Moon Ga Young

Where is he?! I told him I don’t have my phone so I won’t be able to contact him! I’ve been waiting here for almost an hour now! I’m hungry.. JONG HYUN OPPA!!! Arghhh!

After 30 minutes more, I saw a car stop in front of me with Jong Hyun Oppa smiling widely in the driver’s seat, as if he didn’t made me wait for so long.

“Yah, Oppa! What took you so long??? I’ve been waiting here for almost 2 hours!!!”, I complained.

“Oh sorry, Ga Young-ie.. I was uhhh busy with something..”, he said, still smiling like he won the lottery or something.

Hmmm.. Something’s fishy here..

“What do you mean you were busy?! With what?! We came here to get a vacation so how could you be busy?”, I asked him further.

“Oh, uhhh did I say I was busy..? I meant I was held up by traaafff—fic..”, he stammered as soon as he realized the streets were deserted except for our car and a few tourists walking on the sidewalk.

“What traffic?! There wasn’t even a taxi or I would have left an hour ago! Just come out with it, Oppa! What did you do?!”, I pestered him.

“Nothing! I didn’t do anything, Ga You—”

“Which is it, Oppa?! Were you busy OR you didn’t do anything?!”, I cornered him.

“I was rea—yah! Yah! Why are you interrogating me like a suspect! Cham! I said I’m sorry and that’s it! I don’t have to explain to you why, you brat! Aishhh!”, he bursts out, taking me by surprise as Jong Hyun Oppa has always been a mellow guy unlike Yong Yong Oppa who has always been outspoken.

Yep, he’s hiding something.. I wonder what.. I’ll find out sooner or later.. I hope it’s sooner though.. I’ll make sure of that!

“By the way, Ga Young-ie, Yong Hwa Hyung called me earlier after I dropped you off.. He wanted to talk to you about something important because he kept yelling at me! Yah, you guys are really alike! So impatient!”, he exclaimed, annoyed.

“Why don’t I make you wait for almost 2 hours and tell me if you’d still be patient after that! Cham! And what did Yong Yong Oppa wanted to talk to me about, do you know?”, I asked him back.

“No.. We got cut-off because s—I arrived at my destination and had to hang-up.. It seems important, though.. He was really eager to talk to you..”, he answered me.

Was he about to say ‘she’? Aigooo.. Does Jong Hyun Oppa have a secret girlfriend???!

“I wonder what it’s about.. Maybe he finally found the Red-Glasses Gi—”

“Yaaa, that again.. Can’t you let that go, Ga Young-ie? I mean it’s been 20 years.. If that girl and Yong Hwa Hyung were meant to be together, they’d have crossed path with each other a long time ago.. And can’t you see what he has with Joo Hyun-ie now? How happy he is when she’s around.. You’re hurting your cousin by clinging to a memory of a girl you yourself has started to forget.. I mean you can’t even remember her name anymore.. All you have is a book, a pair of reading glasses, and a song to hold on to.. And what’s worse, you’re being rude to a girl who has been nothing but nice to you since you two met—yah! Don’t cry! Aishhh—”

I didn’t even notice that tears started to fall from my eyes, until Jong Hyun Oppa mentioned it. I guess I was crying because somebody said out loud the things that were bugging me all these years. The things I knew were TRUE, but wouldn’t and couldn’t admit to. And when Jong Hyun Oppa said it to me, I knew it was time to let her go, the girl who unselfishly gave me her time and even entertained me just so I’d stop crying, my savior, the Red-Glasses Girl.

“Ga Young-ie, are you alright? Please stop crying or I’m dead when we get back.. When the Noonas and the Hyungnims see you.. Aigooo!”, he pleaded, handing me tissues after tissues after parking the car on the side.

“I’m okay, Oppa.. I just—”, I faltered as another wave of tears caught me off guard.

“Yah, aishhh!”, Jong Hyun Oppa exclaimed, worry creasing his forehead as he thumped me in the back.

“I’m—I’m  alright.. Pro—promise..”, I stammered.

“Are you sure? You know I love you, right? You’re our baby cousin.. The Jung’s maknae.. And I just want you to SEE what you’re ignoring.. The truth.. It’s time to let fate intervene.. You never know, maybe Joo Hyun-ie is the Red-Glasses Girl.. Have you thought about that? I mean didn’t you guys tell me that you thought the ‘Seohyun’ that Yong Hwa Hyung met in the airport is the same as Joo Hyun-ie, Min Hyuk-ah’s own twin? And look what happened? It was true! And if it doesn’t turn out that way, Joo Hyun-ie is still a great girl for our cousin.. Wouldn’t you like Joo Hyun-ie to be your cousin-in-law? She’s very kind, very family-oriented like us, she’s beautiful, talented and super rich, I mean 6 to 7 digi—”

“Yah, Oppa! Are you really judging a girl by how much money she has?! Aigooo! Here I was getting so emotional with the things you were saying and then you add that! Cham!”, I snapped at him.

