Note: Please review! I want to hear all your suggestions though I have
learned I can't please everyone.
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Lane walked across the park, eagerly looking for two Korean boys. Finally, she saw them sitting under a tree, chatting easily. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw how nice and relaxed her date, Sook-Jun was as she approached them.
"Ms. Kim, how nice to meet you. My name is Sook-Jun Yang and this is my brother Chin-Soo", he said, bowing at the waist alongside his brother doing the same.
"Oh, call me Lane. Everyone does. What should I call you?" said Lane, shocked at how polite these boys were.
"Oh, Sook or Sook-Jun, just anything but Sookie", said a blushing Sook- Jun.
"Oh, my mother's best friend is named Sookie. It's a wonderful name. I don't see why you are ashamed of it".
"It's not proper for a man to be called it, you understand?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm so glad we don't have our whole families with us on this. That's what happens on most of my other blind dates", said a cheerful Lane.
"Oh, yes. My mother and father would accompany us but they were both working tonight so they let my brother take me. Would you like to walk to the restaurant now?"
"If it's fine with you", said an obviously hungry Lane.
'He's very nice and cute too. Note to self- figure out what music he likes. His brother is way too stiff though. I hope he will relax later though', thought Lane to herself.
'She's so nice and cute. Who cares what her parents do, right? I'm not dating them, I'm dating her. My parents were worried about the stigma of me dating an antique store owners daughter but it doesn't matter to me, does it?' thought Sook-Jun to himself.
'Why can't I be on a date tonight with my girlfriend? I have to follow this love-sick puppy and his date around instead. I'd rather be doing brain surgery than this', thought Chin-Soo to himself.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Sook-Jun made a point of finding the most romantic table he could and getting it for them. On the way to the restaurant, they had walked side by side quietly, each noticing the other's shy glances. She looked like she wanted to talk but he needed time to figure out how to act at dinner.
'Were they going to just remain friends or was there something more there?' he thought. He sure hoped they wouldn't, he wanted them to be something more even though he knew his parents would probably object. They'd launch into that whole speech about how he was a doctor's son and was going to be a doctor so he should only date doctor's daughters, not antique store- owners daughters. He really liked her though. Rarely had he liked anyone that his parents didn't object to but this time was an exception. The only reason they had said yes was they wanted to keep her as a patient. Meanwhile, she was thinking how this was always what her parents had wanted, for her to date a doctor's son who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. She liked him and he seemed to like her. He was a gentleman, something her mother admired and got all straight A's in school, something her father admired. "Only the best for my daughter", her father would say. During a moment when he wasn't looking, she quietly muttered a prayer to God and Jesus that her parents would like him and he would want to date her, even marry her. She thought of how cute their kids would be, fluently speaking Korean and getting straight-A's. They'd be the best drummers in the neighborhood and would have the best musical taste around.
All through dinner, they chatted easily. They talked about everything from music to Korea to the secrets they kept from their parents. Most often they spoke in English but slipped into Korean quite easily. Lane told Sook- Jun of her secret desire to be a drummer and he told her about how people would tease him about his immigrant parents and little knowledge of American pop culture. Every once in a while, they both would glance over at his brother who sat there reading a book on Korean history, quietly eating his dinner and mostly ignoring them.
When they saw the clock hit 9, Chin-Soo quickly reached up his hand and asked for the check. He rushed them out of there and settled them into the car before getting into the driver's seat and rushing off. Lane had a 9:30 curfew and it would take them a while to get to Stars Hollow from Hartford and then back before ten when Chin-Soo and Sook-Jun had to be home. On the way back, Lane and Sook-Jun tried to talk but Chin-Soo turned up the radio and wouldn't turn it down, no matter what. They quickly gave each other their phone numbers and promised to call.
As they approached her house, Sook-Jun tried to decide whether to kiss her or not but when they stopped in front of her house, her mother and father were gazing out the window, motioning Lane inside.
On the way back to Hartford, Sook-Jun tried to come up with a way to tell his parents that he wanted to take her out again, without his brother accompanying them. He seemed nearly impossible at this stage of their relationship. He knew already that he would never be allowed to call her but instead have to work everything out through their parents. That was the way things always worked. Whenever he challenged it, his parents just said 'it's the Korean way, dear' and let him continue to complain. As they approached the house, his brother began to slow down. Sook- Jun tried to step out of the car but was stopped by his brother. "Good night, Lane. See you soon. My parents will call yours to arrange another date. I had fun," called out Sook-Jun as he watched her walk up the walkway. "I had fun too. Bye. Good night," said Lane, noticing her mother's face in the window. When Sook-Jun and Chin-Soo got home, their parents were standing by the window much like Lane's mother had. "How was your date, honey?" Sook-Jun's mother said as they slipped off their shoes. "Great. We're hoping to go out again," Sook-Jun answered, watching his brother quietly walk up the stairs. "Jun, you know your father and I won't allow it. Look at what her parents do. We've told you a million times before that we want you to date only doctor's daughters. It's only proper. We let you go on this one date because we don't want to lose Lane's mother as a patient but that was it. You are forbidden to call her or see her again, understand," Sook-Jun's mother said. "Yes, mother," Sook-Jun answered. "Now, it's late. You have to study tomorrow. Time for bed," Sook- Jun's mother said, kissing him on each cheek and pushing him up the stairs.
