Authors: Ong Xiong
“Maybe,” he said,
returning to doing what he was doing. “You were very good yesterday. What was
the song you played?”
“
Remember Me
.
It’s one of my favorite songs.”
“Can you read
music?”
“Yes.”
“Would you like
to play with me? I mean to perform with me here, sometimes.”
She perked up. “I
would love to.”
“Can you sing?”
Jae asked.
“No.”
“Can you dance?”
“No.”
“You’re pretty
useless then.”
“Hey! I’m pretty
good with the guitar, remember,
and
I can hum.”
“Hum?” He stopped
what he was doing and turned his full attention to her.
“Yes,” she
answered. “I wasn’t blessed with any singing or dancing talent, but I hum quite
well.”
Jae chuckled as
he sat down next to her on the bench. “Okay, Shorty—prove it.” He slightly
cocked his head in challenge.
Sue bit her lower
lip, crossing her legs beneath her. She laced her fingers together and placed
them neatly in her lap. Oh, how she wished she should have shut up earlier.
Too
late now
. With her gaze matching his, she solemnly replied, “Sorry, Lefty.
My humming talent is strictly reserved for private performances—only.” She
slightly jerked her head in the same cocky manner as he did.
Jae looked around
them. There were some joggers making their way around the pavement, a middle
aged couple occupied the bench several yards from them, and some teenagers
gathered under a tree. There were others in the park but not within earshot,
especially for humming. “Consider this a ‘private performance.’”
Sue scowled. “I
don’t think so.” She shook her head. “You see, this particular talent of mine
is like ah—a phantom—only appearing when I’m not aware that I am, um, humming.”
Jae threw his
head back, his shoulders trembling with laughter.
“Stop laughing at
me!”
“Girl, you are
daft!” he said between bursts of laughter.
“How many people
uses
daft
these days?”
“Well, let’s
see…” Jae decided to amuse her as he began to count. “There’s Sister Jamie.” He
held one finger. “There’s Father Matthew.” He held up two fingers. “There’s…”
He silently counted. Jae held up his other hand, spraying all five fingers. He
held seven fingers in front of her. “And there’s me,” he said, adding another
finger to his display.
Sue pointed her
index finger at him and said, “You don’t count.” Sue waved her hand to indicate
she was dismissing his numbers. “So there are seven people, not including
yourself—”
“No, that’s only
the people I personally know,” he corrected. He propped an elbow on the back of
the bench as he drew up a leg, crossing it on the bench and turning his body to
face her. “How many British speakers do you know?” he asked, pointing his own
index finger at her as he said “you.”
“All right, all
right, you made your point.” She threw her hands up in surrender. She replaced
her hands in her lap and took a deep sigh. “Boy, you’re making me
daft
.”
“Am I to infer
that you are annoyed with me?” Jae asked, somewhat taken aback. He was used to
girls flirting with him and using any ploy they could to capture his attention,
but this girl, she was annoyed with him.
“You
infer
correctly milord,” Sue replied in her best British impersonation.
Jae’s brows
narrowed. “Are you mocking me?” he asked, regarding her with curiosity now.
“No, no, of
course not Mr. Darcy. Please do continue your
inquiries
into my
accomplishments,” Sue said, still using her British accent.
“Mr. Darcy?”
“My apologies
milord. You see, I have no other surname in which to call you upon at such
occasion as this and I, therefore,
simply
regarded you as Mr. Darcy.”
“And may I ask my
dear Elizabeth Bennett, as to why you simply regarded me as
Mister
? I
thought I reminded you of a duke,” he said mockingly. “In which case, I do
believe, you should address me as
Your
Grace. Why you find me so…” Jae
pretended to be in great thought.
“Silly?” Sue
interjected. She threw her head back laughing. Tears of joy welled in her eyes
and she wiped them with the back of her hand. “Gosh, I haven’t laughed like
that since I arrived in Seoul. Thank you Your Grace,” she said still wiping her
eyes.
“Glad I could be
of service,” Jae replied, unable to suppress a grin.
