coffee prince

Prologue An indigo car of foreign make pulled up in front of the store. Mr. Hong, who had just opened the cafe, stopped his mopping and watched as a man in a beige leather jacket stepped out of the car. "Wouldja take a look at his fashion? And damn, that's a nice car." He had just thought to himself that the man couldn't possibly have any business around here when the man looked toward the store. No, more like glared at the store. The man looked at the shoddy sign and the plastic rose-patterned curtains covering the windows and made a face as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "What, too tacky for you?" Mr. Hong's efforts at scowling failed to give the effect of a mean eye. Time and age had pulled his eyelids down to the effect of a southern Mongoloid. Like a hush puppy. "Stop gawking, will ya? Giving me the creeps. Shoo, shoo. I won't sell you no coffee, see if I do." As Mr. Hong muttered to himself, the man made a condescending face and shook his head. His expression near shouted, 'I'd rather drink cheap vending machine coffee at a bus station than drink the coffee they sell here.' Even so, the man walked toward the store. He stopped to read the 'Help Wanted' sign posted on the front glass door before stepping in. You want to work here? You? No way. Not at your age. "We're not open yet," —was what Mr. Hong was about to say, but before he had the chance, he had to squint his eyes. Maybe it was because the man had his back turned to the sunlight, but it seemed that there was a bright halo behind the man's head. It was so dazzling that Mr. Hong couldn't look at him properly. He missed his chance to speak, and before he knew it, the man had already taken a seat at a table by the window. "Coffee, please." "Oh, of course." It was reflex. 'Damn it, that's not what I meant to say...' thought Mr. Hong as he walked into the kitchen. The cuckoo clock hanging on the wall started chiming. 11 o'clock. Now he couldn't even say that the store wasn't open yet. After all, the sign on the door did say, "Opening time: 11 o'clock." The man was a sophisticated dandy boy rarely seen in that neighborhood. He was very clean cut and handsome. Twenty-seven? Twenty-eight? He was looking out the window with his long legs crossed. His facial features were rather sharp and cold, but he carried a rather swaggering air about him. The fabric of his pants looked like they were better fit to make women's scarves than men's pants, and his leather jacket clung to his body as if it were his skin. Not only that, but the width of the pants at the thighs looked like they were less than six inches wide. How the hell do his legs fit through that? What is he, a freak? I don't know what's with the world these days. You call that a man's leg? Damn pansy. Mr. Hong moved his chubby roly-poly of a body to serve coffee. He set the cup in front of the dandy boy. "Enjoy." Dandy Boy didn't even look up. From up close, he smelled like perfume.

"What kind of a man..." thought Mr. Hong as he wrinkled his nose. Just then he felt the man's gaze and flinched. He quickly put on a smile, but Dandy Boy was looking past him toward the back. He was looking at the kitchen, the wall, the floor. He made the same expression as when he was outside the store. What is this, a pigpen? A stable? was what his eyes said. So what? What's it to you? Stop gawking, boy. If you're a customer, just act like one and drink your coffee and get out of here. What do you think you're doing, gaping around here like that? Hey! Who do you think you are, to give me a once-over? I'm the owner! What do you keep staring for? What, you like my style, do ya? Mr. Hong was brought out of his silent and petulant reverie by something that sparkled. Around one of Dandy Boy's hands, the one stretched out to lift the cup, was a shining watch. Mr. Hong, who had planned to go back to the kitchen, approached the man as if pulled toward him by some force. "Uh... It doesn't... seem... like you're from around... here... ..." The watch, which emanated a white gold light, was of famous Swiss make. Mr. Hong recognized the brand, even though he'd only ever heard about. Mr. Hong couldn't help but be a bit humbled. "Did you come here to meet someone?" "Yes. Aren't there any other employees?" asked Dandy Boy, turning the cup with the edge of his fingers. "Oh, yea, there was, but he quit some time ago. That's why the sign's up over there. Looking for a part-timer." By "some time ago," Mr. Hong meant eight months ago. There was a part-timer who ended up quitting because business was so bad. In fact, business was so bad that Mr. Hong could work all by himself and still have time left to kill, and it was difficult anyhow just to pay the rent. So he put the store on the market, but there had only been dead silence for two months. Finally, a few days ago, someone had claimed the store and signed the contract, but Mr. Hong hadn't yet told this to his family. Roadside snack wagon, my ass. In all 39 years of my life, I've never done anything else but sell coffee. "So, you clean the store, make the coffee, serve the coffee, and receive the money? All by yourself?" "I've got to. What else could I do? Do you know how hard it is to find a hard-working, honest parttimer these days?" "You're quite the multi-tasker." "Ha ha, I do have quite a variety of talents," laughed Mr. Hong awkwardly. "So, did you study coffee-making somewhere?" What, you need a certificate to make coffee? "I didn't study it anywhere, but I do have a lot of experience. I worked part-time at a coffee shop all through college. It's more familiar to me than my major was. Ha ha." "How long have you had this store?"

"Third year this year. Location's not too good." "So you knew that. Location's not the only thing at fault, though, is it? What was that idiom about the carpenter blaming his chisel..." The hell are you saying, boy? "I passed some pretty big buildings on my way here." "Yea, last year some banks and stock companies set up shop around here. But what good did that do? That Bucks and Seattle there killed the field. Not only that, but that huge supermarket just totally shat on the small businesses nearby. See, this is what's wrong with our country. Shouldn't the people support small businesses first? Only then can the commoners' economy thrive, and only when the commoners' economy thrives can our national soccer team make it to the Sweet Sixteen, don't you think so? After all, the most important body part, be it man or country, is the lower back, don't you think? Ha ha ha!" Dandy Boy did not laugh. Mr. Hong was embarrassed. Dandy turned the cup another revolution with his fingertips, then inspected the saucer, the coaster, the teaspoon, and the cubed sugar by turn. Then, he lifted his cup as if sampling wine. Mr. Hong killed his breath, nervous for some reason. He didn't know why his chest felt like it was shrinking into itself. He found himself staring at Dandy Boy's lips. He knew it was strange to stare, but he couldn't tear his gaze away. Dandy Boy was barely wetting his lips with the coffee. Mr. Hong wanted to ask, "How do you like it?" but the words crawled back down his throat. Dandy was wincing. He took it away from his lips and then tried another small gulp, and then slammed the cup down on the table as if he never wanted to see it again. What the hell's the matter with you? Mr. Hong started to get pissed. If nothing else, he prided himself on brewing a decent cup of coffee. "Does the flavor not agree with your?" Mr. Hong forced a smile. "Tastes like boiled maple leaves." "Huh?" "I suppose if you boil them long enough, it'd turn this color, right?" said Dandy Boy with no expression. That pissed Mr. Hong off even more. Just then the door was flung open. "Ahjussi! Have you seen En Se?" The kid who had run in gasping and sweating was En Chan. "Haven't seen her. Why?" "Ah, damn it! I'm gonna go crazy! Where the hell is this damn girl hiding? You sure she didn't come here?" "Why are you lookin' for En Se here? What, you think this is some kind of youth protection center or somethin'?" snapped Mr. Hong, who was still pissed off. But En Chan was too excited to notice his ill mood.

"Aaargh! Stupid kid. Where the hell am I going to find her?" "What is it this time?" "She skipped class to go to some kind of audition. Goddamn it! Just you get caught! I'll introduce her face to the toilet!" The kid's voice rang like a construction site overseer's after one too many drinks. "That reckless kid even ran off with a teacher's shoes! She's saying she only borrowed it, but who'll believe that? If you run off with something without telling, that's stealing. She's gonna learn a lesson this time!" "Yea, well, the whole world knows if Ko En Se's got anything, she's got guts." "Damn, where does she come from anyway! I mean, I know it's pretty strange that I myself came out of my mother's womb, but it's a damn world wonder that she did. If she wants something, she just loses her mind. Even so, sneaking into the teacher's lounge to take a teacher's shoes.... Damn!" Mr. Hong was getting swept away by En Chan's excitement. "Why don't you try going to the place where the auditions are? Wouldn't she be there?" "I just came from there! Grrr!!!" En Chan stomped inside the store wearing a jumper over a Taekwondo practice suit. Even though it was almost March, it was still snowing in the early hours of the morning, and the wind was chilly. Even so, En Chan's forehead was shining with sweat. En Chan bent down to the faucet and drank the water straight from the tap. After gulping it down and burping, En Chan hand went up to wipe the mouth. "Her audition number was 1 so she went first. Apparenly, it was a total shit-show. I have no idea why that kid who sings perfectly fine at home always messes up at auditions. It sounds like she's chanting Buddhist mantras or something. They said she gave up halfway through and ran out in despair. Her friend ran to get her, but couldn't find her." "She's a real handful, that one." "Anyway, if you see her, hit me up right away. Even if you have to break her legs, keep her here, ok?" "Well, I don't know if I'll be able to restrain her, but I'll try." "Ok, thanks." En Chan ran out before Mr. Hong could even respond. Even after En Chan's departure, the store vibrated with the energy and excitement En Chan had brought in. "That kid...." Mr. Hong knew that behind those tough words, En Chan cared about En Se, and that that was the reason behind the frantic search. Wanting to be of some help, Mr. Hong considered calling up the PC Cafe En Se frequented. But then again, En Chan had probably checked there, too.... Suddenly the door flung open again. "Hey, mister, you were looking for a part-timer?" Mr. Hong looked at En Chan, who he thought had already left." "Huh? Oh... yea...." "You should've told me earlier! Didn't you know I was looking for a part-time job?"

Suddenly, color began to circulate in En Chan's face. Black eyes twinkled in a white face. En Chan's attitude was tough and reckless, sure, but En Chan's face, at least, was that of a total pretty boy. There wasn't a single girl in the neighborhood schools who didn't know about Ko En Chan. They would crowd around the Taekwondo dojo door, even taking numbers just to get a glimpse. The kid's popularity bordered on ridiculousness. "What's this? What's up with these qualifications? ' 5'9'' minimum height '? hmm... close 'nuff. Still growing, you see. I haven't checked recently, but I'm probably somewhere around 5'8''. It's ok if I round up, right?" "Uh, yea. Listen—" " 'Hot bods, hot faces, welcome.' " En Chan's face rotated under Mr. Hong's eyes as if they were cameras. "You have heard, I presume, that I was voted Hottest Face nine weeks straight on some website, right?" "I have heard that, yes." "You've heard it because it's true. Even if it was three years ago." En Chan kept reading the advertisement posted on the glass door line by line. " 'Killer smiles, angelic smiles, welcome.' That's easy. Next. ' Popular with older women, welcome welcome welcome' Check. Ha ha, what is this? 'Must have special talent,' 'Must not have girlfriend,'? What's the point in being so picky? Hey mister, you setting up a talent agency? You trying to raise yourself some celebrities?" "N-no... It's not like that..." Actually, the content of the ad had been sent to Mr. Hong via e-mail from the new owner of the store. En Chan incredulously read off the list of qualifications. When he had first received it, Mr. Hong had been just as flabbergasted as En Chan was right now. He had also thought the same thing. What is this, a talent agency? "Five dollars an hour. Wh-what? Really? Lunch, dinner, AND five bucks an hour? Woah! That's, like, twice what I get now! Mister, hire me, will you? I'll start tomorrow, even! Please? Please?" "Hey hey hey, take a closer look there. Only hiring me- " "In other words, I've gotta be a total stud. Hmm... This job was made for me." Mr. Hong was at a loss for words. It said on the ad in black and white that the new owner was only looking for men. Did En Chan never look in the mirror after taking a bath? It was almost sad how a twenty-four year-old girl could still be so confused about her own identity. It might even be that she really thought she was a man. "Business must sure be pretty bad, huh? You're starting to use some strange methods." "That's not my ad." "Huh? Then whose it is? A different store?" En Chan suddenly gave Mr. Hong a piercing stare as she sidled up to him. She squinted her eyes and whispered, "A host bar, perhaps?"

"Hey, don't go spouting nonsense. Do they give out five an hour at a host bar?" "Well, I meant, you know, five an hour as a cover, you know? As in, not including tips..." "Why, would you rather work at a host bar?" a snide voice chimed in. Startled, Mr. Hong and En Chan's heads snapped up and turned toward the Dandy Boy. He was arrogantly lounging in the chair. He uncrossed his legs and stood up. He straightened his body as if to reinforce his height and walked toward them. "Aa....aaaarrggh!!!" En Chan suddenly roared like King Kong, and Mr. Hong, whose ear had unfortunately been directly under her mouth, fell backwards onto his rear. His heart pounded and his ears rang. A pallid En Chan was staring at the Dandy Boy. Then she said incredulously, "P-pervert c-cabbage slug man?" Dandy Boy's eyes suddenly grew violent. Then, with an expression that could not be distinguished between a sneer and a glare, he came toward her. "What's with the practice suit? Are you demonstrating your 'superior physical strength' in street shows these days?" "What? You son of a--" "Or is that a flunky uniform?" En Chan's two clenched fist came up. Twin fires burned in her eyes, and it seemed she would kick out with her foot at any second. Even Mr. Hong could understand why. How dare he call the dignified suit of a Taekwondo master a flunky uniform? That man sure has a way with words. "Ha, pretty cute, aren't you? Your form's not bad, either." "Whatever are you doing here, young master, sir? Don't your holy feet hurt if they walk on such crude and un-carpeted floors?" sneered En Chan. The man didn't blink an eye at this un-En Chan-like behavior. "It's all right, I'm wearing particularly excellent shoes. Shoes so expensive you probably couldn't own them if you died and came back to life. But shoes aside, you've been glaring at me for some time now. Hey, kid, relax those eyes, why don't you?" "You got a problem? You want to go?" "Go? Go where? The market? The playground? Don't fool yourself, kid. If you want to get a part-time job, you'd better fix those eyes, you little leech." "What!" Dandy Boy sneered and turned to Mr. Hong. "I'm Choi Han Kyul. I signed the contract a few days ago." "Oh... yes...." Mr. Hong found himself shaking hands with the man. Then it finally hit him as he watched Dandy Boy walk toward the kitchen. The name that the man who had come to sign the contract in the owner's stead had written was Choi Han Kyul.

"What? What's up with this, mister? What's that pervert cabbage slug saying?" "Huh? Oh, yea... I think he's saying he's the owner of this store..." "Whaaat? Ha! What a riot. That idiot's probably still experiencing jet lag or something." "Well, I did sell the store." "M-mister!! You're kidding... right?!??"

Chapter 1 One Month Earlier: En Chan's 25th Hour < Part 1 > 7:50 PM – En Chan Buys Meat Flowers are flowers and trees are trees, but this is pretty confusing. Are you a flower or a tree? En Chan was gazing intently through the glass window at a painting. Sunflowers were standing in two neat rows, and a mother and child were walking between them holding hands. You know, I've already counted all of you seven years ago. There's seventy-two of you guys. But is that seventy-two flowers or seventy-two trees? That's what so confusing. There was a loud clanking sound. The meat shop had finally opened its doors. “Heyyyy, Mister Ku, you were there?” wheedled En Chan as she dragged her flip-flops into the store. The distinct fragrance of a meat shop wafted into her nose. Drool began to form in her mouth. En Chan's eyes darted around as she approached the counter. She kept her gaze, flashing with greedy lust, glued on the glass cover of the display counter. The eyes that had rationally appraised the sunflowers were now emanating a visceral, wild look. As soon as she saw the deep red of the raw meat, adrenaline began to pump through her veins. “Did everything go well? You said you had to take care of something.” The butcher replied with a sullen look as he continued to sharpen his knives. “What was the thing you had to do anyway?” “....” “It seems like the bacon meat's not selling well these days, huh mister?” En Chan is, as some would say, a pork maniac. Just by looking at raw meat, she could see images of their respective dishes in her head. Pork cutlet, salty boiled pork, sweet and sour pork in orange sauce... Whenever she looked at pork ribs, she found herself grinding her teeth. Not only was her appetite strong, but she could also conjure up images of food in less than a second. “You want bacon?” “Naw, just give me some meat off the front legs. I'm going to make kimchee stew.”

The kimchee stew was, in fact, already boiling in En Chan's head. The proportionally cut kimchee, the pork meat with just the right amount of fat attached, all of this went into a thick broth and merrily bubbled and simmered. En Chan, who was swallowing the saliva that had been building up in her mouth, noticed that something was off-kilter and raised her head. Mr. Ku was being too quiet. He was sitting on the edge of the room's threshold staring blankly at the meat in the glass display case. She studied his round meatball face. He looked deflated and shriveled. A bruised meatball, then. “Hey, mister, what's the matter? Did something happen?” Mr. Ku, who had been staring vacantly at the meat replied in a tired voice. “Hey, En Chan, when you look at all this meat, what do you think about?” “Meat, you say?” “Yea.” “What kind of meat? This? The shanks?” “No, just in general.” “Beef as well as pork?” “Stop kidding around and answer the question.” “Even pig's feet and cow tails?” “No! Just, just, meat! Meat in general!” shouted Mr. Ku suddenly. En Chan, who had been joking around until then threw a startled look at the butcher. But she soon recovered and jovially said as she smiled, “Hey, what're you yelling for? Calm down, relax. It's not good for your blood pressure. Look, your face is already turning red.” “Forget it. Forget it! You haven't got a sincere bone in your body. That's why you're still living like that!” “Hey, don't get all sulky now. What's the matter? Did swine cholera break out somewhere again?” “I said drop it. What could I possibly talk to you about? Just drop it.” “Tsk tsk, let's not get all shy and sulky. Just tell me what's the matter.” “You're not understanding what I'm saying is the matter! Just meat! Meat in general! MEAT!” “Yea, meat! That's why I asked earlier. What kind of meat? Sirloin or ribs? I've gotta know if I'm gonna answer.” “Arrrgh!” An incensed Mr. Ku started pulling out the meat platters from the display case and slamming them onto the counter top. The perky meat danced and jiggled on top of the trays. En Chan was dumbstruck. As she watched, she began to get heated as well. What the hell is this guy doing?

“If I say meat in general, you should understand that I'm saying meat in general! Hind legs are meat too, aren't they? Who says only sirloin and ribs are meat!” Mr. Ku began to stab the sirloin and ribs with his fingers. And every time he did, En Chan's eyes grew wider and wider and her breath grew more and more ragged. This guy is going too far! Why's he ruining perfectly good meat?! Who's gonna eat that?! Those dirty fingernails went in nearly all the way! How was he going to sell THAT? Then a thought came to her that brought her peace immediately. He can't sell it. If he does, he's got no conscience. But, it'd be a shame to throw it out, so if he asks me to, I could bring myself to take it. It'd probably be all right if I grill it. But still! What's the big idea, abusing meat that so reverently offered itself up to be eaten? “No matter how expensive, Hanwoo brand beef is still the same meat, and so's Kobe beef! Do you get it, kid? Now, I'm asking you, what do you think about when you see this meat?!” “Meat is meat. What is there to think about?” “Of course there there's something to think about, you idiot!” “I-idiot?” En Chan was momentarily incensed. “Hey! Who you calling idiot? When I look at meat, all I can think about it how much I want to eat it. What else is there to think about, huh?” “Wow, for a girl, you've got no emotions, have you?” “What does this have to do with being a girl? You dried up old geezer bachelor!” “You little pig! You got a problem with that? You got a problem with me being an old geezer bachelor?” “Right back at you! You got a problem with me being born a girl?” “You're a girl who can't even stand up for herself when people call you a guy, you moron.” “It gets tiring after a while, all right? It's not like it happens just once or twice, it's every day! Having to explain every single time.... Damn it! You know what I mean! What's wrong with you?” “You secretly enjoy it, don't you.” “What? Secretly enjoy what?” “You secretly enjoy people mistaking you for a guy. When screaming middle and high-school girls surround you and snap away with their cameras, it makes you feel good, doesn't it?” “Hey, listen, mister, I'm no pervert! You old fart, what do you think you're doing, pouring salt on the wound?” “Old fart? Fine, you want it to go that way, do you, huh?!” “I don't know where you got screwed or who you got screwed by, but why are you taking your anger out on me, huh? What am I, your punching bag? You always take it out on me.”

“And what, I can't get angry? I can't get mad just because I'm a good-for-nothing who failed the Shinchon Literary Exam fourteen times?” “What, are you proud of having failed fourteen....” En Chan trailed off. Fourteen? Oh... just yesterday the number had been thirteen! Ah. So that's why Mr. Ku's face looked like it was about to explode. “They... announced the results, ey?” Tsk tsk, guess he failed it again. “The dream I had was spot on. A few nights ago I dreamed that I was trapped and suffocating beneath a milk cow. The cow was suffocating me with her udders and she kept saying, 'Cut me, why don't you. Just try and cut me.' I kept struggling because I felt like I was going to pass out and die, but the next moment, I realized I was trying to cut the cow from underneath it.” Mr. Ku set the pork front leg on the chopping board and began to cut it into large pieces. “But this stupid knife wouldn't listen. It just kept kneading at the cow's skin as if it was sawing away at it or something. And the cow laughed. It laughed and kept saying, 'Cut me. Try and cut me.'” “Must've been pretty nice, though.” “What must've been pretty nice?” “You like udders, don't you? Nice, big 'udders'.” “Why you little—!” “I know you have pictures of 'udders' posted on your bedroom wall. I mean, I can understand your liking them, but that calendar's from 1999, mister. How can you still have it up?” “What, do you think I leave it up because of the picture? I left it up because that's the month my parents died. That's your problem. Even though you're a girl, your mind's a gutter. I don't know how you think you're qualified to teach children. If I ever have a kid, I'd never leave him under your care.” “Ha, get married first, then talk.” “You can have kids without getting married, you brat.” “How? Adoption?” “That's not what I... Whatever, talking to you makes me dizzy. Where was I?” “The stupid dream.” “Damn bastards. What do they know, huh? All judges are the same, you know that? The literary world is rotten to the core. It's just a playground for inbred idiots.” “Yea. Rotten to the core. Totally,” En Chan agreed emptily, but her gaze was fixed on the chopping board. The number of meat pieces was growing. What was he trying to do, make meat hash? “What's in a poem? Emotion. Impression. You should calmly relish each verse, and take into account even each blank space. And you've got to read it all the way so that you can enjoy the exquisite thrill of the twist at the end. These bastards only read the title and the first one or two lines and then throw it out. They don't take the duty of judging seriously enough. What does it matter if you're a famous poet or novelist if you don't know how to appreciate real art?”

“What was the title this time?” “ 'The Infinite Hexahedron of Raw Meat'. The dripping blood, the glutinous meat, the white fat, the thick sap hidden in the hard bones. The life of the butcher who cuts this piece of raw meat into a hexahedron, his joys and sorrows, his solitude. My poem was soaked in these things. “Is that why you kept asking me what I thought when I looked at meat?” “Yea. When I look at all this meat....” Mr. Ku let out a deep sigh and picked up the knife that he had put down in his excitement. En Chan couldn't help wishing he'd notice how thin the pieces had already become. “Meat, to me, if life itself. A love-hate relationship I couldn't let go of even if I wanted to. How could they not understand that profoundness?” “Guess they must be vegetarians or something.” “What?” “You know, the judges might be vegetarians or something. Eating healthy's the new fad, you know?” Nonplussed, Mr. Ku stood stock still with his knife in midair. En Chan took this chance to rescue the meat. “Eating... healthy?” “Yea. That's why these days vegetables are more expensive than meat. Didn't you know?” She held out a fiver to pay for the meat that was now too absurdly thin to use for stew. “Forget it.” “What? Why?” Mr. Ku went back into his room with a blank stare. What is he getting all shocked for just because I suggested that the judges might be vegetarians? I was just saying it was possible. < Part 2 > 8:50 PM: Go, Tae Kwon V, Go! The building En Chan works in is four stories high. She works on the second floor, at the DongMoon Taekwondo dojo. The entrance is a small door on the left side of the building. The stairs are so small and cramped that an adult standing up straight would take up the whole of its space, and the floor is dusty. There's graffiti on a picture frame that is hanging on a cracking wall. Half of the frame's glass has been broken and hastily taped. In the frame is a picture of the dojo's students who had won medals in some competition. The students are smiling widely, floral wreaths around their necks. The dojo master is standing with a reserved look on his face. In every other picture, the student with the medal is a different boy or girl, but the look on the dojo master's face is changeless. Even now, after so many years, it has not changed. En Chan picked up a gum wrapper that had fallen on the floor and then fixed the crooked picture frame. She flew over the last three steps and stepped into the dojo.

“Master!” “Yea?” As soon as she stepped in, a kid came to tell on someone. “Seung Kyung brought Simba with her.” En Chan left the plastic bag of pork on top of the desk and looked around. Seung Kyung was standing with a small poodle in her arms. The other children surrounded her like an courtroom audience waiting to hear En Chan's verdict. “Why are you guys still here? If you're done with practice you should go home.” “We were gonna eat pizza. Why, is that illegal or something?” challenged Bong Tae Won. Dear God, when is that little brat gonna get past puberty? “Seung Kyung ordered pizza. She ordered yours, too, Master. Your mother's not home today, right? Seung Kyung's mother went somewhere today, too.” The speaker of this breathless explanation was the little girl named Yun Jung who had come to tell on Seung Kyung about Simba. “Hey, I already told you, she didn't just go 'somewhere,' she went to go see a 'musical'.” “Oh yea, musical.” Seung Kyung rolled her eyes at Yun Jung but the latter didn't seem to care. “I felt bad for Simba because he was going to be home alone. I can play with him here until Mom comes to pick me up, right?” Even if she spoke more nicely than Bong Tae Won, there was definitely an arrogant air in her tone. What in the world is with kids today. Why should I feel intimidated by a twelve year-old girl? And En Chan couldn't even say, “How could you even think of bringing a dog into this sacred dojo?” to these kids because they were the ones who were bringing in the money. “You'll only have 30 minutes. It's almost time for the next group's practice.” “30 minutes is enough. The pizzas will be here soon. I ordered your favorite— bulgogi pizza.” En Chan's eyes suddenly flashed. Ohhhh, yes! Bulgogi! But she tried her best to act aloof. She started rummaging around the desk drawers. “Y-you guys eat...” “Hey Seung Kyung, can Simba eat this?” “Yea, whatever.” The children were tempting Simba with a sausage. En Chan didn't yell at the children even though they were running around the wooden dojo floor with the dog. Usually, she would've screamed, “Hey! Knock it off!” but right now she was looking at the children with hazy eyes and saliva filling up in her mouth. Seung Kyung was looking up at En Chan with rapture in her eyes, and Tae Won was furiously glaring at En Chan. The two were rising sixth graders this year, and they fought and played like Tom and Jerry. Since Tae Won enrolled after Seung Kyung did, did that make him Tom? And En Chan is the cheese, the center of the trouble.

En Chan couldn't think of anything but dinner. She would leave the next group's practice to the dojo Master and go upstairs to her house on the roof to eat. Excellent plan. And she'd eat pizza beforehand. Then the main course, the kimchee stew with rice, and then Mom's Pretty Pretty Salad for desert. Heh heh heh. “Master, you're drooling,” said Seung Kyung. “Huh? Oh...” En Chan gave a sheepish grin and wiped the saliva with her sleeve. Tae Won made a face as if to say, 'that's disgusting,' but Seung Kyung watched even this action with admiration. “Master, did you read the e-mail I sent you?” “You sent me an e-mail? I haven't read it yet...” En Chan wasn't too friendly with the computer. Come to think of it, she couldn't exactly remember her own e-mail address. It looked like it would be an awkward situation, but En Chan reached for the computer on the desk anyway with a forced smile. “Sh-shall I take a look? What kind of e-mail could Seung Kyung have sent me?” “No! No!” Seung Kyung flew to the computer and turned it off. She blocked the monitor with a face that was blushing furiously and glanced nervously at Tae Won. “R-read it later. Oh, hey! Look! Pizza's here!” Seung Kyung skitted off and opened her pink wallet. En Chan couldn't bring herself to watch a disciple pay, so she pretended to be busy doing other things. In the middle of this act, she made eye contact with Tae Won who had been watching her. “What?” Tae Won gave her a look of exasperation and took off. “That brat...” “Master, come quickly and eat!” “Oh, y-yea, yea, let me just.. finish this. Go ahead, eat.” I can't just dive right in. I've got my pride as a master. She kept rummaging through the desk. But her charade didn't last longer than a few seconds. The fragrance of the pizza had come wafting into her nose. Not only that, but the children were eating so avidly and with such delightfully slurpy gusto that En Chan felt her ears would soon start drooling as well. “M-maybe I'll try a piece,” she muttered to herself as she headed toward the children. “Here, master,” said Seung Kyung, handing En Chan a piece she had saved especially for her. This kid was too cute. It was right then when Tae Won said, “Master, phone.” “Huh?” Tae Won was pointing at the desk. Not even with his fingers, but with his chin.

En Chan, whose five sense had been totally enraptured in the pizza, only just then heard her cell phone ring. Damn it! Who the hell was it? En Chan was not just a little pissed, but there was nothing to do but pick up the phone she had left on the desk. “Hello?” “Obba, it's me.” (translator's note: Korean females use the familiar title “obba” to refer to older males.) Sparks flew from En Chan's eyes. Who was this prank-calling wench?! The “obba” gave it away. All throughout middle school and high school, En Chan had been chased incessantly by hormone-driven juniors with confused sexual identities, and they had all called her “obba.” Even some girls in the same grade used to pant after her calling, 'obba, obba'. And they still haven't recovered from their delusion?! “You've got the wrong number.” She was just about to hang up when a panicked voice said, “Obba, it's me! En Se.” “I can't talk right now.” “Why?” Why? I'll tell you why, I was just about to.... Seung Kyung was holding out a huge slice of pizza and motioning to En Chan to come and eat it. En Chan beamed at her and nodded her head. “I'm busy right now so call me later. I'm gonna hang up now.” “Obba, I'm in trouble! Some punk keeps bothering me.” “What?” The pizza left En Chan's head. “What punk?!” “I keep telling him to go away but he keeps following me. He's in front of me right now. Won't you come and help me, obba?” “Which son of a— where are you!” “Coffee Prince.” The only people who could drag En Chan away from food were Mom and En Se. En Se blew her bangs out of her eyes and snatched up her jumper. She headed toward the exit with the phone against her ear. “Why the hell are you hanging out with that kind of bastard?! And what have you been doing wandering around and not going home?!” “I kept trying to go home, but this guy....” “Shut up! I don't want to hear it! You're really gonna get it. Hey, Mr. Hong's there, right?” “Mr. Hong? Yea. He's watching us from the counter.”

“Then don't move and—” Suddenly En Chan's two legs flew through the air (“AARRGH!”) and then she promptly fell on her ass. The children all stopped eating their pizzas and turned to look at En Chan. One hand was in her jumper sleeve, the other, holding the cell phone. One knee was trying to hold her body up and the other leg was held up high in the air. From the foot of this leg dropped Simba's brown dung. F....fu..... aaaack !! I'm going to strangle this dog! “Obba, what's the matter? Obba?” En Se's shrill voice spilled out of the phone. The trophy cabinet began to sway. All eyes went toward the cabinet as the trophies began to fall. En Chan reflexively put out her hands. “Umph!” She'd barely caught the trophy when, just as she was about to take a sigh of relief, the TaeKwon boy's head fell off from the top of the trophy and rolled away across the floor. En Chan gasped. En Chan could hear the children breathing. En Chan could feel their gazes filled with both anxiety and pity alike. “When the dojo Master finds out about this...” “Damn it...” She had to put the boy's head back on the trophy and then go wash her feet, but Seung Kyung kept wrapping gauze around her hand. “Master, you're bleeding.” It was only a small scratch between the thumb and index fingers that came from the encounter with the trophy's sharp edge, but nobody could stop Seung Kyung. “We have to treat it quick. If we don't, it'll keep bleeding.” Seung Kyung was even on the verge of tears. A band-aid would've been sufficient. But Seung Kyung kept wrapping the gauze around and around En Chan's hand. Eventually the gauze came all the way up to her wrist and it was stiff like a cast. Even so, En Chan couldn't blame Seung Kyung. She knew the girl hated the sight of blood. En Chan was very much aware of the fact that Seung Kyung had lost her little brother in a car accident. And also of the fact that Seung Kyung had been there to witness it. < Part 3 > 8:55 PM: En Chan Meets the Punk From the Land of the Crows En Chan arrived with dried saliva on her sleeve and dried dog poo on her pants leg. “Obba, what's wrong with your hand? Did you get hurt?” “Ko En Se, you...” En Chan sometimes has trouble recognizing her little sister En Se. This is because En Se looks like a totally different person in the morning on her way to school. There was no doubt in En Chan's mind that En Se's school uniform was in its usual place: the subway station lockers. “Obba, I thought I told you to stop fighting. You keep getting hurt because you always go around beating up every punk you see. Give your fist a rest every now and then.” En Se was being disgustingly sweet. En Chan knew well what the fox of a girl was up to. In any case, did anyone have anything to eat? “What the hell is this? This is your boyfriend? Ha, that's funny,” said an insolent voice. En Chan gave a cursory glance at the youth sitting in front of him. What the! Who is he, a punk from the land of crows (translator's note: in Korea, they liken people with dark skin to crows. The punk in this story is a dark-

skinned youth; thus, punk from the land of crows.)? His skin was strikingly dark, and... dear Lord, to make things worse, his hair was frizzy to the max. That was the kiss of death. En Chan couldn't tell whether the youth was shaking his leg because he was nervous or because he was trying to give off a tough-guy aura. “Oh, God...” En Chan couldn't stop herself from groaning. She was leaning against the chair, but still her entire body ached. Her head felt like it was splitting apart. A part of the reason was because of the after effects of the fall, but En Chan was tired mentally as well. About 3 cm behind her right ear was a hole the size of a quarter. As she fell on the wooden floor, a piece of gum that someone had spit out had stuck to her head. Boy, if she ever caught the brainless halfwit that spit out that gum... but that wasn't the point. She should've known something bad was going to happen when Tae Won, who was usually so taciturn, made a fuss waving around a pair of scissors saying he'd cut her hair for her. As Seung Kyung wrapped her hand in gauze, Tae Won stood by and cut her hair with a strange look on his face. Goosebumps had run up and down her entire body as she heard the snip-snip of the scissors. It was almost like being in a horror movie. In the end, she had no choice but to borrow the dojo Master's neighborhood security watch hat that was hanging on the wall. “Yo, En Se, you've got to be kidding me. You're dumping me for this wimpy jerk?” In response to the punk's snide comment, En Se stuck onto En Chan's side and put her own arm through hers. The boy's eyes grew fierce. Man, that dark face looks really terrible all twisted like that. En Chan blew out a short breath with her mouth as she looked at the glaring youth. It was her habit to blow her hair out of her eyes like that. But the hat started to move around, so she pressed down on it. “Obba, get rid of him for me. Seriously, I'm about to go crazy because this kid keeps bothering me. I keep telling him that I'm dating someone, but he won't believe me.” So, this time, En Se wasn't asking En Chan to pretend to be her big brother. She was asking En Chan to pretend to be her boyfriend. The punk was right. You've got to be kidding me. When are you going to grow up, Ko En Se. I'm your freakin' sister! En Chan couldn't do anything but give out big sighs. Mr. Hong brought her some water. “What's wrong with your hand? Beaking wooden boards again?” “Don't worry about it. Hey, mister, is there anything to eat?” “To eat? Only biscuits. You want that, at least?” En Chan sighed. If En Se hadn't made such a fuss about this punk, she probably would've changed clothes before coming. And eaten the pizza, of course. Actually, now that she thought about it, the plastic bag full of pork she'd left on the desk was starting to worry her as well. “Yea, I'll take that, at least.” “What do you want to drink?” “Oh, come on, you know...” En Chan, who had just been about to skip over drinks to save money, suddenly remembered the fact that a very strange, very dark youth was sitting in front of her. Eh. He'd probably pay for it.

