Incheon Airport

 

A girl walked out of the airport, she pulled her bag strap back onto her shoulder and took a deep breath, "aaahhh......I'm home...."

 

She dragged her suitcase to the taxi stand and got into one, "Seoul National University please".

 

"Seoul Uni?? You study there?", the taxi driver asked her, impressed that  his passenger went to the top university in Korea.

 

"Neh, just transferred ajuhussi".

 

"Wow, welldone", the driver nodded in approvement, "kids these days don't want to study anymore you know....all they want to do is spend their parents money and hang out with their friends....that's what my kids do anyway HAHA!", the driver looked into the mirror to get a better view of his passenger, "what are you studying there then?"

 

Bom looked up, "Medicine"

 

"MEDICINE??!", the driver shouted, "At Seoul National University as well?! You really must have studied hard at...um....where did you say you transfered from again?"

 

"America....Yale university."

 

The driver's jaw dropped to the ground, and after he recovered he asked again, "what made you transfer then? I mean from what I know Yale is a pretty amazing university"

 

"Hmmm," she looked out of the window, "guess there's no place like home ajhussi"

 

"Of course of course", the ajhussi agreed, "we need more youngsters like you here, your parents must be so proud"

 

"You think so ajhussi...?"

 

"Of course!"

 

 

'Appa....omma....I'm back', she closed her eyes.

 

 

[FLASHBACK]

 

She walked through the little gates of the orphanage she'd grown up in. She had a couple of days off Uni, where she was in her first year studying Medicine, just what her father had hoped she would study. She looked up at the building where she'd spent her childhood, making friends, laughing, crying, living life. She'd come to visit the people that had looked after her since the age of 11 when she was first brought here.

 

After her parents had passed away in a terrible car accident in South Korea, she was sent to stay with her aunty in America at the age of 9 but unfortunately her aunty passed away from cancer and so her aunty's friends David and Caroline who owned an orphange, took her in. There she spent the rest of her life until now.

 

She knocked gently and when there was no answer, she entered the familiar passcode in and walked in, "Aunty Caroline?.....Uncle David?", she called out, but there was no answer from the two people that had loved her like their own child since she came to the orphange. Perhaps they were putting the children into bed, she looked at her watch and found that it was already 11pm.

 

"That's strange...the kids should have been in bed already", she mummered to herself, then she saw a door open in the room at the far end of the corridor.

 

She walked towards and could hear mummurs from the room, she stood by the door and smiled at the sight. Caroline and David were making a makeshift bed on the sofa for her for sure.

 

"David...no no put two pillows, you know she can't sleep without two pillows", Caroline ordered her husband.

 

"Ok...ok", David smiled and placed two pillows, "she'll probably want to read, let me get a lamp from the office"

 

"It's already 11pm, I'm not going to let her study, she'll be too tired", Caroline said.

 

"Oh really", David looked at his wife, "or is it because you just want to talk to her all night?"

 

"What? Of course not",his wife crossed her arms together, "ok maybe a little....I've just missed her so much"

 

"Me too," David hugged his wife,"I'm so proud of her Caroline...our little girl"

 

Caroline nodded, "After all she's been through...and look at her now...", she started to tear up.

 

David's face darkened, "She's been through so much....and she doesn't even know the truth."

 

 

 

"What truth?", she walked in after hearing what David said.

 

 

David and Caroline froze on the spot, "When did you get here?"

 

"What truth?", she repeated, "Caroline? David?"

 

David and Caroline looked at eachother and sighed.

 

"She should know", David said quietly to his wife.

 

"But-"

 

"Caroline, don't you think she has the right to know", David said firmly, he went to his office and brought out a file.

 

"Come sit", Caroline pulled her close to her on the sofa as they sat opposite to David.

 

"Now listen to me", David said looking at her, "know this always...me and Caroline love you dearly, and ever since that day you came to this orphanage, we have always always thought of you as our own child...we've loved as if you were our own."

 

She nodded, of course she knew that and she loved them for that, if she had become a medical student at one of the top universities in America, it was all because of their love.

 

"We...we...haven't told you everthing...", Caroline looked away, "about your parents..."

 

"What do you mean?", she asked nervously.

 

"Your aunty...she left this for you...she said when you were old enough you should read this...", David handed her a letter, "your aunty....before she passed away told us everything..."

 

She looked at the letter and started reading it:

 

My dearest dearest niece,

 

Please please forgive your aunty....my dearest darling please forgive me.

I vowed that I would forever look after you, forever protect you after your parents....but I guess God had other plans for me. I know that after I'm gone, you'll be very sad won't you? But remember your parents and I will always be there for you...not matter where you are.

My dear, I had hoped to see you grow up into a wonderful person, but time is running out for me....

I wanted to tell you something, something I think you have the right to know...I wanted to wait till you were older, that's why I have given this to David and Caroline to give to you when you are old enough.

What I wanted to...needed to tell you is about your parents....my dear their death... was not an accident. A week before their death, your father, my dear brother had called me, my dear he sounded so anxious and he asked me to look after you, to take full responsibility of you if something ever happened to him and your mother. I had asked him if anything was the matter, all he said was that there were bad people in this world and apart fromt hat he made me promise to look after you if something happened to them. 

You may think that it is all a coincidence, and I hope it is....but from the bottom of my heart....I think....no I believe that your parents were murdered.

My dearest, I love you with all my heart, and please forgive me for not having seen you grow up, but I know that you have grown into a lovely person and therefore what i have just told you...please don't be too shocked. I didn't want to tell you all this but they were your parents...you had the right to know.

 

My dear...please continue to live your life the way you have....don't let this change anything.

 

I love you always.....I love you my dear....I'm sorry.

 

Love from yours truly

 

Aunty

 

 

She had left the orphange the next day and headed off back to Yale. David and Caroline were relieved that she hadn't broken down the way they were scared she would have. Instead she now had a new ambition...objective in her life.

 

She was going to find out who murdered her parents.

 

Once back at university, she immediately applied for a transfer to Seoul National University to study medicine there. Her professors helped with her applications and gave outstanding recommendations that Seoul National had no choice but to give her a full scholarship and accept her happily. She worked everynight to earn enough money for flight tickets and after she succesfully completed her first year at Yale....she got onto the first flight back to South Korea.

 

 

[END OF FLASHBACK]

 

 

"Agasshi....we're here", the taxi driver stopped in front of the unversity.

 

"Huh?", she startled.

 

"We're here", the taxi driver repeated.

 

"Oh thank you", she scrummaged through her purse and gave him the money. 

 

The driver got out to help with her luggage.

 

"Thank you very much ajhussi", she bowed and started to walk off.

 

"WAIT!"

 

She turned around to see the ajhussi pick a card up.

 

"There you go....", the ajhussi handed over the card but not before he saw the name on the card, "there you go Miss Park Bom"