Nae Chingu (My Friends) Chapter Fourteen

Nae Chingu (My Friends)

Chapter Fourteen

Three Years Ago...

Well what the hell was I going to do now? I thought as I looked around at the buildings near me. I had absolutely no idea where I was. I contemplated going into one of the buildings and asking someone where I was but my Korean wasn't nearly proficient enough for me to ask, let alone understand the answer. How could I have been stupid enough to get on the wrong bus? Why had I gotten off even after I noticed I'd taken the wrong one? Surely the bus would have eventually taken me back to my original stop. I'd panicked, that's why, I told myself. Plain and simple, I panicked and now I was somewhere in Seoul without a clue as to where I was or how I got back. I could have taken a taxi but I didn't have much left of my allowance and I sure and heck wasn't going to call my dad.

I sat on a park bench and tried to think of how I could get myself out of this. Jong Hwa! Jong Hwa would know how to get me home and he spoke English so all I had to do was...was call him, I finished lamely. Call him on a cellphone I didn't know the number too. That was so...so...unhelpful, I smacked my forehead with my hand. Ah! But I knew where he was...

I pulled out my cellphone and found the SFLHS number and waited for the receptionist to pick up.

    "Hello. This is Seoul Foreign Language High School. How may I direct your call," the receptionist chirped into the phone.

    "I need to speak with Kim Jong Hwa in classroom A-2136," I stuttered into the phone with shabby Korean.

    "I'm sorry, that class is currently--:

    "It's an emergency," I cut in.

    "Ah," she sounded confused.

Please, lady, just do it, I silently begged.

    "Hold for a moment," she said before putting me on hold.

I hoped she was getting him. If not then my only other option was to hail a cab and get a ride to the military base and pray that my father wouldn't kill me afterwards. He hated being inconvenienced and I knew he would be furious.

After I'd been on hold for five minutes, I almost gave in and hung up but then Jong Hwa picked up.

    "Yeobeoseyo," he said hesitantly into the phone.

    "Jong Hwa," I nearly cried in relief.

    "Lily," he asked in English. "Is that you?"

    "Yes," the weight on my chest disappeared and for some odd reason, I knew it would be ok. No matter how I got home, I'd be ok and I felt like laughing at my earlier panic.

    "Why are you--what's going on," he asked.

    "I'm completely lost and I don't know how to get back, I just--I don't know," now that I had him on the phone I could see the holes in my plan. How would he even help me, he was in school--where ever that was at this point.

    "Where are you?"

    "Um..I don't know," I answered honestly. I stood up and started looking for the nearest cross section or a sign that would give me some sort of an indication of my location. "I see a sign that says Bukhansan National Park, ahh," I kept looking. "Oh, oh, Deongneung-ro and Samyang-ro, does that help?"

     "I know where you are. Stay there," he said.

    "Wait, no, don't leave school! Just tell me how to get home from here, I think I should be able to figure it out after that," I rushed. I didn't want him to get into trouble.

    "Stay there," he said simply and hung up.

It took a little more than an hour but Jong Hwa finally found me and took me back to school. I felt bad for dragging him out of school but he'd acted like it was nothing. He was just glad he'd found me. As it turned out, Deongneung-ro was the same street our school was on just a few miles east of where I was. The next day, Jong Hwa brought a map to school and gave it to me during lunch. On it was a color coded list of buses that ran by my house and where in Seoul they would take me. He said he gave it to me to help me from getting lost the next time I got on the wrong bus. On the back of the map was a list of taxi companies that had English translations available at the behest of the caller. I had carried that map with me for a year before I no longer needed it.

***

Present Day

The night had passed relatively uneventful and I think that was due to everyone being so tired. It gave me time to think over my options and if I was being honest with myself, time to wallow in my own self-pity...again.