“You are familiar
with
Pride and Prejudice
—I’m impressed,” she said ignoring his remark.
Her voice still filled with laughter. “And peerage titles,” she added, still
chuckling.
Jae raised an
eyebrow.
“You are just
entirely too dreamy, Jae. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
“No.”
Sue gave a little
laugh. “How the
heck
did our conversation turn so drastically?”
Jae shrugged,
smiling, he answered, “You started it. I simply inquired your talent on the
sole basis of a business matter and you accused me of speaking like a British
duke. Then you insulted me by referring to me simply as a Mister.”
“I am truly
sorry,
Your
Grace,” Sue said, trying to sober her voice. She inhaled
then exhaled audibly. “Gosh, that really felt good,” she said grinning. Jae
gave an arrogant smirk. “I said sorry,” she said half heartedly. “Let’s not battle
with our tongues—” Sue frowned seeing Jae arched an eyebrow at her statement.
Then she realized what she said and the implications of her choice of words.
She blushed. “That came out wrong,” she quickly said. “Let’s not
verbally
attack each other.” She reached out her right hand for a shake. “Truce?”
“As you wish…
my
lady.” He was still grinning as he extended his own hand out to shake hers.
Sue’s eyes
narrowed. “Truce means we’ve come to terms with our differences and agree to be
civilized,” she explained. Her hand was still shaking his.
“Truce,” Jae
said, giving her an amused grin.
“Truce,” Sue
said, grinning in return. “All right,” she sighed. “Let’s get back on track
shall we? I’m afraid my only talent lies with the guitar. Perhaps I can play
for your audience while you’re taking a break?” Jae nodded and she continued.
“Although, I must warn you, I specialize in country music only.”
“But you can read
music, correct?”
“Correct.”
“All right then.
All you have to do is play the guitar. No singing, no dancing. I’ll lend you
the music I’d like for you to play.”
“Then you have
yourself a guitarist.” Sue was about to extend her hand to shake on the deal
but realized she was still holding onto his hand. Without much thought in the
matter or the effect she had on him for holding onto his hand so mindlessly,
she shook his hand.
A large audience
gathered around them once Jae started his music and began displaying his
talent. Sue was mesmerized by his dancing skills. He was an excellent dancer.
Very creative as well, Sue thought. She only saw a portion of his talent the
day before and to see the whole performance, to witness as several audience
members challenged him into a dance duel was quite another experience.
Although Sue had
only known him for a day, she gleamed with pride as challenger after challenger
battled with him. What she thought to be audience participation the day before
was actually a duel. She cheered for him. She clapped for him. She even played
the guitar for him when he took breaks for water. She played the music he gave
her—guitar versions of hip hop music.
It was late
afternoon when the show ended and the crowd began to disperse. Sue stayed to
help him pack his things. A thought came to her and her eyes widened as she was
closed the guitar case. If she offered to perform with him for free, maybe he
could be her tour guide. She had enjoyed the performance greatly and didn’t
hesitate when he asked her to join him the following weekend. She met some
interesting people and tried some good food in just one day she spent with him.
Maybe if he was free? She thought.
“Do I get half
the earnings if I play the guitar for you?” Sue asked Jae.
“If you’d like.”
He shrugged. “You can have it all if you want. I perform primarily for the
practice and exposure.”
“Um, well, that
wasn’t the answer I wanted to hear,” she mumbled.
“
Mwuh
(what)?”
“Nothing. Um,
Jae?”
“Yeh?”
Nervously, she
made her request. “I would like something else instead of the earnings.”
Jae’s eyes
narrowed and replied with caution. “And what would that be?”
“Show me the
city, the country if you have time. I need a tour guide,” she said quickly.
“A tour guide?
You want to see the city? You haven’t seen enough?” he asked, swinging his
backpack over his left shoulder.
“Please?”
He hesitated.
“I know it’s an
odd request but I’m going home soon and I would really like to see the city. I
could do it on my own but it takes time to research and I’m horrible with
directions. I get lost often and well, I could use some help—please—I can pay
you for your time.”
