CONUNDRUMS AND FOLLY

“Someone’s in loo----ooo---vvv----eeee!”, teases the little miss once she catches her brother smiling to himself while looking at his phone and this caused the latter to sit up from his slouched position. Mino picked up his glass of mango smoothie and drank but try as he might, his smile could not be obscured. This caused the older sister to regard her youngest brother under her scrutiny. While enjoying the heat of the sun against her back, Dara moved to lay on her side so that she was facing Mino. The siblings were enjoying a picnic by the pool since it was her free day. She looked at Jinwoo, who also smiled at her.

“Am I missing something?”, Dara asked.

“Didn’t you notice anything?”, Jinwoo asked. He climbed up the pool to join the others and picked up the towel by Mino’s foot. Jisoo also settled herself by her brother’s hip even though he made a move to push her off. The gesture just made her laugh. “Didn’t you notice that the complains about our vacation ceased after our night out 3 days ago?”

“Aisssh!”, Mino whined and when he made a move to stand, Jisoo and Dara blocked him.

“So…”, Dara says with a grin and was now sitting down, her elbows propped on her knees, hands together, leaning forward to show interest in their current topic, much to Mino’s dismay. “Tell me about her!”

“Noona, please don’t make this awkward.”

“And since when did you start keeping secrets from me?”, Dara pouts. “Come on, I’ve been so busy the past 3 days, I need to keep up with you guys. I want to know.”

“It’s probably nothing anyway.”, Mino shrugged. “We aren’t staying for good here.”

“The fact that she caught your interest makes her one of a kind. You are quite the hard guy to please and I know, because I’ve seen girls look at you and you seem indifferent to them.”, Dara encouraged. “Besides, if you really like each other, you’ll find a way to make it work. Nonetheless, I want to know about her. She seems really special.”

“She’s from the town and Taehyun’s bestfriend. She’s petite, just like you. I met her when you grounded me, and I have yet to thank you for that.” Mino grinned at Dara who shared a giddy laugh with Jisoo. “She’s really pretty and smart. I’ve never really met anyone quite like her.”

The three other siblings were quiet as Mino reminisced that time he saw her again at the bar. After three bottles of beer, he was ready to tell Jinwoo and Jisoo that he wanted to go home because this party is probably the worst that he’s been to, when someone held his hand and pulled him towards the dancefloor before he could protest.

“Fancy meeting you here!”, she says with a smile and Mino was at a loss for words. She was wearing a black party dress, not the skimpy ones like what the usual girls wear at a bar. And he couldn’t keep the smile off his face when she began to dance cutely. “You seem awfully quiet.”, she says close to his ear. “Are you ashamed of me?”, she teased but she continued to dance in her own way that was almost comical to others but endearing to Mino. He was about to say something but they were interrupted by Taehyun who joined them and hugged the girl.

“I thought you were never going to come!”, Taehyun shouts over the loud music. “I missed you so much!” The girl makes a sign that they should leave the rowdy dance floor and for a second, Mino thought he was forgotten however she turned back and again, took his hand. “Come with us!”, she invites and Mino knew from that moment on that he will never turn her down.

“I see you’ve met!”, Mino hears Taehyun when they were seated on the couch in the VIP area. “He’s a guest at our hotel.” Mino bowed to her.

“We met yesterday. I thought I could see you, but the manager said that you were gone to take VIPs out and tour the city. But then, he was there so I decided to keep him company.”

“If I knew you were coming, I could have waited. I really need your help in keeping them entertained around town.”

“There’s nothing much to see here.”, Hayi says to them both, before she gave Mino her full attention. “But you know, the island is always full of surprises.”

“I can see that.”, Mino says with a smile and Taehyun didn’t interrupt them any longer. It was Jisoo who noticed that it was half past midnight and so she asked her brothers to call it a night. Mino and Jinwoo were already tipsy and Taehyun was completely drunk. Both Hayi and Jisoo helped them back to their car, and eventually to the hotel and the rooms. But Mino wasn’t about to let Hayi out of his sight just yet.

“Oppa, let’s not make so much noise. Unnie will wake.”, Jisoo says when he wouldn’t get in his room and whined every time she pushed him in.

“Where is she?”, Mino asks sleepily.

“You think this is attractive?”, Jisoo glares at him. “Trust me, you wouldn’t want to let her see you like this.”

“I don’t want to sleep.”, Mino says. “I want to see her.”