“What?! It’s a valid poi—arasseo! But you do get what I’m saying, right..?”, he asked me as he pulled out of the shoulder and started driving back to the beach mansion.

“I do, Oppa.. I get it..”, I assured him. “Oppa, where’s your phone, though..? I’m curious as to what Yong Yong Oppa wants to talk to me about.. It must be important for him to call because he rarely calls anyone of us..”, I added.

“Oh, that’s right..”, he agreed, as he made a move to get his phone from his jacket pocket then stopped.

“Uhhh I just remembered my phone’s dead, Ga Young-ie.. Anyway, we’re almost there so just talk to Yong Hwa Hyung in person..”, he informed me.

“But—”

“Yah, do you have anything to eat? I’m hungry!”, he suddenly added, distracting me from arguing that he could charge his cell-phone using the car charger.

Smooth move, Oppa.. I’ll let it go for now..

“I didn’t buy anything, Oppa.. I was busy waiting for you outside since I don’ have my cell-phone with me and I’m afraid I’d miss you if I run inside the mall to buy some food—”

“Aishhh! I would have waited for you!”, he said, rubbing his stomach.

“I’m hungry, too! And I should have run—heck, I could have crawled in and out of the mall and ate a seven-course meal and I’d still have a few minutes to spare by the time you got there! Cham!”, I countered.

We were still arguing when I suddenly noticed a man by the sidewalk, hailing us.

“Oppa, isn’t that Manager Ahjussi?”, I asked, looking at a man frantically waving his arms.

“Where? Oh yeah, it’s him..”, he agreed after he spotted him.

“Shouldn’t we stop to let him in..?”, I asked him again after noticing he kept on driving.

“Should we? Why?”, he asked flatly.

“Uhhh Because he was waving his hands like crazy, trying to stop us..”, I replied matter-of-factly.

“Was he? I’m sure he just wanted to say hi—”

“Oppa!”, I exclaimed.

“Arasseo, arasseo! Aishhh!”, he conceded, abruptly stopping the car but didn’t even bother to back-up and just let Manager Ahjussi run up the hill.

“Yah hinnngh why hinnngh didn’t hinnngh you hinnngh stop hinnngh earlier?!”, Yong Yong Oppa’s Manager asked us breathlessly as soon as he got in the car.

“But we stopped, di—”

“Sorry, Manager Ahjussi, we didn’t see you right away..”, I apologized, cutting Jong Hyun Oppa’s remark before it gets us both in trouble.

“Yah, didn’t I hinnngh tell you to hinnngh call me hinnngh Manager OPPA?”, he reminded me, slowly getting his normal breathing back.

“Oh, sorry, Manager Ahj—Oppa.. Uhhh What were you doing walking, anyway?”, I asked, changing the subject.

“We went to get our tux dry-cleaned and since you two took the ONLY car with you without waiting for us and we didn’t know how to drive the Coaster, we had to WALK! Cham!”, he answered, irritated, as usual.

“We..?”, I asked, looking around for the other person.

“Moon Sik-ssi and I! That man walks so fast for a man with such short legs, he’s probably already there! And he seemed so happy all the time—”

“Unlike you, who’s always such a grouch!”, Jong Hyun Oppa suddenly interjected.

“—unlike me, who’s always such a grouch!”, Manager Oppa mimicked without thinking about it.

“Yaaahhh! You br—”

“We’re here, Manager Hyung.. We need the gate passcode to get in.. I don’t think anybody inside heard Moonie Ahjussi ringing the doorbell because he’s still outside..”, Jong Hyun Oppa casually commented, as if Yong Yong Oppa’s Manager wasn’t red in the face, annoyed at us. He huffed before he got off the car and the minute that he did, Jong Hyun Oppa and I started laughing hard.

“Oppa! That was bad—”

“But funny, admit it!”, he said, laughing as he parked the car.

Before we got out of the car, both Jong Hyun Oppa and I composed impassive faces first, but Manager Oppa and Moonie Ahjussi were already on their way inside. When we got to the door, Jong Hyun Oppa opened it for me and the sound of a piano being played greeted us. As we followed where the sound was coming from, I heard a familiar voice singing a very familiar tune.

