Chapter 1

 

            Susan Lee.  The name rolled off the tongues of other people as if it were the title of a fabulous celebrity or a well-renown doctor.  Even the owner of the name preferred it over Soonkyu, but still, both of them seemed wrong.  When her friends called her Susan, she felt a bitter chill, like someone long dead and gone haunted her to take the name back to the grave.  And when her parents called her Soonkyu, she felt it sounded silly in both English and Korean. 

            Yet, in tenth grade, Soonkyu Lee legally changed her name to Susan Lee, and Soonkyu became only an affectionate, ancient term her family used for her.  On occasion, her Korean friends in high school would still call her Soonkyu, but she had few friends, and they all seemed to fade away after graduation.

            The summer after graduating, Susan didn’t do anything exciting.  She continued to work her job at Starbucks as often as possible, just to keep her mind off the friendships that left so quickly.  Throughout high school, she struggled to break out of her shell, making only a few friends who never cared to know her deeply.  She never tried to do anything exceptional; her grades were slightly above average, always below her older sisters’. 

            Though she was horribly shy and toiled to succeed, she was a kind, compassionate child, and her parents adored her.  Her sisters, who had moved to Korea to pursue careers in medicine and journalism, visited often just to lavish her with affection and gifts.  They spoke in elegant and beautiful Korean, which Susan could only return with little poise.  Her Korean was very good compared to many other speakers in Los Angeles, but she could feel the pull between cultures and languages when her sisters referenced a new Korean slang word she didn’t know.

            “Soonkyu-yah, you’ll have no problem getting into UCLA,” Jinkyu insisted last fall, after reading through Susan’s personal statement.  “You volunteer with children a lot.  That’s going to look great on your transcript.”

            But Susan wasn’t accepted into UCLA.  She was barely accepted into her fourth choice school, but it was in Northern California, and she decided she didn’t want to be too far away from home.  Instead, she decided to attend a community college, Los Angeles City College, and save up as much money as she could.  In a sense, she was glad to delay her higher education.  Something about it seemed so scary…and even wrong.

            School began in August, and she found it even more intimidating than high school.  Very few people gave her a chance to make a friend, and she found that college was just another step in the staircase of loneliness life seemed to offer her.  She only felt comfortable at work, where her coworkers jested with her and even pulled her sarcastic jokes from deep within her mind.

            A few weeks had gone by, and Susan was doing fairly well with her studies.  Still, she enjoyed being at work and observing the people who came in to relax or study.  Her Starbucks was located in the center of Koreatown, on the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Vermont Avenue.  Many of the patrons were Korean, though a diverse group of people always visited every day. 

            Susan happened to notice an elegant girl, always dressed in professional attire, who came in nearly every day to study.  She had tired eyes that always seemed to squint in irritation at everything around her.  Her hair was a golden brown with volume so great that it seemed to overwhelm her tiny face.  Though her textbooks always lay out open on her table, she mostly sipped her caramel latte and looked at her phone.  It was one of those new iPhones that were just becoming popular.  She must have been fairly rich to afford it…as well as all the overpriced coffee.

            On one evening, when Susan was scheduled to close, this wealthy, trendy girl came in to “study.”  While finally deciding to read one of her lengthy textbooks, her head fell onto the pages, and she swiftly fell asleep.  Susan watched her carefully as the evening progressed, passing by every so often to make sure she was still breathing.

            As soon as closing time had passed, Woochan, her young and witty coworker tapped her on the shoulder and pointed at the sleeping girl.  “Hey, get that weird girl out of here,” he requested in Korean.

            “Woochan-ah, she probably speaks Korean.  Shh.”

            “It doesn’t matter,” he sighed as he finished mopping the floor.  “She’s asleep.  Get her out of here.  She’ll probably take it better from a girl.”

            Susan grimaced at the girl as she rinsed the rest of the blender glasses.  She took off her apron, stacked all the chairs around the girl, and gave Woochan one last hesitant look.

            “Hurry up, Susan,” he called, throwing out the old food from the display cases.  “If you do it, you can go ahead and go home.  I’ll finish closing up.”

            Giving a long sigh, Susan finally walked up to the girl and tapped her on the shoulder.  “Excuse me?”

            The girl’s head rose slowly, and she seemed unaware of her surroundings.  She finally looked up at Susan with big, brown eyes full of exhaustion.  A faint glisten of drool lingered on her lower lip, and Susan already felt embarrassed for her.

            “It’s closing time,” Susan said quietly.  “Are you alright to leave?”

            “Oh…yes.”  The girl’s confident, intimidating demeanor never returned, even as she packed up her books.  She rose from her chair, obviously mortified.  It was clearly night time, but she took a pair of sunglasses from her purse and put them on.  “I’ll be going, then.”

            Susan gave a small bow, though it was more due to the girl’s royal appearance rather than Korean culture.  After the girl left the store, Susan turned to Woochan and gave him a small wave.

            “Goodbye, Woochan-ah!” she grinned. 

            He swiftly smiled back and gestured her away.  She rushed out the door into the cool city breeze.  The heat of summer had lingered in recent nights, but tonight seemed to be an exception.  She rubbed her cold arms and walked a few steps to the bus stop on the corner.  The bus arrived just as she walked up.  When the door opened, the bus driver exited immediately and gave her a frown.

