Chapter 2

 

“Hold on! Stop moving, I’m almost done,” Aria said as she blended out the corner of her best friend’s smoky eyes with a small brush.

“Hurry up, Ari. I don’t have all day you know? Consider yourself lucky you have such a gorgeous and generous best friend that models your clothes for you. I could be paid to be the face of Aritzia,” I muttered. Don’t get me wrong, I love my best friend but she was too much of a perfectionist for me. I don’t even know how we get along so well considering how much of polar opposites we are.

Aria grabbed a different brush and dabbed some light grey eyeshadow along my lower lashline. “There! Done! Don’t you dare forget you have makeup on and rub your eyes like last time, got it?”

I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t do that either! Or else I’m going to spend another hour fixing up your face, it’s ugly enough as it is.”

“Excuse me?!”

It’s been two years since I got my master’s in English literature, and I still haven’t figured out what I wanted to do with my life. As I rub the make up off my face with a cotton ball, I glance over to Aria. She was busy looking over the photos from the shoot we just finished with Hansol, her photographer, for her clothing.

Though we mess around and insult each other every minute of the day, I was secretly envious of her. Envious and proud of who she is now. Since I met her, Aria had always been into fashion, and now she even started her own brand—Demoo—and she’s continuously working towards her goal.

Then I look at myself and wonder what I’ve accomplished. What I have even done with my life?

I sighed as I played with my long orchid-colored hair. I had too many things I liked. I loved dance, I loved art, I dabbled in photography and I majored in English literature. What on earth could I do that combined the three? After two years I still didn’t have an answer.

“Hey Em! Hansol and I were thinking of grabbing some coffee at Momento and going over the photos, wanna come?” Aria asked after grabbing her bags.

“Sure! Just give me a minute,” I said as I quickly finished putting my eyeliner on and tied my hair up quickly into a messy bun on top of my head.

As I walked up to them, I smirked at Hansol after noticing the frown on his face. I knew he had a thing for Aria, but being the clueless girl she was, she had always asked me to come join them. Not that he wasn’t a great guy, because he was, but I just felt like he wasn’t her type. She needed someone that could keep her on her toes, and not the kind of guy who gets pulled along by her and gives in every time. She needed a challenge. And no offence, but he definitely wasn’t one.

I close my eyes and smile as I feel the warm sunlight. Momento was my favorite coffee place in all of Vancouver. Not only was the service superb, the interior decorating was great. I could tell the owner really loved the place and treated it like his own home. Almost all the tables had couches rather than chairs, except the long wooden table in the middle that had matching wooden benches, making it the perfect study table.

And as much as I hate to admit it, they had the cutest baristas. Well I was mainly thinking of one in particular, I think Jongdae was his name? Though I think I’ve heard someone call him Jay before…

But as the bell chimed when we pushed the door open, I only saw girls. Without realizing I was looking forward to seeing him, and the fact that he wasn’t there turned my mood sour. I didn’t feel like drinking coffee anymore, and immediately walked over to my ‘spot’ in the corner (as Sheldon would say) and took a seat on the couch while I waited for Aria and Matt to order.

I remembered the first time I had come into Momento.

After my mom got re-married, her and my stepfather and gone travelling. One month turned into two, which turned into half a year. Before they left, they had bought me my own apartment as a graduation gift, which conveniently sits right above Momento. The fact that I lived above a coffee shop made me love my apartment before I even stepped foot in it.

My stepbrother had helped me move in that day, not that I had a lot of boxes anyway, but it was the thought that counted. We had clicked instantly and had a good relationship from the start, even til now we were close and called each other at least twice a week. He happened to be on vacation that month so he came and visited; he lived in Korea in his own apartment in Hongdae.

It was a Wednesday and it was the hottest Vancouver has ever been, so we went downstairs to grab drinks when we had unpacked half of the boxes. I took a seat in the far corner, but facing the counter, and my stepbrother had lined up. Though the coffee shop was a little more on the Asian side, there were a lot of Caucasians that frequented the store as it was a more western neighborhood. I loved people watching; I could just observe from my seat for hours without getting bored of it. But a voice pulled me out of my daze, and it did to another person.

