Jung Hwa stood at the corner of the main street, waiting for the streetlight to change. One arm was carrying a bag full of groceries, the other a steadying hold for someone. Next to him is a little halmoni,  talking nonstop, gushing at him. He was on his way to the church to see Mi Yeung, when he saw the old lady struggling to cross the street.

"Oh I wish there are more polite young man like you. Nowadays, they all just ignore old ladies like me, such rudeness," she shook her head in disdain, then babbled on, glancing at him, "so respectful and so handsome too. And such strong arms you have!"  She said as she gave his forearm a squeeze.

She continued as they crossed the street together, "Good looking man like yourself and in uniform, oh my! My late husband, bless his soul, was a military man too, and he was also good looking, at least I thought so. I snapped him up real quick; there were too many girls eyeing boys in uniform even back then."

They reached the curb and Jung Hwa handed the grocery bag to the old lady. "Will you be ok, halmoni? The bag is heavy."

"I don't have far to go. Thank you, young man." She had turned and looked up at him. "You really are handsome," she sighed. "I wish I have a marriageable granddaughter to introduce you to..."

"Halmoni, thank you, but I'm married," Jung Hwa said with a smile, surprised how easily the words came.

"Oh you are? Ah, she is a lucky girl." She gave him a nod of thanks again and shuffled on her way. 

Jung Hwa walked further down the block, espying an old brown building bearing the markings of a church; its small plank sign in badly need of a fresh coat of paint. The signage says 'The First Mission Church' with the times listing for service. Below there was an added script saying "Church School open daily 8-130. Please use side door." 

He followed the path, passing through a rickety gate and entered the side door. The stairs were lit with several lightbulbs, and even from here he could hear jumbled voices of children reciting something from the room downstairs. He peered through the blurry window panel of the door into the room, not wanting to interrupt the class by barging in. He saw children grouped in ages sitting around several small tables. The younger ones, a few handfuls no more than 5 years old were coloring on paper, while the older ones were gathered around Mi Yeung as she wrote on the board. He could hear snippets of her voice, though barely seeing her in the corner of the room. It sounded like she was reading poetry to the class. The cadence of her voice was soothing, and he tried to catch a better glimpse from where he stood. 

"Can I help you?"  a voice from behind startled him. The older man stood at the hallway bearing an assortment of fruits on a wicker basket. 

Jung Hwa bowed and introduced himself, "I'm waiting for Mi Yeung, I thought she might be finished by now."

"Ah, I'm Pastor Woong. Mi Yeung mentioned you will come by. The kids should be finishing up in a few minutes. Come on in," he said.

"Let me help," Jung Hwa said opening the door. They were greeted by kids who stood in attention the minute they walked in. A little boy piped up, "Good morning, Pastor Woong" leading the whole class to follow suit. They all bowed in greeting and sat back down.

"Good morning kids. We have a visitor here for Ms. Lee, so please finish your work. Mi Yeung-sshi, go on then I can take over."

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"How long have you been teaching?" he asked. They both stepped out into the sunshine after leaving the church basement.

"A year ago, in exchange for the accomodations in the common house," she said. "I had my teaching certificate a while back but could not teach because of the war." 

"And you prepare the meals in the common house too?"

"I share that with two others but Seung Min just had a baby, so it's fallen mainly on me and Yeon Seo," she said. "She's finishing up in the university so I help her out when she needs to study. I don't mind it; It's not very hard, just time consuming with Appa being sick. I have to rely on Mrs. Wen a lot."

"But Mrs. Wen told me you also work in the school's registrar office. How many jobs do you have, Mi Yeung-ie," he held onto her arm to stop their walk.

"Just those. The registrar one is just a temp job," she looked up at him then glanced away. "I had to do something. Everything's been so difficult..."

"Well, you don't have to worry now. I've taken care of the hospital bills and his medicines--"

"Jung Hwa...I don't want you to think we're... that I'm taking advantage of you like this. I really..." her voice trailed in embarrassment.

"Don't think of it like that. We're family now. And I mean that. It's the least thing I can do for what your family did for me."

 "Thank you," she said sounding dubious.

Besides," he says while giving her a teasing look, "I kinda like the idea of you taking advantage of me."

Mi Yeung blushed prettily at his teasing. 

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He took her out to lunch, and they spent some time talking a bit more, getting to know each other in the process.

She found out he has a half brother he is close to, but had lost both parents at a young age, hence his early military enlistment.

He found out she had never ventured outside of Yangkusan, perhaps once to Mokpo when she was a teen, when she went with her father to gather supplies.

They both like to read; she loves poetry and adventure books, where she can be transported to places she has only read about. While he enjoys more sci-fi fantasy books to escape the ordinariness of military life. They found they both like to relax on the beach. She told him she's stubborn, being an only child. He told her he's meticulous and methodical, and tenacious to a fault. They both laughed at this, realizing they share similar obstinate tendencies. She quipped, "we're in trouble then." Jung Hwa only smiled and said, "But I'm easy, you'll see." And winked at her. Mi Yeung thoroughly enjoyed herself, feeling a carefreeness she has not felt for a very long time. 

Before they knew it, the hours passed and she went to see him off in the airport. Jung Hwa needed to return back to headquarters, after obtaining the necessary papers from the consulate office. They had asked about Mr. Sung who had helped them years ago and learned he had left for Busan during the war but had passed away soon thereafter. 

She stood at the tarmac with him as he was ready to leave. 

"I'll get everything ready for when you can join me. I know you can't leave Mr. Lee, but the military has an excellent hospital; he can be taken care of there and you will still be close by."

"He doesn't want to leave Yangkusan; he's adamant about that. But I'll ask him again." Mi Yeung replied.

"Let me know, okay? You have a phone now; my contact numbers are there. Call me if you need anything, anything at all."

Mi Yeung nodded, telling him she will. Jung Hwa had reached out to hold her hand, seemingly unable to let go. And Mi Yeung was also feeling somber that he is leaving. She looked at him, her eyes searching his and saw the way he is looking at her. She felt the fluttering of butterflies in her stomach once again. And he...he slowly bent to touch his lips softly on her temple before walking reluctantly away. 

She stood there as the plane takes off, raising her hand in goodbye. He had looked out of the small window and watched her until he couldn't see her anymore.

Mi Yeung watched as his plane grew smaller and smaller in the sky. Her thoughts flew to yesterday, that afternoon after they came to a mutual understanding, sitting together on the stoop watching the rain, holding hands. She couldn't help but think now that maybe her Halmoni had an inkling all along about what their future holds. She feels something for this man, albeit still in the very early stages. She's never been in love before and could not begin to fathom how being in love feels. But she cannot deny the attraction; the same stirrings she felt years ago and oh, how it all came rushing back now just seeing him again. That same evening she had fixed their sleeping pellet on the floor; with her Appa in the middle, she had placed Jung Hwa on his left while she took to her Appa's right. The candle was slowly burning down to its end, casting the small room in muted greys; the light flickering the shadows across the darkening room like a caress. They had both laid down facing each other just staring; their gazes meeting across the sleeping form of her father, until the candle neared its end and the wick snuffed itself out plunging the room in darkness. The room was chilly; it was always chilly at this time of the year. But tonight, the cold night had never felt this warm in November.

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