“Is that my…”, I trailed off, my pace getting faster as I neared the room where the song was coming from.

“Yah, Ga Young-ie! Wait!”, I vaguely heard Jong Hyun Oppa say as my heart started beating as hard as if a drum was being played right next to me.

Oh my God! It’s my favorite song! And who is that singing it..? She sounds so much like my ‘Swan Princess’..

At the door of the room we dubbed the “Pink Room”, I saw Moonie Ahjussi and Manager Oppa watching something as if mesmerized. Looking in, my extended family were scattered around the room, but were all looking up at the duo singing and playing the piano on top of a raised dais. They were all so intently listening that they didn’t even notice 5 new people joining them.

“Yah, there’s—”

“Shhh—”

“But there’s—”

“SHHH!”, all three of us on the doorway hushed Jong Hyun Oppa without even looking at him.

Whoa.. Min Hyuk Oppa and his twin can sing and play the piano well! Daebak!

As the song went on, I started to focus on Joo Hyun Eonni; her voice, her mannerisms, and the way she sings.

Joo Hyun Eonni’s voice seems so familiar to me.. Can she be..? Nahhh.. Jong Hyun Oppa just put that idea into my head.. It can’t be her.. Can it..?

And by the time the song ended, I was enthralled like everyone else.

“Whoa, daebak.. That was beautif—”

“It’s YOU!!!”, I heard a voice say from behind me.

“Yah, who are you?!”, Manager Oppa asked the man who just spoke.

“It is you! I’ve been following you since you got out of the Laundromat! Boy, can you walk fast!”, exclaimed a man I didn’t know.

“Yah, yah! I said who are you and how did you get in?!”, Manager Oppa tried again, stepping between me and the unknown man.

“From the open gate, of course—”

“Hyung! You left the gate OPEN?!”, I heard someone shout from inside.

“But I di—”

“Manager Hyung, you know there are kids here!”, someone else scolded.

“But it—”

“How can you be so careless, Hyung?!”, shouted another.

“Yah! Yah! I—”

“Pardon me.. I don’t mean no harm or anything at all.. I just need the clothes that that man took by mistake and I’ll be on my way..”, said the man, pointing at Moonie Ahjussi who stepped forward and started bowing and apologizing.

So that's why I counted 5 new people!

“No harm done.. And here, I think this is your tuxedo..”, said the man before he started going back from where we came in.

“The nerve of that man to come in here! Yah, Moon Sik-ssi! Didn’t you check your things before you got out of the Laundromat! If that man hadn’t followed you, you’d be wearing your darn thongs to the Gala and you’d be proud of it, wouldn’t you?! And you, Jong Hyun-ah! Why didn’t you close the gate?!”, Manager Oppa started berating the people around us.

“Manager Hyung, you know I was parking the car—”

“So? Wouldn’t you eventually finish parking the car—”

“But even if I close the gate, that man would still be able to come in—”

“How would he—”

“I don’t know the security code to lock the gate, Manager Hyung!”, Jong Hyun Oppa finally said, while Manager Oppa looked like thunder struck him.

“Hyung! You’re still here?!”, Yong Yong Oppa shouted from behind us, making us jump.

“What?! I’m staying he—”

“The GATE, Hyung! THE GATE!!! Aishhh!”, Yong Yong Oppa said, exasperated.

“Oh, right!”, Manager Oppa exclaimed, before running after the man to close the gate behind him.

Jung Yong Hwa

Sometimes I don’t know what I am going to do with my Manager! Aishhh!

“Yah, Jong Hyun-ah! Why didn’t you stop that man from coming in?! He could have been dangerous for all we know!”, I scolded my cousin.

“Eihhh! He just wanted his clothes back, Hyung.. And if he was dangerous, I was ready to take him down..”, Jong Hyun confidently replied.

Oh, right.. I keep forgetting he’s a black-belter in Judo.. Anyway, I have something important to tell someone.. What is it..?! Aigooo! I’m getting old— – Let me guess, but still HANDSOME— – You got it! – Cham!

“Yong Yong Oppa, I—”

Right! I remember now!

“MOON GA YOUNG!!!!!!!”, I bellowed excitedly.

“What?! What, Oppa! I’m right here! Geez! You scared me—”

“Oh sorry, Ga Young-ie! I just—I just have something very important to tell you!”, I exclaimed, trying to keep my excitement in, as I dragged her away from the Pink Room.

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