12

How hard could it be to meet someone in a restaurant? It’s just walking in and finding the table and the other person, right?

Well, obviously that wasn’t just it. Obviously he never though a guard would stop him from going in because of his looks. Obviously he needed to be well dressed and the jean and patched shirt weren’t a good combination —though many people had told him he looked good in them— so the guard had decided he wasn’t allowed in. And obviously he never thought that remembering the name of the person he was going to meet would have been useful.

“I’m telling you, someone is waiting for me, already” The man had said he couldn’t get in without a reservation and he tried to explain for the nth time that he had a meeting inside.

“Many have tried to get in saying the same” said the guard, not moving from his spot “they tried, but no one has really done it”

“But I have an interview with...” again, he tried to explain, but another guard cut him.

“We don’t have interview salons and even if that was the case, I really doubt someone who can afford this restaurant would hire someone like you. You won’t get it”

“And didn’t you say your meeting was at 7? It’s 7:37 already. You definitely won’t get it”

This was getting into his nerves. Because of these guys he would lose his chance to get a proper job. It had been four months since he arrived to Seoul, but he was still in search of a job. All he did to survive was little jobs at stores, restaurants, bars where he worked as a waitress and sometimes as a singer. It wasn’t that he hadn’t found an offer, but he wasn’t really interested in working with lawyers, banks, or other places where his ex could extend his hand to. He knew perfectly that entertainment world was out of his reach so it would be the safest place for him.

However, these stupid guards were ruining his chance. They didn’t really believe him. And how could they? He himself didn’t remember the name of the man he was supposed to meet to. Oh! He should have paid more attention to Gina and yeah, he shouldn’t have listened to his cousin when he said those clothes were Ok.

Well, they were right in some things. He was too common to get the charge of assistant of CUBE’s CEO. Besides, it was pretty late and he really doubted that the man had stayed that long. It’s not that he had been there late... well, he did was late; but he wasn’t THAT late... so it was mostly the guards fault.

Anyway, there was nothing he could do. The man was probably gone, same as his chance to get a proper job. Feeling defeated, he turned around and started walking away. He had walked less than fifty feet when he heard one of the guards.

“Thanks for coming Mr. Yoon”

He didn’t saw the man’s face, but by the way the guards bowed to him, he could say he was someone important. Why he said so? Because the guards had never bowed like that to other guests that came to the restaurant while he tried to convince them. That’s why. Ha! They make a 90° bow to a person and tried to shoo another as if it was a plague. Must be someone important that Yoon guy, right? Wait, where had he heard that name before?

Obviously, he had heard before as it was a common last name. But he felt there was something else about it.

Suddenly it hit him.

He turned around and started running as if his life depended on it —well, in some way, it did— and never stopped until he was few meters away from the man.

“Mr.Yoon!” he yelled, breathless. Said man stopped walking, but kept his back to him.

“You are CUBE’s CEO right?” he continued, trying to confirm what he already knew, but the other kept silent.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I’m applying to be your assistant and I couldn’t remember your name and they said they didn’t know Gina, so they couldn’t let me in” being honest was always good and it gave a good impression of you, so yeah, he decided to tell the true. However, the other man was still in his place, not moving and showing his back to him.

“Please let me try again”

He knew it was shameless, but he didn’t care. He needed the job and if he needed to beg to get at least a chance then he was going to do it.

“Oh, yeah... I’m Yang Yoseob” how could he forget to introduce himself?

Yoseob stood there waiting for the other to say something, do something, at least turn around. ANYTHING!!

The silence was killing him, so he decided to break it.

“Sir?” he called. No answer. “Sir?” he called again and started walking forward, approaching the man. But the other just stood there like a statue. So rigid that Yoseob started to wonder if the man was actually breathing or he had just had a convulsion. He had walked several steps but, when he was two feet away from the man when he froze: the man was hyperventilating.