“Yah, Kim Jongdae!”

I hadn’t met a lot of Korean people, and it surprised me to hear it again here. Turning my head, I tried to figure out where that came from, and saw who I assumed was the owner of the place with a curly-haired guy. Permed hair? That’s bold—I like it.

I could only see his back silhouette as his boss lectured him and told him to stop daydreaming. He simply waved his hand and shrugged before going back to work, while the boss crossed his arm and let out a breath. When curly-hair (Jongdae?) turned around, I finally saw his features. Boy, was he goodlooking. Though he wasn’t tall, he had a prominent jawline, and such high cheekbones. That’s not a girl is it… Oh wait, his boss called him Jongdae.

I must admit, I had always thought my stepbrother was pretty goodlooking, but this guy was simply gorgeous. And the cutest thing was, his lips curled at the side. It was so obvious that I could see from my table. It was small things like that that got to me.

“Eun Gi yah, it’s not attractive when you have drool down your chin.”

I pouted at my stepbrother. “I do not have drool on my face.”

“That’s not what it looked like when you were ogling that barista.”

My face turned pink at being caught. “Was not.”

He smirked. “You know you can’t lie to me.”

“Fine, I admit it, he’s much prettier than you, “ I faked a blissful sigh and shrugged, enjoying the resulting annoyed expression on his face.

Though I really wasn’t lying, Jongdae was prettier. By miles. Especially that lip curl.

I was always unconsciously drawn to his smile. It was the kind that could clear away the clouds, even on a rainy day. I’ve never spoken to him before—everytime I had ordered (and I came everyday), it was always another barista that served me. But that was fine; it’s not like I was in love with him or anything. He was like… my unofficial mascot.

It turned into habit now, to go to Momento every night. I just couldn’t fall asleep without my daily dose of caffeine, ironically. If my stepbrother were here, he’d say it’s a daily dose of eye-candy but I’d never let him know the truth.

The ringing of my phone interrupted my thoughts.

“You know, if your phone didn’t ring, nobody would know you’re secretly a little Asian fangirl,” Aria laughed.

“Shut up, it’s a good song okay.”

Aria copies what I said mockingly and I glare at her.

“Hello?”

“Hi, is this.. uh… Ewn Jee So?”

I cringed. “It’s actually Seo Eun Gi, but you can call me Emily.” I could imagine the man on the other line shrug sheepishly at butchering my name. How I wish my English name was the one on my documents instead of my Korean.

“My apologies, Emily. I am just calling to let you know that a package is available for you at the Fedex station. There was no one at home and it required a signature so it has been brought back to our office. We will keep it here until Friday if you could please pick it up before then.”

“Ok, great. Thanks for the heads up.”

“No problem. Have a good day Emily.”

“Thanks, you too,” I said as I hung up. I was feeling excited now—I’ve been waiting forever for this package.

“What is it?” Aria asked, curious as to why my mood took a sudden turn for the better.

“Remember the things I ordered a few weeks ago? It’s finally here!!” I squealed with excitement.

“Oh dear god, don’t tell me it’s those Asian tv show sets… didn’t you order like 10 of them?”

“Yes but it’s worth it! As my best friend, you have the honor of rewatching all of them with me.” 

“No thanks.” Aria shook her head. I admit, I’m normally not this Asian, but Asian dramas were the only things I considered my weakness. I couldn’t go a single night without an episode.

“Okay, well I’m gonna go pick them up now,” I said, grabbing my stuff.

“Fine, I’m expecting to see you early tomorrow morning for yoga, not holed up in front of your computer screen.”

“I’ll try… but not guarantees,” I gave her a cheeky smile as I left.

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I felt like a little girl on Christmas morning. After grabbing my parcel from the Fedex Station, I immediately went home and opened it up. It was quite big as I spent quite a fortune on ordering all of my box sets. There were my favorites—“It’s Okay, That’s Love” and “Secret Garden”—and also some newer ones like “I Remember You”. I also ordered “You Who Came from the Stars” and “The Moon that Embraces the Sun”, smiling as I did so because I would never let my stepbrother know that I did. I was a supportive sibling after all.

