the water jet.
The rest of the concert had been great and Jin Ah's soul was still there. She smiled stupidly as she thought of Kim Tae Hyung's inhuman beauty. By closing her eyes, she could still see his image stuck to her eyelids. And when the door opened, the owner's impatient face immediately erased her beautiful thoughts. The young woman suddenly felt the weight of reality falling heavily on her shoulders.
- Oh, hello! Greeted Jin Ah by bending a little.
- I thought you ran away. Mrs. Gong replied in an unpleasant voice.
- We wouldn't dare... whispered Jin Ah before asking her in.
They went to the living room and without being invited, Madame Gong took her place in the chair. She put her leather handbag on her lap and looked at the decor of the house with a haughty look. She found the apartment very warm, but admitting it could tear her tongue out.
- I'm going to make coffee, Jin Ah announced on her way to the kitchen. Do you want some? ...So bad that the walnut squares are not yet cooked...
The owner accepted with a forced smile and then rolled her eyes once the young woman's back was turned.
- Where are the others? Asked Madame Gong in a dry tone.
Han Jin Ah came back with a porcelain cup that she gently placed in front of the lady. Jin Ah sat down on the couch, legs crossed one above the other.
- My sister is still sleeping and Bo Hwa too, I think. The other one's in the shower. She replied in a neutral tone.
She hated the arrogant manners the owner had towards them. At these times, understanding and compassion would not be a refusal. But maybe Mrs. Gong really didn't know anything... She's going to feel really bad when she'll understand, Jin Ah thought.
- So? When do you plan to pay me? Soon?
Mrs. Gong took a sip of coffee, then a second. She thought it was very good and regretted a little bit that she had been obnoxious. Now, it was unlikely that the tenants on the seventh floor would invite her to tea. But then, these girls had just to pay their debts as good citizens. And there, not before, a friendly relationship could be possible. She didn't like feeling like the bank's bad loan sharks, but for the moment it was still money that made her world go round.
- It's just....
- Yes?
- We don't really have the means to pay you. Said Jin Ah and towards the end of her sentence, her voice had decreased in volume.
- PARDON? The owner strangled herself. Ah, damn it! I still thought you were more reasonable. I don't know how you managed to break into this apartment, I know even less how you managed to move in, but believe me, if you don't pay me by next week, you can say hello to the street!
Jin Ah didn't dare look her in the eye and neither did Mrs. Gong. She didn't really think she was going to throw them out, but she needed the money. She was tired of thinking about her husband.
- Ajumma! Shouted Yoo Jin in her little voice. We've been ripped off, do you understand?
Yoo Jin had arrived in the room on time. She had not lost any of the discussion. Mrs. Gong had jumped out of fear: she hadn't heard Yoo Jin arrive and her angry voice didn't stick to her angel face.
Yoo Jin stood in the middle of the room, dripping and wrapped in a large blue towel. She had a little towel over her head and steam was coming out of it. Her wet hair had a sweet smell of vanilla shampoo. Mrs. Gong was somewhat intimidated by the beauty of Yoo Jin. She looked like a pretty European with her sparkling hazelnut eyes and her slightly aquiline nose.
- We saw the ad in a newspaper, we were shown around, we were made to sign documents, we were given the key, we paid... And now we are told that no payment has been made. How do you think we feel?
The owner stammered a few inaudible words and began to feel a little bad. She had of course noticed that the seventh floor tenants were well settled, they even seemed to have their own little family routine. It was a misunderstanding. Nothing more than that. There was only one explanation for the situation.
Mrs. Gong Eun Seok regained her calm and did her best not to think about money first.
- ...Who did you meet on your first visit? She asked gently.
- An old man, a little bald and ugly, who also said he was the owner. replied Jin Ah as she unfolded her legs.
- Did he say he was a real estate agent? Asked Mrs. Gong with a little more interest.
Jin Ah shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't even sure he was a real estate agent. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. Her ideas were not very clear in her head. How could a crook give them the right key to the apartment?
