So it turned out he was cute, handsome even, and well dressed.

Irene sipped her sangria and watched cautiously as Minho surveyed the dessert menu.

Dinner had gone well.

They’d chatted easily about their jobs, families, and even baseball, a sport Irene felt beyond passionate about.

She smiled to herself and marveled at the fact that one of Tiffany’s setups might actually pan out.

“Why don’t you choose for us?” Minho said.

He handed the small menu to Irene and smiled. “They all sound wonderful to me.”

Irene certainly had no problem choosing and zeroed in on the warm pecan pie and vanilla ice cream, already watering.

They placed their order with the waiter and settled in for more conversation.

Minho relaxed easily into the plush chair. “Tell me about your daughter.”

He seemed genuinely interested, and that scored major points with Irene.

Not many of the men she’d gone out with had so much as mentioned Yuri on their own.

This was promising, very promising indeed.

As long as he didn’t live with his mother, they might be in business.

“Well, she’s 7 years old and about as precocious as they come, interested in everything. Yesterday, she asked me if she could start drinking espresso, because that’s what the Italians did. I love her to pieces, but I may have my hands full when she’s older.”

She smiled widely just thinking about Yuri and then played back how that must have sounded.

Maybe she shouldn’t point out that her child was odd.

“She sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Oh, she’s definitely that and more, a laugh a minute, that kid.”

The car ride to her apartment was quiet with the exception of the radio playing softly.

Irene couldn’t help but wonder if Minho would expect to be invited in, and if so, how she would go about explaining to him that she just, well, didn’t go there on the 1st date.

Yuri was spending the night with her parents, and that left the apartment empty.

She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

As he followed her to her door, her anxiety only grew, and she was already formulating her polite explanation.

But to her amazement, he paused on the front step and took her hand in his. “I had a wonderful time with you tonight, Irene. You’re everything Tiffany said you would be. I’d love to see you again, that is, if you’d like to.”

Irene blinked once, again surprised by what a charming cutie her date was turning out to be.

He actually looked nervous. “Um…I’d love to see you again. Next weekend?”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll call you later this week to firm up plans.”

He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on Irene’s lips.

It was simple.

It was sweet.

And it left her smiling as she watched him walk the length of the sidewalk back to his car.

It had been a nice night, she mused as she made her way into the apartment.

She was glad that she’d gone.

***

The next day was Saturday, and though Irene usually took the day off, setting it aside for spending time with Yuri and the rest of her family, today was a no go.

The house on Banning Street demanded her attention, and if she had any hope of finishing before the cows came wandering over, she would have to work overtime.

It upset her, however, not to have the time with Yuri.

They usually spent the day on some sort of joint activity, which allowed them to connect after their mutually busy weeks.

She decided to compromise, and after assembling a bag of Yuri’s favorite “stay busy” activities, she picked up Yuri and headed to work.

“Is this place really a mansion?” Yuri asked as they to Banning Street. “Like in the movies?”

“Just like in the movies,” Irene assured her. “Which means that everything inside is very expensive and cannot be touched, baby. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Mama. I won’t touch anything. I’ll just pretend it’s all mine and that I’m an orphan adopted by a rich man with no hair.”

Irene took a moment. “Did you and haraboji watch Annie again last night?”

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.”

As they pulled into the driveway, Yuri’s mouth fell open at the expansive home spread out before them. “Wow. I wish we could live here.”

“I like where we live just fine. Don’t you? It’s our home yours and mine.”

Yuri returned her smile. “Me too.”

After situating Yuri with some paper and crayons at the kitchen table, Irene made her way back to the master bedroom to pack up the final contents of the closet.

There was a sadness that overtook her looking around the empty, dismantled room and understanding that it had been Kang Hye Jung’s sanctuary for so many years.

She was in the midst of boxing up the books and casual clothes that were folded neatly in the multiple chests of drawers when there they were, a group of 4 dark green canvas books.

3 of the books were tied tightly from each side with twine.

A 4th sat on top, unbound.

Irene flipped through the top book, assessing her find, and took a breath at the delicate, cursive handwriting and dated entries that lined the pages.

This was her journal, Mrs. Kang’s personal journal.

And the last entry was dated just over a month ago, not long before her death.

The journals were thick and the writing quite small.

The 4 books together could easily chronicle a good portion of the elderly woman’s adult life.

She slowly untied the twine that held the bundle and opened the bottom book.

On one hand, she felt an enormous amount of guilt for the intrusion into the woman’s personal thoughts, but at the same time, something was pushing her to do just that.

She sat on the bed and began to skim the words written in very distinctive formal script.

With each sentence, Irene fell further and further into the world of Kang Hye Jung.

She found herself exchanging one book for another as the entries turned to months and the months moved into years.

***

Seulgi pulled onto Banning Street cursing herself for still not having forwarded her mother’s mail.

She’d not tended to the house as much as she should have and realized that there were still very pressing matters that required her attention.

