Chapter 8:

“How do you like living in the U.S. and going to school there?” Jiyong asked Dara. They were sitting next to each other inside the airport near her departure gate.

“I like it. In the beginning it was a little hard. I missed home, my friends, the food. But I’ve adjusted  and made new friends there. My English has gotten a lot better and I think the exposure to the culture and way of life has done me good. Have you been to the U.S.?”

“I’ve been to New York a few times. Not to D.C. though. I’ve seen pictures. You know, the White House, that tall skinny monument they have…”

“The Washington Monument?” Dara supplied, smiling.

“Yeah, that one.”

“Well if you come by within the next two months I’ll be happy to give you a tour. It’s a great place.”

They sat some more, watching the people around them. Then Jiyong gave an incredulous little laugh. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here with you. Just yesterday I hated the thought of meeting you, let alone getting engaged to you. I really had the wrong impression of you from when we were back in school. Now I wish we could have been friends back then.”

“I don’t know that that would have worked out,” Dara said. “Your friends were so different from mine. But I remember there was this one guy that hung out with you who I used to have a crush on.”

Jiyong stared at her. “You had a crush on one of my friends? Who was it?”

Dara shook her head and pressed her lips together.

“Oh, come on! You have to tell me now that you’ve confessed.” He thought a moment then said, “Don’t tell me it was Top.”

“Who’s Top?” she asked, perplexed. “What kind of name is that?”

“His real name is Seunghyun. Choi Seunghyun, but we call him Top.” He was watching Dara’s reaction and saw her blush.

“Ah, is that his name?”

“YOU LIKED TOP!?”

“I don’t LIKE him, like him… I just thought he was cute,” Dara said, squirming in her seat.

Jiyong rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you of all people like Top. I thought you’re supposed to be the Ice Princess, the cold hearted girl that doesn’t like anyone. This is so disappointing.”

Dara laughed, and Jiyong smiled at the sound of it. She had a really nice laugh, and just seeing how her eyes and face lit up when she laughed captivated him.

“Do you know that he’s my best friend? If we get married, he would be my best man. How can you like my best man?” Jiyong asked.

“Well first of all, we’re not getting married,” Dara retorted. “Second of all, you’d better not say anything to him. That was like a million years ago. And I don’t like him anymore.”

“Sure,” Jiyong said, unconvinced.

Dara looked over and saw people beginning to line up to board the plane over at her departure gate. “Looks like it’s time for me to leave.” She stood up and Jiyong stood as well. She only had her purse and her ticket which she held in her hand. Jiyong stuck his hands in his pockets as they walked toward the gate. He stopped when they were a few feet away, and Dara stopped as well and looked at him.

“Thanks for going to lunch with me, and for bringing me here,” she said, smiling.

“Have a safe flight,” he said, and watched as she waved and walked toward her gate. He remained there until she had reached the front of the line and showed her ticket to the airline agent at the door. Dara looked back and saw him still standing there. She flashed him that bright smile that Jiyong was getting accustomed to seeing on her face, and waved once more before she stepped through the doorway and disappeared from his sight.

Jiyong stood there a while longer, wondering why he suddenly felt empty. It felt as if he’d just said goodbye to a favorite longtime friend – which made absolutely no sense whatsoever, he thought. Pulling out his phone he sent her a text.

‘Call me when you reach home so I know you arrived safely.”

He began walking back to his car but stopped when he felt his phone chime. He smiled when he saw it was a text from Dara.

‘Deh, appa... ’

Jiyong chuckled as he put his phone away and continued on his way.

**

Nearly a week passed and Jiyong found himself thinking a lot about Dara. It was strange how his view of her changed in just the short amount of time that he spent with her.  But what was more amazing to him was the effect she was having on him as a person. For the first time that he could recall, Jiyong looked forward to going to work. He found himself really paying attention now to the small details and actually wanting to learn. The day seemed to zip by and he still felt energetic at the end of the day, satisfied with having put in a full day’s work. His secretary kept asking him if everything was okay, shocked that Jiyong was staying later than he usually did. And instead of joining his friends for drinks in the evenings, Jiyong went home and actually spent more time now with his father and grandfather talking about the business. His parents and grandfather were shocked and pleased with the changes  they were seeing in him.

But as he prepared to go to bed each night Jiyong found himself thinking again of Dara. He missed her. It made no sense to him. He’d known her for years in high school and couldn’t stand her. Undoubtedly because he didn’t know her personally back then but only who she was, coupled with his misconception of what type of person she was. But now after only one day with her he longed to see her again, to talk with her and tell her what he’d been up to and how it had filled him with excitement. But she was half way around the world.

He stood out on the balcony of his bedroom that Friday evening drinking from a bottle of beer, his thoughts on Dara again when his phone rang. He picked it up and saw what appeared to be an international call.

“Hello?”

“Jiyong-ssi, it’s me, Dara!”

A smile broke out on his face as soon as he heard her voice. “Dara,” he breathed, and he felt his heart race within his chest.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No. I was just getting ready for bed.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said. “What time is it there?”

“It’s not that late,” Jiyong told her. “I’m just a little tired. It’s been a busy week at work.”

“Oh okay,” she said. Jiyong wanted to tell her more but he didn’t know how. Would it be strange to tell her about his week when technically they'd only known each other for a little more than a day?

“I wanted to update you regarding your engagement,” Dara continued.

“MY engagement?” Jiyong began to laugh softly. This girl really did have a strange sense of humor. “I thought it was OUR engagement?”

“Well, yeah, but I feel better if I say it’s ‘your’ engagement. That way I can be in denial a little while longer.”

Jiyong went into his room and sat down. “So you can live in denial but I can’t, is that it?” he asked. He couldn’t seem to stop smiling.

Dara laughed and said. “Okay, so I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want first?”

"Mmm, I guess I’ll take the bad news first.”

“The bad news,” Dara said, “is that you’re still engaged.”

Jiyong shook his head. She was so weird. “So what’s the good news?” he asked.

“The good news is my grandfather agreed to give you more time. So instead of three months, the wedding will take place in six months!”

“That’s the good news?” Jiyong said. For some reason he thought that sounded more like it should be the bad news.

“Sorry,” Dara said, sounding apologetic. “I tried to get him to delay it until next summer. But maybe again that’s too long. Six months should be adequate time for us to convince our grandfathers to let us out of this engagement.”

Jiyong didn’t know what to say. But he felt a little disappointed to hear the hope in Dara’s voice at the possibility of ending their engagement soon. ‘What if I don’t want to end our engagement?’  he longed to say, but remained quiet.

“Well that’s all I called to let you know,” Dara said cheerfully, preparing to hang up.

“Wait! Don’t hang up yet,” Jiyong said. “I want to talk with you.”

Dara paused, surprised by his request. “Okay… Uhm, what did you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know – anything.”

He heard her mumble something, then she said, “Kwon Jiyong, what’s up with you? You’re acting weird.”

He sighed, a pout forming on his lips. “What’s so weird about me wanting to talk to you longer?  We’re engaged, you know. And I hardly know anything about you.”

“Fine,” she said, after a pause. “What do you want to know?”

Jiyong hesitated. He bit at his lower lip, then asked in a quick rush of words, “Do you miss me?”

“What -- ?”

“I said do you miss me?”

“Kwon Jiyong!”

“Just answer the question, Park Sandara!”

There was a long pause while Dara tried to figure out what was going on. And then she got the shock of her life when she heard Jiyong say in a small voice, “Because I miss you…”

**