Seoul Searching (서울 검색해) 3.
Here is where the story starts getting more and more fun! I hope you’re enjoying the journey!
“형!” Hwan Soo shouted at the man who was truly more like a brother than a friend to him.
Jung-hyun, his best friend, flashed a million-watt smile. It was good to see his friend’s face after so long. Four years. Four long years since he’d actually seen Jung-hyun in the flesh.
“Hwan Soo-a! 오랜만이다,” Jung-hyun said, walked over to Hwan Soo and gave him a big brotherly hug.
“For sure. Too long if you ask me. You look great, 형,” Hwan Soo said, repeating his earlier greeting.
“나?” Jung-hyun gave himself a quick once over before glancing back at Hwan Soo. “Look at you! Clearly acting is treating you well.” Jung-hyun strolled to the counter to order coffee. While tea might’ve been the lifeblood of most Koreans at one time, coffee had taken over that position in recent years. Not only just for the taste or style, but because of the artwork and colors some baristas had created for their customers.
Hwan Soo loved this particular café because of its quiet atmosphere. Most people were there to get work done, keeping their heads down in a book or a computer. It was the perfect place to keep him anonymous. If no one looked, no one would recognize him. Not that many would as he had yet to make it big.
The café had stark white walls which caused the light from the large floor to ceiling front windows to brighten the whole place even though it was tucked into a narrow alleyway. A long black bar counter had several small, yet ornate, flower arrangements lining the middle, while shorter circular tables scattered through the café had black and white tile tops, matching the whole clean aesthetic of the place.
The smell of the different coffees brewing blended and instantly woke any sleepy soul. Pastries that looked more like works of art than something that should be eaten, lined the small glass shelves near the stark black counter.
As they approached the counter, the young man at the register bowed and said, “안녕하세요.”
Hwan Soo reciprocated the kind hello and added his order. “커피 이 인분
“내,” the server confirmed and at Hwan Soo’s nod, quickly got to work on making the coffees for them.
“How is my famous best man doing?” Jung-hyun said, resuming their conversation once the barista handed them their order.
“야, no one knows me. I’m still only a small time actor, second lead material. No one wants to hire me for a lead,” Hwan Soo said, downtrodden. Not that being second lead was the worst thing. He was just the guy who never got the girl.
“I remember when you thought no one would hire you at all, but look at how far you’ve gotten. I’ve seen your name pop up more and more on the fan sites lately. I’m sure you’ll hit it big soon. Have you auditioned for anything new recently?”
“Yeah, it’s a lead role and casting calls end today. But as much as I want it, I haven’t heard anything yet. If I were to get it, filming would start this month and I know this is an important time for you. I want to be here to support my biggest fan for his wedding,” Hwan Soo explained as they made their way to one of the small tables in the corner which looked out to an almost empty, hidden alleyway. Unlike in other countries, in Korea one could usually find some of the best food, bars, and even cafés on the side streets that one stumbled upon. That’s how Hwan Soo had found this go-to coffee shop, a book store, and a bar.
“Thanks. I appreciate you being there for me,” Jung-hyun said and clapped him on the back.
“More importantly, where is the unlucky lady who agreed to marry you? I still can’t believe you, the man who swore women were nothing more than a distraction from success, will soon be tied down. And that you were the one to suggest it,” Hwan Soo joked.
“You’ll officially meet her tonight. She’s picking up her maid of honor, Maria, at the airport right now.” Jung-hyun said as he sipped on his coffee and let out a small moan of appreciation.
“I’m sure they are going to have a lot of stuff to catch up on before the wedding, so they’re going to enjoy their time together. Just like us,” Hwan Soo said and smiled.
“About that…” Jung-hyun’s face contorted as he struggled to form words, obviously nervous to break whatever news it was to his friend.
“Spit it out, 형,” Hwan Soo said, impatient.
“Maria doesn’t really understand how Val and I started dating and we don’t want her to know just yet. Val wants to tell her at some point on this trip, but she isn’t ready. So you need to keep our secret.”
Hwan Soo knew the way that his friend’s relationship had started had been unorthodox, but nothing that was unheard of. Having read enough drama scripts, he recognized that his friends had fallen in love in a fairly cliché trope. Wealthy man borrows not so wealthy woman to help him out of a jam and suddenly they fall in love. If Hwan Soo could pitch it to one of his director buddies, they’d eat it up.
“Why is it that she doesn’t know? I mean if they’re best friends…”
“As Val put it, Maria is the type who wouldn’t be thrilled that her best friend was ‘used to further a man’s place in the world’,” Jung-Hyun said.