“Fresh fruit juice, then. A lot of it.” “Seems like something a fruit like you would order. Yo, En Se, are you sure you're going out with this... thing? What's wrong with you? Didn't this obba tell you? You shouldn't mess around with poor little kids like him.” En Se snorted in reply. “Ha, don't make me laugh. Ya, Hwang Min Dal, who says you're some kind of obba? You're nothing but a lowlife punk.” “It's not Min Dal, it's Min Yup! Man, how can you say such bitchlike things and still be so freakin' cute?” Ugh... I'm gonna toss my cookies. En Se poked En Chan's side. It was a signal to hurry up and get rid of the punk. En Chan looked the youth up and down from underneath a hat too big for its wearer. As soon as Seung Kyung finished wrapping the bandages she had hastily rubbed her foot on a mop and ran out the door. She'd come here with only the thought that she had to save En Se, but now, seeing the so-called “opponent” who now sat across from her, there was nothing she could do but sigh. He couldn't even be called a punk. This was the kind of guy who would rip snot-smeared dollar bills off of elementary school kids on playgrounds. He might talk tough, but En Chan couldn't see a mean look in his eyes. Of course, he didn't seem to possess any fighting abilities either. “Yo, is this thing a middle schooler?” sneered the youth. “Ya! You're really starting to piss me off!” En Se had a mean streak herself. “Who the hell are you to keep referring to him as “this thing”, huh?” En Chan didn't really enjoy watching En Se's mean side, but she was touched by the fact that her sister was standing up for family. Little brat... “He's four years older than you! Show some respect!” “What? This thing is four is older than me. What do you take me for, huh? You think I'm blind? This wimp couldn't be any older than, fine, a high schooler. What, did he tell you he was twenty? You fell for it, stupid! Hey! You! Listen, you bastard, tell the truth. What's your freakin' age?” “This is why I don't like you. Why do you have to look at everything so negatively? What, you think everyone's just like you? Just because every time you open your mouth a dirty lie comes out, you think everyone else does that too? You dirty liar.” As soon as En Se finished her snide comment, the youth lost it. “What? You little!” “What, what're you going to do if you keep mad dogging me like that? You gonna hit me? Fine, go head, hit me. Then let's end this once and for all.” “This is seriously fucked up...”

Is this how high schoolers talked to each other? What, in the name of heaven, did she call me out for. It looks like it's something they could've figured out themselves... En Chan sunk lower in her chair, leaning her head against the back of it, waiting for the fresh fruit juice to come. En Se noticed this and poked her side again. “Obba, say something!” En Chan glared furiously at the hat. She caught En Chan's eyes and sent a message telling her to hurry up. “Uh.. yea...” Her throat was cracking. En Chan put her hands on her empty belly and straightened her back. If she was going to force me to pretend to be her boyfriend, she could've at least gotten me something to eat. I can't muster up the energy to go on. At this rate... En Chan low voice went even deeper. “You............ what's your name?” “What do you need to know his name for?” En Se said petulantly. En Chan looked at the youth through the brim of the hat and spoke in an even deeper voice. “You like our En Se or something?” “Obba, why the hell are you asking him that?” “Your En Se? Does she belong to you or something?” En Chan knew that he looked down on her. The first thing was height. En Chan may have been popular among middle and high school girls, but her actual physical build couldn't compete with the average guy. At 5'8'', she was only slightly thicker boned than most girls. “Listen, kid, you're not understanding what I'm saying. That's not the point. What I'm asking is, do you or do you not...” Right then, the fruit juice arrived. En Chan abruptly stopped her sentence and held out her arm, but it didn't move very well. The bandages were wound so tightly she couldn't get a good grip. Damn it. With no other alternative, she held out her other arm. Mr. Hong clucked his tongue. En Chan immediately gulped it down in one shot. It took less than five seconds for her to finish an entire glass of fruit juice. “Aaaahhh.” “Obba.” (Burp) “Ew, that is too gross.” “Hey, forget all this crap. Let's just go at it,” said the impatient youth. En Se's eyes rediscovered their twinkle as she turned to En Chan. Her eyes pleaded for her sister to “go at it.” There was no doubt that that's why En Chan had been called out. Sometimes, En Chan wondered if she such a girl really was her sister. She would put her sister in the fighting ring and then parade around like the round girl, huh?

En Chan smacked her lips and wiped her mouth. She briefly considered asking for a refill. “Hey, you deaf? I said, come outside.” The youth threw out this challenge and went outside, but En Chan didn't move. “What don't you like about him? He's pretty manly, isn't it?” “Ahjussi!” En Se glared at the owner. But still Mr. Hong continued with an unctuous look on his face, “Just a few days ago you two walked right by here holding hands. You get sick of him already?” “I've only just found out his real character.” “What's his real character like?” “He's a total punk. He spits in front of girls, he's got no manners, his temper's dirty as hell, and he told me he was re-taking a year of high school after graduating, but it turns out he flunked back down.” “Ah. So that's the critical blow.” “Seriously! He told me he went to an engineering college, but it turns out he's nothing but a punk at an engineering high school who flunked down. Total liar!” “I don't think you're in any position to be talking about this kid going to an engineering college or an engineering high school. As if you ever do any studying!” En Se returned to pleading mode as even En Chan joined in. “Aw man, can't you talk about stuff like that at home later? I'm really in a bad fix right now!” “Oh, really? It's tough work, dating, isn't it? I feel sooo bad for you.” “Studying isn't the issue here! Your little sister is about to be abducted!” “Abducted shmabducted. He probably couldn't even hurt a fly.” “You're saying that because you don't know. He tried to take me to his room earlier by force!” “You know what's funny? You only consider En Chan your unni (translator's note: females call familiar older females “unni” in Korea) when you're in a fix.” Mr. Hong's retort was met with the daggers from En Se's eyes. “Brr, I'm so scared,” exaggerated Mr. Hong as he hid himself behind the counter, still smiling. “Unni, seriously, this is the last time. I'll never ask you to do something like this again.” En Chan gave a sigh and looked at En Se. She had asked her to do something like this around last Christmas. She considered bringing that up. But then she decided it wouldn't make a difference anyway, and so she asked a question instead. “You've got another boy, don't you?” “No. Seriously, no.”

“Then why do you want to get rid of that guy?” “So I can start studying. I'm a senior in high school now. I've really got to study, you know? If I go to an arts school and study music seriously, it'll be easier for me to become a singer.” “Really?” “I've got to grow up now. I can't always ask you for money. When I get into college, I'm going to find work on my own and earn my own spending money. So, sis, sissy, please, just one more time?” En Chan hadn't expected her sister to say such things. Her nose began to tingle. She'd never dreamed she'd hear such wonderful words from her sister. En Chan wanted, like a father would, nothing but for En Se to grow up healthy and not cause too much trouble. And now she was all grown up, talking about earning her own spending money... En Chan was totally touched. “Hey, what are you saying? You're no trouble to me...” Right then the youth stuck his head back in and shouted, “Yo! What are you doing? Come outside! What, you scared, you little wimp?” “No, I'm just hungry, kid.” “What?” “Come inside.” “Who do you think you are to order me around? Come outside!” “Sit. Down.” The youth surprisingly came back inside and flopped back in his seat, seething, but without much fuss. It was because he had only just then noticed En Chan's Taekwondo practice suit. Even though she was wearing a jumper on top, on the bottom, she was still wearing her suit. The black belt probably dispelled the idea that she was simply wearing white pants. “Listen, kid. This hyung's (translator's note: Korean males use the familiar title “hyung” to refer to older males) not in a position to beat anyone up.” “What the hell is this shithead saying?” At the curse word, En Chan got angry. “Watch your mouth! Or I'm gonna rub it down with sandpaper, got it?” “What? You little bastard!” “I said, SHUT UP!” En Chan tried to calm down and speak in a persuasive tone. “Listen. If I beat you up, I gotta go to the police station, and if I go to the police station, I won't be able to work, do you get it? So. Let's solve this a different way.”

“Don't be spouting horse shit. Let's just fight!” “We can do something you're actually good at.” “Ha! Trying to be cool, huh? Do you really think I'd lose to you at anything?” “Oh yea? Ok.” En Chan raised her head and looked for Mr. Hong. The store was still empty of customers. Man, business is really bad at this place. “Mister! Call up Sea King Palace, would you?” “Hey, just leave it. You're gonna stink up the place.” “C'mon, it'll be over quick.” “I don't know. Fine. It's been a while since the last time, so I'll let it go this time, all right?” “Yes, sir!” Watching Mr. Hong call the Sea King Palace, En Se muttered discontentedly, “Why can't you just eat dinner at home?” En Chan ignored her and got in the youth's face. “Hey... you got money?” “What, are you going to mug me? You're full of all kinds of crap, huh?” “We're going to bet on a jja jang myun eating race. Don't you think it's only fair the loser pays for the food?” “What? Jja jang myun? What the hell... You little wimphead want to compete against me in an eating race? Freakin... Fine. I'll give you a break. I wanted to work up that mug of yours, but I guess you don't want to get hit, huh? But! Ko En Se, you better not change your tune afterwards. You promised to be mine if I beat this guy right here right now, remember?” “Promise? What promise?” “Ya!” “Fine, fine, you lying punk.” She then turned to En Chan and smiled sweetly as she said, “Wrap it up quickly, obba, ok?” The youth looked slightly put off when the ten bowls of jja jang myun arrived. If he had been able to see En Chan's eyes, which were hidden under the hat, shine as if they were emitting fluorescent light, he would probably have been even more disconcerted. After finishing the first bowl in 13 seconds, En Chan's face was as sunny as an angel's. She ate with her face nearly shoved into the bowl, but the area around her mouth was surprisingly clean. To En Chan, jja jang sauce around her mouth would've been a waste. Meanwhile, the youth was going through hell shoving the noodles into his stomach, which had been significantly shrunken by nervousness and a bit of intimidation. The game seemed fair until about the third bowl. But by the fourth bowl, the gap was evident and growing wider by the minute. “Dog food. Octopus stew. Pizza. Pork porridge.”

The first one to give up or throw up would be proclaimed the loser. “Margarine. Cooking oil. Fried pig skin. Ox tail soup,” murmured En Se, who was sitting with her chin in her hand. The words she threw out so nonchalantly were truly disgusting. “Oily chop suey. Smelly cheese. Hard-boiled eggs. Thick, clotted cream.” En Se glanced at the two players who were eating like dogs. When En Chan raised her head after emptying five bowls, the youth was reaching toward the fifth bowl. His face looked like hell, but it looked like his insides felt more like hell. “Mushy Bananas. Sharp strawberry yogurt....” “Upghrgh!” It may have been that En Se had gone too far. The poor youth dashed to the bathroom with his hand over his mouth. Mr. Hong called after him, “Hey, be careful not to spill any on the floor.” < Part 4 > 9:55 PM : The Epic of the Ring En Se ran off, leaving the vomiting youth behind. “Hey, Hae Wook, where are you? Are you done with cram school? Uh huh, I'm nearby right now... Really? Ok, I'll be right there!” After hanging up, she pranced away with a smile on her face. “Obba, I'm probably coming home pretty late tonight.” “Ya! Ko En Se!” The punk, spread out on the chair like a wet mop, kept making vomiting motions like a broken water pump. Still, it couldn't be helped. After all, En Chan only had a buck fifty in her pocket to call her own. “Sorry, kid, but a game's a game, right?” En Chan drank cup after cup of water while the youth, who had become rather pale and haggard, paid for the jja jang myun. “You want some water, too?” En Chan offered, but the youth only glared at her and left in a huff. Huh. Guess that did some damage to his pride. “It doesn't seem like he's a bad kid through and through, though, huh? At least he paid before he left.” “Yea, that's true. Oh man, am I full,” En Chan patted her stomach as she thanked the owner and left the store. It was evening and the temperature had dropped, and the air was chilly. Ko En Se, you little hussy. You told me you didn't have a different boy, and see how you run off!

“As the saying goes, you break your teeth on the tofu you trust. Little brat,” En Chan muttered to herself as she walked the night streets alone. “Who's Hae Wook, huh? How many guys is she dating at the same time, for cryin' out loud?” She entered the market still grumbling. She was stepping into the building where her roof apartment was when she heard a thunderous shout. “Ko En Chan, you little rascal! How dare you leave without even a word!” “M-m-master....” The eyebrows of the master who stood in the doorway of the dojo waggled. Suddenly, the decapitated Tae Kwon boy, the chaotic image of the children running around eating pizza all came rushing back to her. “W-well, you see, master, um... I, uh...” “Hey! Is that my hat? Why are you going around wearing somebody else's neighborhood watch hat?!” “Ack!” He whipped the hat off of her head. “You're a really strange one. It doesn't even fit you. Why would you want to wear it around?” Who said I wanted to wear it around? It's because of the stupid hole in my hair... It was too dark for the dojo master to tell, but En Chan still self-consciously rubbed at the side of her head. I can't believe my head is actually cold because of that little hole. I wonder what happened to the Tae Kwon boy's head. I sure hope Seung Kyung put it back on correctly. “Take this.” “What is it?” The dojo master shook the black plastic bag he held in his hand. Oh! My meat! En Chan quickly ran to receive the meat. “I thought I told you not to go around wearing your practice suit!! You troublemaker!” “Ow!!” If it came from the dojo master, even a single knuckle sandwich hurt like hell and make her head ring. “Aiish, Master! What are you trying to do, put a hole in my head?” “Don't 'aiish' me, you brat! Hurry up and go upstairs. It seemed like your mother was up there alone.” “Yes, sir.” “And be sure to lock up tight.” “Yes, sir. Have a good night!” “Yea,” said the dojo master as he ruffled En Chan's hair. The place where he had given her a knuckle sandwich still tingled.

“Agh, f....” she climbed the stairs towards her roof apartment. She passed the PC bang and the pool hall and finally reached the roof. The dojo master was the one who had arranged a room for them to live in in this old and decrepit building. It was also the dojo master who had convinced the building owner to let her family pay only the electricity and water bills. He had been marine comrades with En Chan's late father. That was the reason why En Chan's family was always in debt to the master, for the house, for the job, basically for their livelihood itself. “I'm home.” “Is that my little prince?” “Did you have fun at the reunion?” En Chan, who had entered the room, saw her mother who was lying down with a facial mask on. She was, as usual, dressed elegantly in a deep plum home dress. “A face pack as soon as you come home?” “If I don't relax my face immediately, it'll get all rough. The wind was so cold and harsh today, it felt like all of my soft skin was going to peel off.” “Oh, come on, aren't you exaggerating a little?” “I'm serious! Feel it. Here.” She put En Chan's finger under the paper mask so that she could feel the skin underneath. “Oh wow, it really is pretty rough. Kind of like sandpaper.” “Oh my God, really?” “Kidding, kidding!” “That's mean! I'm upset about it anyway, don't make me feel worse.” “What kind of mask is it?” “Moisture replenishing. Since I can't use better make up, I have to use these more often. The only reason why my skin is this nice is because I take good care of it. Whoever heard of a woman who uses cheap forty, fifty dollar skin lotions like I do having skin this nice? At this age, I mean.” “You're absolutely right. Madame Na has million-dollar skin, if nothing.” “Mm it feels so nice and moist. Did you eat dinner? The salad was still in the fridge.” “I ate before coming home.” “What did you eat?” “Jja jang myun.” “Darling, I thought Mommy told you not to eat that kind of food made out of flour. It's bad for your skin.” “It couldn't be helped today. What did you eat, Mom?”

“Italian.” “Oh, you went to the bistro? Must've been delicious.” En Chan's mouth forgot about the five bowls of jja jang myun and started excreting saliva again. “It was just so-so today though. All my friends said the food tasted great and ate it all up, but I could tell. I'm pretty sure they changed the chef. The sauce just didn't taste the same.” “Yea, you're pretty sensitive to that kind of stuff. So you were pretty disappointed, huh?” “I just accepted it and ate without complaining. But what's this smell? Something stinks.” “Something stinks?” En Chan, who had been in the process of taking her jumper off, discovered the brownish yellow stain on the end of her suit top. Oh shit! “R-really? I-I don't smell anything. What, what kind of sauce was it?” “Sauce?” “The, the sauce. Didn't you say it was good the last time you went there?” “Oh, saffron foam sauce? I didn't have that today. That's with salmon.....” And so began the explanation of En Chan's mother, who had attended professional Italian cooking classes for about five weeks about ten years ago. En Chan gave a sigh of relief as she changed out of her Taekwondo clothes. If her neatfreak mother found out, she probably would've made her change outside. Simba or Shitba, she wasn't about to let that dog it in the dojo again. En Chan was furtively rolling up her dojo suit when her mother asked, “What about about En Se?” “Sh-she said she's going to be a little late...” “Again? What's wrong with that kid? Has she got thorns on her bottom or something? Why can't she just sit down for a single hour to study? What's a high school senior doing running around outside and not studying? For crying out loud. Hand me that phone.” En Chan gave her mother the phone and quickly ran to the bathroom. She put the dojo suit into the washing machine and stepped into the shower. The boiler was running out of hot water, and she shivered as she washed. All throughout her shower, she could hear her mother's voice on the phone. It was apparent by the way her mother's voice grew in volume and roughness that En Se was not about to listen to her mother. “Ugh, it's like jumping into a frozen lake.” The thin trickle of water became colder and colder. She hurried to finish and put her clothes on.

“Ah, damn it. How am I supposed to cover this up?” said En Chan worriedly as she dried her hair. She tried to cover the hole with hair, but the empty space couldn't be hidden. “Bong Tae Won, you've got some skill with scissors. Stupid kid managed to cut so close to the surface.” She had to do something. If she kept it like this... En Chan pulled out the medicine box from the bathroom counter. She cut a piece of gauze to about the size of the hole and taped it onto her head. She had no choice but to go around like this for a while. En Chan came out of the bathroom when the phone rang. “Hello? Oh, Dong Ok? Hi~” En Chan thought to herself how bright and clear her mother's voice was as she opened the refrigerator door. Occupying the middle spot of honor was a fancy bowl covered with plastic wrap. Inside that bowl was a vegetable assortment the size of a fist, also known as, Pretty Pretty Salad. People said that En Chan's mother's cooking skills could probably get her a job at an elegant restaurant as a chef. So there was no complaint about the flavor or taste of her cooking. En Chan didn't have any particular complaints either. The only problem was the portion. To En Chan, who wrestled and rolled around with children all day, the portion was pitifully lacking. Her mother couldn't know this and would often say, “Oh my, En Chan, if you finish all of that, you're going to get fat. People have to eat vegetables to be healthy. Did you know? There's nothing as disgusting as a glutton. Even though I can't make soybean soup or kimchee stew, I'm excellent at making things like spaghetti and salads. Not only that, I can bake cakes and cookies, and what else? Oh yes, seafood risotto, potato soup...” Mom's cooking was delicious. The flavor was worth all the time and money and effort put into making the food. It was just that En Chan liked traditional Korean chicken broth, bulgogi and grilled bone ribs. “What? Ring? What ring?” Suddenly her mother's voice rose sharply. En Chan covered up the band-aid with her hair and went into the room. “Oh.......... who did, I did? Who said that? Oh, Jin Hyang......... oh...... oh, no no no........” Suddenly her mother got up and started pacing the room restlessly. “Huh? O-of course. It's, it's safe with me. Uh huh. Of course.” Her mother, who had just crawled a lap around the room, started patting and sweeping the floor with her hand. En Chan looked at her mother, who was wearing an expression as if she'd burst out crying. “What's wrong, Mom?” “O-ok... I-I'll keep it safe. Huh? Wh-when? F-five days? My, that must be tough. Anyway, have a good time. Uh huh. Ok. Bye.” As soon as she hung up, she grabbed En Chan. “Have you seen a ring?” “What ring?”

“Did you see one or not? Oh my God, what am I going to do? That ring... that ring...” “What? What about the ring?” “I was wearing it, wearing it right here. It's a diamond ring.... It-It's gotta be around here somewhere, right? Right?”

Chapter Two One Month Earlier: Han Kyul's 25th Hour < Part 1 > 9:50 AM: Dong Yi Group Headquarters Beyond the revolving door is the gleaming lobby. It is a dazzling and extravagant space that is even more magnificent once you step inside. It is spacious, warm, and clean. “Welcome, sir. May I help you with anything?” An amiable voice with a decorous smile. He fancied for a moment that he was still on board the airplane. “Which floor is the president's office?” “Are you here to see the president?” “Haven't you heard that she had a young gigolo? That's me.” The employee's well-trained charm broke down momentarily, but she gave a quick scan of Han Kyul's appearance. A green suede jacket, a long scarf in lieu of a tie, a pair of grey pants and a hunting cap to match. Han Kyul scrutinized the woman as well. Especially the area around her painted red lips. “Do you... have an appointment?” “Appointment? Did I? Hmm... I can't recall...” “Ah, well, in that case, who should I say has come to call?” “Her exclusive masseuse.” “Oh... yes... of course. One moment, please. I'll confirm it immediately.” The female employee picked up the receiver and turned her body slightly. “Tell her if it's not just the two of us, I won't meet,” said Han Kyul to the employee before he turned and leaned against the information desk to survey his surroundings. Right then, he heard footsteps. A succession of men were crossing the lobby and heading towards the elevators. He could see recognizable faces in his peripheral view. “Y-yes...... exclusive masseuse...... Ah, yes. I understand.” Han Kyul asked the female employee who had just hastily replaced the receiver, “What's today?”

“Excuse me?” “Old geezers are arriving in flocks.” “Oh... There's a global management strategy conference today.” “Here?” “Yes, in the 11th floor conference room...” “At 10 o'clock?” “Yes.” “Ha!” It seems I've been played. “The president's office is on the 23rd floor. If you take a right just after getting off of the elevator, it should be immediately...” “Miss...” Han Kyul read her name tag and continued. “Miss Yuh Sun Ae. About 10 minutes from now, there'll be a phone call from the president's office. When it comes, please relay this message. The exclusive masseuse very suddenly developed severe finger cramps, so he had to return immediately. Also, there's absolutely no reason for you to call up ahead. Now, if you'll excuse me.” “Ah, excuse me....” Han Kyul swiftly turned his body and escaped out of the lobby. “You idiot. Can't you recognize bait when you see it? This is what you get for being greedy.” He was muttering to himself as he headed toward the basement parking lot when he heard voices in the stairwell. Great. It had to be faces he knew. He had no choice but to hide behind the door. “Should be a sight to see today, huh? A real fireworks show.” “What's there to explode? One's fire, one's ice. They're too sly to even rub against each other. They'll probably just growl at each other for a while and it'll be over.” “There's also one other. Han Sung hyung's mother.” “In that case, a bigger player'll probably step up from this side. Uncle's fire, too. Fire against fire, I suppose.” “If the representative comes, wouldn't Grandmother come as well? What do you think, hyung? Which side do you think she'd be on?” “How should I know what she's thinking.” “There's talk that she's called out Han Kyul. That Grandmother herself did.”

“This isn't some children's' fistfight. There's no point in increasing the headcount. The dead man's dead, and there's no law saying the oldest son has to become the representative. I don't know what the hell everyone thinks they're doing. If we keep bickering over this we're going to muck up our family's reputation. It's all so terribly vulgar.” “If you think about it from Han Sung hyung's point of view, it's pretty unfair that he's had his rightful throne taken away from underneath him. Han Gyu hyung's not going to want to let go of this golden opportunity as long as he's got his hands on it. Look how he's even called in Han Kyul. Hey, don't you think if we wait around long enough our turn'll come too? Don't you think so, hyung?” “I don't even want it. As long as some crazy unpredictable frog doesn't come in and hop around breaking everything, I'll be thankful for that.” His cousins' laughter were growing fainter. Even after the laughter had gone, Han Kyul didn't move. He was standing stiffly and ridiculing himself for hiding. He finally turned his body. The stairwell was silent. He took a step down and clenched his fist. Then he cracked a smile. Crazy unpredictable frog, huh? When Han Kyul entered the parking lot, a white sedan pulled up and parked, incidentally, right next to Han Kyul's car. Han Kyul, who was taking out his keys, found himself meeting the eyes of the driver of the white car. Goddamn it, what is up today? “Well, well. If it isn't Han Kyul.” Han Kyul lightly shook the hand Han Sung offered and said, “Long time no see. Time hasn't been too kind to you, has it?” “I'm not even thirty yet.” “Let me know when you do turn thirty. I'll set up reservations for you at Silver Town retirement homes. It's the least I could do for you, hyung.” “You never change, do you?” Of all of Han Kyul's cousins, Han Sung was the one he was most comfortable with. When Han Sung's father died, it should've changed to be the opposite, but Han Kyul didn't act uncomfortably around Han Sung. Han Sung, for his part, treated Han Kyul the same way he had three years ago. The reason they could treat each other this way as because both were sure of what they liked and disliked, and never tried too hard to hide their opinions. In other words, they were the type of personalities that could argue and fight and still be friends. “When did you get here?” “I don't know. A few days ago? A few hours ago? It kind of even feels like I'm still in the plane.” “Did you come to see Grandmother?”

“What am I, crazy? We live in the same house. Why should I come all the way here just to see her?” “But you are crazy.” Han Kyul snorted at Han Sung's sharp joke. Turning his car keys in his hands, he drawled, “I got hooked.” “You're telling me there's actually a fishing tackle capable of hooking Choi Han Kyul?” “Is Grandma on some kind of program? Her poker face is getting better and better. A brand new car in exchange for ten minutes teatime with her.” “Not a bad deal.” “Well, I fell for it, hook, line, sinker. Walked right into the tiger's cave, and discovered that today's the day when all the tigers congregate to sharpen their claws together. Man oh man, I got so scared that I'm running away.” “Is company work really that uninteresting to you?” “Well, if it started being interesting, you and the other hyungs' lives will probably get a lot less interesting, isn't that right?” “How would someone who does nothing but observe know?” “I don't want to get in the middle of an old geezers' ball game.” “You could be a cheerleader at least.” “What for? There's so much fun to be had in the world. If you're getting tired, why don't you take a breather on the bench for a change?” “I sense thorns in your words.” “You can pick 'em out and listen or just let it slide out of one ear.” “Is there no vaccine for your poison? It's getting harsher and harsher.” “Let it be. There's nothing wrong with passing on after living life this way.” Han Sung looked at his watch and then picked up his briefcase. “I've got to go in now.” “Don't use me as an excuse for being late. Nobody, not Father or Han Gyu hyung, knows I came to the company today.” “Why don't you see them before you leave?” “Whatever. Hey, let's get together soon, you, me and the vixen. You do know that we came back together, right?”

Han Kyul glanced expectantly at his cousin's expression but there was no change to be found. Grandma's poker face was probably a genetic trait. “Did you know or didn't you?” “I don't really care.” “Ooh, so cold. So they were right when they called you ice.” “Run along. Once you get over jet lag, give a ring.” “To who, the vixen?” “Senseless, silly boy.” “All right. Get on with your work.” Han Kyul, who was getting in the car, waved at Han Sung, who was waiting for the elevator. He muttered to himself as he drove out of the parking lot, “What the hell is wrong with the ties on every bloke I see? What, is the company giving them out or something?” < Part 2 > Slept until 5 PM Slept all day on an empty stomach, but no major problems. < Part 3 > Started drinking at about 7 PM Met up with some buddies who're comfortable than most because they're not close and got smashed. < Part 4 > The next morning, 10:50 AM: Women Trouble Han Kyul, who had been tossing and turning, sat up so abruptly in bed that his head spun. It felt like there were 20 squirrels runnings on wheels inside his head. He grabbed his head and flopped back down. “Ugh....” Even his own groaning made his insides rumble. There was a voice coming from somewhere. It was probably the squirrels, having a conversation. “My goodness, what's this?” “Salmon salad.” The female squirrel was asking the questions, the male squirrel was answering. “Oh, salmon! It looks delicious.” “Please enjoy yourselves.” When did squirrels start eating fish? Something smelled good. It wasn't the fish. “Obba, get up. I ordered room service. Come on, get up and have breakfast.”

Something get shaking his shoulder. He wrenched an eye open and squinted even harder when an intense pink light flooded in. As he raised his gaze, he saw brown hair. “Who the hell are you?” “Oh, come on, obba. You want to wash up first? Are you thirsty? I'll bring you some water.” Han Kyul, careful not to repeat the same painful mistake, sat up slowly. His insides burned and his eyelids were heavy. His head was spinning, so he pressed down hard on his temples. Now there were only 10 squirrels. He carefully turned his aching neck and looked around. A gold-embossed vanity. An antique style table and sofa, another bed. So it was his hotel room. “Obba, here's your water.” He saw her face smile amiably as she gave him the glass of water. Yup, he didn't know her. In any case, he took the water and drank it all off and then thought hard. Who is this? “Oh!” “Do you remember now?” “You! You ended up—!” “Good morning~” What the hell was with this woman? He pushed away the woman who had tried to hug him and got out of bed. He stumbled a little because he was dizzy, but he soon regained his stance. “What kind of girl can't understand after I say 'no' so many times, huh?!” Han Kyul turned around and quickly put on his pants. “Did your eardrums rot out or did your brain?” “No matter how much you struggle, we can't change our destiny.” “What? Desti-what?” “I knew the moment I saw you, 'This is the one! This person is my destiny!'” “Huh!” “I'll be honest with you. I fell in love with you at first sight. I think I'm going to start liking you.” As soon as he heard these words, he woke up. The blood in his heart began to freeze. Even the cute first impression he had had of her was destroyed. In fact, he now detested her like she was a sworn enemy. Be honest with me? What's being honest? The only thing he could honestly say was that pouring alcohol into an empty stomach made his insides hurt very much. But emotions were not part of chemistry. There is no equation for them. You could never tell if they were going to change because of any little thing or whether they weren't going to change for anything. You couldn't even know what those “things” were. “So? So what?”

“Why don't we eat first? Aren't you hungry? I'm hungry.” Han Kyul coldly brushed off the woman who had come to put her arm through his. “Ow!” “I'm pretty sure I've told you about a dozen times not to touch me.” The woman glared at him while rubbing her arm. “What is it you want from me? Why did you ignore me when I said I didn't want you and harass me all night? What's the reason, huh? Did what I said mean nothing to you?!” “Do you really not like me touching you?” “Do I look like a girl? Saying I don't like it when I really do?” “Why? Why don't you like it? I've never met a guy who doesn't like women.” “Well, there's a first time for everything. Now hurry up and get out of my sight before things get ugly.” Han Kyul, who was on his way to the bathroom, saw that the woman hadn't moved and said, “Do you want me to break your body in half? Is that what you want? Just because I'm your brother's friend, you think that makes me your jackpot? Or is it money that you need? I don't have any cash, but you can take my credit card. Here. Do you want it?” He took out his wallet from his pants pocket. “Obba, your words are so ugly and mean.” “You want me to call Do Hun for you? If you weren't his sister, I would've tossed you out by your hair a long time ago. I'm tempted to try it and see if you'll talk about destiny even after that, but I'm gonna pass for Do Hun's sake. Now, hurry up and get out before I call your brother.” “Call him.” Shockingly, the girl still stood her ground. Man, this little kid was coming out strong. What the hell gave this little brat so much confidence? Why can't you just leave when I tell you nicely? “What are you going to say to my brother if you call? How are you going to explain me being here?” Even as Han Kyul's eyes grew colder and colder with hatred, the woman still flounced about like a girl on a spring day picnic. “Actually, why don't you call my mother instead? She probably won't be too angry about the fact that I slept with you. Mother-in-laws are usually pretty forgiving of their son-in-laws.” “Did you get high yesterday?” “What? What are you talking about?”

“It's just that I think you're still hallucinating.” “You're one to talk. You got so smashed you can't even remember anything.” “Shut your trap.” Han Kyul was really pissed. The fact that he was bickering with this brat of a girl this early in the morning itself was enough to make him really really pissed. “Even if you did the limbo naked in front of me, I wouldn't give a shit.” “I'm sorry, but yesterday was different.” “What are you, a con artist? Talking about destiny, love at first sight; it's that easy to lie?” As if the last shred of her conscience was pricking her, the woman shrank back a little. She bit her lip and her eyes grew moist. He could tell what strategy she was aiming for. Heaving a sigh, he said in an even colder voice, “I'm going to tell you one more time, so listen up. If I died and they sent me to the autopsy room, if the doctor cutting me open is a woman, I'd probably sit right up. That's just how I am. Do you understand? The only time I'd ever even touch a woman is if I'm wide awake, and I mean so wide awake I could thread a noodle through a needle. If I touched you at all during the night, I will commit suicide right here and right now. Now, if you've gotten my drift, quietly get out. If you show yourself to me ever again, I'm going to call your father at his hospital office. Got it?” A tear dropped from her reddened eye. Han Kyul ignored this and went into the bathroom. He didn't feel anything when he saw women's tears. The only thing he might feel would be a curiosity as to whether the tear was meant to be a part of a plan or because she was truly afraid. “Ugh... my head....” Goddamn it! He couldn't remember anything. What if he really hadd touch her? What the hell was wrong with Do Hun? That bastard couldn't even take care of his own sister. Damn. The more he tried to remember, the more his head throbbed, but he had to try. What he did remember was that he had left the party early and had gotten on the elevator. At first, it had been a party with only a few of his friends. But sometime during the night, the party had grown, and more and more unfamiliar faces had arrived. Do Hun's sister and her friend included. As the party ripened, total chaos broke out, and he kept hearing phrases like, “Hey, leave him. He's going to chew you up and spit you out like gum,” and “Oi, seriously, don't mess with him. You're gonna get yourself slapped.” That's when everything became irritating and annoying. All he could think of was how much he wanted to sleep when someone came and put her arm through his.... “Man, if that's not a leech, I don't know what is. How the hell did she follow me in here? There's no way I would've let her in without a fuss....” After he finished his shower, he put on some cologne and a robe. When he entered the room drying his hair with a towel, it was empty. He thought to himself that she had finally left and began to feel relieved when he heard voices from the living room.

“Where's Choi Han Kyul?” “May I ask who you are?” What the hell! Where'd the whiny, crying voice go, and where did this bright and perky voice come from? Damn it! “Oi! I can't believe you still can't understand...” Han Kyul stopped in a middle of a bellow. His mother stood in the living room. He gave a great big sigh. “You can leave now, miss.” “Excuse me?” “Oh, you must be hard of hearing. Listen, miss. I'm his mother, so I come first. So get out. Do you understand me now?” “Oh, he-hello, how are you?” “No use greeting me now.” “Then... I'll just... be on my way...” The woman began to back away, face full of defiance. Han Kyul smiled bitterly. This just kept getting better and better. What rotten luck. Women. The troubles he had with women. He detected the fragrance of coffee and headed toward the table. Breakfast was quickly growing cold. He picked up the coffee cup and looked down at the bagel before turning his body around. “O-obba, I'll see you later, then.” “Wait just a minute there, young lady.” “Yes?” “Dear, won't you check to see if you have all the teaspoons and forks? Make sure there's nothing missing. Check thoroughly. You don't want to be the victim of a misunderstanding later, do you?” “Wh-what? Are you talking to me?” “No, I'm talking to my son. My goodness, are you already losing your hearing? Oh! How dare you glare at an elder like that! Looking like a hussy.” Han Kyul ignored both the red-faced girl who stood in the doorway and his mother who sat haughtily in her chair and walked to the sofa. “What the hell! I can't believe this!” “You've got such awful manners. Speaking of which, let's look inside that purse of yours. Open it up and turn it upside down.”

