Someone Like Yoo

V

Chapter V: Tea House with Tae-Hee

"Unnie! I'm going to the tea house!" I yell over the halls as I scramble through my drawers for a pair of leather gloves. With a quick glance from my bedroom window, I could see little sprinkles of white falling. I don't remember any snow warning from the weather forecast last night.

"Unnie?" Auntie Samshin was at my door the moment I turned around. She was holding a pair of brown leather gloves, unintentionally complementing my beige turtleneck sweater and my dark brown jeans. I looked up at her with a smile. She always knows what I need. But her face had a questioning expression, an eyebrow raised at my slightly panicky figure. She cleared her throat, "Did you call me unnie again?" I dropped my smile.

Whoops. "I meant yunikon-eomma!" I gave her a nervous laugh.

She walked towards me and raised a hand to fix an isolated strand of hair, tucking it behind my left ear before kissing my forehead. Forever my favorite spot. "You are such an adorable child."

I mean, blessed with a diety at home who's a goddess of childbirth, who loves to take care of kids, and who adores them wholeheartedly? Why else wouldn't I be adorable? In one time or another, maybe Auntie Samshin had placed spells on me to make me irresistibly kyeopta. I forgive her.

"Why are you working this early? The tea house won't open till 12 noon." As strange as Auntie Samshin is, she owns a handful of businesses around South Korea and I help her out whenever I can. On Mondays, we travel to Incheon to handle two of the most crowded shops she keep - the Hanmi Bookstore and the Hanchon Seolleotang Restaurant. I swear to the Almighty, Samshin Halmoni's beef seolleongtangs are to die for. Then, we stay at the Gyeongwonjae Ambassador Hotel until Tuesday before going back home here at our apartment complex in Seoul, which unsurprisingly, is also handled by Auntie Samshin and the task of collecting the rents is given to me. There are only two other tenants anyway, so it isn't that hard. Except when I have to listen to the rooftop tenant's excuses every time I go up. Sometimes, it's because the ATM machine was working that day. Sometimes, it's because his boss still hasn't handed him his salary. But most of the time - hold on, this is my favorite - there's a sign pasted on his door with words written in thick black ink saying, "PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB THE GRIM REAPER." He posts this every end of the month - the time of the month. There was even one time I had to ask Auntie Samshin to do it, just for the sake of teaching him a lesson.

Samshin Halmoni reached out from the coat hanger to grab my red winter coat. I've worn this ever since my first day of snow and it grew with me all throughout my life. Of course, Samshin is responsible for this too. She wanted me to wear this for protection. I believed her then, the same way my childhood friend Eun-tak believed her when Auntie gave her a red knitted scarf.

I buttoned up my coat, feeling all fuzzy and warm. I've always loved this kind of energy. "I want to clean up early. I have a feeling there's someone special who's going to visit today."

Really, I just wanted some time alone. School has been stressful lately and this guy in the name of Yoo Deok-hwa suddenly barged into my life. Why did I even agree to a dinner with him in the first place?

Auntie crossed her arms slowly and veered her eyes to her right, thinking deeply. "How come I don't know that?"

"Honestly, eomma, I also have no idea," I chuckled. "But I collected noble orchids two days ago to make them as our new tea flavor. I just can't wait to have them ground and get a taste!"

"Ommo." She grabbed both my shoulders. "Did you pray to Hallakkungi?"

Hallakkungi, also known as Igong, is the god who tended the Flower Garden of Life and Death. He's the only diety we pray to when it comes to my obsession on flower and leaf picking. Okay, the term is plucking. Auntie doesn't really pray to the dieties. She said she's mostly annoyed by them, but she always insists that I do. Gee, family issues. Besides that, I gave her a reassuring smile. "Yes, eomma. I prayed to your great uncle Igong."