In a dark somber room, a single man sits quietly.
Inserting a single tape into an old cassette player. He awaits feedback.
Soon thereafter a recorded voice says the following,
'The date: Saturday, 29th March 2008.
The time: 8:00 am
Your mission Dylan, should you choose to accept it is to successfully make Hora's birthday the greatest of all time.
As always, should you or any of your team be caught or killed, the Author will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck.'
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*Poof*
Well that was anti-climactic.
Anyway where were we?
It's Hora's birthday today and I plan to take her on a blockbuster date. Something that will put all the indies to shame by just looking at its budget.
I've fully planned today down to the second and the detail.
Wearing a handmade Italian white shirt with a blue denim form fitting jeans and a pair of dark colored Prada chelsea boots. I give myself a once over confirming that I am dressed to kill.
I leave for Hora's place, deciding to take the M3 convertible BMW today.
Once there, I press the front doorbell and wait for a response.
Not too long after I hear the door open and can hear footsteps hurrying towards gate.
The gate swings open and without a second for me to adjust, the voice of a small girl catches me by surprise.
"Oppa, unnie says she will be taking a while longer! Come in"
I'm startled and just nod my head.
I follow Chae-hyun inside where I am greeted by her mother.
Seems like her dad is already out for the day.
I hand Mrs Bae the roses I brought along.
"Thank you Dylan, it's beautiful"
I smile and say "It's nothing Mrs. Bae"
Like any concerned parent she asks me a few questions about what and where we are going today.
Before making me promise to drive safe and not to stay out late.
She the vanishes, leaving me to my own devices in the livingroom.
Wondering around for a bit, I find myself taking everything in.
This house, no home really has a lived in feel.
Pictures of the family can be found adorned everywhere with trinkets of time spread throughout.
I find a picture of Hora from elementary school. She is sitting amongst of a crowd of older family members. She's wearing a pink shirt and dark colored jeans, her hair is parted down the middle and she is biting her lips. I'm really wondering who dressed her. She looks so much like pretty boy.
I guess the rumor that Hora's stylists are always jealous of her, dates back to the beginning of time. It is said that she can pull of a trashbag, which is why her stylists or co-coordinators always put her in some pretty crazy get-ups which only she could pull off.
While I'm 'admiring' Hora's past, a soft voice calls my name from behind.
Turning to its direction, I see a girl with light makeup on matched with a deep red lipstick. She's wearing a teal two piece dress. Her dark hair is loose and hanging down to her shoulders only being tired together by a white hair band.
I'm temporarily left stunned, tongue tied and twisted. It takes me a whole five seconds before I finally manage to utter just a single syllable of admiration, "Wow"
At this point I am full on ogling her but can you blame me?
"Good morning", she says.
I reciprocate her greetings ,"Morning to you" Nodding dryly before adding "You look amazing today, anything special planned?"
She laughs and proceeds to unjustly hit me on the shoulder, as I pretend to be hurt "You clean up pretty well yourself"
We share a small smile and she edges closer to take a look at what is in my hands. I hand the photograph over to her and she reminisces about the time,
"This was a good day" she says, "You see the guy with hair? That's my dad, the one next to him is my uncle and in the background you can see my mom. She was pregnant with Chae-hyun at that time. I really thought that my mom's stomach was going to burst. And it really did! Her water burst just a couple of minutes after. You can technically say this is the first photo of Chae-hyun."
This is the first time she's really shared a story about her family with me so I just listen patiently.
I continue to listen to various anecdotes from her past finding it fascinating the more I hear. Yes, it's just an ordinary childhood but I never had one, therefore living vicariously through her memories is something I'm really grateful for.
We chat and look at pictures for the next half hour.
Her mother enters the room once more and proceeds to question
"When are you guys going out? or will you be spending your whole day at home. Not that I mind, that way I can keep my eye on you two kids" She teases.
Hora realizing how much time we have spent reminiscing , blushes lightly creating a small space between us, increasing the distance which had naturally shortened over the last half hour.
Quickly, she says goodbye to her mother and Chae-hyunm while draging me outside as fast as she can.
All the while I am just trying to keep pace but can't help finding the whole situation quite funny.
Once under the 'not-so' cover of the car, I lock the doors and turn to her and finally say what I have been preparing all morning.
"Happy birthday Baechu"
"Thank you"