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New Beginnings

Before High School

Shopping with Ahjumma was actually more fun then I thought it would be, I wanted to ask her about her grandson but just couldn't bring myself to it. Ahjumma made me buy lots of new clothes and make up products that apparently all Korean girls are into.

Toady is Monday, one week before I officially start my new High School. I now have a beautiful house to stay in, good neighbors and a job. I’m beginning to fall in love with Seoul. All I need is a friend in school and I think I’ll be able to get through my year easily.

I slowly approach the mini market with a list of ingredients I need to make Bibimbap (A popular South Korean dish). As I enter I looked straight to the till secretly hoping to see Ahjummas grandson but he's not there.

'Anneyeonghaseyo' I say and bow 90 degrees.

'Ah I've been waiting for you'. Ahjumma has that same cheeky look on her face just like her grandson, for some reason I feel uneasy. 'I spoke to my grandson and he's free this Saturday, I think it'll be good if you come over for dinner and formally introduce yourselves to each other'.

I hate when Ahjumma asks me for things, I can’t help but listen to her every request however she does have a point. I’m now 1 week away from High School and I still have a lot of Korean to learn, I guess it’s best to start our lessons now and continue on through school before our exams start. I look at Ahjumma who’s raising her eyebrows at me waiting for an answer. Although I’m nervous for this ‘dinner’ I think the best way to get to know each other is with Ahjumma around. I know it’ll be much more comfortable then.

‘Ye Ahjumma’, I say into my phone. ‘I look forward to it, what time shall I come?’

‘I’ll send my grandson at 1:00pm, make sure you’re ready by then’.

‘You’re…you’re grandson?’ I stutter.

‘Ye, he’ll show you where we live so don’t worry’.

‘Gwaenchanhayo-It’s alright’ I quickly reply. ‘Just tell me your address and I’ll find my own way. I don’t know what Ahjumma is thinking. I’m not ready to be alone with her grandson yet. I still don’t really trust him.

‘Aniya-No, I told him now and he said its fine, just be ready for 1:00pm.

Ahjummas smiley face is hard to argue with. ‘Ye’ I say smiling back. I pull out my shopping list and head towards the shopping isle. As I walk down Ahjumma shouts ‘Maybe you can wear that pretty white dress we brought?’ I quickly turn around but no Ahjumma insight. I turn back and look at my shopping list too busy thinking about her grandson, the angel, and my white dress. ‘Ahjumma you’re really bad’ I say to myself unable to keep in my smile.
--- ‘Beep. Beep. Beep.’ My annoying alarm goes off disturbing me of my sleep. ‘Ahhh’ I exhale while stretching. I roll over to my side and close my eyes again.

‘Buzzz’ my phone goes off an hour later. It’s so much effort rolling next to my desk but I finally manage to do it. I pick up my phone and see I have a message from Ahjumma.

“Anneyeong, just wanted to remind me you that you’re coming over to my house today. We look forward to you coming.”

Oh my god! I forgot all about this dinner! How could I forget? I’ve been so busy this week getting everything ready for School and learning as much Korean as I can I forgot what day it was little own the dinner.

‘Buzzz’ my phone goes off again.

‘Oh and remember to be ready for 1:00pm, my grandson will be there and he hates waiting so be sure to get ready on time’.

Her grandson! ‘Ahhhh’ I scream! I jump out of bed and run towards my wardrobe. As I open the doors the first dress I see is the white lace dress Ahjumma told me to wear. I don’t want to wear it because I’m not sure what she’s up too but then I’m also afraid that I’ll offend her if I don’t. This is when a best friend would be handy but mine are all in England asleep, I can’t disturb them. Without giving it anymore thought I pull out the dress and place it on my bed. It is the prettiest dress I have ever brought and since I’ve been invited for dinner I guess it’s a perfect occasion for me to wear it. Now the next big decision, shoes. I feel if I wear heels its to formal whereas normal shoes would be more appropriate so I decide on my pretty nude frilly sandals which goes perfectly with me little nude bag.

It is now 12:00am and Ahjumma’s grandson would be arriving in two hour’s time. I remember her text saying how much he hates waiting so I rush around like a mad woman. I quickly clean around the house, do my bed and have a shower. I then blow-dry my hair as I’ve decided to straighten it today. Once my hair is dry I take out my straighteners and begin to straighten my hair. Half an hour now and he’ll be coming. I’m beginning to get more and more nervous. I put on my BB cream and gold eye shadow onto my eyelids. Carefully I apply a thin layer of eyeliner and mascara, just like the Korean women apply theirs. I then put on a nice light pink blush, which compliments the light red lip tint. 12:55pm and I’m ready, I pack away my hair dryer and straighteners and put on some perfume. I take deep breaths and give myself a pep talk.

