Terminolgy Index:

The Shangyuan Festival –上元节; China’s Lantern Festival, a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the Lunar Calendar, marking the last day of the Lunar New Year Celebration.

Yuanxiao – 元宵; Type of snack/dessert food eaten on the Shangyuan festival. Made of sweet rice flour into sticky glutinous balls and filled with sesame, red-bean, or peanut butter paste.

The photo had stellar quality. It was just a few inches on the journal page, but Hyerim could make out Yi Fan’s bright blonde hair, Mrs. Song’s beautiful smile, a gorgeous man next to her whom Hyerim guessed was Mr. Khun, and a few other kids Hyerim guessed were members of the club.

Yi Fan had written the article a few months back. His writing was blocky, but there was sweetness in his tone. Hyerim hadn’t expected it.

“What do you think?”

Hyerim looked up, greeted by those stark eyes and thick eyebrows. She wasn’t sure, but the blonde boy seemed nervous.

“I like it. This restaurant sounds amazing. Is it far from school?”

His chin and jaw loosened. “It’s really close actually. Did that help give you an idea of how to start writing?”

Hyerim shifted her eyes to the blank document on her laptop. “I thought you were helping me write this.”

“I am.” He laughed, his glossy DSLR. “But I’ve never helped someone for their first time before, so I don’t really know how we should start either.”

The classroom door slid open and two kids Hyerim had seen in the small journal photo stepped into the wide classroom.

“Yi Fan! Where’s our new member?”

The two boys rowdily took seats near Hyerim and Yi Fan. One of the boys, with a head of striking brownish-blonde hair as surprising as Yi Fan, had a clear Western vibe about him. He had small, thinly set eyes and fair, light skin, with a Western smile, and a certain way of making his school uniform look slightly Western.

The other boy had tousled black hair, lengthy for a Chinese boy, and a feminine face. His warm, brown eyes confused Hyerim. She wondered if she was looking at someone with a mix of cultures she hadn’t seen before.

“You must be Hui-Lin! We heard a lot about you from Yi Fan.” The black haired boy said.

Hyerim turned to Yi Fan, an eyebrow raised curiously. The blonde boy shrugged.

“Welcome to the club! Did Yi Fan already tell you that? But you see, it’s not official until you hear it from us!” The brown-blonde haired boy laughed, earning a light punch from the black haired boy.

“I’m Yil Woon, and this is Xian Hua.” The black haired boy introduced.

An odd silence, no more than a second, settled, confusing Hyerim again. Then, the two new boys and Yi Fan burst out into laughter. Hyerim caught Yi Fan’s eyes, lost.

“Well, these guys only use their Chinese names with the most formal people. Like on their school roster.” Yi Fan explained.

“Yeah. Normally, I go by Amber. And he goes by Henry.” The black haired boy suddenly switched to English. “Yi Fan said you speak English, right?”

Hyerim hoped she wasn’t showing her shock. She peered at the black haired boy, and realized, that Yil Woon was a girl. She’d been fooled by her short, boy cut, her deep voice, and most importantly, her loose uniform, complete with a pair of trousers instead of a skirt like Hyerim’s.

After a while, Hyerim gave a baffled nod. “Sorry. I got so confused. You said you go by Amber? I completely mistook you for…”

“A dude? Everybody does that. She basically is.” The brown haired boy, Henry, remarked, earning another punch from the girl, Amber.

Hyerim lost herself in the jumbled conversation with Amber, Henry, and Yi Fan. They continually switched from English to Mandarin, even throwing Cantonese words in from time to time. She learned that Amber was a Taiwanese-American girl, born in the U.S, and that Henry was Taiwanese-Canadian. It was unlike any conversation she’d ever had before. It both drained and excited her, simultaneously.

“By the way. He didn’t tell you, did he? Yi Fan’s English name is Kris. Feel free to call him that.” Henry said, his thin eyes disappearing into his puffed cheeks as he smiled. Hyerim turned to Yi Fan expectantly.

“I think Hui-Lin has had enough of you two. Hurry up and get started on your article. We have ours to write.” Yi Fan waved a hand at the two, getting up from his seat and circling the table to sit next to Hyerim. Her blinking word document remained blank.

“But!”

A glare from Yi Fan seemed to stop Amber and Henry’s complaints. “You just want Hui-Lin to yourself.” Hyerim caught Henry muttering, before the duo retreated to a far corner of the room. She pretended not to have heard, turning and almost running into Yi Fan’s head, much closer against her than she’d thought.

