1 year 7 months before the invasion
Ji Hye sat inside the sterile waiting room organizing her notes that had gotten jumbled during the end-of-term chaos. Picking up the scattered array of biochemistry papers that littered the floor, she slid them back into the folder they had fallen from. She hated when teachers gave papers that didnt have holes along the side to fit into a binder. Granted, they probably wouldnt have fit into her binders anyways, she acknowledged as she glanced at the binders lying on the chair next to her, practically bursting at the seams.
Shoving the last of the folders back into her backpack, now neat without a single paper out of place, the heavy wood door of Dr. Hans' office opened. She could hear Dr. Han's overly polite falsetto ending the session with the same thing every time, "I think we made a lot of progress today. I will see you next week."
Out stepped Ye Joon bowing low to Dr. Han. He was dressed in a cream-colored sweater checkered with black, maroon, and brown. His pants hung loosely around his legs and were a color that was hard to describe but was the exact match to the heavy wool cardigan he wore. A darker beige that was also gray, was how Ji Hye would describe it, but she was sure there was a name for it. Ye Joon would probably know, he was the artist. He probably had some special name he made up for it like he did with so many other things.
She gave a small bow of recognition to Dr. Han who returned it with the slight nod of her head. The first time Dr. Han opened the door to see Ji Hye waiting for Ye Joon to finish, her expression had been priceless even under all the botox. After the initial shock, she spent the next couple of sessions ignoring Ji Hye. However, recently Dr. Han had been returning Ji Hye's acknowledgement and Ji Hye would bet every Won to her name the therapist was actually seeing progress in Ye Joon's sessions and had guessed it was because of Ji Hye.
"Thank you for the session," Ye Joon said to Dr. Han in his deep bow.
Taking advantage of his lower posture, Ji Hye jumped up, backpack slung over one shoulder and wrapped her arm around his neck. She may have been a little too energetic however as her heavy backpack hit his hip throwing him off balance and making both of them stumble. Trying to stand up, Ji Hye wrestled Ye Joon back down, so he was forced to walk hunched over next to her.
"Let's go eat," she said. As they headed out the door, she asked, "what do you call the color of your pants?"
"Uh, beige?" He said.
"Hm," she said, leading him down the hallway, "that is oddly disappointing."
They exited the restaurant, stomachs near bursting with tteokbokki and hot jjigae. Ye Joon was chatting away about the classes he was going to be teaching that evening. The frigid evening air blew into them as they walked down the sidewalk, cutting to the bone no matter how many layers one wore. The sun was already gone for the night even though the evening had just begun. University students huddled close as they walked the streets dodging the various ice patches littering the ground. Neon signs lit up the night sky as the lights from the interior of the shops poured out onto the street making it easy to forget that the sun had already set.
They came across Ye Joon's art studio first. The soft light from the interior radiated out like a warm hug rather than the abrasive shouting of the buildings next door. It had a simple white facade of smooth paneling that she knew matched the white interior on the inside. No windows, as they didn't want the sunlight ruining any artwork.
Dropping Ye Joon off for the evening classes he had started teaching during break, she continued down the street alone. Burying her face deep into the collar of her coat, it had somehow gotten chillier without Ye Joon's presence there to distract her.
The cafe flooded the walkway with warm light from the wooden interior as light poured from the floor to ceiling windows. In a window next to the entry sat a display case with their most popular items enticing passerbys to come in.
Entering, she waved to her coworker who was filling a young man's order. She made her way behind the counters, slipping an apron over her white shirt and khaki pants and pulling her hair back into a long pony.
She was just in time for the after-dinner rush of the university students taking winter classes, workers who procrastinated on going home, friends meeting for a late night catch up, and the random passerby just wanting to get out of the cold.
It was never overly busy when Ji Hye worked. That's why she often chose the night shift which was so unfavorable to her coworkers, all of them preferring to have the evenings to go out with friends. She didn't mind since she didn't have friends to go out with. At this time of night, the cafe was just busy enough to keep it interesting, but as it got later the patrons became fewer and fewer and Ji Hye found she could use that time to study.
The door dinged, and a couple walked in. Her body was clutching to his arm where their fingers were clasped together in the same pocket. "It's so cold," the girl said, her voice pitched high enough it made Ji Hye's ears hurt.
The guy stroked her head in a placating manner, "let's get something to warm you up."
Soon after a small group of girls walked in, backpacks on their backs as they all giggled about the comeback performance from the night before. Following right behind them, was a mix of males and females, all dressed in button downs and slacks, some even with their work badges still around their neck.
