Chapter 2:

Ahjussi

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At the airport terminal, Jo Myungsoo was waiting for Youngdo.  All of the passengers of his flight had already arrived.

“Is it today?”  Myungsoo scratches his head and tries to recall if Youngdo’s flight was scheduled today.  He finally sees him and says proudly:

 “Ha! I knew it was today!  Sorry, self I doubted you.”

He flashed his camera towards Youngdo’s direction and shouted: “Choi Youngdo!”, making everyone look at him.

“Yah oppa, didn’t you miss me?”  Myungsoo playfully greeted his friend.

“Aigoo, you’re so cute it makes me want to beat you up.”  Youngdo grinned.    

Myungsoo laughed and gave his friend a high-five.  The two finally rode the car to Hotel Zeus.

“So how are you doing?”  Myungsoo started the conversation as he checked the photo he took earlier.

Youngdo looked through the window of his car as he thought about the time he spent in America.  He frequently rode his motorbike through the long highways of California in the morning, and gazes at the strong waves of Malibu beach at night as he looked back on his life.  He has many things going on right now that he needs to take a deep breath and slowly think of ways to sort it all out.  He mostly thought about his father’s trial, about what would happen and what he could do to help… and of course, Eunsang. He was really tired of being hurt whenever he sees her and Kim Tan together.  He has said to her before that he will stop liking her but in reality, those feelings were still there in his heart.  He thought about completely stopping those growing feelings for her, to save himself from further agony.  Hence, the only way for him to do so is just move on. 

After a lot of contemplating, Youngdo finally opened his mouth and said, “Just this and that.” 

Myungsoo glanced at Youngdo and sensed the atmosphere was a bit down.  He snapped his fingers as he thought of something to lighten up the mood. 

“The whole town needs to know Choi Youngdo is back, let’s have a “welcome back Youngdo” party today at my club.  How about it?.”  Myungsoo said as he spread his arms into the air.

“I’m not going.  I’m still jetlagged.  You go by yourself.”  Youngdo said as he closed his eyes.

“Yah how can it be a “welcome back Youngdo” party if you’re not there?”

Youngdo remained silent and completely ignored Myungsoo.

“Fiiiine”  Myungsoo said, finally giving up on his idea.

♔♔♔

The next day, Youngdo woke up late.  He opened his refrigerator and rummaged for something to eat but found nothing he liked.  He lazily sat on the sofa and decided to call Myungsoo.

“Yah Jo Myungsoo I’m hungry where are you?”  He said.

“Urghh… I’m at home having the worst hangover ever why?”  Myungsoo replied, sounding horrible.  It looks like he had partied all night.

“If you’re not feeling well, never mind then.”  Youngdo hanged up and stared at the ceiling.  I’ll just eat on my own I’m used to it anyway, he thought and quickly went to the bathroom to get changed. 

Being out of the country for two weeks, Youngdo craved for Korean food the most.  And so, he decided to eat at the ddeokboki restaurant he frequently visits near Jeguk High.

“Oh, young man it’s been awhile come on in.”  The ahjumma sees Youngdo enter the place and welcomes him with a smile. 

He bowed his head to her and went to the usual spot he sits at.  To his surprise, the girl from the other day was sitting there.  Seeing this made him excited, he then sat at the opposite chair and said to her, “Remember me?”

The girl was just as surprised as Youngdo.  What’s this?  What’s he doing here?, she thought making a slightly annoyed face at him.

“Judging from your expression, you have etched my existence in your heart.” Youngdo said as he teased the girl. 

“Ahjussi, go sit somewhere else.” She said, putting her attention back to her food.

Hearing the word ahjussi made Youngdo laugh with disbelief.  “What did you say?  Did you just call me ahjussi?”  He cannot believe she just said that to him.

The girl nodded while eating a piece of ddeokboki.  “I also said: sit somewhere else.  Got a problem?”

“Do I look like an ahjussi to you?” Youngdo asked her with interest. “I sit where I want plus there are no other free tables here anyway. “  Youngdo added.

“Well, you called me “little girl” last time remember?”  She said, emphasizing on the word “little girl”.

Youngdo recalled that incident on the plane.  He only called her that because she looked so fragile while sleeping however talking to her was the exact opposite.  He thought this girl was outright bold.

“You don’t have any idea who you’re talking to right now do you?”  Youngdo asked the girl with curiosity.  He wondered if she had known who he was, would she still be as frank as she is right now.

“Is there a reason for me to know who you are?”  The girl retorted back at him.

“No, not really.”  Youngdo shrugged his shoulders and leaned on the chair.

The girl gave up on making Youngdo sit somewhere else.  They didn’t really talk to each other and simply focused on their own meals.

The girl’s phone rang.  It was the time for her to take her leave.  She suddenly stood up and left the restaurant without saying a word.  Youngdo didn’t really bother to stop her.  He didn’t know why but he had a gut feeling that this will not be the last time they’ll see each other.