“That’s a very negative view of what actually happened. It wasn’t really like that,” Hwan Soo argued. Was Val’s friend really that stubborn that she wouldn’t try to understand how her best friend had fallen in love? How could someone claim to be her friend at all?
“Unfortunately Maria has a skewed view of romance and falling in love.”
“What woman doesn’t?” Hwan Soo joked, thinking it was true though. Except for his last ex, the women he dated had mapped out their entire future from day one. Most of the women were blind dates his mom had set him up on for the sole purpose of becoming his wife.
His ex, however, was the one woman who’d broken his heart by not wanting more and his heart was still on its road to repair. She had been the one woman he had wished to plan a future life with and when she had left, he no longer had any interest in that kind of future. Staying single was his best bet at enjoying life.
“Just please, keep it a secret for now,” Jung-hyun begged.
“Fine,” Hwan Soo reluctantly agreed for the benefit of his friend. But when he looked over at Jung-hyun, who was sipping his coffee slowly, thoughtfully, Hwan Soo knew there was something else he needed to say.
“I know there’s more so please spit it out,” Hwan Soo demanded.
“How did you…” Jung-hyun started to say, but didn’t need to finish the question. Having been friends since they were four years old made it easy to read each other. “I need your help with Maria.”
“Since she doesn’t speak or read Korean, you’ll need to help her get around when Val and I are expected to do wedding planning. You’re essentially going to have to be her lifeline.”
“Lifeline? Isn’t that just another name for a babysitter?” Hwan Soo sipped the bitter coffee, which left both a literal and figurative bad taste in his mouth. “How often are you going to be dealing with all this wedding stuff?”
“It’s gonna be pretty packed with all the things Val needs to learn herself, and I don’t want her having to go it alone. Even though my parents have accepted the marriage, I don’t trust them to not try something to get her to run away. Not that she would, but I don’t want them to give her a reason to do it,” Jung-hyun explained.
Hwan Soo knew Jung-hyun’s family was very traditional. Hwan Soo’s family was pretty similar, but he’d never broken the rules by dating a non-Korean girl because from what he had seen, foreigners were loud, obnoxious, had few manners, and didn’t dress all that well. Fashion being as important to Korean life as being well off and respecting elders.
After four years apart from the man who was like a brother, Hwan Soo had been sure that he was going to have time to catch up with his friend, reminisce, and make some new memories. Now that was being totally thrown away and replaced by having to hang around with an American girl.
But for Jung-hyun, Hwan Soo would put on his best acting face and seem happy to do what his friend asked. “I’m sure that if she’s as great as Val, it’ll be just fine.”
His one hope was that Val’s friend wouldn’t turn out to be like the typical tourists that caused his skin to crawl.
When Maria entered the bar where Val had mentioned they were meeting Jung-hyun, all Maria could think was, “Damn.” It wasn’t like any bar she had ever been to back home. The ceiling was covered, literally every square inch, in empty liquor bottles that had been repurposed with twinkling lights. The tables and chairs were all mismatched furniture, and the bar itself looked like it couldn’t make up its mind between bougie, noir, or hipster.
On the wall behind the counter the liquor was stacked high on shelves with a library ladder the bartenders had to use to climb for the literal top shelf liquor. Above the bar was an insanely ornate chandelier that was easily six-foot-tall.
Unlike the mismatched furniture, the bartenders wore matching vests, striped shirts, and bow ties. The waitresses were all gorgeous, thin, model-esque, swaying their hips in tiny black dresses that hid none of their curves.
When Maria finally took her eyes off the décor and staff, she noticed a handsome man waving at them and recognized Jung-hyun the second she saw him. He was always well dressed, even when casual. Even though he looked like he’d just thrown on his oversized, large knit, electric blue sweater, pale blue ripped jeans, and Timberlands, she knew his outfit was carefully planned. His hair, black as the night sky, slightly wavy, hung just above his brow, in a bowl-like fashion, but clearly styled to appear that way. Tall and lean, he had sharply a chiseled face that accented high cheekbones and a square jaw. Small black studs dotted his lobes and gleamed in the dim light in the bar. Looking around at the other men in the space, she checked out whether the men were dressed in suits, or casual. Whether they had dyed hair or basic black. Maria realized that men in the U.S. seemed to lack something Korean men had down to a science. Confidence in style.
Val’s face lit up when she caught her soon-to-be husband’s eye. His face brightened just the same as she ran over to gently peck him on the cheek and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Maria, I’d like you to formally introduce you to my fiancé Park Jung-hyun.” Val’s smile went nearly ear to ear. The excitement was evident in her voice. Seeing her friend this happy was really all Maria wanted.