“Why are you doing this? Are you implying that I've stolen something?” “You say such strange things. Did I say you stole something? Is that your guilty conscience speaking? Hmm?” “My God, I can't even believe this shit is happening.” “You really shouldn't speak like that in front of elders. Where'd you learn your manners? (sigh) I shouldn't even bother. Darling, don't hang around such low class, inferior girls like that again, all right?” After the door slammed shut, his mother's evil laugh pervaded the air. “My goodness, what kind of a idiot is she? Oh, my, what fun.” His mother's childlike laughter grew louder. Han Kyul winced and when he could no longer stand the shrillness, he thrust in a question. “How did you know about me staying here?” “Why would I not know? I know all about the bars, the salons, the hotels, the saunas that you like to go to.” “Do you have to make me into a mama's boy like that? If you left me alone, I would've gone home by myself. Why do you have to come all the way here to get me?” “Do you know how many words we've spoken to each other since you've come home after three years abroad? This is the first conversation we've had since the first evening when we all had dinner together as a family. Hey, is that coffee? It smells good. Give me a cup.” Han Kyul put a bagel and a cup of coffee in front of his mother. On a finger of the hand that brought the coffee cup to her mouth was an emerald the size of a fist. There were jewels sparkling on her ears and neck, too. Han Kyul had never seen any woman with whom such extravagance was fit so well. When she didn't make herself up, his mother looked like any other poor woman. Because she understood her own appearance and aura, she tried her best to make herself up as much as possible. She dressed herself up like a South American parrot and pasted on fake eyelashes and wore lots of jewels. And she obviously believed she sparkled. “Who was that?” “Nobody.” “I trust you because your love life is usually so clean. And even if you had a problem, you wouldn't hide it right?” “Just state the reason why you're here.” “Sleep at home. It's frightening for me, your grandmother and your sister-in-law to sleep alone. We have two sons, but the company took one away. If I knew this was going to happen, I would've had at least two more.” “Why don't you count Father?”

“Oh, right. That man's family too, isn't he? It's just been so long since I've last seen him.” “I can see that it's abut time for you to go on a shopping spree. You sound like you lack energy. Why don't you take a trip to Hong Kong or something?” “Tsk tsk, you rude boy.” Han Kyul put down the empty cup and stood up. He tied and tightened his robe sash as he said irritably, “I'll go home today, so you can leave now. Even a scarecrow CEO should keep her place occupied in the company.” “I'm only there until you come to fill it, you know that right? What do I know that I would stay in that position? When are you going to join the company?” “I told you that I wouldn't.” Han Kyul went back into the room. This was why he had avoided meeting family members after coming back to Korea. As soon as they saw him they would all ask when he was coning into the company. This was also why he had been forcefully brought back. Two years ago, his eldest uncle had passed away, and his father had taken over the company. Suddenly, Han Kyul had become a vital person for the company. His father had tried to get him to settle down somehow, but it hadn't worked. Han Kyul didn't listen to him. He was afraid and abhorrent of the idea of jumping into that battlefield where that long and lonely war was being fought. He had put on his pants and was putting his shirt on when his mother walked into the dressing room. “Why?” “I just don't want to.” “Don't you have any ambition?” “No.” “Then think of it as filial duty. He's your father. Even if everyone else points his fingers at him, you, at least, should understand and help him.” “What makes you think I'm qualified to do something like that?” “What do you mean?” Han Kyul closed the clasp on his belt and took out his leather jacket. He walked toward his mother. “The entire world knows that Grandfather held Eldest Uncle's hand. Then Father and hyung took over that playing field. Imagine I joined the fray. What are people going to say? Don't you think they're going to say that we're being too greedy and that we're trying to take over everything?” “Don't you think you're at least as qualified as your brother-in-law?” “When did you guys drag him into this? My, aren't we quick on the uptake. This is a fine mess. Why don't we all fight over the same bowl of rice?”

“You're overreacting, dear.” Han Kyul, who had walked past his mother into the living, put on his jacket and looked for his hat. But he could not find it anywhere. When he went back into the dressing room, his mother was standing over the vanity holding the hat. “I heard you blew off your appointment with Grandmother.” “She wanted to see me at the same time the CEOs were having their meetings. I'm not an idiot.” “Tsk tsk. Seems like Grandma's bait laying wasn't skilled enough to catch a cunning raccoon.” “You should leave now.” “Take this.” What his mother held out was a brand new cellphone of the newest model. “It's got a tracking device so be sure to keep it on you at all times.” “Of course I will. Just don't tap it.” After watching Han Kyul stick the phone in his back pocket, his mother said, “Father says he's going to marry you off.” “What?” “He says it's an ultimatum. You either come into the company or you get married.” “Mother, are you hallucinating?” Han Kyul thought the idea was so ridiculous that he played it off as a joke, but for some reason there a cold chill raced down his spine. “But it's true. I came here on your father's special commands. He says to make your decision by the end of today and report to him.” “What the hell is this? And you didn't say anything to him while he was saying this?” “What would I say to your father? I'm supposed to be the model wife. I have to follow my husband's commands.” “Does Grandma know?” “She says it's her wish to see a great-grandson who looks just like her youngest grandson, so she welcomed the idea with open arms.” “No way! This doesn't make sense!” “What, didn't you know that there are things in life that don't make sense?” Seeing Han Kyul at a loss for words made his mother fall into her childlike laughter again. Han Kyul was so stunned that he felt like he couldn't breathe and that his blood wasn't flowing. Now they were using all kinds of tricks to try and get him to come into the company. This was bullshit. He couldn't see a way out of this. So Grandma wasn't about to give him a car, she was trying to come up

with ways to chase him out empty-handed. Join the company or get married? I'd rather die! Goddamn it!

Chapter Three What is this, a rigged poker game? < Part 1 > Mom had come home from the reunion wearing Dong Ok ahjumma's (translator's note: in Korea, males as well as females call older women “ahjumma.” This is not familiar, but not formal either) ring. That is, she should've come back home with it. But at an unknown place at an unknown time somewhere along the way, she had lost the ring. The ring itself had been a little too large for her mother. She had been trying it on, and then had simply gotten up and left for home with it still on her hand. En Chan could understand how Ms. Dong Ok, who had to leave urgently at her mother-in-law's call, could forget, but couldn't understand why Mom couldn't have stopped her and said, “Hey, you should take your ring.” Could her mother, who could still remember the exact details of this $4000, 2.12 carat diamond ring which had been placed on the highest shelf of the third case to the right in the B brand display area of the Shin Woo Joo Department Store where Ms. Dong Ok, together with her husband, had gone on their 22nd anniversary to buy, truly forget the fact that she was still wearing the ring? Not to mention not feel that she was no longer wearing it?!?!? Oh, my poor blood pressure. Oh, my poor weakening legs. “Tell ahjumma.... tell her the truth... she's rich.... so......” “No! I can't! I can't tell her!” “What else can you do in this situation? You have to tell her that you lost it and tell her that we're going to reimburse her, and that even though we don't have the money right now, that we're going to pay her back soon. She's your friend of 30 years, she's not going to demand that you pay her back immediately.” “No! I won't! I'd rather die! I'd rather bite down on my tongue right here and die!” “Mom, you silly, why would you die because of something like this?” Her mother, who had wrapped up her aching head and laid down, began to cry aloud in earnest. “Mom, are you crying? For Pete's sakes, Mommy, don't cry.” “If it was you, do you think you could tell someone something like that so easily, obba? Even I couldn't do it. I'd rather die before I would,” said En Se, who had been eating dinner. “Why couldn't you? Is there another way to get out of this mess without telling?” “There's no choice but to take out a loan from a local shark.” “Oh God, just be quiet and eat your food.” “Don't you remember, Mom? When Dong Ok ahjumma's family went bankrupt way back when, you were kind of mean to her. Back then, when Dong Ok ahjumma called you or came to see you you'd tell

us to say you were out or you'd hide. When Dad died, I heard the other ahjummas talk among themselves saying that a person should do right when she has the chance in order to be helped later.” Christ! Could this girl really be her sister? She'd heard the phrase “fear the ones you know” before, but how could a daughter pinpoint and attack every wound on her mother and be so mean about it? “Serves you right for acting so stuck up when Dong Ok ahjumma was going through a hard time.” “Ya!' En Chan rapidly crawled on her knees and put her hand over En Se's mouth. Right then, her mother, who had been lying down, abruptly stood up and flung open the closet doors. A mink coat the size of a bear slid down. “Mom!” “I've got to sell this.” En Chan let go of En Se and flew to hold down her mother. “Mom, Mom, calm down and sit down.” “I... I can sell this at least... Your father... (sob).. your father bought it for me before he died.... It's the only thing left after selling all my... all my pearls... my ruby ring... all my jewels, it's the on-only thing left, but at least... at least I can sell this... (sobs) Oh my dear, I'm.. I'm so sorry!” “Mommy.... d-don't cry... don't cry Mommy...” En Se began to wail, adding to the noise that her mother, who was sprawled on the floor like street market ahjumma, was making. “What do you mean you're going to sell that? You can't sell that. D-daddy b-bought it for you for your birthday. H-he was so happy when he saw you in it... He s-said it made him happy because (sob) it made him believe he'd kept his promise to let you live luxuriously.” En Chan, who had momentarily begun wondering how much the coat would've fetched, was embarrassed. Her chest tightened painfully as En Se talked about their father while sobbing so miserably. Her father's last words came to her. Lying in a hospital bed, his body torn and bloodied from the car crash, her father had lifted a bloodied hand to hold her own, and he had said to her, “Chan-ah, now you're the head of the family. Your mother... En Se... take care of them. I can trust you, right, Channy? I can go in peace, trusting you, right?” It had been impossible to say no. There was nothing to be done but to promise him that she would. And she had worked and run all this way since then to keep that promise. En Chan picked up the bear-like mink coat and hung it back up in the closet. The dry cleaning bill would be ridiculous if it somehow got dirtied. “I'll figure something out.” “Wh-what could you possibly do?” “Unni, do you have money stashed away somewhere?” How could I, you little brat! Do you know how much money you took from me to buy bags and shoes and clothes? “Well... kind of...”

“What! Really? Well, why are you telling us that now? What, you didn't want to give it away? You cheapskate. I thought as much. Shoot, I feel all stupid for crying. Mom, don't worry, obba's going to take care of it.” “Huh? Really?” She didn't tell them that there was only $420 dollars in the bank. She also didn't tell them that she was planning to meet Ms. Dong Ok, who had said she'd come around to pick up the ring in five days, by herself and plead with her. She simply told them, both hands clenching into fists, “I didn't tell you because I wanted Mom to learn to be careful. Who do you think I am? Of course I have money. Just trust me. I'll handle it.” < Part 2 > Han Kyul doesn't dance or smile much, but somehow he always stands out in a crowd. There's always an atmosphere of stylishness and mysteriousness around him. It could be said that by simply entering a room, he draws attention to himself. It was as if he carried around his own colored spotlight. On rainy Seattle winter nights, you can find Han Kyul at Highway, his favorite bar, surrounded on all sides by beautiful women. All he's doing is watching the cellist play looking depressed and drinking his beer, but the beauties refuse to leave his side for several hours. When the night grows deep and he gets up from his seat, some woman will unfailingly try to take his arm. Without even a smile, he will push her away. Blonds and redheads alike. Yu Ju saw Han Kyul fighting his way out of a swarm of women. She handed him the bottle of Miller Light she had only taken one sip from. Han Kyul, who was breathing slightly harder than usual, gulped down the beer, his Adam's apple moving up and down. “I don't understand why you come to these kinds of clubs so often.” “Why? Do you disapprove?” The fragrance of sweat and heat emanated from Han Kyul, who sat back down after ordering more beer. The scent was not displeasing to Yuju. “It's not like you like to drink, and it's not like you came here with a mind to chase women.” “Why not? I like drinking and I've a mind to chase all the women I want.” “Really? So why...” “So why aren't I passed out smashed, and why aren't there any women in hysterics trying to rip me off for money?” “Well, that's not exactly what I meant. Fine. Tell me. Why aren't there?” “Because that's the end. If I stumbled around drunk on the streets like a dog or turned my family upside down because of women problems, what would I be left with? Lock and chains, is what I'd be left with. All that stuff, I gotta do at the very end. I'm not done enjoying myself yet. I don't want to waste my youth, you know?” “If you can control yourself like that, it might mean that youth is already over for you.”

“God, don't say such horrible things. If my youth is over, what does that make me? Middle-aged?” “Why, are you scared?” “Who likes getting old? Aren't you scared of getting old, Ms. Vixen?” “Me? Sometimes... There are days when I'm afraid of tomorrow. It might be that I'm afraid that tomorrow may never come. I think that's the reason why I work so hard—so that I can forget that.” A slim beauty walked by, leaving a fragrant trail behind her. Her long black hair came down to her waist, but her miniskirt was barely long enough to cover her buttocks. Yu Ju felt Han Kyul look at the woman. Han Kyul spoke, still looking at the woman, “You're still all right. Even in ten, twenty years, you'll still be pretty.” At his unexpected words, Yu Ju suddenly felt shy. It was because she knew he wasn't a man to say such things easily, and because it had been a long time since she'd heard them. “Hmm. It feels pretty good to hear a compliment from a good looking man. I'll consider it a welcomeback gift.” Just then, Han Kyul's friend Pak Do Hun approached them. “Ya, what're you doing here? What do you think you're doing, hanging around out here while we're all waiting for you inside? They're all saying you blew them off.” “What's there to do in a dark room? Makes you feel like you're trapped or something. Tell them to come outside.” “You honestly think fifteen people are going to move just for one of you? Man, you and your ego.” “Hello? Can't you see me?” At Yu Ju's interjection, Do Hun made a surprised face. “Wow! It was you, nuna (translator's note: in Korea, males address familiar older females “nuna.”)? I thought this guy snagged a catch or something. But never mind that, when did you get so beautiful, nuna? Seriously! I thought there was a fairy was sitting at the bar.” “I see you still overact. It's nice to see you, anyway. You've been well?” “Of course. I don't even have to ask you. Your face is glowing. Did something good happen?” “I'm just glad to be home. Hey, Han Kyul, since everyone is inside, it'd probably be better for us to go inside, too.” “It's all right. Just you come, nuna. We didn't come here to see this jerk. We actually really don't care if he's come back to Korea or has left the Earth. But we wondered and wondered and wondered when you were coming back and...” Han Kyul abruptly cut off the banter before it got any longer by asking, “Did hyung come?” “Hyung? Who?” Han Kyul indicated Yu Ju with a quick glance. With that, Do Hun immediately understood and said,

“Oh..... No. Did he say he was going to come?” “I left him a note because he was in a conference, but I guess his secretary didn't give it to him.” Han Kyul skillfully circumvented the topic, but it looked like Yu Ju didn't believe him. When he had called, Han Sung hadn't said that he'd come, or that he wouldn't come. But Han Kyul had believed that he would. Han Sung wasn't the kind of person to waste time on lost causes, but Han Kyul had thought maybe he'd come on account of his pride. Han Kyul had wanted Han Sung to show up looking nonchalant and to sneer at the uncomfortable look on Yu Ju's face. Han Kyul wanted it to happen so that Yu Ju would be able to deal with the guilt and regret in that way, at least. Han Kyul took the miniskirt woman into the room where Yu Ju and his friends were. Even the friends who at first looked outraged at the newcomer went wild when they saw her dance. They even called in her friends, and the party began to rage until it was about to explode. Around midnight, Yu Ju picked up her purse. Han Kyul, who had seen her sneak out, followed her. “You're leaving already?” “Yea. I'm kind of tired.” Han Kyul thought to himself that it had been Han Sung who Yu Ju had waited for. “Let's go, I'll drop you off.” “It's ok. I'll just take a cab.” Han Kyul wordlessly took her by the wrist. It concerned him that her wrist was so thin. It reminded him of the first time he met Yu Ju. He was eight. Even then, her fingers and her wrists were very thin. At the time, if someone had asked Han Kyul what he hated most in the world, he would have said milk, the piano, and his father. He had been force-fed milk, even though he'd said it was fine if he didn't grow any more; so he hated milk. He had been forced to play the piano, even though he'd said he didn't want to become a pianist or anything; so he hated the piano. And for forcing him to do all these things against his will, he hated his father most of all. That day, he had poured milk all over the piano, which he had played for two years. He had been beaten and humiliated in front of guests who had happened to be visiting, and banished to his room. He was so angry that he couldn't stop his tears. It was then that long-haired Yu Ju, who was taller than Han Kyul was and could play the piano better than he could, came into the room. “Hey, do you want to be my younger brother?” Han Kyul thought to himself that she was a very strange girl. “If you say you will, I'll put medicine on your wounds for you.” She showed him the ointment she held in her hand. Her mouth was closed tightly as if she'd begin crying if he didn't quickly say that he would. “Wait here. I'll bring the car around.” “You've been drinking. We should call a substitute driver (translator's note: in Korea, if someone is too drunk to drive, a substitute driver can be hired to take the person and the person's car home.).”

“It's actually pretty entertaining to drive when you're slightly off your rocker. Don't worry, if things turn for the worse, I won't put anyone else in danger. I'll just shove my car into the river. What's the worst that could happen, other than dying? Don't you think it'd be all right to die with a cool guy like me? As a woman, I mean.” “You're just drunk, right? You haven't gone crazy or anything?” “What're you getting all nervous for? It's ok, I've only had a bottle of beer.” “Still... Listen, I'll go buy some coffee from over there.” “You don't trust me?” “As if I could tell the almighty Choi Han Kyul that I couldn't trust him.” “Psh.” “I want to have some coffee too.” “Fine, then.” Han Kyul went to the parking lot and Yu Ju went to the convenience store on the other side of the street. He'd parked the car and was walking toward the store when Yu Ju came out holding coffee cups in both hands. Right then, a motorcycle whizzed by her. Without slowing down, the person on the motorcycle snatched the purse hanging from her wrist and sped off. “Aaaah!” At her scream, Han Kyul sped like a bullet to Yu Ju. The cups were on the ground, and Yu Ju was standing still, dumbfounded. “Nuna! Are you all right?” “Ah... I....” “Are you hurt anywhere?” Han Kyul clutched a pale and trembling Yu Ju against his chest. Right then, a scooter appeared out of nowhere and clattered its way past them. “Ya! You son of a bitch! Stop right there!” An incredibly loud voice rang through the night street. Han Kyul read the shining letters on the back of the scooter: “Midnight Snack Delivery” “Let's get in the car. Can you walk?” “I-I'm ok. I was just so startled...” As Han Kyul helped her along, Yu Ju forced a laugh and said, “Shoot, my bag... I bought that in Paris.... What a shame.” “Women! The bag is not the problem. I'll buy you another one.” “You promise? You can't take back your word later.” “Did you hit your head or something? What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”

Yu Ju, who was about to get into the car, suddenly stopped. Her face went rigid and there was shock in her eyes. Han Kyul followed her line of sight and his prediction was proven right when he saw the man standing there. It was Han Sung. “So you're coming just now, are you?” “You're leaving?” “We were going to, but there was a slight incident...” Suddenly a siren blared. A patrol car was chasing the scooter chasing the motorcycle that was heading back toward them. With a cry of “Shit!” the person on the motorcycle threw Yu Ju's handbag. Han Sung found himself catching the bag, and Han Kyul reflexively began to chase after the motorcycle. “Han Kyul!” “Oi! Stop right there!” The thought that he had to catch the jerk had just fired Han Kyul up to sprint for the first time in a long time when the scooter clattered past him. “Ya! Shit! There's no choice! Ya! You son of a bitch!” Han Kyul whipped the helmet off the scooter's driver and chucked it at the motorcycle. It flew in a parabola and hit the mugger square in the back. The motorcycle buckled and crashed, and the thief crumpled to the ground, but apparently he wasn't seriously injured because he stood right up and tried to pick up his motorcycle. The midnight snack delivery boy flew onto the escaping mugger. Woah. Not bad. Han Kyul walked slowly toward them, regretting that he had not been the one to catch him. He was breathing hard. “Hah.... hah.....” I guess I should quit smoking. The delivery boy grabbed the thief and pulled him up by his collar. It looked like the two of them were bickering with each other. But by the time Han Kyul and the policeman arrived, the only one left was the delivery boy. The mugger had left his motorcycle and escaped in that short time. Han Sung and Yu Ju caught up with the group. “You aren't hurt anywhere?” At the policeman's question, the delivery boy nodded his head even though a cut on the cheekbone was bleeding. The policeman turned to Yu Ju. “Is anything missing?” “No.” “Any other damage?” “None at all. Just a little startled.” “It'll be easy to catch him since we have his motorcycle, right? We can look it up?” At Han Kyul's question, the policeman replied noncommittally,

“Who knows? There are so many fakes these days. It could be a stolen motorcycle. Also, there are a lot of motorcycles these days smuggled in from China, so there are lots of motorcycles that are unregistered roaming about.” Then shouldn't the policeman chase after him? He was just here to take the victim's statement? You call that a policeman? Unbelievable! “So you're saying you're not going to catch him?” “Well, no, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that it'll be hard to. These kids are usually minors who don't have licenses.” “For Christ's sakes! What, is that supposed to impress me?” “Stop it.” Han Sung came over and pulled at him. Even as the policeman's face began to fall, the midnight snack delivery boy was desperately trying to put on a broken helmet. “Hey, student over there.” “Yes?” The policeman called the delivery boy over. “Did you see his face?” “It was too dark; I didn't get a good look.” “Tsk. Ok. If you go home and find that you're injured somewhere, call up the station. We'll give you a reward or something.” “Oh! Right.” Yu Ju came forth with her bag in her hand. “Thank you so much. It's thanks to you that I got my bag back. This isn't much, but...” “N-no, no, it's ok. I just wanted to...” “Hold it.” Han Kyul was glaring at the boy. Something smelled fishy. It was fishy that the mugger could escape so easily, and it was fishy that this kid would, after having interfered in other peoples' business and getting hurt, refuse to accept compensation. It was fishy that the bag was given back so easily, and it was fishy that the mugger and this kid looked about the same age. What is this, a rigged poker game? The policeman's radio began to shriek loudly. He left to return to his DUI crackdown, and Han Sung took Yu Ju back to the car. Han Kyul grabbed the delivery boy who was trying to get back on the scooter. “Call this number tomorrow.” He dug around in his pockets until he found a piece of paper and wrote down his number on it. “I'll take care of your reward.” “No, really, it's fine.” The delivery boy blew the bangs out of his eyes and raised his eyebrows. He looked insulted. “How much do you make in a month?” “Excuse me?” Sparks appeared in his round eyes. “What are you asking me that for?” Look at this kid. Who do you think you're dogging? Han Kyul put his desire to smack him into a snide remark.

“I'll give you a month's wage, so call me. There's no reason to let pride get in the way. It's only natural that you receive compensation.” He snorted at the 50cc scooter and asked, “Which toy store did you pick this up from?” “What?” “Do they even repair things like this? If they do, I'll pay for it. Call me tomorrow.” Han Kyul held out the piece of paper. In spite of a face that looked like it would rather die than accept it, a hand came out to take it. Han Kyul looked at the hand and gripped the paper tightly. The boy glared and snatched it away. Han Kyul watched the scooter clunking away and smiled mockingly. Yea, that's right you little punk. What the hell can someone like you do? You'll get it, for sure. Little punk. I'll get the both of you! < Part 3 > En Chan looked in the mirror as she put a band-aid on her face. “Man! What a jerk!” She had finally landed a part-time job, and lost it on the same day. The delivery was late so the customer got angry, the helmet was cracked, and the scooter that had been fine on the way to the store clattered and broke down right when the owner began to scream at her. This was all because of that that idiot, the crow of a punk that followed En Se around. She thought he'd only rip snot-smeared money from children, but he'd gone and mugged a person in the street. The moment she saw some jackass snatch a woman's purse, she had flared up and knocked him down, but when she saw his face, who else could it be but En Se's punk. Right then, she'd not only felt surprise at a familiar face, but she'd also felt pity. He'd been dumped by En Se and then had had to pay for the jja jang myun. If he had to be dragged away to a police station, his life would become too pathetic. Plus, he'd said that he was a senior in high school, and if he was really repeating a grade, it probably meant he was determined to graduate high school, at least... “I've still got to catch that punk and teach him a lesson. What the hell is he thinking? That blockhead. Can't believe he got so nervous that he gave the bag back.” She gave up trying to cover up the hole in her head with her hair and pushed her hat down. She was glaring from underneath the cap when another jerk's face came rising up in her mind. “What're you looking at, jackass? Looking down on people with that prissy face. What? Toy store? What a complete jerk. I've never met a bigger bastard in my entire life. Seriously.” How nice it would be if she could just blow it off. But she couldn't leave without taking the number of the man who didn't even know how to say thank you. She didn't know whether she should be thankful or angry that her mother's mink coat floated up in her mind. She'd soon find out. En Chan took out the paper from her pocket. She realized only after getting home that it was actually a picture. On one side was the phone number the man had scrawled, and on the other was some smiling woman. She looked pure and pretty.

Is she his girlfriend? How could he go around giving out pictures of his girlfriend to strangers? What an unbelievable guy. Seriously, if he hadn't gone on talking about a month's wages or something, I really wouldn't have taken it. Damn it. Stupid money. Hmm... how much did he think a month's wages was? En Chan took a deep breath and picked up her phone. A familiar piano song played over the line (translator's note: in Korea, the dial tone can be exchanged for music, much like Muzak when you're put on hold.) She was unconsciously humming along to the tune when the song was abruptly cut off and was replaced by a strange voice. “H-hello?” [What!] Heavy breathing. “Hello?” [WHO IS THIS!] A gruff, gravelly monstrous voice. “Ah... I-I'm...” [Wrong number.] “Excuse me?” The jerk hung up. En Chan stared at the phone in disbelief. “What the hell! What is the deal with this jackass? Damn!” She was angrier at herself. She hadn't known how to answer him when he asked who it was, and so she'd acted like a loser. What made her angrier, though, was the fact that she had to call back. En Chan calmed her mind and pressed the button. The voice that cut the music off seemed to scrape at her ears as it said, [If it's you again, I'm going to kill you.] What kind of phone etiquette was this? En Chan scowled and said, “I'm the person who needs to receive the compensation reward.” [Receive what?] “The compensation reward.” She had to be stubborn and brazen. There was no other choice. She had to put on her game face and forget the fact that doing this made her feel dirty and stupid, and she had to be stubborn. [Oh....] So he finally remembers.

[Scooter.] “That's right.” [You're going to take it?] This jerk! I knew he was going to come out like this! Damn it! “Well... That's not really... Well, the photo... the paper you wrote your number on is a photo... I feel like I should return that to you, too....” God! I wish I could just blow this off. What a dirty and cheap trick! “I-I got fired.... and the helmet cracked... Oh, and the scooter's totally trashed.” [Ugh... my head.] “Excuse me?” [No, never mind, go on. So how much do you want?] “About $4000. And something seems a bit off right now. I never asked you for it, you said you were going to give it to me. I mean, if you don't, that's the end of it, but I did get fired from my part-time job. And since you said you'd give me a month's wages or something, you should probably take responsibility....” [Responsibility?] “Well, not responsibility, per se, but... you told me to call, didn't you?” There was nothing to be ashamed of, she was just receiving what she should—or so she wanted to think. Damn. If it wasn't for Dong Ok ahjumma's ring, she would've just yelled, “Listen, you total jackass, you think I did it to get money? You freakin' jerk. Jerk off!” and hung up on him. [I didn't think you'd actually call.] “What?” [Fine. Come here.] “Where's 'here'?” There was no guarantee that he'd really give her the money if she went, but there was nothing else she could do. En Chan waited for the man's reply, torn between expectation and despair. [Dong Yi Hotel, room S11.]

Chapter Four What happened in Room S11? < Part 1 >

En Chan, who had never been in the hotel before, couldn't have known that there was a row of separate villas in the back. If an employee hadn't shown her the way, she would've undoubtedly gotten lost. Room S11, which the employee had called a VIP villa, was in a forest. When the employee pressed the bell, it rang clearly. There was no answer, so she pressed it again. Even after that, it was a while before the door opened. En Chan was startled by the appearance of a bare chest, but the female employee, who seemed used to these kinds of things, simply said, “I've brought your guest to you, sir.” En Chan didn't know where to put her eyes. “You've got a killer sense of fashion.” Really? En Chan dumbly looked down at her clothes. “Where'd you buy it? Mop shop? Rag shop?” What the hell! “Come in.” The man walked back inside, drying his hair with a towel. The employee motioned for her to enter, but En Chan felt trapped. She was already fed up with the guy after one sentence, and wanted to go back. If he found out that she kind of knew the mugger and had kind of let him go on purpose, he wouldn't be nice about it. From what she'd already seen, this was a guy who didn't have even the slightest amount of tolerance. He might even report her to the police. She was nervous. She had unintentionally tricked him, and now she was here to pick up her reward? Her conscience throbbed. Not to mention, she was incredibly embarrassed. She'd seen her fair share of bare chests at the dojo, so why was she suddenly so sheepish? “Please enter.” “Ah, yes, thank you.” She began to shuffle inside when the man shouted from inside the room, “Hey! Get me some coffee.” “Yes, sir,” answered the employee before closing the door. For some reason, En Chan felt that it wasn't right with the door closed all the way, so she furtively left the door open about 10cm and then felt better about it. Even if he was tall, she thought she could take him on if she had to, but something in her told her to be cautious. Her attic house in its entirety could probably have fit in the living room. Damn, look how big this place is. Where is this guy, anyway? The carpet, the curtains, the sofa, the table, the dressers, the lighting fixtures were all so magnificent that she felt dizzy. “How'd you get here?” What do you mean how did I get here? “I took the subway.” The man smirked. How in the world did this man manage to be such a jackass?

“I don't know if kids these days have bigger guts than they used to or if they just don't have any fear. You should've just gone on with your delivery, what'd you interfere for? What, you think you're Tae Kwon V? You wanted to get some kind of Good Citizen award? Or is it that you just can't pass up the opportunity to meddle in everybody's business? Since you've come all the way here to get paid, you probably didn't do it out of unadulterated sense of justice, right? Sit down, kiddo.” I probably shouldn't have come here. I should've known when I got that feeling like I'd rather kill myself than come here. Damn it to hell. How can someone who looks like a gigolo talk like such a jackass? His slanty eyes look just like Mashimaro, and his upturned nose looks like a pyramid, and his lips are so pouty he looks like Angelina Jolie. He must've gone suntanning or something 'cause his skin looks just like well cooked salmon... Ah... salmon... I want to eat some salmon.... Whatever, anyway, he just looks sleazy all around and his face pisses me off. How tall is he, about 5'9''? “Stop pouting and sit down.” En Chan glared at the man and then flopped onto the sofa. After discovering that the man wore nothing underneath save a towel, she got angrier and angrier. She kept telling herself that she had to get out of there quick, and kept scowling at the violet flowers that were on top of the table. She heard the man's voice coming from somewhere. “You're a high schooler, aren't you?” What? She whipped her head around in disbelief but couldn't see the man. “What grade are you in? You skipping class right now? Or have you been suspended? Expelled?” She turned her head towards the sound and saw the man's silhouette through the glass. A vague outline of his buttocks could be discerned through the opaque glass. The silhouette was skin colored! He's changing his underwear in front of somebody? What the hell is this man thinking? En Chan snapped her reddened face back and almost yelling, replied, “NO!” “What do you mean no? Which part is no?” “I'm not a high schooler!” “C'mon. A middle schooler, then?” “No! I'm twenty-four!” “Hey, kid, is someone deaf in here? What're you yelling about?” Why was he still bare-chested? If he was going to put on clothes, he should've put on all his clothes. All he was wearing was a pair of jeans that rode dangerously low. What kind of fashion sense is that?! The man crossed the living room, entered the room, and came back out before saying, “It's a good age to be. I know, I know, you want to be treated like an adult so badly you'd even lie about your age.”

The man was putting his watch on in front of his room door. Pants and then watch? A unique way to put on clothes, that's for sure. “If you were delivering midnight snacks, what do you do in the daytime?” “That's none of your business.” “Look at this kid, being all tight-assed.” “Hey, ahjussi (translator's note: in Korea, males and females alike call older men “ahjuhssi.” This is not familiar, but it is not formal, either.), why do you keep talking to me like that? Why do you keep dissing me?” “What? Ahjussi?” “I know you're older than I am, but it's not cool to diss me like that, you know? You should ask me if I'm all right with you treating me so familiarly. Isn't that basic etiquette?” “You're one to talk. Hey, breadwinner boy, may I treat you familiarly? You happy?” “As if you haven't already been treating me like that.” “How old is the kid who got away?” “Twenty.” En Chan gasped. Shit! What did I just say? “I-I don't know. H-h-how would I know that?” She knew by the look on his face that it was too late to recover. The sneer on his face reminded her of a Japanese inquisitioner torturing a Korean freedom fighter. Even if you should put a sword to my neck, I won't surrender! My first wish is Korean independence, my second, also, my third, also... should've been how it went, and this wasn't even something as noble as national liberation, but she'd gone ahead and.... Goddamn it! Nothing ever works out! Still, she tried to cover up by forcing and laugh and saying, “W-what I meant was that... he looked... about twenty... He might not be, but I'm a pretty good judge of character....” “You'd have better luck fooling a ghost. If you were going to do it, you should've done a better job at it. Clumsy twit. You look just like a little girl, and you can't do anything right.” Suddenly something flared up inside of her. She'd heard that phrase, “you look like a little girl” enough to make her ears bleed, but for some reason, it still really pissed her off. Why? Because... because.... ...because I am a girl. I don't consciously think about it usually, and sometimes even I get confused, but I'm still a girl. But, judging by the look on his face, this mess of a human being doesn't even consider the possibility that I could be a girl. Not even a clue. Psh. Not that anything would change if he did see me as a girl. Sometimes I do wish people would see me like that.... Yea. Fine. Whatever. You think whatever you want to think, ahjussi. I'd love to see the look on your face if I up and told you right now that I'm a

girl, but I don't want to. If you don't see me as a girl at all, there's no point in my telling you, “I'm actually a girl,” especially since you haven't even asked me. It's pathetic to turn myself in. Damn pathetic. “Is the policeman in on it too, by any chance? Are you guys a scam group? Or a kid flunky for a mob? Not that I'd believe you if you said no.” En Chan abruptly stood up. This sad excuse of a human being was really pushing it! She felt like scrubbing his tongue with sandpaper. She was so angry she couldn't remain sitting. Compensation reward or no, it seemed best to just run away. That's when it happened. She'd tried to whip past him, but her shoulder had collided with the cup of water the man was drinking out of. “Ack!” The water that should've gone into the man's mouth spilled onto his chest. “Oh shoot!” En Chan's hand unconsciously reached out. Her exact intention was to try and wipe away the water that was flowing down the man's torso, so her hand ended up on the man's chest. But as soon as her palms felt skin, she realized that this was a very, very strange position to be in. The man looked at her, surprised, and En Chan froze. Right then, there was something like a scream. “Oh my GOD!” En Chan turned her head with her hand still on the man's chest. There, a woman stood with both hands covering her mouth looking scandalized. “Wh-what the hell are you two men doing together?!?” < Part 2 > When he'd showed up wearing baggy jeans, a hoodie jumper and a baseball cap, Han Kyul had thought that the kid was nothing but a punk. But now that he was in a suit and tie, Han Kyul thought he didn't look half bad. Ko En Chan. He insisted he was twenty-four, but it was pushing it to say he was more than twenty-two or so. The social security number he'd written on the employment contract was probably phony as well. That's just how kids like him were. Their lives revolved around lies and deception. He couldn't be more than 5' 7'', and had a slim frame. His skin was white, his eyes were big and round, and his lips were uncommonly red. He looked just like the lead singer of some idol group. These days, boys who looked pretty enough to be mistaken for girls were all the rage. Ko En Chan was no exception. With his mouth closed, his atmosphere was completely different. Han Kyul thought to himself, man, what a waste of a good face. Dick would be drooling if he was here. Han Kyul kept his eye on En Chan, who was entering the restaurant. He stared at him as hard as he could so that the woman who sat across from him could feel it. Finally the woman turned her head and looked at En Chan, who had sat down at the adjacent table. “Is it someone you know?” “Seems that way.”

