Kim Jinwoo – New York – Day 2

“Pick up! Plain waffle with whipped cream, strawberries on the side, and an Americano! Here!”

Jinwoo’s heart palpitated as his eyes searched for the girl that stayed on his mind throughout the day and all through the night. He saw her pick up a small tray and walk towards the counter, next to him. He held his breath as she tiptoed to sit on the high stool. When she was got settled, he exhaled but it still felt as though his lungs were struggling to inflate and deflate.

Through the corner of his eyes, he watched her open up a textbook before she picked up her fork and knife. She had her eyes glued to the large anatomy book as she maladroitly cut her waffle into bite size pieces. It was amusing to watch her struggle to find where was so it was difficult for him to try to hide his growing smile. And she could sense that he was paying attention to her every move. She looked at Jinwoo with an inquiring expression. She opened as if to ask him why he was so amused but she quickly shut .

With his limited English, he apologized and explained that he hadn’t meant to offend her. She nodded with feigned understanding and looked away. But Jinwoo’s notebook caught her attention. His notes were in Korean. She read a few bulleted notes about how much foam to pour into one order and how to keep an eye on the coffee beans as they roasted.

“Korean person?” she asked timidly. Jinwoo looked at her in awe. He asked her how she knew and to his embarrassment, she pointed to his notebook. Blushing, he hung his head low and chuckled. He took a chance and asked her if she was a Korean herself in his native tongue. And to his pleasure, she nodded eagerly like a child being asked if she wanted to pet a puppy.

“I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just thought that you were very beautiful” he blushed madly and cleared his throat uncomfortably, “and my attention just seemed to go to you.” The girl ducked her head at the compliment and thanked him quietly. Even when her hair created a curtain around her small round face, his heart raced erratically.

“Are you a barista?” she ignored her textbook and let the waffle to become soggy while her Americano slowly cooled down. Jinwoo happily explained that he was visiting from Korea in order to learn how to become a barista. The girl took interest in his situation and listened to him go on about how difficult it actually was to become what he wanted to become.

“My name is Kim Jinwoo, by the way” he suddenly cut his barista-in-training story short with a formal introduction, “I thought you would want to talk to someone you knew and not just some complete stranger.” He stuck his hand out and the girl bit down her growing smile as she placed her small hand into his larger ones. “I’m Seo Sangyoon. I’m an exchange student with dreams of becoming a pediatric nurse someday.”

The two smiled brightly at each other while they stared into each other’s eyes and held onto their hands. Slowly, the two became lost in their own world and sat at the counter, still as a frozen stream.

Lee Seunghoon – New York – Day 2

He watched two strangers as they got to know a little about one another in a language he knew all too well. He wished that it was him and the stranger with warm eyes sitting at the counter talking and smiling. But he was sitting alone with his guitar on his lap, his fingers moving above the strings and his voice softly singing a tune. His eyes moved to the table by the frosty window where no one sat. He told himself that she wouldn’t come back, that he must have driven her away with his horrible guitar skills.

But as he began to pack up, the doorbell jingled and someone walked over to his small stage, “Am I too late to listen to your performance?” Seunghoon looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened when he saw the stranger looking at him with a frown. He turned around knocking over his guitar case that was sitting on the chair he performed in. He fumbled to get the guitar case back onto the chair. When he finally got it to lie still, he turned around and faced the stranger he had been waiting for.

He asked her repeat the question and she asked him if she had missed his performance. It embarrassed him that he couldn’t understand what she was saying. It was times like these where he wished he had paid attention during hid English tutoring sessions back in Korea. He timidly rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m sorry, my English is not, um, good.” He cheeks flamed as he confessed. He expected to scoff or look down on him for not being to understand but instead she asked the same question in Korean.

“I was packing up because I thought you weren’t coming.” Seunghoon froze at the sudden confession that escaped his mouth. The girl unexpectedly giggled softly, “There was a lot of traffic on the way here. I was hoping to get here as soon as I could to listen to you sing again.” Seunghoon offered to play her a song but she declined. “How about I buy us coffee as a way to say I’m sorry for making you wait.”

