Chapter 32

SeonMan told us about all the fun he had on his trip as we waited for his girlfriend to arrive. Just as we began to talk about our own good times, the doorbell rang. I looked at Ha Na and nodded her for assurance.

SeonMan and I both stood up to get the door. He got in front of the door and I stood back behind him. He took a deep breath and opened the door to reveal a petit Korean woman fixing her sundress. She looked up and smiled when she saw SeonMan standing in front of her. He grabbed her hand and led her inside with her bag behind her. He closed the door as they exchanged loving looks and whispers. I looked back to Ha Na who felt just as left out as I did. I cleared my throat and slowly walked up to them with a smile.

I saw her eyes get really big when she realized that I was black. *Here we go again.*

“Oh! I’m so sorry, Bre.” He put his arm around the woman and smiled. “Bre, Ha Na, this is Minra, my girlfriend.” When he said ‘girlfriend,’ I saw her turn red as a tomato and giggled. “Minra, this is my best friends, Bre and Ha Na,” He told her in Korean. Her eyes got bigger when SeonMan told her that I was a best friend of his.

“I’m sorry, Bre, but Minra speaks little English, so I might have to translate for you.” 

“It’s fine. I’ll just speak to her in Korean.”

“Oh yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck, “I forgot you can speak Korean, too, haha.”

I slightly bowed and said hello to her in Korean. She smiled at me and looked at SeonMan surprised, and he just nodded to her. I mentally laughed at how cute she was being. *This must be her first time meeting a black person, let alone one who can speak perfect Korean* Ha Na greeted Minra the same way as we came into the living room to sit down.

We chatted for a bit about their trip and got to know Minra more before we talked about her possibly being pregnant. She told us all about her trips around the world, especially her trip to America.

She told us how she got lost once and how her poor English made it really hard for her to get around. Turns out, she has met black people before. She told us how some were really rude and others were super nice. I could concur that sometimes it can be like that, but I also told her that with me being here I have to deal with some rude Koreans. We agreed that every country has their share of rude people and laughed everything off. Her stories went on as she told us of her many days with home sickness and few food poising stories.

Her eyes twinkled when Seon oppa talked, and it made me wonder how someone so nice could miraculously come into SeonMan’s life that seemed too nice to be true. Then I wondered who made the first move on the trip? *I doubt if it was SeonMan... she could be a night-time stripper. Or a dominatrix! Talk about a lady in the streets, but a freak in the-*

“Bre? Are you ok?”

“Eh?!” I squeaked.

 “You look puzzled about something...”

“Oh!” I cleared my throat, “I’m good. I was just... thinking about something I should not have been thinking about” I said scratching my head and mumbled the last part. “So anyone up for tea?” I asked as I got up and headed to the kitchen.

I walked pass the kitchen and heard my phone ringing in the other room. I ran to get it, but it stopped ringing just as I reached it. Minra asked if I needed any help making the tea as I looked to see who it was. *Kris... I’ll call him back later.*

I accepted Minra’s offer of help and went to the kitchen with her. I pulled out the large pot and but it on to boil the water. “Waa... you make tea like American friends. In pot.” I couldn’t help but to chuckle at her Engrish. *That’s so cute of her to try.*

“Ne,” I responded in Korean, “Some things you just can’t change with your location, haha.” She nodded with a smile.

Minra and I made small talk as the water boiled, until my phone rang again. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and looked at the caller ID. *Or he’d call me back.* “Minra, would you excuse me for a moment?” she nodded and I left into my bedroom to answer his call.

“Yeoboseyo?”

“Hey... I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Aniyo. I just have a little company now. Why would I be sleeping now anyways?”

“Err... I dunno...”

I sighed, “Never mind it... So what’s up?”

“Nothing... I just needed someone to talk to.” Kris cleared his throat.

“Really? What about?” I asked curiously.

“My, uh, it’s just my cat... he died yesterday, so... yeah.”

“Oh my god, Kris! I’m so sorry to hear that! How are you!? Are you doing okay!? Do you need me to run by there!?”

“Really?”

“Yes really! I’ll just tell them I have to make a trip to the store and stop by the company building instead. You are there, right?”

“No, not that. I mean, are you serious?”

I looked around my room confused, “...Yea... what’s wrong?”

“Did you really just fall for that?”

“For what?”

He chuckled. “Don’t you think I’d sound a little more down if my cat died?”

“So wait...” I paused for a moment in thought, “you don’t have a cat?”

“No,” he giggled at my question.

My face fell blank. “So no-one or thing died yesterday?”

“No, Bre. I was just joking-”

Before he could finish his sentence, I hung up the phone. *That little giant, lying, big head, pest! Urgh!* I stormed out of my room and angrily turned the pot of water off and slammed a cup on the counter. I noticed from the corner of my eye a small figure by the refrigerator and looked over. There was Minra with the most terrified look on her face. I plastered a smile and quickly turned away from her. *Great, now she thinks I’m crazy!*

“G-gwenchanayo?” she asked me in Korean.

“Oh, ne, I’m fine-” I reached to get another mug for our tea when my phone rang again.

Of course it was Kris again. This time, I didn’t bother to answer and finished making the cups of tea. Minra helped me carry them into the living room to SeonMan and Ha Na. We sipped our tea while we finished talking about Minra and SeonMan’s relationship.