“Oh, then you should go and say hello. It's all right with me.” Where the hell did he find such a tacky suit? Twit, if you're going to wear a suit, you should've found one that actually fit you. “I'm considering it. I don't know if I should, though.” “Why not?” Because it's hella embarrassing. What is this, a 7080 concert? What's with that wide tie? “We have an... awkward past.” If that dumb broad hadn't gone into hysterics about being gay or whatnot, Ko En Chan would've gone straight to the police station. The stupid girl, even after having been scolded by his mother, still dropped by the hotel and harassed him, but she had been horrified by the sight of him and Ko En Chan together. When Han Kyul saw her run away with that disgusted look on her face, a light bulb had gone on in his head. Get married? All right. Go ahead. Good luck marrying me off. He presented Ko En Chan with a proposition. What did he think about a part-time job? Unbelievably, even after having his scam with the mugger exposed, this kid had asked for the money up front. Not only that, but he had even asked for several times the original compensation reward amount. Han Kyul even now couldn't understand what made him say he would. If he wanted to, he could've just threatened to toss him in the clinker to make him do whatever he wanted. “What do you think about his type? I heard pretty boys are all the rage these days.” “Well, I personally don't really...” The woman he had a date with today was being overly quiet in order to appear mature and pure. He was so bored he wanted to yawn. Right then, he saw the waiter approaching the table En Chan was sitting at. He could read his lips: The B course, please. “Could you excuse me a moment?” “Oh, of course.” Han Kyul hurried over, but the waiter had already taken the order and walked away. “Hey! Ko En Chan, imagine seeing you here.” He made his voice bright, but his expression remained angry as he sat next to En Chan. The woman could see En Chan's front and Han Kyul's profile from where she was sitting. “Out of all days, you had to have a date on a busy Friday afternoon? I'm busy all afternoon. What are you, a loafer?” “Oh, shut up, kid. You, who told you you could order food?” growled Han Kyul lowering his voice as quiet as it could go.

“What, do you expect me to sit here in a place like this and just drink water? It'll seem strange, don't you think?” “You pay for it then.” “I only have enough for the bus.” “That's not my problem. I've already cleared my account with you in cash. Did you bring your ID?” “I-I told you I lost it. I applied for a replacement, but i-it hasn't arrived yet.” “I have your picture in my cell phone, so if you're thinking of pulling anything funny, don't. If you do, I'll wallpaper the police station with your mug shot.” “Mug shot? What the hell did I do? You should learn to trust people and think more positively. Why're you so twisted?” “What! You little!” “Why are you treating me like a criminal?” “That's why I'm telling you to do it well. Anyway, what's with this suit? Is it your father's?” “You told me to wear a suit.” “You don't even own a suit? Oh, forget it. Let's go to Phase 1.” “Already? I haven't even eaten yet...” “I haven't either, kid.” “Yea, so let's just eat first and then...” En Chan, who had stopped talking, looked over toward the woman. Han Kyul didn't turn around and kept looking at En Chan, whose eyes were blinking continually. “What?” “That's the woman, isn't it? The picture?” “Picture?” “You know, the paper you wrote your number on last time. Oh! Didn't I give that back to you?” “Put your hand on the table.” “Do we really have to do this?” “What, do you think I want to?” En Chan made a face like he'd just chewed through a unripe persimmon and lifted his hand onto the table. Han Kyul put his hand on his arm, as lovers would. “Smile, kid.”

“Ahjussi, I am smiling.” Han Kyul grinned. As he moved his upper body to close the space between them, En Chan's distorted smile shriveled even more. “You're a pervert, aren't you, ahjussi?” “You gonna mess around?” “Do you really think this is going to work?” “You saw as well as I did. The woman from before.” “She was pretty...” “Why? You interested?” “I couldn't see any reason why Mr. Cranky should dump her. It'd probably make more sense for you to have been dumped.” “Do you want me to hit you? Do I look like a dumbass to you?” “No. You look like a cranky twisted pervert.” “You little son of a...” “Shh!” “You'll get it later. All right. It's time. Twenty minutes from now we go onto Phase 2.” Before getting up, Han Kyul reached out and tousled En Chan's hair. Suddenly, he flinched. This wasn't part of the plan... Han Kyul turned away awkwardly. “I'm very sorry. We have a lot to talk about.” The woman already had a sour look on her face. She was at the top of the list that his mother had brought to him. That meant she came from a good household and was smart and pretty. And so he wanted to pour milk all over her. The same way he wanted to break that perfect order of black keys and white keys... “Why don't we eat?” Han Kyul stretched out his hand toward his water glass and felt something strange. The sensation from before revived in his fingertips and made them tingle. The sensation of the kid's black hair. It had been smooth and thin and silky. It was probably because he was still so young. Even pigs have soft hair when they're babies. But why did he ruffle his hair in the first place? Oh, it was just part of the act. Right. To make it more convincing. Wow. Look at that kid go. He was cleaning off the plates as soon as they arrived. The appetite of a pig indeed. Moreover, a euphoric smile filled his face. Han Kyul had never seen anyone smile like that while eating alone. He gave the waiter who brought him ice cream and a tart a smile as if he'd give him his

liver if he'd asked for it. He gobbled down the unbearably sweet desserts in the blink of an eye and then went on to lick his fingers. Thanks to him, the meal on this end seemed even more unbearably boring. The woman was cutting the steak that was smaller than her fist one minuscule piece at a time. She'd probably have been better off if she'd asked them to grind it for her beforehand. “So you graduated from the business school at Washington University?” What was this girl's name? Anyway, it seemed her female intuition was kicking into gear. He could tell by the way she began to bring up his educational background. “I remember going in there, but I don't remember coming out.” “Excuse me?” “The place is too beautiful to just sit around and study.” “I have heard that Seattle is the best place to live in the United States.” “It's a good place to be a hermit or go into hiding. Also a good place to kill yourself. When you open your eyes in the morning, it's most probably raining, or it's so foggy that it makes you want to walk into a telephone pole and get electrocuted. Oh, but there's no need to worry. It's all good if you fill up with 16 ounces at a go, 40 times a week.” “Fill up with what?” “Coffee,” Han Kyul answered and raised his hand to call the waiter over to order coffee. The woman hadn't even finished a third of her meal. “Oh, don't worry about me and take all the time you want. You don't like wasting food, right? I knew it. It's such an admirable habit.” The face of the woman who had just been about to clear her plate grew rigid and picked her knife back up to stab at her meat. 20 minutes had already passed and the kid hadn't moved. Han Kyul glowered at En Chan who was shoveling in ice cream, but only after he'd licked the plate clean did he commence action. He knocked the glass of water over. “Oh!!” The water spilled onto his lap and the glass shattered on the floor. As En Chan stood up, Han Kyul dashed to his side. He whipped the towel from the approaching waiter and started wiping at En Chan's thighs. “Are you all right?” he asked with a surprised and concerned look on his face. En Chan's face that looked down at Han Kyul was a riot. It said, “What a freakin' psycho!” Han Kyul knit his eyebrows and demanded wordlessly that he begin to get his act together. “G-get away from me! You don't have to concern yourself with me anymore. W-we're over! Bastard!” En Chan shoved Han Kyul's shoulder. This wasn't an act. It was a full-force hit. Ugh! Han Kyul stopped the groan that rose automatically to his throat. That son of a—! Anger boiled inside of him, but he focused his energy into the last part of the act. It was to shout after the damn brat, who was walking away with a satisfied face, calling agitatedly, “Ch-Chan-ah!”

Expelling a deep sigh, Han Kyul was met with the women's cold and shocked look that was filled to the brim with suspicion. Now all that was left was the dramatic ending. Han Kyul spoke calmly as one would in a confessional. “I'm curious as to what you think. About gays, I mean.” < Part 3 > Spring break had ended, so there weren't anymore morning sessions, but this was not necessarily good news. This was because the number of students signing up for Tae Kwon Do lessons was lessening by the day. “How about curry for lunch?” Even if she said it was for lunch, it'd probably be dinnertime by the time it was done. En Chan glanced at her mother who was taking out vegetables from the refrigerator before rolling her pencil. The pencil, which had tiny letters pasted on the side, rolled and rolled before it stopped and read: Pork boned rib. “Mom! It says pork boned rib!” She ran after her mother holding the pencil. “Oh, you!” Down came the ladle. “Ow!” “Go and buy some potatoes.” It'd been eight days since she'd last eaten meat. She wanted to become a cow so she could regurgitate. The steak she had eaten at that fancy restaurant appeared before her eyes. She'd run the act two more times after that, but the jerkface cheapskate had shouted at her to drink only juice, so she hadn't been able to even taste meat. When, oh when was this bizarre job going to end? Thanks to the job, she'd been able to pay for Dong Ok ahjumma's ring, but she was still sitting on a pile of debt because she'd had to borrow money from butcher Mr. Koo to pay for living expenses. “Hey, Ko En Chan.” Speaking of the debt, it was Mr. Koo. “Is your mother home?” “Yes. Why?” “Oh, I was just going to give her this.” “What is that?” En Chan had run into Mr. Koo in the small doorway of the staircase she'd just come down from. “This? Walnut oil. The folks back on the farm sent it up. It's good for colds. I hear your mother's caught a cold?”

“She's all better now, though.” “S-still, it's good to take it.” “Really? Ok. Thank you.” “N-no, I'll take it up. Weren't you on your way out?” “Oh, it's ok, I'll just...” “I said I'll take it up! G-go on, off you go.” The man grasped the bottle as if afraid she'd take it away from him and ran up the stairs like a escapee. En Chan stood there dumbfounded. Right then, her phone rang. “Hello?” [Yes, this is En Se's school. I'm her homeroom teacher.] “Huh? Oh, y-yes! Hello!” Startled, En Chan bent to a 90 degree angle and bowed. She hadn't done anything wrong, yet her heart beat like a drum. It wasn't as if the school was the police station or anything, but still... [This is En Se's older brother, yes?] “Excuse me? Older brother?” [That's what it says here in the file.] What! Fooling around with official documents now, were we? [I tried calling home, but it was disconnected. Did your phone number change?] “No, it hasn't. What number did you call?” The random call from the homeroom teacher was to ask for their mother to come to school. When asked why, the teacher's answer was exactly what she predicted: En Se had gone and made trouble again. She had created some kind of brand name club or something. If it was just that, there would be no way for the teacher to know, but there had also been reports that she had embezzled the club's membership fees. Embezzled? “Just you wait until I get you, you stupid girl! Goddamn it! Shit! Why does my own sister have to give me trouble all my life? I'm gonna go freakin' berserk! Ko En Se, how am I going to fix you up good this time, huh? You better watch out. I'm going to smash your face in with raw eggs!” En Chan sent messages to all of En Se's friends and ran around combing the PC bangs and parks, but she could not find Ko En Se. Eventually, she had no choice but to return to the dojo sweating buckets and boiling over with anger. On top of the desk in the dojo, there was a mountain of gifts wrapped in sparkling paper. “What's this?”

“Some girls came and left it here. I told them they couldn't just barge in like that, but they wouldn't listen. Hmph.” En Chan opened the gifts while Seung Kyung complained. Letters and chocolate, letters and chocolate, letters and chocolate, just chocolate... “Who left this here?” “Some unnis. They were wearing Dong Moon Girls' High School uniforms. They said they were your juniors.” “When were they here? Wasn't it during class time?” “I don't know. They were fat and ugly and looked like they were stupid, too.” “What's the occasion? Is today my birthday?” “It's Valentine's Day. You don't even know a thing like that, master?” “Oh, I see. Well, whatever. Hey kids! It's lesson time. Gather 'round. Hup hup!” “Yayyyyyyyyy!!!” “Ten hut! Salute the flag!” After several consecutive lessons on an empty stomach, she was exhausted. Her tongue ached from all the chocolate she had eaten from time to time. When she finished the last lesson, the sky looked yellow. Her mouth tasted sweet but her stomach ached, and her head hurt from worrying about En Se. She drank a glass of milk and had to change out of her dojo suit without a chance to take a shower. En Se's phone was still turned off. Damn stupid girl! Where was she?! **** Having received the dojo master's permission, she stepped out of the dojo when a group of high school girls rumbled towards her. “Sunbehnim! (translator's note: in Korea, both males and females call familiar older males and females “sunbeh” if they've gone or are going to the same school, company, or job. These younger males and females are in turn called “hubeh”s.)” “Master! (translator's note: Here, the term “master” refers to En Chan's position as a dojo master. For those of you with dirty minds, shame on you. ;p) We're here!” There were girls who had learned Tae Kwon Do from her before and there were girls who had been her juniors in school. En Chan, who hadn't been able to muster the energy to fend off the girls suddenly remembered and asked, “Hey, have you seen En Se?” “En Se? Who's En Se?” “You know, sunbehnim's younger sister. She's a senior at our school.”

“Yea, that's her. Have you seen her?” “No.” “Today's Valentine's Day, so she probably went to meet her boyfriend or something.” Boyfriend? Not that crow-faced punk? “Sunbehnim, let's eat dinner together.” “We'll buy you your favorite! Pork boned rib!” “Huh? B-boned rib? N-no, no. Sorry, I can't, I'm a little busy right now.” Goddamn it. My boned ribs. This is all your fault, Ko En Se! “Aw, come on, master, today's Valentine's Day. Let's go to karaoke together!” She was refusing, swallowing bitter tears, when her phone rang. She picked it up immediately thinking it could be En Se. “Hello?” There was no reply on the other end. Desperate, En Chan pressed her mouth against the phone and said, “Hello? This is En Se, right? YA! Ko En Se!” [Damn, did you swallow a steam engine or something?] It wasn't En Se. [My eardrums nearly burst, you brat!] “Oh.... What is it?” [What do you mean, what is it? What else would I be calling you for? Get here quick. You know Joshua? In front of Kang Nam University?] “Can I go next time? I'm really busy right now. There's a bit of an emergency.” [What? Look at the guts on this kid. Do I look like a philanthropist to you? If you've been paid, you have to work. I thought you were working out pretty well the first few times, and now you're showing your true face, huh, punk? Come here right now and give me my money back or get a job on the streets.] Her face grew hot with rage. Many pairs of bright, curious eyes were watching En Chan's face, which had grown red from anger. “I'm really very sorry, but I'll go next time. Today's not a good day,” said En Chan between clenched teeth. [Why, did you break your legs goofing around?]

“No, it's not that....” [If it's not that, come here immediately. If you don't, you're dead.] “What? Dead? Hey, listen, mister!” [The thumbprint on the slave contract hasn't even dried yet. You already jumping ship?] “Are you freakin' serious? I'm in a real situation here.” [What kind of situation could someone like you possibly be in?] “What, someone like me can't have an honest problem....” [Time's running out. Get here in ten minutes.] “Shit! Just kill me, why don't you, you bastard! AAARGH!” But he had already hung up the phone. En Chan slammed the cover down. She was so angry she couldn't stand it anymore. “That son of a bitch! Fine! I'll go! I'll go, goddamn it!” She kicked at the wall in anger. “Just you wait, you jackass! I'm going to punch your jaw off your face!” A chorus of adoration followed the back of En Chan who was storming off in a rage. “You saw that? Did you see that? Oh my God, how cool!” “Seriously, that was just too hot. So tough! So charismatic!” “Oh, only En Chan for me! My Love Chan!”

Chapter Five It Won't Do to Disappoint the Witch < Part 1> A Valentine's Day party for singles. More like a desperate attempt by single people to participate in the national holiday for couples. Well, whatever it was, Choi Han Kyul couldn't miss this chance to raise his notoriety. He knew most of the faces at the party. There were some guys who weren't even single. If married men insisted they were single, it was the special law of the day not to try too hard to find out the truth. “Obba, don't you know her?” Damn it. It was Pak Do Hun's younger sister.

“You know, Sang Won Construction Company's youngest daughter. Weren't you two supposed to go on an arranged date?” Do Hun must be taking his younger sister around everywhere he went. That half-wit. “Hi. My name's Jang Mi Suk.” Han Kyul looked at the seemly girl who had just greeted him and was momentarily moved. If she hadn't been the girl his mom was planning to set him up with this weekend, he might've made a move. But she was a train carrying the label, “for arranged marriage use only,” and he wasn't about to take the risk of throwing himself onto the tracks. Not to mention she was close to Pak Do Hun's leech of a sister, so no, thank you very much. He could easily imagine what those two girls had gossiped about. So he figured he'd kill two birds with one stone and smiled, pleased with himself. “I fell for your little act, didn't I? I wasn't in the right frame of mind to figure it out at the time. It makes me sad that you'd go so far to keep me away from you, but I understand. I've heard time and time again that you're a free soul. It seems like you misunderstood me. I don't want to cage you up. So how about using me instead? It's better than having strange rumors floating around the arranged marriage circles. If the adults find out, it's going to be bad for you.” The leech kept rubbing up against him, and he flinched in disgust. No, this wasn't a leech. This was an anaconda. The lawless animal of the Amazon that swallowed anything and everything up whole. “Don't worry about Mi Suk. I'll figure something out.” Putting on the gay act had to be better than being stuck with this anaconda. Han Kyul began to plan his “One show, two kills” operation. He was going to get rid of two women in just one act. Han Kyul tsked at En Chan, who was gasping for breath from running. If he himself had walked blindfolded into a closet and pulled random clothes from its hangers, he couldn't have come up with an outfit like that. A seriously washed out pair of jeans, a mud colored corduroy shirt, an indigo jumper obviously a size too big. It wasn't as if the kid was still going through puberty, why couldn't he wear clothes that fit him? And what in the world was that hat all about? “Ahjussi! I was going to let it slide, but...” En Chan hissed as soon as he arrived. Han Kyul ignored him and whipped off the neighborhood watch cap. Using the gap as En Chan started, Han Kyul grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into the wall. In that split second, En Chan's arm whipped between them and pressed into Han Kyul's ribs. Han Kyul was surprised at the unexpectedly quick reflexive block, but he didn't let it show. His ribs hurt from the arm digging into it. He put on a fiercer expression to mask the pain and shoved his face into En Chan's. “You listen, and you listen good. If you don't act well this time, it's over. You got it?” “Let go.” “Answer me first.” “I'll give you your money back. Just give me some time and I'll give you your money back so count me out of this fucked up show.”

“This fucked up show ends today. If we make it definite today...” Han Kyul's eyes suddenly flashed as he heard the words he himself had carelessly thrown out. Yes! That was it! He'd make it definite today. He would come out in front of all these people. There was no way these blabbermouths were going to keep quiet, and rumors would spread everything. If those rumors somehow found their way into the old man's hear, there'd be hell to pay, but they wouldn't be able to find a woman to marry him off to for years! All right! Lucky chance! “Do you promise? After today you're going to rip up that contract?” “So do it right, kid, got it?” Han Kyul let go of En Chan's collar and pushed him inside. But he soon let out a sigh of despair. Judging from En Chan's actions, he just couldn't be sure of tonight's success. According to Han Kyul's aesthetics, En Chan's fashion sense was no better than that of Future Boy Conan. If he said that he was going out with this kid, all they were going to do was snort. There had to be some kind of standards, goddamn it! “No choice but to trust his pretty face will take care of it....” Han Kyul decided to bet his pot on the kid's pretty boy aura and went up onto the stage. His heart raced and an excitement he couldn't figure out took over his entire body. He was torn between the excitement that something very interesting was going to happen and a strange nervousness. “I've gotta have a drink.” All eyes went to the bar where Han Kyul and En Chan were sitting. Of those, a pair belonged to Pak Do Hun's anaconda sister. “Hey, drink up.” Han Kyul handed him a tequila. En Chan, who was also wrapped up in atmosphere, dumbly took the shot. Han Kyul clinked glasses with En Chan and poured the shot into his mouth. He needed to borrow the strength of alcohol to overcome his nervousness. The kid was probably nervous as well. Han Kyul recalled the incident in Seattle when his next door neighbor, Dick, had suddenly attacked him with a kiss. The sensation itself could be said to have been nice. The only thing was, the kisser had been a six-foot-three muscle head. If Han Kyul hadn't knocked him down and become friends with him, he probably couldn't have understood homosexuality at all. But understanding it and experiencing it are two very different things. En Chan, who had downed the tequila in one shot, was clasping his throat. His usually white face had gone purple. Han Kyul put a lemon in the kid's mouth. “Kegkh!” “You can't dress. You can't drink. Is there anything you're good at?” He was tsking away when an image floated up in his head. Hmm. Yea. A 540-degree roundhouse kick. That, you're pretty good at. Just then, someone tapped Han Kyul on his arm. When he turned around, Pak Do Hun was standing there with an look of curiosity on his face. “Who is this?” asked Do Hun, indicating En Chan with his chin. Han Kyul simply replied,

“My slave.” “Huh?” Do Hun was just about to ask more when a voice rang through the speakers through the microphone. “All right, everyone. Now that we've all greeted each other, let's liven it up a little with the main event. And the main event is: Kings! Why don't we have the host and hostess of tonight's party, will Pak Do Hun and Pak Ye Rang, the incorrigible sibling pair, come up on stage? They will be tonight's Tyrant and the Witch.” Red-faced youths went wild with whistles and cheers. The sibling pair who had reached the stage called out a man and a woman from the crowd. To Han Kyul's knowledge, the man had a fiancée and the woman, he had never seen before. The Tyrant's demand was a lap dance. The woman ran away shrieking but the man pulled her back. He said he would do the dancing instead. It was different from what the crowd had expected, but the atmosphere grew hot. The man gyrated his hips in front of the woman in the chair and went closer to her. He undid his shirt buttons one by one and requested the woman's hand on his bare chest. He flicked his tongue as if to lick her lips, and then rubbed his narrow buttocks against the woman's lap. Lewd shouts came from here and there, and the air grew hotter and hotter. People could be heard swallowing. When Han Kyul looked over, En Chan said, “W-water. Is there any water?” Ha, looks like this kid's getting excited at a thing like that. Ah, youth. “They only sell alcohol here.” The man and woman hugged lightly as they came down the stage. They tried hard to keep their manners, but they were exchanging looks that held the promises of the coming night. Right then, a naughty voice flowed from the microphone. “The man I want is... Choi Han Kyul.” Loud applause and a swarm of eyes. Han Kyul didn't move but smiled coldly at Pak Ye Rang. “Oh, I'll mention a rule here. The Witch may not participate in the game.” “What? What kind of rule is that?” “The Witch has to be wicked through and through. It's no good if she falls for a guy and becomes all sappy.” “Yea, that's true, it's no fun if the Witch acts nice.” “Keke that's too bad.” “All right, the man is Choi Han Kyul. Now choose the woman, Miss Witch.”

Ye Rang, who had been looking around with a sulky pout, suddenly rested her gaze somewhere. All the eyes in the room flew to where she was looking at. Han Kyul saw that at the end of that gaze was Jang Mi Suk. No way... Just then Ye Rang smiled suggestively and said, “The second participant doesn't necessarily have to be a female, right?” There was dead silence for about a second. Then loud cheers and a mischievous atmosphere took over. “Now that's a real Witch!” “It's Choi Han Kyul's welcome back home show! Hey! How 'bout a strip show?” “That man over there.” Ye Rang pointed at En Chan. And she declared, evilly, “Kiss!” In response to Ye Rang's look of “Go ahead, let's see if you can,” Han Kyul threw a look of “thank you.” Weren't things working out better than he'd planned? This was a hundred times better than introducing a shabbily dressed idol-star-like pretty boy and saying, “I'm gay.” Since it was a game, it wouldn't seem forced. But he had to leave an impression. He wanted people to wonder, “Hey, is that guy really gay?” and then not provide them with a direct answer. That was the best way for rumors to get spread. A rigid-faced Han Kyul said in a low voice to En Chan, "Show time." As Han Kyul took the stage, the crowd went wild with clapping and shouting. Han Kyul looked toward En Chan. He hadn't moved. He was looking at him with an expression that all but shouted, "Are you completely insane?!" Han Kyul took the mike and delivered a critical blow. "Come here." "Oho, that's hot, Han Kyul!" "What, are they really doing it?" The reaction from the female crowd was explosive. "Oh my God, look at him, he's absolutely adorable. I just want to bite him!" "Look at those soft cheeks! I feel like I've seen him somewhere before. Hey, do you think he could be from Dong Bang Shin Gi?" "Who's that kid? I've never seen him before?" "I dunno. Looks like he's Han Kyul's squeeze." "Squeeze? What, is it a girl or a guy? Damn, he's too freakin' pretty." Somebody gave En Chan a push. Suddenly, hands from all around began pushing at him. Watching En Chan approach, Han Kyul felt a wave of apprehension himself. The only experience he had kissing men was that one time when Dick surprise attacked him. He wasn't sure he'd be able to pull it off.

His heart began to beat faster. Goddamn it, he couldn't take his eyes off of those lips. Shit. What if I throw up? “I'd rather give your lips to that boy than give it to Mi Suk. But are you really going to do it? You're going to lose your appetite.” If it wasn't for Ye Rang's snide comment, he was planning to settle for a kiss on the cheek. But that look on her face, that look that said, “I know it's all just an act” made him realize something. If he didn't do it right, he'd never get rid of this anaconda. It made him determined. I'm going to get rid of you. I'm going to do it right in front of you. Open your eyes wide and watch carefully, you anaconda. En Chan got on the stage. He looked as if he'd just shat his pants. For some reason, Han Kyul wanted to burst out laughing. This situation was just too unbelievable and too ridiculous. He felt like he was going to go crazy. "Are you serious?" said the look on En Chan's face. In reply, he said aloud, "Close your eyes." All right, I'm just going to do it. He grabbed En Chan's head. He pressed his lips against En Chan's, who had gone completely rigid. "What the!" "Oh my God, they're doing it!" "Crazy motherf-" "What, are you serious? They're really doing it?" Even as the wolf whistles pierced his ears, Han Kyul found himself thinking, Huh. This kid's unexpectedly soft and smooth. Han Kyul didn't know it, but his hand was naturally wrapping around En Chan's waist and pulling his body toward him. The hand holding his head was strengthening its grip. En Chan's body began to bend as he pulled his body forward and dipped his head back. Han Kyul didn't even realize he was beginning to turn his head and that their lips were meeting perfectly like well tuned wheels. He increased the soft movements of his lips. The room couldn't have been more silent if someone had dropped an unpinned grenade. Everyone was frozen in shock from the unexpected passion and length of the kiss. Han Kyul was completely immersed in what he was doing, oblivious to the situation. Suddenly, En Chan eyes were wide open and bulging. It was only then, as their eyes met, did Han Kyul realize that he had put his tongue in En Chan's mouth.

Chapter Six < Part 1 > “We need to talk. I'll see you there.”

Han Sung hated the fact that the “there” the woman spoke of still existed as “there.” Even if “there” was still “there,” it should've been erased from his memory. But “there” was still “there.” Exactly the way he remembered it. In spite of a hundred reasons not to go, Han Sung went “there.” It wasn't because he was curious what she'd say or what kind of look she'd have on her face as she said it. It was because he was curious what kind of look he'd have on his own face and what kind of emotional reaction he'd have. He went there with this kind of rational and contemplative mindset. When he got there, she was already siting down, a Cosmopolitan bleeding red tears on the table in front of her. “You're here.” “Am I late?” “Of course not. I got here early.” Yu Ju asked Han Sung as the waiter approached, “You'll have the same, right?” “I'll have a Manhattan.” They'd always ordered the same drink, a Cosmopolitan, but this time he ordered something different. He knew it was lame but he wanted to do it anyway. But it seemed that the action hadn't been as lame as he believed. Yu Ju's mouth hardened. “Your face has gotten....” When Han Sung looked at her, she couldn't finish her sentence. It'd been three years since they'd seen each other from this close. She still looked sophisticated and feminine. When he met her for the first time in college, he had felt that if only his mother would stop stressing the fact that she was from a good household and that it would be fine if he chose to get into a serious relationship with her, he wanted to keep meeting her. He felt from the moment he saw her that she was lovable. She wasn't pushy like his mother, and so he felt comfortable with her. He thought it was good that she didn't seem to be the working mother type. All these things still applied to her, but it was no longer comfortable or pleasant or good to be looking at Yu Ju. He couldn't even get angry anymore. For a long time, the two of them drank their cocktails in silence. “I heard that you're managing the company. Congratulations.” Han Sung gave her a cold smile that resembled a snort. Yu Ju's eyebrows wrinkled and she asked in a hurt voice, “Why are you laughing?” “It's just entertaining to be congratulated for existing.” That was how Han Sung had lived his life. If he wasn't working, he was as good as dead. “Congratulations on being alive.” “Isn't that something worth congratulating? Not everyone who breathes is necessarily alive.”

Han Sung looked coldly into Yu Ju's emotion-filled eyes. “Is that what you had to see me about?” “I wanted your permission.... no, I wanted to hear your thoughts on something. I'm thinking of working at the Dong Yi art gallery.” Had she changed a bit? She was looking at him straight in the eyes. Yes, it could be that this was the real Han Yu Ju. “Grandmother called me. She said she'd heard that I might be working at the Saints Department Store gallery, and asked me to fill in the empty spot she had at Dong Yi. I heard that it wasn't that she made a spot especially for me. You know better than I do that Grandmother is very warm and kind to me...” “You meant to say the president was very warm and kind to you, didn't you?” “Do you really have to put it like that?” “If we no longer have a personal relationship, shouldn't we treat each other in a business-like manner?” Her habit of biting her lips had remained the same. As if she'd all the energy she'd put into an attempt to speak calmly had been spent, emotion pervaded the face that had just a moment ago looked tranquil. Right then, there was a loud crash from somewhere in the hall. An employee had dropped the tray she had been carrying. “Oh! I'm so sorry. It's my first time... I'm really very sorry.” A voice louder than the cups' crash was apologizing over and over. All the customers' eyes went to the tall female employee in the red skirt and white shirt. The manager appeared and the apologies continued. The small commotion quietly disappeared from Han Sung's focus and he had to face Yu Ju again. There was no trace of comfort left, only tension remained. Had he ever felt this tense meeting Han Yu Ju? It was probably because they were no more than strangers to each other now. “Do whatever you like.” “You don't like it though?” “Me? Is there a reason why I shouldn't?” “........” “It makes no difference to me who the art gallery hires, and it make no difference to me where you work.” “Mother... I mean, your mother probably won't like it.” “She doesn't concern herself with the art gallery anymore. It's not something she can interfere with anymore. And that'd be my problem. It makes no difference to you what my mother...”

“Can you stop saying that?” said Yu Ju sharply. In the three years that they'd gone out and been engaged, she'd never been like this before. She'd sulked or pouted, but she'd never flashed her eyes at him, breathing raggedly and arguing with him in such a shrill voice. “Stop saying that it makes no difference to you as if you enjoy saying it. I know it doesn't make a difference, but just because it doesn't make a difference to you it doesn't mean that you can ignore me.” “I am ignoring you.” “Obba.” Han Sung emptied his glass. His hand gripped the glass tightly. Something in his brain had been set off. It might have been the familiar scent, but whatever it was, it made him angry. He wanted to kill this woman who looked him so straight in the eye, who spoke so clearly and directly to him. “If you're done talking, why don't you get up first?” “You have an appointment?” “Yea.” “Here?” “I didn't think there'd be time to move to another place.” “Why didn't you tell me beforehand? I could have postponed... I'm sorry to have wasted your time.” Han Sung looked away as Yu Ju stood up. He could see the back of the female employee who was washing the dishes. The way she carried the dishes looked precarious. “Just once... You could've asked how I'm doing just once.” Han Sung raised his eyes toward Yu Ju. “No matter how angry you are, no matter how disappointed and hateful you feel toward me, for the sake of the times we spent together, you could ask me at least once.” “I could. But I don't want to.” “Why not?” “It's a waste of time.” “I'd forgotten. I'd forgotten how cold and unyielding your family was. How you never waste time investing in lost causes.” “I'm glad to hear you'd forgotten.” Yu Ju's eyes brimmed with tears at his cold reply. Still standing, she bit her lip and said in a choked voice,

“Even though I knew, I still waited. Like a fool.... How shocked and hurt he must have been when I called off the engagement, I thought to myself. I thought you'd come and find me if only because of you were

angry and indignant. But you didn't even call me, not once. Even though I was going away to study abroad, you didn't ask where I was going or why. Even though I was the one who did you you wrong, you didn't even once ask me. I didn't even hope for you to stop me. I just wanted you to ask.... I wanted you to come to me and ask why we had to become like this. I wanted you to ask what kind of situation I was in, and how I felt about it!” Her impassioned voice rang throughout the room. People were beginning to stare and the manager squirmed uncomfortably. Yu Ju was spilling tears, and Han Sung was watching her, his expression and body unmoved. “I went to the airport.” “What?” “Nobody was pushing you from behind. You walked in there on your own two feet. You just... walked right on in.” “Obba....” “Let's stop this. I'm tired of it.” “Tired of what? What've we done? We've only just started to—“ “Leave me now. It's time for my next appointment.” < Part 2 > Yu Ju left, her eyes full of resentment. Even before the tension in the air had settled down, Director Byun from the company arrived. Han Sung was in charge of Dong Yi Group's Dong Yi Pharmaceuticals, but the rising stock attraction in the group was the venture into the food industry. The ones in charge of that department were Han Kyul's mother and older brother. But originally, the person who was meant for that position was Han Sung's late father. “It looks like five of the directors who supported the late president are going to be discharged at the next meeting.” “And you're one of them, I presume.” “Yes. Also, they're preparing to pick nine more directors to strengthen their voting platform. There's talk that they're thinking of including the second son in this group of nine.” “Han Kyul?” “I saw him once. He resembles the late chairman the most.” “He's a fearless and open-minded one.” And insolent and lazy and insincere to a T. Han Kyul could fit either description. It depended on which he wanted to be. “The opinion is polarized: some are for giving him a chance, and some are skeptical of the possible results. What are you going to do about the foreign investors? It looks like the other side is going to keep interfering. Are we going to be able to see it through?”

