Later that night :
BAM.
I slam open the door to my apartment. With the money I received earlier, I bought myself a whole box of instant ramen. I could have bought meat and Christmas-y food to eat for dinner, but eating a Christmas dinner alone is kinda depressing.
I drop the box of ramen on the island in my apartment's kitchen and go through the pile of junk mail sitting there.
I live alone, so I don't own too much furniture or things in general.
The apartment has one bedroom and one bathroom.
In the bathroom I have, well, bathroom necessities, skin care stuff, cleaning stuff, sanitary things for females, dental care things, shower things, and hair things.
The bedroom has a mattress, pillow, and blanket. My bedside table is made of a stack of about three books. A single lamp sits on top of the pile.
The closet in my room is full of black clothing items. I have a black hoodie, a pair of black cargo pants, a black black button up shirt, a pair of black sweatpants, black underclothing, a black trench coat, you get the picture.
If I'm completely honest, you could probably count every clothing item I own, and it would add up to less than 20. I wear one pair of black combat boots and keep one pair of slippers at the front of my house.
The living room is connected to the kitchen.
If you walk through my front door, the kitchen is immediately to the right hand side with the bathroom on the left. Directly in front is the living room. A small sofa and a coffee table are all that occupy the space. I have a laptop and a photo album on the coffee table that double as decoration.
The kitchen is empty except for the new box of ramen, the set of dishes and utensils that came in a pack of three, and a pot for making the ramen. I bought the pack of dishes and utensils on sale last year for $5.99 at the local Asian Market. It's a great price considering it came with cups, plates, bowls, and utensils.
I sigh.
It's about 20:00 now.
I fill one of the cups with water and walk over to the couch.
"KKAMJJAG-IYA*!" I scream and drop my cup of water.
Sitting on my sofa is a couple staring at me. I run out of my house to check on the apartment number. It reads 408.
It's my apartment.. SO WHY ARE THERE STRANGERS ON MY COUCH?!
I pull my pocket knife and slowly head back in.
"I told you we should have knocked." A voice loudly whispers. I'm pretty sure it's the wife.
"I thought this would be more fun than just knocking!" The male's voice argues back.
I hold my knife out in front of me and charge at the couple. In one swift movement, the female knocks the knife out of my hand and pins me to the ground. I'm belly down on my living room floor, my hands pinned behind my back, face smashed to the floor.
"Who .. are .. you.." I manage to choke out.
"Your worst nightmare." She chuckles.
For a moment I feel absolutely terrified. But then I realize that the joking tone of her voice doesn't match the threatening words coming from her mouth. I relax my body and she lets me go. I lay on my back coughing and gasping for air. The female goes back to sitting on my couch. I look up from where I sit and study the couple before me.
.. Wait a sec.. I swear I've seen them before…
Finally realization hits.
They were the newbie couple I passed on my way out of Nakamura's office.
"Who are you guys?" I ask.
They share a look and smile at me.
"We're the newest addition to Hallyu."
I stand up and grab a few paper towel sheets to wipe up the water I had spilled from shock. I pick up the cup and place it in the sink. I walk back to the couple on my couch.
"I see. That's amazing. But why are you in my house?"
"We thought you looked lonely, so we followed you home."
".. You thought I was lonely.. so you followed me home…" I repeat slowly.
"Mhm!" the wife chimes.
These guys are insane.. they thought I was lonely so they FOLLOWED ME HOME???
"Don't worry." The husband laughs. "Nakamura sent us here."
I tilt my head surprised. "She did?"
"Mhm. Everyone else at the party was either plastered or high, so Nakamura sent us here for the breakdown."
Thanks Nakamura… Thanks…
"I see… What do you need to know?"
"Why don't we introduce ourselves first?" The wife suggests.
"Sure." I reply
"My name is Park Hyun-Joo! My husband is Kim Kwang-Sun."
"Nice to meet you. My name is Eun-Hae Saguchi."
"What a beautiful name!" The wife says.
"Thanks." I smile. "Where are you guys from?"
The husband answers this time.
"We're ex-government agents from South Korea."
"Ex-government agents?"
