“I know I’m saying this a lot but…as some of you may know, shadism (or colorism as it is also referred to) is a form of prejudice against people of a dark skin tone. It is a very prevalent injustice in Southeast Asia, all of Africa, and even in the modern Western world where people will discriminate or, in this case, make jokes at the expanse of people whose skin just so happened to be tanner than theirs’. Ever since the time of ancients, the darker skinned ones have seen the same discriminations because they were peasants who worked in the field becoming tanner as the sun beat down on their skin. Because of this, shadism has long been ingrained in Asian culture as well as other places across the globe.”

“Shadism has achieved normalcy.”

“Does that negate the fact that it’s wrong? By no means.” –Kissonthew1nd

 

 

     Yixing arrived to Café Moonlight early as usual only to find the glass doors already unlocked.

     “Suho, are you here?”

     The aforementioned store owner made his way from the back of the café, occasionally sipping a hot cup of caramel coffee.

     “Oh, good morning, Yixing. I was just finishing up some improvements here and here and there…do you notice anything different about the café?”

     The other had to hold back the urge to scoff at his superior.

     “Like the giant black platform against the wall? Of course, what are you planning to do with that anyway?”

     “Junmyeon smiled at the younger from behind his coffee mug.

     “I took a stroll down Hongdae’s Free Park last night and I found some real talent. Starting Wednesday, we will also have live music!”

     Yixing widened his eyes at that.

     “Really?”

     The store owner nodded.

     “I already have three bands lying in wait. Business is great right now, but these bands will take us to the next level.”

     “Are you sure about this decision?”

     “I am. Also, do you still have your guitar?”

     Yixing nodded.

     “Why?”

     “Because I know that you’re a talented musician, Yixing. And if you would, I’d love to have you perform here sometimes as well.”

     Lay couldn’t believe his ears.

     As gifted as Yixing was, the manager always kept his music to himself.

     It was a hobby that not only passed his gaps of spare time, but it also helped him express himself in ways that words had failed to convey his more complex emotions.

     Yixing composed both songs and instrumentals.

     Some were cheery rhymes that would tastefully bounce off the walls of his studio while others were more somber and haunting.

     Their sound would echo the current feeling of their creator clearly; never misunderstood nor mistaken for any other emotion except for what Yixing created the tune for.

     Just thinking about finally letting people hear his works made a tremor of excitement run down his spine.

     “Yixing?”

     “I’d be honored, Junmyeon-hyung.”

 

~*~

 

If there was one thing that Dallas prided herself on, it was definitely her hair.

Thick, curly, and big; the writer adored her mane more than anything else on her body. Although natural hair is becoming more common in the black community, it was still a bit of a shock to see black women wear their hair proudly.

On some occasions, some people would call her hair ‘wild’ or ‘inappropriate,’ but Dallas paid them no mind at all.

Her hair was unique and she believed that its normal texture, with her unorganized curls that went in every direction; fit her to a T.

There were days, however; that Dallas swore that her hair would fight her attempts to manage and style it for the day.

And today was certainly one of those days.

Clenching her jaw, Dallas worked out a series of knots and was finally able to pull the two locks of hair apart after seventeen minutes of struggling and coaxing the strands to loosen with her detangling spray.

Finally done combing her hair, she parted her large mane right down the middle and set to work on braiding the right side to the back prior to following suit on the left side.

I didn’t take too long for Dallas to give herself two large braids and tie them at the end with black rubber bands and when she finished, she hummed in satisfaction at the result of her hard work, which was a chic and trendy look that could last her a little more than a week.

“You’re really good at braiding.”

Dallas tensed up at Tamera’s voice.

“T-thanks.”

The woman smiled sheepishly at the compliment.

Just how long had Tamera been standing there anyway?

“What about you? Can you braid?”

The younger shook her head.

“I can only twist and plait. My mom always said that plaiting and braiding are practically the same, except one involves picking up more hair as you go. Unfortunately, the advice didn’t make the task any less difficult.”

