03 | Transition

 

The next morning, Nichole woke up at 5 am. It was unlike her to be up so early, but it wasn’t an unusual thing to happen, seeing as her body was still on eastern time. It would've been 6 pm back at home, and if she were back at home, she’d probably had been still hanging out with her friends well into the evening. Maybe going to a movie or hanging out at the mall.

She rolled over to check her phone sitting on the night table beside her. She sighed checking the time.

Why am I up so early? She thought accompanying a moan mixed with agitation and exhaustion.

She took her phone off the charger and flopped it on the bed beside her. She laid still for a  moment thinking to herself: I can't believe I'm actually in South Korea.

Propping herself up on her elbows, she glanced over at her mother, still sleeping in the bed next to her. She wondered how long her mother had stayed up the previous night. Nichole couldn’t even remember falling asleep herself. The last thing she remembered of the night is her mother making plans with her sister on the phone. She had wasted no time to make sure Mason was taken care of and going to be living in a safe neighborhood. The conversation was stagnant and boring, nothing but serious plans and talk, and that put Nichole to sleep no sooner than she hoped after such an eventful few days.

Looking beyond her mom out the window, she squinted, as she could tell the night sky was beginning to lighten up. The sun's harsh rays rising up without care. It wouldn’t be long before the daylight shown a new day, hopefully promising a more positive outlook for Nichole. She slowly crept out of the full-size bed, as to not wake her mother, to make her way over the bay window.

She needs her rest, she thought and continuing her way over to the window. The blinds were still cracked open from the way they were when they first arrived, she was able to get a good view of the surrounding area. It was breathtaking. The way the hues in the sky were beginning to change and melt together made Nichole stop. It was truly an amazing sight to see. And for a split moment, she found herself actually thinking she could enjoy this trip. Or at least make the most of it.

Retreating back to her bed, Nichole grabbed her phone to take picture of the moment, the sky in transition. Almost destined for her to wake up at this ungodly time, just to see this transition happen. A moment of enlightenment and self-awareness. In a way, it was metaphorical for her. In it, she saw her own transition. From being the baby sister, always in the shadow of Mason, not that she had an issue with that. But, finally, a transition was happening that was forcing her to show her beautiful colors, of who she is. She reveled in the images on her phone screen, keeping in mind how small but yet significant this moment was to her. If nothing else went her way, she could look at these pictures and remember, nothing stays the same, everything has a transition. Even the dark to light, the night to day, the bad to good, the hidden to beautiful. She was in transition.

 

• • • • • 

 

Another hour or so Nichole’s mom finally woke up, she was never really one to sleep anyways. And oddly enough, she woke up at the time she normally would if they were back at home. Today was a big day, they had plans to meet up with Mason. Nichole was excited to see her sister and for the adventures they were going to take on, together, one last time.

They would do a little sightseeing, but most importantly, they were going to be filling out job applications for Maeson. It wasn’t the most fun thing in the world to do, but Nichole figured it’d be worth it to see her sister. They had planned to meet for breakfast at the Dragon Hill Hotel, so Nichole and her mom quickly dressed to meet with Mason downstairs.

 

“Nichole, relax…”

 

Nichole was anxiously awaiting her sister's arrival. They had not too long ago gotten off the phone with her but, it didn't seem to ease Nichole much. “Yeah, but she’s late…” Nichole retorted, still looking over her shoulders.

 

“She’ll be here soon.” her mom gave a calming reassurance, but that didn't help either.

 

“I’m going to call-" Nichole began before she was cut off by her own name.

 

“-Nichole!”

 

She turned around quickly, hearing her name being called in an unusual setting took her by surprise. But when she laid eyes on Mason, she quickly felt the warmth that hearing her sister’s voice in person had brought.

The two sisters locked in an embrace and it hit Nichole hard with just how long it had been since she’d seen her sister. They rocked side to side giving each other comfort without saying a word. Eyes welling up with tears.

 

“Don’t you dare cry!” Mason declared, pulling back to look at her baby sister. “You’re looking good, girl, look at you!” she exclaimed while tapping one of Nichole’s thighs.

Mason glanced over at their mom who was freely tearing up at the sight of her daughter, both of her daughters, together.

 

“Mommy~” Mason said, making her way towards her with open arms. The embrace was warm and cozy, just like Mason had always remembered. The tears couldn’t be help as an overwhelming rush of emotions came crashing down. It had been so long for them.

 

“Okay. Okay. Okay…” Mason said pulling back wiping her eyes, “we have to stop with all this mushiness so we can go eat. I am so hungry.”

 

Nichole began to speak up in agreeance but Mason continued, blotting her face dry with her hands, “Oh! And everyone, this is my friend Hyeonah… She’s the one that I had been writing with back at home, you know…”

 

“Yes, yes, I remember” their mom began, “It’s nice to finally meet you. Thank you for helping take care of our girl.”

 

“Oh, she is so good,” Hyeonah stated, “she fit in so well here and really don’t even need my help.”

 

“Oh, stop it! You know like I know, that I do.”

 

“Well,” their mom interjected, “I’m just glad she was able to meet someone nice and kind.”

 

“Thank you,” Hyeonah nodded sheepishly at the compliment.

 

“Okay. So. I have never eaten here before, but I hear that it’s pretty good… I mean, it is where the military families stay, so it has to be somewhat good, right?”

 

Everyone agreed as they began to make their way to one of the many restaurants in the Dragon Hill Lodge, freely giving their speculation about what the food would be like. It had been a while since Mason had truly eaten American food and she was excited at the thought.

