Chapter 4
It was a Saturday afternoon and two weeks before Christmas. Jan Di and Ga Eul were at the mall doing some Christmas shopping. It had been a day the two friends had been planning for and was looking forward too. They took their time shopping, hopping from store to store. After three hours and a bundle of bags in their hands, they decided to rest their legs at a tea cafe.
"How's everything at work?" Ga Eul asked Jan Di after taking a drink of her tea.
"It can get very tiring, but I still love doing it," Jan Di smiled. Jan Di was a full time nurse at a hospital in the Gangnam district. "Ah! I have to tell you this crazy story that just happen last week!"
Ga Eul perked up from her chair, interested. "Tell me."
"So the paramedics brought in this 76 years old lady," Jan Di said, leaning into the table with an eager expression. "The paramedics said that by the time they got to the lady's house, she was already dead because they couldn't find her pulse. They brought her to the hospital in a body bag and my sunbae told me it was my turn and nurse Choi's turn to take the body to the morgue department. So we had the body on a bed, wheeling it away. We joked and laughed, trying to keep things light because we hated going to the morgue. Then when we got inside the elevator, the bag suddenly started moving like crazy and nurse Choi and I screamed our heads off!"
"Aigoo!" Ga Eul gasp. "I thought she was dead?"
"That's what we thought too! For a second, we also thought we were on some stupid prank show, but we weren't. I almost peed in my pants when the lady sat up!"
Ga Eul's mouth flew open. "No way."
Jan Di scoffed. "We later found out that her heart stopped for a few hours, but for some odd reason, it revived and she was conscious again."
"That. Is. So. Freaky," Ga Eul stared in disbelief. "I've never heard of a story like that before."
"Yeah. It's even worst when you're part of the story." Jan Di pursed her lips, hoping to never be apart of zombie like story again.
"Let's hope it's the last time," Ga Eul tried to comfort her friend. She felt bad that Jan Di had to experience something so frighten.
Jan Di placed her elbow onto the table they were sitting at and rested her chin on her hand. "Yah, how's little Yoo Eun? I miss her so much."
Ga Eul smiled. "She's doing great. I've been trying to get her off the bottle, but it's still a struggle for her especially at night."
"Aww, poor baby," Jan Di frown. "Do you have any recent picture of her? I haven't seen her for over two months."
"Two months? We need to hang out more often," Ga Eul suggested as she pulled out her cell phone from her purse.
"I told you to bring Yoo Eun with you today," Jan Di pouted.
"I know, and I was going to, but Yi Jung insisted on babysitting her because he was free today. I didn't want to say no since he rarely spends time with her because of his job."
"I can't believe Yi Jung actually have time to watch Yoo Eun. Maybe the North will reunify with us sooner than I think," Jan Di laughed. Jan Di have never been a fan of Yi Jung. She blamed Yi Jung for making Ga Eul quit her job and hates how he always chose his work over his family.
"I'm just happy he's spending time with Yoo Eun," Ga Eul replied, skimming through her phone. She held it up to Jan Di when she found some of Yoo Eun's pictures. "I just took this one the other day." Jan Di took her phone and glared into the screen closely. It was a picture of Yoo Eun sitting on her bed in a princess pajama and trying to pose a peace sign with her tiny hand.
"She's so cute!" Jan Di beamed. "And she has gotten so big! I still remember the day she was born, and now she's two?!" She shook her head, amazed at how fast time flies. "Aww, she has your pretty eyes and Yi Jung's chubby cheeks and dimple."
"Most people say she has my tantrums and Yi Jung's stubbornness."
Jan Di laughed. "Omo. A little SoEul. How adorable." She tapped the screen on the phone to the next picture and laughed again. "Oh no! Poor Yoo Eun's face and hands are all covered in black bean sauce." She held up the phone to remind Ga Eul of the photo.
Ga Eul laughed upon seeing it too. "I made some jjajangmyeon for lunch and of course, Yoo Eun made a mess eating hers."
The girls spend the next twenty minutes laughing and discussing each picture of Yoo Eun. "Yah, I heard someone broke into the museum last Friday," Jan Di said after they were done going through all the pictures. "Is it true?"
Ga Eul nodded. "It's true, but it wasn't serious and fortunately, no one was hurt. The thief broke the side door though, but the alarm came on and scared him off. Yi Jung spent the whole week worrying about that stupid door. It took them a few days to fix it and from what I heard, he spent most of those times at work helping the security guards guard the door. As if those guards didn't know how to do their jobs." She rolled her eyes. She was about to mention how Yi Jung didn't come home for three nights straight after the night of their quick lovemaking session, all because of that door. But decided to keep that part to herself.
"Aish. Your man can be so paranoid about everything." Jan Di swallow her last drop of tea. "And how's the stock? Jun Pyo told me it was down again."
"The last time I checked, it actually rose by 2% and have been steady since then."
"That's good to hear," Jan Di smiled. Like everyone else, Jan Di knew the stock had an effect on Yi Jung's mood. With a healthy stock means a happy Yi Jung, and a happy Yi Jung led to an even more happy Ga Eul. All Jan Di wants is for her best friend to be happy. "Oh, I have to tell you a secret," Jan Di suddenly whisper.
Ga Eul lean in with her ears perking towards Jan Di. "What is it?"
"Jun Pyo and I are trying again."
Ever since Jun Pyo and Jan Di got married six years ago, they have been trying to have a baby, but with no luck. The rumor started three years ago when Jun Pyo's childhood friends, Ji Hoo, Woo Bin, and Yi Jung, would tease him that he may not be doing things right in bed to conceive a baby.