The next morning I made breakfast again, mostly because I was up before everyone else and had nothing else to do. I was feeling overly hyper and antsy; I was more than ready to leave the house and seclude myself at the dorms. I changed from my SFLHS gym clothes to the extra pair of clothes I had, thankfully, packed before I'd left my apartment that last time. I was going to have to figure out what I was going to do about clothes because not only would I not be able to afford the new school's uniform, but I was down to one pair of underwear and I couldn't even begin to think about how I was going to fix that particular problem. I didn't know when my ESE allowance would begin but maybe I could explain my circumstances to Chan Min and he could give me an advance. I thought that when I was accepted into the program, I wouldn't need to work a part-time job but now, I would need to start looking almost immediately if I was going to pay for new clothes and necessities. While the porridge cooled and I waited for the household to start waking up, I made a list of all the things I would need in the coming days, starting with the most important first.

I pulled out my smart phone to see if I could find any salvation army type stores only to find out I no longer had internet access despite my phone's 4g network capabilities. A sinking feeling set in and I hoped I was wrong. I dialed Mae Ri's number and got a loud beeping tone before my phone ended the call. I had to suppress the urge to not throw it against the wall. My father had disconnected my cell phone service and left me without a way to communicate with...well...anyone. Instead of throwing it, I gripped it and squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears from falling.

    "Why are you doing this," I muttered to myself and wiped away the tears that wouldn't be stopped. This seemed extra cruel of my father. What, did he want to prove that I wouldn't last without him? Well, he'd be sorrily mistaken, I thought to myself.

It took me awhile to pull myself together but when I did, I immediately wrote Phone on top of the priority item list. I began having an insane internal debate on which was more important underwear or a phone when Dr. Lee walked into the kitchen.

    "Joheun Achim*, Abeonim," I stood up immediately and slipped the piece of paper into my jeans pocket.

    "Ah, morning, Lily," he said while he rubbed his stubbled chin. "Did you make breakfast again?"

    "Yes, I-ah-couldn't sleep and had nothing else to do," I admitted.

    "It looks good," he said. "What time are you suppose to be at the dorms?"

    "Actually," I thought about it. I wasn't suppose to meet Chan Min until this afternoon but I needed to get a head start on my list of priorities and I needed to do it fast. "I'm suppose to meet him at nine," I lied. I felt bad about lying to Dr. Lee but if I told him what I was thinking, he would either try to help me or stop me and I didn't need either so lying was my only option.

He checked the clock and I knew I'd only given him about forty-five minutes before I had to "meet" Chan Min. "Just let me get dressed and we'll head out," he said and started to walk out of the kitchen. "Did you want me to wake up Jong Hwa?"

    "No!" I shouted before I could stop it. I immediately put a hand over my mouth, "I'm sorry, no, he needs to sleep."

Dr. Lee just looked at me for another moment before he nodded and headed out of the kitchen. I hurried to the back bedroom to get my backpack. I looked down at Mae Ri's sleeping form wondering if I should wake her up or not and decided against it. If I woke her up to say goodbye she'd want to talk and she'd be loud and probably wake up the boys and that I definitely didn't want. I settled for leaving her a note from a page I'd ripped out of a notebook in my backpack:

Mae Ri-ya, I'm heading to the dorms. Don't be mad for not waking you up, I know you must be tired. Take care of the boys. Don't get into fights at school either. Graduate so you can get into college. Take care.

I put the piece of paper on the nightstand where I knew she'd see it when she woke up and left the room. Dr. Lee was waiting for me in the living room when I came out.

The drive wasn't too bad since it was early on a Sunday morning but it did surprise me just how far the dorms were from where I had lived previously. The dorm itself was a four story red brick building. In fact, it didn't stand out at all, it looked to nondescript.

    "Are you sure this is it?" Dr. Lee asked me while he both looked at the building.

    "Let me go see," I started to get out of the car.

    "I'll go with you--"

    "No, no," he stopped unbuckling his seat belt. "It's okay, I'll just go see if Chan Min is inside," I smiled a bright smile. If he came in now and Chan Min wasn't there, he'd insist on waiting with me and I knew very well Chan Min wasn't in there. "I'll be right back."

    "You sure," he asked dubiously.

    "Of course," I nodded and got out of the car. I hoped he stay put.