“It’s ok’ I say to myself ‘I can do this, I’ll be fine. Why are you worried? It’s not like he’s going to hurt you. You’re going for dinner, everything will be fine”. Just at that moment the doorbell rings. I look at the clock and its dot on 1:00pm. Wow he’s punctual. I walk towards the door feeling like I’m going to faint.

‘Anneyeong’ he says. He’s wearing black trainers and black jeans. His shirt is a blue plaid shirt and he has the first few buttons undone. He wears a black leather cap on backwards and black sunglasses. ‘Oh yeahppwa yo- Oh you look pretty.’ He says with a smile that stretches from ear to ear. I see his eyes look at me from top to bottom to top again. He squints his eyes and with a devilish smile he says, ‘oh and your hair looks nice like that, it suits you’.

‘Gomapseumnida- Thank you’ I respond, blushing. I feel butterflies in my stomach; the way he makes me feel drives me mad. Just as I’m about to walk out the door he comes barging in and walks straight into the living room nosing around.

‘Please talk comfortably with me’; he says turning around with a mischievous look, ‘don’t worry, I’ll teach you’ he adds confidently.

‘We should get going’ I reply eager to get out.

‘I’m not sure if there’s any reason for me to teach you Korean, it seems pretty good to me. Tell me the truth, did you ask for these lessons so we can be alone together?’ As he says this he squints his eyes and slowly walks towards me. I walk backwards even slower shocked with what he said.

‘Mwubrah goo-What did you say?!’ I shout. ‘Noh micheoss oh- Are you crazy?! ‘Do you really think I asked for these lessons?!’

‘Hahaha, that’s better’ he chuckled.

I stop walking backwards and stare at him confused. I just spoke informally and was quite rude but he seemed to have liked it. I don’t know whether or not to apologies but he doesn’t seem to mind and if anyone should be saying sorry, it’s him, not me. I want to tell him to get out of my house but I can’t seem to utter the words. He carries on walking around, first into the kitchen then into the guest room. Just as he’s about to enter my room I go running over and block him from entering.

‘This is my room’ I say. ‘Please don’t go in, some things are to be kept private’.
He slowly backs away from the door and says ‘Ah ne, I understand. Sorry…you have a really nice house’. I look up at him and smile. He’s a lot taller then me and has broad shoulders. I begin to blush being this close to him and I know he suspects it.

‘Should we get going then?’ I say, ‘Ahjumma must be waiting’. I look at him and he still has that twinkle in his eye. He nods and I lead the way. As we step down the outside platform he yells out load ‘Ahh this is a really nice view, I think I should come here more often and do my work’. I look at him half shocked and half angry. Does he never think about what he say’s. Is he always so abrasive? But what really got me was how does such a guy think that way? That thought…it was the same one I had. He then walks off through the gate doors and calls for me to follow, ‘gaja- let’s go’.

Our arms slightly brush each other as walk down the street. I move towards the left leaving a considerable amount of space. ‘I thought they did a lot of skin-ship in England’ he says actually looking like he genuinely wanted to know.

‘Not everyone does skin-ship’ I say avoiding eye contact. ‘It is more common there then it is here and if you were to do it you wouldn’t get any funny looks like you do here but there’s actually a lot of us who don’t like it’.

‘Algeseupnida-I understand’ he says jokingly while smiling. ‘Why don’t you like it?’ Do you not have a boyfriend?’

I look at him and then back down again. Why do I feel so embarrassed? It feels like everyone here has this expectation of me being a wild and fun child just because I’m foreign. ‘No’ I say too proudly. ‘I mean I’ve liked a guy once, actually I really liked him but it didn’t work out’.
‘Is that why you don’t like skin-ship?’

‘No, I just don’t to skin-ship with people I don’t really know, and you’re one of them’.

He smiles and looks down. I can see he wants to say something but he’s keeping it in. I can’t stand it. This isn’t like him,‘Waegu re?-What’s wrong?’ I say looking over at him. His side profile is even more handsome. His strong jawline really stands out making me want to touch it. He looks down at the ground kicking a stone then smiles and turns towards me.

‘Why didn’t it work out with that guy you like?’

‘Liked’ I interrupt.

‘Liked’ he emphasizes.