“I'll have to gather the directors together and persuade them. Raising revenue should always be the first priority, don't you agree?” After grandfather had died, there had been discord among the brothers. It had been arranged for Han Sung's father, who had been the eldest, to succeed as the chairman, but his brothers, led by Han Kyul's father, who was the second eldest, had protested. Han Sung planned to take back his father's rightful seat. This was why Han Sung was being carefully scrutinized and kept in check. A single mistake could ruin everything. Even after Director Byun had left, Han Sung sat alone at the bar and drank by himself. The inside of his head was clear, but the inside of his heart was blurred. It was because of Yu Ju. Memories were moving his emotions, and even beginning to affect his rationality. I can never forgive a woman who left me. Never! By the time he'd emptied a bottle of Chivas Regal, there were only two people in the bar. A few minutes later Han Sung witnessed a middle aged man being carried out on the back of some employee. The calves of the employee carrying a man twice her size on her back were thin. “Are you going to be all right?” “Oh, don't worry. I've got nothing but physical strength.” The little fox pants as she piggy-backs a bear. Little fox, bear.... Just imagining it made him snicker. It was the effect of the alcohol. Han Sung, who had finally finished the last shot, raised his hand. “Hey, the bill.” “Excuse me?” the employee who had scampered over asked, her eyes opened wide. “Did you call, sir?” “The bill.” Han Sung took out a credit card from his wallet and pushed it toward her. “Oh, of course.” The employee hastily turned around and her buttocks crashed into the table. Han Sung's head, which had been resting on his hand, fell listlessly onto the tabletop. “Oh my God! S-sir! Are you all right?” “What is it this time?” “This gentlemen... his head...” Han Sung, who had hit the surface forehead first, remained hunched over the table. It was more comfortable than keeping his head raised. “I accidentally hit the table...” “How many times do I have to tell you a day? I told you be careful! For chrissake, I can't believe this! What'd a girl like you grow up eating?” “I told you. I've got nothing but physical strength.”

“Shuttup! Uh, sir? Sir?” “It's all right. Just take care of the bill.” After the manager left with the credit card, the employee said apologetically, “Is your head all right?” Han Sung waved his hand and raised his body. The employee, who was standing next to him, held his arm. He glanced at her to see who it was, and who else could it be but the very same female employee that had broken all the cups? She was probably the one who carried out the bear of a man, too. Why was she holding his arm? She going to carry me out too? “It's fine.” Han Sung took his arm back and began to walk away. After about three or four steps, he realized that he was not walking straight. Apparently, he was drunker than he thought. The moment he thought that the floor was trembling, someone grabbed his arm again. “I'll take you to the exit, sir. Would you like for me to call a substitute driver? Or would you prefer a taxi?” Was it because she was tall? All he'd given her was his arm, but he felt supported. As if he was walking along with his arm against a brick wall. “A substitute driver....” “Yes, sir. It'll arrive in five minutes. And here's your credit card. May we have your signature as well?” Even though he was quite drunk, Han Sung signed the slip and replaced his credit card in his wallet. In his wavering vision, the woman's face came into view. From up close, he could see that hers was a unique face. Short hair, round eyes, white skin. Was it because he was drunk? She looked like a boy. A pretty, red-lipped boy. “Would you wait here please? Or would you like for me to take you to your car?” Han Sung brushed off the woman's arm again and stumbled forward. He somehow managed to exit the bar, and the cold night air hit him. This was better. It helped clear his mind a little. He was heading toward the parking lot when his innards sent up a menacing signal. He assured himself he would be fine and turned the corner of the building. Immediately, his stomach rose up. He ended up having to empty the contents of his stomach with his head leaning against the wall. It was the first time he'd had to throw up since freshman year in college. “I knew it. I knew this would happen.” “Ugh!” The fist pounding on his back made his chest ring. He couldn't breathe. It hurt so badly that all his vomit seemed to pull itself back inside. Han Sung waved around his hand frantically and signalled to stop, but the pounding only grew harder. “Just empty it all out. You'll feel much better.” “S-stop.” “Huh?”

“Eck!” “Oh, water? Ok, wait a minute.” Han Sung slid to the floor, listless. He ended up sitting next to his own vomit. He felt the cold wind and heard the sound of cars. When he began to come back around, he took out his handkerchief and wiped his mouth. “Here, water.” After rinsing out his mouth once or twice and coughing, he felt better, and he looked around at the woman, who was moving around busily. She was taking the trash out. Then she approached him holding something in her hands. “Are you feeling better, sir?” It was obvious from her tone of voice that she'd had customer service training. Han Sung smiled in spite of himself. “It looks like you're doing better. But it seems kind of dirty over there, so why don't you come sit over here?” Han Sung followed the woman's line of vision and lifted his body. He sat on the steps on the back entrance of the store. “You were the one who carried the man out, weren't you?” “Oh, yes. He was very drunk. He was really heavy because he was so drunk.... I put him in a cab. I wonder if he made it home all right.” “You've got some strength.” “That's the problem.” The woman gave a sigh and came closer. She flopped down next to him and played around with the piece of plastic she held in her hand. It made a pop! popping sound. “Today was my second day, and my record is already eight cups.” “Eight cups?” “Broken, I mean. Two broken dishes. One broken vase. The manager told me I don't have to come to work starting tomorrow.” The woman gave out another long sigh. “Ever since this month started, nothing's been working out. My mom lost a ring. My one and only younger sister started a brand name club and then embezzled the membership fees to enroll in a voice lesson class. Crazy brat. (sigh) I feel bad for her, if I think about it. If she was willing to go so far....” “You want a cigarette?” “Huh? Oh, no. If you want to smoke, that's fine, ahjussi.” Switching from “sir” to “ahjussi” so easily, talking so nonchalantly about her own troubles in front of a complete stranger—what an interesting woman.

“The dojo keeps getting emptier and emptier and the price of meat keeps going up and up. I keep getting fired from part-time jobs, and the only thing I have now is my early morning job.” “Early morning job?” “Yea. But that doesn't pay much. It's delivering milk. Not to mention my bike's in bad shape, so the future looks pretty dark. The other day, the handle suddenly stopped working so I had to run all around the neighborhood until I started smelling something sweet in my nose. That day, during lessons, it started to bleed, and boy, that was a riot. Both nostrils started gushing blood, and Seung Kyung started bawling and Tae Won ran around saying he'd block it up for me. That kid. He's always got to do everything himself. It was my first nosebleed since I was in fourth grade when I went up against a wooden board.” Went up against a wooden board? “The worst part is that pervert cabbage slug of a bastard.... yecch! I'm not even going to think about it.” “Cabbage slug?” “Yea. Have you ever seen a cabbage slug? When I was a kid, I was picking cabbages was I saw one. I don't get scared or disgusted easily, but it was totally gross! And that man totally reminds me of that cabbage slug. And he's a total pervert. Crazy idiot. Damn! Stupid bastard!” She spit twice. Even as she cursed, she didn't let go of the plastic thing in her hand. In fact, every time she cursed, the popping sound grew louder and more violent. “Is that fun?” “Huh? Oh, this? Bubble wrap?” “Bubble wrap?” “Yea. Want to try it? It's the best at getting rid of stress.”

Chapter Seven < Part 1 > Mr. Hong was in the middle of interviewing people for the part-time job. He had originally been doubtful that anyone could meet all of the criteria, but surprisingly the list of candidates was long. A two-round interview to choose part-timers for this mousehole of a coffee shop? The more incomprehensible thing was that the dandy model of a man had hired him as well. He'd made a face as if the coffee tasted like crap, and then he'd asked him to take over the kitchen. If that was case, Mr. Hong wondered, what was the man going to do? Introduce yourself. Turn around. Smile. Special skills? Sing. The candidates followed along with everything he asked, as if they thought it was entertaining that the interview was as selective and demanding as an audition. As if the things they were asked to do were a piece of cake. Everyone had so much talent and showmanship it was enough to make one dizzy.

Anyway you looked at it, Dandy Boy didn't seem to Mr. Hong as the type of man who would stick around a small town cafe with no more than seven tables to its name. Could it be that he was actually a scout from some entertainment industry company? The new owner of the cafe was refreshingly straightforward as he decided the fate of the candidates on the spot. “You, ok.” When he'd picked two, Mr. Hong wondered what this man planned to do, and he felt the same way again when the third was picked. “You, ok.” Once again, the shop was the size of a mousehole— and now there were three part-timers. He was out of his mind. Mr. Hong couldn't help but heave great big sighs. He reckoned the store wouldn't last a month. “Mr. Hong.” “Yes?” “Just letting you know that we're going to have a conference at 9 am tomorrow morning.” “C-conference?” “We have to decide on the overall concept and image of the store, the interior design, uniforms, things like that.” “I have to decide?” The new owner looked at him as if he'd just said something stupid. Even Mr. Hong himself considered it an idiotic question. But he couldn't for his life understand what the new owner was talking about. Once again, the shop was the size of a mousehole— a conference about the interior design? He can just figure that out on his own. “With the four part-timers. Do you understand what I'm saying now?” “Ah, yes. But, four part timers? You just picked three...” “There's Ko En Chan.” “En Chan? Did En Chan agree to that?” Mr. Hong recalled the incident when the two people met a few days ago. After hearing that the store had been sold to this man, En Chan had gone red-faced cursing and throwing a fit. She'd called the man a pervert, a disgusting excuse for a human being, and said that she was afraid she'd see him in nightmares to his face. Mr. Hong had never seen her face full of so much outrage. And she'd work under this guy? Not a chance. “He's a bit short, but he's got a face the women'll go for, so we'll use him. I've been watching the area for a while, and most of the people who pass by here are salarymen and women in their twenties or

thirties. Most people who'll sit in a cafe to drink coffee are women, so we'd have to assume most of our customers will be women in their twenties or thirties. Young, good-looking male employees are the best for comfortably and pleasantly dealing with the key demographics of this shop. It'll work like a charm. Ko En Chan, too. He's metrosexual.” Er... He's not thinking Ko En Chan's a man, is he? “That kid probably won't want to do it...” “Did he win the lottery or something?” “N-no, I haven't heard that.” “Then tell him to come out. Poor breadwinners can't be choosers. If he insists that he won't, tell him that I still have the slave contract.” “Huh??” Slave contract? Was that something similar to a body waiver oath? In that case, was this man a loan shark? “Is that kid in your debt too? Man, what a life that kid has.” Mr. Hong tried his best to defend En Chan. It wouldn't do for this man to take out any of En Chan's organs just because she couldn't pay the loan back. “I-I wonder who caused the trouble this time. Tsk tsk. The mother and the sister take turns getting into trouble and sucking the marrow of out En Chan's bones.: Mr. Hong glanced at the new owner and went on with his plan to incite pity on her behalf. “You know, that kid's been the head of the family since senior year in high school.”` At Mr. Hong's words, Han Kyul furrowed his eyebrows and looked at him. “Really? What about his father?” “The business went bankrupt and he died in a car accident, I think. The mother's pretty immature. She was raised spoiled, so she spends like a fiend, and her credit card debts are incredible. The sister's basically the same. En Chan has to stand between the two and take care of the mother, the sister, earn money for food... it's back-breaking work. Teaching little kids Tae Kwon Do barely earns the kid enough money to eat, but one accident after another makes it impossible for money to stay in the bank. Tsk tsk.” “Aren't there any relatives?” “I didn't ask, but probably not. That's why the kid's working so hard, you know? So cut the kid some lack. I don't know how much the debt, but En Chan's not the type to rip you off.” “Does he really teach Tae Kwon Do? I thought he delivered snacks at night.” “Deliver snacks? Didn't mention doing that, but it's possible. The kid's so busy it's hard to keep track. Milk delivery in the early morning, coffee sales in the market...”

“So, basically, if it'll earn him money, he'll do whatever.” “Probably. En Chan's pretty open to everything. Not very picky. The kid'll probably do anything but steal.” “And what would stop him from stealing, huh?” “Ha, no, you don't know what you're talking about. En Chan's definitely not that kind of kid.” “You never know. Anyway, tell him to come to work starting tomorrow.” Han Kyul left Coffee Prince and headed to the company in his car. His father had called. Once the rumors about him and some man had reached his family's ears, the house had turned itself upside down. His father had bellowed up a storm, and his mother, who was quick on the uptake, had looked incredulous at his outrageous scheme. Thanks to Ko En Chan, the long list of arranged dates had tucked its tail between its legs and disappeared. What? Pervert cabbage slug? Did that stupid kid think he enjoyed it? Han Kyul recollected the event and gave a hollow laugh. Admittedly, it was pretty crazy. Why the hell did it go in? Even Dick hadn't tried to put his tongue in, you bastard. So why the hell did it go in, huh? Goddamn it. All right. I can't blame Ko En Chan for being shocked. I admit it. That's the only reason why I didn't do anything as he cursed me out. Otherwise, I would've smacked him when he threw a hissy fit outside the club. Han Kyul turned up the music. This was not the time to be thinking of things like this. It was time to face his father, who had finally found out about his grandmother's proposal. A 300% increase in sales in three months. It'd been ten days since these talks began. Ten days ago, his grandmother had picked out a snot-sized coffee house. The sign read “Coffee Prince.” “If you can create a 300% increase in sales in three months, you're a free man. Nobody will say anything to you if you play basketball again, travel the world, whatever.” “Basketball at this age? Ha.” “But if you can't—come into the company.” “What about Father?” “I'll talk to him.” “Really? You're going to protect me?” “tsk tsk, it won't do for a baby tiger to be so afraid. Are you in or out?” “What about my car?” “You'll probably need one if you're going to work.”

“If you don't buy me one, I'll sell all my stocks.” “Don't go there. I don't want to see my grandson beaten to death by his own father.” “If you buy me one, I'll give you a coupon good for 5 massages.” “Cheapskate. Ten.” “All right, fine. It's a deal.” He had known that just because his grandmother said not to, his father wasn't going to stay quiet about this. But he really didn't want to go. Ever since he was a kid until now—no, now more than ever, his father was a frightening person to him. The most frightening person in the whole world... < Part 2 > After having burst through the door, En Chan stopped short when she saw the unfamiliar youths. “Oh, you're here? Come sit down.” What the hell was this? En Chan had been in a fury since she'd receive Mr. Hong's call yesterday afternoon. Hearing that the slave contract was still in existence gave her a serious migraine. He'd said he'd rip it up, that son of a! And so she'd ran all the way here, still angry. “You can say hello to me later. First, listen to this.” “I have something to say to you!” “Be quiet.” “Why the hell would I...” The man gave her a stern look. “have to... listen... to....” En Chan, whose words had faltered increasingly, shut her mouth. His atmosphere was different than before. His eyes were sharp and serious. Before, he had seemed like a loafer—now he seemed like a working man. He looked busy holding a bunch of papers and a pen in one hand. Crap. What the hell? “This cafe's concept is: 'Dark as a demon, hot like hell, beautiful as an angel and sweet like love.'” Psh. As if. “That's coffee, isn't it?” said the man wearing the black framed glasses. En Chan glanced at him and then swallowed. What? Who's this kid? Why's he so good-looking? Oh man. I can't even look at him straight in the eye. “Your name is.... Kwon Nak Kyun. You're right, Nak Kyun. The star of a coffee shop is, of course, the coffee. We have to try our best to express the true identity of the coffee through the taste, the fragrance, and the color. And, of course, the employees.” “The employees?” Even Mr. Hong was listening attentively. En Chan, dissatisfied, scowled at Han Kyul with her arms crossed. Whatever he was saying, she wasn't paying attention, and was simply glaring at him, whether he noticed or not.

“The feeling, the essence of coffee should emanate from yourselves as well. In that sense, all of you are just perfect. You smell of coffee.” “That sounds like some kind of coffee promotion slogan. Are we the Westlife of coffee? Or the Eastlife? Hee hee. So which part does that make me? The sweet part?” This time it was the blonde guy who spoke. His voice was incredibly energetic. She couldn't help but take a look at him. He was a bright blonde with huge eyes and a small face. He was the brightest, most shining man En Chan had ever seen in the flesh until today. Her tense tense helplessly relaxed. It felt like being buried in sweet cream. “Well, to each his own in due time...” Why are you looking this way? I still have a lot to say to you, ahjussi. You just wait. Oh, you just wait. “I feel like Ha Rim is just right for hot coffee.” “Heh, really? My hands and feet are usually pretty cold.” “Your essence is, I mean. I especially like that hair of yours. Speaking of which, I'd like for Ha Rim and Sun Ki to be in charge of uniforms. The two of you go out and take pictures of uniforms you like.” “We can pick whatever we want?” “You'll be the ones wearing it.” “Is it ok even if they're expensive?” “Just take pictures for now. I'll pick from among your choices tomorrow. All right, No Sun Ki?” The man nodding his head wordlessly stood right next to En Chan. But En Chan didn't dare look at him. What she'd seen by slightly turning her head had made her heart beat like a drum. That shining black hair. Oh, for the love of God! Could this be a human being? His nose was art. He was like a sculpture. This must be what it's like to look at a movie star, she thought. From which star did these three gorgeous musketeers come from? “The man who'll be taking care of the interior will be here in ten minutes. Be here to meet him, Mr. Hong.” “Huh? Me?” “Oh, and Nak Kyun as well. I've already told him generally what kind of feeling I want, so he'll be here with a few samples. Just choose from those. I'm leaving it to the two of you.” En Chan couldn't get a grip on the situation. Until the man said, “Follow me.” Who? Me? “When you're done with what you're assigned to, you can go home and come back to work by 9 am tomorrow. If you don't think you can handle working here, I'll get the point if you just don't show up tomorrow, so don't be annoying and call me or anything like that. What are you doing? Let's go, Ko En Chan. Follow me.”

And then he was gone with the wind. Everyone stood around slightly dumbfounded when the blonde gave a killer smile. “I have no idea what that guy's talking about. Ko En Chan? I'm Jin Ha Rim. Nice to meet you.” “Er.. yea...” “Let's get to meet everyone. I think he said your name was Nak Kyun? And you're No Sun Ki, right? How old is everyone? I was born in '86.” “'86.” “'84.” “'83.” Everyone immediately looked at En Chan as if they couldn't believe it. She laughed awkwardly and tried to deal with the situation somehow. “J-just act comfortably around me. It's ok.” “Channy, see me for a minute,” said Mr. Hong with a look on his face. She stood up unsteadily when the door sounded. “Are you coming or what?” Why am I so popular today? “Let's talk later,” said Mr. Hong. Then he whispered in her ear, “By the way... you were a guy?” En Chan's eyes grew intensely round. Mr. Hong was looking at her with a worried look on his face. That was the reality of it. The new owner was looking for male part-timers, and he still believed that she was a man, and she still hadn't told him that she was actually a girl. When she went outside, he was smoking a cigarette in front of a shiny car. Watching him blow out smoke made her angry. The scene from two weeks ago overlapped in her head and made it feel like it was going to burst. “Ahjussi!!” En Chan stomped over to him belligerently. “Slave contract? Why is that still in existence!” He, as always, smiled infuriatingly and then tossed the cigarette away. “Ahjussi! Just where do you think you're throwing that?” “It doesn't exist.” “What?” “The slave contract. It doesn't exist. Are you going to work or not?” “I won't.” “Why not?”

“You're honestly asking me? We agreed after the Valentine's Day incident. We agreed that even if we should pass each other on the street we would act like we didn't know each other.” “Then we can just act like we don't know each other.” “I don't want to work under you. I feel like throwing up when I even look at your face. Yecch!” “Man, you talk too much. You're still sulking about the little prank I pulled? What a girl. A guy should be more laid back.” “A prank? You call shoving your tongue in my mouth a prank?” “Son of a! Why don't you just use a megaphone?” The two of them stood fuming at each other, red-faced. “Do you know how much I suffer from nightmares of that incident?” “What kind of guy are you, to make such a big fuss about nothing? It's not like it'll kill you or anything.” “That's what scares me more. If I died, I wouldn't have any more nightmares. Damn it.” “Fine, let's just forget about it. What am I doing with a kid like you.... Go. Just leave.” Watching Han Kyul get into the car, En Chan felt something like a stab. Uh oh, this isn't right, she thought. She had just kicked away a golden part-time job opportunity that had rolled in on its own. Only then did she remember that the dojo master had told her that the dojo was closing its doors starting next month. The dojo's situation was so bad that he was planning to go down to the countryside to farm. The big new dojo that opened nearby had too big of an effect on enrollment numbers. Even so, how could he close the dojo? He had said that he'd search for a new dojo for her to go, but it still felt like the sky was crashing down around her. And in that crash, a string of hope had let itself down toward her, and she was kicking it away. Shoot! Pride didn't provide food, did it? Damn! “Then I'm not a criminal who works with muggers anymore?” Han Kyul stopped in the middle of getting in his car. En Chan avoided his gaze and got into the car. Getting in the car after her, Han Kyul said, “I'm going to put up security cameras.” “You think I'm going to steal money from the cash register or something?” “Of course.” Tsk tsk. What's with this guy and trusting people?” “Where are we going?” “Bone China.” “What is that?” “You'll see.”

En Chan was impressed by the elegance of the car seat as she put on her safety belt. “So what happened to the arranged dates? Do you still go on them?” “Why do you care?” “I'm just curious. It'd be sad if there's no result after all that.” “Why'd it be sad for you? You got your money, didn't you?” “Psh. What do you take me for? You think I only did it for the money? I felt bad for you, having to get married to someone you don't even like, and it's not even the JoSeon period or anything. I wanted to be of some help since you were in a tight spot and – aaaaahhhh!” En Chan was surprised by the sudden swerving of the car. A white car in the next lane had cut in front of them without so much as a signal. “Check out this mother!” “Ahjussi, honk your horn!” But it was hot-tempered En Chan who reached out her arm to push at the horn. Honk honk hooonk! “Ya! Stay still!” “He went into that lane. Wow, look at him, moving around like a weasel. Are you going to take that, ahjussi? Show him what you've got!” “You shouldn't have messed around while driving. Let's see what you got.” “The light changed! Hurry! Hurry!” Han Kyul's indigo sportscar sprung forward and slid precariously in front of the white car. But the driver behind them, who apparently had become just as incensed, immediately changed lanes and stuck by them. “All right, let's go, boy!” “Aw man! He's getting ahead of us! Go to the side! The side!” Han Kyul moved to the fourth lane and raced ahead. He then changed lanes again and got in front of the white car. “Yes!” “All right!” “You won't even be able to see my rear headlights!” Han Kyul slammed down on his accelerator and zoomed past the yellow light. En Chan whipped her head around and saw that the white car was stuck at the light behind them and screamed, “All right!” “Jackass. Follow me if you can.”

The two of them jumped around and high-fived each other so much that the car body itself shook and they laughed gleefully. “Man, that guy's probably real pissed. Whew! That felt good.” “Hey kid, you're really that excited?” “Aren't you excited? We won, didn't we?” “How can a kid be so easily pleased?” “Psh. Like you didn't have fun.” “It's nothing to get excited about. It was a matter of fact that I should win.” En Chan's mouth opened in disbelief and Han Kyul looked straight ahead with a nonchalant look on his face. After fifteen minutes of silence had ensued, they finally arrived at a building. It was a professional tableware store. “Wow!” En Chan's eyes grew huge as she exclaimed upon one magnificent bowl after another. It felt as though she was in a museum. The lighting was bright and there was calm music playing. The customers who'd come to look at bowls muffled even their own footsteps and walked slowly around as if they were pilgrims in a holy place. “Hey, Physical Strength Boy! Don't stand there looking dumb, come here and choose.” “Choose what?” “What do you mean what? Coffee cups.” “Oh. Hey, when are we going to eat? I'm hungry.” “It's only ten o'clock, you ringworm.” “I didn't get any breakfast. Mostly.” “What do you mean by mostly? Did you eat or didn't you?” “I only ate one row of kimbab and two hard-boiled eggs.” “Tsk tsk. How so very hungry you must be.” “Oh, and a glass of milk.” Han Kyul, who had lifted a cup to look at it, gave a incredulous smirk and walked away. En Chan clutched her growling belly and ambled after him. How can I choose when they're all so pretty and magnificent? It was too big of a task for En Chan. She knew she had a regrettable history of breaking dishes, so she was extra careful. It was nice to look at them, but she was afraid of walking between the displays. But Han Kyul walked ahead unhesitatingly. She'd never seen him so serious.

So he's been here often, huh? I didn't even know a place like this existed. How much are these if I break them anyway? En Chan picked up the dish that he'd studied and set down. Two stewardess-like employees in black business dresses were following him around. If he asked a question, a red-lipsticked mouth would smile brightly and answer him with a friendly tone. En Chan lagged behind so as not to interfere with him and the two employees. Elegantly dressed women were looking at dishes here and there, and newlyweds could be spotted every now and then. In their midst, En Chan stood out, walking with her hands behind her back. En Chan felt the gaze of ahjummas and young women being targeted towards her. If she happened to meet the eyes of any of these women, they'd give her a sheepish smile. Then En Chan would turn her head as if she hadn't seen. “What're you doing there? Come here for a minute.” Of course you're going to stand out if you're wearing a bright red shirt and a huge black necktie. It's not even like you're short. You might as well be shouting, look at me, look at me! The guy thinks he's some kind of model. “What kind of color do you like?” “Color? I like all of them.” “This one or this one?” “They're both pretty nice.” “Geraniums or rosemaries?” “Which one is the geraniums?” “Forget it. Go pick out teaspoons or something.” She was banished to the spoon section. There was a plethora of small, shining teaspoons. She studied them for a while, but, as expected, it was too difficult for her. They're all so pretty. When she got tired of looking around, she looked for him. His face, as he studied the coffee cup, looked as keen and serious as that of a chinaware appraiser. So it seemed he was unexpectedly attentive to detail. She saw that he was speaking to the employees about something. Curious, she snuck closer and listened. “This one's quite heavy.” As soon as he ended his sentence the employee replied, “This one's a bit lighter than that one. It's lighter, yet durable, and it's very good at trapping heat. This is part of the new line that just came out. The design is very exotic, so it's very popular.” “Morrocan style, I see.”

“Oh, so you know? You must be very knowledgeable about bone chinaware.” The employee giggled. “Designwise I like Hermes better, but Aynsley's got better colors. Porcealin is too antique...” “Ahjussi.” “Ack!” En Chan, who had appeared out of nowhere, grabbed Han Kyul's arm. “YA! You nearly gave me a heart attack!” “Ahjussi, did you see the price tags? You thought it was $12, right? Man, what kind of coffee cup.... Ok, don't be shocked or anything, ahjussi. That cup is $120.” En Chan put up one and two fingers on either hand and repeated in a quiet voice, “One-two-zero.” “Did you pick out the spoons?” “Huh? Oh, no, I didn't.” “(sigh) Why oh why did I bring you along, huh?!” He strode over and rapidly picked up spoons, forks, dishes and glass tumblers. Apparently he likes dishes better than women. En Chan caught her breath whenever he pointed at something. Even using her slow arithmetic, the sum was an incredible number. After a few minutes, she gave up even tryng to calculate the cost. She stared dumbly at him as he replaced his credit card into his wallet at the counter. The words she'd meant to keep in her head popped out on its own. “Ahjussi.” “You should call me sajangnim (translator's note: “sa jang” is the owner / CEO / director / president of some store / office / company.) now, kid. Even if it's a bit embarrassing.” “Sajangnim ahjussi.” “Take out ahjussi.” “Sanjangnim.” “What?” “Are you really that rich?” “Let's go get lunch.” All right! Food! En Chan ran ahead of him and got on the elevator. She'd pressed the basement parking level button and the door was closing when a couple got on. It was surprising to her that so many people could afford to be strolling around a dish store on a weekday afternoon. A young couple like them, especially. Were they both loafers? Oh, that's right, this guy was a loafer until a few weeks ago, wasn't he? I wonder what made him decide to run a coffee shop? Judging by the hotel room and the money he just spent on coffee cups, it seems like his family's got quite a bit of money. Well, not too much money,

seeing as how he's in charge of some town outskirt coffee house. Probably the youngest son of some nouveau riche household? “Baby, how could you do this to me? Don't you think you're being unreasonable?” The woman turned to the man with a sulky look. “Be quiet.” “I won't be quiet. Mom said it was ok. So why won't you let me buy what I want? You'd like it if I made you food in pretty plates, wouldn't you?” “Let's talk about this later.” “It's not like you'd be paying for it or anything. I'd be using my credit card. If we don't buy that kind of brand name dishes now, we don't know when we're going to be able to...” “Goddamn it, shut up!” The bell sounded and the elevator door opened. The woman's eyes and face had turned red and she stood rigid. The man snatched her wrist and pulled at her. The atmosphere around them was so chilling that En Chan couldn't even breathe loudly. She'd walked past them toward the car, but she couldn't take her mind off of the couple. The crying woman started screaming, “Let go! It's over! It's all over!” En Chan turned her head as if she hadn't seen anything and continued toward Han Kyul's car. Han Kyul, who never gave a damn about other peoples' business, was already in the driver's seat and turning on the ignition. Right then, a loud stomping noise was heard. Right as En Chan turned her head, something came crashing into her. “Ack!” En Chan felt the impact, but all it did was make her teeter a bit on her feet. Her trained body went rigid reflexively in a critical situation. She was also much taller and stronger than most women. “Ahh... oh...” The woman had collapsed onto the floor. Surprised, En Chan went toward the woman. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?” She was helping the woman who was whimpering with pain up when suddenly somebody thundered, “YA! What the hell are you doing?” “Huh? She was—“ “Where the hell do you think you're laying your filthy hands?” The moment she realized the man was attacking her, her eye flashed like lightning. So much for her Tae Kwon Do skills. “Ugh... goddamn it....” En Chan lay on the floor holding her left eye. It felt like her eyeball was going to burst. Her head rang and everything looked blurry. “What the fuck do you think you're doing?”

!! This voice! Surprised, En Chan jumped up. She couldn't believe the scene in front of her. Han Kyul, who had slammed the car door as if he'd break it, had begun to sprint at the man! “Who laid who's filthy hands on WHAT, you motherfucker!” If this wasn't the time to display her skills as a martial artist, she didn't know when else. En Chan flew to Han Kyul and grabbed onto his waist. “Ahjussi!” Fortunately, his fists punched nothing but air. “Get off of me! Get off!” En Chan held tightly onto the man who was roaring and going crazy. He was like a mad dog. Definitely not of a high class pedigree, it seemed. “Hey! You! Get away from here, before I set this mad dog loose.” “Hey! Stop right there! You piss me off and then run away, you punk? Huh?! HEY!” “Damn it, chill out, ahjussi!” My eye hurts, all right? Goddamn it.

Chapter Eight < Part 1 > Han Kyul, whose face had become as red as his shirt, didn't know where to let out his anger, and so he continued to fume. Maybe it'd be a good idea to get him something to break or some balloons to pop. It was pretty obvious now that he was a hot-tempered guy. En Chan decided to be his Red Cross volunteer before the man died of his anger. “Oh, man, my eye. I hope I don't lose my sight because of this.” “Shuttup. Keep your mouth closed. I'm just about ready to explode.” “I don't get it. I'm the one who got hit, so why are you the one getting so angry? I mean, it's the other guy's fault a hundred times over, but I could've handled it on my own—“ “Ya! You could've handled it on your own, huh!? So why do you look like a freakin' raccoon?!” “Lordy. You don't know what you're talking about, ahjussi. People like me can't run around doing roundhouse kicks whenever we want to, you know?” “You've got to be kidding me. Tell me the truth. Your becoming a Tae Kwon Do master—who'd you have to sleep with to get that?” This man is really pushing it! Grrr... All right, it's ok, get let it slide, let it slide, let it— NO! I can't let it slide!

“What the hell do you mean, who'd I have to sleep with!?” “I'm in a foul mood, so don't mess with me right now, kid.” Even so, it seemed he was in a better mood than before. His skin color had gone closer to normal. But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out why he was in such a foul mood, or why he had gotten so angry. Well, admittedly, he was bad-tempered all the time. “You ok?” “Yes.” “Yes, what do you mean yes? There's going to be a huge bruise on that creamy skin of yours by tomorrow. Thank God we don't open until next month. There's no way we can do business with a face like that. Psh. And I thought he was actually worried about it. So he was worrying about his own business, eh? “If you couldn't fight back, at least you should've avoided the hit. Among all the Tae Kwon Do masters I've seen, you're the first one to wipe out like that.” “How many Tae Kwon Do masters do you know anyway?” “One.” “Psh.” “You're short, your legs are short, man, what a drag. And there're children who come to learn from you?” I'm tall for a girl! “Psh.” “Psh? Who do you think you're 'psh'-ing?” “Relatively to my height, my legs are pretty long, if you don't mind.” “Pretty long my ass. It's not more than half my leg length.” “Seriously, what the hell is your prob—” Han Kyul was saved by his cell phone bell. If it hadn't rung, she had planned to put him on the news tonight. “What?” What manners. Apparently, this was the way he answered all his calls. [Your big brother.] “Han Kyu?”

[Haha what're you getting all nervous for? It's me.] “Goddamn it, do you want to die?” Even his friends didn't seem normal. Laughter rang through the car phone speakers. It was a very irritating laugh. “What kind of trouble are you thinking of cooking up this time? I'm busy.” [No matter how busy you are, you probably won't be able to resist this.] “I'm not falling for it, punk. Hang up.” [Yo! Yo! Miss World.] “What? You expect me to beli—really?” [All live. Seung Soo says it's his junior from someplace or another, and she went out for the Miss World contest last year. He said she's bringing friends, so get here quick, dude.] “Where?” [Seung Soo's summer house.] “What? JeJuDo?” [Hey, think about it before you hang up. Bomb body and intelligence.] “.......” [You're coming, right?] “What time's the flight?” En Chan's mouth sprung open at the way things were playing out. She couldn't say a word even when the man stopped his car at the curb. What kind of absurd situation was this?!? “Yo, get out.” She was so dumbfounded she couldn't say a word. When she simply blinked her eyes, he even opened the door for her. Owner or no, she wanted to take this guy and! “Take a cab.” “What?” “Or the bus.” “What about lunch?” “Eat it on your own.” “Ahjussi! A-ahjussi!!”

En Chan was pitilessly thrown out onto the curb. It was no use screaming\ at the car that was getting farther and farther away. It only made her hungrier. < Part 2 > It's a good thing that En Se has a dream in life. Even so, sometimes I can't help but lament the fact that her dream is to become a singer—something much like a cloud in the sky. I try to think about it positively: “she's passionate enough about it to use her friends' money to register into a voice lesson hakwon.” But even so, I can't help but heave a sigh, wishing she'd had told me about it beforehand. Anyhow, En Se seems like she's working hard towards something for the first time in her life, and Mom's recovered enough energy to take a long time to make delicious spaghetti. Even so, I can't help but regret the fact that the portions of that delicious spaghetti were about the size of a hand. I regret it so much I feel like crying. En Chan dragged her secondhand bicycle to its place and went up the stairs. She washed and ate breakfast before coming back out to deliver coffee to the market vendors. After three years of doing this, she'd already memorized each regular's coffee drinking time and taste preference. On her way back from her deliveries, she ran into Mr. Ku, the butcher. “It's good to be young, eh? Just yesterday it looked like a chestnut, and now it's all gone.” “It doesn't matter what anyone says, meat is the best answer.” “A girl getting into fights... I can only imagine how much your mother suffered raising you.” “I already told you. He went by like a lightning bolt. There was no time for me to react.” “I heard Seung Kyung brought you an entire box of eggs.” “It looks like we're going to live off of eggs for a while. Tae Won said he feels humiliated that his Tae Kwon Do master's going around getting beaten up. Man, I just can't seem to get along with him, even to the end, huh?” “It's because you're too close to Seung Kyung.” “Huh?” “You've got as much sense as a box of fermented beans. Tae Won likes Seung Kyung, didn't you know?” “Yea, I knew that.” “And you still don't get it? You know that Seung Kyung likes you, right?” “Yea, I knew that too. What does that—what? Oh come on, jealousy? They're in elementary school!” “These days, even kindergarteners give each other couple rings.” “I mean, come on! I'm an adult, you know. And.... No, no, it doesn't make sense. Ahjussi, I'm a girl.” “My point exactly. If you're a girl, you should act like one. Anyhoo, hey, you. I hear you're going to be working at Coffee Prince.” “And how did you find that out?”