 

• • • • •

 

Breakfast had been well received and all the ladies thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It had been a great time to catch up, notice subtle differences and get to know a new friend in person. Hyeonah seemed really nice and embraced Nichole and their mom as if she’d known them for years. She’d given so much advice and specific places they should visit to really enjoy and get an accurate depiction of South Korea. Nichole already knew she'd like Hyeonah, based on how kind she had been before her sister had even met her.

After breakfast, Maeson parted ways with Hyeonah, promising to text her later on that day before she left. Hyeonah, unfortunately, was preparing for an exam and wouldn’t be able to hang around much, only having time to stop in for breakfast before going to study. But the brief visit had given Hyeonah the opportunity to introduce Nichole to her younger cousin, Heejoo, that was the same age. This gave Nichole a person of contact if she ever wanted to get out and travel around with a local.

 

“So,” Mason began looking between her mom and sister, “What should we do first?”

 

“I think we should go ahead and start filling out applications as soon as possible Mason. We don't want to let the day get away from us...” their mom interjected.

 

“Ah, mom… Come on, don’t you guys want to go sightseeing?” Mason looked at Nichole. “Come on, putting in applications is so boring. Nichole is going to die of boredom. Right?” She nodded to Nichole.

 

Of course Nichole wanted to go sightseeing, I mean, after all this was her summer vacation that she was having to spend in South Korea because of her sister's selfishness. But. She knew they had come to South Korea for a reason. And, it wasn't to sightsee. It was to make sure Mason had a job and a safe place to stay. And the sooner she had those things, the sooner Nichole could go back home, and just maybe she could have a few days of summer with her friends before school.

 

“H-How about we do both at the same time…” Nichole suggested. “We can sightsee, and… if you like where we are, you can ask about applying…”

 

Amazement and satisfaction hit their mom’s face all at once, “That sounds like a great idea, Nichole.”

 

Mason, however, was not as enthused. She just wanted to enjoy a day of sightseeing with her family. But, mom was not going for it. “Fine…” she groaned before they made their way out the door.

 

Mason began to tell them of all the different places she had wanted them to see and experience. But each recommendation didn’t come without mom asking if she would want to work there as well. So, Mason ended up having to scale back her plans to only going to places she really considered working. She knew as soon as she got to their destination, their mom would be inquiring about how to apply and applying for Mason.

 

And that is exactly what happened. Each location they went to, the Korean War Museum, shopping stores in Itaewon, hell, even when they sat down for lunch. Mom asked everyone, every time. Not that Mason minded because she would need to work somewhere if she was planning to stay in Korea. But she knew doing all of this on her own would pose an issue due to her inability to not procrastinate. So she didn’t fight it, although she was embarrassed at first.

 

Nichole on the other hand, annoyed, tried her best to enjoy being out. But it was hot. And not very much fun. The Korean war museum was, interesting. She enjoyed history normally and found intrigue in looking at the military vehicles and weapons in person. But her dad was in the military, and so this was one thing that she was all too familiar with and she quickly lost interest.

 

Shopping would’ve been her happy place had it not been for her mom asking to speak to the manager or the owner as soon as they walked in each store. It became annoying after the first two stores. She tried to distance herself from her mom and sister, walking in last, a couple of paces after them both. But it was no use. In a country where everyone had similar traits, it was not hard to figure out that the three of them were related. The only redeeming quality of the shopping experience was Nichole had gotten a few new pieces of clothes.

 

Lunch itself was much more needed than she’d anticipated. Between all of the walking, taxi rides, and the heat, a nice cool place to sit was like heaven for her. But again, it was all serious conversations and barely anything fun or worth wild. It was like, once breakfast was over and Hyeonah left, their mom had turned into this straight-laced, get stuff done by any means necessary business-woman. And by the umpteenth conversation of how to apply, then making Mason apply right then and there, Nichole was burnt out. Lunch wasn’t much different with talk about housing and where Mason would like to rent an apartment.

 

Nichole just ate, listening, barely. She, not surprisingly, finished her food before anyone else. She sat scrolling through the pictures on her phone, going all the way back to that morning. She reminded herself, I’m in transition…

 

She perked up, turning her phone off, trying to be more present.

 

“Yeah… I know, it’s just that… he’s got a really hectic schedule, so I’m not sure if he’ll have time to hang out or meet up or anything… you know, like Hyeonah.” Mason added in quickly.

 

“Who?” Nichole asked, just popping in on the conversation.

 

“Mason's other friend.” their mom replied nonchalantly, cutting her meat with a fork before placing it on the metal ends to eat.

 

“Uh yeah… I was um, just telling mom that the place I was hoping to rent was near one of my, um, friends that I had met here…”

 

“Oh…” Nichole said, voice drifting off… The friend Mason was referring too, must’ve been someone that was actually more than a friend Nichole rationalized, taking note of her sister's careful choice of words and response. “So, we won’t meet him?”

 

“Probably not,” Mason said wanting to change the subject quickly before she gave too much away, “But hey, you guys got to meet Hyeonah and that is pretty good, eh? Anyways though, I have to get going or I am going to be late for my meeting.”

 

Mason got up to her feet and gave her farewells to her mom and sister, giving each other hugs and promises of seeing each other tomorrow. Their mom continued on with her lunch as Mason made her way out of the restaurant.

 

It was bittersweet to watch her go, Nichole wanted to go with her, but she remembered, I’m in transition.