Lane walked across the park, eagerly looking for two Korean boys. Finally, she saw them sitting under a tree, chatting easily. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief when she saw how nice and relaxed her date, Sook-Jun was as she approached them.
"Ms. Kim, how nice to meet you. My name is Sook-Jun Yang and this is my brother Chin-Soo", he said, bowing at the waist alongside his brother doing the same.
"Oh, call me Lane. Everyone does. What should I call you?" said Lane, shocked at how polite these boys were.
"Oh, Sook or Sook-Jun, just anything but Sookie", said a blushing Sook- Jun.
"Oh, my mother's best friend is named Sookie. It's a wonderful name. I don't see why you are ashamed of it".
"It's not proper for a man to be called it, you understand?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm so glad we don't have our whole families with us on this. That's what happens on most of my other blind dates", said a cheerful Lane.
"Oh, yes. My mother and father would accompany us but they were both working tonight so they let my brother take me. Would you like to walk to the restaurant now?"
"If it's fine with you", said an obviously hungry Lane.
'He's very nice and cute too. Note to self- figure out what music he likes. His brother is way too stiff though. I hope he will relax later though', thought Lane to herself.
'She's so nice and cute. Who cares what her parents do, right? I'm not dating them, I'm dating her. My parents were worried about the stigma of me dating an antique store owners daughter but it doesn't matter to me, does it?' thought Sook-Jun to himself.
'Why can't I be on a date tonight with my girlfriend? I have to follow this love-sick puppy and his date around instead. I'd rather be doing brain surgery than this', thought Chin-Soo to himself.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Sook-Jun made a point of finding the most romantic table he could and getting it for them. On the way to the restaurant, they had walked side by side quietly, each noticing the other's shy glances. She looked like she wanted to talk but he needed time to figure out how to act at dinner.
'Were they going to just remain friends or was there something more there?' he thought. He sure hoped they wouldn't, he wanted them to be something more even though he knew his parents would probably object. They'd launch into that whole speech about how he was a doctor's son and was going to be a doctor so he should only date doctor's daughters, not antique store- owners daughters. He really liked her though. Rarely had he liked anyone that his parents didn't object to but this time was an exception. The only reason they had said yes was they wanted to keep her as a patient. Meanwhile, she was thinking how this was always what her parents had wanted, for her to date a doctor's son who wanted to follow in his father's footsteps. She liked him and he seemed to like her. He was a gentleman, something her mother admired and got all straight A's in school, something her father admired. "Only the best for my daughter", her father would say. During a moment when he wasn't looking, she quietly muttered a prayer to God and Jesus that her parents would like him and he would want to date her, even marry her. She thought of how cute their kids would be, fluently speaking Korean and getting straight-A's. They'd be the best drummers in the neighborhood and would have the best musical taste around.
All through dinner, they chatted easily. They talked about everything from music to Korea to the secrets they kept from their parents. Most often they spoke in English but slipped into Korean quite easily. Lane told Sook- Jun of her secret desire to be a drummer and he told her about how people would tease him about his immigrant parents and little knowledge of American pop culture. Every once in a while, they both would glance over at his brother who sat there reading a book on Korean history, quietly eating his dinner and mostly ignoring them.
When they saw the clock hit 9, Chin-Soo quickly reached up his hand and asked for the check. He rushed them out of there and settled them into the car before getting into the driver's seat and rushing off. Lane had a 9:30 curfew and it would take them a while to get to Stars Hollow from Hartford and then back before ten when Chin-Soo and Sook-Jun had to be home. On the way back, Lane and Sook-Jun tried to talk but Chin-Soo turned up the radio and wouldn't turn it down, no matter what. They quickly gave each other their phone numbers and promised to call.
As they approached her house, Sook-Jun tried to decide whether to kiss her or not but when they stopped in front of her house, her mother and father were gazing out the window, motioning Lane inside.
On the way back to Hartford, Sook-Jun tried to come up with a way to tell his parents that he wanted to take her out again, without his brother accompanying them. He seemed nearly impossible at this stage of their relationship. He knew already that he would never be allowed to call her but instead have to work everything out through their parents. That was the way things always worked. Whenever he challenged it, his parents just said 'it's the Korean way, dear' and let him continue to complain. As they approached the house, his brother began to slow down. Sook- Jun tried to step out of the car but was stopped by his brother. "Good night, Lane. See you soon. My parents will call yours to arrange another date. I had fun," called out Sook-Jun as he watched her walk up the walkway. "I had fun too. Bye. Good night," said Lane, noticing her mother's face in the window. When Sook-Jun and Chin-Soo got home, their parents were standing by the window much like Lane's mother had. "How was your date, honey?" Sook-Jun's mother said as they slipped off their shoes. "Great. We're hoping to go out again," Sook-Jun answered, watching his brother quietly walk up the stairs. "Jun, you know your father and I won't allow it. Look at what her parents do. We've told you a million times before that we want you to date only doctor's daughters. It's only proper. We let you go on this one date because we don't want to lose Lane's mother as a patient but that was it. You are forbidden to call her or see her again, understand," Sook-Jun's mother said. "Yes, mother," Sook-Jun answered. "Now, it's late. You have to study tomorrow. Time for bed," Sook- Jun's mother said, kissing him on each cheek and pushing him up the stairs.