Best Eye-Smile
A M N E S I A “내가 기억해... 우리”
“That was excellent, Eunji!”
Eunji finally mastered a Chopin piece—Nocturne in D flat major, Op. 27, No. 2 to be exact. SeoHyun, her music teacher, had pushed her to learn and perfect it in only one week. The fifteen-year-old doubted she would ever do it for she was not a child prodigy, but she perfected it just in time.
“I knew you could do it well!” praised the pregnant music teacher.
“Aw, thanks Aunty SeoHyun,” Eunji chuckled. “I couldn’t have done it without your help and encouragement.”
“Was it hard to learn that piano piece in just a week?” SeoHyun asked and then chuckled. “I feel like I pushed the time limit too much on you this time.”
“It was,” the student nodded, “but it became easier as I got the hang of it.”
“That’s good. You’ve really grown since I first heard you play.”
Eunji smiled proudly. She then bowed to her teacher and said, “Thank you! I mean after all, you’ve been teaching me since I was 4…”
“Now,” SeoHyun clapped her hands and slowly got up. “Our lesson is over. Let’s pack up now.”
“Yes, Teacher!” Eunji sprang up from her seat and gently closed the piano. She was planning on grabbing her bag, but she just stared at the baby grand piano in front of her. It was a piano older than her—about 25 years old—but it was still working properly and could even be mistaken as a newly bought instrument. It mesmerized her every time she stared at it, and she had always been honored to play on a beautiful piano that probably had lots of history.
When SeoHyun suddenly moaned softly, Eunji snapped back to her senses. SeoHyun was about to carry a heavy bag and that was not something Eunji wanted her pregnant music teacher to struggle with. She quickly offered help and SeoHyun gladly let her help. SeoHyun had raised her in so many areas ever since she was a little child, so this was one of the least things Eunji thought she could do to repay her back.
“You know you shouldn’t be lifting heavy bags like this,” Eunji said as she supported SeoHyun. “Mom said you always try to do things on your own and that’s not always a good thing. Even your husband told me that. You should be careful not to put all the weight on yourself, especially since you’re pregnant.”
“I know, I get that a lot from everyone, hehe. I’m sorry,” SeoHyun chuckled. “Ah!” SeoHyun snapped her fingers, “That reminds me.”
“Hm?” Eunji turned her attention to her teacher.
“I’m going to have a long break starting tomorrow and probably deliver this baby soon. That means I can’t teach you tomorrow.”
Eunji’s spirit went down as she heard this news. Music lessons twice a week were one of her favorite activities. SeoHyun was just too sweet that Eunji enjoyed her company even when she was only a four-year-old little girl.
“But don’t worry, I hired a substitute teacher,” SeoHyun added, making Eunji feel relieved.
“Who? Uncle YongHwa again?” Eunji said, referring to SeoHyun’s husband who had been her substitute teacher a few times.
“No,” SeoHyun replied, “he’ll be taking the break with me.”
“Then who is it?”
“He’s a great friend of mine. Don’t worry, he’s a charming man.”
Eunji pouted and replied, “But I don’t need a charming man. I need a music teacher.”
“I know,” SeoHyun laughed. “Believe me, he’s a great music teacher. He loves music just as much as you do. The second he enters this room tomorrow, you’ll see what I mean. You don’t have to worry.”
“Okay…,” Eunji sighed and opened the door for SeoHyun.
As Eunji helped carry her teacher’s bags to SeoHyun’s car, she couldn’t help but wonder who her substitute teacher will be. Ever since she was a little girl, the only people who taught her about music properly were her mother and SeoHyun. At some occasions, it would be YongHwa, SeoHyun’s husband, but he’s boring to Eunji. She feels like he’s uncomfortable and awkward every time he sees her. They can’t even discuss music without him clearing his throat every five seconds.
Starting from tomorrow, she will be taught by a stranger. It was starting to feel like the first time she met YongHwa, who became her substitute teacher one day without even knowing what to teach her. She just hoped it wouldn’t be too awkward this time around and that her substitute teacher would actually know what he’ll be doing.
Oh, well, what can she do? SeoHyun stopped accepting her money a long time ago. Eunji’s music lessons weren’t that expensive or anything, but when SeoHyun did start having a good income from her jobs, she made up her mind to make her lessons free only for Eunji. And since Eunji’s mother, Tiffany, was one of SeoHyun’s closest high school friends, there was no point for her to accept her money. So if some days Eunji learned nothing or if substitutes weren’t as fun as the times with SeoHyun, Eunji couldn’t really blame anyone.
***
It was another usual Friday morning for the little family of mother and daughter. Eunji walked to the kitchen only to find cereal already served and her mother, Tiffany, preparing coffee. She gave her mother a kiss on her cheek and sat on the kitchen counter.
“Good morning Mom.”
“Good morning Sweetie,” the mother replied back with a warm eye-smile taking shapes of crescent moons. “How was your music lesson last night with SeoHyun?”