Bills needed to be paid, and there were charitable obligations that still needed to be fulfilled in her mother’s name.

She was surprised to see the red Beetle in the drive as she pulled in.

She hadn’t expected Irene to work on a Saturday.

Seulgi sorted through the mail on the way into the house, categorizing each envelope into subscriptions to cancel, correspondence to follow up with, and checks to write.

She decided in the future to have her assistants help with this process.

There was no point in personally tending to these mundane issues.

In fact, it was probably better for her to distance herself from the process as much as possible.

She stopped abruptly as she entered the kitchen, double taking as she glanced up from the electric bill in her hand.

She stared curiously at the strange child sitting at the kitchen table. “Hello?”

“Hi,” the child answered cheerfully.

“Um…And who might you be?”

“Bae Yuri. But everyone calls me Yuri. It’s very nice to meet you. Who might you be?”

“Kang. Seulgi. This is my house.” She was still off-balance by this unexpected visitor and didn’t know quite where to go.

Damn it, she never knew quite how to talk to children. “So I take it you belong to Irene.”

“Irene’s my mom. Do you live here?” she asked.

“Yes. I mean, I used to. I don’t anymore. My mother lived here.”

“I’m sorry that she died.” Yuri set down her purple crayon and gave Seulgi her full attention. “When I’m feeling sad, I like to color. I’m probably too old for it now, but I don’t care.”

Yuri extended a green crayon in Seulgi’s direction and tore out a sheet for her from the book she was working in.

When Seulgi didn’t immediately move, Yuri re-extended her arm for emphasis.

Clearly, she was not taking no for an answer. “You know, I have some bills I need to look through. How about I do that while you color?”

That seemed to be an acceptable solution to Yuri who shrugged once and went back to work.

Seulgi threw a glance over her shoulder looking for a possible rescue from Irene, who had to be somewhere in the house.

She could go and look for her, but what would she say when she found her?

Your kid makes me uncomfortable?

Instead, she reluctantly sat at the table and spread the mail out in front of her, focusing on the task she came to complete.

Out of curiosity, she shot an occasional glance in Yuri’s direction.

Watching her color was, she had to admit, relaxing.

The way she outlined each bunny before lightly shading in the gaping white portions until they were full of vibrant color.

Okay, it was a child’s activity, but tempting all the same.

“Are you sure you don’t want a page?” Yuri asked warily 30 minutes later.

The kid was undoubtedly aware of being watched.

“I guess I could take one,” Seulgi replied nonchalantly. “I have a minute now that some of this is out of the way.”

Yuri regarded her knowingly and nodded before handing over a picture of 3 small rabbits looking up at a large friendly bird in a tree.

She moved the oversized box of crayons to the middle of the table so Seulgi had easy access to the assortment and went back to her own page, a rabbit curled up for a nap with several other rabbits.

They worked in silence for a good 45 minutes, Yuri spending more time watching Seulgi color than coloring herself.

Yuri shook her head in awe as the once cartoonish outline turned into an honest to goodness, realistic forest scene. “You’re really good. Like really.”

“Oh, thanks.” Seulgi glanced up for the first time since she started.

“You know, this is a lot more fun than I thought it would be.” And it was. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt calm, relaxed, and free. “I see why you like this.”

Yuri reached for Seulgi’s page and held it up in front of her face, still shaking her head in astonishment. “It’s like the rabbits are real. How did you do that?”

Seulgi studied the piece of paper Yuri held so reverently in the air and smiled at her, noticing how much she resembled Irene.

She didn’t have eyes as light, but her brown replicas were close.

“It’s just a shading technique. Instead of only using one color for the rabbit’s fur, I used several to give it texture and layers.”

“That’s amazing,” Yuri breathed. She shifted her focus to Seulgi. “Can I keep this?”

“Sure, go ahead.” She was somewhat honored that Yuri would want to.

“Wanna color another?”

“Hit me.” But it was a foregone conclusion.

Seulgi was already reaching eagerly for a new crayon.

***

Irene closed the last and final journal in the stack and blew out a long, emotional breath, brushing a stray tear from the corner of her eye.

She glanced at her watch and shook her head.

She’d lost 2 hours of valuable work time reading the words of Kang Hye Jung, but she didn’t regret it for a second.

She understood the importance of these journals and what they could mean for those she left behind, one girl in particular.

Irene bounded down the stairs, hopeful that the silence from Yuri was an indication that she’d been on her best behavior, as she’d promised she would be.

She hadn’t meant to leave her alone so long and realized that it was now well past lunch time.

I’m a horrible mother, destined for parent jail.

She decided she’d take Yuri out for a bite to eat, just the 2 of them, before dropping her off with her mother, where she could have more fun for the rest of the afternoon.

She still had work to get done at the house.

The scene she walked in on in the kitchen was not at all what she expected.

There was Yuri, munching on a plate of Oreos and coloring alongside none other than Kang Seulgi herself, who interestingly enough seemed quite content coloring a rabbit of her own.

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