Under the Sun

chapter 1.

Pictures of Kim Tae Hee as Aria in chapters 1-4.  First picture is her in todays clothing and then the rest are of her in Joseon clothing.  Hope you like!^_^  It took me a while to find someone that could fit of how I imagined Aria...Kim Tae Hee is similar but she was the best one I could find.  Hope you like this story though!

~Watercolur

chapter 1.

            The raindrops splatter onto the open cab window as Aria plays with the wind with her hand as it whips in between her fingers.  It is evening and numberless lights illuminate the city of Seoul making it seem bright and almost seemingly beautiful.  It reminds her of New York City—save for the Korean characters everywhere. 

            Her parents are sitting in the back of the back looking as if sleep is threatening to take hold of them.  She smiles and closes her window.  Her grandparents, who were following behind in another cab, probably felt the same way.  They were on their way from the airport.

            Upon arriving at their hotel, they gather their luggage and head to their respective rooms.  Since Aria is the only one without a partner unlike her parents or grandparents, she gets her own room.  When entering her room, she throws her backpack onto the queen sized bed and proceeds to fling open the curtains.  Aria has to admit that the view looks even more spectacular than when she was in the cab, especially up 37 floors. 

            She decides to watch TV for a while. Getting bored while in the middle of watching some Korean drama, she makes up her mind to explore Seoul while the rest of her family is sleeping.  Taking a bright blue wool jacket out of her suitcase, she heads out to the nearest marketplace.  Seeing how Seoul is just as lively at night than during the day surprises Aria.  It’s practically crowded and hard  to see over a sea of heads.

            Aria shifts though trinkets from different stalls amazed by how much you could buy with little money.  She buys several souvenirs for her family and friends back home.  As she is walking back to the hotel, she comes upon a stall selling weird objects.  An old woman with wild gray hair stares intently at Aria making goose bumps surge all over her arms.  Aria frowns.  How creepy! 

            The elder woman’s face reminds Aria of crinkled leather.  Her thin lips parted showing a toothless smile.  The only part of her that was youthful was her bright brown eyes that glows with an almost silvery glaze painted over them.  “Would you like to take a look at my wares?” she inquires gesturing with her bony, wrinkled hand.  Aria shivers.

            I’ll just take a look and then go.  A part of her is interested to what the old woman could be selling.  Walking up to the stall, she looks at the objects and picks several up and examines them.  “What’s this?” She holds up a long wooden stick that looks like a toothpick except without a pointy end.

            “A jujube stick,” she answers flashing Aria an amused smile.  

            Jujube stick?  Aria cannot recall anything that Grandfather might have told her.  She was sure the stick had something to do in Korea’s history.  Her grandfather was a professor of Asian history and is an expert on the history of Korea.  Her whole family believed that Aria should be well informed about her “mother country” and everything that was part of the culture.  They also believed one should be well-educated which is where her family taught her everything they knew while attending classes during her primary, middle, and high school years.  Grandpa was the one to teach her all about her home country, while her grandmother taught her the Korean language including Hanja, the Chinese characters.  Her father even had taught her the classics used during the Joseon period.  And her mother who was a music major that graduated from Hankuk University taught Aria the gayaguem, which is a twelve string instrument played by using the fingers.