     “It takes a bit a practice, but if you keep trying you’ll get it.” Dallas assured her. “I could teach you if you want.”

     “I’d really appreciate that, Dallas. Thank you.”

 

~*~

 

     Do, Kyungsoo is the kind of employee that most employers idealize.

     Always on time, never making a fuss, while also being a professional and effective worker among his employees and customers alike in more ways than one, Kyungsoo seemed to be the poster child for success in most places.

     But today wasn’t Kyungsoo’s day.

     Stirring a large pot of Mae Un Tang, the café chef couldn’t stop himself from being pulled back into the memories of his college years.

     Their first meeting, their first date, their first kiss…it didn’t do him any good to dwell on the things of the past, but oh, how the mind wanders.

     Ever since he had moved back to Korea, Kyungsoo had been determined to avoid any kind of romance and any kind of relationship with women. No matter how much his parents had begged him to at least test the waters with someone new, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

     It had been four years since he had completely abandoned his relationship with Mercedes and he still felt guilty about it.

     Their explosive encounter from yesterday had done nothing but add salt to the wound and Kyungsoo had figured that it was righteously so for his past deeds.

     Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Mercedes was right.

     He was wrong to leave her like that.

     It had been so hard on both of them and Kyungsoo wanted to get his story across as well because he was never able to tell Mercedes what actually happened and he felt that she at least deserved that much.

     It wasn’t right what he had done, but in the long run he thought that he had protected her.

     The chef honestly wasn’t expecting for this one mistake to cause so much trouble for him in the present as his thoughts wandered to his dongsaeng, Kai.

     Kyungsoo had never meant to hurt anyone, especially not the promising young dance major that trusted him with any and everything.

     The sudden movement of the kitchen door finally broke Kyungsoo’s mental guilt trip.

     “Jongin?” The said waiter barely glanced at him before grabbing two new notepads from the shelf against the wall and stuck them into his pocket. He was about to leave when he felt a tug on his arm. “Can’t we talk about this? Please, Jongin?”

     The younger heaved a sigh.

     Jongin knew that it was silly for him to be mad at Kyungsoo for his past mistakes, but he really couldn’t shake off the disappointment that he had for the elder and somehow, that realization made him angrier.

     “I have nothing to say to you, Kyungsoo.”

     Without another word, Jongin left the other alone in the kitchen.

     The chef knew the other could be could be cold at times, but he hadn’t anticipated that the sting behind his words to hurt this badly.

 

~*~

 

     Dallas spent her morning roving the streets of Seoul in hopes of finding a job.

     After being obviously rejected by not one, but two boutiques, denied from a local bakery, and quickly shooed out of a seafood restaurant when asking for a job, the woman was beginning to lose hope in working while visiting South Korea.

     “But I’m fluent in Korean!”

     The manager of a casual clothing store shook her head at Dallas in a snide manner.

     “There are no current positions open here at this time. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience.”

     ‘Liar.’

     The writer was fuming when she left the small store.

     Job hunting was never an easy thing to do for Dallas. She never liked the idea of leaving her information for other people to decide if she was good enough for a job or not. Somehow, that just didn’t sit right with her.

     But in Korea, she felt as if she was at an even bigger disadvantage.

     Each time an employee would retrieve their manager or store owner, the latter would be all smiles until they actually saw her.

     Then it would all go downhill from there.

     The majority would shake their heads frantically, as if the idea of her working there was ridiculous and would usher her towards the door while others would continue to smile, albeit stiffly and politely convey to her that they have no current positions available.

     Dragging herself further down the street, Dallas spotted a purple ‘We’re Hiring!’ sign on the window of a seemingly busy café nestled between an equally hectic ramen shop and flower store.

     Taking in a deep breath and putting on her best smile, the writer pushed the glass doors open and entered with her head held high in hopes that this place would be a game changer for her.

 

~*~

 

          Bianca sighed as she continued to flip through the Korean language book that she had bought a couple of days ago.