I opened the front doors and walked into a small foyer. There was a small wooden bench on the right side with a miserable looking bush sitting next to it. Straight ahead was a glass windows with small opening for passing things across the barrier and a disheveled looking man sitting behind it wearing a gray t-shirt. If his red hair wasn't a dead give away, the very English "Good Morning" he said  told me he wasn't Korean. He had thick glasses on and looked to be in his thirties. I walked up to the barrier and gave the guy a smile.

    "Good morning," he smiled back. "Are these the dorms for the Educational Student Exchange?"

    "Sure is, how can I help you," he asked me nicely.

    "Let me tell my driver that we found the place, I'll be right back," I told him and went back to Dr. Lee who'd gotten out of the car and was leaning against it waiting for me.

   "Is this the place," he asked me.

    "Yes, thank you for the ride Dr-Abeonim!" I bowed to him and hoped he took the hint and left.

    "Will you be ok, Lily," he asked as he walked around the car and towards me. I had to hide my disappointment.

    "Of course, Abeonim." I lied but nevertheless I kept the bright smile on my face. "They give me an allowance and school starts on tomorrow, I'll be taken care of here." Did I sound reassuring enough?

    "You just remember that our house is always open," he clapped me on the shoulder and waited until I nodded before he got back into his car and drove away.

My shoulders slumped and I felt relieved. This was the first time I was alone in two days and some unknown tension I didn't even realize I was carrying just flowed out of me. I took my first big breath in as many days and went back inside.

    "Sorry about that, I'm Lily Smith, I know I'm early but I'm moving into the dorms today. I'm meeting Chan Min at one," I told the guy behind the window.

     "Ahh, yeah I recognize the name. It's nice to meet you Lily, I'm Ryan. Do you want me to call Chan Min and tell him you're here?" He already started reaching for the phone and I stopped him.

    "No, I'll be back at the scheduled time, I have some errands to run before then anyway. Um, do you know where the nearest cellular service store is?" I asked thinking about my list of priorities.

     "Unfortunately, I do not. I'm sorry," and he genuinely looked apologetic.

    "That's alright," I said. "I'll be back."

    "Ok, I'm only scheduled until noon, after that Derek will be here," he informed me.

