Meeting my WHAT?
Water Maze
Yoomi's POV
Luckily, my house was only a two blocks away from the school. I strolled past the neighbors’ dogs and checked my watch. “Two o’clock already? I got an hour to get ready,” I thought aloud. I jogged the rest of the way to my house and yanked the door handle. It wouldn’t budge.
“Ugh!” I pounded on the door in vain and dug through my bag. “Where is my freaking key when I need it?”
As if it heard me, my key appeared under my cell phone. I snatched it and hurriedly unlocked the door, dashed up the stairs, and entered my closet.
Knowing La Grande Nourriture was a fancy restaurant, I settled on a simple white dress with matching heels. I had no time to change my mind four million times as I usually did when picking outfits. I passed my jewelry box and quickly picked out a simple silver chain. If I had more time, I would’ve put much more thought into my ensemble…
I pulled out my curling wand. “Thank God I took a shower this morning,” I muttered as I sectioned out my hair. After my curls looked loose and presentable, I carefully made up my eyes. I picked up lip gloss and hesitated. I threw it in my silver clutch and ran down the stairs as best I could in heels. If we ended up not eating at the restaurant, I could apply it later.
I stood outside my house and hailed a cab. I slid in and checked my phone. “Could you get me to La Grande Nourriture in ten minutes?” The cab driver nodded his head and we sped away from the suburbs and to the city.
The cab screeched to a halt directly in front of La Grande Nourriture. I leaned forward to give the cab driver the money and hopped out. I heard the cab drive away behind me as checked my phone again. “Right on time.” I pushed the revolving door and was greeted by a middle-aged woman.
“Hello miss, how may I help you?” she asked with a smile.
“My mom has a reservation here,” I said, craning my head to look around the restaurant.
The lady walked behind the counter. “What is her name, miss?”
I turned my attention to the woman. “Jung MooHa.”
She browsed the list. “It looks like there is no one by the name of Jung MooHa here…” She looked at me.
I smiled sheepishly and held up a finger. “Excuse me, I’ll call my mom.” I turned my back to her and dialed my mom. Thankfully, she picked up.
“Mom, I asked for your name but they said you don’t have a reservation here,” I said in a low voice.
My mom laughed. “Yoomi, ask for Mr. and Mrs. Jo.”
“As in the Mr. and Mrs. Jo? The owners of the kpop company?” My mom hung up. I turned around and the lady looked up expectantly.
“I’m sorry, can you look for Mr. and Mrs. Jo?”
She skimmed through the list and her face instantly brightened. “Oh yes, please come with me!” She guided me to a private room near the back of the restaurant. She stood next to the door and bowed.
I bowed. “Thank you.” She bowed again and walked back to the front counter.
I looked back and forth. No one was back here. I flung open the door.
“Umma, why am I here, you know I was at the school! What could be so import-” Four unfamiliar people sat with my mom around the table, two boys my age and two adults, I assumed their parents. “Oh, annyeonghaseyo,” I said, embarrassed.
My mom glared at me. “Ya Yoomi, how many times do I have to tell you to be a lady and stop yelling?” she hissed.
I bowed apologetically. “I’m sorry,” I said meekly and started toward the empty chair between my mom and the boy with dark hair.
She smiled. “Yoomi, this is Mr. and Mrs. Jo,” she hinted. I bowed to Mr. and Mrs. Jo. They nodded their heads in return.
“Yoomi, your mom talked about you a lot, but you look prettier than what we expected,” Mr. Jo smiled as I slid in the chair.
I nodded my head. “Gamsahamnida.”
My mom turned to Mr. and Mrs. Jo and smiled. “Yoomi, Mr. and Mrs. Jo are your father and my best friends from our childhood.” They nodded in agreement. Things were suddenly interesting. How did they know dad? I opened my mouth to ask, but a tap at the door cut me off. The door slid open a crack.
A young waitress poked her head in. “Excuse me, the food is here.” Mr. Jo nodded and the waitress slid the door open fully and another slightly older waitress appeared. They wheeled in a cart and began setting the dishes in front of us.
A waitress swooped behind me expertly, leaving a steaming plate of cutlet chicken and a cup of bubble tea. “Yoomi, I ordered for you, I think I got what you like.”
