Zhara

As I was walking towards Zico’s café, I saw Jay coming out. I put my head down trying to avoid him but he saw me anyways. He looked up and stared at me. I changed my direction to the far left, far away from him. He looked hurt for a second there but the look soon disappeared from his face. I ignored the look and went inside the café. It was very busy today. It was a Thursday and I had nothing to do so I decided to pay Zico a visit. I found the only available table, sitting close to the cashier’s desk. I sat there for a while, waiting for everything to calm down a bit. I looked around, hoping to find Zico but he was nowhere to be found. I got up and walked to the counter.

“Hello, how may I help you today?” The guy behind the counter asked.

“May I speak to your owner?” I asked, looking at him.

“Yes you may, just wait a moment” He said, bowing. He walked away, towards the door; I think which led to the kitchen. I stood there waiting as the other cashiers took orders and money. It took a moment before the cashier returned with Zico behind him.

“Hey Z” Zico said, smiling.

“Hi” I replied, giving a little wave. He went around the counter and came and stood next to me.

 “What’s up?” He asked, standing there.

“Ah…I thought that we could hang out. I’m tired of going around the house, mobbing in boredom” I said, looking down.

“Ok, well I’m very busy today so I can’t hang out today. I’m sorry” He said, scratching the back of his head. He let out a small smile. I felt sad that he couldn’t hang out.

“Oh ok, it’s ok” I said, walking to the table to get my purse.

“Wait, I have someone that you can hang out with” He said, coming behind me. I turned around and smiled. I was so happy for that.

“Well I’ll have to make a phone call first” He said, walking away. I stood there, waiting. He came back a moment later with a smile on his face.

“Do you know where Dobong-gu district is?” He asked me.

“Yeah, I’ve been there before” I said. I remember Jay taking me there when we went sightseeing. The place was beautiful and it had a lot of subways.

“Well, there’s a young girl by the name of Eun Ji, who attends a school called Seo-woon high school in that area. She's really small and her backpack is a belted black canvas backpack and her head is always down. You’ll see her when you get there. She’s waiting for you” He said. Wait! He wants me to go pick up a complete stranger?!

“Umm ok” I said.

“Since you’re a girl, you have to spend time with her and do whatever girls do. I’ll go pick up her younger siblings myself” He said, staring straight ahead. He took out a black credit card and handed it to me. It was the limitless credit card meaning I could purchase whatever I wanted, and the money never stopped coming.

“Ok then, I’ll see you later” I said, getting out my car keys. I mean her car keys, meaning that the car belonged to Hyori and I was just borrowing it for the day because she said I could. I said goodbye to Zico and walked out towards the silver Nissan GTR. 

I drove out of the parking lot and headed for Dobong-gu district. I got there with success, but it was kind of hard finding the school. I finally stopped and asked for directions. I was given the directions and made it in time to see school children coming out of the school. I stopped the car and scanned the crowd to see Eun Ji but I was unsuccessful. I got out of the car, but it was the wrong idea. School children turned their attention towards me and stared at me. Wow, I’m now a celebrity in Seoul. I ignored the stares and walked around looking for Eun Ji. I was walking around the school when I saw Eun Ji, leaning against the wall with her head down. I walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Ahh…..” She said, looking up. It was as if I had awoken her up from a centaury long sleep.

“Hello, Eun Ji. I was told that you were expecting me” I said, smiling at her. Kids walking by turned and looked at me.

“Do you speak English?” I asked.

“Ahh yes. My name is Eun Ji. You are Zhara?” She asked.

“Yes, Zico couldn’t pick you up today because he’s very busy” I said.

“Oh ok, did you bring my siblings along?” She asked, looking around.

“Nope, it’s just you and me today. Zico’s looking after them” I said, smacking my lips. I need to get chapstick fast because my lips were getting dry.

“Ok then, if you have no questions then I suggest we get going” I said, walking away. I was excited to get to know her. She followed closely behind as we headed for the car. I went to the driver’s seat and opened the door. Eun Ji looked shocked to see the car.

“Wow this car looks very nice” She said, touching the hood. I looked pass her to see some skinny anorexic girl and her 4 friends form a little circle.  The leader yelled something towards us and smirked.  That girl’s face looks like it could belong to the witch of the east. She was so ugly and scary when she did that. I looked at Eun Ji and she looked like she was about to cry. It looked like she had said an insult directed towards Eun Ji.

I said the only Korean cruse words that I knew “Get the out of my sight, you homo ” After I said that, I spat on the ground to show how mad I was getting. “you kids better follow your leader before I shove your ugly faces up each other’s asses. If I ever catch you bullying her again, you are going to regret ever being born” I yelled at them. I looked around to see them dumb founded. Some people walking by heard it and started laughing and hollering. I got into the car and started it. Eun ji followed suite a moment later. I pulled out of the lot and headed for the COEX Mall. I stared straight ahead, trying to cool down my anger. How could kids be so mean?

