Evenstar

3. Connect

"Oppa, how are you?" After many days and nights of thinking things through and discussing it with Mr Moon, Mrs Moon finally decided to call one of their best friends.

Chung-Hee was surprised by the call. He only received a call from Jung-sook on their birthdays, and on Korean holidays. "Hey, Sook-ah, we're fine. This is a surprise, is there a special occasion? How are you and Jae-in?"

"We're good! Getting old but managing." Mrs Moon took a deep breath. "Oppa, I need to talk to you. I wish I could go there but Jae-in is a little busy these days and can't take me."

Chung-Hee was searching for a book in his study when his long-time friend called. He decided to sit down, this could be serious. He and his wife had been best friends with the Moons since their college days. They had many happy memories together, marred only by the time when his wife figured in an accident and eventually died. The Moons' concern and support for him and his children during that time was one of the things that helped them pull through.

"What is it, Sook-ah?"

"Oppa, how is Dae Eun?" Mrs Moon knew she had to approach this subject carefully. Dae Eun was Chung-Hee's youngest and he was very protective of her.

"Eun-ah? She's alright. Busy as always with  her UN Programs." Dae Eun, his only daughter, was mesmerized by soil and greenery. He and his wife always felt that Eun-ah had inherited their ancestors' genes and love for the earth. "She just built a prototype for urban farming and she's growing tomatoes, lettuce and other vegetables for city dwellers. What's this about, Jung-sook?"

"There's someone I'd like her to meet." Mrs Moon bit her lip as she waited for a sound from the other end of the line. Dae Eun was already 26, if her mom Ha Eun had been alive she would have searched for a husband for her daughter already. But Chung-Hee had sheltered her too much under his wing, and her brothers were just as protective of her too.

Chung-Hee was silent for a long time, staring at his wife's picture on his desk. Ha Eun was sitting on the grass in the sunlight, holding her wide-brimmed straw hat in place to keep the wind from blowing it away. Her skin was tanned and glowing, her smile radiant. His wife was beautiful and unblemished, perfect in every way. And Dae Eun had inherited all the best in her.

"Jung-sook," he spoke finally. "I don't think she's ready for anything like that." It was true. His daughter seemed happy and content with her life in their countryside home. She rarely ventured into the city, unless it was for her projects, and she was constantly working with the farmers who tilled their land.

"I think it's time she met someone, Oppa. If Ha Eun were alive she would want that too." Mrs Moon was getting teary-eyed, remembering her friend. Ha Eun was very vibrant and full of life. She loved music and adventures, and always initiated their family's travels outside of the country so they would have new experiences. She and Chung-Hee were a perfect match, because Chung-Hee kept her grounded enough to balance her spontaneous, and sometimes whimsical nature.

"I know." Ha Eun would have objected to the way he raised Dae Eun after she died. He allowed her to do only what she wanted after she finished her studies, and she only wanted to stay near them at all times, taking care of him and her brothers, learning from her grandparents how to run their household, their farms, and all their projects. Unconsciously maybe, she was trying to make up for her mom's absence, at the expense of living her own life. His wife would have been very angry about this if she were alive, and he knew it. But he was also afraid to lose his only daughter, to let her go and allow her to explore the world out there the way her mom would have wanted.

"I just want her to meet someone, Oppa, just to open a door - maybe it could just be friendship, maybe it could lead to something more. Everything will be up to both of them." Mrs Moon knew that this would be a difficult subject for her friend, but she hoped that he would say yes.

"Who is this person that you want her to meet?" Chung-Hee finally asked.

"It's Kim Taehyung, do you know him?"

"No, should I?"

"Well, he's very popular. He's a member of Bangtan Sonyeondan - they now go by the name of Bulletproof. They're UN ambassadors."

"Bulletproof? What is that?"

"It's a K-pop idol band, Oppa. You've been in the countryside too long."

"Oh dear god, no." Chung-Hee took his wife's photo frame and placed it face down on the table.