I smiled. “Thanks mom.” I sipped on the bubble tea and stared at my lap nervously.
The waitresses finished and left the room, closing the door behind them. The room fell silent. I noticed the blond boy playing with his fork, obviously bored, and the dark haired boy giving him a look of disapproval. I set my cup down, realizing no one else had touched their food yet.
“So umma… Why am I here?” I asked hesitantly. I glanced to my right, and the dark haired boy was staring at me. I nodded awkwardly and he smiled. I smiled back. He had a cute smile, I had to admit.
My mom laughed. “Oh yes, almost forgot! Before you were born, your father and I negotiated with Mr. and Mrs. Jo our children would be betrothed, and now that you and their boys are now of age…” she trailed off, knowing I’d come to the conclusion.
My mouth dropped open, but I quickly shut it. “Mom, how come I didn’t know about this?” I hissed.
“I’m sorry honey, but I- no, we- think you and Kwangmin would make a good couple,” she replied.
“And who’s Kwangmin?” I asked, trying to remain calm.
“The handsome boy sitting next to you- well they’re both handsome, but you get what I mean,” mom babbled.
I looked slowly to my right. I hope she meant the dark haired one- the blond one looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here. Asians with blond hair- did he think he was cool or something?
I faced my mom. “Which one?”
“Who do you think is Kwangmin, Yoomi?” Mrs. Jo asked.
“Umm…” The dark haired one smiled a little more. “The dark haired one?”
Mr. Jo beamed. “You’re right! That is Kwangmin and his twin is Youngmin.” At the sound of his name, Kwangmin gave a little wave. Youngmin looked up, finally acknowledged my presence, and turned his attention to the fork again.
“Yoomi, just curious, why didn’t you guess Youngmin?” my mom asked. I hesitated. I didn’t want to be rude, but she did ask.
“Because…” I paused. “Because I don’t really like Asians with blonde hair.”
This grabbed Youngmin’s attention. He glared at me. “Well good thing you didn’t get your hopes up, I don’t like short girls,” he retorted.
“Well at least short girls are cute to somebody, while Asians trying to be blond is a major turn-off for everyone.” I shot back. He smirked and looked away.
“That smirk ain’t y,” I muttered loud enough for him to hear me. I felt my mom’s eyes burning into me.
Kwangmin put his hand over mine. “I’m sorry about my brother, he’s always like that- don’t mind him.” I looked from my hand to his face. He smiled warmly.
I smiled back. “I like you better than your brother, you’re nice,” I whispered. I drew my hand away and picked up my fork to eat my food.
“I can’t say I didn’t expect that,” Mrs. Jo laughed. My mom laughed nervously along with Mr. Jo.
Mr. Jo patted Youngmin’s shoulder. “Be friendly, Youngmin, she will be your sister-in-law soon,” he said lightly.
“Appa, she’s my sister-in-law not my wife!” Youngmin brought his water to his lips attempting to hide his scowl.
Mrs. Jo knocked Youngmin’s head. “Doesn’t matter, she will be part of our family soon!”
Youngmin rolled his eyes. “Okay, okay!” He stabbed his steak with the fork he played with earlier.
Two hours later, all of us walked outside the restaurant. I hadn’t realized exactly how tall Youngmin and Kwangmin were- standing up, they towered over me. How could mom let me have a fiancée who’s half a foot taller than me without my heels on? No wonder Youngmin made a cut on my height…
“Why don’t we leave you two alone so you can get to know each other?” Mrs. Jo had enthusiasm written all over her face.
“Excellent idea!” My mom clapped. I side-glanced at Kwangmin, who stood at my right, highlighting our height difference and prayed a silent prayer of thanks I wore high heels tonight. He caught me looking at him and blushed.
Mr. Jo hailed a cab. “Bring her home before eleven thirty!” my mom called as she climbed in after Mr. and Mrs. Jo. Youngmin trudged to the cab and flopped in. The cab sped off leaving Kwangmin and me standing awkwardly in front of La Grande Nourriture.
Kwangmin cleared his throat. “Yoomi-sshi?”
I looked up- literally up- at him. “Yes?”
“Um… You want to walk around?” His eyes flitted to me, then to the ground. “There’s a small park near here,” he said quickly.
