“BWOH?!”

 

Ae-young almost chocked on her saliva.

 

“What did you just say?” she practically screamed in disbelief, and all the while denying it even more.

 

“Calm down, sweet Aeya…” Ae-young’s father said as he got up and walk towards his daughter to soothe her.  He tried to her hair while he explained the situation to her but she only flicked his extended arm away.

 

“You better explain what all of this is about, and I mean RIGHT NOW!” she demanded.  As she saw her father cower into the corner of the wall, she turned around to face her mother.  “Umma, please tell me what is the meaning of all this.  You guys are not serious about this, right?”  Ae-young searched her mother’s eyes for some solace and resolve.  She knew that her mother would reassure her that it had only been a misunderstanding and that Ae-young really didn’t have to get married to anyone.  Ae-young wanted, no NEEDED, this reassurance so that she could go on in peace.  But to her dismay, her mother’s reaction was slow.  This was indeed no joke.

 

Ae-young’s mother sighed.  She held unto the shoulders of her daughter with both of her arms and gently brought her down to sit on the floor.  Ae-young’s father joined his wife on the floor as well, as both of them prepared themselves to tell their daughter what the situation had brought them to.  Ae-young’s mother, a woman who understood the power of language and its effect on human beings, decided to be the one to explain the circumstance to her daughter.

 

“Aeya…times have been difficult, and you know that.  Appa has been suspended from work and it may be a while before he resumes working at that company.  They may never even accept him back for all we know.  Sitting around and moping about isn’t going to make the situation any better.  We have to take action now, and you know that your Appa and I only have you and Hana’s best interests at heart.  We would never do anything to hurt any of you, especially not intentionally.” Ae-young’s mother smiled at her, but it was a pained one.  She understood the weight of the problem at hand.  She tried to sugar-coat it and make it seem not as severe, but it was the only way to appease Ae-young for the moment, before she started to ask too many questions.

 

“And so,” she continued, taking the silence from her daughter as an indication to go on with the explanation of what was going on, “we have opted for marriage to be our escape route from this problem.  You, being the eldest daughter, have the power to bail us out of this.  You will simply marry the man we designate for you.  You will live your life quietly with him and abide by his wishes.  Of course, you will fulfill your duties to him as a respectful wife as well as a mother in the future.  All we need, Aeya dear, is the money.  For all we could care, you could divorce him after a couple of years of marriage.  What’s it to us, anyway?  The point of all of it is that it’s a quick fix to this whole mess.  Our mortgage, car, and your tuition payments will all be covered by the payment…not to mention that credit card debt we’ve been in for a while now.  I think this is a great opportunity that this family will never receive ever again.  The choice now is whether you will use this power you have been enlightened with to save us, or whether you’ll let us all be thrown out into the streets.” 

 

Ae-young stood quietly, trying to assess the situation and take everything that her mother had said in.  Is there really no other way?  Yes, I suppose it would be our only option to go with this marriage.  But what about my dreams for the future?  What about that image of a happy couple with children in a beautiful house with a green lawn and a white-washed fence surrounding it?  What about lots of puppies running around, and a shiny new car in the garage?  What about all of the dreams that I had growing up about what my own family would be like?  Am I simply supposed to abandon these and abide by my parents’ wishes?

 

And then came the image of her parents to Ae-young’s mind.  They were the couple that had brought her up even though they themselves were young.  They made every effort to take care of her.  Her parents never had enough money to run the household, nor were they exceptionally brilliant in the field of academics.  But they were loving parents, and Ae-young knew that they wouldn’t let it come down to this unless it really and truly was the final straw.  Ae-young could see the tears that her mother was trying to repress.  She knew what a strong woman her mother was-someone who would not bow down to any opposition in the face of any kind of adversity.  Could she really have the heart to let her very own Appa and Umma down?  Especially after all they had been through to raise her when money and resources were tight?

 

Ae-young’s mother knew that Ae-young would do practically anything to save her family from desperation and humiliation.  She had been like that since she was a child.  Unlike their younger daughter, Hana, Ae-young was totally family-oriented.  She preferred being at home as opposed to Hana who took no greater happiness than in going out with her friends.  Ae-young would undoubtedly sulk around about the whole matter and her role in it, but eventually she would come to the terms with herself that this was the only way by which the family could be saved, both in face and from financial ruin.  Besides, there was no other door.  If she couldn’t even see that, then there was no point in wasting precious tuition fees for her education at an advanced educational institution. 

 

Ae-young’s father, with his eyes still nailed to the hardwood floor in embarrassment and shame, remained quiet, wishing with all his might that his daughter would feel his power waves begging her to accept the marriage proposal. 

 

With compassion tugging at , she knew that she had to give in.  “Fine, but there are some conditions to this,” she finally let out.

 

“Whew,” she heard both of her parents sigh in relief.  Her parents were ecstatic that she had finally agreed to accept.  The battle had been won!

 

“BUT,” Ae-young emphasized, “Like I said, there will be some terms that you must agree to in order for this marriage to work.”

 

“What kinds of terms, Aeya?” questioned her father.