And there he was, sitting across from the stranger who made his heart skip a beat. He smiled at her when she smiled at him and he laughed when she laughed. “So what are you doing in New York?” He stiffened at the question. If he answered truthfully, there was a chance he would make himself seem like a fool. “I’m here because my parents expect me to become some famous lawyer or something. But truthfully, I have no idea what I’m doing. I mean, you have music, but I have no dreams whatsoever.” Seunghoon didn’t know whether to feel happy for sorry. He was glad that he wouldn’t seem like a fool for not knowing what he wanted but he felt sorry for the poor girl who seemed so lost.

“To tell you the truth, I came here in hopes of becoming famous but at the same time I have no idea what I want.”  Seunghoon smile grew when she smiled. He loved how she didn’t make things awkward; she made things easier and smoother. “I think we’ll become great friends. I’m Katie Hong, by the way.” His smile hung from ear-to-ear, “I’m Lee Seunghoon.”

Song Mino – New York – Day 2

When he walked in, he saw people getting to know one another and he saw other people getting ready to leave. And lastly, he saw her sitting with her back facing him. She was drinking a latte this time and she had a pamphlet in her hands. He walked over to her table and asked her if he could sit across from her. She looked fearful but she consented. He stared at her arms and noticed there were bandages on them. He opened up his laptop and opened the unfinished draft.

His eyes travelled up her arms to her face. She looked so confused and frustrated. He wanted to ask her what had happened but he knew it wasn’t his place to ask her such a question. Frustrated himself, he muttered a command to himself in his native language. From his peripheral vision, he saw the girl stiffen. Slowly, she looked up from the pamphlet and met eyes with him. She quickly set her eyes back down on the pamphlet.

“You must be a Korean person.” The girl looked at him with less fear and nodded. He gave her a warm and reassuring smile. “I’m Song Mino. It’s nice to meet you.” The girl stared at the hand stretched out before her. Hesitantly, she wrapped her fingers around his hand and shook it, “Lee Miyoung.” She didn’t seem to mind him looking at her scar-riddled arm. He smiled at her and didn’t look away.

He nodded to her arm, “Why are you so miserable?” She glanced at her pitiful arm and then into his eyes. They were sincere and wholehearted. “Why do you want to know?” she played with a corner of the pamphlet. “A beautiful young lady such as yourself doesn’t deserve to be in such horrible pain.” Mino shut his laptop and clasped his hands together. He wanted to take away all of her pain because he was right: no one deserved to be miserable.

“You’re the first to ask so genuinely.” She let out a small scoff and shook her head in joyous disbelief. “My life has been utter Hell ever since I came to New York. People I love have left me. I’ve been hurt in such ways that my mind has forced itself not to remember. That’s why I hurt myself. What about you? Your eyes tell me that you have your own story.” Mino stared back at her in surprise. He hadn’t noticed he had made it obvious that he had his own troubles.

He went on to explain that he desperately needed to write a new novel but had no inspiration until he had seen her. “I hope you don’t feel offended that I’ve begun to write a story about you.” The girl laughed bitterly and shook her head, “I don’t mind you using me but can I ask you not to give me a sad ending?” Mino nodded eagerly and smiled at her. Maybe he was already getting through to her.

“What is that pamphlet for?” She looked down at the forgotten brochure and picked it up, “It’s supposed to help me not commit suicide but the words are too depressing. It’s actually making me think about going through with it.” His smile faltered and he stared at the black and white paper that was folded. “You should sue them for writing such horrible advice.”

And then she did something that made the world stop. She smiled. A natural and gorgeous smile spread across her pale face.

Kang Seungyoon – New York – Day 2

The facts didn’t penetrate his mind at all. He wasn’t even looking at the book in front of him. His eyes were on the girl with the pastel purple hair with Jane Eyre in her hands. She took a small sip of her black coffee every once in a while but her eyes never left the pages. The corner of his lips tingled to smile. He didn’t know why he felt so imprudent when he saw her. He was stricken with love and he wanted to do things that he would never do without thinking them through.

“The author, Charlotte Bronte, used her own experiences to write Jane Eyre.” The girl’s eyes stopped moving across the words and looked up at him. She was indifferent and he was unsure if he had made a mistake in interrupting her. He didn’t know that she could understand Korean. Cold sweat formed on his forehead and he found it hard to breathe. “I, um, I am sorry.” His English sounded horrendous but he got his point across. She was still looking at him with a blank expression and in a panic he buried his face into the book laid out before him.

