I’ve never liked green tea. It was too bitter—much too “aged” for my taste. It felt rough against my tongue, and thick against my mouth. Its heavy texture added more to its bitterness.

Green tea tasted like poison to me. It looked the part, too.

But Noona’s favorite was green tea.

It was the only thing she ordered whenever we visited my favorite tea store.

“Because it’s the only traditional tea they serve right,” she would say with a scrunch of her nose.

To her, it was calming—the perfect drink after a day’s worth of training at the Tae Kwon Do studio. She liked it with cookies, particularly, Lu Han-hyung’s chocolate chip cookies (I didn’t know Hyung started baking until she mentioned it).

But I couldn’t understand how something so bitter could give peace to her aching body.

She told me it was like conquering all the challenges she faced that day, or on any other day.

“It’s bad stuff, but it’s what makes you stronger.”

~

One day, I decided to visit the studio. Noona sat on one of the mats; her dubok was drenched in sweat. She took a swig of her jug, but a moment later, she put it down. She removed the lid and peered at the content; her frown and disbelieving look told me that she had run out of green tea.

I smiled and approached her, sitting down to meet her eyes.

“Noona,” I greeted, holding up a plastic bag for her to see. “I bought you green tea.”

She took it gratefully, grinning and saying her thanks. The smile in her eyes suited her.

I got my cup out and poked a straw through the hole. I settled beside her, just a few inches away.

“Oh, since when did you start drinking green tea, Se Hun?” she asked.

My eyes immediately went to her legs, to her arms, and finally, to her chest—a piece of gray peeking through her loosely-tied uniform.

“Ever since I wanted to be strong as you are, Noona.”