     The title may have said ‘Basic Korean Skills for Beginners’, but somehow Bianca still felt overwhelmed with the task that she had given herself.

     What she had read for the past three pages made no sense to her at all.

     The Hangeul Alphabet Consonants were unreal and the Double Consonants didn’t make anything much easier.

     As she struggled through the pronunciations, vowels, and symbols of the Consonants, she quickly realized that she couldn’t do this by herself.

     She needed help.

     And if she had remembered correctly, someone had offered to and he was only a phone call away.

     Seizing her cellphone from the countertop, Bianca dialed the number.

     One ring later and Junmyeon’s voice was heard on the other end.

     “Hello?”

     “Hey Junmyeon, do you have a minute?”

     There was silence on the other end for a moment before the other answered.

     “I do. Is everything ok?”

     “Everything’s fine.” Bianca assured the other. “I just wanted to know if you could help me speak Korean. If the offer’s still on the table, I’d like to take advantage of it.”

     “I can help. What time did you want to meet and where?”

 

     “How about at this café called, 'A Twosome Place'? I don’t know if you’ve heard of it…is tonight at 7:00 good for you?”

     “I have and that sounds fine for me. See you then.”

     Bianca smiled at his answer.

     “Thanks again, Junmyeon.”

     “You’re welcome, Bianca.”

 

~*~

 

     Dallas had been lucky.

     From what she could see, the lunch rush had ended a while ago and the café had recently returned to its comfortable and cozy state as the staff seemed to settle in the afterglow of their success.

     The first staff member that she encountered was who she naturally presumed to be the host.

     The dark haired man smiled sweetly at her.

     “Why hello and welcome to Café Moonlight!” He greeted Dallas enthusiastically. “Will you be dining with us today?”

     Dallas smiled back at the man genuinely.

     “No honey, I’m afraid not, but I saw your help wanted sign in the window and I wanted to hear more about it.”

     Wooyoung nodded understandingly.

     “Well, we’re looking for candidates in all areas; hosts, servers, baristas, and other front house positions along with back house positions…I believe my manager can explain it a little better than I can, though. Would you like me to get him for you?” Dallas nodded energetically. “I’ll be right back.”

     The young man left her by the host stand and the other took the time to observe her surroundings.

     The café was very chic and somehow cozy and already, Dallas could picture herself working here.

     She practically screamed as a very familiar person emerged from the back, talking to Wooyoung animatedly as he followed the host to his station.

     Aside from his hair style, the man hadn’t change a bit from how she remembered him.

     His dimple still showed when he smiled and he still had that gentle and honest aura about him that she liked.

     “Oh my god.” Dallas squinted her eyes to make sure that she was seeing the other accurately. “Xing Xing?”

     The manager glanced at her prior to doing a double take.

     “Wait, Dalli? Is that really you?”

     “The one and only! Don’t I get a hug?”

     “Of course!”

     Yixing smiled widely before he smothered her in a tight embrace, which she had returned with just as much enthusiasm.

     “So how have you been?”

     “Pretty good. Are you the one asking for a job here?”

     Dallas nodded.

     “Well, Wooyoung has pretty much summed it up, but we’re looking for people in all areas; including another cook. What are you going for?”

     “I planned on applying for a serving position, but before we get into all that, I wanted to know if there’s an actual chance of me working here. I trust that you’ll be honest with me, Yixing. I know that I’m a foreigner, but will that be a problem here?”

     Lay understood what she was asking.

     Not only had he assumed that Dallas had been treated unfairly because she wasn’t a native, but there were also laws in effect that have certain requirements for employers to even consider hiring someone from another country.

     “I think we can squeeze you in.” Lay winked at her confidently. “Of course, there’s the whole interview process that you have to go through first, but I think that you’ll do just fine. Do you have any prior experience?”

     “My first three jobs were waitressing.”

     Yixing nodded and Wooyoung pulled out an application from under the desk and held it out to her.

