The clock marked 2 a.m. on the cab’s dashboard—time had flown away so fast! Dara was headed home but she realized her parents would most likely be asleep, and she didn’t want to wake them up just for her.

“Sir, can you please take me to another address?” Dara handed the driver a piece of paper. He agreed and headed towards the new address.

“Why is such a pretty girl like you in such a sulk?” the driver asked, “Problems with the boyfriend?”  Dara didn’t want to talk to anyone about her situation but this man seemed genuinely concerned for her.  She decided to tell the old man everything that had happened that night.  The old man just listened and nodded.

“Aren’t old men like you supposed to give me advice?”

“I am” he said with a calm smile on his face “sometimes the best advice comes from pure silence”

Dara scoffed at the old man’s response.  I didn’t know cab drivers could be philosophers?

“Do you want to know why I became a cab driver?” the old man asked.  Dara had a puzzled look on her face.  I thought we were talking about my life…

The old man looked a lot like Dara’s own grandfather who also loved to tell stories.  She gave the old man a change and listened to his story attentively.  The old man was not just a late night cab driver, turns out, he was also a retired university professor.  He lived very comfortably with his family now, but he missed talking to his students and guiding them in life.  One late night, as he was leaving a restaurant, a drunk man had mistakenly gotten into his car thinking the old man was the cab driver he ordered.  The man was drunk and kept talking about a girl he missed.  The old man decided to take his first customer home and on the way there, he learned that the drunk man’s girlfriend had passed away a couple days ago while he was away on a business trip.  The drunk man blamed himself for not taking her with him—she died in a car accident.  After talking to the old man however, he realized he should stop blaming himself because she stayed behind willingly.  Instead of blaming himself for her death and reflecting on all the things he should have done, the old man taught him to cherish the time he had enjoyed with her.  Life is precious, but like all good things, it must also come to an end, sometimes sooner than you think.  The drunk man calmed down by the end of the cab ride.  He was able to move on.

The old man decided at that moment to become a cab driver as he noticed that a lot of people seeking advice tended to call for late night cabs.  He picked up customers from bars, clubs and parties, they were young and old, poor and rich, and all had problems and needed a person to talk to. 

Dara smiled at the story but nothing in her changed.  She was still upset. 

The cab stopped next to a 20 story building, Dara paid the old man and got out of the cab

“You’re a pretty girl, but you’re acting a bit foolish.  I’ve seen a lot of girls who cry of heartbreak, but you’re not heartbroken, you’re disappointed and from what you tell me, I think you should answer that phone call right now and give the guy a chance to explain”  The old man drove off as Dara’s phone rang.  How did he know it was going to ring?

“No, just no” Dara looked at her phone and didn’t answer.  Instead, she a text;

I’m outside.  Can I sleep here tonight?

Dara waited in the lobby for her brother to come get her.  She didn’t want to think about what had happened earlier in the night anymore.  It was embarrassing. 

“Hey, what are you doing here? Is everything ok?”

Dara hugged her brother but she remained silent.  She didn’t want to worry him. “I’m just really stressed and needed to see my family but mom and dad are probably sleeping at this hour so I came here”

“Are you drunk or something?” Cheondong asked in an effort to make her sister laugh.  It worked, Dara smiled and hit him lightly on the back of his neck.

“So? Can I sleep here or not?”

“Yea, you can take my bed and I’ll sleep with one of the other guys” Cheondong didn’t ask any more questions because he knew Dara wasn’t the type of girl who easily opened up, you had to allow her some space first.

As they headed up the elevator, Cheondong got a call.  Apart from saying hello, he didn’t say a lot.  He only answered yes and I understand.  When Dara asked him who had called, Cheondong claimed it was a friend whom he hadn’t heard from in a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the café, Jiyong kept waiting.  He knew Dara was really upset but he couldn’t bring himself to believe that she no longer wanted anything to do with him.  Not even friends…

After a couple of minutes, he decided he wasn’t going to accept that horrible text without an explanation.  He wanted to what had happened that made her upset.  Most importantly, he wanted to know she was safe because it was late.  He called the Bom first to see if the girls were back in their dorm.  Bom said they had all arrived safely except for Dara, who was going home.  He tried calling her but she would not answer.

It was too late to go to Dara’s house and ask her to talk, especially because her parents were most likely sleeping, but also because he knew that she might not be there.  Instead, he called her brother and asked him if Dara was with him.  He asked if she was ok, if she had arrived safely, but he didn't want her to know that it was him calling.

“I’ll pick her up tomorrow morning.  Text me when she wakes up.  Oh and please don’t tell her I called”

____________________________________________________________________

From me to you!

ani_bell