Hyesun's Fabulous American Dream

Chapter 14: Autumn Meets Bolero

On November 22nd, 2017, in the morning, I still read the book Sujeong gave me, In Some Other Life, until Chapter 23. I also received a message from Sujeong which read, "Tomorrow night, I will invite you to a Vietnamese concert for Thanksgiving. It's called Saigon Bolero. I got 2 concert tickets and our best clothes for the concert. 2 days and 1 night. Come get ready!" Hearing about this, I felt excited and jumped for joy. I walked downstairs and said 'hi' to Choi Jiwoo. Jiwoo asked, "How's it going?" I replied, "Not bad. Sujeong invited me to a Thanksgiving concert in Atlantic City, which will be tomorrow night."

    "Wow, that sounds nice. I hope you have fun in Atlantic City," Jiwoo said and gave me a wink. She also helped me pack my clothes and my book in my luggage. The next morning, at 5am, everything was all set and I said goodbye to Jiwoo before driving to the airport with my one and only flight ticket. During the arrival flight, I continued reading In Some Other Life, which reminded me of body swapping and two realities. After I arrived in Atlantic City, I left the A.C. airport and headed to Caesars Casino, where I met Sujeong for the third time.

    We arrived at the hotel room and asked each other how our day was. I said, "Sujeong ah, it was tough. I couldn't stop thinking about you while I was on an airplane, besides reading In Some Other Life. And how about you?" Sujeong uncertainly scratched her head and said, "Not really bad because I couldn't even stop thinking about you besides keeping my one and only flight ticket in my hand." I nodded emphatically and said, "How about we get ready for our girls' night because it's 7pm?" Sujeong nodded and gave me a fist bump before we changed into our evening shirts, as well as our tuxedo blazers and black jeans.

    At the Circus Maximus Theatre, while waiting for the show to begin, we always sang to our favorite American pop songs in the background, especially Worth It by Fifth Harmony. It finally began with first live performances by Kee Win, Minh Tuyet, Dương Triệu Vũ, and Phi Nhung. Moving on with Đàm Vĩnh Hưng's musical number, Sujeong felt like it was just a matter of time because he was the man in her dreams. The funniest performance we had ever watched was the comedy skit by the low-key Hoài Linh, the late Chí Tài and Thanh Phương. Also, Chí Tài was my idol with his endless comic performances until the end of his life.

    After the show ended with Mr. Đàm's final musical performance, we left the theater and headed back to the venue. This was where so many singers signed autographs for their fans. Sujeong asked, "Do you mind if I take a picture of you with Chí Tài?" I nodded, "Sure, why not?" Finally, Sujeong took a picture of me and Chí Tài with her iPhone before heading back to the hotel room for our goodnight sleep.