Chance encounters

Chapter 1

It was a hot summer day when me and my mom decided to start packing our stuff before we move out of our old house. We had a lot of stuff so we thought it was better to start sorting out some of the old books and documents in our attic. I was sitting on the ground going through the journals that my mom had written over the years. She was pretty keen on writing and documenting all the stuff that happens around her when she was young, even way before she even had me so it was pretty interesting to have a glimpse of what went on in her head when she was just my age.

"Hey mom, do you mind if I read some of these? I'm pretty curious as to how you lived your life back then." I asked her, smiling.

"Oh, are you sure you're ready for some kick ass mind blowing details of my love lives back then?" She answered. She is such a liberate and completely amazing mom that I don't even mind telling her everything that's going on with my life. She's my best friend and I know that a lot of people don't have that kind of relationship with their parents so I'm pretty lucky to have built this relationship with her.

"Is there anything on here that I should be extra careful with? You know I just had my breakfast right?" I teased her and we both just laughed it off.
-
I got a journal dated 1995, a year before I was born. My mother lived in Korea with her sister this year. My aunt and her husband were stationed in the US Navy base in Korea and were living with their son there for 2 years before they go back to the states. My mother mostly just told me that she had a miscarriage in 1994 that cause her to experience depression so my aunt thought it would be best to let her live with them for a while to take her mind off things.

Journal entry
March 1995

My sister enlisted me as an English tutor to some of the kids of their Korean friends around the base. It's mostly just the basics and I pretty much have lots of time here so I just thought why not..

I was hired by the Kim family to tutor their oldest son, Seok Joong, who was 6 years old at that time. Also, they asked me to babysit their 3 year old son, Seok Jin. It's pretty much a laid back job and the kids are great at taking my mind off things.

End of entry

"Oh mom, did you know that the kid you taught English too has the same name as the one member of the Korean band, BTS?" I asked her.

"Really? I couldn't really remember their faces now cause they were like little kids back then. But Kim is like a common last name in Korea so it's least likely to be that guy." She answered.

"I guess you're right. But it would be crazy huh. If that would've happened." I said. It is pretty crazy having that sense of what if. What if it was him. What if she really babysat Seok Jin when he was just a kid. And to think, I'm one of their fans too so my imagination is kind of going wild at this point but I decided to just read off another entry.

Journal entry
October 1995

So now we pretty much built a routine. Seok joon would be waiting for me in the morning for his daily English tutorial lessons and Seok Jin would be there playing with his toys while listening to his brother speak.

It's therapeutic if I may say, to see these young boys laugh and play with each other. It's too bad that I'm going to have to leave soon. I have responsibilities back home and sooner or later I have to face them, right?

End of journal entry
-
After finishing reading, I laid the journal back in the box to finish packing up some of the other books. I stack it underneath the documents and the books my mom collected over the years.

I went back downstairs to see my mom fixing up our lunch. Mom is pretty good at cooking and she knew it. She would make food that would make you drool just by smelling it.

"Ready for lunch, hun?" She asked.

"Wow, mom, that looks amazing. All that reading made me hungry." I kissed her cheek then I went to fix the table for us.
-