Ji Hye's hands flew behind the counter with practiced ease as she made lattes, teas, cappuccinos and more americanos than she could count. Time passed quickly and in what felt like a matter of minutes. The evening rush ended, some patrons having already left while others sat amiably in their cushy chairs and chatted. Some customers came up to get another drink as they would be there for a while.
"Excuse me," the call broke Ji Hye from her practiced movements. She looked to where she heard the noise come from and saw a table of girls all with their laptops open. She recognized them as the giggling bunch from earlier. A few of them had gotten up to get another drink a few minutes ago; two hot americanos, a matcha latte, and a citron tea.
One of the girls at the end of the table had her hand raised, multiple rings glinting in the light. Lips, a shade too bright to be natural, curled up into a small smile, like coming to her call would be anyone's pleasure. A Gucci purse sat atop a Louis Vuitton coat that had been carelessly piled on the seat next to the girl.
Ji Hye looked around for her coworker, having forgotten he had just gone out for a smoke break. Sighing, she made her way around the counter. Never had she been beckoned at the cafe, at a restaurant, sure, all the time, but not at a cafe. Ji Hye guessed the rich just did not understand common social etiquette.
As she walked up to the girl, she glanced at their laptops open on the table. She noticed they were divided into two parts. On one half was a textbook page with a diagram of thermodynamics on it and on the other was a youtube video pulled up titled "thermodynamics for dummies"
Engineers? No way in hell, she thought.
But aloud she asked, "can I help you?"
"You gave me the wrong drink," the girl pushed the green drink towards Ji Hye.
"My apologies, ma'am." She gave a slight bow, noticing the drink in front of the girl was practically empty. Ji Hye reached for the cup, but the girl snatched it back.
"This is made with real milk, not almond milk." she said, waggling the cup in front of Ji Hye. "It's company standard to bring me another one free of charge or at least a refund since you messed up, right?" She looked around at the table of girls, some smirking, nodding their heads, while others giggled to each other as they looked at Ji Hye.
For any other customer, Ji Hye would have let it go, but this girl's haughtiness had touched a nerve. The first thing taught in the retail business is that 'the customer is always right.' That mantra bounced around in her head as she said, "Ma'am, you did not ask for almond milk. Almond milk is an extra charge. I can give you the receipt if you'd like to look." She gestured down to the drink in the girl's hand, "and we dont give refunds for drinks that are mostly gone."
The girl's knuckles whitened on the cup, "excuse me?"
Ji Hye repeated, slowly like she was talking to a kid, "Almond milk is an extra charge. You didn't order almond milk. So, no almond milk. Your drink is almost gone, so" she splayed her hands to either side, "no refund."
As Ji Hye talked the girls face turned a shade bright enough to match her lipstick, "I guess that's what we get when coming to a cafe where a scholarship student is working–"
'The customer's happiness is the number one priority,' the second law of the retail business surfaced in Ji Hye's brain, coupling with the first.
Ji Hye took a deep breath, holding back the retort that immediately sprung to her mind. It wasn't easy. She was generally an act first, think later kind of person, but she needed this job and if she ended up getting fired because she got in a fight with a customer, a rich customer at that, she would probably end up being blacklisted.
"Pinching every penny they can." The girl finished.
Yeah, fuck that, Ji Hye thought, as all the rationality slipped from her mind retorting with, "well if you spent as much time studying as you do shopping, then maybe you wouldn't be stuck in a cafe doing schoolwork with some lowly scholarship student like me."
The girl gave her a blank stare, and Ji Hye could see the girl was still trying to puzzle out what exactly Ji Hye was implying. Ji Hye gave a little bow and turned heading back to the counter.
Cold hit her back, sudden and sharp, making her gasp. It continued to spread, seeping into her clothing making her shiver as she heard the faint drip drip of liquid hitting the floor. She turned back to face the girl, who was handing a glass back to her friend with a smirk on her face.
"Oh sorry, it slipped." the girl said, words dripping with fake sympathy, "But dont worry. It's just water. You probably couldn't afford the dry cleaning if it had been something else."
Ji Hye felt her nails dig painfully into her palms hard enough to break skin. She was so sick of the entitlement of these people. Many people at the university just ignored her, but every so often you would run into one that just needed to be taught a lesson.
She took a step towards the brat with an unnatural calm ready to deliver a quick punch into the girl's shiny mouth, when the door behind her burst open. The door swung open so hard there was a dull thud as it hit the adjacent wall, as a panicked voice called, "Ji Hye."
