One August morning in the year 2009...

Jaeheun's POV:

     My alarm went off at 8:00 like it was supposed to, but I quickly turned it off before it got to the second buzz. Just like in the past two summers, the loud honking and yelling of LA's traffic made it hard for me to get a good night's rest. Despite coming here every summer to visit my Mother, I never could get used to it. I prefure Seoul's semi-quiet nights but I have to fulfil my duty as a son and see my Mother at what ever chance I have. You know what? I STILL don't know HOW you were able to get used to it so quickly. 

  Still half-asleep, I got up and made my way towards my dresser and changed out of my PJs' and into day cloths. I was about to leave when I noticed the calender and stopped. Today marked the 3rd anniversary of my parents' official devorce.

   I always knew it was gonna happen at one point. Even though I knew they still had feelings for each other, they just never stopped fighting. In the end, they finally separated with Mom leaving me with Dad and imagrating to the U.S. I was never mad at them for doing that. Actually, I think it was for the best; they stopped fighting and I got to brag to my friends about being able to visit another country when they couldn't. I do admit that I suger-coat whenever I brag (for example: getting plenty of sleep...), but what they don't know won't hurt them, or me.

"Jaeheun-ah! Are you up yet?"

The sound of my Mother's voice brought me out of my thoughts. I quickly replied.

"Yes, Eomma! I'm up!"

"Good! Come down here for a second! There's someone I want you to meet!" She yelled back up. I frowned. Who did she want me to meet? I already knew all of her friends and neighbors.

  I took my time decending the stairs and looked around to find my Mother in the restaurant, talking to another woman in English.

  "Eomma?" I asked, getting their attention. She turned towards me and beckoned me closer. I complied and she made me stand in front of the stranger.

"This is my son, Jaeheun Park." She said in English. Even though I only know a bit of the basics of the language, I could still tell she was introducing me. 

"Jaeheun-ah..." She turned to me and gestured towards the stranger. "This is my new neighbor, Ms. O'hara. She and her daughter just moved here from San Jose so she could become the new English teacher at the local High School."

 "Ish a preasure to meetchu" I tried to not flinch at my poor English enunciation and bowed to her. That was the first time that I met your Mother. Thinking back at this moment, I can't help but gawk at how much you look like her. I was always glad that you were blessed her with genes. The way her Blue eyes showed natural kindess and the way her nose crinkled when she smiled; I loved how you got those from her. I will also never forget her kindness, and how she was like a seconed mother to me. I wonder how she's doing right now...

    "Wow, he's really handsome!" She smiled at my mother. "How old is he?"

My mother clamped her hand on my shoulder. "His Korean age is 15, but, in the States, he's considured 14." My mother looked at me with pride and sadness. "It's sad that he's growing up so fast..."

   Ms. O'hara giggled a bit in agreement. "I know~ I feel like it was just yesterday that my baby girl was still in sleeping in her crib!" 

    My mom gasped and clapped her hands together. "Oh! That's right! Where is your daughter! I would LOVE to meet her!"

 Ms. O'hara gestured to the room house next door. "Right now she's taking a nap. We were driving all night and managed to unpack some of our stuff a few hours ago. I could get her right now if you want me to."

My Mother shook her head. "Oh no need! Let the poor girl get her rest. Can you tell us what she's like instead?" 

    Ms. O'hara happily told us about her daughter while my Mother translated for me. At first, I didn't know WHY she forced me to have this conversation. It wasn't like I would ever be able to hang out with you or try to get to know you. Heck, I was supposed to leave to go back to Korea in a week! But, I'm glad that she did or else I never would've gotten curious about you in the first place.

   Through my Mother's translations, I found out that your first name was Sheridan but people called you Sheri for short and that you were a year younger than me. You liked listening to music and read during your free time, and your dream was to be a best-selling author. They kept on talking, and were both shocked and happy to find out that they were the same age and had given birth to us when they were teenagers. Your mom had you when she was eighteen and my mom had me when she was seventeen. I think that fact was how they grew a sister-like bond with each other. 

   After a while, I found myself bored out of my mind because of their English conversation. It really frusterated me that I couldn't tell what they were even talking about! 

  I sighed and tapped my Mother's shoulder to get her attention back. 

"I need to go to the store real quick and buy some presents for my friends back home. Is it ok if I can go now?"

  She simply nodded and told me to bring a coat because it was starting to get a bit chilling outside in the mornings. I nodded in agreement and bowed to Ms. O'hara in farewell before grabbing a jacket and leaving the restaurant. I turned a right, towards the store and was about to shrug on my jacket just as someone bumped into me.

"Ach!" I rubbed my chest and looked up to see a girl rubbing her shoulder. If I wasn't already annoyed and hurt I would've froze in awe at the beautiful blue eyes that looked back at me.

  "I am super duper, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going!" She wasn't bowing her head or anything, but I could tell she was trying to apologize. What I did next was something I half-regret doing. I just shrugged my shoulders and walked past her.

       At the time, I didn't know it was you. I regret not trying to use my limited amount of English to say everything was fine and that it was my fault too. I regret not looking at you longer and taking you into my memory because the only thing I remember of you that day, were your beautiful blue eyes. I regret a lot of things, but I guess that's just how fate works. That was the day we were fated to first see each other, but God had another day planned out for us for when we were supposed to have our first official conversation.