YOUNG LOVE || 𝐉𝐄𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐀 ✔︎

twenty

Lisa donned the hardhat Bambam held out to her and followed him inside their soon-to-be natural foods store. Gutted as it was, it looked absolutely huge.

“My God, Bambam. What the hell are we going to put in here?”

He laughed and put an arm around her shoulder. “That, sis, is your job. But I like your idea of the food court.”

She walked deeper inside and turned on her notebook. She pulled up the different schematics she’d been working on, trying to visualize where everything would go.
“I like all these windows,” she said. “It’ll give it a more airy feel.”

“Are you sure? Because they said they could put up a façade if we want.”

“This will be better. Besides, maybe we can put some live plants in here, make it a little more natural looking.” She glanced at him. “The contractors?”

“All lined up,” he said. “They’re just waiting on the plans and the diagrams, so we can get our quotes and a time estimate.”

“You have three?”

“Actually, four are bidding this time.”

She walked toward the back wall, envisioning the coolers and frozen food section that would go there. She turned. “I planned everything with the aisles going perpendicular to the front,” she said. She turned a circle. “But parallel maybe? I mean, it’s certainly large enough. We could even have the center part of the store like usual but make both—or one or the other—of the ends parallel.” She looked at him with raised eyebrows. “Just to break it up some.”

“Look, you’ve always designed them. There’s never been a problem. So go with what you like.” He looked around, his voice echoing in the large empty space.
“But the longer we wait, the longer—”

“I know, I know,” she said. She studied the schematics again, wishing for another set of eyes. She chewed on her lower lip. She could always run it by Jennie, see what she thought. Maybe she’d give her a call, see if she wanted to have lunch with them. “Okay, let’s go. Let me do a little more tinkering. Give me another day, maybe two.”

“Deal. I’ll let the contractors know.”

As they got back in Bambam's truck, Lisa said, “Mom says she overheard you talking to a Realtor. Are you going to buy a house and not rent?”

Bambam laughed. “She overheard, huh? I didn’t want to say anything yet. But Mino thinks we should just go ahead and buy now.”

“I thought you were going to see how the summer went, see how the kids liked it,” she said.

“We were. But they’re still young enough to make a change. Crissy won’t be in high school for two more years yet. And Kenny, well, he couldn’t care less.”

“I think that’s great. I know it’ll make Mom very happy knowing you’ll be here.”

He glanced at her. “What about you? Ready to buy something?”

She shook her head. “Despite how cramped I am in Mom’s little house, I don’t think I want to buy anything.”

“We could always sell Mom’s house,” he said. “Get something bigger for the two of you.”

“You trying to keep me in Daegu?” she asked with a smile.

He shrugged. “It would be nice, yeah. We’ve never lived in the same place. The kids love it when you’re around. You and Mina get along. It’d be nice to have the family all together,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I missed out on a lot when you were a kid. I wasn’t around. You and Mom were kinda on your own. I know it was hard after Dad died.”

Lisa nodded. “It was. Harder for Mom, I guess, than me.”

“I know we can’t get those years back, but it would be nice for the three of us to have some time together. As a family.” He paused, his glance going from her back to the road again. “I mean, I know you’ve got your house and friends in Jeju, but—”

“I’ll think about it,” she said, surprised by her answer. A few months ago, she would have never even entertained the idea.

“Really?” He smiled broadly. “Great.”

They’d worked closely together the last several years while they’d gotten their business going, but their relationship was more friendly and businesslike than brother and sister, especially at the beginning. She assumed it was a combination of their age difference and the fact that he’d left home when he was eighteen, leaving her growing up essentially an only child. She stared out the window, not really acknowledging the scenery as they whizzed past. Would she really consider moving back to Daegu?

“Listen, do you mind if I invite Jennie to join us for lunch? I want an outsider to look at my designs.”

“Oh, sure, that’s fine. Mom will love it.”

“Thanks.” She pulled out her phone, finding Jennie's number. She’d added it the other night, telling herself if they were going to attempt a friendship, she should at least include her in her list of contacts.