            “I’m sorry, Miss.  The bus needs maintenance,” he informed, wiping the sweat from his forehead.  “A lot of functions stopped working just a little while ago, and I don’t think it can drive much farther.”

            Susan watched the disappointed people leave the bus and go on their ways.  She turned back to the bus driver, feeling absolutely helpless.  “This is my only way home.”

            “Another bus will come by in about an hour.  I suppose you can wait for that one.”

            Just as the bus driver finished speaking, a silver Mercedes pulled up to the curb behind the bus, and the sleeping girl hurriedly exited it.  She rushed up to Susan with a worried look on her face.

            “Excuse me.  You work at the Starbucks, right?”

            She’s already forgotten my face? Susan thought gloomily.  “Yes.  Do you need something?”

            “I think I left my phone inside,” the girl told frantically.  “Could I go inside and get it?”

            “Yeah, Woochan will let you in,” Susan assured with a small smile. 

            “Thanks!”

            Susan kicked the ground as she looked back at the bus.  The emergency lights were now flashing, and she knew there was absolutely no way she was getting home on time tonight.  She took out her phone and considered calling her parents to come pick her up.  It was almost eleven.  They were probably asleep already.

            The sleeping girl came back from inside the shop with a smile on her face.  She walked quickly to her car with her phone in her hand.  When she reached her car, she stopped for a moment and observed the broken down bus with a pout.

            “Um…Excuse me,” she asked, moving towards Susan again.  “Was this your ride home?”

            “Yes,” Susan told reluctantly, looking down at the sidewalk.  “I can just wait for the next bus.”

            “There’s no need,” the girl assured, her smile shining bright in the streetlights.  “You probably live somewhere west of here, right?”

            “Yeah, just off of Olympic past Crenshaw,” Susan explained, eyeing the girl suspiciously.  “Are you…Are you offering to take me home?”

            “Yeah!”

            Susan had never witnessed this girl be more than mildly irritated or bored every day that she saw her.  Her sudden friendliness was surprising, but Susan wondered if both of them had layers of personality that few bothered to see.  She returned the girl’s smile and nodded her head.

            “I would really appreciate that.”

            “Hop on in!  My name is Jessica, by the way!”

            “I’m-”  Jessica entered the car before Susan could finish. “-Susan…”

            Susan opened the door to Jessica’s car and immediately noticed the “new car smell.”  Regardless of the car’s age, it was laden with empty coffee cups, clothing accessories, and paperwork.  She picked up a fedora from the passenger seat, sat down, and awkwardly held it on her lap.

            “I’ll get on Olympic,” Jessica said, turning on her car.  She eyed the buttons carefully for a few seconds before finally turning on the headlights.  “Just tell me where to turn.”

            As they began driving, Susan looked around at the various items in Jessica’s car.  It was truly impressive how disorganized she was.  But the mess didn’t make Susan think less of her.  Instead, she admired her freedom to manage her things as she pleased.  Amidst the mess, she noticed a UCLA notebook on the floor.

            “You go to UCLA?” Susan asked.

            “Yeah, I just started a few weeks ago.”  Jessica held onto the steering wheel tightly, but her anxious eyes suggested she would rather let it turn itself on these dark, busy streets.  “I just moved here from San Francisco.”

            “You came all the way down to Southern California for school?”

            “Nor. Cal is just too cold,” Jessica smirked, her sharp California accent full of sass and confidence.  “Plus, I needed a change of scene.  You said your name was Susan, right?”

            I could have sworn she didn’t hear, Susan thought, pleasantly surprised by Jessica’s awareness.  “Yeah.  Susan Lee.”

            “Chingu ya?”

            Susan chuckled at Jessica’s sloppy, informal Korean.  “Were you born in 1989?”

            “Yep.”

            “Then, yes.  We’re the same age.  Chingu ya.”

            “I thought so.”  Jessica smiled as if she thought her Korean was a genius addition to the conversation.

           “Well, I’ve lived here basically all my life,” Susan said quietly.  “If you ever need a friend to show you around, I’m willing to help.  Ah, turn here.”

            The car’s tires screeched on the asphalt as Jessica made the turn onto a long residential street.  Another hat that rested on the dashboard slid off onto Susan’s lap, and she carefully set both hats on the floor.

            “It’s this one.”

            Jessica stopped the car in front of a green, two-story house.  The windows were dark, but the porch light shone brightly.  Susan reached into her pocket and took out her house key as she opened the car door.

            “Hey,” Jessica called suddenly.

            Jessica’s voice echoed in Susan’s head as if it were an ancient, familiar voice she was hearing for the first time in a while.  She turned to the sleeping girl and nodded hesitantly.

            “If you really mean it, I’d appreciate a tour around.”  Jessica’s poised persona faded, and she appeared shy, like a child making a friend for the first time.  “Maybe you’ll have time this weekend?”

            “Sure,” Susan replied amiably.

            “Great!” Jessica exclaimed happily.  “Will you be working tomorrow?  I’ll stop by, and we can arrange a time.”

            “Sounds good.”

            Susan gave another small bow and finally exited the car.  When she made her way up to the porch, she looked back and waved at Jessica.  The sleeping girl drove off with a loud skid, and the sound rang in Susan’s ears.  The image of Jessica remained in her mind so vividly, like a ghost.  Susan felt a chill run down her spine as the wind rushed past her.  It seemed to push and pull however it wanted, however it needed.  Somehow, it seemed as though Susan and the sleeping girl had been pushed together by fate itself.