“What are you planning to do? I hear the new owner is a real strange one. I hear he's working on a pretty-boy project or something.” She'd forgotten that Mr. Ku and Mr. Hong were drinking buddies. “I mean, we don't care much whether you're a girl or a boy, but it's not the same with that guy. It seems like his plan is to target the women who come to drink coffee by using good looking boys, you know?” “Oh!! I see!” “This isn't the time to shout eureka. Seriously, what are you planning to do?” “I'm going to try sticking it out.” “And what if you get caught?” “It's not like he's going to report me to the police or anything.” “Well, you've got some guts. Even if you do have a flat, volume-less, sadly boyish body, you'll get found out sooner or later. Men and women are different. Don't ask how. I get confused when I look at you.” “You think I don't get confused when I look at your body, ahjussi? Do you tell apart men and women by the gut flab? Or the butt that hangs down to the calves?” En Chan attacked, not giving in to a word he said. The knife repeatedly slammed down on the chopping board. En Chan took a step back and said lightly, “Mr. Hong didn't realize for an entire year. And the only reason he ever found out was because he saw me coming out of the women's restroom and threw a fit. All I have to do is be careful of the bathroom.” “I'm seriously worried about you.” “It's five bucks an hour—five bucks. You think part-time jobs like that are easy to find? Keep the secret, please.” “He can afford to give out that much? Hong worked by himself and couldn't raise enough to pay his rent. How much can you make from a snot-sized coffee shop to be using four part-timers? And I heard he asked Hong to stay. How much money is that per month for labor? How's he going to handle all of that? Mark my words, it'll be over in a month.” “Ahjussi, are you praying for us to fail right now?” “Ya, that's not what I—” “Ack, whatever. Putting me in a bad mood so early in the morning....” “Hey! Don't just leave! I'll give you meat for some stew, take it.” “Forget it.” “You're sulking?” “What do you take me for, a kid?” “Girls sulk a lot.”

“Hey, get rid of those prejudices. That's why you can't get married. Why are you giving me the meat anyway?” “Oh, ah, just because. Hey, take good care of your mother. She must be tired these days, her face doesn't look so good.” “Don't worry about it. My mom's skin is much lovelier than mine.” Even as she returned home carrying the meat, her mind was heavy with the words Mr. Ku had said about it ending in a month. No matter how many times she punched the numbers into a calculator after she'd returned home, the only conclusion she could come to was that Mr. Ku was right. Not only that, but the absurdly expensive coffee cups, the first-class interior remodeling seemed themselves an omen to the store's closing. What exactly was the man thinking? Did he think at all? Even though she usually didn't bother with worries, En Chan's head hurt. She wanted to hurry up and meet the man so she could ask, but he was nowhere to be seen. He'd left a whole bunch of instructions and disappeared with Mr. Hong. Something about finding the flavor of Coffee Prince? The four 5-dollars-an-hour part-timers gathered around to come up with ideas for the flyers they were going to pass out. En Chan was the one to ask. “Yea, ok, so, do you think we're going to be able to get paid?” “He probably started this because he had some money. Also, he's probably investing in this because he has some kind of plan. His CPU didn't seem too bad. Do you really think he would've picked four parttimers if he didn't even have a plan?” said Nak Kyun. “CPU? What's that?” Nak Kyun knocked on En Chan's head. “Oh, head? Well, he didn't seem all that smart, either. He's only obsessed with his outer appearance.” “Didn't you see his car? Do you know how many hundred thousand dollars it's worth?” “Hundred thousands?” “Man, I'd love to try on that Hugo Boss leather jacket he wears around. His watch, though, is a bit too old-people style for me. Anyway, from shoes to wallet, they're all brand names, so the money he's pouring into this store is probably the price of gum. This kind of tiny shop is probably just a hobby or something. He probably considers it a game of jacks,” said blonde Ha Rim. No matter how mean the things he said were, he was still so very cute. Sun Ki wordlessly emanated charisma as he sampled coffee. That was part of today's tasks too, to sample each of the coffee that the owner had blended before leaving and to appraise them. “The price of gum? Is gum made out of gold in your neighborhood?” “I said for our owner. Did I say for me?”

“In that case, what does that make us, who work in the store that costs as much as gum? Gum wrappers?” “What's the point in asking? We're just servants. What, did you think we were doing something grand here? You pretend to be pretty smart, and you still don't know that, huh?” “You may be a servant, but we're employees. Employees who provide established services and receive fixed pay. We're not here to goof around and kill time like you, all right?” “What? Forget it. Let's drop it. What a tightass.” Even as Ha Rim and Nak Kyun began to quarrel in what became an increasingly dangerous mood, En Chan was immersed in her own thoughts. “Will it be ok then?” It might be all right if the owner really was that rich. When she thought of that incredible hotel room, she could believe that this coffee house was just a game to him. “Hey, do you want to take a look at this? They're pictures we took yesterday. Which one do you like, hyung?” an affectionate Ha Rim held out his cell phone. On the screen were pictures of Ha Rim and Sun Ki modeling uniforms. They looked good in whatever they wore, just like real models. En Chan swallowed a small gasp as she looked at the pictures. It was because she felt a stab in her conscience. Is it really all right for me to participate in this pretty-boy project? I'm actually pretty short, and all those pictures that got me voted hottest face were photoshopped by En Se... Hmm... < Part 3 > The best way to ensure the most efficient development of the employees' abilities is to give them a sense of ownership. In other words, make them feel that the store is their own. To do this, one must make clear the details of the trade and to open up the doors of discussion in order to encourage participation in the management of the store. This was the philosophy that Han Kyul worked out of, and he looked proudly upon the employees of Coffee Prince who were earnestly offering their suggestions. “I'm telling you, red is too flashy. White is the best. It's nice and safe.” “You know what you're talking about, old man. Since the new interior atmosphere is calm, we should stand out more. I mean, come on, to be honest, coffee tastes pretty much the same everywhere, doesn't it? We can't catch up to the Star or the Seattle Brand up by the intersection, so we should consider other methods of attack. The reason why sajangnim chose us was because he wanted to reap the benefits of our good looks, isn't that right, sajangnim?” “Using your faces isn't enough. If that was the only thing I needed, I would've used mannequins.” “You mean we need to provide good service as well? Well, duh, everyone knows employees have to be friendly.” “One more thing. We need sex appeal.” “Huh?”

“So that they want to keep coming back. Now that would be reaping the benefit of having chosen you all. Now, let's continue. Nak Kyun, what color do you like?” “Black or white. I like clean colors.” “What about you, Sun Ki?” “I don't really have a preference...” Everyone's answer seemed to represent their personalities. Would Ko En Chan maybe say pink? If Ko En Chan wore a pink shirt, he'd look like cotton candy. Han Kyul found himself smiling as he imagined the scene and felt a stab. It was because he'd suddenly been reminded of the Valentine's Day nightmare. But the person himself was too busy eating meat. “Ya, Ko En Chan.” Everyone turned their heads toward Ko En Chan, who was sitting at the end of the table, but she was not in a situation to answer. Her mouth was full of pork boned rib, and all she could do was blink his big eyes at everyone. Who knows how many servings he'd eaten all by himself? thought Han Kyul. How am I supposed to handle this kid's appetite from here on out? I'd probably be better off raising a cow. “Yeth?” “Forget it. Eat. Let's decide amongst ourselves. So, Ha Rim's the only one for red, right?” Ha Rim stabbed his finger into the side of En Chan, who was busy chewing. Not knowing what for, she raised a hand that held a pepper. “Ok, two people. White, then.” When Mr. Hong raised his hand, Nak Kyun followed, and even Sun Ki raised his hand. The fact that Sun Ki, who was usually quiet and inexpressive of his opinions, had raised his hand meant that he truly disliked the idea of red uniforms. “Aw, man! Red is good, you guys. Y'all are all too sissy. Sajangnim, I'll wear red by myself.” “If you really want to wear it, you can go ahead.” “Really? It's ok?” “Why not? It's not like this is school or anything. Oh, by the way, where did you say you went to school?” “I told you I'm taking a post-graduate year. Nak Kyun's taken time off of school and... what did you say you did, Sun Ki?” “I'm just....” Right then a cell phone rang. Everyone dug around in their pockets to check their cell phones, but the ringing didn't stop. Everyone looked at En Chan. “Hyung, phone.”

“Huh?” She shoved a wrap into her mouth with one hand while taking the phone out with the other. En Chan turned off the phone without even looking to see who it was. “Why didn't you pick up? Who is it?” “That kid doesn't pick up the phone when he eats.” Everyone seemed satisfied by Mr. Hong's explanation. “Hey, everyone, dig in, before En Chan shovels it all in. Sajangnim, why don't you take a drink?” Han Kyul held out his glass and received the soju. A merry atmosphere passed the cup around. Everyone was more than willing to lay one back. Sun Ki didn't eat much meat, but never passed up alcohol, and Ha Rim's face had gone red after two shots, making his yellow hair look even more yellow. Nak Kyun's clean-cut drinking manners made him seem rather mature. “Ahjussi, you're married, right?” “With two kids.” Ha Rim, drunk off of three shots, became rather talkative and laughed a lot. The boy had a very cute, affectionate side to him. “Sajangnim probably isn't married yet. Do you have a girlfriend?” “Why, you want to introduce me to one?” “Haha. A stud like you, there are probably gorgeous babes hanging all over you, am I right?” “I don't keep girlfriends. I can't even keep pets, how am I to keep a woman?” Right then, Ko En Chan's thunderous voice rang out, “Ahjumma! Could you change the pan here? And three more servings of boned rib! And kimchee!” After the pan was exchanged and the meat was grilling, En Chan gulped down the kimchee water. Han Kyul had never seen anyone eat so well. “Hey, you're not eating that?” “This? It fell on the table.” “It's all right, give it to me.” She would even eat meat that had fallen on the table. Right then, a mischievous look came over Ha Rim's face. “Oops!” He dropped a piece of meat on the floor. “Oh, what a shame. Better throw it away.” En Chan held out her chopsticks. “Hey, what do you mean you're going to throw it away. Give it here. It'll be all right if I grill it again.”

Ha Rim snickered and handed the meat over. And then with a smile that had probably melted not a few girls' hearts, he whispered, “You saw that, right, sajangnim? That hyung, he'll probably eat anything as long as it doesn't have dirt on it. This afternoon, we ordered triple servings of jja jang myun, and Sun Ki left some, right? And this hyung took that bowl and wiped it clean, all the way to the sauce. I've never seen anyone with such a strong constitution.” Everyone was looking at En Chan with wonder when Mr. Hong said, “That kid was the lone survivor when his class went on their class trip. They ate some kind of bad seafood, and the legendary boy who walked away clean when everyone else was laid up in the hospital with food poisoning is this kid right here. His friends were all groaning in hospital beds, and this kid's was sitting down mixing an entire pot of rice with side dishes and eating it all up by himself.” Everyone nodded their heads. Han Kyul said to a snickering Ha Rim, “Hey, keep a close watch on him. Make sure he doesn't eat the coffee cups or anything.” Ha Rim burst out laughing, and even Nak Kyun cracked a smile, but Sun Ki was, as usual, expressionless as he emptied the soju bottle. It was part of his attractiveness, and it was one of the reasons why he'd picked out Sun Ki. He didn't say much, but he wasn't unapproachable, he didn't smile much but he didn't seem cold, and no matter how much you looked at him, you still couldn't figure out what lay inside of him. Han Kyul knew from the moment he'd seen Sun Ki that this was an attractive guy. The mood had ripened considerably when Ha Rim began to grope at Mr. Hong. “Hey hey, what's wrong with this kid? Hey, how much have you had to drink?” “Heh, ahjussi.” Smack! Everyone looked shocked and horrified. “You stupid moron! Where do you think you're putting your lips, huh? Ya!” While Mr. Hong was furiously scrubbing at his cheek, everyone else stopped what he was doing and continued to watch Ha Rim's actions, shocked. Ha Rim, unfazed, went on smiling and crawled sideways. As if he'd felt that Nak Kyun was not a kid to mess with, he threw himself onto Sun Ki. Sun Ki pushed away Ha Rim's approaching chest, but it was no use. Ha Rim managed to hold onto Sun Ki's head and kiss his cheek. He moved onto his next target. “Damn, that kid's drinking habit is real erotic, ain't it? I bet he's gotten more than one girl in trouble.” “He doesn't get them in trouble, he gets himself in trouble. He digs his own freakin' grave.” En Chan too busy grilling meat to pay attention to what was going on next to her. When she saw that Ha Rim had sidled up right next to her, she gave a start. Han Kyul found himself looking at En Chan's white and creamy face. Both cheeks had been dyed a soft pink from the heat of the fire and the influence of alcohol. For some reason, Han Kyul felt displeased. He wanted to jerk back the head of Ha Rim, who was approaching En Chan.

“Mrmgmm hyung....” “Hmm?” The moment En Chan turned around, Ha Rim put out his lips. “Ewp!” Their lips collided. Everyone went rigid with shock, and even Ha Rim's eyes went wide with surprise. Han Kyul wanted to smack him upside the head. For some annoying reason, he felt angry. He didn't want to see the two of them next to each other. His head kept saying, 'hey, this isn't right,' but his heart kept saying, 'those lips are MINE!' It was an extremely frustrating feeling. “Ya! You little!” En Chan's angry voice rang as Ha Rim was flung backwards. En Chan's palm had smacked away Ha Rim's face. “O-ow...” “Where the hell do you think you're putting your freakin' lips, you moron! If you're gonna be drunk, be drunk nicely!” “Chan-ah?” “What!” “Meat's burning.” With that, the episode was over. En Chan, who had shouted so loudly everyone in the restaurant had turned around to look, sat right back down like nothing happened and flipped over the meat. Han Kyul lost his appetite. He felt like ripping out his own hair. < Part 4 > By the time Han Kyul led his part out of the restaurant, it was past ten o'clock. As he walked alongside Mr. Hong, he looked at the four youths ambling ahead. Ko En Chan, who'd finished up the meal with more rice and noodles, Jin Ha Rim, who looked happy-go-lucky even after being hit, Kwon Nak Kyun, who'd loosened up a bit and was starting to answer attempts at conversation, and No Sun Ki, who'd maintained his silent aura even as women in the restaurant had fallen over themselves drooling at him. All four had such distinctive personalities that the future worried him. Initially, he'd thought running a snot-sized coffee house would be a piece of cake... Han Kyul took the party to a cafe on the intersection. He then forced all of them to try six different cups of coffee. “You tried the coffee I blended this afternoon, right? How'd it taste?” “Oh, that. En Chan hyung had four cups of that. He said it wasn't filling enough.” Ha Rim, who'd intercepted the answer, fell over sniggering, his hand clutching his stomach. Nak Kyun, who gave him an exasperated look, answered, “I'd never tasted it before.” “And?” “It was kind of... rough, kind of scratchy, and it kind of made my tongue numb.”

“What about you, Sun Ki? Had you had it before?” “Yes.” “How'd the taste compare?” “I'm not too sure. But...” “But?” “My mouth leans toward heavier tastes....” “So it didn't fit?” “Well, not exactly, but I like a fuller, more woody taste.” “Why do you want to know these things anyway, sajangnim? You keep telling us to try coffee, and so we keep trying coffee because you tell us to, but what's the point of part-timers knowing that kind of stuff? Isn't it enough for the person who makes the coffee to know? I'm sure Mr. Coffee here's going to take care of it. Isn't that right, ahjussi?” Ha Rim slurred as he pushed his face into Mr. Hong's. “Hey hey, you're making me sick. Get off.” “Yo, Tae Kwon V, what about you?” En Chan, who had been swirling around the foam in the caramel macchiato, lifted her head. Her eyes were wide, like a tadpole who'd been caught goofing around. “W-what?” “How was the espresso?” “Oh, that... It was bitter...” “You drank four cups of the stuff and that's all you have to say about it?” “It was strong, too... and... oh! I can't sleep.” “What?” “These days, I kept feeling sleepy after lunch, but after drinking that stuff, I couldn't sleep. Did you put in some kind of ingredient that keeps your eyes open?” “So did you open your eyes to your faults?” “Open my eyes to my faults? Why would I have to open my eyes to my faults? If anything, Mr. Cranky—I mean, sajangnim should be the one to open his eyes to his faults.” “What did you say? What did I ever do wrong?” Han Kyul, who'd been thoughtlessly retorting saw En Chan's meaning-filled eyes and flared up. Noticing that En Chan was glaring, incensed, the four remaining individuals looked at Han Kyul curiously. Han Kyul bunched up his eyebrows and glared at En Chan. Judging from the look in his eyes, he's definitely thinking about the Valentine's Day incident. What the hell is this kid planning to say? He's not planning to blab about that right now, is he? “If you say anything ridiculous, you're going to die.”

“Man, you keep saying 'you're going to die'. Even if I am a part-timer, I have rights, don't I? If you keep talking that way....” “What? You gonna keep being belligerent, kid?” “Wow! Seriously! When did I act belligerent? Hey, raise your hand if you think I was being belligerent! No one? No one? See! You think being sajang makes you God or something? You think it gives you the right to look down on part-timers? Huh?” “Ya, stop it, Ko En Chan,” entreated Mr. Hong as En Chan's eyes grew wide with excitement. “Hey, ajuhssi, it's just getting good, so don't talk 'em out of i. Watching people fight is the best entertainment in the world.” “You kids! you should be thinking of how to stop this!” “As the saying goes, paintings and fights should be appreciated from a distance.” Seeing that even Nak Kyun had begun to smile, Han Kyul shut his mouth. If he got swept away by Ko En Chan's pace, it was only a matter of time before he ruined his image. Just talking to that kid got him all riled up. He was just going to ignore him. Han Kyul took a sip of his cafe au lait and then began in a officious voice, “It'll be good for you to do some studying as well, Mr. Hong. To my knowledge, the closest barista training facility is in Shin Sa Dong. If you've a mind to continue selling coffee, it'd be a good idea to get a certificate. To be frank, your coffee as of right now is low class.” Mr. Hong blushed and laughed awkwardly. “It's not low class. It used to be so popular back in the day.... Just ten years ago, female college students would line up to drink the coffee I made. Didn't I mention before? Oh, right, Channy, you know, right? I told you how I met my wife.” “Yes. But what's a barista?” “I-I'm not sure either. I've never heard of the word.” This was unbelievable. A man who'd been in the coffee business for over ten years didn't even know what a barista was. He hadn't studied at all, eh? That's why there was no growth. “Find out about it, then. There are books written on the subject too.” Mr. Hong's face went rigid with embarassment, but Han Kyul pretended not to have seen. He wasn't going to see these people after three months, anyway. Even if he was to see them again, Han Kyul wasn't the type of person to stomach talking pretty. “Three months from now, sales will have gone up 300%. I'll make that happen, so you can take over from there, Mr. Hong. As long as we haven't fallen flat on our faces, you'll probably be able to carry on with these members right here.” “What do you mean? You're only going to be here for three months?”

At Nak Kyun's question, everyone looked at Han Kyul with expressions that said they had no clue what was going on. Han Kyul made a cocky face and nodded his head. “Why?” Han Kyul turned to En Chan, who was glaring at him. Her gaze was full of condemnation. What is it this time? What the hell is this kid's problem? “I made a bet with a certain person,” answered Han Kyul, looking En Chan straight in the eye. “I said I'd raise sales 300% in three months. I did it because it was the only way I could get some peace and quiet. That's why I picked you guys. You don't have to worry, though, Mr. Hong, even if sales do jump 300%, I'll sell you the store back at the price I bought it at.” “What? How can you talk like that?!” shouted En Chan. “Who the hell do you think you are, talking about raising sales 300%! What a total jackass!” “What? You parasite, are you done talking or do you have more to say?!” “Ya! Ko En Chan, what's wrong with you!” “Let go, ahjussi, let GO! Damn! You pervert cabbage slug! You think you're all that, huh? Just a month ago, you were nothing but a good-for-nothing loafer, so don't be looking down on people just because you've got some money, all right? 300%? 300%? That's not talent, that's money'll-take-care-ofeverything bullshit! You think Mr. Hong's not as good as you are? What? Low class? Who the hell you calling low class, huh, punk? Who the hell are you to be judging other people! You're garbage! Nothing but garbage!”

Chapter Nine < Part 1 > You want to die with your head smashed against the wall or with your nose smashed against a plate? I don't want either. I have to go on living. I have to pay for En Se's hakwon fees and I have to pay off the bank loan, and I have to pay off a lot of loans we had to take out here and there. Fine. You want to beg for forgiveness on your knees or do you want to write out an apology? I don't want either. I don't want to beg on my knees and I really don't want to write anything. Can I just stand on my head? En Chan, who'd spent the entire night conversing with God, went to work with her head hanging low. Even if the sajang was a piece of garbage, she shouldn't have kicked away a golden part-time job.... She must've lost it for a moment. All she had to do was to put up with it for a little while longer. En Chan glanced around at the construction taking place in the coffee shop before greeting Mr. Hong, who as coming out of the kitchen. “What's with that face? Did the almighty En Chan stay up all night worrying just because she opened her big mouth?” “I couldn't sleep.” “Aren't you the kid who'll fall asleep if someone so much as pressed their finger against her head?”

“It's probably that damned coffee. What about loafer man?” “Looks like he's not coming out today.” “Did he say... anything...?” “Not really. Hey, the flyers will be here from the printshop in a bit, so hand 'em out. There's Nak Kyun. You know, that sajang's not such a bad guy.” “Why do you say?” “I told him you were weak on alcohol and spouting nonsense, to cut you some slack because you were delirious and he said—“ “And he said?” “That's he'd tame you.” “Huh? Tame me?” “Something about knowing how to tame unruly dogs.” “What? Dog? He's saying I'm a dog?” “Oh, hey, Nak Kyun. You're right on the dot, eh? It's exactly 9 o'clock.” “Good morning. Did you sleep well, hyung? Ha, your eyelids look funny. Your eyes got really big.” Well, something had changed since yesterday, because these guys are treating me differently. Ha Rim, of course, but even Nak Kyun, who used to act like a taciturn gentleman began to smile and make conversation, and even Sun Ki sent out his rare killer smile. Ugh, my heart! I should feel like this is heaven, mixed between these three gorgeous men, but why oh why and I so sleepy? Mr. Hong began working up a storm trying to fix his “low class” coffee, and En Chan and Sun Ki went out to hand out flyers. Knowing that Ha Rim and Sun Ki had a shaky relationship, the others deliberately made them a team, with the intention to get them to become closer by working together. “Hey, isn't that Channy obba?” “Oh! Obba!” The girls who ran over waving their hands were En Se and her friends. “Ko En Se, you brat! What are you doing skipping school and messing around?” “Obba, it's Saturday.” “Even if it is Saturday, you should be studying!” “God, stop screaming.” “It's still early in the school year, so we don't have to study too much. Anyway, obba, what are you doing here? Can we help you with anything?”

“Oh my Gosh, obba, do you work here? Wow, you're so handsome!” The high school girls who'd taken away the flyers jumped around screaming. “Who's this obba? Damn, he's FINE!” “Your picture came out pretty well, obba. Hey, who's this?” The eyes of all the girls flew straight to Sun Ki. Immediately, all phones flipped out in unison and began to take pictures. En Se not excluded. Sun Ki, who'd suddenly become the center of a new fan club, was poker-faced. He didn't even look flustered or seem bothered. “Unni, you know that obba's phone number, right?” En Se whispered. En Chan, horrified, put her hand over En Se's mouth. “Hey! Call me obba!” En Chan pried the girls away and drove them off with En Se. She couldn't know when they'd start blabbing about her being an unni, or talk about Dong Moon Girls' High School. Her heart raced. Sun Ki looked indifferent. Everyone had gathered at the store to eat lunch when the sky began to cloud over. Ha Rim and Nak Kyun, far from becoming friendly, didn't so much as say a word to each other. It was obvious that even though they hadn't used their fists, they'd gotten in a fight. She was contemplating ways to get them to speak to each other when a motorcycle pulled up in front of the store. “Hey, it's that kid....” En Chan, who'd turned around at Mr. Hong's words, jumped up at the sight of a familiar face. “Hey! Mugger boy!” The guy got off his motorcycle when En Chan shouted at him. His size was one thing, his dark face and sharp glare made the whole room feel uneasy. “Hey, Chan,” “It's all right.” En Chan came out of the store and stood across from the guy. Raindrops began to fall “Long time no see, buddy! Woah! Nice motorcycle. Didja buy it or didja steal it again?” For some reason the guy looked pissed off. “Hey, try to live nice, all right? If I catch you mugging someone again, I'm going to report you to the cops, got it?” “Do whatever the fuck you want.” “Oh man, this kid still hasn't learned. Hey, if you keep living this way, you're going to end up dying alone and sad in an empty room somewhere, or go in and out of prisons all your life. Or end your life on a backstreet somewhere. That'd be too pathetic, don't you think?” “I didn't come here to listen to Mr. Principal deliver a harangue.” “Wow! You even know how to use the word “harangue,” huh? You're smarter than you look.”

“Stop yappin' and let's stick it.” “It's not like we're magnets or anything to stick. I thought I already told you. This precious body is the body of a sacred dojo master, so I can't go around punching people outside the dojo. It's not the way of the martial artist.” “Then just get hit!” Suddenly the guy flung his fist out. She somehow managed to dodge it, but a little slower and she would've had another dark circle around her eye to worry about. She didn't know what about, but he was pretty pissed about something. It didn't look like he was going to back away with an eating contest this time. Is that so? All right, fine. “Hey, you still chasing En Se's tail? Is that what this is about?” “I don't give a fuck about En Se or anything, let's just go, goddamn it!” “What, are you trying to ruin my livelihood? I've got a chance to make a living using my face, you moron. Hey, let's just settle this with that.” “I won't do eating, asshole.” “Man, again with that cursing. Fine. I'm in a pretty sour mood myself, so let's have a go. One condition, we're going to settle it with that.” En Chan was pointing at an arcade game located about 10 meters away from where they were standing. It was a worn out punching game. “The person who gets the higher score wins. One shot. All right? No more bitching even if you lose.” “Speak for yourself, jackass.” “Promise me, man to ma—I mean, human being to human being.” En Chan held out her hand to shake, but the jerk simply spit in her palm and walked ahead of her. He even put the coins in himself. She let the guy hit first. The guy put his entire body into his punch, but En Chan hit quick and strong. No need to say, it was En Chan's victory. After looking at the machine as if he couldn't believe it, the guy backed away surprisingly without a fuss. It was a battle of the fists after all, and he couldn't help but admit defeat. He pouted, as if his pride had been hurt. He scowled wordlessly, but he didn't make anymore stubborn arguments. Tsk tsk. Listen, kid. I've gone up against this old metal heap for the last four years. I know it to a T. You can try a hundred days in a row, see if you can beat me. Half-wit. En Chan smiled sweetly as she waved at the motorcycle that was fading out of sight and came back into the store. “Hey, guys, it's raining. We should probably pass these out quickly.” < Part 2 >

Pleasant atmosphere, delicious coffee, cheerful service from gorgeous employees... the game was basically won. When he thought of the pitiful number from before, raising sales not three but even five times wasn't out of the question. Han Kyul was full of confidence and was even beginning to feel excited. At first, he'd only thought of the cafe as a chance to do away with the pressure from home, but now he felt that he'd feel rather good if he succeeded. Having studied this and that from here and there would've proven to have been a good investment. After playing poker well into the early hours of the morning, Han Kyul woke up in the afternoon and unhappily ran right into his elder brother. He had been pouring coffee in his underwear since he'd just woken up. His brother, who had been coming up the stairs, flared up. “You punk!” This was why he didn't want to come home. “You're walking around looking like that when you know your sister-in-law's in the house?!” Han Kyul picked up his coffee and ambled back into his room. The second floor was divided into Han Kyul's living space and his brother's living space, separated by a living room and a kitchen. The left side belonged to Han Kyul and the right side belonged to his older brother and his wife. All that Han Kyul's room contained was an elevated bed, a long blue-grey sofa, and a hanging flatscreen TV. You could do three consecutive cartwheels in the space that was left. “Hey you, sit down for a minute.” “If you're going to lecture me, forget it. I heard enough when I got called to the company by Father yesterday.” “If I tell you to sit down, just sit down.” Han Kyul, drinking his coffee, sat at the edge of the sofa where his elder brother was sitting. “How long are you going to run around like that? Stop goofing off and come help Father.” “Didn't you hear? I'm a proud owner of a business now. I'm so busy my eyeballs spin.” “Don't you realize what Grandmother's trying to do? She's baiting you, trying to get you to look at yourself and all the talent you have. Don't waste three months on this stupid test and come develop your skills in the company.” “Regardless of what Grandma meant to do, I'm going to do what I want. You guys are doing fine, even getting our brother-in-law involved. What's the matter with you and Father? I'm just one person, can't I just live my life? Do you really have to push me into this ugly battle with a musket in my hand?” “Listen, kid, Father's in a bad spot right now.” “From the way you're speaking, people will take me to be Midas or something. You've probably received the reports of how I fooled around in America. I didn't study. At all. I went partying every night and chased tail as often as I could. Who's going to even blink if I throw myself into this stupid company?” “Chris Choi.”

Han Kyul looked at his brother, startled. Seeing his brother's sincere gaze, he turned his head. “Winner of the Mutual Fund Investment Game sponsored by Morgan Stanley.” “That was just.... damn it, how'd you find out?” “When Grandfather favored you, there was a reason for it. Do you remember what he used to ask us when he was bored? If you only have a dollar, and you want to buy a pair of skates that costs $100, what do you do? He used to ask that everytime our cousins came over to visit. Do you remember what you said then?” “Don't know. Can't remember.” “You said that Grandmother would buy it for you since your birthday wasn't too far away. So you'd spend the dollar on the helicopter toy that you wanted.” “My answer was that simple?” “Well, Grandfather liked it. He said you were a kid who wouldn't let go of the dollar or the skates. Even if you have no interest in the company, Grandfather was always considering you. I heard that every time people gathered around to drink, he'd say to everyone's face that the only person worthy of being his successor was “Choi Han Kyul and no one else,” and kill the mood. All the uncles and cousins and even the stockholders know this. That's why we need you right now.” “Father didn't like it. Don't you know? He was scared that Grandfather would bypass him and make me his successor. Uncle hated it more. When I graduated from high school, he said if I even thought about taking over the company, I'd better be prepared to be standing alone in the desert without even a gun, that the company was a world where you couldn't trust anyone.” “You mean he said that to a kid? So what? You're saying you're too scared to come into the company?” Han Kyul finished off his coffee and stood up. “I have to shower. I've got someplace to go.” “Han Sung's movements are pretty worrisome.” “It has nothing to do with me.” “Idiot, Father might have to go under investigation!” “For what? Tax evasion? Slush fund? There's quite a number of things, really.” “Ya!” “Isn't it something we had to overcome when Uncle died? Uncle took up the gun, Father pulled out, and Uncle died from that, and somehow in all the chaos Father ended up in charge of the company. When you look at it like that, it's not hard to understand Han Sung hyung.” “You brat! Whose side are you on anyway? I know you and Han Sung stuck around together, did you go over to his side?”

Han Kyul stopped in front of the bathroom door. He looked at his angry brother and said in an accusing voice, “What are we, children? Talking about sides. If we're all in the same pan, we're all in the same pan together.” “What's that supposed to mean?” “We all share the same blood, don't we?” Except for me. Han Kyul came into the bathroom and turned the shower on. His head felt hot. His chest felt tight as if a sumo wrestler was pressing down on it. The words in his memory rang throughout his head. “Don't you even feel sorry for him? Why do you have to be so frightening to him?” “He should be thankful that we brought him in and took care of him. We picked him up from the countryside where he was a regular little dirtball, and now look at him. He doesn't even know what gratitude is.” “Gratitude? What gratitude? He's just a boy. What sin has he committed? The adults are the ones to blame...” It was the sound of his parents arguing. He'd accidentally overheard them and had finally figured out why there were no pictures of his first birthday. Choi Han Kyul had been adopted. He'd been adopted from some orphanage in the countryside. < Part 3 > “Press down harder when you're tempering it. You have to press down with approximately 13.5 kg of pressure if you want the proper taste.” “It seems you've had some training from somewhere, huh, sajangnim?” “One of my friends back in the States was a barista. I learned a bit about coffee from him.” Han Kyul, who'd made his appearance in the store late in the afternoon, had gathered the employees around and had begun to explain. Outside, the spring rain was drizzling down. “But there's one person missing. Where's the parasite?” “He went to pass out flyers and hasn't returned. Hey, No Sun Ki, weren't you with him?” “We were heading back when he said he had to see about something...” “Leave him. He's probably holed up somewhere eating something.” Han Kyul gave demonstrations in a hastily cleared up kitchen. The strong smell of coffee permeated the entire place. The sound of the rain and the fragrance of coffee blended well to make a pleasant atmosphere. “What about the coffee cups?”

“Always keep them warm.” “Of course.” Han Kyul took out a glass cup and poured sugar and coffee before added foamed cream to the top. “Now, this is Vienna Coffee. Don't stir it with a spoon. That's an insult to Vienna Coffee. Just drink it.” The three pretty boys tasted their first ever cup of Vienna Coffee and was unstingy with their praise. Mr. Hong looked put out, but Han Kyul decided to push on ahead. It seemed to be stimulating the man. Perhaps he was practicing at home; Mr. Hong's coffee tasted better and better. It made Han Kyul proud to see effort showing. When he sent everyone home and closed up the shop, it was already dinnertime. He really didn't want to eat dinner at home. If he met up with his friends, drinking was inevitable, but he didn't feel like going clubbing tonight. It looked he had no choice but to go to the hotel. Maybe he'd eat dinner and then read a book... Han Kyul stretched out his hand to turn up the volume. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel while singing along to Katty B's “Let's Hear it For the Boys.” The hard rain on his windshield and the quick beat of the song mixed together and reminded him of strong Jamaican Rum. He felt like having a glass before eating dinner. He was thinking, “and maybe a hot bath, too....” when suddenly a black figure jumped out in front of his car. An alarmed Han Kyul quickly stepped on the brakes. His heart was beating like a drum. He looked in front of his car, breathing fast, but he couldn't see anything. He hadn't hit anyone had he? If he had, he hadn't felt it... When Han Kyul came out of his car shaking, the person who'd been squatting on the ground lifted his head. He was gathering up something in the light of the headlights. “Oh, I'm so sorry, I'm really very sorry.” The lifted head was illuminated by the headlights. “Are you all ri—... YA!” The moment he saw the face, relief and anger rushed into him. “Huh? Sajangnim? Were you on your way home?” “If you're going to kill yourself, do it decently! Don't jump out in front of a fucking car!” “Who said anything me killing myself?” Han Kyul felt angry that he'd been so alarmed. He pulled En Chan's hair. “Come here you little brat. You deserve to learn a lesson.” Han Kyul put him in a headlock and showered knuckle sandwiches on his head. “OW!” “Is this a demonstration of your “physical strength”? Huh? You make a bet with someone to see who'd win, the car or you? HUH?” “Ow ow ow oww!! Damn it! It HURTS!”