    "Thanks!"

~~~

Three hours later and I still hadn't found a cellular service store but I did find a few places that were looking for workers. Just menial work but two of the three places required day hours and the third place, well it wasn't a job I relished. It was at a gentlemen's after hours bar but luckily the position was for maintenance so I'd most likely be a janitor that cleaned after closing. I told them I was interested and they told me to stop by tomorrow when the boss was in to see about the job. I kept looking but either no one wanted a high school student working for them or a high school foreigner working for them which made being my situation even more difficult.

As far as getting the necessities, I found a convenience store that sold travel sized toothbrushes and toothpaste for relatively cheap. I also bought a travel-size bottle of detergent so I could at least wash the clothes I already had. I walked back to the dorms and sat on the bench while waiting for Chan Min to show up. It was about twenty minutes later when a brown haired kid walked up to me.

    "Are you Lily Smith?" He asked.

    "Ah, yeah," I admitted hesitantly.

    "Hi, I'm Derek. I'm the Educational Service's student representative. Chan Min called and said he'd be late. He said I should show you to your room," he said. He was tall, I thought, as I crinked my neck to look at him. He was tall and had bright blue eyes. His hair was long enough to cover his forehead and be pushed behind his ears. I stood up and took a step back.

     "Ah, thanks," I said lamely. He was wearing a black, long-sleeved shirt and jeans and...hot pink sneakers? I couldn't contain a chuckle.

     "Dormitory prank, don't worry, these aren't mine." He laughed with me and wiggled his toes which made the top of the shoe ripple.

     "Too bad, I thought they matched your pants nicely," I teased

     "Well I do like to be stylish," he said and then gestured with his hand to follow him. We headed towards a door I hadn't noticed earlier. "I'll show you around the building before taking you to your room, ok?"

     "Sure," I shrugged, as we walked up a flight of stairs.

    "Well you saw the foyer, looks grand, I know. The second floor is the commons area," he said while he pulled open the second floor door. "Here you'll find the vending machines, a pool table, ping-pong, and a table soccer that no one plays," he pointed to a decrepit looking foosetable sitting in the corner that looked like it had seen better days. The room itself was fairly large and open; there were a few couches stationed around a small TV and the vending machines were strewn around the room.  There was one student laying on her stomach on the couch reading from some sort of a textbook.  "That's Anna, she's our resident over-achiever. She's from Sweden. She's a good kid."

    "Kid? Why do you say it like you're so much older than the rest of us," I asked him.

    "Well I'm one of three seniors here, everyone else is either a freshman or a sophmore. Anna, over there, is a freshman. Oh, we do have one junior," he tacked on idly. "Speaking of, what are you?"

    "I guess I'm your fourth senior," I told him.

    "Ahhh, another senior in the house, the dorm might not be large enough for the four of us," he joked.

    "Better watch your back then," another guy said from behind Derek has he nudged Derek's shoulder as he walked past.

    "Same to you, Bromo," Derek said back to him.

    "Who's this lass?" Bromo turned his icy gray eyes on me. He was relatively large but not in the sense that he was fat. He was solid muscle, the kind of muscle that makes you think he's compensating for something. His hair was cut short, too long to be called a buzz cut but close. He had an diamond stud in one ear and a chain around his neck that was tucked into his sleeveless tank.

    "This is Lily, she's our newest senior. Lily this is Bromo," Derek introduced us.

    "Not really, the name is Brian but this dude started called me Bromo--short for Brother from another Mother," Brian chuckled.

    "Hello," I bowed out of habit which earned me an all out laugh from Brian.

    "No need to do that Korean shit here," Brian waved it off and I had to hold back my annoyance. I could already tell that Brian was an arrogant person and earned him no points with me.

    "By the way, when did you get here," Derek asked and I'm sure my face showed my confusion. "Korea, I mean."

    "Three years ago," I told him.

    "What?" Brian and Derek asked in unison and I would have laughed except Brian's arrogant attitude had put me in a not-so-joking mood.

    "Yeah, I moved to Korea three years ago. Could you show me to my room now," I asked as pointedly as I could. I just wanted to be alone and Brian's presence made me uncomfortable.

