The awkward sound of silence lingered in the black BMW 5 series Sedan that  Dae Jung was driving. He glanced over at his daughter with wide searching eyes, who was quietly seated in the passenger seat behind him. His grip stiffened on the steering wheel as he tried to come to terms of his decision. He’d been contemplating for the past three weeks since he and his daughter arrived in Seoul, South Korea, whether to go along with his plan or think of a better idea. He remained pensive whether or not he should follow through with his decision, but he concluded that his daughter left him no choice and all he wanted was the best for her. All in all he was trying to be a good parent.

 “Hei Ryung! Hei Ryung!” Dae Jung shouted as he desired his daughter’s attention.

            No response. Hei Ryung didn’t hear her father’s voice due to the blaring music she had blasting in her ears, through the tiny speakers in her earphones, something that had become a habit and always irritated him to some extent.

“Hei Ryung !!!!!!!!”

            Hei Ryung  looked up from the photo album she was skimming through with pictures of her beloved mother during her youthful days. She had always depended on her mother for moral support and guidance but since her passing, Hei Ryung perceived life as a meaningless cycle of hurt and love with no one to turn to or even to be comforted, not even her own father. She  unplugged her earphone from her ears with great reluctance, anger surging through her veins for she hated being interrupted whenever she was listening to her favourite type of music; rock. She liked how the drums and the banging of various instruments pounded against her eardrums, droning out the other sounds in the worlds.

“ Hei Ryung-ah! I know it’s hard for you but it’s also hard for me too. I love you honey and I wish that you will speak to me. Don’t understand my decision as a means of getting rid of you.” Dae Jung uttered his words slowly, trying to convey his sincerity about his decision. Of course he didn’t want his daughter to hate him, absolutely not! But he considered his actions as showering her with ‘tough love’.

“Oppa!”   a smile appeared on her father’s face because she had not spoken to him in three weeks and finally she uttered one word, one word that caused his face to break out in a smile as wide as the Pacific Ocean.“How many minutes remain until we arrive at the boarding facility?” she asked nonchalantly, popping and gnawing on her bubble gum that could have flushed down with ease due her animalistic chewing that had the muscles in her jaws acting up.

“Honey, sweetie, didn’t you hear me?”

“ Oppa ! I heard everything you said quite clearly and I choose to disregard it. So, now will you just please tell me how many minutes remain until we arrive at the boarding facility, because a question cannot answer a question.” Hei Ryung stated in a very stern and monotonous voice. Why did she have to be so cold? She was like a robot; no feelings attached to any aspect of the vast world she lived in.

“45 minutes. We have approximately 45 minutes.”

Ugh. Hei Ryung let out a sigh of exasperation and resumed skimming through the lovely pictures of her mom. As the images and memories of the happy moments they shared registered in her mind once again, an odd feeling of her chest tightening around her heart as if to strangle it came about and the chest pains returned and so did the tears that flowed from her eyes with very little effort. She lifted her head to peer through the heavily tinted car window. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday morning. The passersby seemed very energized, gregarious and cheerful as they went about their daily activities here and there, interacting with others, especially the mothers and daughters and how she wished she could have that bond again, that interaction between her and her mom. Her knuckles curled tightly into fist and she gritted her teeth as she became infuriated at the happy people beyond her car window who so blatantly mocked how she was feeling; her dilemma.

“Mom… I wish you were here.”

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so 1st chappie