Ok, so, he was probably and old man and old people tend to have many diseases... was that the case? Was he having some kind of attack? Was he really having a convulsion??

Yoseob started panicking. What should he do? What if the man was having a heart attack? No, wait, he would be suffocating... but hyperventilating can happen as a result of the lack of air, right? So, yeah, he CAN be having a suffocating... but his chest should pain.... AHH!!! What does he know?? He’s not a doctor!

He decided not to wonder anymore and walked in front of the man.

However, before he could even register what had happened the man had turned around; turned Yoseob around and then pushed, ending with Yoseob with his hands and knees on the floor?

“What the...” he flipped over his back just to see how the man ran off as if his life depended on it. Was this for real? Did that man just pushed him down and ran away? WTH? He got up and watched in disbelieve how the back of the man disappeared on the horizon. He would have followed him, but he wasn’t a good runner so there was a big amount of chance that he would tire himself in vain.

“YAH!!” the yell behind him made him jump and turn around just in time to see two guards running toward him. It took him two seconds to realize the frowns in their faces. What do they want? He wondered. “Don’t move” yelled one of them without stopping.

Then it clicked to him. He knew what they wanted: him. Why, that was something he guesses but really didn’t want to find out. So he ran. He ran because his life depended on it and he was sure that getting caught by the guards wasn’t an option to make it better. So he decided to run.  But, as mentioned it before, he wasn’t that good at running, but then again, that didn’t mean he would let himself being caught. No, he had a backup plan: the bus station. Luckily for him the bus was just about to leave when he climbed in. And again, luckily for him, the guards were slower than him so they weren’t able to see him getting on the bus.

He had been sitting in a weird position —under the window— for a while, but stopped doing it when he noticed the drivers and other passengers giving him weird looks. Yeah, it must look weird to see a grown up man —not that he looked like it anyway— running like his life depended on it and then hiding like he was being hunted. Which got him to the big question of the night: Why did Mr. Yoon run away from him? He really couldn’t find an explanation to it.

Anyway, whatever it was, the result of the “dinner” was what mattered. And right now the result was that he was still unemployed. Well, not really unemployed. He still had the job at the restaurant —luckily his cousin hadn’t let him quit— and if he hurried he would just be an hour late.

When he finally got there, his boss scolded him from outside the closed while he changed into his working cloths, but a cute puppy eyes and a little lie about getting lost on the city and he was forgiven. Some of their workmates complained to their boss about how soft she was with Yoseob and how harsh she was with them.

“How can he get lost in the city?” one of them said “It’s not like he isn’t Korean”

“Yes, but he’s been in Seoul just for two months” defended their boss “and it had changed a lot in the last ten years”

Yes, she knew Yoseob had been living out of Korea for the last ten years.

“Also, he’s never been in Seoul before” Added Seungho, Yoseob’s dear cousin “he’s from Bunsan”

With that, no one could complain anymore. Yoseob was glad he had such a nice and understanding boss, and he didn’t like to lie to her. Even if he was looking for some other job, he didn’t feel good while lying to her. He apologised again and then went back to work. Usually they would be serving the tables, but not today.

They walked into the kitchen and saw the big pile of dishes that they had to wash. It was his punishment for being late and his cousin’s for flirting with the customers —as nice as their boss was, she was still the boss. One by one they started washing and washing the never ending dishes in silence.

“So” Seungho cut the silence, without stopping what he was doing “how was it?”

Oh, yeah. Seungho knew the real reason why Yoseob was late. However, Yoseob didn’t feel like actually telling him it had been for nothing.

“They said they would call me” that was the first thing that came to his mind “There were another guys applying too, so I’m not sure if I’ll get it” he definitely wasn’t getting the job so he needed a backup story.

It’s not that he didn’t trust his cousin. No, it was actually him who had called Gina in the first place and subscribed Yoseob’s application for the job. That’s why he didn’t want to tell him he had screwed up, that he had ruined a great chance; that he had, once again, ruined everything.

