“You might need to help,” Tae Yeon shivered. Alone, in her now very tattered wedding dress, she busily swiped snow off the window shield of her car.
“Sure,” he responded and then thrust his arms in a circular motion. The ice stuck, strengthened by frost, and their endeavours ended up quite useless.
After ten minutes or so, Tae Yeon sighed and crouched down to hide her face in her knees. Won Soo observed her pink toes and defenseless shoulders. He pulled the motel’s blanket from his bag, and wrapped her tightly. Then he went back into the motel to retrieve warm water.
The ice melted at the splashes of steaming water, and his attempts obtained more success this time.
She gratefully climbed into the car, and after a few minutes, the heater comfortably toasted the confined space.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” she began.
“Don’t start,” he warned.
“It’s weird that all the main characters have pets. Like, he emphasizes such a common thing. I guess just to show their personalities? Ji Soo is eccentric with her pig. And, Hyo Eun is safe with her gold fishes. Then what does it mean that he has a dog?”
Won Soo let her talk to herself.
“You really don’t know who’s it is?”
“I keep telling you that I picked it up,” he said, frustrated at her refusal to believe.
“And, why does Ji Soo have to kill herself? She shows no intentions to throughout the whole novel. I don’t understand it all.”
“It’s just a stupid, dramatic piece of crap.”
“No, I feel like there is a reason, I just can’t put my finger on it yet.” She sighed heavily.
“Just head south to Sok Cho,” Won Soo instructed her. Instead, she turned the car eastward.
“We need to make a stop in Chun Cheon,” she said briefly.
“Why?” Instead of answering him, she just laughed quietly.
“See, you’re just the same. You want to know reasons, too. Mr. Wise Guy.” He stared at her, and then broke out into a grin as he ran a hand through his hair. Just shaking his head, he turned to laugh out at the window.
***
The building lay directly next to the road, a little removed from the town itself. Tae Yeon parked abruptly inside the almost empty parking lot. It was still a bit too early for business hours.
Won Soo surveyed the hot pink letters that spelled: FANTASTIC NIGHT. Following after Tae Yeon’s retreating form, he entered cautiously.
The dark building smelled of smoke, and jazz music played lazily in the background. The girl at the counter rose up in surprise. Her fake eyelashes made a shadowy indention on her rosy cheeks.
“Hi Sweety,” she cried, making sure to rub her chest on Won Soo’s arms. “Did you know about our Christmas Eve special? Four rounds of beer at half the price!”
“We’re together,” he said, pointing at Tae Yeon. The girl looked suspiciously at Tae Yeon, her eyes trailing the frayed wedding dress.
“I’m looking for Lee Eun Ah,” Tae Yeon said.
“Please go to Room 3, I’ll send her over. Would you guys like to order anything to start with?”
“We’ll order when she comes,” Won Soo said.
The room was empty, and Tae Yeon sat down on the wooden table. A karaoke machine faced them, and the sofa was damp and musky.
“Hi, I’m Candy,” a girl said cheerfully as she closed the door behind them. She had a blue wig on and a tight, black leather skirt as she sashayed towards them. Her manner was pleasant and breezy.
“Hey, Lee Eun Ah,” Tae Yeon said, her voice a little shaky. Won Soo looked in surprise, as of yet he had never seen Tae Yeon nervous.
“Oh, so you know me personally?” She asked. Tae Yeon nodded her head, and Eun Ah pulled off her blue wig. Now that he could see her more closely, Eun Ah had a cute, young looking face - albeit plastered with a lot of make up and sweat.
“So, what can I do for you guys?”
“I’m Tae Yeon, the girl who sat two seats behind you in High School Year 2.”
“Ohh,” Eun Ah breathed, her face smiling with realization, “I remember you now. During break we’d always be the only two girls in the room.”
“And, during Spring, all the windows would be open so the white curtains would blow towards us,” Tae Yeon said excitedly.
“Yeah, I’d always be at the books. You were always reading right?”
“Yeah. I wonder why we didn’t ever talk to each other,” Tae Yeon said regretfully.
“Just lost in our own separate worlds, I guess.” Eun Ah leaned back and smiled impishly.
“I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure.”
“It’s something personal,” Tae Yeon warned.
“Just ask,” Eun Ah laughed.
“Why’d you always study?”
“What else was there to do?”
“No, like what I mean, is why’d you always study so hard, when you knew you couldn’t go to college?” Eun Ah stared at her, and then cracked a grim smile.
“Hm, maybe I thought being Valedictorian would get me a scholarship,” she said sadly. Tae Yeon looked down at her hands. Two girls, and two different endings. All predetermined since birth.
“But,” Eun Ah interrupted Tae Yeon’s thoughts, “I don’t regret it. You know, it was the only way. The only way I could fight, have control over my life. I realized it was the only way I could make something of myself.”
“Look though, nothing changed. You didn’t make anything of yourself, and all your efforts were useless,” Tae Yeon said vehemently. “Look at this place, you don’t belong here. But that’s life, isn’t it? You say it’s not fair and that you’re going to change things, but then time goes on and before you know it, you’re right where you said you wouldn’t be. And, it’s all because, from the moment you’re born, you’re in this environment that conditions and controls-” Tae Yeon stopped suddenly. Somehow she felt that her anger was aimed not at Eun Ah, but herself.
As though Eun Ah could sense this, she placed her hands over Tae Yeon, “We can’t choose our parents. It seems to me like you blame yourself for being rich, and almost feel like you don’t deserve your surroundings, but they aren’t everything. Life’s a lot more complicated than that, Tae Yeon.” Won Soo distanced himself from the two girls. He left silently, making sure to close the door, and did not breathe until he reached outside.
The reconciliation was too raw, too powerful for him to watch in peace. He could not ignore Tae Yeon’s anguished face, no matter how many warm clouds he sighed.
She emerged many minutes later, her face ashen and yet strangely relaxed, as though a huge weight had been lifted.
“So, to Sok Cho?” He asked hesitantly. She nodded, and they both climbed into the car silently.
FANTASTIC NIGHT slowly faded away as the car veered onto the freeway once more. Won Soo respectfully remained quiet.
Finally Tae Yeon broke in first, “She’s going to college.”
“Oh?” Won Soo replied, interested.
“Yeah, she’s only working for the end of this month and then attending the Spring term.”
“That’s great.” Won Soo said and then furrowed his eyebrows. “Can I ask how we knew where Lee Eun Ah was?”
Tae Yeon glanced in surprise, and then suppressed a thin smile.
“I hired a PI.”
“Wow,” Won Soo chuckled, “rich girls are scary.”
“Oh shut up,” Tae Yeon said and smacked him hard in the chest. Their faces erupted into identical grins, and the laughter bounced on all the walls and windows, slowly filling up those wounds that wounded people never see.
Spoiler! :
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