tears
Description
ch 1-pt 1
Jae-in was feeling sad. It had been raining for the
last two hours and she had not been able to leave her
one bedroom apartment to go to "Cutz" the tendiest
hairdressers in town. She had saved up all year for
this special haircut, but now it looked as if she
wasn't going to be able to make it. She worked at a
local kimchi restaurant cleaning toilets and any other
dirty job that needed doing, including lying to her
bosses's wife, and telling her he was in a meeting,
when in fact, he was out at some fancy restaurant or
wherever with his latest ditsy conquest. But today he
had given her an hour off work on the understanding
that she would work until late tomorrow for just the
regular amount.
"But sir, I have two weeks holiday due to me."
He looked at her with a stare that would have made a
shark nervous.
She bowed low. "Thank you sir."
So she had had went to the hairdressers. Everyone in
the place staff and customers had either giggled,gave
her looks that said "how dare someone from the peasant
classes come into such a respectable place" or as one
lady of a certain age had done shooed her with a
shooing gesture, and also actually said "shoo"
"Am I a cat?" Jae-in thought to herself. She bowed a
number of times and hunching her shoulders slightly
walked to the reception desk. There was a young woman
behind behind it reading some glossy magazine. Jae-in
couldn't see her face clearly at first, until she
looked up. Then she recognised. It was her best friend
from school Lee Ji-hye. It had been ten years since
they had seen each other.
"Ji-hye"Jae-in exclaimed, and the same time as the
other girl exclaimed "Jae-in"
The latter stood up, and reached across to embrace her
friend. Tears rolled down both their cheeks.
They only pulled apart when a female cough was heard.
Ji-Hye recognised it instantly as her belonging to her
boss. manager Choi.
"manager Ch-ch-ch-choi" she stammered. "This is my best
friend from sc-sch-school. Jae-in"
"Doesn't she have a family name" manager Choi demanded.
"Park Jae-in" Jae-in said with a bow
"We have no work here" manager Choi said "Goodbye:
"I already have work, manager" Jae-in said. "may I have
a haircut"
manager choi looked at her as if she had just emitted
an unpleasent smell. "Are you trying to make fun of
me?"
Jae-in shook her head vigorusly "No, no. I have the
money. Look." She went to take her purse from the
plastic handbag slung over her shoulder. She took the
purse out, and looked for the envelobe marked "special
treat" she had put the money inside. But it wasn't
there. She searched frantically in the purse, but
couldn't find it. Without thinking she knelt down on
the floor, and tossed everyting onto it. But the money
was nowhere to be found.
She began to cry. She could hear manager choi sneer
above her "As I thought, you are just a con artist. You
probably come from a family of con artists. Please
leave. before I call the police"
Wiping the tears from her eyes, and with help from Ji-
hye, jung-hye rose.
She looked defiantly at manager Choi.
"My mother is a nurse, and my father can't find work.
But they are both good people"
She bowed and walked out. She went to the toilets of
the nearbye train station, and was about to cry again,
in one of the cubicles (or whatever thet're called"
when she heard a knock on the door.
"Jae-in" Ji-hye asked. "Are you okay"
"mmm"
"Can i come in"
"mmm"
She unlocked the door, and went back to where she had
been sitting on the toilet seat with the top down.
Ji hye sat on the floor, but stood up as if someone had
jammed a needle up her bum.
"ooh, ooh" she said " i think I've sat on piss" She
wiped a hand across the backside of her too short
skirt, and held it to her nose" She breathed a sigh of
relief "oh, just water"
Jae-in laughed, and soon after her old friend followed
suit.
"You better go and get changed" Jai-in said. "you could get a cold"
Ji-hye boxed her friend lightly on the ear. "you always were a worrier. I'll be okay. Let's go outside and eat. It's such a sunny day.
I want to know everything that's happened to you in the last ten years. Well, as much as you can tell me in 15 minutes,
THey went outside to sit on the pavement. It was Ji-
hye's lunchtime, and she shared it with Jae-in.
"Did you really have the money for the haircut."
"Yes 53,218.92 won. I have to find it" My boss only
gave me an hour off work. I need to ring him again. My
hour is nearly up. I have to get more time. He'll
probably want me to work for nothing next week. But I
don't care. He treats me like dirt anyway. Using dirt
to clean dirt is what he says to me"
JI-hye reached a hand out, aND held her friends.
"your life is still hard" she said
"mmm"
"A hard life, but a soft heart"
"only hard hearted people have soft lives" Jung-hye
said.
"mmmmm"
Ch 1-pt 2
Now back in her apartment, which she was struggling to
pay back rent out, Jae-in had remebered where she had
left the envelobe with the money. Teddy was sitting on
it. Teddy was a rather large teddy bear with no
stomach. but a clock where his stomach used to be.
Ji-hye had told her that if she found the money, she
should come back around 5.30. That was closing time.
But as it was her turn to clean up when the days work
was done, she would wait for her. But she couldn;t wait
any longer than 5 extra minutes, as she had to be
somewhere.
Now the clock in Teddy's stomach said 5.15. Jung-hye
had rung for a taxi an hour ago. but because the rain
had become so heavy, it seemed all the taxi services
were very busy. Finally she had gotten a promise of one
in 20 minutes or so. But that had been over an hour
ago, and when she had rang she had just gotten the
answering service.
Jung-Hye was feeling tired. As well as promising her
boss to work extra hours the next day. she had come in
an hour earlier to work this morning.
"Do you want a piggyback?"
Jae-in blinked her eyes.
"What? Who said that"
"Me"
"Who"
"look up.sleepyhead"
She looked up. It was Teddy. Except now, he was the
human size.
"Climb up" he said.
"Teddy" she exclaimed.
"come on" he said "we haven't much time" He reached
into his the hole where stomach was and took out the
clock.
"hurry" he said. and bent down.
Jung-hye climbed onto his back, and they went out into
the rain.
She had her arms around his neck.
"Teddy," she said.
"Call me oppa"
"oppa" She said. You remind me of good toilet paper;
soft and stong" She began to his back until she
found herself losing her balance. She began to fall,
she reached a hand out to the ground to stop herself,
But the ground didn't seem to be there.
Jung-hye woke with a start.
Teddy was back to normal size. Jae-in looked at the stomach clock. It said 5.19. She would never make it. and she didn't know when she would get a chance again. She punched Teddy lightly on the forehead. If you've made me late, I'm never letting you watch another drama"
Then she put on her shoes, and ran out into the rain.
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