None of them said anything for a while, and it was Seungho again who decided to speak first.

“You know you left your phone right”

“ah, really?” Yoseob turned to his cousin and saw him soaping the last dish—just until more arrived— and passing it to him to wash it.

“Yeah, I’ll give it to you later”

“Thanks”

Silence again.

“Someone called around 8:00” Seungho said while passing the towel to Yoseob to dry his hands. “It was Gina”

Yoseob froze. Oh no. This is not happening...

“O-oh... really?” Yoseob stammered

“Yep”

“A-and what did she say?” he was nervous. Of course he was. She was probably mad at him for not showing up —even if it wasn’t his fault— and making her boss wait for half an hour; or maybe for scaring the out of him. Who knows? The only thing Yoseob knew was that Seungho knew it and he was mad.

“She apologised” What? “She said her boss had a sudden compromise, so he couldn’t go to the meeting”

“Really?!” Yoseob couldn’t contain his excitement neither the big grin that appeared on his face. But it soon disappeared when he saw Seungho’s frown. .

“So, I was wondering, who is going to call you?”

“ah... that,  well... Hyung, I...” he needed something, anything, but he had nothing “I’m sorry” was the only thing he could say.

Seungho sighed, disappointment written all over his face. Yoseob knew he was angry.

“Why did you lie to me, Seob? Don’t you trust me?” however, more than angry, he sounded sad.

“No, hyung, it’s just... I didn’t want to disappoint you” and that was the truth “you’ve done a lot for me, the house, this job, the job interview; I’ve disappointed you before with, well you know... I didn’t want to disappoint you again”

“What are you talking about, kid?” Seungho came to Yoseob’s side and lifted his chin. Looking at Yoseob’s face made him feel like he had kicked a puppy “You’ve never disappointed me”

“Really?” Yoseob really felt bad. He loved his cousin maybe as much as he loved his mom... ok, maybe not that much, but he loved him.

“Yeah, just because you sometimes take bad decisions for not listening to this awesome cousin of your doesn’t mean you have disappointed me... maybe a little”

“Yah!”

They both laughed until someone came in with another pile of dirty dishes and they had to go back to work.

“Oh, I almost forgot, Gina said you’ve got the job”

Yoseob almost dropped the pile of dishes that were in his hands

“What?! How... why?”

Seungho just grinned.

“She said your profile was really good and her boss had been impressed. That, beside the fact he stood you up and that he is tired of interviews, was enough to convince him”

“Are you serious??!!” Yoseob couldn’t believe it. Was it for real? Like, for REAL?! It wasn’t a mean joke from his cousin right?

“Yes and no, I’m not joking. You’ve really got the job. Congratulations”

Yoseob would have liked to dance around or jump to his cousin and hug him to death, but one a waitress cam in just then. It was the guy who had complained about their boss favouritism for Yoseob. He didn’t look happy.

“There is a birthday and they want you to sing” which would explain why he wasn’t happy. He was just jealous of Yoseob’s great voice and mad that he couldn’t stay washing dishes for the rest of the night.

“Ok, I’m coming” and Yoseob was more than glad to do it.

Just as he came out, the boss indicated him the table where he had to go. It wasn’t a table; it was three tables joined together. There were many people, adults and children, young and old people, all of them smiling and chatting happily. A man stood up and talked to Yoseob in private. He told him it was the grandma’s birthday.

“I had always wanted to sing this to her, but I would just ruin the song” he explained as he handed Yoseob a piece of paper the lyrics of a song and the score for the piano. As soon as Yoseob read it he felt a smile appear on his face.

“I know this song by heart and we have it here too” the man smiled back and then went back to his sit.

He walked to the pianist and gave him some indications. Then he took the mic.

