All of My Days

2

July 18, 2006

"Are you wearing this?" her mother asked, glaring at Seri from behind her round spectacles. She was sitting in their dining room, reading a yellow press newspaper opened at the gossip section.

Seri nodded and poured herself a glass of water.

"We are meeting your father's business partners and their families today. Can you wear a dress? Something a bit more... flattering?"

Seri gulped the water down and nodded again, before turning away.

"When is she going to fill out, such a skinny kid," she heard her mother muttering to herself.

Seri glanced at her reflection briefly as she passed by her parents' glass cabinets displaying her father's and brothers' awards. Se Jun managed to get a 4thplace at a swimming competition back in middle school and Se Hyung won a few spelling bees and participation awards back in the days. All of these were proudly displayed in the cabinet she was passing on the way to her room, where her own awards were neatly placed in a drawer, away from anyone's eyes.

She sighed as she opened her wardrobe, considering her dress choices. She had a few, her mother made sure she has some for occasions like this one. Black? Blue? Pink? She didn't like any of them, so it made no difference which one to choose. If she could, she would have chosen something completely different. No satin, no bows. No sparkles, no fake feathers. Something much more tasteful.

She started her computer and as her internet connected, shot a quick message in her ICQ.

"Black, blue, or pink?"

She knew he wouldn't reply right away, he might not even reply today at all, but she still tried her luck.

Over the past month, they've been chatting every chance he had, which was about every few days or so, sometimes with longer 4-5 days interruptions. He didn't explain why he couldn't connect even though he clearly had a computer at home, but she didn't want to pry. Sounded like maybe his parents were strict or something. So she just did her best catching him every time he was online, even for a brief "Good morning" or "How was your day?".

The hand-me-down phone she got from Se Jun last year just had enough memory to install ICQ and her plan just enough data to send a few messages so she could be online more often.

She ended up picking a light blue dress because he never responded and she had to follow her family to the private country club for a social. She smiled and bowed to her parents' friends, frowning uncomfortably every time her mother made a joke at her expense. Within an hour she was absolutely done and desperately wanted to go home, so she found a secluded spot in the garden and sat down on the bench, taking her phone out of her purse.

There were no new messages, but she typed anyway.

"I chose blue. The party is atrocious. I want to go home."

Once she sent the message, she heard steps approaching from the other side of the garden and got up, seeing Se Hyung with a friend, one of the sons of their father's colleague.

"Oh there she is", her brother pointed. "Don't know why you bother, but go ahead I guess", - he waved his hand in her general direction and turned on his heel, moving back towards the country house.

"Hi," his friend said enthusiastically, approaching her.

For the life of her, Seri could not remember his name. Was it Ju Soon? Soon Ju?

She nodded politely acknowledging his greeting but stayed at her place. The guy started chatting animatedly, trying to make jokes about how horrible their parents and the party were. She couldn't agree more, so they chatted for a while. The guy turned out not as much of a pretentious prick she initially assumed him to be, and they ended the conversation on good terms.