I didn’t really want to talk about this. That moment in my life is something I’ve always wanted to forget about but I guess to get closer with Ahjummas grandson so we can both trust each other I should open up. He seems like a good listener so why not?

‘Well we decided to date’ I say hesitating. ‘After a couple of months he became very protective and obsessive. He never let me meet up with my friends and always went through my phone whenever he could. If I spoke to another guy he’d get angry and...’I can’t finish off my sentence. My throat has dried up and I hold my tears back. I’m not going to cry over this. I promised myself I was going to become someone strong and I am. I cough to clear my throat and carry on.

‘He…he used to’ I slowly breath out…‘hit me’.

Ahjummas grandson stops walking. I never wanted anyone here to find out. I hate being seen as a victim. He begins to walk towards me. I see his eyes are sorry, just like everyone else who knows about my story.

‘I’m sorry’ he says holding my shoulders. I look at his hands touching me and unwillingly flinch. He quickly removes his hands and brings them back down. ‘I shouldn’t have made you tell me, I didn’t think something like that would have been the reason’. I can see the pain in his eyes and almost feel guilty for making him feel this way.

‘It’s not your fault’ I reply. ‘It’s actually good someone here knows the real me, just please don’t tell Ahjumma. I don’t want her to think of me that way’.

‘Dangyonhaji’ he replies, smiling. ‘I won’t tell anyone, oppa will be here if you ever want to talk’.

Oppa? I’m sure I just heard him say oppa! I can’t help but blush. I smile and whisper ‘oppa?’

‘Ye’ he says with a grin. ‘OP-PA’ he repeats. ‘Soon as you’ve never asked me for my name I guess you should call me that. I don’t let any girls call me oppa so you should feel privileged.’

‘Hah’ I burst out. ‘Chincha!-Really’ why should I feel privileged? I never asked for your name because you never asked for mine’ I reply defensively.

‘Pabo-Idiot’ he says pushing my shoulders. ‘Halmeoni told me you’re name, I just never called you by it because you didn’t ask for mine’. I look at him and he can see the disbelief in my eyes.

I slowly turn my head away and then, ‘Rachael-SHI’ he emphasizes.

My head shoots up and I look him in the eye. I can’t help but show how surprised I am. I like how he says my names, its feels good.

‘Hmm, I guess you were telling the truth’ I say teasing.

‘Ah cham- Seriously’ he says to himself. ‘So do you want to know my name or not?’ I nod back smiling. ‘It’s Woohyun’ he says.

‘Woohyun’ I repeat.

‘Um’ he says confirming. ‘But you can only call me Woohyun oppa or just oppa, arasso?’

‘I don’t know’ I say walking off. ‘I’ll think about it’.

‘Yah, what’s there to think about? I told you I don’t let anyone call me oppa’.

‘Why me? …Why are you letting me call you oppa? Although I ask this I already know the answer. It’s because of the incident I told him about. Although we both know the reason it’s obvious he won’t tell the truth and as suspected he doesn’t.

‘Because you’re different and I’m the only friend you have here so do as I say’.

I pull a face and he laughs.

‘Huh’ I gasp. ‘I forgot to get Ahjumma a present!’

‘It’s ok, she’s not expecting anything’.

‘Still its rude if I don’t bring anything and I really want to give her something to say thank you for everything’.

‘We don’t have time now, halmeoni’s going to get angry if we’re late and the house is just there’. He points at a beautiful house. It has freshly cut green grass on the front lawn and a lovely wooden swing chair. Just at that moment Ahjumma opens the door wearing a bright blue apron.

‘Pali-Quickly!’ She shouts. Motioning with her hands.

Woohyun grabs me by my arm and runs over towards Ahjumma. His hands are warm and I feel the cold metal of his rings around my wrist.

‘Annyeonghaseyo’ I say and bow.

‘Anneyeong halmeoni’ Woohyun says smiling. He looks really handsome this moment in time. I can see the love and respect he has for his grandma. I wonder what happened to his parents, maybe I’ll find out later?

We walk into the house as Woohyun and Ahjumma hit and tease each other. ‘Ah, I need to quickly run an errand’ Woohyun says heading back for the door. ‘I’ll be 5 minutes’ and with that he was gone.

‘YAH!’ Ahjumma shouts but it’s too late. I wonder what he’s up to now.

‘How are you?’ Ahjumma says. ‘You two took so long I began to think you both went off to do your own things’. I see a grin emerge on her face.