     “Well, you can fill this out at the bar just over there.” The manager gestured to the black counter behind him. “When you’re done just give your application to Wooyoung here, and we’ll let you know when you have an interview.”

     “Okay. Thanks so much, Yixing!”

     “You’re welcome. Take this time to mentally prepare yourself for anything we throw your way and check out our website at www.CafeMoon.com to become familiar with our menu. Good luck, Dallas.”

     Making her way to the counter, Dallas took up a bar stool and started going over the application.

     There was nothing that was particularly difficult, but there wasn’t anything that she would overlook, so she treaded carefully over the questions; completely missing the tall figure who had entered the café a moment later and slipped through the kitchen’s swinging doors.

     Noticing her hairstyle immediately, the other hastened his steps towards the other end of the café, all too happy that he had gone unnoticed.

 

~*~

 

    It had been a while since Tamera had taken the time to treat herself to an American breakfast.

     Now don’t get her wrong. She absolutely adored Korean food, but American food gave her a sense of home and since Korea specialized in making Korean styled American dishes rather than authentic American cuisines, Tamera took it upon herself to fill that void.

     A familiar jingle on her phone caught her attention as she slid her bacon and pancakes onto a bigger plate and made her way to the table.

     She accepted the Skype call and the picture of the caller disappeared for a moment to show a young black woman with long brown hair and dark makeup.

     She squinted her eyes before adjusting the camera for more light.

     “Hey, Tamera!”

“Hi Alinn! How are you?”

     “Half-blind right now, but I’ll be alright.” The other answered as she moved out of the sunlight. “How’s Korea?”

     “Great as usual. Why?”

     “Oh nothing, we were just wondering why we haven’t heard from you in nearly three months is all.” The other stated in a much too casual manner while running her hand through her hair. “Mom’s been worrying sick about you, you know that? And you know how bad she can get. She seems to be stuck on the idea that you’ve been a victim of human trafficking or locked up abroad or something of that nature. Please call her soon, Tamera, I’m begging you.”

     “Alright, alright. I will, don’t worry about it.” Tamera made a face at her younger sister. “Wait, did you call me just to make me feel guilty?”

     “Of course not!” Alinn looked absolutely shocked at her sister’s accusation. “I wanted to say hi before guilt-tripping you. Besides, you deserve it for forgetting about us and you’re mother’s driving me to near insanity with all of her ‘what if’ theories.”

     “She’s your mother too…”

     Alinn shook her head.

     “Not in this case. I don’t understand why she jumps to the worst theories and they always involve you either suffering or dying in some way.” The latter massaged her forehead. “Call her. Today.”

     “I will, I promise. How’s school?”

     Alinn cringed at the question.

     “Well…”

     Tamera raised an eyebrow.

     “I’m listening.”

     “I-um…I withdrew from LSU.”

     “What?!”

     “It’s not permanent!” The other waved her hands in an effort to calm her sister down. “I’m just taking a break…a forced break.”

     “What happened?”

     “Nothing serious, I just cancelled a math class and it went through the system a couple of days after the penalty free deadline. I’m stuck paying the fee, which is eight hundred thirty one right now.”

     “Do you need help paying it off?”

     “Oh God, no.” Alinn refused the notion entirely. “I’ve got it under control. I’ve just recently put down four hundred on it and I’m working two jobs to get this fee out of the way. At this rate, I’ll either be back in the Spring or Fall Semester of next year.”

     “Well, that’s certainly good to hear.”

     The latter nodded.

     “It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to miss homework…homework!”

     “Yeah, you’ve been gone for far too long…”

     “Ain’t that the truth?” Alinn looked at her phone screen and cringed. “Ugh, I gotta go, sis. Apparently, Charlotte Russe needs me to cover April’s shift in thirty minutes...why does she work there anyway? She calls out every chance she gets I swear. Talk to you later and don’t forget to let Mom know that you’re still alive!”

     “Consider it done.”

     With on last wave, Tamera closed the Skype call and immediately dialed her mother’s number.