 

“Terms like I will be the one handling our family’s finances.  I don’t want any of the money we receive to be squandered on alcohol or stupid stuff.  Also, I will be keeping track of all of your monetary activities.  Any money put in or taken out of what remains of our stingy bank account must be approved by me.  And Appa,” she said, directly facing her father with a stern look, “you must continue to search for a suitable job so that you can stop asking for hand-outs from people.  Can we all agree to these terms?”

 

Ae-young’s mother and father eagerly nodded.  “Of course, Aeya, those are definitely acceptable,” her father enthusiastically replied.

 

“So you’re definitely going through with the wedding?” inquired Ae-young’s mother.

 

“Yes Umma, for the millionth time,” Ae-young said with a ping of annoyance, wondering how many more times she would have to repeat her decision before her parents would believe her.

 

“Ah, Aeya, you are growing up and becoming so mature,” her mother said, as tears swallowed her eyes.  She hugged her daughter for what seemed like eons, taking in all of their memories.  She realized how her baby was growing up to make responsible decisions for the good of the family.  She couldn’t help but feel proud of her child.  “You will not regret this decision.”

 

Ae-young grimaced and pulled away from the embrace of her mother.  “Whoa…let’s get one thing straight here.  I may have agreed to this wedding, but that doesn’t mean I’m exactly thrilled by it.  I still don’t wanted to get married, but I’m doing it for the sake of this family and for the fact that I don’t want to see you two and Hana out in the streets.  So please, do not make me feel sorry for having agreed to this crazy request of yours…Speaking of which, have you even received a proposal for me yet?”

 

“Well, you see, we arranged your marriage through a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of ours…it’s a long story but basically we have a lot of connections,” Ae-young’s mother replied with a smile.

 

“Uh…okay…” Ae-young said, not sounding so sure of this arragenement.  “So…who’s the lucky man that has to marry me?” she asked, curious as to who her future husband was.

 

“Well dear, we can’t say.  That is, we ourselves do not even know yet,” Ae-young’s mother said quietly.

 

“UMMA!?  Are you kidding me?  You set me up with some guy that you don’t even know the name of?  What if he’s some child predator?  For all you know, he may not even be a real person.  What kind of parents are you?!”  Ae-young was tired of the impulse decisions her parents made.  First, they arranged her marriage with some guy…then they don’t even bother to find out about his name or background.  What was she supposed to do if she didn’t even know the name of her future husband?!

 

“Mainhe Aeya…” her father said as he scooted over to her and looked into her eyes.  “It all just happened so suddenly.  We had put in a request for your marriage to some rich fellow about a week ago when I was suspended, but we didn’t even expect it to be accepted by anyone.  I mean, look at yourself.  You’re not particularly intelligent or beautiful.  You don’t have any other special talents…” Ae-young’s father went on, listing all of the qualities that she lacked.  He finally got the hint from her angered expression that she was getting pissed off and decided to cut his rant short. 

 

“But anyway, you get what I’m saying.  Just imagine us when we found out that someone actually wanted to marry a dummy like you.  It was cloud nine, that’s all I can say.” 

 

Ae-young’s mother and father giggled upon recalling the memory of receiving the phone call that Ae-young’s marriage profile had been accepted by someone a couple of days ago.  Unfortunately, information on the acceptor of the marriage could not be disclosed until the day of the actual marriage in order to keep it confidential and out of the reach of the media.

 

Ae-young’s mother tried to calm her daughter down. “Mianhe Aeya...no information was disclosed at that time.  We’ll have to wait until the wedding day to meet this ‘mystery man’ of yours.  Until then, all we can do is stay in good spirits and prepare for the big day. Ah, my baby girl is getting married,” she smiled, as tears filled her eyes once again.  “I never knew how fast you would grow up,” she said, as she recollected all the memories of Ae-young as a small girl-her first tooth, her first time learning how to ride a bike with her Appa, her first crush on a boy in middle school…  She brushed away the strands of hair in her daughter’s face and stared lovingly into her eyes.  “I still remember you as a child…”

 

Ae-young looked to the side, avoiding her mother’s glance.  Throughout all of her childhood, all she wanted was to not be a disappointment to her parents.  She wanted to make them proud of her.  It’s only a shame that the only way she could help them out now was by being given to some other man.  “Umma, save it for later,” she said, as she took a hold of her mother’s hand and gently put it down.  “I still need to study for my exams.”

 

Ae-young made her way to the opposite side of the hallway in order to find some peace and quiet within the confinement of her own room.

 

“Okay dear,” replied her mother.  “Study as much as you can today, okay?  We have to head out to the city area tomorrow to confirm preparations for the wedding.”

 

“TOMMOROW?!  Why so soon?” Ae-young exclaimed, taken aback by the fact that she had to deal with the details of this stupid wedding so soon.

 

“Oops, I forgot to tell you something important.  The wedding’s next week,” Ae-young’s mother stated as if she were telling her daughter that she was going to go out to the grocery store to purchase eggs and milk.

 

“Kill me now,” Ae-young grumbled under her breath as she slammed her door shut.

 

♥♥♥

 

 

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