Minho parks his car in the garage. He looks at the shiny Volvo next to his car. He abruptly takes out his phone before turning it on. One message from his mom. He opens and reads it, sighing after that. ‘Why come now of all times? I hate to act happy around her. She knows it straight away. Well, I guess I could try,’ he thought, trying to smile. It just feels fake. ‘Or not,’ he thought again.

                  He walks out of his car, dragging his feet inside the house. The familiar smell from the kitchen makes him smile weakly. His mom knows how to make him feels reenergized. His favorite food. He goes to the kitchen, thinking that he’ll find his mom standing in front of the stove stirring the soup. Instead, he finds a beautiful woman, in the place that he imagined his mom would be just now.

                “Who are you?” he asks in Korean. Anna turns her body towards the deep voice reflexively. A tall man in a suit greets her eyes. His face looks somehow familiar to her. She tries to remember where she had seen the face but her memory is blurry. Thank God Mrs. Choi chooses the right time to enter the kitchen.

                 “Ah, Minho-ah, you’re back. I see you’ve met Anna,” she said in Korean. She gives them her warm smile. Anna just stays quiet. The realization hit her; he is one of her son in the portrait she saw in the living room in Mrs. Choi’s house. She doesn’t want to interrupt the mother-son conversation though she does understand some of them.

                 “Omma, when did you come? Why did you? Who is she?” the questions shot through his mouth out of curiosity. Mrs. Choi just gives him the same smile.

                 “Go change first. Then we can eat dinner and talk about this. And, Minho-ah, would you mind talking in English? She doesn’t really understand Korean that much. I prefer we have a conversation where we could all understand,” she said. Minhojust nods. He excuses himself and goes to his bedroom to clean and change. He couldn’t stop thinking about the woman he saw just now. ‘What is her connection to Omma? Why is she here with her?’ he

questions himself. He usually takes a long time to do all things. But tonight, he’s unbelievably fast. He almost ran to the dining room.

                  They sit around the dining room table, Minhofacing Anna while Mrs. Choi sits in the head place. They start eating and Mrs. Choi throws some usual questions she always asks whenever she meets her son. How are you? How’s life? How’s work? Any problems? The last question refers to business and personal life alike. Minhokeeps his gaze on Anna’s face through all the questioning. He knows his mother is just trying to break the tension between them and delay the talk. It feels awkward, really, you met your mom who you haven’t seen or contacted for almost half a year, and she came to your house with a beautiful stranger.

                   Mrs. Choi notices her son’s gaze boring into Anna’s face. ‘She must’ve felt uncomfortable,’ she thought. She knows she couldn’t delay the talk about Anna any longer. She clears trying to get Minho’s attention. Minhoturns his head towards his mom, reluctantly tearing his gaze from Anna’s face.

                   “Minho-ah, as I told you in the kitchen, this is Anna Smith. I met her yesterday. She’s a student at your former university. She got lost on her way to her house and ended up at our family house in Incheon. You know how I really wanted a daughter, right? I decided that I would adopt her as my daughter and she will stay in this house with us until she finishes her course at the Universityof Seoul,” she said. Minhowho is swallowing food at the time, chocked on it upon hearing his mom’s statement.            

                  Anna reflexively takes a glass of water and offered it to Minho. “Here,” she said, offering the water. Minhotakes it without hesitation and gulped it down. “Thanks,” he said after his throat felt comfortable. His face is flushed from embarrassment. He clears his throat. Mrs. Choi smiles seeing their action just now. ‘See, you guys can work together well,’ she thought.

                   “So, Anna, what course do you take at the university?” he asks her, trying to break the ice. He knows enough that his mom really like this girl. He doesn’t want to act like how he usually acts to strangers, cold as ice. His mom wouldn’t like that.

                     He looks into her face again. He couldn’t believe his mom simply came across this beautiful lady and decided to take her as her adopted daughter. ‘This is just ridiculous,’ he thought. ‘Why would she agree in the first place?’

                    “Medical,” Anna answered timidly. She feels really uncomfortable with Minho’s gaze on everything she does. ‘Would you stop doing that? I’m not dangerous,’ she thought.

                      Minhonods his head, his eyes still on her face. ‘A smart girl then,’ he thought.

                    “Minho-ah, stop staring at her. I know she’s beautiful. I begged her to agree. It’s not like she offered it to me,” she said, knowing what’s on Minho’s mind at the time. Minho’s face flushed again. This time, the color more visible than the first because the color doesn’t fully disappeared yet.      
                     “Oh, so Anna, where are you from? You don’t look like a local,” he said. He sees Anna smile to the statement. ‘Like mother like son,’ she thought.

                      “I’m from Malaysia. If you wander why I don’t look like an Asian, it’s probably because my mom has Australian blood in her and my father has Arabian roots,” she answered with far too much precision just like when she answered his mom. Minhostops chewing to digest what Anna said just now to his brain. ‘So, half Australian, half Arabian and born in Malaysia. Hmm, interesting,’ he thought.

                      “Is this your first time in Korea?” he asks but soon regretted it. ‘Babo, of course it’s her first time. If not, why would she got lost and ended up in Incheon,’ he mentally slap his hand on his forehead.

                      “Yes, it is her first time. Why don’t you show her around this weekend? You don’t work on weekends, right? She hadn’t had time to take a tour around Seoulsince she first came to Korea,” Mrs. Choi suggested. This time, both Minhoand Anna chocked on their food. Their hands frantically search for a glass of water to soothe their aching throats when their hands touched each other. They both felt as if time had stopped and electric current flowed to the part where their hands touched.