    "Ah, yeah, sure," Derek waved to Brian and we started walking away. "Hey, don't let Brian get to you, he's a good guy. Not always subtle though," Derek said as he took me through a door and down a hallway that eventually lead to what looked to be the kitchen area. It was relatively small for a cafeteria and held only four tables that sat 12 people at max. There was a small buffet like serving area and a few trash bins around the room. The bottom half of the room was designed with baby yellow tiles while the top half of the room was painted a plain white. It kind of gave the room a sickly look and I hated it.

    “This is where we eat, it serves breakfast and dinner, lunch on the weekends when we’re not in school but,” he made a pained face. “Don’t expect gourmet. The food is edible but not by much.”

I only nodded because I just wanted out of the room. The sickly glow was making my stomach clench uncomfortably. He nodded and we left after that. He led us back through the commons area to a door on the opposite end.

    “The buses pick us up at the front doors around six forty-five in the morning, don’t miss them because the administration will have your ass otherwise. Attendance is very important to the program directors, I wouldn’t mess with it.” Derek warned.

We walked two more flights of stairs until we reached the top level. "The third floor is reserved for the boys and this," he pulled on the handle of the door to open it. "Is this girls's floor." 

Because I had never seen the inside of a dorm before I had no idea what to expect but somehow the sheer lack of noise was somewhat unsettling. I had seen movies with dorms and they always seemed so active but when we reached the fourth floor landing, there was just…nothing. We went out into a small entry way where there were two cabinets. One cabinet held small holes for shoes which were labeled by name and the other cabinet held slippers that were also labeled by names. A majority of the slippers remained in their cubby holes while the cabinet for street shoes was fairly empty.

    “This is where you’d leave your shoes and switch to slippers but no one ever really does,” Derek informed me as he took a step towards the sliding door that lead out of the entry way.

    “Why not,” I asked as I slipped my shoes off and purposefully put them in an empty cubby hole with no name to it. I also pulled out a pair of slippers and put them on. It was obvious from the first moment that these slippers had rarely been used, if at all. I hadn’t liked Brian’s attitude from downstairs and it made me defensive of Korea’s culture.

    “I guess people just aren’t used to the idea, I mean. It’s not really normal for us,” Derek scratched the back of his neck and looked a little sheepish.

    “Well I would think that people who are hoping to teach in this country would be a little more open to experiencing the new culture,” I said and even to my own ears I knew I sounded snobby.

    “Look, I’m sorry for what Bromo said downstairs,” Derek’s shoulders slumped and I felt bad. “He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

    “No, I’m sorry,” Derek was just trying to be polite and I was chewing him to bits. “It’s been a rough couple of days for me, I’m sorry.”

    “So, can I ask you something?” Derek asked hesitantly.

    “You mean besides that question,” I teased and it earned me a chuckle.

    “Why do they wear slippers?” As he asked, he took off his shoes and replaced them with slippers.

    “Let me ask you a better question,” I hooked hands in my backpack straps because I didn’t know what else to do with them. “Do you wear shoes inside your home?”

    “Well no, but—“

    “It’s pretty much as simple as that. Koreans don’t necessarily always wear slippers but the point is, you don’t bring dirty shoes inside a clean house. They sometimes wear slippers just to keep their feet warm. Most Korean houses don’t have carpet so feet can get quite chilly,” I said.

    “That makes sense,” He nodded and actually looked like he was thinking about the simplicity of the slippers.

    “How long have you been here,” I asked, thinking maybe he’d only been here for a semester.

    “I’ve been here for about five months,” he smiled and looked like he was proud of that. I, on the other hand, was flabbergasted that he didn’t know the significance of the slippers, something that was very common.

    “Five months,” I repeated, still shocked. “Do you not have any Korean friends?”

    “I mean, I talk to people at school but I guess not really. I mostly hang out with people at the dorms,” he admitted.

    “That’s a shame,” I didn’t want to sound pompous and I was already well on my way to sounding like a know-it-all so I decided to keep my mouth shut after that. I really just wanted to get to my room and shut everyone out.

Derek nervously chuckled after that and immediately showed me the rest of the dorm. The floor was built like a rectangle with the bathrooms in the center and the rooms surrounding it. The bathroom itself was fairly large with several toilets and six showers and although it was empty at the moment, I wondered how busy it got in the mornings. I’d have to carve out a scheduled time to shower when no one was really around. The floor itself held 12 rooms with two people in each room and in one of the corner rooms was the floor captain. Derek said he’d introduce me to her a little later, she could get quite grumpy if woken up before her alarm on the weekends.