“Hello, hi... erm... May I have a bit of your time please?” he said, and waited for the people on the restaurant to stop chatting. “Thank you. Good night to all our customers, I hope you’re enjoying the night and your meal.  Ok, so... erm... today someone came to me and told me there was this great woman who was amazing in every way possible. He said she was a great cook, great teacher, great friend, great father and great mother”

The man who had talked to him took his mom’s hand and kissed it. Yoseob saw it and the woman smiled at him.

“He said you were a great dancer too so maybe we could have a piece later”

The whole restaurant laughed.

“Anytime, dear”

They laughed again and Yoseob waited until it calmed a bit.

“And for that too, this song is dedicated to you by your whole family”

He made a sign to the pianist and he started playing. The whole place got silent, letting the melody fill the room. A knowing smile appeared on every person’s face as they recognized the song.

The woman looked at him before turning to her son with a loving smile.

Cheo eum dang shi neul man nat jyo

 The first time I met you

Man na ja ma ja u reot jyo

I cried as soon as I saw you

Gi bbeo seo geu raen neun ji

 Was it because I was happy?

seul peo seo geu raen neun ji

Was it because I was sad?

gi eok do na ji an ne yo

 I don’t even remember

Yoseob looked around and saw few people singing along with him; most of them actually.

Deu ril geo shi eop seot gi e geu jeo bat gi man haet jyo

Since I had nothing to give, I just accepted

Geu reo go do geu ddaen go ma u meul mol lat jyo

 Even so, at that time I didn’t know how to be thankful

A mu geot do mo reu go sa ra wan ne yo

I’ve been living without knowing anything

However, there was someone that had caught his eyes; a young guy. Not because he was singing along. He wasn’t. But Yoseob couldn’t help but to feel drown to the boy.

Eom ma

Mom

Na ye eo meo ni

My mother

Wae i reo ke nun mu ri na jyo?

Why are tears falling like this?

Ga jang so jung han

The most precious person

nu gu bo da a reum da un

who is more beautiful than anyone else

dang shi neun na ye

 You are my,

na ye eo meo ni

 my mother

and he was sitting on a table, all by himself. Yoseob caught him looking at him but turning to the menu again when he met Yoseob’s eyes.

Cheo eum dang shi nye mo seu beun gi eok hal su eop ji man

Though I can’t remember the first image of yours

Ma ji mak mo seum ma neun jung neun nal gga ji gi eok ha get jyo

Just your last image, I will remember till I die

Nae mo deun mam da hae

 With all my heart

Sa rang ham ni da

I love you

Eom ma

Mom

I reum man bul leo do

 By just calling your name

wae i reo ke ga seu mi a peu jyo?

why does my heart ache like this?

Mo deun geol ju go deo ju ji mot hae

You’ve given me everything, you can’t give more

a swi wo ha neun dang shin gge

To you who are sorry because of that

mu eo seul deu ryeo ya hal ji

what should I give?

Eom ma

Mom

Na ye eo meo ni

My mother

Wae i reo ke nun mu ri na jyo?

Why are tears falling like this?

Ga jang so jung han

The most precious person

nu gu bo da a reum da un

who is more beautiful than anyone else

dang shi neun na ye

 You are my,

na ye eo meo ni

 my mother

The people applauded as Yoseob bowed. He noticed how the woman wiped away few tears from her face. Her son hugged her, another one hugged her too and soon it was a mass of people hugging her. Little, big, young, old... all of them were around her.

The man came to Yoseob and thanked him for the song. As Yoseob was about to turn around and go back to the kitchen—he’s punishment hadn’t finished yet— he saw the boy from before looking at him and then back at the menu again. He knew he shouldn’t do it, but the decided to approach the kid.

“May I take your order, please” he said with the politeness that characterised the waitress of the restaurant.

The boy looked at him as if wondering if he should answer or not.

“I haven’t decided yet.” He finally said, probably hopping for Yoseob to leave.

“I can wait” However, Yoseob wasn’t leaving. He actually didn’t care what he wanted, but, for some reason —the way he was looking at him, maybe— he felt that he wanted to say something and Yoseob wanted to know what it was.

