Yonghwa

Itaewon…

Yonghwa saw a broken lady in front of him as she knelt low to the ground and cried. He wondered what had her so upset. She had puffy eyes and a look as if something scared the death of her when she powerwalked by his coffee shop. He was going through his inventory at the coffee shop in the wee hours of the early morning as well as developing a business plan.

He felt another pang in his heart as he watched his troubled beauty walk by. His heart sent a message to his brain to follow her and make sure she was okay. But when he saw how beautiful she looked while she gracefully posed, his heart beat erratically and the pang became more painful.

The next thing he knew he was cradling her broken self in his warm and long arms. He held her for a moment but then came to his senses that they were still strangers. He reluctantly released his embrace before she rejected him.

“Mianhada. I know we just met and that was inappropriate.” He apologized but didn’t actually feel sorry for doing it.

She kept a straight face when he pulled away. He was eager to see her expression but she was unreadable. She didn’t say anything still but wiped her beautiful wet eyes with the back of her palm.

“Gwenchaenha?” He didn’t know what else to say.

She cleared after composing herself. “Ne. Gomawyo. I’m fine now.”

He wanted to push further and ask her what made her cry so hard. It was heartbreaking. He shouldn’t feel this way or feel this concern. He had a million things to do and had a relationship back in New York to fix.

“Himnae.” He badly wanted to pat her back but kept the distance. He stood up instead. “Waah… so this is how a yoga studio looks. Your yoga studio is very nice. I like how design meshes with the atmosphere.”

He hoped by changing the subject it would ease some of the awkwardness and tension. He glimpsed at her straight face but could see a hint of relief.

“Gomawyo.” She stood up, rejecting his offering hand, and smiled. “I love it and hoped it would bring a balance of peace and brightness.”

“You did a great job.” He placed his hands in his pockets.

“Gomawyo.” Awkwardness in the air.

“Well, now that I know you are fine, I better get back to my coffee shop. It’s almost time for my workers to arrive.”

He turned to leave but could hear her footsteps behind him. Once at the door, he turned back around, only to catch her off guard. She bumped into his hard, masculine chest, losing her footing. But he instantly wrapped one arm across her shoulders and the other at the small of her back.

She looked up at him with her now wide beautiful eyes. She was so beautiful in his arms. He felt like he wanted to kiss her full, pink lips. But he lost all thoughts and helped her stand up. She was blushing again.

“That’s twice now that I’ve held you. If it’ll be a habit, I look forward to the third time.” He smiled.

On that flirtatious note, he walked out of her yoga studio. Once out the door, he leaned against the building and lightly hit his head. He knew he made an of himself for being flirty when the atmosphere was from being light. He deeply inhaled and exhaled and walked back to his coffee shop.

♦

Later that afternoon, he was deep in the coffee shop’s financials and reviewing possible real estates in both Japan and China. Every now and then, his mind would drift to holding his dreamy beauty close in his embrace early that morning. He remembered her nice vanilla scent and the softness of body.

He smiled to himself but continued reviewing the piece of paper he was holding. He looked at the time and realized it was just that time when Shinhye would be done with her yoga session. He neatly stack his papers away and walked out of his office to the counter.

On cue, the bell dinged above the door. He recognized the 2 ladies who were with Shinhye the last time she came. He couldn’t help but smile. But his smile dropped when he didn’t see her walk in with them.

“Annyeonghaeseyo.” His tone sounded gloomy. “What would you like today?”

“Hmm… what did Shinhye eonnie order last time?” One of the ladies asked the other.

Yonghwa felt a pang in his chest from hearing her name. “I recommended the Chamomile tea to her last time. If that would be what you would like.”

“Ne! It was very smooth and warm.”

Yonghwa retrieved their money and opened the cash register. He wanted to ask where she was but didn’t want to be too forward. But by the way one of the ladies was grinning at him, he knew he was caught.

“Shinhye-ah had an errand to run right after yoga.” The grinning lady confessed when the other lady walked away to get a table. “Geundae, Im Semiibnida. Shinhye and I are great friends. By the disappointment in your tone earlier, I thought to share an explanation for her absence.”

Yonghwa felt embarrassed. “Was I that obvious?”

“Ne. Very.” She noticed a questionable look on his face like he wanted to ask something else. “Is that all you wanted to know?”

“Ne?” He set down 2 sets of teacups.

“You look like you have something else to ask me.”

“Ah… geundae… was she okay?”

Semi thought for a while. “She did seem like she was under the weather. I’ve come to notice she doesn’t like to share much with her emotions. When she left, she didn’t seem any different.”

“Ah…ne.”

Yonghwa hoped she wasn’t avoiding him since he found her at a time she was broken. But he couldn’t help but feel concern for her.

♦

It was the end of the weekday, bringing him into 2 weeks since living in Itaewon. But he hadn’t seen Shinhye again. Now he was starting to think she was avoiding him. Maybe she didn’t want anybody to know how broken she was. It made him even more curious as to what could make her feel that way.

Knock… knock… knock…

He looked to the door of his late grandfather’s home office to see Lee Joon standing there. He quickly stood up and gestured him to sit in the sofa in front of his desk. One of the house maids poured them some tea and left them.

“What brings you here, Lee Joon-ssi?”

“Ah… come on. We’ve certainly been acquainted with each other long enough to drop the formal. I’m not your average prompt and uptight real estate agent. I like to have fun while working. Besides, we’re a couple of 2 young men.”

Yonghwa liked his straightforwardness but was in question to become friends with him. After all, it wasn’t like he was gonna stay longer. But then the memory of his fragile yoga beauty came to mind. He sighed.

“Wae? Business too overwhelming?” Lee Joon crossed his legs and sipped his tea.

“The business I can handle. Don’t concern yourself. It’s my business.”

“You need to lighten up-”

Yonghwa lifted his hand to stop Lee Joon from becoming to personal. “Back to my question, what brings you here?”