    “Normally, if she’s not sleeping or studying, she’ll have her door open so anyone can enter if there are issues but when the door is shut, it’s best to leave her alone,” he turned around and walked a little ways down the hall. “And here is your room, number 412.”

He knocked on the door and waited. It was only a few seconds before a quiet “come in” came from the other side. Derek took out a key from his pocket and opened the door.

The first thing I noticed was that the room was small, claustrophically small, in fact. There were two bunk beds that were lined up against the walls across from each other. Under one bed was a futon and the other held a very small, portable TV. There were two built-in desks that sat across from each other and opposite the door was a window. At first I didn’t see anyone inside but finally a saw the comforter on the bed to my left move slightly and I knew that the person must have been up here.

    “Emily, your new roommate is here,” Derek announced and leaned against the door jam.

    “Yeah, and?” A voice said from beneath the comforter. “I’m trying to sleep.”

    “Emily, Lily, Lily, Emily,” Derek said half-heartedly. The girl beneath the covers sighed rather obnoxiously and sat up in bed. She had long blond hair that seemed to move like silk so it had to have been very fine. Just by her face I could tell she was slim despite the bulking sweater she was wearing. She was pretty, I thought, but that was before she opened her mouth.

    “Hi, Lily, I’m Emily. It’s nice to meet you, there are two rules in this room,” She said without preamble. “First, you and me, we’re not friends. Second, you and me, we’ll never be friends. Got it?”

Whoa! What I wouldn’t give to have Mae Ri here, she would have—I stopped that train of thought. Mae Ri wasn’t here because I hadn’t wanted her to be here which reminded me that my phone was still shut off and I couldn’t even call her if I’d wanted too. Not…that I wanted too, I told myself.

    “Come on, Em, don’t be like that,” Derek said beside me and it brought me back to the present.

    “No, it’s alright. Hello Emily, I’m Lily. I think we’re going to get along just fine.” I told her in my sweetest voice.

    “What,” she looked taken aback.

    “I don’t want to be your friend and I don’t need to be your friend, I have friends of my own. So let’s just agree to mind our own business and get through this semester. Sound like a plan,” I asked confidently.

I think she wanted to smile because the corner of her mouth twitched but instead she nodded her head once and flounced back and went back to sleep.

    “Ok then,” Derek said and handed the key to me. “Talk about an uneasy tru—“

    “Ah, here you are Lily,” someone said from behind me. I turned around and saw Chan Min walking towards the room.

    “Oh, Annyeonghaseyo, Chan Min-ssi,” I said and bowed politely.

    “Thank you Derek for showing Lily around, Lily I’m sorry that I was late,” Chan Min said in English.

    “Animnida, gwanchanayo,” I replied in Korean, I didn’t care if it was rude to Derek or not. I had the sudden need to set myself apart from these people.

    “Have you met your roommate yet?” Chan Min asked me in Korean and pointedly looked into the room.

    “Yes, she seems great,” I lied.

    “Ah good, good,” He nodded happily. “Where’s your stuff, is it downstairs yet? Do you need help?”

    “Ahh, no, it’s-it’s just me and this,” I pulled on the strap of my backpack awkwardly.

Chan Min looked at me and the backpack solemnly, “Ah, geuroguna*.”

    “Actually, Chin Min-ssi, I have a question,” I said but I looked pointedly at Derek. I doubt he’d understood a word we’d said by the utter confusion on his face as he’d looked between Chan Min and I but I still didn’t feel like asking for money in front of him either.

    “Why don’t we head downstairs first, you can leave your bag up here, if you’d like. “ Chan Min said. I thought about it for two seconds before I opted to take the bag with me because one: I wasn’t entirely sure Emily wouldn’t look through my stuff and two: since I had no reason to go back to that room other than to sleep tonight, I decided it should stay with me anyway.

    “Thanks for showing me around,” I told Derek and followed Chan Min towards the stairway.

***

I was dreading this conversation the whole way down the stairs and I honestly didn’t know how Chan Min would take it. If I’d had any other choice, I would never have asked for money at all but my father had left me with nothing and I’d already used most of what I had on the necessities I’d bought earlier. We reached the common area which had filled with a few more students but was still relatively empty. Chan Min ushered me towards the quietest area of the lounge which garnered us a few curious looks but everyone stayed away, thankfully.

    “What did you want to ask me?” Chan Min asked once I sat down.

