It was five in the morning. As per the order given by Young-Jae, everyone got up early and was ready to travel. They had to travel from Seoul to Goseong Wanggok Village in Gangwon-do province where all three families had ancestral homes.
Three best friends came together from a small village to the big city, Seoul, long ago and never went back. They made a pact to be friends for life and return to their ancestral homes during holidays. They never broke their promises. Every holiday they visited their homes and taught the same traditions to their kids. Now their families were carrying on with their traditions.
Young-Jae was particularly more conservative and traditional than others. His kids and grandkids were accepting the changes in the world but he was too stubborn. He made sure that he would carry his father's wish no matter whether they were irrelevant in today's world and taught the same to his kids. Generation after generation his family followed the rites and rituals established by their ancestors.
Normally, it took them three hours to reach Wanggok Village but today was the first day of the Lunar New Year and everyone would be driving to meet with their families. So traffic would increase their travel time. Hence, the eldest gave them the order to leave early. Also, he had to travel back for a meeting.
Four different cars were getting packed with suitcases and picnic baskets and large tiffins that contained raw materials for the special food they would prepare for the Seollal feast.
"Hurry up, everyone," commanded Young-Jae while looking at his wristwatch.
There was a particular seating arrangement to follow. Everyone wanted to sit with their friends. So, all three women were in a car, two men were supposed to be in a separate car and the youngsters were in Yong-Sun's SUV. The fourth car was for the house servants.
No one wanted Young-Jae to sit in their cars. He was strict and controlling and would ruin the fun of the journey. After much debate, youngsters drove away first not giving the chance to any elders to order them around. Young-Jae won't travel with his daughter-in-law and her friends and the car with house servants was completely full. So the only option was to travel with men. Both men half-heartedly accepted their travel buddy and all started their journey.
Passing through the concrete jungle, on asphalt roads, air filled with fine dust smog slowly they moved towards roads engulfed with trees on two sides, fresh air filled with mist, a beautiful place surrounded by mountains and serene water of the East Sea.
The youngsters were discussing what happened last night. Hae-won kept streaming live the whole way and other women kept pitching in. The men's car was filled with dead silence. Not even music was playing. Jong-Woo and Young-Soo kept staring at each other and Young-Jae kept snoring in the back seat.
"He made everyone wake up early and now is sleeping soundly," whispered Young-Soo.
"I know. But who can defy him? Can you?" asked Jong-Woo under his breath.
"Do you want me to die?"
"Ha-ha"
"Shhh"
"Sorry." The car again went silent.
Meanwhile in the youngster's car,
"What did harabuhji say?" asked Baek-Hyeon.
"I have already told you. How many times do you want to hear?" replied Bong-Cha.
"Tell me word by word."
"He asked me never to ask about India. He said that he won't be able to lie to me so I should never ask," repeated Bong-Cha in an annoyed tone. She had been saying these words since last night as her brother kept asking the same question over and over again.
"And you obeyed him," interjected Baek-Hyeon.
"Of course. Who can disobey him? Name one person. There isn't a single person on this earth who can disobey him." There was a hint of pride in Bong-Cha's voice.
"You don't know every person on this planet. Maybe there is someone," interrupted Yong-Sun.
"I would love to meet them," said Bong-Cha.
"Me too," said Chin-Sun.
"Oh, that would be so fun, right?" Baek-Hyeon clapped like a child with happiness and mischief.
"What? Someone who would challenge him? It would be a full-on war," interposed Bong-Cha.
"Well, what do you think happened that your father's visit to India is a forbidden topic and just because Ashma is from India, he ordered that you guys can't wear her dress?" asked Yong-Sun seriously.
"I don't know. Maybe dad met with an accident. Harabuhji said that he almost lost dad to that place," explained Bong-Cha.
"See, I knew you were not telling us everything," said Baek-Hyeon.
"Hey! I didn't record the conversation in my mind. I can forget things and then remember them."
"Yeah, as per your convenience."
"Do you want me to hit you inside the car?" Bong-Cha was irritated with her brother's constant query.
"No, no fighting when I drive and that too in my car. You both can fight after we get out of the car," said Yong-Sun.
"In front of her harabuhji, no way," Baek-Hyeon taunted Bong-Cha.
"Yeah, he will kill you."