"Yes. We were able to join Hallyu because of our connections to the dark agents who are able to provide us with important things such as weapons, info, etc."
"Ahh, I see. I guess we scored big time with you two."
"You sure did!" The wife beams.
I laugh.
This couple is interesting.
"Since you both are from Korea, does that mean you're fluent in Korean too? Not just English ?"
"Yes. I am fluent in Korean and English, but Hyun-Joo is fluent in Korean, Chinese, and English."
"Wow. That's amazing."
"I know right." Kwang-Sun beams at his wife.
I gag.
"Please don't get lovey-dovey in front of a stranger."
They laugh at my disgust.
"Nakamura sent you both here for the explanation of how Hallyu is run and structured right?"
"Yes, that is correct."
Nakamura could have told them herself… What a hassle... oh well, I guess I have no choice…
"Okay. I'll break it down for you. This may take a while."
"That's alright. We don't have anywhere else to be."
Huh.. I thought couples spent Christmas together? Never mind, I don't actually care.
"Here we go. To begin, I need to start at the top. The top meaning the head. No one really knows the leader of Hallyu. No one has met her or seen her face to face. Or so it's said.
None of the Division leaders or gang members have seen her, so orders come from her hand-selected messengers. She was the one who founded our gang and named it Hallyu. Since you are both from Korea, you should know what it means, but I'll explain why she chose it as our gang name.
Hallyu means Korean wave. This word is used to describe the global popularity of South Korea's cultural economy exporting pop culture, entertainment, music, etc. It is an odd choice for a gang name, but the reason is that Hallyu was founded in Korea.
The gang then branched off into China, Japan, and where we currently are, LA. Our gang leaders whereabouts are always kept secret from everyone except the division leaders who are involved in whatever she is doing. She never tells anyone anything until the moment of. That is how she has survived and remained hidden for so long.
Under the head, are four main divisions. As I said earlier, Hallyu branched off into the China Division, the Japan Division, the U.S. Division, and the Korea Division. I don't know much about the other divisions. However, I do know that each mother division is broken into ten smaller divisions.
In each country, there are two major cities that are home to five of the ten divisions. In China, the major cities are HongKong and Shanghai. In Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama. Korea, Seoul and Busan. And in the US, both cities are located in California. Los Angeles and San Francisco. Each of the five divisions in each city are led by a leader. These five leaders belong to a division that is in charge of making big decisions, kind of like the American government. In the eight leader divisions, eight people are handpicked to be the leaders directly under our gang leader.
So if we're going by numbers, we start at the head, which is one, we move on to the hand selected leaders, a total of 8 (one from each major city), under them are five leaders per city, 40 in total, and the rest are regular gang members ranked by the preference of each division. It is confusing, but you'll get the hang of it.
We have one main treasurer per city. These treasurers are picked by the leaders from each city by unanimous vote. No one but the treasurers know where the majority of the gang's money is stored. In any other gang, there would be a risk of theft, but in all the history of Hallyu, no one has ever stepped out of line. This may be due to something done by our gang leader. I'm not actually sure.
Hmm what else is important…"
"This is so much information already!" Hyun-Joo exclaims.
I laugh. "I know right? We're not allowed to write this down for the security of our organization."
"Nakamura told us the same thing before sending us here."
"Good good."
"What next?"
"Just little details. You'll pick up most of them as you do jobs or other things. One detail is that there aren't many female gang members in Hallyu. No one really knows why. But that's pretty irrelevant.
One other detail that affects me personally is living costs. We may be known for being ruthless, icy, and strict rule followers, but there's more to it than that. Our members are loyal to each other, protective over the young and inexperienced, we look out for each other, and we respect those who are above us.
We are family, so the gang pays the rent of the younger members who all live in the same apartment building. All of Division 1 and the younger members in divisions 2-5 live here."
"Why does all of Division 1 live here?"
"We're all 18 and under."
"Wow, and you all made it to Division 1?"
"Yup! We're known as the pride of Hallyu."
"I can see why." Hyun-Joo laughs.
"Ah, I almost forgot. Weapons. Since you guys are going to help us obtain weapons I should tell you about the rules. First of all, only a limited number of people get guns. The leaders, the treasurers, and the special exceptions. So far there are no exceptions."