"Not now, Ye Joon," Ji Hye said, eyes not leaving the girl. She saw her look at Ye Joon, weighing who this new player was, and her lips turned up into a slight sneer making Ji Hye bristle. In no way did this girl have any right to judge Ye Joon like that. He was ten times the person she was.
"Ji Hye," Ye Joon repeated, panic still in his words, but she didn't respond.
A hand, large and warm, encircled her wrist forcing her to turn away from her prey, "Ji Hye." Ye Joon's usually soft face was laced with worry.
"What?" She said, but it came out more like a hiss.
His eyes darted around the room, at all the people staring at them, but she saw none of the fear in his eyes that she usually did when he was in front of a group. Then in a low voice, like he was trying not to be overheard despite the silence of the cafe, he said, "there's been a situation. You need to come with me."
"It can wait," she said, "I'm with a customer." She spun back to the girl.
"It's your mom." He said, now not caring who heard, "Her condition's gotten worse."
She turned, looking up at him, "what?"
He stared steadily down at her despite her glare. They stood there; eyes locked neither backing down. The air vibrated with a tension so heavy you could almost taste it.
"Excuse me," the girl said behind them, shattering the tension like a fuse being blown.
"Not now," they said in unison.
"Your mom's condition has gotten worse. They dont know if she'll last the night."
"Excuse me," the girl repeated behind them, apparently not having liked being ignored. "I was talking to her."
"Well then your conversation will have to be cut short," he said, looking at the girl over Ji Hye's shoulder, eyes hard. "Or do you want to be the reason she might not get to say goodbye to her mom for a final time?"
He held her stare, and to Ji Hye's amazement, the rich brat looked away first with a muttered, "whatever."
"Let's go," he said and pulled her out the door.
They sat on metal chairs looking out the large windows of the convenience store at the street aglow with activity. She still had the apron on and her back was still soaked through. She sat there with Ye Joon's cardigan on, having draped it over her once they sat down. She had started to protest but the heat that spread through her body chasing away the chill, had made the protest die on her lips.
The city lights blurred as she lifted the steaming hot cup noodles to her mouth shoveling as many in as her chopsticks could hold. Having not even finished swallowing, she grabbed some kimchi and shoveled that in her mouth as well.
"So," she said once the food was all gone, "my mother, huh?"
After getting dragged unceremoniously out of the cafe, her calling to her coworker who had been smashing out his cigarette that there had been an emergency and Ye Joon bowing low to him in apology, he had pulled her down the street until she was calm enough to come willingly. Seeking shelter from the cold, they had walked to a convenience store not far from the cafe. Blessedly there hadn't been too many people there to ogle at her unsightly appearance given that most people would be enjoying their nights during the break at more lively spots.
"Yeah," he nodded, not taking his eyes off the sketch pad in front of him. "Your dad called me earlier. Said it was a huge emergency."
"Ye Joon," she said with a small smile, "you've never met my parents. And even if you had, you certainly wouldn't be on a phone calling basis with them."
He shrugged, but Ji Hye could hear the slight mischief in his voice, "she didn't know that."
Ji Hye laughed, "I knew there was trouble in you. So, your attention anxiety is getting better? You barely flinched back there. I didn't know you were such an actor."
"Oh no. That was fucking terrifying."
There was a beat of silence, then they both broke out into laughter.
After collecting themselves, she asked, "so, why'd you do it?"
"I didnt catch the whole interaction between you, but I saw her throw the water at you and knew you needed help."
"I didn't need help."
He gave her a sidelong look, "Ji Hye, you were about to punch that girl's lights out."
"I was not," she protested.
"Oh, please. You've always been an act now, think later kind of person. You were about to punch her."
"Okay, fine," she conceded. "But you didn't have to step in."
"Oh, yes I did," he argued back, "you need a job. You've said so yourself a million times and punching her would have blacklisted you. When she poured that water on you, I knew there would be no stopping you. So, I improvised."
"And so, my mom is in the hospital now?"
Shrugging, he said, "remember when you brought me to that acting class hoping it would help me overcome my fear of attention?"
She nodded, "yeah and you couldn't even do the first exercise, so you sat in the corner the entire time not participating?" She was still miffed about having to do that entire class practically alone.
"You wanted me to do something I'd never done before in front of people I had never met before. That's a worst nightmare for me."
"There were five other people there," she said.
"Yeah, five good reasons why I felt uncomfortable. But that's beside the point. Just because I wasn't participating, doesn't mean I wasn't still listening. I remembered the lesson they taught about embodying the person you wanted to act. To become them. So that's what I did. All I knew was I needed to get you out then it just took a little imagination to create the role. That was the easy part."
