A Silent Lover

20. JaeHyun: Special Chapter

"Jung JaeHyun!"

I turn around quickly in surprise at the sound of my new name, still not used to it yet. I jump as the voice calls again, causing me to drop the soccer ball that I had been dribbling between my legs for practice. The ball rolls halfway down the street before I can catch it, and I run back to the person whose familiar voice had called out to. My Eomma stood waiting for me, her usually light-brown face illuminated by spots of dull redness in her cheeks.

"I've been calling you for ages! Where did you go?" She asks me in rushed English, her irritation and worry plain. She always lapsed back to her native tongue whenever she was anxious and I held her hand automatically, wanting to ease her distress.

"It's OK mom," I respond back in the same language, "I was just practicing like Hyung told me. He said dil-i-gence was important and that I should practice every day." I sound out the hard word, proud that I'd managed to memorize it.

"It's good that you're practicing but next time do it closer to home. Those alleyways could be dangerous, alright?"

"Ne," I replied easily as I led her into our building, the large structure looming above us like a giant. It was so different from the tiny orphanage that I'd lived in my whole life, my new room larger than the one I'd shared with two other boys since I'd been old enough to remember.

Living with Eomma had made everything better and different; each day was an adventure. For a long time, I had wondered why everything had begun to feel so gloomy when Eomma left me at the home after each of her visits. But all my sadness had washed away. And while I missed my friends, I was happy. I had Eomma and now I had Hyung too. I wondered if my friends would ever be adopted, and if they would ever get to be as happy as I was.

"Jung JaeHyun, are you daydreaming again?" A soft voice asks as I walk into our apartment. A tall man is sitting at our table, and his familiar smile as welcome to me as my mother's. I run to hug TaekWoon hyung, my soccer ball dropping to the floor in my haste.

"Hyung! Onjae wasseo?"

"Not that long, maybe 20 minutes. Are you feeling OK today?" Hyung ruffles my hair in his usual habit but today I don't laugh.

I nod my head, unable to say anything else as nervous flutters fill my stomach when I think about the interview. Eomma had told me that a man would be coming from the adoption agency this afternoon, someone who would ask me questions about living here. I don't know what kind of questions they'll be, if they'll be hard to answer or not. And the not knowing is what makes me nervous; I don't really want to do it and I hate meeting strangers but Eomma says I have to.

Because I'm quiet, the grown-ups glance at each other and Eomma's lips turn up into a smile. She hugs me from behind and I breathe out a small sigh of relief at the comforting touch.

"Don't worry, Jae. Just tell the man how you feel about living here. There's no need to be nervous," she says while patting my head gently. My mom's always like that; she only tells me not to be nervous when she's freaking out but it's fine cause I know how to play it off.

"Eomma, why do I have to talk to someone from the agency anyway?" I whine only a little because I already know the answer. I keep asking anyway, hoping her response will change.

"It's a routine checkup sweetie. They have to make sure you're being well taken care of."

"You take the best care of me," I tell her and I mean it.

Unlike the other kids at the orphanage my mom had always been there, watching over me and telling me one day she would bring me home for good. I had sometimes doubted it, especially when the other kids had been mean, but Eomma had done it. What more could I ask for? I was luckier than any kid I knew.