"What are some exceptions?"
"If there is a gang war, or if a job needs to be done, guns will be distributed to those a part of the job, but taken back when the job is over."
"That is actually pretty smart." Kwang-Sun said.
"How about other weapons? If other gangs are around, how can the members without guns protect themselves?" Hyun-Joo questions.
"We are all issued simpler weapons. Everyone in Hallyu, even the tech crew, always carries knives, a taser, or pepper spray. But the most carried one are the knives."
"That makes sense." Hyun-Joo giggles.
"There is one exception to this 'smaller weapons' rule." I say putting air quotes around the words "smaller weapons."
"Oh really?"
"Yes. The Division 1 of each city is stacked with members that can handle a certain weapon really well. Or are excellent in combat."
"What does that mean?"
"The elites of the lower ranked gang members are all placed in the Division 1 of their respective cities. These elites specialize in handling a certain weapon or hand to hand combat."
"Oh, I see."
"The Division 1 of LA has 7 elite members that handle different weapons. They're all given names based on the weapon they use. Of the seven, there are four males and three females.
The first is our Division leader, Ham Yongsun. He is 18 years old and since he is the leader, he specializes in guns.
The next is Komatsu Yoshiyuki. He is 16 years old and specializes in hand to hand combat. He knows most of the martial arts that exist in Japan and Korea. He is currently learning Kung Fu from an older gang member in Division 2.
The third is Uyeno Mayumi. He has a girl name which everyone makes fun of, and is also 16 years old. He specializes in using a bow and arrow. Kinda inconvenient, but he is insanely accurate so no one says anything.
The fourth is Hae Mun-Hee. He is 15 years old and specializes in Japanese weapons. It's a mesh of cultures like our gang."
I laugh to myself.
"He uses Kunai knives and Shurikens. I really want to learn from him, but he keeps telling me 'later' or 'not right now.'
The fifth is Ren Qiaolian. She is one of the older members in Division one, 18 years old, the same age as our leader. She is the brains of our Division. She is insanely smart and can think incredibly quickly. She can solve issues and devise plans in the moment of action.
The sixth is Sim Hyun-Jae. She is 14 years old uses a metal pop up stick. It can be extended for use and is retractable for storage."
"Wow.. they're all so young…" Kwang-Sun says.
"Yup!" I say, a proud smile beaming on my face.
"Who is the last one?" Hyun-Joo asks.
"The last one is me." I grin sheepishly.
"You?" The couple asks in surprise.
"Yes, me." I pout.
They laugh at my displeasure.
"Sorry sorry, go on." Kwang-Sun chuckles.
I frown but continue.
"I am like Yoshiyuki. I specialize in hand to hand combat. I learned most of it on my own, but I know a majority of the Japanese martial arts thanks to Yoshiyuki. He was kind enough to teach me, unlike Mun-Hee."
"How old are you?" Hyun-Joo asks.
"14 years old."
The couple sits in shock for a while after listening to my description of the 7 elite members. As they sit in silence trying to comprehend the skill level of a bunch of young kids, my stomach growls like a whale in mating season. I look at the clock. It's already 22:00.
Ah right, I forgot to eat my Christmas dinner of delicious ramen because of the intrusion.
I press my lips together and turn my head slowly away from Kwang-Sun and Hyun-Joo's line of sight. I place my hand over my stomach in order to try and quiet the growling.
Should I just go make something for myself? Maybe I should invite them to eat with me..? But.. would they want to stay and eat with a person they just met?
"Ah, jagiya. I think it's time for us to go." Kwang-Sun says, looking at the clock.
"Aww really? I guess you're right. It's gotten pretty late."
The couple stands up and walks over to the front door. I stand up and walk with them.
Should I ask them to stay?
Kwang-Sun finishes putting his shoes on and holds the door open for his wife.
Hyun-Joo enters the door and pauses on her way out.
"Thank you for letting us stay, and for telling us about Hallyu."
"Of course." I reply
The couple smiles at me and walks out into the hallway of the apartment building. The door gently closes behind them. I stand in the genkan* alone. I turn around and look at my empty apartment. It feels cold and large.