“Oops! Sorry, Kris.”

Yi Fan nodded, turning Hyerim’s laptop in his direction and letting his large hands hover over the keyboard. He typed in the phrase, ‘Guangzhou’s German-China’.

He turned back to her, and Hyerim pulled her head back. They were too close.

“So, if you get to call me Kris, can I ask how you pronounce your name in Korean?”

Hyerim bit her lip. She didn’t know if she’d be able to contain her laugh when Yi Fan attempted and most likely butchered her name.

“It’s Hyerim.”

“Hyerim.”

Hyerim’s mouth dropped. “Whoa! Your pronunciation was almost perfect!”

Yi Fan smiled, then returned to the laptop screen. Under the title of the article, he wrote, ‘By Wu Yi Fan and Wu Hui-Lin.”

“Hyerim. It’s pretty.”

Hyerim stepped into her home, sighing, her shoulders tender and flabby from the weight of carrying her laptop from school.

“Hyerim! Do you know what time it is?! Where have you been?”

She looked up at her mother, a strong scent of Korean bean paste greeting her. She dug through her backpack to find her phone. She’d stayed at school for almost five hours, finishing her article with Yi Fan.

“Oh my gosh! Where did the time go?!”

Hyerim gave her mother the most apologetic look she could muster. “I was with the International Club! I told you about it, right? I just lost track of time while we were so focused finishing up our article.”

Hyerim’s mother let her stern gaze linger on Hyerim just a little longer. “Alright Lim-ah, I trust you, okay? And I’m glad you actually took my advice and got involved. But keep track of the time, sweetie!”

As Hyerim trudged up to her room, she stared at her phone, debating. Closing her room door behind her, she made up her mind, and sent a message.

To: Yi Fan

From: Hyerim

Did you get in trouble with your parents for staying at school late? I had no idea we stayed this late!

Hyerim sighed, fumbling through a drawer in her dresser for comfortable clothes. She didn’t expect her phone to respond so quickly.

To: Hyerim

From: Yi Fan

Just the whole, be careful next time thing. Sorry I held you up so long today. At least we got to finish. Amber and Henry didn’t even get halfway.

To: Yi Fan

From: Hyerim

It’s no problem. It was fun, writing about what I ate and stuff.

To: Hyerim

From: Yi Fan

That’s good. Me too.

Hyerim sat on her bed, having thrown her uniform on the sheets and changed into a t-shirt and shorts. She sat there until her mother called for dinner. She didn’t feel like she’d sat there for very long, at all. She was beginning to think she was losing her sense of time, altogether.

Mrs. Song and her husband were the most beautiful couple she had ever met in her life.

“Khun, this is Hui-Lin, my new student and a new member of the club.”

“Nice to meet you. I hope these old guys aren’t scaring you away.”

He laughed, sculpted smile lines decorating his large, brown eyes. As Hyerim shook Mr. Khun’s hand, she couldn’t help the awe, spreading across her face. The man was gorgeous.

Exchanging light banters with Mr. Khun and the rest of the club members, Hyerim stole a few glances at Yi Fan, who towered next to her. Yi Fan was handsome too, Hyerim knew. But unfortunately for Hyerim’s blonde adventure partner, Mr. Khun seemed to exceed Yi Fan’s level, in Hyerim’s opinion and the general human eye. She had to suppress a chuckle at the thought.

“I’m hoping this year’s Shangyuan festival can have a nice, special section for next week’s issue, you guys. That’s why I brought everyone out, and you all have your cameras and bodies ready to go explore and experience, so let’s really try to grab some nice scoops, okay?”

Mr. Khun had the same air of both comfort and steadiness that Mrs. Song had, commanding professionalism. The camera around his neck dwarfed Yi Fan’s, shining in the dimming evening light. In the mass of people out and about in Guangzhou city for China’s Lantern Festival, Hyerim was sure Mr. Khun stood out as an eye-catching individual.

“But before we all separate, let’s release a sky lantern in the air for our club.” Mrs. Song pointed to the large, white lantern by her feet, clapping to herself contently. The simple, white paper lantern had a round shape and a simple inner structure for taking flight into the air. Almost every year that she’d lived in China, Hyerim had floated her own sky lantern into the air with her parents or friends, making New Year’s resolution wishes. She knew the feeling of being with a group, surrounded by hundreds of brightly lit papery bulbs decorating every street in the city, strangers all about with their own lanterns lit and ready, preparing to experience a genuine spectacle of China.