“It was fun,” Eunji said as she yawned heavily. “I finally finished the piano piece she gave me a week ago.”
“Oh really? You should play it for me later, okay?”
“Yeah, sure,” she chuckled.
“Oh yeah, how’s SeoHyun doing?” Tiffany asked remembering her old friend who was expecting her first child.
“She’s fine,” Eunji replied as she was scratching her eyes. “She’s actually going to take a break and probably give birth soon.”
“Oh, really?” Tiffany was about to squeal at the thought of seeing her old friend’s first child but suddenly remembered Eunji’s lessons. “Is she going to teach you today?”
“No,” Eunji sighed, “she hired some old friend to be my substitute teacher for today… or probably for the rest of the month.”
“Ah…” Tiffany nodded. “What’s the teacher’s name?” Eunji’s elbows suddenly dropped from stretching when she heard her mother’s question.
“Oh crap! I forgot to ask her about his name!”
“Aigoo, Eunji…” Tiffany sighed.
“Ah, jinjaaa. I’m so stupid!” The teenager planted a face-palm on herself and laughed, feeling like an idiot to forget to ask about his substitute teacher’s name.
Suddenly, Eunji stopped laughing and sat properly on her seat with her elbows resting on the kitchen counter. A smirk crept on her face. “By the way, how was your blind date yesterday?” She casually started to eat from her cereal bowl without breaking her disingenuous stare. “I didn’t hear you come home last night. Did something happen?”
When Tiffany turned around to face her daughter, she frowned seeing her with one eyebrow raised as if she was going to be interrogated. “Hey, don’t look at me like that. Nothing happened last night.”
“Really?” Eunji stared at her mother in disbelief. “I mean that Jung Yun-Ho guy looked preeettty cool—”
“Nothing happened, okay?” Tiffany looked at her in the eye to prove she was not lying and continued, “He took me out to watch some crappy movie and tried to kiss me.”
“YOU KISSED?” Eunji almost choked on her cereal and restlessly sat on her seat.
“What?” Tiffany suddenly paused from pouring her coffee and replied. “No! He just tried to kiss me. I kept on resisting, of course. You know very well that I can’t just kiss a man like that on a first date. I mean doesn’t that sound stupid? Kissing on a first date? He barely even knows anything about me! Good thing he got the idea when I slapped him on the face before leaving him in the theater.”
“Eii…” Eunji went back to her seat to continue eating her cereal, but silently blurted out, “It would’ve been better if you kissed him…”
“What?!” Even though Eunji whispered it to herself, Tiffany heard it clearly and immediately flicked her daughter on her forehead.
“Aiish, I’m just saying…” Eunji grumbled, rubbing the part of her head that her mother hit.
“He was not very appealing to me, okay?” Tiffany said, taking a sip of her coffee. “Besides, his table manners were the worst.”
“Eiih, Mom, why is it so hard to find you the right guy? Aunt Jessica and I found the perfect guys for your age yet you still don’t find any of them acceptable? Let me count… Ok Taecyeon who you friendzoned, Lee Chul Woo whom you actually almost had a thing with, and then there were a bunch of other guys whom you just totally ditched. But even Nichkhun, who by the way was the nicest guy I have ever met and had actually almost proposed to you, you just didn’t let in.”
Burying her face in her pink cup, Tiffany shyly replied, “I’m sorry but it's just not that easy for me. Although I may be outgowing and all, romantic relationships are different. I just have my reasons.”
“Ugh mom, if you’re gonna make up excuse again, I don’t want to hear it. You’re not an ajumma yet, but you are getting a little old for being a single maid. I’m actually surprised that someone really pretty like you hasn’t found someone special for so long. I mean fifteen years, seriously? You deserve to be loved.”
“Excuses are different from reasons, Eunji.”
“Well then what is one of those reasons? Are one of those the thought of hooking up with a thirty-four year old woman who already has a teenage child—it scares them away?”
In Korea, single mothers are quite taboo and they are not exactly widely accepted and supported as they are in America. Tiffany knew Eunji felt really bad whenever she was the reason why her relationships have failed. She had to let her daughter know that it was nothing like that. “It’s not about you Eunji. It’s definitely not about you. It’s about me.” Tiffany let out a deep sigh and continued, “I wish I could tell you my reasons, but not right now. Don’t worry about me too much.” Tiffany pinched her daughter’s cheeks and walked away from the kitchen. “I’ll be fine. I’ve been fine for fifteen years.”
“Eii… ‘It’s about me’ my ,” Eunji softly scoffed and replied, “Araso.”
***
“Eunji, here!”
It was lunch time in Eunji’s school—a time to forget everything about school. Eunji loved this time of the day since the only things she and her friends would do are eat and talk about the most random things, especially during Fridays, since they would plan what to do during the weekends to hangout.