In order to prove he was doing things right, Jun Pyo had secretly recorded a sex tape of him with Jan Di. Unfortunately for him, Jan Di found the recording device the following morning and destroyed the tape. She also threatened to leave him if he ever does anything mischief like that again. Knowing how Jan Di is true to her words, he was never able to prove to his friends what he was capable of and the silly rumor continued on about his manhood.
Ga Eul cheerfully smiled of the exciting news. "That's great, Jan Di. I wish you and Jun Pyo lots of luck."
"Thanks, Ga Eul. We need all the luck we can get. We haven't told anyone about this because the last time we did, Jun Pyo's abeoji held a gosa ceremony to call on all the ancestors' to bless us for good fortune." Jan Di threw her hand on her forehead remembering how long and annoying the ceremony took. "Omo, that was too much."
Ga Eul chuckled. "You're right, it's better not to tell anyone. We wouldn't want to sacrifice and slaughter all the pigs in South Korea now."
"Aish, I don't even want to talk about those poor pigs!" Jan Di scowl.
"Jan Di," Ga Eul asked in a curious tone after finishing her tea. "I know you and Jun Pyo work a lot and probably don't see each other as much as Yi Jung and I see each other. How do the two of you continue to make your relationship work?"
Jan Di sat up straight, a bit surprised at Ga Eul's question. "Honestly, it's not easy. We've had many tough times as much as good times. But I think the reason why we're still together is because we trust each other and are open to the changes in our relationship. When I married Jun Pyo, I knew I was also marrying his business, and I had to accept that or else things between will never work." She folded her arms on top of the table. "That's why I was worried when you married Yi Jung. I didn't want to see you suffer because I know what it feels like to marry an heir."
She reach out and took one of Ga Eul's hand that was also resting on the table. She can see how attentively Ga Eul was listening and the darkness in Ga Eul's eyes told her the question was more about Ga Eul. "Ga Eul, it's always hard the first few years, but once you accept that Yi Jung's job will always be apart of your life, everything will get better."
Ga Eul gave an uncomfortable smile. "I have accepted Yi Jung's job. It's just that...I didn't expect it to be this complicated. I thought he was the lonely, so I did my best keep him happy. Still, it seem to not work and most times, I feel he prefer to not have me around. I tried talking with him about our issue, but he'll just ignore me or act as if everything is fine. At the end, I was the one that was feeling lonely and is always asking for his attention." She looked down and began playing with the tea bag in her cup. She softly chuckled for feeling like an idiot. "I guess I was being too naive and assumed I could make things work out with Yi Jung and his job."
"Ga Eul, Yi Jung is lucky to have you as his wife. You're already doing your best. You can't be hard on yourself for trying." Jan Di sighed. "Still, if you keep sitting around and wait for Yi Jung to be the man you fell in love with, you're only going to be disappointed. Personally, I think it's time for to go back to being a teacher again. Try to keep your mind off what's going on at home. Hire a nanny to watch Yoo Eun and just support Yi Jung from the side line."
Ga Eul knew deep down, Jan Di was right. She can't keep waiting for Yi Jung. She have to be the one that have to change. If she can't change, nothing around her will ever change. She looked up and into Jan Di's eyes. A huge grin grew on her face. "Maybe I'll take you up on your suggestion. I do miss my teaching days."
"That's the Ga Eul I know," Jan Di smiled back. "Come on, let's stop with these sob stories and go finish up on our shopping." The girls left their bill on the table and headed out the cafe.
They continued to hit every store again. Ga Eul had purchased a scarf for her father, a blouse for her mother, a pair of slippers for her grandfather, and a watch for her grandmother. She tried looking for a gift for Jan Di as well, hoping to come back at a later date to buy it. That's when she remember how Jan Di loved the the pottery vases she made a few months ago and decided to make a similar one for Jan Di's present.
She had the most fun shopping for Yoo Eun because there was so many cute little girl clothes. She ended up buying nine different outfits. Spoiling Yoo Eun was one of her weakness. She also got Yoo Eun a princess raincoat, a doll of Olaf, the funny snowman from the film Frozen, a Hello Kitty backpack, a handful of flowery hair clips, a bunch of coloring books, a tea set toy, and some block puzzles. Even Jan Di joined in and bought the most expensive tablet for Yoo Eun.
It was easy for Jan Di to find some presents for Jun Pyo. She got him a gold chain necklace, a leather jacket, and just for kicks, a hair straightener iron just to see how Jun Pyo would react.
Ga Eul, on the other hand, always had trouble finding the right present for Yi Jung. Yi Jung wasn't a materialistic person, and like most men, if it's not cars, video games, or girls, everything else seem uninteresting. She thought of purchasing some type of jewelry, or a suit, or even an arcade machine for his man cave, but everything she looked at seem to not satisfied her. She decided it was best to buy his gift another time. She didn't want to drag Jan Di around because she was being too meticulous.
As they exited out of a sport store, Jan Di received a text from Jun Pyo. "Aigoo!" she cried. "Look at this adorable picture of Jun Pyo with Yoo Eun!" It was a selfie picture of a happy Jun Pyo holding a cheerful Yoo Eun on his lap.
Ga Eul smiled when she saw the picture. "Was that just taken right now?"
"Yes. So, that must mean Yi Jung brought Yoo Eun to my place. I guess Yi Jung needed help babysitting after all." Jan Di laughed. "Yah, If you're done shopping, then let's go to my house since Yoo Eun is there. I need a selfie with that little girl too!" The girls headed outside towards Jan Di's chauffeur and the waiting sedan car.