"He will kill you. You, Grandfather's pet."
"Whatever he loves me the most." Bong-Cha won this round.
Concurrently, in the women's car,
Man Hae-Won had her phone in her right hand and was showing the interior of the car and the journey to her followers. She was streaming live at 5.30 in the morning and thousands of people were active on her vlog. She was extremely popular.
"Hi, my dear Stunners! Happy New Year! As per tradition, we are going to our village. And don't worry I will constantly keep updating you about my day. We have just left Seoul and it will take us hours to reach Wanggok. My dress is from designer 'Ryan Kyong', these earrings are from 'Jewellery uninterrupted', my beautiful heels are from 'Resoles'. Let's give them a shout-out, thank you, guys."
She kept babbling on her phone and kept asking her friends to chime in, which they happily obliged.
"Wow! Look at the beautiful scenery. The beautiful mountain, the gorgeous roads. We will reach our destination in 45 minutes."
As soon as she said, the GPS lady chipped in, "turn left and keep on the path for 8 minutes. You will arrive at your destination in 45 minutes." All three started laughing.
Hae-Won continued on her phone, "now go be with your family and have a healthy and prosperous year. Singing off, this is your girl Man Hae-Won, byeee!"
"Happy New Year!" All three shouted in unison on phone. Hae-Won then spent a few more minutes pressing the display of her phone.
After a few minutes, Eun-Kyung asked, "did you shut the live-off?"
"Yes, it's done," answered Hae-Won.
"I am concerned about kids. I know they will never let go of, what happened last night. No matter how much we forbid them to talk about it."
"What do you think they are talking about right now?" said Hei-Ran.
"You are right. I think we should tell them before they find out some other way," said Hae-Won.
"Wish to God that no one else finds out, it will be a great scandal. What will happen to you?" asked Hei-Ran.
"Me? I am worried about that girl. She doesn't even know about her father and she is world-famous," said Eun-Kyung.
"You know who she is," shouted Hae-Won and Hei-Ran in unison.
"What? No." as she was driving the car, it was easy for Eun-Kyung to avoid their direct stare. Little did she realise that she let out a clue.
"Then how do you know she is world-famous," Hei-Ran pointed out.
"Fine! Yes, I know who she is." Eun-Kyung exhaled.
"You just told us that the child is a girl and her mother lives in India. Don't tell me you kept tabs on the child," screamed Hei-Ran. As he was sitting in the front passenger seat her scream made Eun-Kyung flinch.
"Every one of you knows who the child is."
"What are you talking about?" both friends shouted simultaneously, again.
"You guys are the worst friends. Can't you just guess? You want me to say her name," snapped Eun-Kyung.
"The girl we…" asked Hae-Won.
"Yes."
"You hate her that much that you won't even say her name," shouted Hei-Ran.
Eun-Kyung was disappointed that her friend had such a low opinion of her. She shouted back, "hate her. Are you kidding? I love her. I would love to meet her. In fact, I am dying to meet her. She makes me proud. She proved to the world that you don't need a man in your life to prove your worth. I wish Bong-Cha to grow up like her. I feel guilty because I am the reason she grew up without a dad." A single drop of tear escaped from her eyes. She tried hard to hide her sad face from her friends.
Both Hae-Won and Hei-Ran placed their hands on her shoulders with love. "Please, you are not the reason. You have to stop thinking like that," said Hae-Won.
"Tell us about her," said Hei-Ran with a big smile to cheer her friend up.
"Well, as you know she is beautiful, smart, very good at studies and super-duper creative. My daughter is more famous than Shiahbuhji and Young-Soo combined."
"Yeah, her creations are out of the world," chirped Hae-Won.
"Ok shut up both of you, we are about to reach. Change the topic. We don't want anyone to hear," immediately Hei-Ran shouted.
"You are right," said Eun-Kyung. They changed the topic to Hae-Won live streaming.
Soon, the cars stopped in front of three beautiful buildings that had a common wall. The traditional Hanoks were preserved well and had all the modern amenities inside. All got out of the car and took in the beauty of the place. It seemed as if nature took a breath after escaping from cities and decided to settle in this calm and peaceful village. There were no noises of fast-moving vehicles, no choking from breathing fumes, no burning of eyes with fine dust. Air, water, everything was clean and fresh.