Chapter 2

The audience claps for her. Son Jii’s speech was more than perfect. Many of her fellow classmates are inspired by her. To keep chasing your dream and believing in yourself are the message that keeps ringing in their heads. 

Mr. and Mrs. Park stand on the first row, applauding their only daughter. Mrs. Park’s eyes glisten with happy tears. Mr. Park, with his chin up, smiles brightly and does not take her eyes off Son Ji. Son Jii knows that her parents are extremely proud of her. 

As she walks down from the podium, she is welcomed by her parents who keep on patting and hugging her. If there is a happiness tank, it must be overflooded. Son Jii is happy that she can make her parents happy. But the more they embrace her, compliment her, and proud of what she did…. the more it suffocates her. 

She gradually can’t breathe. She is gasping for air. Her fingers clench to her mother’s arm, begging for help. No words can come out from , but her motions actually tell it all. Nobody seems to notice that she is suffering and dying. Ironically the audience keeps cheering for her. 

Gasping and gasping. She can’t take it anymore. 

She blacks out and suddenly wakes up to her room.  

Son Jii wakes up from her dream. Her breath is still trembling as if the suffocation was real. She lifts her hand to feel her chest. Her heart beats so fast it could burst. 

She looks at her phone on the night table. The clock strikes 10.30 PM. Shoot! The Exchange Students Introduction. She has the meeting at 11 and now she only gets 30 minutes to prepare. There is no time to take a bath. She quickly changes into nicer clothes, sprays herself with deodorant and perfume. Brushes her teeth and washes her face. There is no time either for the simplest make up. She looks so pale but she does not care at that point. 

Fortunately, her room is on the ground floor. She quickly reaches for a car key and goes out of the house. The helper witnesses her leaving, “Ms. Son Jii, where are you go----”. The door slams shut. 

Son Jii starts the engine and drives in rush. When she passes the Choi’s mansion, she passes the guy she saw yesterday from the other direction. The guy walks by the side of the street with a plastic bag full of grocery goods, returning to his home. Again, for a split of a second, their eyes meet.

-

“This is Park Son Jii, she is a final year student at the Wildwoods University. She’ll be sharing some of her experiences there. If you need any help, you can always reach her out, right, Son Jii?”, the university representative turns to Son Jii, who just arrived 5 minutes ago. There are about 15 people waiting for her to speak. 

“Yes, of course. It’ll be my pleasure. So, as you have heard my name is Park Son Jii and I am studying psychology now at Wildwoods. My experience so far……..”, Son Jii begins sharing her three years of experiences at her ‘beloved’ university. She leaves out the worse parts and tells mostly the exciting ones. She guesses it is how a representative should be.

Every year Wildwoods University always welcome students, in their second or third year, from other universities around the world as their exchange program. Wildwoods also has a student representative in each country to help the exchange students to adjust. This year, Son Jii is chosen. Not that she does not want it when she is granted an extra credit. 

An hour and a half later, the session finally ends. Thanks to the cup of coffee, she can manage to bear with the whole session. The exchange students begin talking to each other, exchanging phone numbers, and doing ‘how is the weather’ conversations. 

“Thank you, Son Jii, for today. It is really great to have you”, the university representative shakes Son Jii’s hand. After the representative leaves, an exchange student approaches her. 

“Hi, Son Jii-shi?” the guy is taller than her, styled in a blue sweater and a backpack. Son Jii lifts up her gaze to his. “Yes?” “I’m Park Bogum, nice to meet you”, he shakes her hand. His eyes smile as he flashes a grin. 

“Nice to meet you”, answers Son Jii. He must be drooled over by his juniors. Realizing how good looking he is, Son Jii feels a little bit embarrassed about how messy she may look that morning. No bath, remember? She hopes she does not stink. 

“Yes, I’m studying Psychology too. May I have your number? Just in case I will need your help”, says Bogum and takes out his phone. “Yes, of course, sure”, Son Jii takes his phone “So, you’re studying Psychology too? That’s nice. What year are you in?” Son Jii asks him while typing down the numbers. 

“I’m in my last year”

“Oh, me too” 

Son Jii and Bogum are almost at the same age. Bogum is 21 years old while Son Jii will be turning the same age in three months. 

After she finishes filling her numbers, she gives the phone back to Bogum. Bogum quickly checks it and types something. He turns to Son Jii again, saying “There, it’s my number”. Son Jii’s phone buzzes from a message notification. It says “This is mine”. Clearly, it’s from Bogum. 

Bogum, again, flashes his sweet smile, “Would really love to talk to you more, but I really need to be somewhere. I’ll message you if I have any questions. Thank you, Son Jii-shi”. He bows to Son Jii, turns and leaves the room. 

Usually, Son Jii would lead a conversation really fast, especially when she just meets someone who may need her help. But she was just taken aback by how faster Bogum can be brazen. 

-

The ride home is less rush-y. Son Jii can actually enjoy the city and her neighbourhood. It has been so long after all. A lot has changed, many new resident buildings are established, new restaurants and cafés are showing up. I really need to explore, she thought. 

The street is getting narrower and emptier as she approaches her residential area. The Choi’s residence stands on her right. As she passes, she secretly takes a peek to check if anyone is in the sight. She quietly hopes there is. But nobody. 

Son Jii parks her car in her large garage. She sees her father’s car is parked beside hers. Means he is home already. That is very early, odd. 

Two pairs of unfamiliar shoes are parked on the entrance door. Someone is visiting her parents, presumably. Son Jii takes off her shoes and tosses the car keys on the nearby counter. The sound of the jingling keys must have alerted the people in the house. 

“Son Jii ya~, come here”, her mother calls from the living room. Son Jii enters the living room and sees four people sitting surrounding the wide wooden table: her mother, her father, Mr. Choi, and the topless guy? 

“Oh, Son Jii! You have grown so fast!”, exclaims Mr. Choi as he tries to reach for her. Son Jii welcomes him back joyfully since it’s been a long time. But her mind can’t escape from questioning the other guy’s presence. 

Mr. Choi notices that she studies the mysterious figure behind him. “Ah yes, you haven’t met. This is my nephew, Min Ho”.