“Uhm... ok” and then he went back to the menu. Again, he looked like he really wasn’t really reading the menu.

What’s with this kid? He wondered. He couldn’t be up something right? He checked the boy’s appearance and noticed he was well dressed —red converse, light jacket, white t-shirt with a pretty design and dark skinny jeans— not like someone who would try to eat and run away.

“The song was beautiful” suddenly the kid said with a smile, which pulled him back.

“Thank you” he smiled back “maybe you want to sing it for your mom” he said, but regretted doing it when the kid’s smile disappeared and he turned back to the menu.

“I can’t. She died when I was six”

“Oh, I- I’m sorry” yep. He screwed up again. “I didn’t—” He tried to apologise but a loud ringtone cut him off.

“Excuse me” the boy said and answered. “Hyung... Wae? I’m at the restaurant... ani, I haven’t ordered yet... wae? I want to eat here... Do you want me to order for you?... neh~”

He hung up and then turned to Yoseob with a big grin in his face.

“I’ll have Nuhbiani, rice with sweet potato and Doenjang jijae. Oh! And bring Gungjung Tteokbokki too and to drink... I’ll have green tea” he said excitedly. “Oh yeah and make sure you come back to take my companion’s order when he arrives”

Yoseob stopped writing and looked at the kid in disbelieve.

“That’s all just for you?” the kid looked back at him with questioning face and nodded cutely.

Yoseob took a look of him again —Black raven hair not really long, white milky skin, chubby cheeks, small mouth and thin pouty lips… and don’t forget the big doe eyes— and noticed the boy was thin, really thin. He doubted it was indeed all for him, but he decided to ignore it.

He went back to the kitchen with the order and it happened again. He had screwed up. He had forgotten he wasn’t allowed to attend the customers today because he had been late. As soon as the boss finished scolding him, she told him he had to attend them since it was a rule of their restaurant to be attended by the same waitress from the moment they enter until they leave the restaurant. He apologised again and took the dished to serve. Just as he was about to walk out the kitchen, he saw a man approaching the kid and the kid’s face lightened up. The man stood by his side and kissed the kids forehead making him complain and rub his forehead with the back of his hand. Yoseob took the trail and walked out.

“I told you many times! Not when we’re outside” the kid complained to the new arrived man, but he just laughed —even thought Yoseob couldn’t see his face, he saw his shoulders moving up and down— making the kid pout and puff his cheeks.

“Oh~ isn’t my nephew cute?” Yoseob stopped midway. He had to be hallucinating.

“Hyung~ boys are not supposed to be cute” the boy whined. Yoseob wasn’t sure what to do. A part of him wanted to know if this was for real or he was indeed hallucinating; while another was afraid of being disappointed once again, and find that his mind had played him again another trick. But his body had taken his own decision and started moving towards their table.

“But you can’t deny what you are, my Seungie” His heart almost stopped. There are many names that can be shortened as Seungie... many names.

Yoseob wanted to turn around and leave, but his body wouldn’t obey him and before he knew it he was standing at their table. Both customers turned their gaze to him; one got happy, the other paled as if he had seen a ghost.

It was him. The first guy he had ever liked, the first one he had kissed, the first one who had broken his heart; there was no way he wouldn’t recognise him.

“Yoon Doojoon, we met again”

NOTE: just so you know and don’t think I did something wrong there, a convulsion is a hyperactivity of the neurologic system that can be expressed as uncontrollable movements or the lack of any kind of movements. The lasts are called petite mal or crisis of absence and usually occur with memory loss, while the first are grant mal and are the ones that cannot be mistaken. 

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Note: I don't know what happened, but there was a missing part on the previous update of this chapter. 

I'm finally back guys. I hope you like this chater even when it's not 100% what I wanted it to be. 

Comments are loved. :)

saranghanmida~~