- He had never said he was a real estate agent, but in any case he had the right documents and the key, Yoo Jin continued, adjusting her towel. Old, ugly, bald head, square glasses. And now that I think about it, he looks like a crook!
The owner's face became stuffed and she hid behind her cup. The answers came in bits and strangely, she felt more shame than anger. The more she talked to these young girls, the more she felt she was part of the scammed.
- Ah ! Exclaimed Jin Ah who had had a brief enlightenment. He had given us his "name", what was it again? She exchanged a look with Yoo Jin.
- Kwan...Ji......Gong?
- Gong Ji Kwan. He is my husband, Mrs. Gong announced, much to everyone's surprise. I think he made that bad joke to get back at me...
Jin Ah found the owner even more arrogant. How could she designate their misfortune as a "bad joke"?
Jin Ah swept her hair back and sighed, she didn't want to make a scene. Her lips were swollen with anger and her eyes were almost piercing.
- But then you can talk to him! Said Yoo Jin with an ounce of hope.
The lady shook her head.
- Then report him to the police! Barked Jin Ah.
Against all odds, Mrs. Gong Eun Seok got up, arranged her jacket and emptied the rest of her cup in one shot. Fear mixed with a few drops of disappointment were reflected in her eyes. She couldn't imagine her husband going behind bars, but she could even less conceive in a face-to-face with him.
- No, no, no, no. This is not good. I don't want to have any more relation with this man.
She headed for the exit.
- But fifteen million... How can we find this amount of money in such a short time? said Yoo Jin. Finding it a first time was already very difficult so a second time....
- Ajumma... begged Jin Ah when she got up.
The old lady stopped in the hallway and began to imagine the greyish faces of the young girls. Something was pinching in her chest.
- Thanks for the coffee, but I don't want to know anything. Find the money, my ex-husband, whatever you want, but I want my money. I don't want to have to expel you, you look too good here.
And before really leaving the place she added: "Ji Kwan...runs a luxury clothing stand at the Gwangjang market, with a little luck he will listen to you and return the money. »
* * *
The "Jin&Jin's Café" was a project that was about to be completed. The dream was to have a store in the city that would stand out from the cold, ugly, sophisticated coffees with exorbitant prices. It would be simple, cozy and you could read books all day long if you ate something, even a cup of tea. Customers could eat all kinds of pastries, and all those who would come back for the third time would have a free drink of their choice.
Jin Ah and Yoo Jin had spotted a kind of big abandoned studio in the middle of Myeong-Dong. It seemed invisible to passers-by and if it wasn't by chance, they would never have noticed it either. "It's here" had decreed Yoo Jin, all happy as if she had had a moment of enlightenment. The cobwebs and dust did not make the store any less charming.
Jin Ah and Yoo Jin had invested the rest of their savings to buy it and all the various equipment needed: ovens, crockery, display case, tables and chairs...
It only needed a few weeks of improvement and life had returned to the site!
They had already imagined everything: next to the window there would be a large library and the reading area, the customer room would be close to the window to encourage them to consume more, the kitchen would be very large and we could even add a parking for two cars and tables outside.
The two girls had known each other since high school and had even studied at the same college. It was a meaningless anecdote that had helped them to keep working hard every day.
It was in winter, they were on internships in a hospital canteen, the day was always more tiring and boring than the previous one and the staff toilets were their only escape. One evening, while they were running away from the dishwashing, Jin Ah said, "It would be nice to have your own little coffee, don't you think? We would call it Jin-Jin." And from that day on, nothing was more important than that coffee shop.
Nothing, if not...
- There's no way we're leaving the apartment, said Yoo Jin, with a shaky voice.
- I know. We have to find him... Jin Ah replied with a sigh. However, we have to open the store in three days and there are still a lot of things to prepare...
Mi So entered the room, her eyes still half closed.
- Find who? She asked, barely awake with her teddy bear in her hand. Kumamon says hello....
- Hello Kumamon! They answered very naturally and then Jin Ah continued: The owner's husband, the con man.
- Will you help me? Asked Yoo Jin to Mi So. I think we should first try to reason with him instead of calling the police but Jin Ah must be prepared to open the store...
