YONGHWA

He was considered one of the hottest guys on campus.  He was funny, engaging and very approachable. He often put his friends in stitches when he talked in Busan dialect or when he spoke English with an exaggerated nasal twang. He was used to girls paying him a lot of attention but to his credit never let it go to his head. He didn’t have time to be tied down or to play around.

Why?

Because Jung Yonghwa was groomed to be chaebol from the minute he was born. Since he started school his friends were carefully selected.  He was driven to and from school. His parents made sure he was exposed to arts and culture at a very young age. He had tutors for English, Mandarin and piano.

Yonghwa’s older brother was frail and sickly since he was little, as far back as Yonghwa could remember his brother was always painting or drawing. Even as a young boy he knew in his heart that his brother would never be the heir to their father’s business.  So Yonghwa never questioned the training his father would give him – at age 7 he attended his first shareholders meeting, he would sit still as his father would talk to him about their business, he had gotten used to spending his school breaks in his father’s office – Yonghwa would endure because he loved his eldest brother and his parents. He had schooled himself to be the perfect chaebol’s heir.

Being the youngest child, Yonghwa was loved and cherished by his parents.  He never really thought that his life was different from the other kids in school until he was in 6th grade when his older brother left for high school in the USA. Suddenly all the extra lessons were tiresome, he missed his brother a lot and would spend long hours on the phone talking to him. His brother was happy living with their aunt and uncle in Seattle and studying at the Seattle Academy for Arts and Sciences.

But Yonghwa could be just as whiny and as irritating as any brat. He only wanted his mother or his nanny Min Sun to take care of him, his clothes, his shoes, his food and his room.  No one else or he would throw a tantrum. He was a prankster and so mischievous that he got himself and his brother into trouble lots of times with their parents. He was adamant in going to the same high school in Seattle like his brother. He wanted to be normal – ride a bike to school, go to the movies, go to the mall – he needed to be with his brother. So his parents let him.

He came back to Korea after graduating high school and got accepted in SKKU College of Engineering in Suwon. He found 3 lifelong friends – Jonghyun, who was also studying architecture and thru Jonghyun - 2 younger friends – Jungshin and Minhyuk who were both starting their freshman year at SKKU.  Since his parents already bought him a house in Suwon to live in while he was studying there – he invited his friends to live with him. Rent free. With only one condition - that they not treat him any different – he was only Hyung – who goofed around a lot, drank a lot, had fan girls running after him but could be counted on whenever they needed him.

But lately his mother had been getting on his case. He knew that it was only a matter of time before his parents would be arranging meetings for him – soon he would be facing what he wanted most to avoid – a chaebol marriage. His mother would argue that they didn’t want him to settle down immediately but to just meet “eligible” girls. His mother was expecting him to come home this weekend – another “dinner party” she said.  He couldn’t back out because he’d been neglecting his mother for the past 3 weeks. Jihyo Noona, his father’s assistant, had called him up last night lecturing him about it. Yonghwa had argued that he and his brother being the products of a successful chaebol marriage didn’t guarantee that his own chaebol marriage would be successful. But sneaky Jihyo Noona had played on his filial feelings and before they hung up he told her to inform his parents that he would be in their house in Seoul for Sunday dinner.

But then all thoughts of his mother’s “dinner party” flew out of his mind when he opened his door the morning that he met Joohyun for the first time.

When she glanced up at him and shyly looked away as she passed him, Yonghwa wanted to hit himself on the head. He might have intimidated her too much.

Following her into their kitchen, Yonghwa seated himself in front her so that he could see her face. He took into account the porcelain skin, the cute red glasses and those perfectly pink lips.  But what he found fascinating was her air of calmness – it soothed him just to look at her. He had to look away because the others might notice that he was staring at their guest.

He just listened to Yoona tell them that Hyunnie was accepted at SKKU School of Art. They’d been friends since they were little girls and had spent summers together.

“Ah, Hyunnie – I forgot to tell you that Yonghwa Oppa studied in the USA like you did!” Yoona said.

When Joohyun looked at him and smiled, Yonghwa felt his face get hot.

“Hyung! I’ve never seen you blush before!” Jonghyun started laughing. This earned him a kick under the table.

“Ah, mianhe – I must still be sleepy.” Yonghwa muttered.

“Where did you study?”  Joohyun asked.

“I studied at Seattle – with my brother” Yonghwa answered.

“Hyunnie was born there and studied until high school – so you have to forgive her for her Korean. She speaks mostly in honorifics and it still takes her sometime to process what she has to say,” Yoona remarked.

“”Unnie – “Joohyun was clearly embarrassed as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Ah, don’t worry – you’ll speak well in no time” Jonghyun said laughing.

Just then the 2 maknaes came down – both were only wearing shorts and hoodies.  When they saw that they had a guest they scrambled upstairs to change. Their facial expressions were so funny that Joohyun had to put her hand over to stop herself from giggling like Yoona.

Twinkling eyes, Yonghwa thought to himself as he watched her.

Jonghyun was serving the girls with hot tea when the 2 maknaes came back wearing pants. Yoona introduced them and they said their shy hellos to Joohyun. Both got even more comfortable when they learned that they were the same age at her.  They took it as a personal victory that Joohyun spoke to them in banmal while she still used honorifics with Jonghyun and Yonghwa.

“Yah, Hyungs! We have guests – aren’t we treating them to lunch?” Jungshin asked the 2 older guys.

“Why don’t you just say you’re hungry?” Jonghyun exclaimed.

“Hyung are you cooking or are we eating out?” Minhyuk asked Yonghwa.

“You cook?’ Joohyun looked at Yonghwa.

“A little-“Yonghwa replied.

“What? You cook bulgogi, dhukboki, fried rice with kimchi, donburi –“ Minhyuk would have gone on and on  if Yonghwa hadn’t clamped his hand over their maknae’s mouth.

Of course, he knew how to cook. Since Yonghwa refused to have a helper while he was at Suwon, his mother and Min Sun made sure that he knew basic Korean dishes and some Japanese ones.

“Oppa! Just cook okay? Make me dhukboki! You make it just right!” Yoona was clapping her hands.

“Yah – you’re making me jealous Im Yoona!” Jonghyun pretended to be angry.

“Aish – can we just have that for tonight? Let’s just go out to eat – I want yukgaejang!” Jungshin said.

“Hyu