I woke up to the sound of my aunt knocking non-stop on my door. I forgot that I promised her to follow her to Myeongdong today. After the struggle with my inner-self that keep on telling me to just continue sleeping and ignore the knocking until it goes away, I finally wake up and open the door. My aunt tells me to get ready and come down to eat breakfast before going to the café with her.

It didn’t took me long to get ready. I take the usual 5 minutes bath and went down wearing black clothing to see my aunt sipping some orange juice. I thought she would drink coffee seeing that she open a café full of cats. She either likes coffee too much or she just likes cat. I took my sit in front of her and she shook my head as she stares at me. Now, what did I do wrong again?

“We’re not going to a funeral, boy. Can’t you at least wear something… with color?” My aunt said. I look at her and just shook my head. She rolls her eyes and answers me with a fine before she went to the kitchen to wash her dishes. She then went towards her room and when she came out once again, she gave me a white hat that writes ‘angel’ and told me to wear it.

“But the wording are so cheesy…”

“It’s a gift from me for you returning to Korea. Just wear it! I feel like we’re going to fight a lot while you’re here!” She said and put the cap on my head forcefully and I find myself laughing. Even though I keep on going against her word, I can feel the warmth from her. It’s like looking at a mirror, seeing myself in her but she’s just a woman and older. Maybe that is why my parents send me to stay with her, because they think she would understand me well?

After finishing my breakfast, my aunt told me to carry a box near the door to the car while she waits downstairs. I just push the box with my feet out of the house so that I can close the door and only start carrying the box when I reach the car park where my aunt is waiting. I hope she won’t know about me pushing the box with my feet because she keeps on emphasizing “CARRY IT, DO NOT PUSH IT WITH YOUR FEET” for a thousand times before she left the house. She might have done it a lot before, or maybe that staff named Chanhee did it a lot before.

When we arrived at the shop, there’s this short guy (who’s taller than me) standing near where my aunt park her car who was busy singing as if the whole Myeongdong belongs to him. Don’t he have any kind of shame in him at all to be singing like that? When he saw my aunt, he bowed to the both of us. Ah so I guess, this guy is the Chanhee my aunt talked about? I was going to carry the box from before but my aunt stop me and suddenly start examining the box. Does she any way in knowing whether I carry it or just push it?

“Lee Byung Hun!” I could hear this Chanhee guy snorted at my name. Yeah yeah, it’s that famous actor’s name!

“I told you to carry the box, not push it with your legs! Look at how dirty the bottom of the box is! I do not want that to be place in my café! Chanhee, take this key and go take a new box in the store now! And you young man, you better start listening to my words next time!” My aunt starts her nagging. Well, I did not think of the bottom of the box. If I did, I would place a plastic bag beneath it that would still let me push the box instead of carrying it. Why do something easy the hard way?

“Hey you! Wha-je ne-im-me?” I looked at Chanhee who just came downstairs with a new box from top to bottom. Why is he suddenly trying to speak an alien language with me? Is this English?

“Excuse me?” I ask in english. I do not know why I’m not speaking in Korean.

“You know ko-re-an?” He ask in English again trying to speak to me.

“Eh, the owner speak to you in Korean just now, don’t tell me you do not understand Korean!” He suddenly starts speaking in full Korean and punch my arm acting as if I’m a close friend.

“Noona, does he knows Korean? Is he deaf?” Chanhee starts asking my aunt in Korean. Why is he calling my aunt ‘noona’ when she’s obviously older than how old a noona is supposed to be.

“Can you help carry this up for me now, Chanhee? And stop calling me noona!” My aunt did not even answer his question and he stood there looking at me still looking for the answers to his questions.

“LEE CHANHEE!!”

“Ok! I’m coming! Eh noona, you know you like it when I call you noona, don’t pretend like you don't!” Chanhee winked, he winked! That guy winked!! He winked at my aunt! Right after Chanhee left, I walk towards my aunt and start speaking in Korean to her.

“Aunty, why do you hire someone weird like him? He calls you noona, he winks at you. Does he even know how old you are to be acting that way to you?” I ask while helping my aunt carry some files towards the café.

“I happen to like being treated like that. It makes me feel young and I like feeling young instead of feeling old by how you’re treating me right now!” She said and locks her car as we rode the elevator to the third floor of the building where her café is at.

“Yah you Lee Byung Hun! I know you can speak Korean now! I heard you speaking with noona just now! Do you know how fast I ran downstairs just to spy on you!!” Lee Chanhee started shouting and speaking informally to me when he opens the door to the cat café. I look at him weirdly and just nod my head.

“Did I actually answer no to your question?” I ask in Korean. I think I’m very clever to be answering him like this. Am I automatically a clever guy in Korea now?

“No… but you did not answer my question!” Chanhee said.

“So? You drop your formalities first. I’m Lee Byung Hun and you’re Lee Chan Hee. You’re weird but you’re the only person I know now, so let’s be friends!” I said in english and shake his hand while he stood there being clueless with what I just said.

“Aww these two cuties! Now let’s work!” My aunt says after pinching our cheek. I can really feel her pinching my cheek harder while she pinch Chanhee’s cheek with love! I think she’s in love with Chanhee…