She walked over to him with her arms wide and was about to give him a big congratulatory hug when there was a harsh tug on the collar of her shirt.
“What the-” She choked and spun around to see who the asshole was that had caused her to stop dead.
The young Korean man was handsome, taller than a redwood tree with a chiseled jaw line and plump heart shaped lips. He was dressed in an ornately embroidered denim jacket, white t-shirt, very nice fitting black jeans, and white sneakers. Even though he was a jerk, he was a handsome jerk with nice style.
“누구세요?”unknown rude guy said.
What the hell? she thought and wondered what the handsome jerk had said.
“아 친고야, 괜찮아, she is new to this,” Jung-hyun said and clapped the man on his shoulder. “Maria, 미안해요, here PDA, like hugs, are not commonly seen or done. Couples will maybe hold hands and peck each other on the cheek, but larger gestures are just not acceptable in public. He didn’t mean to tug so hard. He was just saving you from embarrassment.”
Maria looked back over to Jung-hyun. “You know this guy?”
“Maria,” Val jumped in. “That’s Jung-hyun’s best friend and also his best man.”
“I don’t care who he is, you don’t go pulling people by the collar. And what the hell did he call me?”
“He asked who you were,” Val said, translating what the man had said.
“친고, this is Val’s best friend, and maid of honor, and your new partner in crime for the next four weeks,” Jung-hyun explained to the man.
“Say what now?” Maria said.
They said the words simultaneously and while Maria might not know the language, it was obvious his reaction was the same as hers.
“I told you at the coffee shop that Maria is going to need to learn some Korean to give her speech at the wedding,” Jung-hyun said.
“No one said anything about me giving a speech in Korean and if anything Val can help me.”
“But I’m going to be busy with all the wedding stuff. Jung-hyun-a and his family have me taking classes on the different ceremonies that are done as part of a Korean wedding.”
“Shouldn’t I be accompanying you to those classes? I’m part of the wedding too,” Maria said.
“Yes, shouldn’t she?” The deep voice of the man she thought couldn’t speak English reached her ears. In surprise, her ears perked up to continue listening as his voice was alluring and made a shiver go down her spine.
“Yeah! Wait. You speak English?” she said and eyed the man suspiciously.
He glanced at her, rolled his eyes, and didn’t bother to answer her question, which, she admitted, was pretty dumb considering she had heard him speak in almost perfect English.
Jung-hyun reached out to pat his friend’s shoulder. “헹, you know just like I do, that your jobs in the bridal party are just a western thing. Maid of honor and best man are not a thing here in Korea. You won’t do much of anything until the reception,” Jung-hyun explained to Maria.
“But she’s …” the man began, but stopped.
“I’m what?” Maria crossed her arms, dropped a hip, and looked over at him. His side profile was even more interesting than staring at him dead on. The man was totally attractive, and if his gorgeous lips would’ve stayed shut, or if he’d kept his long, soft, fingered hands off her collar, she would have found him to be really hot.
He looked over and smirked. “You don’t want me to finish the sentence.”
That smirk mixed with those full lips almost made her forget he was being a totally rude ass. As she looked at his lips, however, she lost her angry train of thought as her mind starting picturing those lips moving down her neck and leaving little love marks along her skin. His voice alone was causing sensations through her body that not even her ex had when he’d physically touched her.
Somehow she fought back those thoughts and remembered that he was about to insult her. Her mind crashed back to reality.
“Oh please, I’d love to hear you finish,” she said with as much bravado as she could muster. “What’s your name? Chingu?” she said, repeating the name she’d heard Jung-hyun call him earlier. She gave Chingu an abrupt once over, ready to pounce at whatever he had to say. She was also getting angry at how attractive she found him in his way too stylish outfit, obviously custom made for him, and how it was causing her body to react when her brain was screaming for her to ignore the jerk.
The two men of the group hunched over laughing while Val tried to nudge her fiancé to stop his near tears chuckle.
“Where did you find this girl? This is a joke, right?” the still unnamed best man choked out through his laughter.
“I’m no joke you little-”
“His name isn’t Chingu,” Val cut in, trying to hold her own little chuckle. Val looked at her fiancé for help, which he was unable to give to stop Maria from say anything potentially life ruining. “Chingu means brother. It’s a term of endearment between friends. His name,” Val said and pointed at the handsome jerk, “Is Lee Hwan Soo.”
“Lee Hwan Soo?” Maria repeated, making sure she got the name correct.
