ºChapter Three

     I piched the skin on her wrist that said 김재섭. This was the punishment I was dishing out to her.

     “You didn't tell me it was going to be this cold." I accused her as if it was her job to tell me what the weather was like. She snickered but stopped as soon as I sent her daggers with my eyes. She rubbed her wrist until it was red from the constant friction.

     “Am I your mom? Do I look like a weatherman?" She retorted with a playful chuckle. She gazed down at me with her pretty green eyes and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. This caused us to huddle closer and she rubbed my arm. “Is this better?" she asked.

     I nodded and pushed her off of me. “I’m fine now, O'Hare!" I laughed at her and nudged her gently with my elbow. “So when are getting to this place? You didn't let me eat all day."

     She scoffed something under her breath and ran up ahead of me and began to jump frantically. “Here it is ~" she exclaimed. I smiled and dashed up to her and we both entered the restaurant. 

     "Daebak~~" I said with my mouth half way stuffed with bulgogi. I breathed in and out trying to cool my mouth. O'Hare looked at me over the frames of her glasses and smiled and I gave her a thumbs up sign. She called over the ajummah and ordered a bottle of soju. I opened my eyes wide as she handed over two shot glasses filled them. I quickly swallowed my food. “O'Hare, I'm not a really big drinker you know?" I pointed at the soju timidly.

     "It's alright. I'll just drink this one and then you can help me on the next one okay?" I took my chance and shook my head yes frantically. Only a few moments had passed and I was shoveling some more bulgogi with rice into my mouth when I really began to take in my environment. I didn't think I was this helpless when it came to food; but apparently I was. I pointed to the many pictures adorning the walls.

     “Who is this guy though? This restaurant has like, tons of pictures of him." 

     O'Hare looked up from her bottle of soju to give me a strange look. “This is Dongwoo's parents' food place you idiot." I blushed and realized how much of an idiot I truly was. "You know, from Infinite?" I pushed some more food into my mouth before gingerly standing. I stood there, face-to-face with a picture of this Dongwoo and touched his picture.

     “He looks....." I trailed off unable to find any words to describe what I saw in front of me. His hair was pink and he had a huge smile on his face. All I could feel was my heart thumping against my chest. I sat down quickly and began to eat again, afraid of that feeling. It wasn't me at all. I sighed and continued to eat my food, a little more hesitantly this time though. O'Hare order the next bottle and as promised I drank with her. Two shots and I was done. I looked at her and she was still drinking. I reached over the table and patted her shoulder. "Be careful when drinking please," I pleaded and rested my head on the cold table. I heard her give a disbelieving scoff. I wasn't drunk, but I was tipsy enough to know that I should stop. The main thing that gave it away was my chest was extremely warm and the room spun just a little. The last thing I remember was O'Hare ordering another bottle of soju and urging me on to pour a shot for her. Then blackness.

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     Someone was shaking my body too roughly. I tried to shoo them away but they continued to shake me, until they began to hit me with some type of sharp smelling cloth. I opened my eyes and lazily sat up.

     “Wha'da you want?" I asked. Since my eyes weren't open I assumed it was O'Hare; I remembered being with her last. Someone hit me again until I opened my eyes to an older lady who was pointing at O'Hare yelling at me in Korean. I smiled drunkenly at her and nodded my head as if understand all of what she was saying. I promptly laid my head back down on the wooden table and closed my eyes. I heard a small gasp and the woman yelling for her husband. I felt arms wrap around my shoulders and gently pull me up. The arms were warm and felt like something I missed my whole life. A touch from someone who cared.

     "Alright?" someone asked me in broken English and I smiled and nodded my head once. I felt the cloth press against my cheek and opened my eyes to see two elderly faces peering at me. My right hand took ahold of the cloth and held it to my face for the man. He looked worried and I looked over towards O'Hare who had passed out. After I pulled the rag from my face I stared at it before giving the man a sweet smile. There was a little blood, probably from earlier from when I "placed" my head down on the table. Apparently it had been more of a smashing thing. I bowed to the couple, my shirt cut low so that it allowed anyone to see the name "Jang Dongwoo" penned across my collarbone. It's not like was somewhere that was easy to hide and I had already become used to people being shocked that I had a Korean name for who was my soul mate, when I was obviously not Korean.

     I stumbled ever so slightly and trudged over to O'Hare and perstered her until she stood up with me. We both pitched in with helping pay and I thanked the couple one more time for holding a rag to my head when I was bleeding a little. I shoved O'Hare out of the door and she laughed and began to walk away without me.

     "Hurry up ~ , you're going to get left behind!" she called. For a drunken person, she sure was cheerful.

     'Oh, never mind, there she goes.' O'Hare fell to the ground and began to whine loudly for me, groping around for her glasses. I wrapped her scarf around my neck and began to walk out to help her when the small Ajumma tugging on my hand. She smiled at me widely and handed me a box of food.

     "Dear, why don't you start working here? I sometimes see students around your age walking by, so this little store is close to your school, yes?" She didn't even wait for me to answer before she smacked my with the cloth and shooed me out of the store because they were closing. Sprinting over to O'Hare where I proceeded to help her, and her glasses, off the ground and onto my shoulder. With a huff and a large drawn out grunt I began the dreadful walk home. I pulled out my phone somehow and managed to call Afton, but she was too busy playing around with Kris to give me any attention. 

Ajumma and Ajushi POV

     "Why would you even do that? There are so many Jang Dongwoos out there that it's almost impossible that his soul mate would just waltz into our restaurant and had no idea who he was." Ajushi tried to reason his wife as she watched the couple of girls leave.

     "Aish why are you worrying so much? Just look at her would you?" She lightly punched her husband's shoulder. Of course, they hadn't gotten her name, but she felt so right about this. "She's tall, but not taller than our dinosaur. She has pretty light brown hair that curls at the ends. Her hair is mixed with some gold and I swear I saw some red in there." Ajushi sighed in response.

     “Please stop. I don't want you to get hurt. What will you do when she's not the one?"he said.  Ajumma smiled.

     “I know she is. Did you see the fire in her hazel eyes? That's something that runs in our family." (And if not, there's always Ailee)

     Ajushi laughed. “She’s not part of our family, how does that even make sense? You crazy old bat." He chuckled and continued to clear off the tables.