Han Kyul grabbed onto En Chan who was struggling to get free and felt that his clothes were soaked. He let go of and looked in surprise at En Chan, who was shivering. His hair and clothes were completely soaked through. “What the hell are you doing out in the rai—“ He stopped when he saw what En Chan held in his hand. “You're still passing that out?” “No, I finished handing out what we had to hand out.” “So?” “So these people kept throwing it away on the streets. I felt like it'd be bad for our cafe's image, so I was going around picking them up. Do you know how long it took us to decide on the flyer design? We used the best quality paper, too. It's a waste. I'm going to dry them and pass them back out tomorrow.” “So you went around picking them up in this rain?” For a moment, Han Kyul stared at En Chan, who was standing there getting wet with rain. He was looking at his hair and face soaked with rain when he felt something strange. A lump rose in his chest and he found himself wanting to embrace this kid, to take care of him—a feeling that couldn't possibly belong to him rose up bubbling inside of him. “You moron.” Han Kyul scolded all the more intensely in order to hide his strange emotions. “Do you really think you're going to be able to reuse those just by drying them? I'm sure people will love it if you give them a wrinkled up piece of paper. Man, this is why people say the hands and feet suffer when the head is empty.” “What's wrong with a little bit of wrinkling....” “Get in, kid.” “Huh? Why?” “Just get in.” “I have to go home and eat.” “I'll feed you, so just get in the car, kid.” Han Kyul opened the trunk and took out his sports bag. It was from yesterday morning, when he'd gone swimming. “Don't get the seat wet. Wipe off with this.” En Chan, who'd dried off his face and hair with the towel flared his nostrils and said, “This towel smells like perfume.” “It's because I used it.”

“Yecch!” “Don't pretend to be so neat.” Han Kyul took the towel from the grimacing En Chan and rubbed at his head. “Ack! I'll do it!” “Stay still, kid. Don't you even dare think about saying you can't come to work because of a cold. I'll fire you on the spot.” “I won't catch a cold because of something like— ow!” “Man, you've got a lot of hair. Dry it off completely.” Han Kyul threw the towel back and turned the ignition on. He drove his car back toward the hotel. His fingers on the wheel were tingling again. Every time he so much as touched the kid's hair, electricity would run through him...

Chapter Ten < Part 1 > “Your hair is silky, you've got no mustache... Hey, do this with your neck.” En Chan looked at Han Kyul, startled. Without time to react, her chin was pushed upwards. “And you've got no Adam's apple.” “W-what's that?” “Hey... are you really a boy?” En Chan's mouth hung open, her face frozen as she looked at him. “Looks like this kid's ready to be belligerent again. Why, you want to have a go? Well, even if we do, let's eat first.” En Chan couldn't breathe the entire time they were climbing up the wooden stairs. She looked ahead at the man walking in front of her and her heart raced. She felt like she was going to die of a heart problem. Lying sure seemed bad for the body. Run away. “Yo, don't be a slow poke and hurry up,” he shouted as he held open the door to room S11. Damn it. That five bucks an hour is holding me back by my ankles. A pleasant warmth greeted her as she stepped inside. Room S11 seemed to be always waiting for him to return. It made her wonder. Is this where he lives?

“Wash up.” “Excuse me?” “Aren't you going to wash up? You're going to eat looking like a drowned rat?” “It's all right. It'll dry off naturally in a little while.” The man heaved a sigh as he opened his dresser and muttered, “Man, the kid's too freakin' small. Here, wear this.” “Oh, it's fine. Why would I wear something that belongs to you?” “Don't talk back and go wash up.” A black shirt and a pair of khaki pants, a pair of underwear still in its wrapper came flying at her. She had no intention at all of wearing men's underwear, but she did feel like using the restroom. She had to pee. Given no choice, she took the clothes and went to the bathroom. She locked the door and hurriedly took care of her business. She looked around and saw that the bathroom was not a little impressive. The bathroom in her own home was always chilly, the water pressure was terrible, and the floor was so cold it was a pain to clean. No matter how much the years had trained her to be used to those conditions, she still felt it was a shame to leave without having taken advantage of such a warm and comfortable bathroom. After checking once again that the door was closed, En Chan boldly stepped into the shower. “What's this? Why are there so many shampoos?” En Chan lifted up each of the many bottles that lay around the shower area. All the writing on them were squiggly lines, so she couldn't know how each was supposed to be used. All she could recognize was the word, 'shampoo.' Well, she didn't need to know anything else, so there was no point in trying to figure it out, right? “Ahh, this feels good.” After washing her hair and finishing her shower, En Chan wrapped her body in a towel that was as big as she was and dried her hair with a smaller towel. After drying off, she lifted up her own sopping clothes, but they were too wet to wear comfortably. Fortunately, her underclothes weren't wet. When En Chan came out of the bathroom, the doorbell rang. En Chan folded the sleeves and legs of the shirt and pants and moved toward the sound. It miffed her that the pants waist fit her perfectly. To think that a man could have a 28 inch waist, the same size as she! What a turnoff, seriously. “You done washing?” This was the smell of steak. “You used to wear these pants back in high school, right?” “I graduated high school a long time ago. Why would I still be wearing pants from back then?” “Then they're too small for you to wear now?”

“Hey kid, if you want the pants, just say so. Don't beat around the bush just because of a pair of pants. I don't want to wear something you've worn anyway, so take it.” “Where are you going?” “To wash my hands.” “I can start eating first?” “If I say no, would you be able to wait?” “Well... if you said to wait...” “I'm not a sadist. Eat.” En Chan excitedly raised her fork and knife. Delicious and expensive looking food covered an intensely white tabletop. But she didn't worry about what to eat first. She was going to eat it all anyway. “Mmmm this is killer. What is this, calf meat? It's so tender.” She was slurping down the pasta with a hint of garlic when he returned. Tsking away as he poured out wine he said, “If that's not the way a beggar eats, I don't know what is.” Even being subject to these words, En Chan smiled happily as she ate her food. She drained every cup of wine he poured out for her. “If you get drunk and start rebelling again, you're dead.” En Chan, her mouth full of meat, shook her head. How could she rebel against he who gave her her daily bread? “Where did this come from? Does the hotel give this out for free for their visitors?” “No such thing as a free lunch in this world. This is all money.” In that case, this was sure to be extremely expensive. Maybe she should take it a little more slowly. “It's from the Italian restaurant in this hotel. My Ex-Wife's Secret Recipe. Have you heard of it?” En Chan, her mouth full of fresh, crispy salad, shook her head again. “The chef is Italian. The sajang of this hotel tried his cooking in Italy and was blown over, so he brought the chef here. It's French-Italian style. It's pretty good, huh? A mouth like yours probably never tasted anything like it. “What was the name? Something wife? I can't remember, it was too long.” “My Ex-Wife's Secret Recipe.” “That's the name of the restaurant?” “Yea, if you translate it, probably.”

“Probably? Heh, you're not sure either, are you sajangnim? You can't speak English well either, can you? Did you take a vow of silence while you were studying in America or something?” “Just eat your food.” She dunked her bread in the steak sauce and finished off with an apple mousse. But something was strange. Usually when she ate, she got energetic, but right now, she was getting more and more languid. It wasn't a bad feeling; in fact, it was extremely comfortable and plesant. En Chan held out her emptied glass. Han Kyul, who was still in the middle of his meal, poured her more wine. “Look at that posture. Sit up straight when you eat.” En Chan lifted up her legs onto the chair and sat Indian-legged. “I'm done eating anyway.” “What's with that expression on your face?” “What's wrong with it?” “It looks like the face of a sacrificial pig.” “Man, you talk so mean. I can't understand why women follow you around. It's probably the money, isn't it? But you don't want to get married, sajangnim? The women who came out for the arranged dates all looked pretty good to me. Oh! Do you have a woman stashed away somehwere?” “You don't talk so pretty either. A woman stashed away somewhere? Is a woman a piece of luggage, to stash away?” En Chan smacked her lips as she drank the sweet wine. After tucking so much away, she began to feel a little dizzy. I should get home before I get any looser... “That woman back then was pretty good-looking too, just a little loud and annoying.” “I don't know which woman you're talking about, but all women are loud and annoying.” “Oh, I know! You're a misogynist, aren't you?” “Do you even know what you're yapping about?” “I know. A misogynist hates women, right?” “Why would I hate women? If I hated women, how would I deal with thinking about sex every 30 seconds?” En Chan choked. The wine came spitting out of her nose. The man threw her a napkin. She blushed furiously, embarrassed. Not only that, the sensation of the time he'd kissed her came back to her and made her heart race. Her eyes kept trying to look at his lips, so she shifted her eyes from side to side to avoid it. “Well, there is a way to deal with it for men, I suppose.”

The situation was getting worse and worse. “Why? You scared?” “Scared, nothing...” En Chan faltered, snorting stiffly. “Your face says you're scared. I gargled three times, I was so disgusted, so don't even bring it up ever again.” “Did I say anything about it? You're the one who keeps bringing it up.” “Now that I think about it, it's pretty funny. It's funny how such strange things happen in life.” “My thoughts exactly.” “I have a gay friend, right? And all he ever thinks about is sex. You're still pretty young, so you probably go crazy when you so much as look at a skirt. Let me tell you, as a senior in life—take care of your body when you're young. If you mess around too much when you're young, you might ruin your life. In that sense, that guy's got it pretty easy, huh? He doesn't have to worry about getting anyone pregnant or taking responsibility or jack.” “What about A-AIDS?” “You sure talk about pleasant things. Are you sure you're living in the 21st century? AIDS doesn't happen to you just because your gay. Condoms aren't there just to make balloon animals. Right then, the man slit his eyes and peered at En Chan through them. En Chan suddenly caught her breath. Her heart palpitated when it suddenly occurred to her that they were alone in a hotel room. Even though she looked like a boy on the outside, on the inside, she was a regular girl. It was a matter of course that her heart would race if she was alone with a handsome and stylish man. Her racing heart and nervousness made her words tremble. “Wh-why are you looking at me like that?” “You've used cond—forget it. There's no way you haven't used one at your age, right?” “Y-you don't like babies?” En Chan changed the subject as she felt her pulse reach its critical limit. “Is that why you're not getting married?” “Do you think you could lead a person's life in the right direction and take care of them for close to 20 years?” En Chan was at a loss for words at his suddenly sincere expression. “I-If you put it like that, I can't really....” “Sometimes—no, very often, it's hard to even take care of your own self. That's life. You think that'll change if you turn forty? Or fifty? When the world turns ugly, your head and body shrivel and eventually you'll be so weak and powerless that you'll have to depend upon someone else. It's for this that people get married and have kids.”

He drank his wine with a cynical look on his face. She saw his face as if it was being projected onto a big screen. The wine entering his lips cleanly, the fingers that held the wineglass, the cheeks that hollowed slightly as he swallowed the wine, the gaze that looked down in a 45 degree angle. En Chan breathed shallowly. She admitted once again that he was a good looking man. It was just her female instinct being drawn to a handsome man. There was nothing else to it.... “Think about it. You make mistakes and regret them, so who are you to become someone else's guardian?” “Parents are human too, of course they'll make mistakes.” “What if they make mistakes towards their children?” “Nah. I've made more mistakes towards my parents than they've made mistakes toward me. Well, I used to get hurt when I was younger, but you start to understand as you get older. When you become an adult, you start to realize that being an adult doesn't mean being perfect.” “If getting hurt is all there is to it, that'd be fortunate. But intentionally or not, you could end up ruining their life. It could be poverty or illness, or a sudden car crash like your father.” “My father?” En Chan woke up from her alcoholic stupor immediately. “Are you trying to say that my father ruined my life?” “I didn't say he ruined it. I said it could have.” “That's the same thing!” “Don't yell, kid. I'm trying to say that getting married is like digging your own grave.” “Wow, what a twisted human being.” “Hey, that's enough. No more alcohol for you.” “It's my dad's fault that he died early? My father is a man who caught me when I accidently fell from the balcony while I was fooling around. Do you get it? His own arm was broken, but he didn't even notice. He was so scared that he ran to the hospital carrying me as I cried. If my father hadn't caught me then, I wouldn't be here right now. That's a parent. If it's for their children, they'll give anything they have. That's parenthood.” Recalling her father when she was drunk made her nose sting. But the cold voice once again sneered, “Children don't know that it's dangerous to fool around on the balcony. Adults know, but they're careless. If you weren't born into this world, you wouldn't to face any of these dangers. Do you know why newborns cry so agonizingly when they're born? They're cursing the fact that they're born. 'You guys forced me into this world on your own, so don't you smile at me! This place is hell! You guys should know, you live here!' That's what they're saying. They know because that's the moment when humans are the closest with the gods. They know that life on this earth is no different from hell.”

“Star in your own melodrama, why don't you? Tsk tsk. What made you so twisted? Did you get seriously hurt by someone when you were growing up?” “Why would someone like me have an experience like that? I grew up lacking nothing.” “Psh. That means everything you've said so far is all just bullshit.” Right then, the cell phone rang. After checking the name of the caller, he took the phone into the room. His voice could be heard through the narrow opening of the door. “Yea, something came up. Yes, it's more comfortable here.” < Part 2 > En Chan picked up her wine glass and prowled around the living room. Fancy cabinets, a built-in aquarium, a landscape painting of spring, a huge flower vase... “Tell him to do whatever he wants. When did Father ever ask my permission for anything?” [Baby.] “Grandfather handed it down to me. Why won't you let me use it the way I want to? You just try blocking off the account. I'm going to sell off all the land and stocks I own.” [Just come home to sleep, please?] “If I'm only going to sleep there, what's the point of my going home? Father doesn't want to see me either.” [Are you going to keep being stubborn? Father's worried about you too.] “I'm sure he is.” [If you make Grandmother wait any longer, you're a bad grandson.] “Whew... seriously.” [Sleep there for tonight, but after that, come home. Mommy will talk to the others for you. All right, my son?] “Even if I do go into the house, I'm only going to sleep there. Don't change your tune later.” [My son is such a good little child.] “I'm hanging up now.” Han Kyul, who'd thrown his phone down on the bed, heaved a huge sigh. If he went back into the house, he'd probably end up fighting with his father and brother about every little insignificant thing, and even though she wouldn't say anything, he'd have to endure his grandmother's gaze that said she'd like for him to come into the company, and he'd even have to deal with the haughty looks that his sister-in-law, who was the daughter of a hoity toity household, would give him. He just couldn't figure out why he had to go back into that house.

“Damn it, I should just move out of that house,” muttered Han Kyul as he crossed the living room to get to the dining room. “Hey, it's getting late. Stop drinking and...” The dining room was empty. When he came back out to the living room, he discovered En Chan, who was lying on the sofa. “Ya.” There was no answer. “Ya. YA!” Only when he shouted in his ear and shook his shoulder did his eyes flutter open. “I'm really sleepy. Can I just take a little nap here?” “That's why I told you to take it easy on the wine.” “I'll just take a two hour nap.” “Ya, go home and sleep. Come on, get up.” “Don't be so cruel. Just two hours. Promise.” Han Kyul looked incredulously at En Chan, who'd fallen asleep with his body scrunched up. “This kid really does as he wants.” “You have to wake me up in two hours. You have to....” “Hey, do you know how much it costs to sleep here? You have to pay half of it, ok?” “I have to deliver milk... I have to sell coffee...” “Ya...” “One shot of milk for the vegetable vendor, two sugar cubes. Two shots of cream for the fish vendor, two sugar cubes. Straight black for the side dish vendor. The shoe store....” Han Kyul looked down at En Chan, who'd fallen asleep mumbling to himself. A minute hadn't even passed when his breath told of deep sleep. “Totally knocked out, huh?” He was turning around when he saw the fliers laid out individually on the pearl-colored coffee table. He'd told him to throw them out, but it seemed he was determined to dry them and pass them out again. “I don't know if this kid's an idiot or just innocent. Well, it's the same thing, I guess...” Han Kyul brought a blanket and pulled it over En Chan. En Chan, who slept so sweetly that he wasn't even moving, looked so cute to Han Kyul. Is this what it would feel like to have a younger brother? As Han Kyul carefully tucked En Chan into the blanket, he felt so touched that his heart ached.

How creamy this boy's skin is. Look at all that baby hair. How could he not have a mustache at all? Probably stunted growth. It was probably because he didn't get to eat much growing up. That's why he eats like he's possessed. There are some kids who develop late, I guess. Even so, how can a guy's skin be so.... Han Kyul's hand moved on its own to En Chan's cheek. Just before his fingers touched skin, he snatched his hand back. Somehow it managed to skim En Chan's hair. It was the same as last time, that sensation.... He felt the electricity running through him again. Startled, he tousled En Chan's hair roughly. “He won't even wake up, this sleep fiend.” < Part 3 > No. No, it's me. I'm F4. Ha Rim, Nak Kyun, Sun Ki, and me. Not sajangnim.... hey! What are you doing? Why are you trying to take my clothes off? Damn it, I'm telling you, I'm part of F4! Let go! Let go! “LET GO!” En Chan, who'd jumped up like a frog, opened her sleep-filled eyes and looked around her surroundings. “Where am I? Oh crap! Milk!” Her knee crashed into the coffee table as she sprang up and knocked over chairs and picked them back up as she whirled around the living room. “My clothes! My socks! Damn it!” She ran around, but all she found was her jumper hanging on a clothes hanger. “I told him to wake me up after two hours!” “Ya.” En Chan jumped and looked behind her. “D-did I wake you up? I didn't mean to.” “How's your stomach?” She told herself she should be grateful that he was wearing boxers, at least. This was his territory after all. “My stomach's fine but my head kind of hurts....” “Well, you drank after eating like that, so it's no surprise your stomach's doing all right.” He came out and went into the dining room. Her gaze went to his lean back and hairy legs. And his waist. Damn, how could his waist be so smooth looking? “I-I gotta go.” “Wait.” “No, seriously, I gotta go deliver milk. I'm late—“

He came out holding a cup full of something. “Drink this.” “What is it?” En Chan, who'd taken the cup, took a smell and looked at the color and crinkled her nose. “Coffee?” “It's good for hangovers, so drink it up. Drink it up and close the door quietly as you leave. I'm going to go back to sleep.” Having handed her the cup, he went back into his room. The fragrance and color both said it was coffee, so she couldn't believe that it would be good for hangovers. Still, she thought of him getting up so early in the morning to prepare something for her, so she put it to her lips. It was coffee, but it was very sweet and slightly sour. After quietly leaving room S11, En Chan took a taxi straight to the milk delivery center. She arrived ten minutes late and went straight to deliveries. By the time she'd finished her deliveries, she was starving. “Damn, I'm hungry. I should probably go home and eat some breakfast.” En Chan, who was pedaling her rusty bicycle past Coffee Prince, saw that the light was one. Since it was still before dawn and dark, the light seemed even brighter than usual. Huh? Did someone already come into work? She parked her bike next to the store and opened the glass doors, but the door was locked and it did not open. W-was it a thief? No. A thief wouldn't steal with the lights on. Or the door locked. No, no, you never knew. Thieves these days had guts. She was worrying what she should do when she saw a blonde head appear. “What!” En Chan pounded on the glass door and called to Ha Rim. Ha Rim, who turned around, was holding a pack of ramen in his hand. “Hyung! What are you doing here so early?” “You're one to talk. What are you doing here?” After entering the store, En Chan looked in surprise at the Styrofoam and blanket that lay on the floor. “You slept here?” “Yea, but don't worry about it. Oh, goody. Hyung, I'm hungry, feed me.” Swept away by a pleading Ha Rim, she found herself taking him to a restaurant. “Ahjumma, two blood clot stews, please.” “Give us lots of clot chunks! And rice!”

“What an EnChanstic order.” “What? What-stic?” “It's a new word we came up with recently. EnChanstic. EnChanly, EnChanically. The word can be used in a wide range of situations. It can be used to describe the act of shoving as many, more, or as big a thing as you can into a space that couldn't otherwise physically handle it, or not feeling anything even after having bruised and scratched yourself breaking and bumping into everything that lay in a 2 meter radius of yourself.” “Hey, what's the big idea, making up words like that? Am I really that eccentric? Hey, wouldn't you say that our sajang is stranger than I am?” En Chan's eyes shone as she snapped her fingers together. “HanKyulious. Hankyulistic. What do you think this means? It means you're a small-minded cheapskate who looks down on people just because you've got some money, and you act like you're all that and—“ “But he really is all that.” “Looking good isn't everything. You should be good mentally as well. You just don't know it yet. The man is a real pessimist.” The soup arrived as she spoke. She turned the rice bowl upside down and mixed it furiously with her spoon. She first tasted the hot broth and then shoveled the cabbage leaves into her mouth. “Ow, hot!” “You know, hyung, you look just like a girl, but you eat like a sumo wrestler.” En Chan, who had ignored him and was tucking in so avidly that she was sweating rain, threw a casual glance at Ha Rim and then ordered another bowl of rice. “Ahjumma, don't forget to add the radish kimchee!” After having placed her order, En Chan tried to remember the important thing she had thought to talk about. Oh! “Yo, it slipped my mind for a while, but you better tell me the truth. Why are you sleeping on the floor of the store? What about your house? Did something happen with your family?” “Nothing happened. I'm just camping.” “It's not even summer, don't give me that crap about camping. If you don't tell me the truth straight out, I'm going to tell on you to that small-minded cheapskate.” “Come on, are you really going to betray me like that?” “So tell me the truth. We're a family now, eating out of the same rice pot. We should help each other, don't you agree?” “You're a regular Schweitzer.”

“Don't be a smartass.” En Chan poured the radish kimchee juice all over the second bowl of rice. She mixed it thoroughly with her spoon as she grilled Ha Rim. He finally said, “I left home.” “Why?” “I just didn't like it.” “You didn't like what? The wallpaper? The carpeting? You didn't like what?” “Man, don't grill me like that.” “So just tell me everything.” “I left home because my father kept telling me to go to a school I didn't want to go to. It's the same old story. I wanted to go to art school, my father wanted me to go to med school. I got into the art school a few months back, but he wouldn't pay for the tuition. I started working part-time at a construction site, but then I hurt my legs while working. In the six weeks that I hobbled around on crutches, my chances at being able to go to school went bye bye.” “So that's when you left home?” “I come and go. It's been, what, two months this time? I have a friend who lives alone, but he recently got a girlfriend, and he keeps dropping hints. That unloyal bastard.” “Ya, still, you have to come to terms with your father somehow. If you leave home, you're the one who suffers, right? You're cold, you're hungry, you're lonely. You want to be a bum at that age?” “I'm telling you, there's no way of getting through to my old man. He won't even give me any other alternatives. It's just doctor doctor doctor.” “What do you want to become?” “An art director. You know, when you watch a movie, the screen comes to life because of the wallpaper or the small props on the set? When I see that, I feel like an art director is so much cooler than actors or film directors. It gives off the feeling of being a supporting strength without saying too much. Like charisma.” She'd thought he was just a smiling, senseless airhead, but surprisingly, his answer was clear and direct. En Chan looked at him in a new light. “Does your father know that you're here?” “If I tell him that, what's the point of leaving home? You have to go undercover completely without letting on whether you're alive or dead if you want them to realize what a precious son you are.” “Go undercover? Who do you think you are, Osama bin Laden?!” said En Chan as she smacked Ha Rim's head with her spoon. “Damn, why are you hitting me? I'm eating here.”

“Oh, right. Go ahead.” As if to apologize for disrupting his meal, En Chan picked up a precious chunk of clot and put it into his bowl. Watching him smile happily made her feel happy. Is this the feeling mothers felt when they fed their children? “Wow, I'm full. I'm so full I can't even go back to sleep. Hyung, let's go to the sauna.” “Huh? Oh... I-I already washed. I took a shower in the morning.” “You call that face washed?” “You go by yourself. I have to go sell coffee and go home so I can get ready to come back to work.” “In that case.” Ha Rim held out a hand. En Chan paid for the food and emptied her pockets to hand over some money to Ha Rim for the sauna fee. Hearing that Ha Rim was going to be sleeping in the store made her worry. They hadn't known each other for very long, but he already felt like a younger brother to her. She hoped he wasn't going to catch a cold or anything....

Chapter Eleven < Part 1 > When you get to the top of the wooden stairs, the first thing that catches your eye is the red mailbox. On the top of a long pole is a mailbox shaped like a little house. Written on the house in white paint is the word, “Hi!” On either side of the front doors are big glass panes, so if you looked at the store from the front, you could see the entire interior. The lighting is a soft gold and the floors are the color of water. The walls are green. The tables and chairs are coffee colored with thin stripes, and the cushions are ivory colored. There are two tables on either side of the windows, and two more tables by the right wall. All in all, there are six tables. Once you enter the store, you can see the kitchen and the counter; to the left of that is the bathroom, and between the bathroom and the tables is a notebook computer (that used to belong to the sajang) and a mini garden. Not only does the garden feature flowers, but there is also a small fountain with fish and a small wooden boat. On the green blackboard hanging on the wall is today's special menu. Below that are small glass vases for purple narcissus flowers, but the white and black stones inside are not to be mixed. This is because the small-minded cheapskate sajang gets pissy when they are. They decided to hold a free sampling party on opening day. En Chan and Sun Ki set up a small table in front of the store and offered coffee to the passersby. “We just opened today. Please come visit us soon!” Even though En Chan held out the cups with a small, everyone flocked to Sun Ki. It should be a matter of course for the place to be crowded with the sajang's customers on opening day, but there is none of that. People walking by would stand stand in line to get free coffee, but there was no one who was willing to pay to drink it inside. Busy with I-don't-know-what, they all just glance at the sign and pass by.

“I get a bad feeling that this is because we didn't offer sacrifices to the gods,” En Chan muttered, looking at the salary men and women who had come out for lunchtime. “We need to get these people to become customers. We should've gotten a pig's head and offered spirits to the gods. We should've done the whole stuffing the pig's nose with bills and passing around rice cakes to neighboring business things so that we can draw some attention, you know? As long as we were born Korean, we should follow the traditions of our heritage. Even if he went to school in America. Doesn't he eat kimchee? If he's going to eat kimchee, there's no excuse. Don't you think so?” Sun Ki didn't reply. He was too busy handing out coffee to the female bank employees and the herd of female high schoolers that En Se had brought with her. According to her, En Se had come to help out with the opening, but all she was doing was sticking right next to Sun Ki. Without a single thought to help her sister. Tsk. “Man, I'm hungry.” Right then, a compact car pulled up in front of the store. It was almost embarrassing to call the color white, what with all the scratches and the dents. Out of this car came Mr. Ku. “Tsk tsk, he really should consider getting a new car.” “Hey, Chan!” “You came? Wow, you shouldn't have...” En Chan carried the orchid that Mr. Ku had brought into the store. “Ahjussi, you have to buy the most expensive thing we have here, ok?” “Hey, is this the same store as before? It looks nice.” En Chan put in an order for an iced Mocha Java through the kitchen and went toward Mr. Ku's table. “You should've gotten your hair done before you came.” “Why? Does it look funny?” “Well, not really, but a lot of women come here.” “Oh!” Mr. Ku, who'd only just seen the crowded table outside looked regretful. “Well, it's not like cutting my hair's going to help me with any of those young women. Is that guy your sajang?” Han Kyul was on the phone by the counter. “He's a lot younger than I imagined. Looks like the type to throw money around. How old is he anyway?” “I don't know. Probably not thirty yet.” “What do these kids grow up eating? They're so tall. Everyone's a celebrity these days. Hey, you doing all right so far? You haven't been found out?”

“Shh!” En Chan's eye, which was looking around nervously, met with Han Kyul's, which was looking in her direction. Feeling a stab, she quickly said in a loud voice, “Thank you for visiting! We'll do our best!” She bowed at a 90 degree angle and walked away from the table. Han Kyul approached her and said, “What is this, a Chinese restaurant? Lower your voice.” “Yes, sir!” “You little...” En Chan gave a quick smile and ran toward the door. There, she ran into someone who was walking in. “Ack!” She squinted at the person in pain and surprise. She met the eyes of a man who looked quite smart. “Oh, I'm very sorry. W-welcome.” She returned to her employee manners and greeted him. “I'll show you to your table. This way, please.” The size of the place didn't warrant her guidance, but keeping her manners, she began to lead him. “No, it's all right. I don't have much time......” The man trailed off, and looked at her with wide eyes. En Chan recognized him as well and smiled brightly. Until she soon remembered that she should not be glad to see this person. Oh my God! It was the man from before! “B-bubble.. wrap....” A slight smile rose on the man's face then. En Chan took this to mean that he remembered and recognized her and trembled in fear. This man knew her sex. If he by chance should call her, “miss,” everything would be ruined. “Hey, how'd you find out?” “I heard from Grandmother. It's very cozy and nice.” “It's just a child's game. Sit down.” Uh oh! He even knew the sajang! En Chan balked and began to back away. “What's that outside? Did you come here to confess your love to me?” “Presents on opening day are meant to signify flame-like success.” “Ha, how so like you, hyung.” There was a five-tiered flower wreath by the front glass door. A wreath full of bright red roses, nonetheless. “Hey, Ko En Chan, where's Ha Rim?” En Chan, who was trying to sneak away, was caught in the act and called. “I-I don't know. Probably the bathroom.”

“When Ha Rim comes out...” Han Kyul cut his words short and his face suddenly grew bright. “Han Yu Ju!” < Part 2 > A lovely woman was standing by the entrance. She looked splendidly stylish in a purple trench coat. Her waist was willowy and her ankles were slender. Her curled long hair and fresh features made her seem pure and innocent. But En Chan had seen this woman somewhere before as well. Trying to hide her face somehow, she ran over to Mr. Ku. “H-how's the coffee?” “Ya, what's with this unctuous cream?” “Th-that's what makes it tastes so good.” While pretending to talk to the ahjussi, En Chan watched the movements around Han Kyul. For some reason, the atmosphere was strange. Han Kyul smiled as happily as someone who'd found money lying on the street, but the bubble wrap man and the woman looked awkward. It seemed as though they knew each other, but their expressions were lukewarm. “S-so you came too, obba?” “Yea.” Han Kyul, as if trying to cover for Han Sung's stiff answer, asked in an un-Han Kyul-likely bright voice, “How did you find out?” “I heard from Do Hun.” “And how did that guy find out, I wonder? I didn't tell any of my friends.” “Ye Rang knew, too. We were going to come together, but something came up and she couldn't make it. Actually, she had to go to the dentist to pull out her wisdom teeth. She told me not to tell you, though. She said it was embarrassing.” “Please, don't even mention that girl's name. I don't even want to know.” “Why? She's cute. She seemed real busy dating these days. Oh, by the way, take this. Congratulations on your opening.” Yu Ju held out a present box decorated with something like seed pearls. “Wow, opening day sure is nice. Even Han Yu Ju comes to my door bearing gifts.” “It's nothing. It's just a wreath. It's a show of my skills—or the lack thereof.” “Really? Let's take a look, shall we? What does something made with Han Yu Ju's skill look like?” A red star came out of the present box. It was a star made out of a fruit that looked like cherries.

“Red here, too, huh? For a 'flame-like success'? Looks like the two of you connected today.” En Chan's gaze followed Han Kyul's movements as he took and hung the wreath on the glass door and smiled, satisfied. The space hadn't seemed empty before, but now that the wreath was there, it made the area look much prettier and more charming. But for some reason, seeing him smile like that at a woman made her feel bad. What's so hard about making a stupid thing like that? “Since you're here, you should taste the coffee, at least. Sit down.” “I've got to go. I have a conference.” The expression on Yu Ju, who'd been about to sit, went rigid. “Ooh, I see how to is, Choi Han Sung. The stupid conferences you have night and day are more important than my store's opening day, huh?” What the hell is that guy talking about? Of course a conference is more important, you stupid sajang. “Ya, I should go. If I leave the store for too long, I'll lose customers.” Mr. Ku made started to leave. En Chan, alarmed that her subterfuge was moving, held him down. “Hey, sit down for a little while longer. It's not like you have a lot of customers anyway.” “Listen, sonny, just because there aren't a lot of customers, it's no excuse for an owner to be fooling around in a tea house. That'd be the end of it.” “Tea house? This is Coffee Prince, where coffee princes work.” “Princes and one maidservant, probably.” “Ahjussi!” Startling herself with her own shout, En Chan hardened. The bubble wrap man who'd been on his way out looked her way. En Chan, who'd been breathlessly frozen, stood up abruptly and bowed. “H-have a good day!” “God, what a ham.” En Chan, disregarding Han Kyul's grumbling, skittered out. “Hey! Where do you think you're going?” “To hand out free coffee!” En Chan shouted. She grabbed the bubble wrap man in front of his luxury vehicle which was parked in front of the store. “Um, excuse me...” When Han Sung looked at her, she found herself speechless. “W-wait just a minute. Don't leave, ok?”

En Chan went back to Sun Ki's table, which had quieted down considerably, and poured some coffee into a paper cup. She handed the waiting man the coffee and made a desperate face. “Please drink this and don't get me into trouble, please?” “Miss...” “Shh!!” En Chan hurriedly put her hand over the man's mouth. Her action caused the cup in his hand to sway and coffee spattered on the man's suit. “Ooh my God, what have I done? I'm so sorry. I'm really very very sorry.” En Chan pulled her shirt out of her pants waist and began to wipe at the coffee. “Stop. It's fine.” “I'm really sorry. I'll pay for your dry cleaning bill.” “You're the miss I met at Da Soop?” “Oh, please, don't say that....” En Chan stopped her hand from going back up to the man's mouth and whispered, “Don't call me miss. Right now I'm... well, anyway, I'm in a bit of a situation here, so right now, I'm a man.” The man knit his eyebrows. Soon, he nodded his head to indicate that he'd understood. She'd thought he looked pretty smart. Guess he was quick on the uptake. “It's pretty surprising that Han Kyul fell for it. He's got a good eye, that guy.” “That's probably because when I first met him I was in the middle of a roundhouse kick. Oh! Wait, you were there, weren't you? With that other lady. Oh, now I remember. That lady's the one who almost got mugged, and she's the one who was with you at Da Soop, right?” “Oh, now I see that you're the scooter boy.” “Yea! That was me! You thought I was a boy then, right?” The man nodded his head. He then looked her up and down as if fascinated. En Chan felt a bit shy and blushed. “You look like a boy right now, too.” “I've rarely ever looked like a girl....” “Then I was lucky enough to catch one of those 'rarely''s.” “Well, lucky's probably not the right word....” “By 'don't get me into trouble' you mean keep our meeting at Da Soop a secret from Han Kyul, yes?” “Wow! You really are very smart!” “Hmm. I'll think about it?”