I smiled. “Sure!” He looked at me in surprise, but smiled.
“This way, Yoomi-sshi.” He led me down the sidewalk, walking by my side, never getting in front or behind me. His walk was more of a stroll, his hands behind his back, as if he were thinking about something deep. We stopped at a crosswalk.
“Yoomi-sshi, how old are you?” A car whizzed past us and we walked across.
I smiled, swinging my arms back and forth. “I’m 18 years old, but you can just call me Yoomi,” I said.
Kwangmin stared straight ahead and grinned “Oh, well I’m two years older, so you should call me oppa then.” He turned his head toward me.
I pretended to think about it. “Well… I suppose if that’s what you want,” I said teasingly. He smiled.
He looked ahead again. “Oh, we’re here!” I turned my attention to the park. I stopped walking and my mouth dropped. He bent over and gently took my hand in his to lead me inside. “This one of my favorite places to be,” he said.
“It’s so… peaceful. And beautiful!” I took in flower petals sprinkled across the sidewalk, birds fluttering through the trees, a small pond babbling over smooth pebbles. I noticed the lack of people. We were the only ones. He grinned and brought me to a bench. “Where is everyone?” I asked. He sat next to me.
“Well it’s sort of a hidden treasure,” he said, gazing across the park. “Because I’m one of the only people who come here, my parents pay for the place to be kept up. I guess we’re lucky there’s no one visiting today, right?”
“Yeah…” I smiled. Realizing we had nothing to talk about, the tranquil silence transformed into awkward.
“So, uh, what school do you go to?” I asked.
“I go to Performing Arts High School.”
My eyes widened and I sat facing him. “Really? Me too! But I'm on a scholarship... You take morning classes?”
His face brightened. “Yeah! From seven thirty to eleven, what about you?”
I clapped. “Me too!”
Kwangmin frowned. “But then how come I’ve never seen you before?”
“I always stay in my class, I barely get out of the classroom,” I pouted.
He laughed. “I know the feeling, happens to me a lot lately… What room are you in?”
“D-15.”
“That was my class last year, this year it’s D-19.”
I smiled. “That’s cool!”
He stood up and offered his hand. “Would you mind if I take you around?”
I blushed and nodded, then took his hand. He pulled me to my feet. He didn’t let go of my hand and I didn’t mind. We resumed walking. I thought about how sweet Kwangmin was and thought back to dinner.
“I don’t get it, you and Youngmin are twins, right?”
“Yes, you couldn’t tell?” he teased.
I stuck my tongue out at him. “How come you guys are so different?”
“You mean our looks or personalities?”
“Personalities,” I said. He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “I mean, I know you’re twins and two different people, but you’re so nice and caring while your brother is…” I trailed off, hoping he’d get what I didn’t want to say.
He smiled knowingly. “I don’t know, we’re just born that way,” he shrugged. We stopped at one of the ponds. He let go of my hand, bent on one knee, and picked up a rock. His eyes on the pond, he flipped the rock over in his palm before he skipped it across. Still on his knee, he looked up at me with a mischievous smile.
“Do you really hate Asians with blond hair?”
I tried to suppress my smile and examined my clutch. “Well I don’t hate it, but it’s just not my style.” I glanced at him. “Light brown is fine, but not blond.”
“Well then it’s a good thing I didn’t dye my hair blond,” he winked. He stood up and brushed off his pants.
He reached into his pocket. “Hey, Yoomi, um, can I have your phone number?”
“Yeah, sure!” He took his phone of his pocket and handed it to me. I noticed little bruises on his hands. I didn’t ask, I just put in my number and gave it back.
He typed on his phone. “Thank you! Can I call or text you anytime?” He waved his phone.
“Yeah, sure! Try to call me now so I can save your number,” I said. He dialed and my phone buzzed inside my clutch.
I pulled it out. “Hello?” I smiled at him.
“Is this Yoomi?” he played along.
I giggled. “Speaking.”
“Then may I ask if we could take a picture so I can save it as you dial picture after we get off the phone and you save my contact information in your address book?”
I bit my lip to keep from smiling too much. “Sure thing!” We hung up and I quickly entered in Kwangmin’s number.
He pulled me close to him, one arm around my waist, the other above us. I put up a peace sign and smiled. He brought his arm down to look at the picture. “It came out nice!”