 

~*~

 

      The day started off on a busy note just as it always did with the staff of Café Moonlight and Wooyoung awaited their next guest from behind the host stand.

     Upon his arrival, the host noticed a man making his way to the glass doors.

     He was tall, much taller than what Wooyoung was used to, clearly over six feet with short black hair, childish features, and elflike ears.

Wooyoung was intrigued that such strange attributes could come together and form such youthful and handsome young man.

“Excuse me,” The man asked in a startlingly deep voice that took the older by surprise. “I’d like a table for one.”

     “Yes sir,” Wooyoung struggled to gather his wits about him. “Your table is right this way.”

‘How could a boy like this have that deep a voice?’

     Dismissing the thought, Wooyoung sat the young man in Kai’s section and went to notify the waiter of his next customer.

Jongin approached the other with a bright smile.

     Park, Chanyeol was one of the more popular students at his college who was currently majoring in music.

     Although Jongin had never spoken to the other, he was well informed of Chanyeol’s many talents and he admired the other for not only having the capability to become a one man band, but also managing to snag a sixty thousand dollar scholarship on the way. Which was no easy feat, considering the fierce competition and talent at Korea National University of Arts.

     “Hello, sir. I’m Kai and I’ll be your server today, is there anything I can get you to drink while you decide on your order?” The older said nothing. He just stared at the younger with a puzzled expression that had Kai mentally back tracking his previous actions. “Um…are you alright?”

     “I’m fine.”

     The other answered, but he hadn’t seized his ogling and that bothered Jongin immensely.

     “Hey, aren’t you Kim, Jongin?” The waiter nodded. He hoped that he wouldn’t regret answering that question later. “I think I’ve heard of you… you’re currently enrolled at KNUA on a dance scholarship, right?”

     “I am…”

Chanyeol grinned.

     “Okay, so you’re the sophomore that Taemin and Amber speak so highly of. Nice to finally meet you, although I never thought you’d be this…um…” Despite Chanyeol’s stalling, Kai had an idea of what he was going to say. “Dark skinned. With that unfortunate complexion, I wonder how far you’ll go if you manage to get a career in dance to begin with.”

     ‘Unfortunate?’

     It hadn’t been the first time that he’d heard that and it certainly wouldn’t be the last, but the sensitive topic never failed to trouble him.

      Skin tone was something that is purely superficial and minor, but in Asia, color meant status whether Jongin liked that way of thinking or not.

     He couldn’t control other peoples’ opinions, but he tried his best to ignore his own securities about his image.

     “I really like my skin color.”

     Kai retorted, albeit it was a weak response and there wasn’t much confidence in his voice at the moment.

     He wasn’t necessarily saying it to convince Chanyeol, but he was saying it aloud to push his own doubts away. Maybe if he heard the words from his own mouth, he could make himself believe it.

     “You should go for skin whitening.” The other went on, completely ignoring the internal damage that he was causing the other. “You wouldn’t be so problematic if you were a couple of shades lighter. In fact, I hear that Fair and Lovely is a pretty effective skin whitening product. You should definitely give it a try.”

     “No thank you.”

     “Suit yourself,” Chanyeol shook his head as he scanned the menu. “You might want to get used to this job, Kkhamjong.” The older waved his hand dismissively before changing the subject. “I guess I’ll have some Yujacha Tea with Guksu Noodles, Beansprout Soup and a bowl of Kimchi as well.”

     With a sardonic smile, he handed the menu to Kai who immediately his heel and left his customer.

     “And be quick about it, please. I can’t stay long.”

     It took everything in Jongin to keep from causing a scene at the café.

     He had experienced some pretty rude remarks about his skin color, but this encounter definitely struck a nerve with him. Jongin couldn’t help but to think that maybe Chanyeol was right after all.

     Maybe it was time for a change.

 

Author's Note: Alright you guys, after careful consideration, I have decided to end this chapter here to drive my message home a bit. Now, I know that I probably could've discussed this topic in one chapter, but there's more to shadism than this and you'll definitely see more of this issue in the future.