Eunji cheerfully approached the table where her best friends called her. There she found her friend Bomi who was busy eating her meal to even take a glance at Eunji, Chorong, who flailed her hand merrily towards her, and Taemin, the boy in their group, who just smiled at her. It was a usual sight to see and she loved seeing her friends like that every day. She sat beside her friend Bomi. Across her sat Chorong who was beside Taemin.
Bomi, Chorong, Taemin
“Hi guys!” Eunji greeted.
“Oh,” wiping with a tissue, Bomi said, “you’re here.”
“Yah!” Chorong exploded, “Why are you always the last to come to this table?”
“Oh no… Here we go again,” Eunji whispered, making Bomi and Taemin snicker.
“You know I can’t eat when the four of us are not complete in this table!”
“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Eunji laughed. “I’ll try to be earlier next time.”
As Chorong calmed herself and finally started to eat her food, a boy approached their table. It was Kibum, or Key, Taemin’s friend. The boy had a crush on Eunji for some time but he never really told or tried to show it to anyone. Just recently, he’s been trying to casually get close to Eunji, but since he’s friendly to almost everyone, Eunji sees him only as a friend. He knew very well that he can’t just ask her to go on a date because the expected answer would only be her laughing at him.
“Someday,” he always says, “she’ll be mine.”
“Heeey!” Key happily greeted them. “Mind if I sit with you guys today?”
“Yeah, sure,” The four agreed and Key sat between Bomi and Taemin.
“So, how did your mom’s date go?” Key asked Eunji.
“Oh yeah, how did that turn out?” Bomi and Chorong both questioned. Eunji’s four friends really loved her mom. Despite knowing that her mother had Eunji alone when she was nineteen, they didn’t hate on her or look down on her. Tiffany was the coolest mom, they thought, for she was a mixture of a caring friend and a mother. She was not as old as their own mothers who didn’t know anything about the ways of their current generation. She knew how to handle teenagers quite well and can still relate to them in a way. She was, as you could put it, the hip-mom of the neighborhood. At least once or twice in the lives of Eunji’s friends, Tiffany had been a great help, and so they would always think of doing something nice for her.
Tiffany only thought her friend Jessica and her daughter Eunji were the only ones trying to find her dates. But the truth was there were actually much more people trying to help. That included Eunji’s friends. These five have been on this mission for almost two years, but still, there was no success.
“The guy tried to kiss her,” Eunji casually replied as she consumed a spoonful of rice.
“What?!” Bomi’s mouth dropped.
“Really?” Chorong gasped.
“Are you serious?” Key’s eyes widened.
As Eunji was chewing her food, the three were just staring at her, stunned by what she said. After a few seconds Eunji swallowed her food and continued. “She didn’t kiss back. The guy just got a slap to the face.” The three melted from their frozen state and broke their stare on Eunji.
“Eiii… She should’ve,” The two girls pouted.
“What are you two talking about?” Key pointed to Chorong and Bomi. “If she kissed a man on a first date, it would’ve turned bad!”
“Why,” Bomi raised her voice. “Are you some kind of first date expert? Don’t you know what a first date kiss could do two people?”
“Well do you?” Key argued back.
“Yes, I do. I’ve seen it on TV!” Bomi shouted.
“Aigooo! You girls and your drama shows,” Key scoffed.
“Anyway, my mom’s date last night was another fail,” Eunji continued.
“I guess we’ll have to keep looking then,” Bomi said.
“No,” Eunji refused. “I think we’ll have to stop for now. She clearly told me this morning not to find anyone anymore.”
“Oh, but your mom is too pretty to be single at that age,” Key pouted. “Taemin and I will keep looking if that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah, sure,” Eunji nodded. “I guess that’s alright.”
“Taemin and I will try to find the best, right Taemin?” Key nudged Taemin but there was no reply.
“Yah, Lee Taemin,” Key snapped his fingers in front of Taemin, who had his mind somewhere else during the whole conversation.
“O-oh, did you say something?” Taemin replied.
Realizing what was going on with his friend, Key sighed and said, “You’re too obvious.”
“What?” Taemin became confused.
“You’re lost in space again,” said Chorong.
“Lost in the space… of looovee,” Bomi teased, making the four burst into laughter.
“No I’m not!” Taemin scratched his eyes, trying not to make it obvious that he’s actually indeed love-struck.
The four took glances on where Taemin was spacing off and they were right. Taemin’s reason for not hearing their conversation was Na-Eun. He had a crush on the quiet girl who was sitting alone just a few tables away from them for quite a while now, and the four knew this even though he hasn’t really talked about it. It was so obvious to them that Taemin liked her because his ears would shut down every time Na Eun was around.
Eunji, who was dying of laughter while clapping her hands the whole time, became quiet and secretly whispered something to Bomi. Bomi passed the message to Key.
“How about a double date, Taemin?” Key suggested.
“What?” Taemin’s face turned red as he took his hands off of his face.
“Good idea, Key!” Eunji spoke. It was actually her own idea, but she wanted to make Taemin believe that it was Key’s.
“What are you guys talking about?” Taemin became more and mor
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