“You didn’t have to do that” Eun Ji said. I looked at her and smiled.

“Yes I did. es like that don’t deserve to bully others and get away with it” I said, looking back at the road ahead of me.

“Thank you” She said, wiping tears away from her eyes.

“No, thank you. I now have someone to hang out with” I said, smiling. There was one thing I learned from Jay while dating him. His motto was “Stand up for what you believe in and do what you think is right”.

“Hey, I want to treat you to a day of shopping” I said, glancing at her.

“Why?” She asked, confused.

“Because I have met a new friend and it is only right to celebrate the moment of forming a lifetime friendship” I said. She didn’t say anything and I kept on driving. We got there in about 30 minutes. We got out and headed for the mall. We entered every store and bought a lot of clothes for herself and her siblings. I also bought clothes for myself, using the card. After what it seemed like forever, I declared that I was hungry and we headed to one of the small food stalls in the mall. We finally picked one that we both liked and went there. We took a seat and made our orders. Our food came and we ate it. After that, we ordered drinks and sat there in silence, sipping our drinks. I wanted to get to know her.

“So, how do you know Zico?” I asked, looking up at her. As soon as I had  mentioned  Zico’s name, she blushed.

“Zico is my boss”

“Oh cool. What grade are you in?”

“I’m in the 3^rd year” She said, sipping her juice.

“How many siblings do you have?”

“I have two siblings. It’s a boy and a girl and their names are Tae Woo and Jae Rim”

“Where are your parents?” I asked. I knew I was pushing it but I just wanted to know.

“Our mother left and our father passed away 2 years ago in a head on collision” She said, looking down. 

I didn’t say anything because I was lost for words. After a while, the silence got unbearable. I knew I shouldn’t have pity on her because some people hate it when you pity them.

“Oh how nice! You’re lucky you have siblings. I am the only child of my mother. My father left before I was even born” I said, holding back the tears. I felt so bad for my mother, having to raise me by herself, and she had to quit her dream of being a lawyer to take care of me. While that bastard ran around town, making babies with every woman he saw. Even though he was my father I think it would do him well, if he had a vasectomy. At least it would save his other children from having such a stupid person for a father.

“Oh ok” She said, looking down. I wanted to ask her the question so bad. Did she like Zico?

“Do you like Zico?” I asked. Her cheeks turned pink and she just kept on looking down.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to answer. I’ll just tell you more about me. I’m 24 years old not quite 25 yet. I used to date this guy called Jay Park, but our relationship dissolved. I came to Korea to attend a friend’s wedding that I got invited to. Well, I met Zico the second day I was here. He’s a pretty good guy” I said, laughing.

“Oh, you dated a Korean?” She asked, surprised.

“He’s Korean American. He’s so sarcastic and nerdy sometimes” I said. As I thought about the old days, a smile came onto my face.

“You still like him. Don’t hide your feelings. It’s better if he knows now before it’s too late” She said. I was shocked. This was the first time that someone had actually said out loud what I had bottled away in my heart for 4 years.

“Oh, thanks for the advise but I don’t think that will ever happen because he’s getting married” I said, looking down.

“Umm, it’s ok. You’ll find someone better” She said, reaching out and patting my hand. I gave her a smile because she understood me.

“I like Zico. I’ve liked him for the past 2 years ever since I met him, but he doesn’t seem to notice my feelings for him. I’m so afraid of telling him” She said, looking down. She looked so hurt.

“It’s ok, we’ll get through our pains together” I said, pushing my chair so that I was sitting next to her.

I wrapped my hands around her and hugged her. She hugged me back. After a while, we broke off and finished our drinks.

“Please don’t tell Zico what I have told you” She said, getting up.

“I won’t” I said, also getting up. I helped carry some of the bags and we walked out of the mall, towards the car.

“Thank you so much for today” Eun Ji said, as I drove the car away from the mall.

“Yeah, thank you also” I said, smiling. It was so nice to finally meet someone who understood the type of pain I was going through. When we got to her car, I told her to take out her phone. I gave her the house phone number since I didn’t own a phone.

“Call me anytime” I said, pulling away. I drove back to the café and gave Zico back his card. I then made my way home and thanked Hyori for lending me her car for the day. I was so tried and sleepy. I took a bubble bath and got dressed in my PJs. I crawled into bed, ready to go to sleep, but someone knocked on my door.

“Come in”

Eddie came in and sat on my bed.

“Hey, Hyori’s going to look at new apartments on Monday, you want to come along?” He asked.

“Wait, why can’t you go with her?” I asked. Besides it was them who were purchasing the apartment, not me.

“Because I got business that I have to take care of at the company, so I’ll be very busy. So are you going to go with her?” He asked, looking at me.

“Yep I’ll go” I said.

“Ok thanks. Good night Z” He said, getting up. He walked to the door, opened it and left. I turned off the lamp on my night stand and flew away into dream wonderland.