KARA - 24/7 (멜랑꼴리)

“So you're.. appa's girlfriend?" Youngji sat on the couch across from her dad and another woman.

"Well.." the woman smiled shyly.

"And.." Youngji awkwardly pointed to the second floor of their house. "That boy... was your son?"

The woman nodded and smiled, "I can't believe I'm finally meeting the beautiful daughter I've been hearing about."

Youngji cracked a smile at the sudden compliment, but returned back to her guilty expression, "So... I just....attacked your son."

The woman laughed, "Don't worry. He's a big boy. So, don't feel too guilty."

Youngji stood up and bowed as low as she could, “I’m very sorry!"

Footsteps coming down from stairs were heard, "Shouldn't you be saying that to me?"

Jackson walked (read: limped) into the living room.

Youngji bit the bottom of her lip and couldn't bring herself to look up. She was sorry for a lot of things. She was sorry for being so late that the restaurant canceled the reservation. She was sorry that they couldn't have a more formal first meeting. Most importantly, she was sorry for almost making him lose his baby maker. If she kicked a little higher, he was a goner.

Everyone stood up. Jackson had gone unconscious after Youngji’s fatal attack, but opened his eyes a few seconds later. The pain was still there so he rested on Youngji’s bed while her dad and Ms. Wang went downstairs to comfort an embarrassed Youngji.

Ms. Wang finally introduced herself. “And this is my son." she put her arm around the boy's shoulder, "His name is Wang Jackson."

Youngji and Jackson finally made eye contact, “Anneo…oh?"

A tall boy with dark brown shaggy hair stood a few feet across her. 

“Its you..” she pointed.

“Yes, he’s the boy in the picture I showed you.” said Mr. Heo. He had shown Youngji a picture when he first revealed that he was dating a woman he met while on a business trip in Hong Kong. He worked as a co-coach for the Doosan Bears baseball team and his team was invited to a game in Hong Kong. The Junior Asian Fencing Games was happening at the same time in the same stadium. You could say meeting Ms. Wang was like fate.

Youngji shook her head, “No..I saw him somewhere else.”

“Did you get to school on time?” Jackson asked. He had found out who she was a few hours after they coincidentally met. Small world, he thought at that time.

It took a few seconds for Youngji to understand, but when she did, she loudly said, “The boy at the store!”

“Wait, what are you two talking about?”

Ms. Wang also had trouble understanding. Her Korean was still not refined since Mr. Heo talked to her in English.

Jackson, however, picked up on Korean fast when he started to formally learn it. He had several Korean friends in his fencing team which helped a lot, “We coincidentally met at the uniform clothing store this morning.”

Mr. Heo’s mouth shaped into an ‘o’. “Well, you two have a weird fate!”

“Can ..we sit down?” Jackson asked carefully.

Youngji was reminded that she had kicked Jackson there, “Omo, please sit.”

Groaning, Jackson sat down on a one seater while the rest sat on the couch.

“Do you need an another ice pack?” Youngji asked.

Jackson shook his head. 

Youngji awkwardly sat next to her dad on the couch.

“Introduce yourself.” he whispered.

“Ah.” Youngji stood up and bowed, “I’m Heo Youngji.”

Jackson bowed back while sitting down, “Wang Jackson."

“I’m really sorry.” she said.

Jackson saw the guilt on Youngji's face, “Its okay. The pain is going away fast.”

After talking for a few minutes in the living room, Mr. Heo decided they would eat at a nearby Korean barbeque restaurant.

~~~~~

“We’ll have 4 servings of samgyupsal.” Mr. Heo ordered.

“I’m sorry we have to eat at a place like this.” Youngji apologized.

“Jackson loves meat, so don’t worry.” Ms. Wang said in broken Korean.

Youngji smiled. She appreciated Ms. Wang’s comfort. ‘As expected, dad picks good women.” she thought.

The table was quiet expect for Mr. Heo and Ms. Wang speaking to each other while Youngji and Jackson tried their best to make small talk.

The meat came to their table a few minutes later.

“Kya.” Youngji shrieked.

“Wae?” Jackson asked.

“Eoh?” Youngji asked back. “I’m just excited to eat.”

“Ah.” For the first time, Youngji saw Jackson chuckle.

Everyone began eating once the meat was done cooking.

Jackson took a piece of meat from the grill and dipped it in the sauce. He looked at his mom being fed by Mr. Heo and slightly smiled. He reached out for a wrap when- “Uhh..” -he saw Youngji stacking six pieces of greens in her hands.

Youngji took a piece of meat, dipped in in the sauce and put it on top of her wrap. She wrapped it closed.

‘Thats not going to fit..’ Jackson thought.

To his surprise, Youngji had fit the whole wrap in one bite. Her cheeks looking like a chipmunk with acorns in its mouth.

Jackson shook his head, trying to move his fixed gaze. It was impolite to stare.

“Youngji eats well.” Ms. Wang exclaimed. 

Youngji only grinned. After chewing her food she asked, “I’m sorry I couldn’t join my dad when he visited you. I can’t..fly in airplanes.”

Ms. Wang waved her hands. Mr. Heo had explained for Youngji. “Its okay, sweetie.”

“When will you be back in Hong Kong?” Youngji asked.

Jackson started to choke on his wrap.

Mr. Heo handed him a tissue and turned to Youngji, “Youngji-yah, I have something to tell you.”

Youngji picked up two heavy boxes from inside the truck and took small steps to the house.

“Here, I’ll carry one.” Jackson was about to grab the box on top when Youngji pulled it away from him, “I got it.”

Youngji finally reached the room where she put down the two boxes. She opened the top box and saw a plethora of CDs. She took out a few and saw they were mostly American hip hop music. She was about to put away the box when she saw a familiar album case, “JYP?"

Jackson walked in carrying a big box.

“Jackson-ah, you know JYP?” she showed him the album.

Jackson nodded, “I know a lot of Kpop. Big Bang, Girls Generation, 2NE1, Kara.”

“You only know them? Eyy, thats not a lot.” Youngji teased.

“Do you have any albums?” Jackson crossed his arms.

“Of course!” Youngji said.

“Oh yeah? Lets see then.” Jackson squinted his eyes, challenging her.

Mr. Heo walked into the room with the last of the boxes, “Are you two fighting?”

“Follow me, Wang Jackson. I’ll show you real Kpop.” Youngji walked out of the room and went down the hall to her room.

Jackson followed Youngji to her room where he stopped at the doorway. Instead of an actual door, Youngji used beaded curtains*. That was how he ended up in her room in the first place last night. The room was wide open when he went upstairs and curiosity got the best of him. He was about to leave when Youngji suddenly appeared inside the room. On top of that, she was undressing. Of course, he hid because he didn't want any trouble.

Youngji got down on her knees and took out a few albums from the very bottom of her bookcase, “You have to listen to g.o.d. And Younha too.”

“Youngji-yah.” he called out.

“Wae?” Youngji asked with her back turned to him because she was still picking out albums.

“Whats up with your door?”

“I don’t use one.” she answered. “OH! You have to listen to Kara’s first album.”

Jackson shook off the topic, “Okay, okay. You made your point. Help me unpack first.”

Youngji turned to Jackson and found him sitting on her desk chair. 

FLASHBACK

“We’re getting married, Youngji-yah.”