“You’ll see me in the morning.”, Hayi says and Jisoo turned to find her standing behind her. “Taehyun’s already sleeping. It’s time that you do too. I will be here.”

“You promise?”, Mino asks and Hayi nods. And that was the only time Mino allowed Jisoo to push him inside the room and help him to his bed. When she got back out, she was surprised to find Hayi, still standing by the door. “I’m sorry for that.”, Jisoo says and Hayi just smiles. “He isn’t usually like this. I will understand if you wouldn’t see him tomorrow.”

“Its fine.”, the other girl says. “I usually stay whenever Taehyun and I hit the town clubs. My room is usually next to his when the hotel isn’t packed.”

“I see. Thank you for joining us, Hayi-shi. I’m really glad to meet you.” Jisoo smiles at her again. “Good night.”

Mino recalled waking up with a thundering headache and was surprised to see the breakfast tray for him and Jinwoo that morning. His tray had a note and when he saw who it was from, he already felt better. After showering, the siblings found Taehyun and Hayi on a sailboat. While Hayi was checking on the controls, Taehyun was fixing the sails. Jisoo was already excited and immediately hopped on the boat. Mino was a bit hesitant and Jinwoo assures him that it will be all right. Hayi held out a hand for him to help him up. “I easily get sea sick.”, he confessed and Hayi helped him put on a life vest before she took something from her pocket. “I do too.”, she says before opening her palm out to him. “These ones are like candy. Just let it melt in your mouth and the sea-sickness will be history.”, she grins before popping the pill in . Mino could just copy her.

“Tell me more about you.”, Mino tells Hayi while they were quietly docked in the middle of the waters. The others were enjoying a game of cards on the other end of the boat.

“I already told you or were you too drunk to remember?”, Hayi teases.

“Sorry about that.”, Mino cringed at the memory of his foolishness. “I do remember. You only told me that you were born and raised on this island but then you studied at university and you spend summers here. After university, will you come back and live here?”

“Of course.”, Hayi answers with no qualms. “I have to. This is my home.”

“You never thought of staying in the city and live there?”

“Nope.”

“What can make you leave?”

“A tsunami?”, Hayi answered and laughed but then she noticed that Mino has gone quiet. “And you…”, she spoke to break the silence. “What can make you stay?”

“Definitely not the night life on this island.” Mino looked at her then they both laugh. From that time on, all he could think about was spending time with her. They both talked a lot about so many things except their contrasting lifestyles. They could talk about music, art, movies even the marine life and pets. Hayi owns horses and Taehyun brought them to the stables in the city where one of Hayi’s mares was about to give birth. They also spent time with the other horses and even taught them how to ride one.

“Maybe you can move here and be a stable boy!”, Jisoo teased once Mino has finished telling Dara about their trips around the island with Taehyun and Hayi. “Or maybe you can race one of their horses or be an equestrian!”

“Or maybe be a vet!”, Jinwoo suggests to which Dara laughs. “It’s so cool how the doctor told him to hold one of the baby horses. It was really bloody though, noona.”

“I thought the mare was going to die for a second.” Mino says. “Is that really how giving birth looks like?”

“I haven’t actually seen a horse give birth yet. But even so, perhaps the feeling is the same for both the mare and the mother when they hear their baby cry out loud.” Dara says with a thoughtful look on her face. “All the pain and the blood, the difficulties are forgotten as long as their baby is alive.”

“Easy for you to say, Noona!” Mino mocked. “You’ve never even given birth yet!”

Dara laughed and threw a towel at his head but her younger brother only laughed, said sorry and hugged her. “That’s harsh!”, she playfully slaps his arms.

“If you ever have a kid though, I’m going to spoil that baby rotten.” Mino says. “I have to go shower. Hayi’s coming and she’s going to take me back to the stables.”

“You know what, maybe you should just marry her and move here.” Dara suggests. “She has a good effect on you.” Mino was thoughtful for a moment then shook his head. “Nah, poor reception and no wifi.”, he says. “This place is still boring.” He laughed then turned but his siblings were all smirking.

“I don’t think he’s bored.”, Jinwoo says and both sisters nod. “I think I’ll swim some more.”, he added.

“Me too!”, Jisoo says but Dara starts to put on her robe over her white one piece. “Where are you going, Unnie?”

