성재: As soon as those words escape out of my mouth the very first reaction I harvest is a confused, choked, “What?” two voices ring in my ears at the same time I’m confused which one I heard distinctly—was it Se Na, or her aunt?

I step away from Ahjumeoni and recompose myself. Here goes nothing. “I was thinking if I could borrow Se Na,”

It quite surprises me, when she recovers quickly, too, herself. “You plan on taking her away, already? But you’re not even legal yet,” with an amused chuckle, but somewhat seeming like a sneer.

I manage a smile. I have forgotten she knew what Se Na and I had promised to each other long ago. “That’s not it, Ahjumeoni; I would like to ask for your permission—you—her legal guardian—to let me borrow her for a while,”

Ahjumeoni, despite of her age, still seems quite young. If I recall correctly she’s 52 years old, but I’m not exaggerating when I say she looks like she’s still 30. Presently she turns her head to one side—the side where she could not see her niece; with a lopsided smile on her face that hints annoyance rather than delight. “Let’s talk this over,” she draws one of the dinner table’s chairs out, and sits on it. “Sit, child; I don’t want matters like this to be handled informally.” Her arms are sidewardly rested on the table, and she intertwines her fingers. Putting one leg over the other in a womanly sitting position she tells her niece, not even looking at her, “Se Na, give us something to drink,”

“’Kay,” before Se Na leaves she shoots me with a the hell are you doing look, to which I merely reply with a steady gaze, telepathically saying I know what I’m doing.

As soon as I’m quite sure Se Na won’t be able to eavesdrop, I reopen the topic. “Ahjumeoni. I want to borrow your niece,”

 “Why so?”

“I need her,”

“Is that all?” Ahjumeoni smiles at me like a viper. “If that’s the only reason you have, young man; door’s that way. You may go.”

I knit my brows together. “Fine. But before I do, I want to fully explain myself. Se Na—she—she doesn’t want to go to university, does she?”

Ahjumeoni nods, trying to figure out where I’m going with this.

“I know this is ridiculous—but I want to bring Se Na with me to Seoul. Just for a while. For a vacation, perhaps. Let’s just put it that way.”

“Seoul’s not that far from here, you know; Se Na can always go there when she wants to,”

“But you wouldn’t allow her.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” she scoffs. “Of course I would,”

“I beg to differ.”

“My boy, you have no idea how things go between me and that girl.” she closes her head in to my direction. “I once allowed her to go to Seoul to search for you. But how did she end up there? She found no Yook Sungjae. She was spending her pocket-money so much I thought she wouldn’t be able to go home,” a smile spreads across her lips. “And who shall be partly blamed for that?”

You. I think but don’t say. Pretending to feel defeated I cast my eyes on the surface of the table, and on the unfinished bowl of ramyun Se Na made for me. “Alright; Ahjumeoni. But this is about Se Na. Not me.”

“Fine,” she leans her back on the chair’s rest. “Have it your way,”

“I…my schedule’s not that tight now, I can bring Se Na to places she wants to see. About her lodging there…there’d be hotels and all. She will be fine,”

“Why are you telling me all of those?” Ahjumeoni her brow. “Go tell that to Se Na. Tell me about the things you wish to do about  Se Na, not with Se Na. Besides, Sungjae, You’re a rising star, you just started with your career. Do you want it immediately ruined just because of you going out with some random girl, having a date with her? As far as I know, fans will not be so happy when they know of that,”

I swallow the lump in my throat. I wasn’t expecting her to shoot at that. “I will find a way,”

“Good.” She smiles. “Do you promise to take care of her?”

“Yes.”

“Will you keep an eye on her?”

“Yes.”

“Always?”

“Absolutely.” I say with a deeper voice, annoyed with the interrogation. Then I detect something in her eyes, which at first I’m not absolutely sure about, but my instinct confirms it. “You…” I say, voice a little shaky.

“Hm?”

“You…” I gulp. “You don’t want me to bring her back, do you?”

