“Yo! John Jeeeeaaannn… Wassup? Why aren’t you at school, Man?” John Jean’s classmate and best pal, Andy, picked up his phone.

“I got grounded. No school, no going out and no Internet,” John Jean shared his frustration.

“Dude, that !” Andy sympathized.

“Yeah… Hey, listen. I need your help. I need you to help me purchase a one-way plane ticket to Soul for ten days from now. I’ll text you my credit card details,” said John Jean while flipping the credit card his mother lent him to buy books online a while back.

“What, you’re going to your grandma’s?”

“No. I’m going to find my biological father.”

“Your bio… Whuuuttt??”

“My biological father… My real father… Look, it’s a long story, I’ll tell you all about it when I get back to school next week, alright?”

“Okay. Plane ticket. Got it. Anything else?”

“Yeah. I also need you to find the whereabouts of four men who used to go to the same high school as my mom’s. It’s a private school named ‘Shinhwa’, and they’re graduated in ’98. I’ll text you their names, and I think I know the birth date of one of them.”

“Alright, cool. Got any other info? Or pics, maybe?”

“Nope. No pictures. Just of their legs.”

“Their whuuuttt?”

“*sighs* Nevermind… Look, let’s hang up for now so I can text you all the infos I got, okay?”

“Yeah, man. Sure.”

“Thanks, Bro. I owe you one.”

“No sweat!”

John Jean hung up the phone and texted Andy all the information he got, including Kim Dong Wan’s birth date. He remembered that his mom had mentioned that Kim Dong Wan was only a week older than her. Lemon Syung was born on November 27^th 1979, which would make Kim Dong Wan’s birthday falls on the 20^th.

A few hours later, his phone rang. It was Andy.

“So, did you find them?” John Jean’s eyes widened with hope, and anticipation was clear in his voice.

“Yeah, check this out! I googled ‘Shinhwa school’ and got into their website and browsed through their online year book. All the names you gave me checked out, but Kim Dong Wan’s birthday is not the 20^th. It’s the 21^st.”

“Oh, okay… Six, seven days, doesn’t matter. What else did you find? There must be pictures in the year book, right?”

“Yeap. And Duuudeee… Your mom was hot! Well, she still is…”

“Hey! That’s my mother you’re talking about!”

“Haha.. Alright, Man… Alright. And guess what…”

“What?!?”

“I also found out about Shinhwa Group. It’s apparently one of Korea’s most prominent corporate conglomerates, which your mom’s school is one of their CSR programs. That’s why it is one of, if not the only one, the most affordable prestigious private schools in Korea.”

“Great! Go on…”

“Now, the best part is… Oh, you’re gonna love this… And you owe me big time, brother…”

“Yeah… Yeah… Yeah… What??” John Jean stood up from his seat with eyes so wide they’re about to fall out.

“… There’s a construction company called “Shinhwa Company”, which is not part of the conglomerate, but guess who the CEOs are?”

“Whoooo?!?” John Jean was trying so hard not to shout and to contain his excitement.

“Mun Jung Hyuk and Kim Dong Wan”

“Jackpot! Have you got their address?”

“I’m looking at their website right now. They got address, phone, fax, email, facebook, twitter, and Instagram. And they’ve done pretty good works, too! These buildings are amazing!”

“GRRRREAT! Text me the address, will ya? Oh, Andy… I could really kiss you right now!”

“Errr… I’m glad we’re on the phone.”

“Hahaha… Thanks, heaps, man. You’re awesome! Oh hey, have you got that ticket yet?”

“Just about to. Want me to book the hotel too?”

“No, that’s fine. I’ll just look for one when I get there. Thanks again, Man. Catcha later!”

“Bye.”

John Jean then got busy writing down all the information he heard from Andy and started planning his paternal quest in The Land of the Morning Calm....