I tried to see around him. “Let me see!”
“Nope! You’ll think you look bad and you’ll want me to delete it,” he teased.
I feigned a gasp. “Me? No, let me see!” I tried to get a look at it, but he held his phone above him.
“Nope! I think you look perfect in it, that’s all what matters!”
I pouted. “Fine… My turn!”
“Let me hold it for you,” he said. He took my phone and held it above us. He handed my phone back. “I won’t look, it’s only fair.”
I grinned. “That’s right!” I liked it though- it was really cute.
He pocketed his phone. “So you can call or text me whenever you want,” he said. “And I mean it- I want you to contact me somehow, you understand?” he wagged his finger at me with a smile.
I grabbed his hand. “Okay.”
He snuck a peek at my phone. “Oh my gosh, it’s already ten thirty! I should get you home!”
I looked around the park. It had gotten darker. “I guess I was enjoying myself so much, time just flew by!”
“Same here,” he said.
He walked me to the street. “Cab or walk?”
“Hm… Walk,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow. “Really? In those shoes?”
“I can do it! And anyway, if we walk, we’ll get to talk longer.”
“I could deal with that,” he said. “But I’ll feel bad if you have to walk.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine.”
He smiled mischievously and not a moment later, he scooped me up. I squealed as he shifted me in his arms so he could get a better hold. His face, a few inches from mine, shined. “Now in which direction is your house?”
“Oppa-”
He beamed. “I like how that sounds.”
“But really Kwangmin, you don’t have to-”
He took a right. “I’ll just say this way then-”
“No, no, no, it’s the left!”
He grinned. “Alright then.” He walked, carrying me bridal style, while we talked more, me interrupting every so often to give directions.
Thirty minutes later, we reached a hill. Kwangmin nodded his head in the direction of the top of the hill. “Is your house up there?”
“Yes, if you go that way, there will be a path for us to go up,” I pointed.
He set me down with care. “Yoomi, let’s have a race.”
“Should we?” I asked.
“Hm… Actually, let’s have a bet.”
I crossed my arms. “Deal. If I win, we will go back down, and you piggy back me from here to my house.”
“And if I win, you have to piggy back me from there to your front door,” he said confidently.
“Okay, ready…” He moved beside me.
“One… two…”
“Three!”
I shot in front of him, but I got tired. I slowed down for a second and he bolted ahead of me. “You’re so slow!“ he called back to me.
“So unfair! I’m wearing a dress! And heels!” I pouted.
Kwangmin made it to the top before me. He waited patiently for me, then grinned. “Alright, come on, just to your house.”
“Do I really have to?”
“Yeah! Come on!”
I sighed. “Okay… One, two, three!”
He jumped on. “Glad I didn’t make it from the bottom of the hill to your house, you’re too short for it to have worked right!” he teased.
I ignored him. “Ugh, oppa, why are so heavy?”
He hugged my neck. “Oppa twice in one night? How am I to be so lucky?”
“Aigoo, stop talking!” I stuck out my tongue.
“Fine, fine.”
After going step by step, we finally reached my front door.
“Can you get down now?” I begged.
“Sure!” He hopped off. “Impressive for a cute girl in a dress and heels!” He pinched my cheeks.
I bent over and gasped for air. “I take back what I said earlier,” I puffed. “You and your brother are the same.”
“No we’re not!” he insisted. He saw my smile and patted my head. “Well it’s late, so I’ll let you go in now. Thank you for the wonderful evening Yoomi.” He bowed low. “See you tomorrow at school, I’ll have to come visit your class sometime,” he said.
“Yeah, okay! Bye!” I waved and took out my key. He walked away into the dark night as I unlocked my door.
I took out my phone and quickly sent: “Walk home safe! (:”
I walked inside. “Mom, I’m home!”
She looked up from her laptop. “How was your date?” she gushed.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out. It was a text from Kwangmin: “I will! Go to bed now, it’s late!” I smiled and turned my phone off.
“It was good. He’s way better than his brother.”
My mom closed her laptop. “So do you love him?” she burst.
“No! Oh my gosh mom, we just met!” I headed up the stairs to my room. I pulled out my phone and stared at the picture of us in the park. Maybe this wasn’t too bad after all.
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