Having nothing better to do, I decided to spend the evening downstairs in Momento and getting started on marathoning one of the many shows I got.

There weren’t a lot of customers left by the time I went, just a few students who were studying (probably cramming) for their finals as I see them haphazardly scribbling in their notebooks and the stacks of textbooks surrounding their laptops. I have never been so glad I was done with those days.

To my surprise, Jongdae was finally working. What kind of shifts did he work…? I shook my head. Get your head on straight Seo Eun Gi. He’s just pretty eye candy.  I supposed my love for Asian dramas have raised the bar on my guy standards. I have always thought my ideal was a more masculine guy but to be honest, I don’t like my guys too buff. I like the type that’s a little pretty, though not prettier than me, on the leaner side, with a bold sense of personality. Not sure if I’m describing my ideal guy or Jongdae anymore…

I was only two episodes into “You Who Came from the Stars” when I felt my phone vibrate on the wooden table.

“Hello?”

“EunGi yah, na ya.”

“Oppa! You haven’t called me in so long,” I whined to my stepbrother. He was the only witness to my non-existent aegyo.

“Sorry, I was doing my work downstairs and had my headphones on.” Work being watching tv shows… difficult work indeed.

I honestly haven’t seen him in so long time, since I moved into the apartment really. But I understand how busy he is, being one of the most famous actors in Korea at the moment.

“I know you’re busy but call me more okay? Even Jae Hyun oppa calls me more than you. Do you have a girlfriend or something that’s taking up all your time?”

“Yah! Is that how you talk to your oppa?” I could almost hear him pout through the other end. I’m sure some girls would melt at the sight of it but I definitely wouldn’t find pouting from a guy four years older than cute.

“And besides, your Jae Hyun oppa wouldn’t dare not call you, you’d beat him up if he ever did. Scary little thing. I’m more busy than him anyway, you know, filming and stuff. He just models.”

“What did you just say? You—”

“Speaking of which, have you seen my new one? How is it?”

I sighed. Of course, of all the things to call me after months for, it would be to review his new show. Some brother he is. “Yes, yes, I’ve been following… Though Suzy is much prettier than you are. But it still doesn’t beat my favorite.”

“You know It’s Okay, That’s Love scouted me first? For the role of Kangwoo.”

“No way, if you were in it you’d probably ruin it. You’re too old to be Kangwoo anyway.” I laughed. “I’m just kidding oppa, don’t be mad at me,” I say before he really starts biting my ear off for my lack of support, though in reality I really do love the work he does. He was the one who got me into this mess of Asian dramas in the first place.

“Fine.”

“But really that song’s my favorite. Chen’s amazing.”

“You know I’ve met them before. EXO. At a year end event a few years ago.”

“If you know him, can you introduce me? I think we’d hit it off,” I say non-chalantly.

“Yah, what about your Jae Hyun Oppa?”

“I’m just—”

I felt a small tap on my shoulders.  “Oppa, jamkkanman.”

“Yes?” I say as I turn around to face the person. It was Jongdae. My face turned as pink as my hair at the sight of him. I’ve never seen him this close.

“I just wanted to let you know that we’re closing in five minutes.” He gave me a small smile. That lip curl!!

“Ah! So sorry, I’ll be done in two minutes. Just let me pack up my things.” I grabbed my phone again. “Sorry oppa, I’ll call you back in fifteen when I get home, kay? Bye!”

“Sorry for staying so late, you must be itching to get home too,” I say as I start packing up my mac into my bag. “It’s alright, I’ve done almost everything already. And I started late so it’s not too bad.”

“Thanks for the coffee. Have a good night!”

The last thing I saw was the curl of his lips as he said goodnight to me.

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I find that I always have these scenes and ideas playing out in my head for stories but I have the hardest time putting them down in words. If anyone's wondering what I envision emily to look like...