Silla Tea House located just off the main city square in Jinhae-gu, was filled to the brim with guests today.

“Miss, over here please” demanded a man with a Seoul accent. Waving his hands like a crazy person to get Yoonhe’s attention, desperately wanting to be served.

 “It’s a mad house here Noona!” said Kyungsoo, staggering towards me with an order for table 7.

“There here for the festival” I said taking the order docket from him and exchanging it for a tray with a hot pot of brewed green tea and 4 little tea cups.

 It was the last day of winter and spring was approaching. Bright yellow forsythia flowers (kanari) started to blossom out the front of the tea house. Mum planted them along the window sills to make the tea house looked pretty and inviting, complementing dad’s handy work in creating his beloved tea house. But the kanari flowers also signified that spring was near and before long magnolias will follow and then the famous cherry blossoms will line the streets of Jinhae-gu – what the town is famous for.

“I thought people like coffee, what happened!” stated Yoonhe; slamming the tray with such care the contents remained intact.

“The coffee houses are twice as full” Jongdae said behind me, which made me jump from his response.

“You’re here, finally!” I said as I turned around to face him.

“Mian-hae (sorry) Noona Hana, but Kyeong-Wha station was busy as hell it took forever to get here!” said Jongdae while putting on his apron.

“It’s okay Jongdae, can you give this tray to table 12 please” I ordered, handing over the tray.

Jongdae took the tray with his signature smile and joyfully walked to table 12 to serve the guests. That boy is so cheerful, would really like to know his secret.

.....

Mum and Dad were originally from Boseong, a land known for its rich green tea plantations. Grandfather owned one of the biggest and prestigious green tea plantations in Boseong. His knowledge of teas was like Wikipedia but better. Grandfather Kim knew everything to do with brewing tea from plant to teapot. His knowledge was passed down to dad who was a navy man. When dad was assigned to the navy base at Jinhae-Gu, he also took his knowledge of tea brewing with him. Dad would say – “You can take the man out of Boseong, but you cannot make him stop loving tea!”  Lame, but it was the truth. Dad passed down the knowledge of everything that he knew about tea brewing to me and I was fascinated by it from an early age. Mum said I will spend hours in the garden helping dad plant the tea seedlings. However, it wasn’t just tea I was fond of but anything plant related I was drawn too. Dad would jokingly say to mum: “Our daughter was born with green hands!” Dad was in the service for 40 years and during his military breaks he would build the Silla tea house. Although Dad said Silla was to remind him of his birthplace Boseong, he built the teahouse for Mum. So that she wouldn’t feel lonely while he was in the Navy. In my mind, Dad built Silla for his lover and Mum loved Silla because it was a gift from her lover. It was their Tai Mahaj.

With the love of nature, I became a landscape designer. I was studying at Seoul University when I got my first tender to design a small section at Seonyudo Park. Dad passed away that year and I named the section “Dae-Ryeom Kim” after him- he would of love it. Haneul Park was my next project after graduating from Seoul University which I won the inaugural landscape designer of the year award. From then I designed gardens in Lotte world to major shopping centres.  Recently I was overseeing the landscape designs for XOXO mall when I got the call from Kyungsoo - Mum had fallen sick. For a year, mum went in and out of hospital and the doctors gave us good news then bad news each time she visited. It was never constant and it made my heart ache and my belly weak every time Yoonhe or Kyungsoo gave me word on Mum’s progress.  Mum fought so hard in that year – she passed away last autumn.

 With mum passing away, Yoonhe and Krungsoo still at school. Jongdae was still fulfilling his military service (something he wanted to do for Dad).  No one was free to take care of the Silla tea house. Dad’s Silla Teahouse. There was no way I was going to let the Silla close its doors. So I made a bold move to pack up my loft Hongdae apartment for the bay city of Jinhae-gu...

“Unnie, Table 2 would like a refill” Proclaimed Yoonhe.

As I was pouring the boiled water into the empty teapot, I could sense Yoonhe wanted to ask me something.

