Strawberry Wine

eighteen

       She knew her father was a bit perplexed with her sudden decision to teach in South Korea. But he didn't ask.

"You're old enough to make your own decisions," was all he said.

And for the second time, she boarded the flight from Melbourne to Seoul.

Ji Rin had already settled into her new job as a copywriter for a law firm in Seoul. In a way, it was easier for Chae Young to settle in. They rented a place together in a crowded, alleyway neighborhood filled with fresh graduates just like them. Chae Young had to travel quite a bit by bus for her job, but she didn't mind. Figuring out things in Seoul was not as complicated as figuring out her way in Melbourne. At least in Seoul, she didn't have to write down her sentences before approaching a stranger just so she was not misunderstood.

It was easy to settle in into the routine of her new life. She taught English to job applicants and students who wanted to go abroad. Her classes were an hour long every evening for five days a week, and she would already be at work by the time Ji Rin returned. But Chae Young had never been happier.

"I think it's high time we get down to business," Ji Rin said suddenly one Saturday afternoon as they lay sprawled on the floor watching a rented DVD.

"What business?" asked Chae Young absent mindedly.

"Your man."

That caught Chae Young's attention. She sat up and gaped at her friend. "Well... what do I do?"

"You don't have forever. You have only six months."

"I know but what am I supposed to do?"

Ji Rin groaned. "Were you always this daft? What university does he go to?"

"Is it Hanyang?" said Chae Young dubiously.

Ji Rin looked at her incredulously. "Wait, you don't even know?"

Chae Young frowned. "Yeah its Hanyang."

"Which department?"

"International Studies," said Chae Young and chuckled. Jung Kook couldn't have done any other major.

"Ooooooohhhhhh," crooned Ji Rin. "I know someone from that department in Hanyang."

Chae Young's heart began to beat faster. "Really? Oh my gawd, what do we do?"

"Calm down. Let me try to get in touch with her first," said Ji Rin.

"Ok," Chae Young said and suddenly got up to head for the kitchen.

"You're hungry?" asked Ji Rin in surprise.

"No," replied Chae Young as she opened a packet of chips. "Just nervous." And she stuffed a handful into her mouth.

***

It took Ji Rin at least a few days to finally get some "inside information", as she called it, on Jung Kook.

Ji Rin's informant, a hoobae Ji Rin had known in school, gave her the name of a café near the campus that Jung Kook apparently frequented.

Chae Young hung onto the slip of paper for days, until Ji Rin reminded her again of how she had only a few months left in South Korea.

On a Monday morning, Chae Young finally decided to go the café. It was a cozy little place bustling with students from the university. Chae Young settled into a corner from where she'd have a proper view of the entire room. She ordered a latte, pulled out a book and tried to read but found herself looking up every time the door opened.