When did my apartment become so unwelcoming?
Maybe it was the empty feeling lingering in the apartment, or maybe I enjoyed their company more than I thought I did, but something takes over my body, and I yank open the door to run after Kwang-Sun and Hyun-Joo barefooted.
I finally catch up to them and stop about five feet away.
Do I go through with this? I pant. My body suddenly moved on its own. What should I do?
After contemplating what to do for a few seconds, I call out their names before I chicken out.
"Kwang-Sun! Hyun-Joo!" I shout.
The couple turns around and looks at me in surprise.
"What's the matter?" Hyun-Joo asks.
I take a deep breath.
"It's pretty late, but would you like to stay for dinner?" I ask hesitantly. "If you need to leave I understand." I quickly add.
Hyun-Joo's worried face turns to one of joy and Kwang-Sun stands there with a silent look of happiness.
"Of course! We would love to stay!" Hyun-Joo responds with a smile brighter than the Christmas lights lining the streets.
"I only have instant ramen… If that's okay."
"We love instant ramen." Kwang-Sun smiles.
I begin to walk back to my apartment with the couple following me.
We enter my apartment in a single file line, and I head to the kitchen as Hyun-Joo and Kwang-Sun take off their shoes again.
I dig out my ramen pot and begin to boil some water. Hyun-Joo walks over to where I am, and Kwang-Sun heads for the couch.
"Let me help you." Hyun-Joo says.
"Oh, you don't need to. I'm okay."
"No no, please let me. It's the least I can do to make up for tonight. We broke into your house and overwhelmed you, and now we're staying for dinner."
"Okay." I give in. "Do you think you can rinse out the dishes in the cupboard?"
"Of course!"
I turn back to watch the water heat up and sigh.
They could have left and had a nice Christmas meal as a family, even just the two of them.. They could have even skipped coming here tonight and just waited until tomorrow. How come they're here? Why are they staying with me?
Soon the water begins to boil. I grab three packs of instant ramen and put the noodles and soup base into the water.
"I wish I had some kimchi and some boricha*.." I whisper under my breath.
"Hey Kwang-Sun?"
"Yes Sweetie?"
Sweetie? Bleh.
"Can you go to the market across the street and pick up some kimchi and boricha?"
"Sure." Kwang-Sun walks to the door and puts on a jacket and shoes. "I'll be back before the ramen is done."
"Sure sure." Hyun-Joo smiles.
Wow.. Maybe she heard me whispering about these things, or maybe she wanted them herself… Either way, I'm grateful.
Hyun-Joo finishes washing the dishes and begins to set the coffee table. I finish up the ramen and follow after her. Hyun-Joo had thought ahead, and placed a folded towel on the table so the hot ramen pot wouldn't ruin it.
Five minutes after the ramen was finished, Kwang-Sun burst into the house with bags full of groceries. Hyun-Joo and I rushed up to help him carry everything in.
"You got so much!" I exclaim.
"It took you longer to come back then it did to cook the ramen." Hyun-Joo teases.
"Sorry sorry. I ended up getting carried away."
"You sure did…" I gaze in shock at the amount of things he bought. "I've never seen so many groceries at once!"
Kwang-Sun had bought the desired kimchi and boricha, but he also brought back a dozen eggs, frozen mandu*, apples, and packs of instant rice.
"I was thinking we could add some egg to the ramen, and rice with the leftover soup." He grins sheepishly.
I nod but don't move my eyes from the groceries.
God, if you're out there please let this not be a dream.
"What are the apples for?" Hyun-Joo interrupts my silent plea.
"Dessert."
"OOO. I love that idea!"
"Me too." I add.
The couple looks at me and smiles.
"Alright," Hyun-Joo says, "let's cook and prepare the rest of the food before the noodles soak up too much soup and get fat. I'll wash and cut the apples and prepare the kimchi. Yeobo*, you prepare the mandu in the microwave, and Eun-Hae would you mind adding the egg to the ramen? It should still be hot enough for you to put it directly in the soup. "
Kwang-Sun and I look at each other while holding in our laughs. We turn to Hyun-Joo and salute like soldiers.
