Why Must My Heart Ache?

Chapter 12: Episode One

    Mina settled into the couch with the snacks her mom had made for her. "Thanks for recording the episode for me, Mom!" she said as she pressed play.

    A peppy song with the obvious voices of Super Junior members played while photos of Cho Kyuhyun, Park Shin Hye, and none other than Flora Baker-sunsaengnim danced and flashed on and off the screen, the the title showed:

                                                    One Second Changes Everything

                                                                  Episode One

    The scene opened on a college campus in Seoul. Kyuhyun's character, Park Kyumin, was going through English vocabulary with his friend, Lee Minji (Park Shin Hye), while tossing a basketball back and forth.

    "Butter!" Minji shouted as she caught the ball.

    "Salt!" Kyumin said as he caught it.

    "Cumin!" she said, laughing.

    "Ya! That's not on the list," he reprimanded. "We have to take this seriously."

    She nodded and tossed the ball back to him. "Plour," he said quickly, caught off guard by her speed.

    "Aish! Neither of us can get that stupid sound right!" she yelled at the tree she had dedided to vent her anger on Kyumin just laughed.

    The cameras pulled back, making the two friends look as small as bugs, and panned along a bench to a lap clad in dark jeans, laden with KSL textbooks. It then panned up to the face of the character, Alexandra Sohma. Mina squealed at the sight of Baker-sunsaengnim on her screen.

    The camera pulled back again to show Alexandra's friend, Sunny. "Sandra, why are you bothering with this?" she gestured to the books Alexandra was poring over. "You're already fluent in Korean, not to mention Japanese and French, and you're proficient in who knows how many other languages!" she laughed.

    Alexandra smiled wryly. "I'm a mutt. Some people think I'm American, others say Japanese or Chinese, but some think I'm part or full Korean. Since my accent is dreadful, I want to practice my dialect, so I can avoid those scary glares."

    Mina was shocked at how well her teacher pulled off a foreigner accent. She had heard Baker-sunsaengnim's perfect Seoul dialect many times before. It seemed strange to hear anything else come from her mouth.

    The scene switched to an outside eating area. Alexandra sat at a picnic table with her headphones on, whispering Korean phrases to herself while munching on her berry chicken salad. Minji spotted her and, immediately assuming that the foreigner learning Korean must speak English, pulled Kyumin with her to practice for their test.

    She plopped down across from her and waved. Alexandra pulled off her headphones and said, "Neh?" Kyumin raised his eyebrows but Minji plowed on in English.

    "You speak English? We need to study for test. What is your name?"

    "Alexandra Sohma, but I go by Sandra. And your names are?"

    "I am Minji Lee, and this is Kyumin Park. He is not spicy, like the name," she joked.

    Sandra didn't laugh. "What's your test over?"

    Kyumin spoke up. "This semester is over kitchen, meal, and restaurant. We take order, place order, and instruct cooking."

    Minji's cellphone rang out, singing Victory Korea by Super Junior. She picked up. "Yes, Mom?" Her peppy face went pale as she listened to the other end. She hastily grabbed her lunch box, said goodbye to them, and raced away.

    "I'll make a deal with you," Sandra said seriously to Kyumin in Korean. "You and Minji need help with English, and I need help with my accent. We all help each other."

    Kyumin nodded and they shook on it. The next scene showed him telling Minji about it later. "No, I can't. She can help you, you can help me. I don't have time anymore. With Mom tending to Dad in the hospital now, I have to watch Kahee," she said while wiping her baby sister's mouth.

    "Is there any news on finding the birth parents?" he asked.

    "They say that they're locating them now, and as long as they sign the papers, we can add her to our family registry."

                                                  .           .           .

    Sandra walked around Seoul aimlessly. She knew that she wanted to end up at the river eventually, but she didn't care how or when she got there, which she explained to Sunny over the phone.

    She rounded a corner and just spotted the river a few blocks away when somebody grabbed her wrist. It was a burly Korean man, trying to pull her into a club. She yelled at him in Korean and pulled against his grip, but he insistently kept tugging her to the door.

    "Ya! She's with me," a voice called firmly. She looked toward the river and the voice to to Kyumin. The man let go of her wrist and apologized before turning and leading a passing young Korean woman into the club.

    "He thought you were Korean. Most of them let the screamers go, but if they don't, just speak in English. If they realize you're foreign, they'll let you go," Kyumin explained to her as they walked to the river.

    Mina noted that they genuinely seemed awkward together. I'll have to compliment her acting as soon as I see her again, she thought.

    "Thanks for helping me," she said.

    "It's nothing."

    When the episode was over, Mina went straight to the drama's website. There was only one poll so far.

    Who should Kyumin go on a date with?

      1. He should ask Sandra on a date.

      2. He should accidentally end up on a date with Sandra.

      3. He should accidentally end up on a date with Minji.

      4. Minji should ask him on a date.

    Mina debated the first two choices. Knowing drama writers, if it was the first choice, she would accept as a friend or reject him at first. The second choice would definitely come about dramatically, but had more of a chance at success, though it wasn't certain.

    She hesitantly chose the second option and forced herself to hit enter.

                               .            .             .

    Heechul laughed as the ending credits rolled and he checked the poll. "Kyuhyun, it looks like you'll be dating the foreigner," he sang as Kyu stared at the credits.

    He'd had a hard time watching himself onscreen, and hearing that the popular vote was promoting him having more screen time with Flora just made him nervous. While they had been filming, he realized that getting over her would be harder that he thought. Crush or not, Flora Baker simply made his heart ache.

                        .                 .                   .

    Kyung Mi called Flora after the episode had ended. "I watched it, and you did so well, and I voted for you on the poll, and I think you're my new favorite actress!" she rattled off speedily.

    Flora chuckled. "I'm glad that you liked it. I didn't actually watch it," she confessed.

    "Why not?" her coworker asked, astonished.

    "I don't want to see it until the whole thing is over. Besides, we were already filming Episode 2. I don't think the poll affects anything until the 3rd or 4th episode. I'm not sure. Only the director and the screenwriters know."

    When she hung up, she went to check the poll. Great. The second choice is in the lead. How am I supposed to fight against falling for Kyuhyun for real if I'm supposed to act like I'm dating him?