“I set a meeting with our scriptwriter and she’s here.” Dara says and waves at a girl about Jisoo’s age at the restaurant. “I’ll just work over there. Put sunscreen on, would you.”

“Yes, boss!” Jisoo gave a mock salute before Dara leaves.

Dara quickly puts on denim shorts over her once piece and her hair up in a bun before meeting with their young scriptwriter. She ditched the robe for it was too hot. She smiled at she approached Lisa. “Thank you for coming!”, Dara says as they exchange handshakes.

“Pleasure is all mine, Ms. Dara.”

“Your name is Lisa, right?” The girl nodded. “You can just call me, Unnie. Would you like something to eat?”

“The smoothie is fine. The waiter brought it over earlier.”

“I’m glad you like it. It’s my sister’s favorite drink in this hotel.” Dara shares fondly and she ordered a smoothie for herself before turning back to Lisa. “I’m glad you’re free today.”

“We have no classes on Saturdays and well, I could sense that you are very curious about the history of the ruins.”

“Yes, well, to be honest, I have googled it but there was nothing written about the ruins. I’m really getting frustrated.”

“Oh, but you have to understand, the script is only fictional.”

“Yes, but then again, I’m sure you have researched about the history of the ruins.” Dara grins. “I know the lengths scriptwriters go to, just for a good story.”

“Yes, I have.” Lisa smiles. “And I haven’t really shared all my research with anyone but I’m glad that you are very interested. I should start with this.” She took out a small envelope from her bag then showed Dara an old photo of a house. “This was the house that the Choi’s built more than a hundred years ago. My grandma told me that it was a time when people lived simply. They got food from the forest and the sea. Their houses were built on wood but then, Mr. Choi comes and suddenly they were introduced to bricks and trolley carts and even electricity. The Chois had the biggest house on the island and the head of the family was skilled in farming so he taught the people how to plant and grow crops.” Lisa shows Dara more pictures of what used to be the island. “This one, this is where this hotel was built. It used to be one of the largest rice plantations on this island.”

“Would you know what brought the Chois to this island?”

“It was said that the king gave the island as a gift to the Chois, who served him well during the war. The head of the family was a trusted general of the king. Others say he’s a spy of the king against the foreigners that is why he knew so much about electricity and building houses.” Then Lisa became grim and Dara noticed her hesitancy in sharing. “The old people of the town though, they said that Mr. Choi was an admiral, a master of the ships of the king and that he took something from the sea but since she could not live far from the water, he settled to live on this tiny island to keep her alive.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mr. Choi’s wife, Soojin, was the most beautiful woman that this island has ever seen.” Lisa takes out a portrait of a woman drawn on charcoal. “I never found a photo of her but this one, I found in an antique store. It was in a box that wasn’t burnt when the Chois’ house caught fire and so I took it, hoping to find some clue to its history.”

Lisa turns the picture towards her, so that Dara could see the image of the woman. From the , she could tell that the person who drew it had talent. She scrutinized the face of the woman and at the bottom of the portrait was the seal of the dragon.

“What is this seal?”

“The crest of the Choi family and since they used to believe that Mrs. Choi was a sea nymph, they believed that the family crest was the Dragon of the East River.” Lisa smiled as she looked at Dara carefully looking at the portrait.

“Tell me more.” Dara egged on.

“Would you like to come with me?”, the young girl invited. “I’ll take you directly to the source of all my information.”

~

Kwon Jiyong sighed. He tried to remember what his dream was about, but he couldn’t, but then the thundering beat of his heart when he woke, disturbed him.

“Looks like you need more sleep.” Seunghyun says when he enters Jiyong’s house and put his mail on the countertop, in front of Jiyong. “I took the liberty of bringing in your mail and entered your house because no one was answering the door.”

“Oh, thanks! How long have you been there? Would you like some coffee?” Seunghyun nodded and Jiyong poured him a cup.

“Maybe around 30 minutes. Where’s your brother?”

“He has business to attend to. Sandara is staying at the hotel.” Jiyong informs him. “She brought the family and Taehyun is keeping them entertained.” Jiyong thought that Seunghyun’s expression became grim. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“I mean, you and Dara.”

“This isn’t the first time we fought.” Seunghyun says with a smile to reassure Jiyong. “She will come around. Anyway, I’m here for something else. You told me to drop by today so that we can see the ruins.”

