SS - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Our feet are dangling as we sit on the view deck of the red lighthouse, enjoying the gentle breeze, waiting for the sunset. Seunghyun finished his sandwich in three bites and is now munching on a bag of chips while I am still halfway through my hotdog. Well, it’s because I’ve been yapping and telling him stories about school and the students and the different activities that he can look out for. I admit I talk too much when I’m nervous. And with just the two of us here, he makes me feel nervous but in a good way. 

I tell him about my friends and who’s who at school and the terror teachers. I also tell him stories on how I met my bestfriend, Bom, back in 5^th grade during Science class when we were the only girls who volunteered to dissect a frog. We became partners in crime since then and are now famously known as the Park sisters. I recounted stories of our exploits and how much Bom has helped me learn to socialize since she’s a people person while I used to be timid. Bom is also really talented. She can sing and has a voice that I know would sell a million records. She has plans to go to Berkeley after high school to pursue her dream of winning the Grammy’s and be the most famous South Korean singer. 

“Sounds like a character” Seunghyun remarks. “I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Oh, you’ll like her” I say. “She’s the best! But you’d better stir clear and far away when she’s in Bominator mode.”

“Bominator?”

I nod. “She’s scary when she gets mad. That’s why we call her The Bominator.” 

We laughed.

“Hey, I noticed that I’m the only one talking here. How about you tell me something about yourself?”

He looks far out into the ocean and sighs. “I don’t have much to tell. My life is not really interesting as the rumours.”

“I find everything interesting …” I say, trying to wheedle something out of him. When he stayed silent, I say with a grin, “How about you start by confirming if your father is a Yakuza?” 

He looks at me and grins as well. “Sorry to disappoint but he’s not. He’s just a regular guy who works for a broadcasting station in Japan. But don’t tell anyone that, okay? I think I like it better if they think he’s a member of the Yakuza.” he says jokingly.

“What about your Mom?” I inquire.

“Mom is in America with her new husband. He’s half-American half-Korean and they had a baby just a year ago. Her name’s Samantha. She’s the cutest thing” he gushes. “Wanna see?”

I nod and he pulls out a picture from his wallet and shows it to me. I see a carefree looking Seunghyun holding a baby clad in the cutest pink gown. Both of them are looking at the camera, smiling widely. “She looks adorable!”

“She does, doesn’t she?” he says and I can tell that he adores his little sister. “I call her gummybears because of her gummy smile.” He looks at the picture when I handed it back before he kept it back in his wallet.

“You look like you miss her …”

“I do” he agrees.

“So what brought you here, then? Here in our little island?”

I see him hesitate. “I just have some … things to take care of” he finally says and I can tell that he doesn’t want to say anything more. 

That was fine with me. I already learned a lot about him from the few sentences he said and I can wait for him to open up on his personal life when he’s ready. I then went on to lighter subjects and asked him about his Ducati. Now, motorcycles is a subject that he loves and he let me know that he already found a part time job at Yang’s Garage where he got his bike fixed. I tell him that the Yangs are good people and that I’m glad he found a job. He then teasingly asked me what I do outside of school aside from saving and giving horse rides to strangers. 

“Well, if you must know, I do volunteer work at the marine sanctuary.” I say proudly. “We take care of sick or injured sea animals. My Mom works for Aqua Planet as a marine biologist and I plan to follow her footsteps so I am training as early as now.”

“That sounds interesting”

“It is. Next week, we are going on a dive and count dolphins.” I say excitedly.

Seunghyun looks at me incredulously. “Count dolphins?”

“Yes. Did you know that there are only 166 bottle nosed dolphins left in Jeju? We try to monitor their health and population as much as we can since we lose some mostly to accidents when the dolphins swim too closely to fishing boats.” I recall sadly. I try to dispel the gloomy atmosphere so I say, “Actually, when I say we, I’m not really part of the team. I just tag along since most of the guys have worked with my parents so they let me hang out with them.”

“I’ve never seen a dolphin before” Seunhyun says.

“Really? Well, aren’t you glad we became friends then?” I smile at him. “One of these days, I’ll take you to the sanctuary and the oceanarium so you can meet my marine friends.”

“I’d like that.” He says in his deep voice, looking straight at me.

Gosh! This guy! My heart is getting a work out by just staring at his eyes. I look away and opened my potato chips. I try to change the subject. “Do you have any other interest aside from motorcycles? Anything else you’re good at?”

“I also like cars” he says. 

“How about hobbies? Sports?”

“I used to play soccer in middle school but when my parents separated and I went to America with my mother, I stopped.”

“The school has a soccer team. Why don’t you try out?”

“Uhh… I don’t know … I don’t think I’ll have the time for it” he says. 

“Awww. That’s too bad. I’d like to see you play” I say with a touch of extra sadness and he looks at me, amused.

“You” He says, briefly touching the tip of my nose with his forefinger, making me scrunch up my face like a rabbit. “You” he repeated. “You’re good.”

“Huh?” I utter, totally clueless. I’m good?

“I’m good?” I say out loud.

He nods and leans in closer to me. “You’re good at this.”