“Fine,” he
answered. “You play the guitar for me, I keep all the earnings, and I’ll give
you a tour of the city.” He raised his left index finger. “For just one day…and
just of the city,” he clarified.
“Deal!” She
smiled. “Let’s shake on that.”
“Deal.”
They shook hands
to seal the deal.
CHAPTER
11
The next
Saturday, it rained. Since Sue didn’t know how to contact Jae to see if he was
going to the park or not, she went to their meeting spot. She waited for him
for thirty minutes, consulted her watch then decided to extend the wait to
another half hour, remembering that he was late on Sunday too.
Or maybe
traffic was bad because of the weather
? She shrugged then continued her
pacing.
All week she
found herself thinking about Jae, anticipating when she would see him again. He
was easy to talk to, though he didn’t talk much. She had a feeling he wasn’t
the type to openly disclose information like she often found herself doing with
him. She enjoyed talking to him and after so many months of loneliness, she
found herself yearning for his companionship.
Just when Sue was
about to leave, Jae showed up.
He smiled when he
saw her waiting for him under her pink owl print umbrella, pacing back and
forth. The bottoms of her jeans and her shoes were soaked. She was walking
along a retainer wall in the park, balancing herself like those of a tight rope
walker with her umbrella in one hand. She was using it for balance instead of
shielding herself from the light rain that was still misting the city.
When she reached
the end of the wall, she turned and walked back. She reached one end, turned
and walked back to the other end. This time, instead of turning back around,
she jumped off. She either didn’t see the puddle or didn’t think it was deep
because as her feet touched the ground, water splashed all over her. She shouted
a cuss word even Jae was not going to repeat. She faltered and almost lost her
balance. He smiled at the scene before him.
“
Ahn-nyung
,
Shorty,” Jae called out in greeting as he made his way toward her, studying her
as he walked. She had on faded blue jeans, tennis shoes and a thin navy blue
jacket, zipped to her chest, leaving a V view of her white T-shirt underneath.
“
Ahn-nyung
,
Lefty,” she called back, wiping water from her face and taking off her glasses
as she walked toward him.
He grinned at her
greeting. “Knew you were daft to venture out on a day like this.”
“Daft?” She
squinted her eyes, straining them to see him as she wiped her glasses with a
dry part of her T-shirt. While she was completing this task, she balanced the
pink umbrella on her right shoulder with the handle tucked beneath her
underarm.
“Since we’re here
and the weather’s rubbish, how about we start on that tour of yours?” He tried
hard not to stare at her. When he discovered it was raining that morning, he
was disappointed, wondering if he would ever meet her again. He thought about
her all week. He found himself wondering how she was going to react to him when
they met again. He liked the way she could look him in the eye when she spoke
to him and the way she responded to him—with honesty. He liked that. He wasn’t
used to girls not flirting with him and for the first time he found a girl who
intrigued him.
As their meeting
time approached, he found himself debating whether to come despite the rain. In
the end, he took a chance and came.
“Well, I don’t
know. I’m all wet and although it’s beautiful when it rains, I’d rather see the
city when it’s not so wet. I only get one day and I want to make the best of
it,” she answered.
“How about we get
started and because it’s rainy, I’ll give you another day.”
“Hmm, it’s
tempting.” She tried to hide her excitement, but she was already grinning
broadly at his suggestion. “Fine. What are you going to show me today?” she
asked eagerly.
“The city,” he
said, flicking her umbrella. “Aren’t you a little too old for owls?”
“One’s never too
old for owls,” she said, still smiling.
Maybe she should
have been more specific about what she wanted to see. For most of the afternoon
they went from store to store and tourist spots she had already seen with Angela.
As their day came to an end, they stopped at McKs for what he called local
cuisine.
“You’re not
hungry?” Jae asked when Sue took one look at the restaurant, realized this was
it and frowned.
“I’m starving but
not for McKs. Truly you must know other … local restaurants?”