A very swift flick of surprise visits her face for the fraction of a second. After a while of an open mouth she recoils back in her chair and raises both arms, displaying her palms as if in surrender, “Alright; alright. You caught me,”

“You monster,” I mumble under my breath, which gladly she doesn’t hear.

“You know very well what, what I want and who I am, Yook Sungjae.” She says, looking at the bowl of ramyun as if that was the subject of scorn itself. “It impresses me that at a young age you judge people all too well. Well, I don’t want you to return her but even if you still do—what difference would that make? No one cares for Se Na here. Not me. Not ever. So better if you just take her away—there—good riddance,”

I narrow my eyes. “Why do you hate Se Na so much?”

She shakes her head with a smile. “Not hate. Loathe. They’re two different things. It’s a long story, boy—too long, even for you, to understand. And it tires me to tell,”

I purse my lips. “So it’s settled, then?”

“It is,” she nods once, boredly. I’m about to celebrate mentally but she continues her sentence.”One question haunts me though. Why on earth would you want her? She’s as good as a worthless little earthworm. Look at her—I supported her through high school and even insisted in assisting her when she goes to university. But that whimpy brat does nothing but sits whole day in front of the computer with goodness knows what her business is,”

My blood starts to boil with that statement. I have forgotten how much she deliberately insults Se Na even in front of friends. I keep calm. “I think you have recalled incorrectly, ma’am,”

Her brow elevates.

“You said you’d only support her through high school. What you told her was that she could still stay here even when she goes to university but you never said you’d support her,”

She doesn’t even seem fazed. With a snicker she says, “And you all know that? How come you do, when you—her one and only friend—left her? I must admit, I thought you were a better man, Yook Sungjae; just when I was happy because someone finally knew how to care for that ill-mannered girl there you were—abandoning her, damaging her more than she already is,”

I grit my teeth behind my closed mouth. Remember, be respectful to the elderly. Yeah, right. If that elderly was worthy of respect and she was not that provoking for you to pounce at her and make her jab your fist inside . “I never intended any of that to happen,” my speech goes more threatening than I intended. “ I meet her gaze with a more smoldering look. “Besides, she wouldn’t be the ill-mannered girl which you call her now if someone raised her up properly and stopped blaming her parents for dying in an accident no one wanted to happen,”

Now  it’s her turn to be insulted. Before she could open to yell at me to get out, I say, sarcastically sweetly: “It’s settled, then; thank you very much, Ahjumeoni,”

“Tea’s ready,” Se Na announces when she enters the kitchen, carrying a tray, but as soon as she sees my face she knows the drink’s too late—the talk had happened. So she sighs, and places it on the table. “I’m a little late, huh. What did you talk about?”

I give a glance at her aunt who’s now writing something on a rectangular booklet. “You’ll know soon, Se Na.” I answer with a smile, as if no high words were exchanged between me and her aunt a while ago.

We hear the tearing sound of paper and we both turn. Before I could recognize what the paper is Se Na grabs it, and as she reads what is written the color on her face drains.

“What is it?” I take a peek at the paper, and I almost melt on the spot.

It’s a check. And it’s worth 900 billion won.

Just…

What the hell.

 “You should’ve thought of this for Se Na’s college,” I smile at Ahjumeoni, as she stands up.

“That would be an entirely different matter. If I support her through it she’d still be here, so I’d rather spend a one-time big-time amount of money and have her out of my sight forever.”

I’m a little concerned about how Se Na would take this insult addressed to her right in front of her  but her face is still wearing a look of shock, so the least I could hope for is that she hadn’t heard it…which is quite impossible.

Finally, my best friend recovers, and wants to spill a word of thanks to her aunt but she’s cut off. “Pack your things, Se Na. Return anytime as you wish but don’t expect an aunt that misses you when you come back,” and as she says that her back is us, as she walks away.

Se Na looks at me with worry in her eyes. “Is this the thing they call eloping?”

I laugh. “No, silly. I asked for consent and even if it were, we can’t—just yet—we’re not legal, see. But I have something better than that.”

“What is?”

“A life-time vacation.”