“That’s right. Filming will be in the evening so I thought maybe I could show you the wine cellar. Let me just get my stuff.” Kwon Jiyong got the blueprints in his room and fixed the bed. He took Mingguk’s baby bag and went out. Speaking of the boy, where was he?

“Jiyong…” Seunghyun called out and the former found him in the living room, carrying the baby. “Who is this sweet little boy?”

“Papa…” the boy says once he saw Jiyong then squirmed to get down from Seunghyun and ran to Jiyong who could just rub his nape and smiled awkwardly at his friend.

~

The bell chimes as the door opens to an old antique shop and the owner looks up from his counter. “Good day to you!”, he greets enthusiastically however, when he sees Lisa, he scowls. “Oh, it’s just you.” He sighs.

“Business isn’t going well, Uncle Dae?” She says with a smile, but the owner just scoffs. “I brought someone who wanted to meet you. I am currently working with her in the film.”

“That blasphemous film!” He interjects and Dara took a peek from behind Lisa. She was surprised to see a young guy, just about Seunghyun’s age, or maybe younger, wearing a traditional hanbok. He looked puzzled when he saw her and Dara steps in front of Lisa. “Hi!”, she greets and extends a hand towards the owner of the shop. “I’m Dara and I was asking Lisa about the history of the ruins, so she brought me to you. She says you know a lot about the island.” He looks at her hand and hesitates. “I’d really love to know more about the ruins.”, she adds and the guy, albeit apprehensive, accepts her handshake.

“Follow me inside, its too cramped in here.” He opens the door to the back of the shop and Dara followed with Lisa closely behind.

“You two are related?”, Dara asked Lisa in a whisper and she nods.

“Uncle Daesung is a cousin of my parents. He majored in Korean Literature and History at SNU. He came back to the island after he graduated and opened this shop. That was also when my parents died, and they left me in his care.”

“I’m sorry…” Dara started to say but Lisa shook her head. “The were both ill and if that will ease their pain, then I have to accept.”, the younger girl says.

They passed through a narrow passageway, which would be a nightmare to claustrophobics then after about 10 steps, another door opened, and Dara was thankful for the light. As soon as she stepped out, she was in awe.

“Its like I stepped into the Joseon era.”, she says with a smile. “I’ve never seen a hanok before except on filming sets.” There were 3 rooms, one on each corner, and in the middle was a gorgeously landscaped courtyard garden with a small pond.

“Welcome to our home.” Lisa says. “Uncle Dae carefully planned the architecture of this house and his shop. From the outside, you’d see a small simple antique shop and the tall stone walls obscured the whole house from passers-by. This was the original house of his grandmother’s mother, tweaked it a bit to add a modern minimalist touch, marrying the contemporary and traditional hanok architecture.”

“I know I don’t know a lot about history, but your house doesn’t seem like a commoner’s house.” Dara praised.

“We come from a family of scholars and historians and well, I think you’ll remember the Kangs as authors of our history textbooks. Uncle Dae still has copyright over all history textbooks across Korea.”

“That’s right!”, Dara smiles as she remembers although she wouldn’t tell them, that she hardly opened her history books when she was in school. She did remember buying Jisoo’s book once and she remembered the author for it was too expensive. “Kang Daesung?”, Dara asks and Lisa nods. “That’s him in the flesh.”

“I thought you left already?” They noticed that Daesung has stopped. “What are you both still doing here?”

“We thought we’d enjoy your garden for a bit. I need a few more minutes of freedom.” She heard a man’s voice and Dara thought that he sounded familiar. Daesung shook his head and stepped to the garden where the men were.

“Lisa, would you please get some wine and 4 glasses please.” Daesung says.

“Oh, I want…”

“Not on my watch.”, Daesung smirked at her and Lisa rolled her eyes. “Dara, come with me.” Dara nodded and when the other people in the garden saw her, they both stood up.

“Dara?”, the smaller guy says.

“What are you doing here?”, the taller one adds.

“Perfect!”, Daesung says. “You know each other!”

“Maybe I should come back some other time.”, Dara hesitates.

“Nonsense.”, Daesung looks at her. “You’re timing’s perfect. Seunghyun worked for a descendant of the Choi family and Jiyong owns the ruins that you are very curious about. We can tell you all you need to know.”

Lisa came with the wine and Daesung began to pour it for everyone. Dara sat between Jiyong and Seunghyun while Daesung sat opposite them. The sun wasn’t so hot today and the breeze was refreshing. She noticed that