    “I know this is going to sound bad but, I honestly have no other choice,” I started. “The allowance that is given to the students in the program, is—is there anyway I could get it now?”

    “What happened, Lily?” Chan Min asked me quietly.

    “What—what do you mean,” I asked even though I knew what he was asking.

    “What I mean is, you don’t seem to have any of the items on the list of things you could bring to the dorms, so what happened? Did you just not want to take them on the bus?” He asked me gently.

    “No,” I looked down at my hands that kept twisting in my lap. “There was a situation with my dad and—and I don’t have any of it.”

He was quiet for a few moments before he responded, “Do you have clothes?”

    “No,” I thought I couldn’t feel any more shame than I had yesterday but apparently I was wrong. This spiraling descent into shame and embarrassment seemed to be never-ending.

    “So it’s safe to assume since you’re asking me for money, that you have none, right?”

    “Yes,” I admitted.

    “You don’t have your uniform for tomorrow, do you?”

    “No,” I felt like someone had carved out my insides and left me hollow.

    “Do you want to tell me what happened?” Chan Min asked me kindly but I certainly didn’t want his kindness.

    “No,” I answered.

He nodded as if he expected that and when I looked up he didn’t seem angry. “Well, let’s get going then.”

This took me by surprise, “What?”

    “You can’t go to school without the uniform and if I’m going to give you that allowance, I need to stop by an ATM,” he stood up abruptly and started towards the door. When I still hadn’t moved he turned back around. “Are you not coming?”

    “Yes,” I jolted upright. “I’m coming.”

***

Jong Hwa…

My body felt stiff when I woke up but that didn’t surprise me after the restless night I’d had. It’d taken me hours to finally get to sleep and even then I could barely get comfortable. When I finally admitted it was time to wake up, I’d noticed that Ji Soo was no longer in the bedroom.

I got up and made my way towards the kitchen but the voices had me stopping in my tracks.

    “'Take care', what does that mean? Is that a good bye?” Mae Ri asked tearfully from the kitchen.

    “I don’t know,” Ji Soo said quietly. “Have you tried calling her?”

    “Her phone is disconnected,” Mae Ri said.

This last bit of news had me running into the kitchen. Ji Soo and Mae Ri jumped back in surprise; Mae Ri had a slip of paper in her hand that she tried unsuccessfully to hide behind her back.

    “What is that,” I demanded.

    “Jong Hwa,” Ji Soo tried to distract me.

    “No, what is that,” I demanded again and held my hand out for Mae Ri to give it to me.

    “Mae Ri,” Ji Soo nodded towards my hand to indicate she should give me the paper and she did after a moments hesitation.

I read it twice and it still didn’t make sense. Was Lily really saying good bye? “Where’s Lily?”

    “I called Dad at the clinic, he said he’d taken Lily to the dorms this morning to meet someone,” Ji Soo told me.

    “She wasn’t suppose to meet him until this afternoon, why did she leave so early or wake any of us up?”

    “I don’t know,” Ji Soo said and clamped a hand down on my shoulder. “But I think maybe its best that she went alone. She needs time to think about things.”

    “No, she shouldn’t be alone, she should—“

    “Jong Hwa, listen to me. She’s fine,” he said. “She’s probably embarrassed, she’s tired, and she needs time so let her have her time.”

    “Ji Soo’s right, Jong Hwa,” Mae Ri spoke up.

    “You said her phone was disconnected,” I remembered.

    “Well I can’t be sure but it doesn’t bring me to voicemail any more like it used too,” Mae Ri informed me and dialed Lily’s number and put it on speaker phone.

    “The number you are trying to reach is no longer available, please hang up and—“

Mae Ri hung up the phone and the room was quiet.

    “You don’t think her father would disconnect her phone do you,” I looked at the two of them.

    “Her father shut the door in her face and left her with no money, clothes or even her toothbrush, I don’t think he’d have any problems disconnecting her phone if it meant punishing her.” Ji Soo admitted.

    “So what are we going to do,” Mae Ri asked desperately.

I could feel Lily slipping between my fingers and I didn’t know how to stop it.

    “We ride out the storm,” Ji Soo said. “Isn’t that the saying? ‘Ride out the storm’ and we help her in any way we can but first, we give her space to figure things out. She’s safe, that’s all we can do for now.”

Not for the first time, I was glad that Ji Soo was my friend because without him I’d be going crazy right now looking for Lily. And to a certain extent, Ji Soo was right. She had a place to live, she started school tomorrow, she’d be taken care of long enough for the rest of us to figure out what to do. In the meantime, I needed to calm myself down because otherwise I’d be no help to Lily and right now, she needed all the help she could get.  

To Be Continued...

***

*Joheun Achim: Literal Terms - Joheun = Good, Achim = Morning so "Good Morning"

*Geuroguna: "I see"