Even if Yoo Jin would have absolutely wanted to be present on the day the café opened, she felt too concerned about going to look for Gong Ji Kwan. She was sure Jin Ah would do very well without her. We had to stick together and decide on priorities. She could already imagine everything she had to say to him, how she would proceed if he refused to give them their money back...
- I can't. Mi So replied dryly. I still haven't started my drawing even though the entrance test is in three days...
The little girl's answer made Yoo Jin wince. She too had things she would have liked to finish. She walked through the living room grumbling a little: she understood Mi So, but she didn't like to think that she was the only one who really cared.
- I'll ask Bo Hwa then. She grumbled before returning to her room.
A few minutes later, Yoo Jin entered her friend's room very slowly.
Bo Hwa had never looked that fit in her life. Her hair had regained volume and she no longer had the deep dark rings around her eyes she had dragged along throughout her teenage years.
She was standing near her wardrobe, her pelvis glued to the mirror and had a tweezers in her right hand.
- What are you doing? Asked Yoo Jin as she adjusted her glasses with her finger.
It seemed like Bo Hwa wanted to go through the mirror. Yoo Jin approached closer and it was as if there were two clones in front of the ice. She and Bo Hwa looked a lot alike. They were the same age and height and looked more like sisters than Jin Ah and the youngest.
- Well... I am plucking... my eyebrows. You never know if a company will accept me! Bo Hwa replied, carefully pulling out her hair.
- But you want to work from home to translate, don't you?
Yoo Jin approached her friend even closer and watched her activity with astonishment.
- Bo Hwa...?! Yoo Jin cried out before bursting into laughter. What the hell did you do? You took too much off!
Bo Hwa spread her face and stared at her reflection mysteriously as if she could not recognize herself in it. Her eyes and nostrils widened as she saw the horror. She had waxed the middle surface too much and ended up with eyebrows too far away from each other. She looked like a mutant fish.
- They're too far apart right now! Yoo Jin added, laughing. At 21, you can't stop yourself from doing stupid stuff!
- Oh shit...Dumped Bo Hwa while whistling. I knew I shouldn't have done this alone... Bo Hwa threw the tweezers on her bed and sighed in despair.
Yoo Jin was rolling on the floor, with tears in her eyes and a red face.
- Don't worry... Hahahaha, eyebrows grow back but not intelligence.
- Shut up! What a nightmare... I'll never do it again! NEVER! But it's too late... Oh, no...
- Do you want me to redraw them for you? Yoo Jin asked, laughing.
Bo Hwa rubbed her cheeks without letting go of her reflection from her eyes. It was the first time she did it entirely on her own: she thought it would be easy, that it would be enough to follow the natural form while making sure it was perfectly symmetrical... But it was a massacre. It had always been Seul Ah who took care of it and her work was always impeccable: she had the talent of an aesthetician and never asked for anything in return. Bo Hwa regretted the absence of the Han's older sister and briefly wondered what she could do right now. She touched her forehead with her right hand and pretended to cry, but there was nothing more she could do anyway. She hoped not to find work yet to avoid showing up in public and then shook her head to withdraw her prayers. She sighed and slumped on her bed. These days nothing was going as planned and she was almost feeling a little depressed.
- So, why did you come? She asked, closing her eyes.
- Ah...Did the other one while trying to catch her breath. We need to find this scammer so that he can give us back our money but Mi So has to prepare her file and Jin Ah has to open the coffee... And as the union makes the strength, I was wondering if you could accompany me to the Gwangjang market for-
Bo Hwa jumped up, turned furiously towards her friend and pointed to her forehead.
- Do you see that? The blank space right there in the middle of my face? It is a simple and concise reason for you to understand that for this time, unity is not strength. There is too much space for there to be any kind of union. So sorry, not sorry, but the condition of my eyebrows doesn't allow me to go out!
She fell back on her bed, nothing would change her mind. Not even fifteen million won....
- ...Good. I'll go alone then. Yoo Jin replied, moaning.
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