Val nodded happily and Maria turned back to him to give a piece of her mind. “Listen here, Lee. I don’t-”
“Lee is my surname,” he corrected.
“Last names come first? Where am I?” Her head pounded with anger and frustration and even worse, she hadn’t even had a sip of alcohol yet. She was feeling more out of place by the second.
“You’re in Seoul, South Korea, where English isn’t the first language and we have different customs. Start getting used to it. You’re here for a month,” Hwan Soo responded with curtness. His gaze held no mockery, only total distaste for her. His lips were pursed since he clearly was holding back even more things he wanted to say.
Her comment clearly had gotten under his skin. While she wasn’t sure what she had said that was worth warranting such a heated response, she also felt compelled to defend herself. “This wasn’t exactly a well-planned trip for me. I was told two weeks ago that my best friend was engaged and asked to fly out here for a month to help plan the wedding. So excuse me, Mr. High and Mighty for not grasping all of your culture and language in the …” She paused and looked at her phone for the time. “Ten hours I’ve been in your country.”
Always the one to try and smooth out awkward situations, Val interjected, “Let’s get some drinks.” When she handed the drink menu across the table, Maria blinked several times. It was the same characters she had seen at the airport, but this time they didn’t have the nice English translations below.
“Val, I can’t read any of this.” Heat rushed up to Maria’s face as Lee Hwan Soo scoffed while standing next to her at the bar top table.
“Oh geez, I’m sorry Mari, right…umm…”
“Just get her one of the fruity soju drinks,” His Royal Annoyance said.
“No, it’s ok. I’ve got a headache so I think I’ll just go back to the apartment.” Maria had felt uncomfortable all day and the night so far had only solidified how out of place she was. She wanted to be there for Val, make things calm and easy for her best friend’s big day, but Maria being there seemed to complicate everyone’s life.
“Oh come on, Mari. Please don’t leave,” Val said and tried to stop her from going as Maria stepped away from their table.
She leaned close and in a low voice that only Val could hear, and said, “I can’t speak the language, I can’t even read it, I’m unfamiliar with the traditions, I know nothing. I don’t want to embarrass you. Plus, with all the traveling I did the last day and a half, this jet lag has taken its toll.” Turning to the two men, she plastered on a bright smile and said, “Enjoy your night.” She bowed her head as she had seen others do during the course of the day, hoping she was at least catching on to that custom.
“You managed to get that right,” Douchey McDouche responded as he bowed his head.
She was trying out different names for him, but nothing seemed to encapsulate everything she was feeling about him.
Why was that Lee Hwan Soo guy such a hard ass? It wasn’t like she had a crash course in Korean and Korean culture. She wasn’t opposed to learning new things but he seemed to take everything she said about not understanding as an insult. She was frustrated, flustered and so maybe she didn’t properly convey what she wanted to say, but it didn’t justify his sneer and judgment. While Val tried to calm the storm brewing between Maria and Lee Hwan Soo by whispering something to him and jerking her head at Jung-hyun to get involved, Maria knew that if she didn’t walk away, the situation would have simply continued to get a lot worse. That international incident she was worried about would totally come true.
Hurrying from the bar, she found a long line of taxis outside, watching, waiting, hoping to see drunks stumble out to their cab. She walked over to one cab and climbed in. When he began to speak in Korean, she realized she was screwed. She bowed her head and was about to climb back out of the cab when her door quickly shut and a knock rapped on the front driver window.
She was about to protest when the taxi driver rolled his window down and a too familiar and arrogant voice drifted in. Lee Hwan Soo pushed a piece of paper and a large wad of cash toward the man whose face lit up like he had just received the biggest gift of his life. With a quick bow at Lee Hwan Soo, the driver quickly started his cab and pulled out onto the busy streets of Seoul.
She looked out her window as they began driving away. Douche Canoe stood in front of the bar and bowed several times with a cocky smirk on his face. His gaze met hers for a few seconds before he shook his head, scratched the back of his immaculately cut and styled black hair as if in puzzlement, and then he was gone from sight as the cab quickly shot around the corner.
This month was going to be an absolute bitch, she thought.
And here is your phonetics! How did you do? Did you figure out what was going on?
형-Hyung – older brother (both literal and friend)
오랜만이다- oraenmanida – long time no see
안녕하세요- anyeonghasaeyo - hello
커피 이 인분 주세요- kopee ee-een bon jusaeyo – two coffees please
누구세요- nugusaeyo – who are you?
아 친고야, 괜찮아- ah chinguya, qwaenchanha –ah buddy, it’s ok.
뭐라고- mworagoo – what did you say?
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