“I’m good with what?” I honestly don’t get what he means.

“Flirting” he says, as a matter of fact.

“Bwoh?!” I exclaim indignantly, a little offended. “I am not a flirt!”

“I didn’t say you are” he countered.

“You just did!” I gave an unladylike snort. “You think I’m flirting with you?”

“Calm down” he appeased. “I didn’t mean to offend you. Please forgive me if I offended you by what I said. I was actually complimenting you …”

I furrowed my eyebrows at him and gave him a brief glare. I scooted away from him and stared at the ocean.

“Dara …” he calls me by my name for the first time and I couldn’t help but feel the irritation melt away. “Dara …”

I wanted to smile, hearing him call me so sweetly but I restrained myself. “What?!” I ask, trying to sound annoyed.

“What do you think we’re doing?” he says quietly.

I look at him. “I don’t know, you tell me. I thought we were having fun UNTIL you called me a flirt” I say.

He sits closer to me. “Again, I didn’t call you a flirt. But then again …” he trails.

I look at him, wanting to hear what he was saying. 

“But then again, isn’t this” he gestures with his hand, encompassing everything. “Isn’t this considered flirting?”

My eyes narrowed. Are we flirting? Did he just admit that he’s flirting with me? Was I flirting? OMG! I am a flirt!

“By chance …” I gulp. “By any chance … are you … interested in me?”

He stares at me, looking mysterious. “Can’t you tell?”

Oh My God! 

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Dear Diary,

Today is the best day ever! Remember the new guy from school that I was telling you about? Right – Choi Seunghyun … Well … we went out for a date! Kyah!!!

Before I spazz, let me just tell you that it’s not really an official date date, you know. I mean, he just took me out for a ride around his Ducati because it’s all fixed now. You wouldn’t even know that it looked almost like a wreck just last week. Anyway, on the way to the lighthouse, he said that he was hungry so we grabbed a couple of hotdogs, some chips and soda and ate them as we watched the sunset. It sounds romantic right? Kyah!!!

But you know why I’m calling it a date, Dear Diary? When he dropped me off at home, Seunghyun kissed me on the cheek!!! I swear I’m going to die from spazzing right now!!! It was just a brief peck but it caught me off guard and I just stood there like a statue and didn’t say a word or moved even after he was gone. 

I swear Dear Diary; my heart is beating so fast that I seriously think that I’m going to have a heart attack! Is this how falling in love feels like? Because I seriously think that I am … I’m falling in love for the first time … 

I wish I could replay this day over and over again … le sigh … 

Wait. I hear the door bell. I’ll be back…

~xoxo

D~

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I half ran to reach the door knowing that it’s not my Mother because she has her keys. In my heart's desire, I wished that it was Seunghyun. 

I opened the door and launched myself at the person on the other side upon seeing who she is.

“Bommie!” I cried, hugging her tightly.

“Darong. Can’t. Breathe.” She says with a cough. 

I immediately release her but took hold both of her hands. “Sorry. When did you arrive? I thought you’re flying in tomorrow? Gosh! I’m so glad you’re back!”

“We caught an earlier flight. It’s nice to know that I’m missed” she says with a smile.

I pretended to sniff and cry. “I missed you so much, Bommu. You just don’t know how much!”

My bestfriend laughs at my antics. She knows I have a flare for being dramatic. “I missed you too, SSantoki” she says with a hug, calling me by the nickname she invented. She says that I look like rabbit sometimes.

“Wait. Why are we still at the door? Let’s come inside. I have lots and I mean LOTS to tell you.” I pull her hand towards the living room and we sit on the couch.

“You look different” I faced her, putting both my feet up on the couch as she sat beside me crossing her legs. “Did you go on a diet? You look so sexy!” I say in a sing song voice admiring her slimmer figure.

She laughs. “You think so?” She then sat a little bit straighter, making sure her boobs are emphasized.

“Ya!  No need to show off” I pretended to be irritated, crossing my arms over my poor chest.

We laugh coz this is a familiar routine for us. 

“Hey Bom” I say. “What’s the most bizarre thing on Earth I can tell you?” 

Something in her eyes flickered and that’s when I notice that aside from losing weight, Bom looks pale and tired that I dismissed it as jetlag earlier.

“That you’ve discovered a cure for brain cancer?” she answers me in a totally unexpected, very un-Bom like response.

I catch the serious inflection of her voice. “Hey, you look and sound tired. Is something wrong?”

She looks at me and slowly removed the purple beanie that she’s wearing. I notice a white gauze on the crown of her head. My heart begins to race as a queasy feeling comes over me. I know that one of the reasons why they went to the US is for her to get her eyes checked. She has been feeling dizzy for the past year and her eyesight sometimes gets blurry so she was advised to wear prescription glasses but being the fashionista that she is, she refuses to wear them most of the time.

Dreading to hear what her answer will be, I gathered up my courage and ask her. “What did the eye doctor say, Bom? 

She looks at me, and I notice how bloodshot her eyes are. “What is the most bizarre thing on Earth that I could possibly tell you?” she asks, and then began to cry.

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Dear Diary,

I take it back. This is the worst day ever … 

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