The Measure of a Man { BTS Taehyung Series }

Chapter 7

Mari had never seen Tae drive before, but she was relieved to see that he was both confident and cautious. As they drove through the green Korean countryside, Mari tried to picture Tae living in this world. They were on their way to visit some friends of Tae's family. He had known them since he was a little boy, growing up on a farm. Mari had not yet been able to meet his parents, but this couple was a close second. Tae spoke of Uncle and Auntie Choi with the greatest affection.

As they pulled up to a single-level house, Mari saw a middle-aged woman washing radishes in a large plastic tub, which resembled a child's wading pool. She looked up as Tae and Mari got out of the car. Wiping her wet hands on her apron, she approached them and took Tae's face into her hands.

"Oh, my goodness, my handsome boy!" she gushed. "Why don't you come to see your Auntie more often?" she scolded playfully.

"In case you hadn't heard, I've been a little busy," Tae joked. "Being famous is hard work!" he said more seriously.

"And who is this beauty?" asked Auntie Choi, finally releasing Tae's face from her hands.

"This is my girlfriend, Mari," replied Tae, pushing Mari forward slightly toward Auntie Choi. The older woman took her by the shoulders and looked her over thoroughly.

"Too skinny," she concluded. "Have you eaten?" asked Auntie Choi, eying the two critically. "I mean, really eaten," she clarified. "I'm not asking if you got some bread on your way here. Bread's not real food, you know," she declared convincingly.

"Auntie, you're busy," observed Mari, pointing at a pile of radishes that had not yet been washed. "We brought some snacks. We'll be fine for now," said Mari.

"Speak for yourself," inserted Tae. "I have been craving Auntie's kimchi stew for weeks now," Tae said while letting out a sigh of longing.

"I have some in the refrigerator," Auntie declared.

"Of course, you do," said Tae with a huge grin. "I would have expected no less."

Just then, a wiry man with thinning hair walked out of the house. "What's all this commotion?" he asked, wiping his face with a towel. He smiled at Tae. "Oh, it's you again. Why did you come?" he asked, attempting to sound gruff as he slapped Tae soundly on the back. "This one's trouble," he said to Mari with a wink. "You'd better keep him in line," he warned.

Mari shrugged her shoulders. "It's like herding cats," she quipped.

Although Uncle had not heard that phrase before, it elicited a smile from his wide lips. It reminded him of something he and his farmer friends would say.

"Come on, you useless boy," teased Uncle Choi. "Let's get out to the field and harvest vegetables."

"Oh, no, you don't!" exclaimed Auntie. "These two have to eat breakfast first," she protested. "They're not going anywhere until they have a belly-full of kimchi stew!"

"Women!" groused Uncle. "Am I right?" he asked, turning to Tae.

Tae merely held up is hands like a teller during a bank robbery and said, "I have nothing to say." He grinned at Mari as she shot him a warning look. They sat down on the concrete patio floor in front of a short-legged table. Auntie served heaping bowls of rice along with the stew. Unlike many Americans, Mari liked the spicy, sour taste of kimchi. Auntie was pleased to see her eat with gusto. When they finished, they decided to take a walk into the field to try to find Uncle and offer their assistance.

They soon found him working with a lanky teenaged boy at his side. Tae ran up behind the boy and picked him up from behind.

"When did you get so heavy?" Tae teased as the teen kicked his long legs, attempting to escape Tae's grasp.

"Hyung, let go!" he squealed, in a voice that had not yet decided whether to go high or low. So, it jumped from one extreme to the other.

"Get back to work and stop screwing around!" scolded Uncle. Tae finally released his grip on the young man.

"Mari, this is Chang-Min," said Tae, taking the boy by the neck in a mock headlock.

"Hello, Chang-Min," she said simply.

Chang-Min greeted her as best he could while continuing to try to wrestle free of Tae's grasp.

Uncle, again, attempted to calm the chaos. "You know, these radishes won't pick themselves."

Finally releasing the squirming boy, Tae said, "Alright, Uncle, we'll get to work." Tae came to stand by Mari and showed her how to pull the long, white radishes in the direction in which they are growing. "You might have to twist it back and forth a little bit," he suggested as Mari tugged on the stubborn vegetable.

"In the States, radishes are little," Mari protested. "Why do you all grown these big-assed radishes?"

"These are daikon," replied Tae, knowledgeably. "We make radish kimchi, radish soup, pickled radish ---."

"OK, that's good," Mari interrupted, holding up a hand to stop him. "This is starting to sound like that scene from Forrest Gump where the guy is listing off all the ways you can make shrimp," Mari laughed.

She continued to pull on the radish top until it broke off causing her to fall back onto her bottom in the dirt. Tae rushed to her side to check on her. She just laughed and pulled him down into the dirt with her. "Oh, so this is what we're doing then?" he asked as he playfully smashed a clump of dirt into her hair and spread it across her cheeks.

Mari laughed and said, "You might want to get your hearing checked," she warned. "You have a bunch of dirt in your ears," she squealed slamming two balls of dirt over his ears.

Uncle Choi scolded them from several yards away. "Get out of my radish patch with all your foolishness!"

Tae stood and made a slight bow. "Sorry, Uncle," Tae yelled out as he led Mari by the hand back to the house. They stood on the patio, elated and muddy, as Tae leaned in for a kiss. "I'm supposed to sleep with Chang-Min tonight," Tae whispered in her ear. "But he won't miss me if I slip out."

Mari slapped Tae hard on his dirt-stained chest. "No way!" she said sternly. "We're staying in someone else's house. Don't you ever think of anything else?" she scolded.

"Not since I met you," Tae whispered, causing a shiver to go up her spine. He tightened his grip around her waist and kissed her again, slowly and languidly, until Mari considered going back on her disinvitation to her room.

Suddenly, she saw the green hose lying next to her feet. She broke free from his embrace and grabbed the hose, turning it on at the tap. The water came out in a sad little flow that sloped downward quickly. She put her thumb over the end of the hose, causing it to squirt in a stronger flow that shot from the hose. She jumped back and started to spray Tae.

"You need to cool off," she teased, as she ran around the patio, escaping Tae's grasp by using the long hose. She drenched him in the cool water. He ran to the side of the patio where Auntie had been washing the radishes. He found a plastic bucket still filled with water. Picking it up over his head, he spilled it all over Mari. They stood there dripping muddy water, looking like two drowned rats.