"Yes Ma'am!" We say in unison.
After finishing the preparations for dinner, we all sit down at the coffee table. I only had enough utensils and dishes for the three of us, so there were no serving utensils at all. Because of this, we ended up eating family style.
We used the three plates for the side dishes. One plate for the kimchi, one plate for the mandu, and one plate for the apples. We each had a bowl to use for the ramen noodles, rice, and soup. There were no serving spoons, so we just used our individual chopsticks and spoons to grab food. Kwang-Sun poured us all cups of boricha.
"Jal meoggessseubnida*!" We say.
"Wow. This is a lot of food." I grin.
"Thank you for letting us stay for this feast." Hyun-Joo says.
"Of course. But you both contributed a lot more than I did."
"Not really." Hyun-Joo replies. "We just bought a few things. Everything else, from dishes to your apartments, to your invitation was all your doing."
I can feel my cheeks warm up. It must be from the hot ramen.
We begin to eat in silence. As I eat, I feel an emotion rising in my chest.
What is this feeling? It's.. It's so warm.
I shove a mandu in my mouth. Suddenly, something warm and wet runs down my cheek. It's a tear.
I subtly wipe the tear from my face and stuff myself with the food in front of me in order to stop myself from crying. It didn't work. Tears began streaming down my face with no sign of stopping.
"... What's wrong?" Hyun-Joo asks, her eyebrows crinkle with worry. She sets down her chopsticks and takes my bowl and chopsticks from my hands. She proceeds to wipe my tears with a spare napkin that was laying on the table. Kwang-Sun stops eating as well.
"Did something happen?" He asks.
I shake my head no and try to answer in words, but nothing comes out of my mouth. All I can do is sit there sobbing.
This is so embarrassing. Why am I crying? What is this feeling inside my chest?
Hyun-Joo cups my face in her hands.
"Take your time. You can tell us what happened when you are calm."
"Take deep breaths." Kwang-Sun adds.
I nod and breathe deeply. I eventually calm down and swallow the mandu before I choked.
"What's the matter?" Hyun-Joo asks in a sweet motherly voice.
"I- I- I feel..." I gasp as I try to regain my breath from the violent sobbing.
"What do you feel?"
"In here." I reply grabbing the part of my shirt that rests over my heart.
"Ahh I see." Kwang-Sun and Hyun-Joo share a knowing look.
Without saying anything, Hyun-Joo wraps her arms around me from my right side and Kwang-Sun does the same from my left. I was locked in a hug. It was like the hug parents would give to their kids. I had observed this all my life, but never experienced it. I never even imagined I could. I burst into tears again.
So this is what it is… This warmth in my chest, it's the feeling of my loneliness melting away… Yes, Division 1 has always been there for me, but the love of brothers and sisters is different from parental love…
I laugh through my tears.
How could this couple be like parents to me? That's insane. They were strangers not too long ago… and yet, they suddenly feel like the people I have been missing all my life. Am I crazy? Probably. But, this feeling, I don't want to let it go.
Up until now, every Christmas I remember has been spent alone. Now, I know what it's like to spend it with others.
My tears are not tears of sadness, but rather of joy, warmth, and thankfulness. I feel happiness showing in the form of flushed cheeks. I close my eyes and enjoy the moment.
The three of us remain in the hug for a little while longer. When we finally pull apart, I grab their hands and look at their faces.
"Hyun-Joo, Kwang-Sun.."
"Yes?" They answer.
"Can we spend Christmas together every year?"
Large smiles light up their faces.
"Of course."
They didn't even question me and my episode. Instead, they embraced me and stayed close to me. They didn't make me feel like a stupid lonely kid. They treated me as if I was their child. Thanks to the strangers that broke into my apartment, many Christmases were no longer spent alone, but with parent like figures who loved me.
Thank you for sending them here Nakamura. I'm sorry for being annoyed at first…
Nakamura, I don't know if it was intentional, but you gave me the best Christmas present ever. So, thank you.
If I asked Nakamura about this "present" she would have shrugged and smiled, hiding the fact that she did indeed send them to me with the idea of giving me a Christmas full of love instead of loneliness.