She could believe that. Ye Joon had one of the biggest imaginations she knew.
The first time she had seen him drawing she had asked him about it. It had been when they were eating lunch out in one of the courtyards, the rain pouring down on a humid summer day. They had taken shelter at a table under an umbrella and Ji Hye sat studying while Ye Joon sat there drawing.
Curious, Ji Hye had looked over his shoulder to his sketch pad and had seen the courtyard in front of her, but it wasn't the courtyard she knew. Instead of the concrete paving lined with trees and the mix of modern and historical buildings lining the path, he had drawn a winding creek cutting through the paving stone populating the space with animals and people each somehow telling a story of their lives in that little snapshot. The trees grew and multiplied, blocking off their little courtyard from the outside world but through the trees she could see the buildings, now dark and menacing. In their little oasis of a world the sun shown, but beyond the line of trees the sky was dark and rainy.
It was the first time she had seen one of his drawings and it had taken her breath away. It was so different from the courtyard but was also so clearly the courtyard in front of her. She had asked him how he had come up with the idea but he simply shrugged.
"I was bullied a lot. This was my escape. Some people lose themselves in reading and writing. I lost myself in drawing. Turn reality into a fantasy, good or bad. It just kind of made all of the bad things slip away."
Reaching out, she took Ye Joon's drink from his hand, the hot bitter coffee further warmed her as she took a sip. "You know acting isn't like drawing, right?"
"Same concept. I always create a backstory for the things I put in my drawings. This time, though, instead of drawing them I had to become them."
"Yeah," she said, taking another drink, "still not the same. But does this mean you'll come to the acting class with me?"
"Absolutely not," he said, standing.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm getting another one," he gestured to the drink in her hand, "I assume I'm not getting mine back." By way of answer, she took another drink.
He turned and she watched him go. How had this man changed so drastically in only three months? He could barely utter a few words to her when they first met, avoiding eye contact like it was the plague. Now, he was confronting a girl in a room full of people he didnt know. He had taken on teaching an art class with only a little prodding from her. Although she hadnt attended one of the classes, when she had looked up reviews online, worried, they all seemed positive. Maybe he really was getting better.
Grabbing his coffee, he went up to the counter to pay. Hunched over, head bowed low, he put the coffee on the counter.
"Will this be all?" the girl at the register said, looking up from her phone. "What?" she asked, leaning over to better hear Ye Joon. She nodded and punched something into the machine. "That'll be 3,000 won. Would you like your receipt?" she asked, accepting his card. "What?" At her prompting again, Ye Joon just shook his head. "Ok, thank you for coming in." Ye Joon responded with his low bow and Ji Hye sighed inwardly.
I guess we still have a long way to go, she thought.
Sitting down next to her, she tsked and shook her head at him, "just a few minutes ago you stood up to a crazy bitch in front of a room full of people you didn't know. But now you can't even talk to a cashier?"
"Different situations," he mumbled, cracking the seal of his coffee, and picking up his pencil again.
She looked down at the sketch pad in front of him still in the beginning stages of sketchy lines. It was the scene from the cafe when the girl threw water on her, but they had both been blown up to inhuman sizes and the water had been turned to fire. Behind the girl all the people from the cafe stood as dark silhouettes, faceless and intimidating. In front of Ji Hye crouched people roughly sketched, but each one already had their own personal story of poverty to tell.
"Wow," was all she said. It was the only words she could find to describe it.
"Like it? It's still pretty rough."
"Yeah, it's incredible. But I'm no guardian angel." She said tapping her roughly sketched form.
"You're right. More like a guardian devil."
She snorted as she watched him continue to sketch out the image, filling out details she never would have thought of.
Out of the corner of her eye, something caught her attention. Looking out the window, she saw something beautiful.
"It's snowing," she said, unable to keep the joy from her voice.
He looked up at her in surprise. Noticing her eyes were glued to the windows, he turned to look.
"Oh, hey, it is snowing," he repeated, lancing up for only a few moments before turning back to his sketch.
She took another drink and inhaled the peace of the moment. Music played faintly from the speakers overhead floating over the rhythmic scratching of Ye Joon pencil. The warmth from Ye Joon's cardigan soaked into her coupling with her full warm belly and the solid comforting presence of Ye Joon sitting next to her. Breathing out, she felt herself completely relax. Moments like these were rare.
She sat there in silence watching the fluffy white flakes fall from the sky, until she began to nod off.