Guangzhou City’s way of celebrating the annual Lantern Festival felt all too familiar and cozy. The warm glow of red paper lanterns suspended above the crowd’s heads everywhere made the February chill turn away, discouraged. Kids ran around, their miniature lanterns stringed to wooden sticks bumping into each other. The night’s darkness seemed unable to settle. Proud lights kept everyone awake and eager.

Hyerim was no foreigner here. Across from her, Amber and Henry waved. She waved back, and the two immediately began forming a series of goofy faces, fingers pointing to Hyerim’s left. Hyerim glanced up to the place they were pointing, and caught Yi Fan’s swept blonde hair. She tried her best to hold back her laughter, but a snort escaped her.

“What?” Yi Fan raised an eyebrow at her.

“Nothing.”

Hyerim mouthed at Amber and Henry to stop. They silently laughed, bumping fists.

“Are you guys ready?” Mrs. Song asked. Mr. Khun had already put his camera into action, His eye and the outreaching lens having become merged. He leaned down toward the sky lantern, camera noise snapping.

“Can we take a club picture before we light the lantern Mrs. Song?” said Henry. Mrs. Song brightened, nodding.

Hyerim crouched near the front of the group, with Amber next to her. She felt Yi Fan settling into place behind her. His hand nestled on her shoulder.  

Mr. Khun took a few shots of the group with Mrs. Song and the lantern, before asking a stranger so he could join in the shot, giving the man specific directions of camera use.

“One last time!” The short man with Mr. Khun’s camera directed.

“This one’s a derp picture!!” Amber exclaimed. Hyerim didn’t have any time to think. On a whim, she ended up closing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. When they finished, she felt Yi Fan’s hand leaving her shoulder gently.

Mrs. Song had Yi Fan light the sky lantern. When the glow came to life, turning Yi Fan’s blonde head golden, Hyerim clapped cheerfully with the rest of the group.

Slowly, the lantern rose. Several other lanterns, some, brightly patterned, and others simple and glowing, already dotted the navy evening sky. Hyerim held her breath, watching the round lantern crawl up to join the others.

“Okay you guys, make your wishes for our club while you have the chance! Let’s all wish that we all become as tight as a family, and our journal will always be beautiful and successful! And I’m warning you all, no evil wishes!” Mrs. Song’s eyes twinkled as she spoke to her students. Mr. Khun quietly wrapped his arm around her waist. Hyerim obediently wished for what Mrs. Song had asked.

“I wished that you would get pregnant this year Mrs. Song!” Henry called out.

“Henry! No!” Mrs. Song retorted, putting her hands on her hips.

As Hyerim laughed with the others, she felt Yi Fan leaning closer to her ear.

“What did you wish for?”

Hyerim smiled, feeling childish for following Mrs. Song’s directions so obediently. “I wished for exactly what Mrs. Song told us to…” Wagging her body side to side, she quietly asked, “And you, Kris?”

The smug line set on Yi Fan’s lips made Hyerim deathly curious. “I’ll tell you later.”

The International Club’s lantern floated away, slowly, into the auburn night.

“That was awesome! I got some great shots of you guys!” Mr. Khun held his thumb up at the kids, flipping through his most recent shots on his DSLR. “Well, if you guys are ready, you can start pairing up and heading out. Make sure to capture the bests of China’s Lantern Festival, got it? Oh, and of course, everything has to be clean and publishable!”

Amber scoffed. “Clean and publishable. You’re funny Mr. Khun!”

Mr. Khun’s eyes softly narrowed at Amber. Catching Hyerim watching the two, he winked at her, before taking Mrs. Song’s hand and weaving into the crowd.

“Hui-Lin!” Amber yanked Hyerim by the shoulders, smile wide. “Where are you going? Wanna go get Yuanxiaos with me and Henry? We can leave Yi Fan out!”

“Leave who out? Leave Amber out?” Yi Fan stepped up next to Hyerim, hands dug in his pockets.

Amber wrinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes, leering up at the tall blonde boy, lips tightly zipped.

“Oh shut up and let’s go people!” Henry hooked an arm across Amber’s neck, pulling her with him into a busy street.