‘Ay, maldo andwae-Hey, that makes no sense’, I say trying to avoid Ahjummas obvious hints. ‘Ummm Ahjumma it smells so good’ I say trying to change the subject. ‘This is the first home cooked food I’ve had since I’ve come to Korea’.

‘Aigoo, how’s your cooking going? She says dragging me into the kitchen.

‘It’s well but I have a lot to learn, maybe Ahjumma can teach me? I reply with a smirk.

‘Dangyonhaji, now you know the way you should come over more often and I’ll teach you how to cook’.

‘I’ll do that then’ I reply.

I help Ahjumma bring in the food and set it on the table. ‘Wow Ahjumma you have a really nice house, it’s so big!’

‘I worked hard for this house, of course with the help of my grandson’ she responds looking around smiling.

The room is much bigger then mine. It’s very spacious and has a big dining table overlooking the city outside. There’s a really big TV that sits on the wall and a fireplace opposite. I go back into the kitchen to help out but Ahjumma insists I go and sit inside. Instead I talk with her for some time then did as I was told and sat at the table waiting for her to come. The front door bangs open and Woohyun calls out.

‘YAH where did you go?’ Ahjumma shouts from the kitchen.

I stand up to have a look and see Woohyun running over. ‘Here’ he says handing me over a plastic bag. ‘Put this in your bag and give to halmeoni when she comes in’. I look down at the bag he placed in my hands and have a quick peak. It’s a beautiful hairpin with delicate jewels that make the shape of a flower. I look back at Woohyun I can’t take this. ‘Pali’ he whispers and shoves the pin into my bag.

‘Where did you go?’ Ahjumma says while walking in with some freshly cooked rice in her hands.

‘I had to run out for a moment, my friend needed my help’ Woohyun replies avoiding Ahjummas eyes.

‘What help? Woohyun, please don’t tell me you’ve done something bad or illegal.’

‘Ayy, would I do that?’ Woohyun says walking up to Ahjumma and hugging her from behind.

‘I don’t know, why else would you run off like that?’ she yells back.

I feel guilty. Woohyun did me a favor and now Ahjumma is thinking bad things of him. But why did she jump to such a big conclusion of him doing bad things? Woohyun motions to me to give the gift. I laugh and shake my head. ‘Jebal’ he mouths.

‘Ah, Ahjumma before I forget I got you a present’ I say pulling out the hairpin from my bag just as Woohyun told me too.

‘Ahjumma comes running over, her eyes lit up. Ah yeppeuda- Oh its so pretty’ she says holding it in her hands. ‘You didn’t have to buy me this’ she says while hugging me. I smile back and tell her how thankful I am for all her help.

Ahjumma then takes the hairpin and walks over to the mirror trying on the clip. I slowly walk over to Woohyun and thank him. I turn towards Ahjumma and see how happy she is. I turn back and tell him I’d pay him when I see him next. He tells me there’s no need but I won’t have any of it and he accepts what I say.

‘Wow you look really pretty halmeoni’ Woohyun says walking over to Ahjumma.

‘Right?’ says Ahjumma hugging me again.

‘Come on lets eat now, you must be hungry’.

We all sit down and begin to eat. Ahjumma tells me how nice it is to have a guest over and for it to finally be a girl. I wish I asked Woohyun if he had a girlfriend and if not why? He’s defiantly handsome enough.

‘Doesn’t Rachael look pretty’ Ahjumma says looking at Woohyun then at me with a smirk.
‘Very pretty’ he replies glancing over with a smirk while putting some meat in his mouth. I can’t help but blush, I feel the blood running to my cheeks.

‘You look just like a Korean girl with your hair like that’, she says. ‘Its just your eyes but they are beautiful’.

‘Ye very beautiful eyes’ Woohyun repeats.

‘Player’ I think to myself but I’m too happy to be bothered.

Notes

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it took me a long time to write! :)

Thanks for reading! ^.^

Comments

Why did u disappear??? It was really great story!!!!! I hope one day u will continue!!!! Pleeeeeeease!!!!!

Andrea Denes Andrea Denes
1/14/16

@Andrea Denes
Thank you, I will hopefully be updating soon! Thanks for waiting! <3

SunggyuWorld SunggyuWorld
4/12/15

@LuluH
Thank you so much, your support means a lot to me! <3

SunggyuWorld SunggyuWorld
4/12/15

The story is fantastic so be sure i will wait. Just take ur time!!!see u soon!!!

Andrea Denes Andrea Denes
3/31/15

I'll wait no matter how much it takes to you for update, I love the story unnie! Hwaiting! ♥♪