“Spill it!” I said to my little sister.

“What!” said Yoonhe in a tone to conceal her true intentions.

“You want to ask me something don’t you?” quizzing her.

“Nothing!”  Proclaimed, Yoonhe. She’s such a bad liar.

“You want to ask me if you can go to the Military parade tomorrow, don’t you?” Quizzing her further.

“Err....maybe?” Yoonhe said. “How do you know that I want to go to the parade?”

“Call it sister inception” I said with a cheeky grin.

“She wants to see Yifan. Isn’t obvious?” said Jongdae sneaking up behind Yoonhe.  My baby brother really has a knack of sneaking up on people, must be a navy thing.

“Ergh, why are you so annoying Hyung!” said Yoonhe giving her big brother a nudge with her elbow.

“Hahaha, so it is then. Don’t you know that your Hyung knows everything” announced Jongdae with his signature grin but rubbing his stomach where Yoonhe wounded him.

“You guys are terrible!” said Yoonhe in a huff.

“Well, how long are you going for? It can’t be the whole day.” I said scanning the busy room. “You can’t let your baby brother do all the work tomorrow. Saturday is our busiest day” I said.

“Is Yoonhe ditching me tomorrow to be with her navy boyfriend?” said Kyungsoo glaring at Yoonhe.

“Noona will be here with you!” said Yoonhe counter glaring at her little brother.

“No she’s not, she will be at the Xiumin Mansion tomorrow!” said Kyungsoo.

Feeling slightly amused by the bickering about my whereabouts tomorrow I was tempted to see who will win the glaring battle between them but Jongdae interrupted them –

“Noona has to go to Captain Minseok’s mansion to tend to the grounds tomorrow, so you can’t smooch with Yifan all day! An hour tops” stated Jongdae and giving me a look confirming he had my back.

Xiumin Mansion sat marvellously at the end of downtown Jinhae-gu. Captain Minseok’s father the General and Dad were navy buddies and Dad would tend the Xiumin mansion gardens each spring as gratitude for their friendship while they were servicemen together. It is also home to the annual Jinhae Gunhangje Festival ball (Cherry Blossom Festival). Captain Minseok asked me if I wanted to design the landscape for this year’s Gunhangje Festival ball back in February. An offer I couldn’t refuse. I love brewing tea but landscaping is my passion plus I figured it stop me grieving for Mum...I miss her so much.

As I came back from my thoughts about Mum, Jongdae, Yoonhe and Kyungsoo were in a sibling war.

“Shhh – Time Out kids!” I said. Gesturing the time out sign with my hands.

“Don’t frighten the guests!” I protested.

They all stopped and stared at me thinking I might slap them at that moment like naughty children behaving badly.

“Yoonhe, I’m giving you 2 hours tops - no ifs or buts about it! You will be going with Hyung since he will be taking part in the parade tomorrow” I ordered. She accepted my offer with silence. According to Yoonhe, two hours was better than one hour or none at all.

“Kyungsoo ah, I won’t take long at Xiumin mansion, I’ll be here at the tea house just before midday” I said rubbing one of his tiny shoulders as reassurance.

“No worries Noona, hopefully it will be quiet tomorrow due to the parade” Said Kyungsoo with his innocent glaze.

By now, the crowds at Silla tea house were fading and the Kim’s are making way to close up for the day.

....

As the evening approached, the winter cool breeze makes its last performance in Jinhae-gu. A chauffeur driven Rolls Royce enters the main city street and makes a right turn towards the bay. The neighbourhood is filled with huge houses. The car drives towards to the end of the street where the large mansion is. The car approaches the big iron gates. The iron gates are opened to reveal a long driveway. The drive seems long during the night sky however during the day its one of the most scenic routes in Jinhae-gu with rows of cherry blossoms aligning the driveway. The car reaches its destination – Xiumin Mansion. A tall, lean young man exits the car and stares at the huge house before him.

“Young master, you have arrived” said the house butler greeting him with a bow.