He wasn’t sure when he could look up again. If he looked up and she was still staring at him, he would surely be embarrassed. To him, he was being stealthy but it was blatantly obvious that he was making sure “the coast was clear”. Unfortunately, she was still looking at him but her expression had changed from blank to amused. A corner of her lips was raised and her eyes twinkled. “I’m well aware of the background of the novel. Do I seem interesting to you?” Seungyoon almost choked on nothing when she spoke to him Korean.

“I noticed you looking at me yesterday and you made it more obvious today. Is there something on my face or do I just intrigue you?” she set down her book and walked over to his table. Confidently, she sat across from him and crossed her arms on the sturdy wooden table. She looked into his eyes and grinned, “I’m Jennie Bang. What’s your name?” Seungyoon didn’t remember anything: how to speak, what his name was, where he was. “Kang, um, Kang Seungyoon.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Kang Seungyoon. I noticed that you’ve been reading about the history of New York. Can you tell me what Madison Square Park, Washington Square Park, Union Square Park, and Bryant Park used to be? Or could you not focus because of me?” He was at a loss for words. He remembered reading about it but he didn’t remember the answer. She seemed to be teasing him but he wasn’t entirely sure.

“They used to be cemeteries. Mr. Kang Seungyoon, would you like to actually visit the places you’ve only read about? I make a great tour guide. I know every nook and cranny of New York. If you don’t want to, I can just go back to my table to drink my coffee and read my novel and you can just sit there and just read about New York.” When he just sat there, frozen stiff, she shrugged and went back to her table.

“Not today. It seems to sudden.” She looked up from her book, “Whenever you have time then.”

Nam Taehyun – New York – Day 2

The moon had risen and she was sitting in the corner. He saw her trembling. She was cold and terrified. Her clothes were thin and her shoes were tattered. She tried not to cry, he could tell. He felt as though he had to help her. He stared down at the fresh cup of tea in his hands and then at her. He strode over to her and placed it down in front of her. He peeled off his warm jacket and draped it over her small shoulders. She looked up at him in wonder.

“No. It’s okay. I don’t want it.” Taehyun put his hand out and stopped her. In their native language, he told her that she would be warmer. He remembered hearing the voice on the phone the other night yelling at the poor girl in Korean. “You must have been in a hurry to have forgotten your jacket.” Ashamed, she looked away. “You should drink some tea. It’ll help you calm down and it’ll warm you up.” Carefully, she did as told.

She watched him pull out a sketchbook and open it to an unfinished sketch of her. He caught her gaze, “I saw you last night. You seemed so inspirational that I couldn’t help but draw you.” She continuously stared at the pencil reflection. “I look so different. There’s no bruise or scratch.” Taehyun looked at her face more observantly and noticed that her lips were bleeding and there was a bruise forming around her eye. There were healing scratches covering her cheek and nose.

“It sounds weird but you’re my muse. You’ve inspired a lot of new ideas that I have yet to create.” A small smile formed on her sad face, “It’s hard to believe that I’m useful.” Her eyes became glossy and the smile slipped away. It seemed as though she couldn’t believe that the girl in his sketchbook was her. She couldn’t pry her eyes away from the gray lines.

“My name is Nam Taehyun, by the way.” He stretched out his hand and she took it, “Yoo Aena.” He picked up his pencil and began to finish what he started. When he was done, he wrote her name beautifully in the bottom left-hand corner. “What are you doing in New York, Miss Aena?” She bit her lip as if she were contemplating. “My older sister lives here. Our parents passed away a year ago and I began to love with her.” He wondered if any woman had enough strength and will to hurt their younger sister.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” She shook her head, “They were practically strangers to us.” Taehyun saw her arm as she reached for the cup and it was riddled with bruises and it he was surprised that she could still move it. She saw where his eyes were and quickly hid her arm within the jacket. “Did your sister do that to you?” Her eyes rounded at the question, “No. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. I-” She stopped herself from saying anything else.

Their attention went to her phone that shrilled. Just as she did the other night, she grew alarmed. She sprung up from her seat and handed back his jacket. He pushed it back to her, “Take it. I’m warm enough.” Without a word, she ran out of the café and in a direction that was bound to get her more scars.