I am startled awake by a crack of thunder from my open window, and a few drops of rain on my forehead. I open my eyes panting, my heart pounding and racing. I spring up from the couch, my cat, Koi, flying through the air and landing on her feet at the base of the couch with a loud,
"REEOOWWWWW!" I can hear the sound of Koi plopping on the floor and she lets out a hiss at the storm and me. Then she narrows her eyes at me and scurries off into the bedroom. I jump up, out of breath and rush to shut the door to my patio. It's dark and my power is out AGAIN! I carefully walk towards my kitchen and open the first drawer, where I keep the flashlights. I turn it on, then get the lighter and candles out. I light the candles, and place them throughout my apartment. The rain is hitting my windows hard, and I hear an intense roar from the rain outside. I realize it is very hot in my apartment again.
I take a candle and sit on the floor next to my couch, placing it onto the low coffee table. I decide to shake of that ridiculous dream I just had. Was that the man I saw earlier? Mr. Handsome? Mr. Taxi? I sit for a long while and muse about this rather salacious dream I just had. My heart is still beating out of my chest from this man. Who is this person?
"LOL, I must have hit my head harder than I thought!" I laugh out loud and pre claim to myself, slightly shying away from this all too real dream I just had.
"Who does Mr. Handsome think he is? Waltzing into my dreams too?" I rub my head and let out a cackle and pick up my phone to see what all the dinging was about earlier.
To my dismay, it's from an, "unknown number."
07:45 pm T6 V1 ||||| 5G
________________________________________
<- (U) -unknown- MOBILE [ :
________________________________________
{04:46pm Unknown- Hello. This is Kim Dae-Hyeon.
{04:47pm Unknown- I believe your mother
Mrs. Soon Chan-Seong
contacted my mother to set
up a date.
{04:48pm Unknown- To oblige them I have made a
reservation for tomorrow night
at 6:00pm at an italian
Restaurant called, "Mon ami" in
Gangnam.
{04:48pm Unknown- I hope to see you tomorrow for
dinner. Ciao!
_______________________________________
I looked at this text and assumed that this would be my dinner plans for tomorrow. I put it into my calendar and took a screenshot to text my mom.
I texted her:
07:50 pm T2 V1 ||||| 5G
________________________________________
<- (M) -Mom- MOBILE [ :
_______________________________________
{07:50pm Mom- "screenshot" >click to view<
{07:50pm Mom- Great! I want my baby married
by next year!!!!
__________________________________________________
I roll my eyes, but I only want to please her. Why is she like this? So overly pushy. I am only 23 years old by my korean age. Why does she push me into an arranged marriage so much.
I momentarily think back to that dream with Mr. Handsome... I find my mouth hanging open and my throat dry. I gulp and find peace in the fact that it was only a dream. To think that I would be so bold with a man. I blink in surprise, and head to the kitchen for water. I remember that my mother made me some porridge and some banchan. I peak into the rice cooker, and to my relief, it's still piping hot. The power must have just gone out. I get a bottle of water from the refrigerator and put out some of the side dishes to eat with the porridge onto the low coffee table. I quickly eat all of the food she made me and rest my head back on the couch, realizing I was quite hungry, as I remember, I forgot to eat lunch today.
My phone dings, then 2 more dings. I pick it up to read the messages.
08:11 pm T2 V1 ||||| 5G
________________________________________
<- (H) -Han-sue- MOBILE [ :
________________________________________
{05:16pm Han-Sue- We are meeting at the
Meat-ing bar at 7:30
to get some drinks and soju and
grilled beef later. Please join
us to celebrate the end of
finals. Please >.<
{07:28pm Han-Sue- We are here! Are you coming?
{08:10pm Han-Sue- Please come! We are waiting!
________________________________________
I text back that I will come, but will be there around 8:30pm, and to start without me. I head to my room to dress in a new pair of clothes and put on a raincoat. I head towards the door and grab my umbrella, my bag, and my keys, and my slip on short rain boots. I open the door and close my door and lock the digital lock with a swipe of my finger and a beep. I head down the elevator and out into the lobby of my building. White granite tile and a large glass atrium adorn my guarded entryway to my apartment complex. I nod at the security guard, Mr. Kim Chung-Jae. Mr. Kim is a husky man with a lot of muscle, adorned in a blue uniform with Soon Security written on it. He gets up from his seat to open the door for me. I bow and thank him, as I walk into the awning area, sheltering me from the onslaught of rain. I grab my umbrella and open it as I walk into the rain. I walk for a block then wait for the bus, to catch to Gangnam. It arrives after a few minutes, and I close my umbrella, and get on.
I swipe my phone on the reader, and pay my fair. 100 won. There are no seats on this crowded bus, so I grasp the handle bar and pole firmly, with my umbrella dangling off of my wrist.
"I don't need another broken phone," I say to myself.
The driver takes off in the direction of Gangnam. I get off after 6 stops and head out onto the sidewalk. It momentarily stopped raining, so I run and duck into the bar as fast as I can.
There Bak Han-Sue is waiting with a group of our mutual friends She has light brown hair with dark eyes, and a slim face. She is more athletic than the other girls, and is majoring in Physical Therapy. She is dressed in our schools logo themed hoodie, Seoul University, and a short skirt. The other girls have on a similar outfit, a tucked i. K-pop T-shirt, a high waisted pleated skirt, knee high stockings, and flat shoes. They are seated at a rund table, where they are slowly turning meats on a grate with an open flame peaking out, in the middle of the table. It has a vent pipe above it with a fan rotating the smoke out. They already have enjoyed one bottle of soju and a least a beer. They see me and wave me to come over, handing me a beer.
"Welcome to our little celebration! We thought you'd never come!" said Han-Sue and the group. The other girls were named Chil-Hyeon and Dong-Yun, both with the surname Kim. They were not related, but as Kim was the most popular surname in Korea, it's not uncommon to have friends with the same last name. They were very similar. Black long hair, split piece bangs, pale face, and red lips, with dark kohl lined eyes. They looked almost identical, the only differentiation being Chil-Hyeon's dark rimmed oversized glasses and slightly plumper frame.
I sat down with the group of 3 girls and started to down my drink. They declared,
"ONE SHOT!" and proceeded to finish thiers as a group with a bang on the table and an audible. "Ashhhhhhhh." and a nod.
I refilled their drinks and we repeated this pattern two more times. After a few drinks, I had some meat and rice with some soup. It was delicious. A well deserved meal after an extremely trying day.
We finished up the meal and decided to head out for, "round two."
We ended up at a very crowded European style bar with private karaoke rooms, and a club room. We danced, drank more soju, and then sang to our hearts content, probably more than we should have. I decided to head home. I bid my friends goodby as we all headed out and, told them I'd text them when I got home.
I hailed a taxi and told him my address. Within 15 minutes we arrived at my house. I glanced at my watch. It said 2:30am. I went inside my apartment. I washed my face after stripping down to my underwear, tossing my bra off, and donning some pjs. The rain started up again, but I still didn't have any power. I blew out my bedside candle, and crashed into my bed as Koi jumped up to great me.
I texted my friends that I got home well. I gave Koi a pat on the head, and dosed off asleep.