“E-excuse me?” Expressionless, the man climbed into his car. En Chan, who'd thought that things were working out pretty good, dumbly gazed at the man as if stabbed in the back. The car window slid down. “I think it should be a double contract. I have to keep some parts of that night secret too.” “Oh! I-I won't tell anyone. I didn't see anything. I didn't see you stumbling around drunk, and I didn't see you throw up, either.” “Well, now.” The man smiled and left. A double contract, huh? He didn't even shake on it. Damn. < Part 3 > The dojo, which had begun to clear out since a week ago, had finally closed its doors yesterday. During the goodbyes, Seung Kyung had cried, and Tae Won had grilled En Chan about when the dojo was going to open its doors again, and what she was planning to do now. There had even been a small farewell party with the high school and regular session masters. The inside of En Chan's head felt tangled as she ended up having to take the dojo master, who'd gotten drunk off of two beers, back to his home. “There's no place in this goddamn city for a man to work or to play. If you're going to get old, you got to have money at least, or if you don't have money, don't get old!” This was the dojo master's final farewell. The morning after sending off someone who'd been like a father to her was gloomy. She'd eaten breakfast and was getting ready to go to work when she heard rustling sounds from the master bedroom. Her mother started as she opened the door. “Mother!” “What? Why?” “What's that?” En Chan slit her eyes and dug into her mother's side, snatching up a water drop patterned scarf. “I haven't seen this before. Did you buy it again? What the!” En Chan, who'd seen the label, began yelling at her mom. “B-bulga—when did you buy this?!” “This is just... well, it's spring and...” “Man! I just don't believe this! You promised me you wouldn't use the credit card again. And now you go and do this again. Where's the receipt? Which department store did you buy this at?” “I-I didn't buy that, it's—“ “Another present? I'm not falling for it again. I know that you don't have any friends left who'd buy you something like this, so tell me the truth. Where did you buy this?”

Her mother suddenly made a face as if she'd begin sobbing. En Chan began to think maybe she was being too harsh, but hurriedly firmed her stance. If she let it go now, she'd begin to buy handbags and shoes and home appliances, and there'd be no stopping her. Think back to when Dad died. Mom had gone shop-crazy from the loneliness. They hadn't had enough money to afford even a one-room apartment, and still she'd bought everything she'd laid her eyes on. If it hadn't been for their uncle, who had since immigrated to Canada, things would have turned out very badly. Now that even their uncle had gotten sick of them and immigrated to Canada, there was no one left to beg. “Aren't you being too harsh on me? How can you say such things to your own mother?” “Even if I'm being too harsh, it can't be helped. Who's going to end up having to pay off all our debts other than me? If you were going to buy this, you could've at the very least asked me before buying it. How could you do this when you know the dojo's was closing down and that times were getting hard? What am I, this family's workhorse?” En Chan felt a sob coming as well, so she took a deep breath. “Hand over the card. When did you make a new one anyway?” “Mr. Ku bought her that,” said En Se, who had come out from the bathroom. “He gave it to her yesterday. You don't even know, so don't overreact.” “What? Mr. Ku? The butcher?” “Yea, you dumbass. Does it feel good to rip Mom apart like that so early in the morning? Now that you're making some money, you think you're the shit, huh? You don't even see your own mother who gave birth to you or your own sister, right? Who died and made you God? I can't stand how dirty and cheap you are.” En Chan's bottom part of her throat went cold and her face got hot. En Chan helplessly looked at her mother. “M-mom...” She felt torn apart when her mother replied by turning over onto her side. “Mom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Don't get mad, huh? Man, why did I do that? I must not have eaten enough for breakfast. I-I mean, I must have eaten too much. Maybe it's indigestion. Yea, it's probably indigestion. You know I don't get indigestion very often, but when I do, I go crazy and say wild things. You know that, don't you Mommy? Huh?” “Tsk tsk. Hey, just hand over some cash. I have to go buy study-aids.” Even after En Se had left, En Chan continued her one-woman show. “Hey, Mom, here's an idea—why don't you just hit me? Huh? I deserve it. Here. Hit me. Please?” “How could I hit ever you... There's not one spot on you I'd ever want to hit.” Whew. Finally, she's not angry anymore.

“There's a lot of spots you could hit. You could hit my belly, you could hit my butt, you could hit my calves, you can hit lots of places—“ Her mother, who'd gotten up abruptly, lightly slapped En Chan's thighs. “If you ever say you're a workhorse again, I'm really....” En Chan hurriedly embraced her mother and soothed her. “Ok, ok. I won't ever do it again. If I do it again, I'm not Ko En Chan, I'll be Low En Chan, ok? Don't be mad, Mommy. Don't be mad.” She'd finally managed to get a smile from her mother, but something felt off when she left the house. Why would butcher Ku buy her mother such an expensive gift? Did he want to ask me a favor or something? < Part 4 > It was a day warm enough to merit the highest recorded temperature in 30 years. The weather was beautiful as if summer, not spring, had come. The sun, the wind, the flowers, everything was beautiful— but there was nothing to do. Mr. Hong, in his kitchen, Ha Rim under the parasol outside the store, Sun Ki in a chair in the farthest corner of the room, everyone was d.o.z.i.n.g.o.f.f. ! “Hey, Nak Kyun.” “Yes?” “When was the last time we had a customer?” “Fourteen hours ago.” “Ah. I see.” Standing in the doorway, En Chan snickered at Ha Rim, who had been woken up by a car's horn. Ha Rim yawned as he made his way to her. “My entire body feels heavy. There's not a single place that isn't sore.” En Chan, wary of what lay behind her, said in a low voice, “Don't you miss a warm room and a soft, comfortable bed? Not everyone can be a bum. Go home already.” “Why couldn't it have been soft sofas? What's with the wooden chairs, huh? Damn. Oh man, I feel like going to the sauna.” “You talk about going to th sauna every day. You sound like a middle-aged man.” “Hey, hyung. You up for a game of basketball?” “Why basketball all of a sudden?”

“There's a court right around here. Let's go play for 30 minutes. We can wake ourselves up and lunch will taste even better. Well, it always tastes good for you, though, huh, hyung? What do you think?” “It's working hours... What if the sajang comes?” “We can just say we went to the market.” “Shall we?” En Chan felt pretty heavy herself, not to mention depressed from having said such terrible things to her mother in the morning. “You think it'd be all right for us to leave Mr. Hong here?” “Well, either Sun Ki hyung or Nak Kyun should stay behind, since you're no match for me.” En Chan raised her eyebrow and shot Ha Rim a look. “And why not?” “Think about the difference in our muscle makeup. You're all flab, hyung. You don't work out, do you?” “What do you take me for, huh? As a matter of fact, I... forget it. Victory doesn't come from words. Let's bet on it.” “What? Really?” “Yea. Let's bet lunch.” “Man, you and your food. Beer and karaoke.” “Fine.” And so En Chan put her pride on the line and went to play basketball with Ha Rim. When they got to the courts, a few male students had just finished their game and was about to head back. En Chan borrowed their ball and began a one-on-one game with Ha Rim. En Chan had been good enough in basketball to have been chosen as a representative back in middle school. Of course, that had been among girls. “Hey, you've got some skills.” “You little brat, you making fun of your hyung? You just prepare to pay up.” En Chan dribbled low to get past Ha Rim's defense and made a basket. Ha Rim's legs were long, and he strode across the basketball court. Before she knew it, he'd whipped past her and jump shot! Young men really are pretty quick, thought En Chan. Right then, a motorcycle approached the courts. En Chan, who'd bent down in preparation to shoot, straighten her back to look at the motorcycle. “What? It's that kid again.” The punk from the land of the crows. Everytime she'd just about forgotten about him, he showed up. Huh. I might just get attached to this punk.

“Hey, it's good you're here. You, be on my team.” “Hyung, that's not fair.” “I'm getting old. I'm going to sit down and take a breather, so you play against this kid,” said En Chan to a protesting Ha Rim before tapping the punk's arm. “Hey. You. You play ball? You're playing in my stead, so do a good job. I've got a bet riding on this game. All right?” “Who said I was here to play basketball?! This time, let's go at it, fist against fist, bitch!” “Bitch nothing. If you don't play ball, I won't fight you.” “What, you little asshole!” En Chan pushed the outraged punk's chest away with her fingertips. “I hear you're not even chasing after En Se anymore. I hear you have a new girlfiend. Did I hear wrong?” “Th-th is has nothing to do with En Se.” “So why do I have to fight you, huh? Not to mention, you've lost to me twice already. If you want to fight a champion, you've got to prove you're worth it. Kind of like a player's fee. Don't you agree?” She forcefully pulled the kid's arm and handed him the basketball. “Hey, you can't lose, all right? This is a man-to-man battle with pride riding on the line. Step all over that slimy blonde, ok?” She pushed him and was walking away when suddenly something struck her behind the head. “Ow!” Who the hell! was what she didn't say as she turned around, and good that she didn't, either. The sajang was standing with his legs apart. He looked fantastic, as usual. Black pants and black shirt, and a grey jacket on top. He didn't wear a tie, and three of his shirt buttons were turned loose. “What a Hankyulistic look.” “What the hell are you saying, you moron! Hey kid, if you wanted to goof off, you should've gone off on your own. Why'd you lure Ha Rim to play hooky with you?!” “There weren't any customers, and...” “If there aren't any customers, you should've gone out and dragged them in. You've got a long way to go, kid, a long long way.” “Hey, come on, don't be like that. Why don't you join us for a game?” “What? What the hell are you—don't you smile at me, kid.”

“Just 30 minutes. If you play, I'll stand on the side of the road and display my killer smile while dancing like an idiot.” “What? Dance like an idiot on the side of the road? Ha. Sounds amusing. You swear it?” “Well, not for nothing. The loser has to. Ok?” “Ok. You're dead.” Han Kyul rolled up his sleeves. Why were men so damn simple? “Who's that punk?” “He's En Chan hyung's partner. You and I are a team, sajangnim.” Han Kyul knit his eyebrows and stared at the punk from the land of crows. En Chan felt a sudden stab and so she took the ball and began to dribble it. “The game has started!” Simple-minded Han Kyul forgot about the mugger and focused on the game. The mugger boy forgot about the duel and focused on the game. The game went on past 30 minutes, and En Chan sweat until even her underclothes were soaked. I guess it's about time I go eat some dog soup. Man, all this precious soup sweating out of me! En Chan dropped to the floor, exhausted. Breathing raggedly, she yelled, irritated, “Aaaarggggh!!!” How could this happen?! She'd! Lost! “Ha, ha, you gonna dance,” said Han Kyul, who was breathing shallowly. “Earragggh!!” She flopped onto the ground, arms and legs splayed apart. Right then she heard the sound of a motorcycle. En Chan, who'd sat right back up, saw that the punk from the land of crows was getting farther and farther away. “Hey! You running away?!” Good game. See you later. How hard was that to say? Did losing hurt his pride? That kid's getting pretty cute, ey? “Ya! Ya!” The sajang rushed up in her face. She flinched at his threatening expression. “That punk! That's punk's that punk, isn't he?!” Uh oh.

“Wh-who? I-I don't know what you're talking about—ohhh hey! Ha Rim! You going to wash off? Let's go together.” En Chan jumped up and ran like lightning. She even passed Ha Rim and arrived at the faucet ahead of him. She turned on the tap and shoved her head under the water. “What's wrong with sajangnim?” asked Ha Rim, watching the sajang approach. En Chan, who could see the sajang through her spread apart legs, sent up a prayer. Dear God, please shower down the potion of forgetfulness. Please erase that punk's face from our sajangnim's head. Please. Having reached En Chan's side, Han Kyul turned on the water and washed his face. When he saw that En Chan, who was bowing her head, hadn't moved, he simply said, “Stop it. You'll catch a cold.” She washed her face and wrung out her hair. The water kept dripping and soaked even her outer clothes. Oh shit! I can't get my clothes wet! After landing the job in the store, she'd began wrapping her chest with a large bandage, as a precaution, but if her shirt got wet, even that was sure to show. En Chan didn't know what else to do, so she remained with her head bowed over the sink, water dripping off of her. Right then, a handkerchief appeared before her eyes. “If you couldn't handle it, what'd you wash your hair for? You always act first and think later, don't you? You airhead. You want to be called a no-brain in addition to being called a parasite?” The handkerchief was way too small to even think about drying her hair off with it, but even so, she was extremely touched. She used the handkerchief to wipe off some of the water and stood up. She heard Ha Rim snickering from her side. “Ooh, even sexier when he's wet! Very 'EnChanting.” I'm going to have to add this one. A man who oozes enough sex appeal to even melt other men.” “Ya! Sh-shut up! Whose fault do you think this is?” “Aw man, if you were going to take the blame for it, you should've just taken it all the way. Sajangnim, I'm very sorry. Playing basketball was my idea. But hey, you got to move around for the first time in a while, right? Wow, you had mad skills back there! Those amazing assists especially were the best. I bow down to you.” “Let's go. We've got ourselves a dance to watch.” Before walking away, Han Kyul put his hand out toward En Chan. It was just a moment, but his hand touched her chin before falling away. It was an action intended to wipe away a drop of water, but something was strange. En Chan stopped short, her hand holding the handkerchief still up by her hair.

Why did he wipe it off? It's my chin. But my heart, my heart is racing. It's been pumping just fine for 24 years, but I've never heard it make this kind of sound before. She could hear the sound ringing through the inside of her ear. Thump thump, thump thump, thump thump, thump thump.

Chapter Twelve < Part 1 > En Chan was in the men's room with her ears perked. If someone walked in, she would stand in front of the urinal with her legs apart and flush it. She'd smile brightly and wave her hand in greeting. “Hi!” “What is that? Waving your hand like a girl.” Psh. En Chan washed her hands and hurried out of the bathroom. She'd begun this ridiculous show a few days ago when Ha Rim had said jokingly, “You know, I've never seen you change your clothes. Hey Sun Ki hyung, have you ever seen En Chan hyung change his clothes? Nak Kyun, you've never seen it before either, right? Where do you hide when you change? Do you have a tattoo or something? Or a huge scar?” So she began to put on this show once a day to wave away any suspicion. She had to be especially careful of Ha Rim, who kept yapping about her being sexy or whatnot and making her stomach go cold. She'd never paid so much attention do anything she'd done before. The weather getting nicer and nicer worried her as well. What was she going to do during summer, the season of skin exposure? Damn, my head hurts just thinking about it. Nak Kyun hadn't come to work, and couldn't be reached at all today. En Chan, who'd finished the morning chores, was sitting down to a cup of morning coffee. There was no sign of customers today, either. The only action they'd seen was a few women who'd dropped by last night. How was he planning to raise sales 300% like this? En Chan sighed and sat down at the computer. She'd remembered that Seung Kyung had said she'd sent her an e-mail during their farewell party.

Hello~ Master (- -) (_ _) (^ ^) It's Seung Kyung. “^▼^” Thank you so much for teaching me until now. Thanks to Master, Seung Kyung's body is much more healthy now. ^m^ It's so sad that I can't see Master every day anymore. o(T^T)o Mom enrolled me in a dojo down by the intersection. (ㅠ.ㅠ) It'd be so nice if Master came to

that dojo! (^----------^) Even if the dojo's been closed down, Seung Kyung will drop by to see you. Eat well and always be happy! >>-------►♥ Seung Kyung really likes Master. (♥ ♥) Seung Kyung will become a good person just like master. Aja! o(-”-)o Good bye. Have a good day. (*^-^) I'll e-mail you again. (~.^)

Sincerely, Your Pretty Seung Kyung

En Chan was reading the e-mail, her nose tingling, when a shadow fell over the monitor. “What are these, letters or pictures?” “It's all heart. (sniff)” “You crying?” “Well, it's very touching.” Getting up from the chair, En Chan sniffled as she escaped to the counter. Her heart hurt at the thought that she'd let go of Tae Kwon Do, something she'd done almost every day since elementary school. She didn't when she'd be able to teach the children again, if she taught them at all.... “Nak Kyun hasn't come in yet. He's not picking up his phone, either,” said Mr. Hong as he handed Han Kyul a cup of coffee. “He got a phone call yesterday just before closing time. He ran out with his face looking like rotten tofu. I think he's got trouble at home or something.” “I'll try calling him again.” En Chan picked up her phone when Han Kyul said, “Leave him. He already called me.” “He called you? What'd he say?” “He quit.” Everyone stared at Han Kyul, surprised. Even Sun Ki and Ha Rim, who came out from cleaning the bathroom, crowded around him. “Why? What happened?”

“He said something came up so he quit. I told him to go ahead.” “What? You just told him to go ahead? You didn't ask what was wrong?” “If he wanted to tell me, he would've told me.” “How could you not even ask him?” “I don't need quitters.” “Still....” “All right, gather around. I have something to say.” Han Kyul began to talk about something, but En Chan's head was busy thinking about Nak Kyun. She regretted that she hadn't gotten to know Nak Kyun. Even though they were coworkers, she didn't know much about Ha Rim or Sun Ki. A sense of responsibility that had been carved into her as the eldest daughter made her anxious to contact Nak Kyun. “Ko En Chan, are you even listening?” “Y-yes?” En Chan made a sheepish face at the gazes on her face and asked blandly, “What are we talking about?” “He's asking about our impressions of the first few days. Why do you think we're not getting any business?” “I-I wonder....” “It's not that our coffee tastes bad, and the atmosphere is perfect.” “We've even got a dashing owner and good looking employees, right?” Ha Rim and Mr. Hong drummed to the same beat. “What about you, Sun Ki?” “I really don't know.” At his serious answer, the mood plunged back down. “If only people actually walked by this place...” mumbled En Chan to herself before looking at Mr. Hong and saying, “You said so yourself before, didn't you? The people in this neighborhood are all working people, so no one has the time to sit down for a leisurely cup of coffee.” “That's true. Most people here are young business workers. When work ends, they go downtown; they don't stick around here in the outskirts.” “In the afternoons, there's practically no one. Other than in the morning when people go to work, lunch time and quitting time, it's hard to see anyone. It's like a ghost town,” said En Chan spookily. The room went silent. Then suddenly Han Kyul straightened his back and said,

“We've got to change strategies. Let's switch to take-out.” “What? Star already does that. There's no distinction.” “We just have to open earlier than Star does. I'll get the disposable cups and things ready, so let's begin as soon as we can.” “Then what time are we supposed to come to work, exactly?” Ha Rim asked in a complaining tone. What could he possibly complain about? He's the one that slept in the store. All he had to do was open his eyes. If anyone should be complaining it should be Sun Ki who lived— wait a minute, where did Sun Ki live? En Chan stared at Sun Ki, full of curiosity. “We're going to open at 7, so you'll have to come in at least half an hour before.” “Whaat?” Everyone made a face as if to say they were dead, but no one said it aloud. This was because they knew just how bad a situation the store was in. En Chan followed a suddenly very busy Han Kyul around asking, “Show me Nak Kyun's resume.” “Why?” “Aren't you even curious, sajangnim? The kid just suddenly up and quits, and you're not even worried?” “There you go sticking your nose in other peoples' business again. He's an adult. If he's got a problem, he'll handle it. Even if it's difficult, it's his own business, and even if he needs help, it's his own responsibility to ask for it. How do you even have time to worry about other people? You can't even take care of yourself.” Grrr! If only he wasn't the sajang! “But still, he's a coworker, like a family member. How can you be so uncaring? He's only just twentyone, what can he know? Were you a full adult by the time you were twenty-one? Do people draw a line at age twenty and say, you're a kid before you hit this line and then an adult after you pass it? People develop gradually. What kind of sajang are you? You have zero affection toward your employees. How can I work under such a cold sajang?” “Then you quit too.” En Chan hissed. “You put those lips right back in.” “Just give me his address.” “Shut up. Go feed the fish.”

A pouting En Chan clenched her fists and went to feed the fish. On her way toward the tank, her gaze went to the glass vases. A very good idea came into her mind. She smiled mischievously and snickered to herself. < Part 2 > That afternoon. “Gather 'round!” Tsk tsk. How far apart could we be scattered in this snot-sized coffee shop to have to 'gather 'round'? En Chan swallowed her laughter and walked toward Han Kyul with a blank look on her face. The two female customers sitting by the window turned around and watched them as if wondering what was going to happen. “Who did this?” “Did what? Did something happen?” En Chan asked innocently. Even when a fierce look flew to her face, En Chan stubbornly stared it down with a guile-less expression. “You did it, didn't you?” “Did what? I've got to know if I'm going to answer.” “Oh! That....” Just then Sun Ki pointed to the glass vases. The eight vases lay in a neat row full of blooming pink petunias. “What about it?” Ha Rim took in a sharp breath. He wanted to burst out laughing, but the sajang was still sharpening his knives of suspicion. Even if she received suspicion, she wasn't about to fess up to it, so she feigned ignorance. “What? I don't see anything strange.” “The rocks in the vases. The white stones are mixed with the black ones.” Everyone knew that it was En Chan's handiwork, but no one showed it on the outside. Only Han Kyul glared coldly down at En Chan like a prince of ice. “Fix it.” “Me?” She pretended to flinch under the unrelenting glare, but she didn't give up. “I think it looks quite nice that way. White stones and black stones mixed together like that, it seems friendly somehow. Don't you think so, Ha Rim?” “I-I don't know.” “I'm going to go finish my coffee book now.” Everyone hurried away from the line of fire until only En Chan and Han Kyul were left in front of the mini garden.

“What do you care so much for? It's not like you care one bit about your own employees.” “Ko En Chan, come here!” “I have to wipe down the tables outside. The kids who came by left crumbs.” En Chan picked up the dishrag and came outside. When En Chan went back inside, Han Kyul had taken all the stones out of the vases and was re-segregating them. That there is a disease in itself. The vase always had to be in the same place, the row could never be even the slightest bit crooked, the tables and chairs had to be exactly 12 cm apart from each other. To this, Ha Rim and En Chan have only one thing to say: How so very HanKyulistic. Around dinnertime, Han Kyul called En Chan over and said, “You still hang out with those kinds of kids?” She'd thought he was going to scold her for the stone-mixing incident, but his words were unexpected. “You still making trouble with that mugger boy? Is your situation really that bad?” “What are you saying? Are you asking me if I do night-work or scam people with that punk?” “Yea.” “Ha. Thanks for being so clear.” En Chan was so incredulous she asked in an attacking voice, “And what if I was? What are you going to do about it?” Han Kyul simply stared at her. En Chan felt her cheeks growing hot so she gave a cough. She scratched her face and laughed awkwardly. “Kidding, kidding. That kid... he's just someone I happen to know.” Even En Chan had to admit that there was a suspicious nuance to her situation. But that was the truth. To be honest, she'd only heard his name once from En Se, so she didn't even remember his name too well. En Se usually called him 'that idiot punk' or 'the engineering high school moron'. “Why are you asking anyway? You're not worried that I'd still be hanging out with him, are you? There's no way our sajangnim could be worried about me, right? His heart is ice, pure ice. Even if one of his employees just up and quits he doesn't even ask the reason.....” “Go and change your clothes.” “Huh? It's not closing time yet.” “You asked for his resume, didn't you?”

En Chan's eyes grew as wide as bells, and so did the eyes of all the other employees who had been listening in on their conversation. They looked at each other as if to say, what's come over that guy? “Y-you're coming, too?” stammered En Chan. “Y-Y-yes, I am,” mocked Han Kyul as he threw his jacket on. “It looks like you're going to be bugging me about it for a considerable length of time, so it's probably better that I be bugged once by going with you.” “It's something you should do anyway, so don't be so patronizing.” “Oh, you don't want to go?” “N-no, no! Just wait right here. I'll be right back in ten seconds.” En Chan took her clothes out of the cabinet and automatically ran towards the bathroom, not even noticing that Han Kyul was watching her do so. After hurriedly changing her clothes, she waved to the employees and flew into Han Kyul's car. She called Nak Kyun throughout the entire ride, but he didn't pick up. “Sajangnim, give me your phone for a minute. I think he's not picking up because he's avoiding my number.” “He doesn't pick up my calls either.” “When did you try calling him?” “When I was picking the stones apart, all right?” En Chan burst out laughing. The hilarious image of Han Kyul squatting on the floor picking the stones apart came back to her. “You'll rip your mouth, laughing like that.” En Chan was laughing hysterically, tears streaming down her face, even. She found herself slapping Han Kyul's shoulder. “Is that really that funny?” “I-It's not that....” she managed to say between pants. “B-before, my dad.... we were living in an apartment back then. He was wrestling with me in the living room when we knocked over a basket of peas that was on the veranda.” En Chan could breathe regularly now, but her voice was still full of excitement. The basket of peas well into the garden so we got scolded like crazy by my mom, and my dad and I ended up having to pick up peas all afternoon. I was just reminded of that.” En Chan began to feel strange, so she shut her mouth. When En Chan quieted down, Han Kyul turned the music on. Songs without lyrics always made En Chan sleepy. She leaned her head against the window, watching the lights go by, and very soon, had fallen asleep. < Part 3 >

A few days later. Dong Yi Pharmaceuticals had purchased a large volume of shares of the Dong Yi group's core project, Dong Yi Foods. Because of this incident, the mood in his house was that of a night before the storm. The fight for the management rights of the company had truly begun. Han Kyul was afraid to go back to that landmine field called home. Not to mention, he had his own problems. To be honest, he had worried, initially, what he would do if Coffee Prince turned out to be too big of a success. If it was a big enough success to grant him freedom from the company, he would have to do something fantastic to show everyone that his freedom was justified. To tell the truth, though, he didn't know what he would do, and there wasn't anything he really wanted to do. Maybe it was because of this arrogance, but sales were truly horrific. And there was another, bigger problem. Ko En Chan. He was confused about how to deal with this kid. Every so often, the kid would look.... well..... goddamn it, he would look pretty to him! It was the kid's fault for being such an overly pretty boy. Han Kyul felt like he was really going to lose it. “Choi Han Kyul, are you even listening to me?” “Huh? Oh, yea, yea, I'm listening,” answered Han Kyul carelessly. When he saw that Yu Ju was scowling at him, he apologized. “Sorry. Something's kind of bugging me.” “Then let's hear it. It doesn't look like you're willing to come to the gallery extension party anyway.” “Oh, when is that again?” “The day after tomorrow.” “I'll go. You came to my opening, didn't you?” “Oh, my, how gracious of you. Now, why don't you go ahead and tell me what's been bugging Choi Han Kyul these days?” “Nah. It's nothing. Tell me about you. Have you talked to Han Sung hyung recently?” “That really is nothing. Let's just drink.” The two of them buried what they wanted to talk about in their hearts and drank their beers. Soon, they looked at each other and smiled at the same time. Han Kyul opened his hand and said, “Ladies first.” “It really is nothing... Obba still thinks I'm terrible, and even though I've only now begun to regret what I've done, I'm still saddened by the fact that he thinks I'm terrible. It's like that right now. There's no progress at all.” “Hyung's a perfectionist, you know that. There's no aftereffect, but that's just how cold-hearted he is.” “I know. That's why I'm just taking it. It was his birthday a few days ago.” “It was?” “I went to the company with a gift.”

“Woah, Han Yu Ju, pulling all the stops, ey?” “I ran right into your grandmother.” “Man, nobody can escape that old fishing needle.” “I'm just glad I didn't run into his mother.” “You've got to understand Aunt's feelings. What kind of mother would say 'thanks for stopping by' to the woman who dumped her son?” “I know that too. Even if obba takes me back, his mother won't allow it. But life is full of 'if's', so I've got to have hope.” “You've grown, Han Yu Ju. I think it's a good thing for you to have gone abroad to study. Before, I used to think you seemed like some kind of puppet, letting hyung toss you around like that.” “You sure say some nice things. Sometimes when I look at you, you're so similar to obba. Your words are always so cold, and you look down on other people.” “And yet I'm still so very attractive?” “Psh.” “Tell me about meeting Grandma.” “She asked me to join her for lunch so the three of us, Grandmother, obba, and I, ate lunch together. Obba stayed mum the entire time and did nothing but eat. Grandmother and I ended up conversing only with each other.” “I can imagine.” At the time when Han Yu Ju broke off her engagement to Han Sung, her father was a senator. When he realized that the house he was marrying his daughter into was rife with slush fund and bribe scandals, he'd ruthlessly commanded Yu Ju to cut off all connections to them in order to prove their own innocence. Yu Ju was essentially forced into America, and Han Sung had had to deal with a broken engagement on top of his father's death. Because of this incident, even the love that the two had shared had grown cold. The way Han Kyul saw it, the bridge that connected their two hearts hadn't been broken. It was simply frozen over, and the river beneath it was no longer flowing.... “Let's stop talking about such dull things and listen to your story.” “It's not important or anything,” Han Kyul began. He moistened his throat with beer. “There's a kid who works in the store, and his family's in a tight spot. He quit a few days back so I went to see him, and it turns out his father runs a roadside snack cart.” “You actually went to his house yourself?” “Yea, it just happened that way. There's another kid that drives me crazy all the time. Well, I went because that kid kept bugging me to go, but the important thing is that the other kid's father had injured his hips a few days ago, so he'd come out to work in his father's stead. He'd go out to buy ingredients and cook and everything, all by himself.”

“No mother?” “Yea. He's got a little sister though. 10th grade.” “That's too bad.” “He usually looks so well-balanced, I couldn't have even imagined he was in such a bad situation.” “There are lots of kids like that who have to stand in the front lines in their parents' place.” To tell the truth, the that wasn't what was really bugging him. Apparently, ever since that day, En Chan had started helping out at the snack cart late at night. That morning, Han Kyul had caught him dozing off and was about to scold him when Mr. Hong let him know. En Chan had said that he knew that Nak Kyun's father's injury wasn't something that would heal quickly, but that he wanted to help out until he recovered at least somewhat. “Why don't you just help them out financially?” “He went crazy when I suggested it, saying I should never do that.” “Went crazy? Who did?” “Ko En Chan. According to him, apparently it's one of the worst ways to hurt a guy's pride.” “Do you really think so?” “He said he knew because it'd happened to him before. He's saying no matter what, he'd protect his family himself. According to him, having pity money thrown at you in by some spoiled brat is the most infuriating experiences ever. What kind of stubbornness is that, don't you think? I mean, what kind of pride is that? Real pride is knowing when to receive other peoples' help, and to pay back what you've been given. But this kid calls that the male's instinct to protect its own territory, or something. That kid... he forces absurd terms on every situation.” Han Kyul, who had emptied his bottle, felt that Yu Ju was gazing at him. “What?” “So you decided not to give them the money?” “Yea.” “Because of what this En Chan person said?” “You don't know because you haven't had endure him.” “Do you know something? You just said 'according to him' twice. Like you're quoting Confucious or something. I've never heard you reiterate anything anyone's said before like that. It's rather fascinating. I kind of want to meet this person.” “That kid's probably at the snack cart right now. He sticks his in nose into everybody's business.”

Han Kyul recalled the un-erasable memory of the time he'd kissed En Chan. The image of the boy's face dripping with water after the basketball game floated up as well. The sensation on his hand when he'd unconsciously stretched out to touch his chin.... How could this kid be so soft? There was definitely something strange about the way he changes alone in the restroom. He'd felt it in the hotel as well, but En Chan was overly feminine. He was fragrant, and soft, and warm... “Hey, Yu Ju, I'm sorry, I've got to go somewhere.” “Huh? Where?” “Sorry. I'll see you later—I mean, I'll see you at the gallery extension party. Take care.” Han Kyul picked up his jacket and left the cafe. He then got into a cab and headed toward Nak Kyun's roadside snack cart.

Chapter Thirteen < Part 1 > It had become part of En Se's daily routine to stop by the store. Insisting that she was dropping by on her way to cram school, she made her way to the store everyday to get a free cup of coffee. She didn't talk much as she drank, or do much, but she came to drink coffee without fail. She really was a useless little sister. Mr. Hong and Sun Ki had already left, and En Chan was preparing to leave. She was planning to go to the snack cart. Nak Kyun's father, who felt uncomfortable leaving the cart alone with Nak Kyun, always came out to watch. That was why she felt strangely guilty if she came late and Nak Kyun was getting ready by himself. En Chan, who had been hurriedly changing out of her clothes, got her hair stuck in her shirt buttons. “Ow!” She was straining to untangled her hair from the buttons when the door was flung open. “Who is it?!” En Chan froze. In her rush, she'd forgotten to lock the door. “Oh, it's you.” Once he entered the room, Ha Rim's gaze landed squarely on En Chan's undershirt. The bandage was wound around her under the shirt, but the protruding curves hadn't been completely suppressed. “Hy-hyung....” Not only that, but there was something inexplicably strange about the collarbone area or the curves leading down from the neck to the shoulders. “He-help me with this....”

En Chan held her head, hair still entangled in the shirt buttons, out toward him. Waddling forward uncertainly, Ha Rim hesitated, as if unsure of where to put his hands, before managing to grasp her hair. The inside of his mind was completely white, and he didn't know what to say. When at last he backed away holding the shirt in his hand, En Chan quickly put her own clothes on. “Wh-what do you think you're doing, barging into the bathroom without even knocking?” “H-hyung.... are you......” “If you tell anyone, I'll kill you.” En Chan came out of the bathroom pulling on her jumper. Her heart raced insanely, but she tried hard to seem calm. “H-hyung... so you're really......” Why, oh why, did it have to be Ha Rim?! Of all the people she could've been found out by, why did it have to be the guy with the biggest mouth?! “a-aa-aaaAAAAAAACCCCKKKK!!!” shouted Ha Rim from behind. En Chan turned around and glared at him as he jumped around in a frenzy. “No way! No freakin way! It's not true!! AACK!” “Ya.” “Ko En Chan a girl? Ko En Chan? A g-girl? A girl? AACK!” Ha Rim was making a spectacle of himself, kicking chairs and hitting his head against the walls. “YA!” Unable to stand by and watch anymore, En Chan ran to Ha Rim and held him down. Ha Rim ran away from her in terror. “D-don't touch me. Don't lay a hand on my body.” “Why, you little....” En Chan, who'd been about to get angry, decided against it and began to plead. “Ha Rim, I'm begging you. You can't ever, ever tell anyone. Ok? Got that?” “Wh-why did you lie? So you could work here?” “I didn't start out meaning to lie, but somehow somethings just happened and here we are.” “Then what was the whole standing-while-you-pee thing about?” Ha Rim's eyes swept up and down, scrutinizing En Chan's body. When his gaze remained an especially long time on her chest, En Chan lost her patience and smacked up upside the head. Ha Rim staggered, but still kept his eyes on En Chan's body.

“I knew it. I thought it was strange. That's why you wear your uniform a size larger than normal, right? Hip hop fashion my ass. Tsk tsk. Now it makes sense. I just figured, since you were so small, your 'thing' was probably the size of a peanut, too. It never showed through your pants.” Grrr, stay calm, stay calm. If you want to keep this big mouth sealed, you have to stay calm. How nice it would've been if it had been Sun Ki. “Oh my God, I really can't deal with this. I need a Tylenol.” She was watching Ha Rim move toward the kitchen when she noticed that the clock read 11 PM. “You really can't tell anyone, all right? If you tell anyone, I'm going to tell everybody that you're sleeping here. Got it?” “But hyung, I mean, nuna, why does your sister call you oppa? Did you guys plan that too?” “No, she's just like that.” “Well, I'll admit, it's hella confusing. Your chest is nearly..... maybe you're just sexless?” “Fine. Make fun of me all you want. I gotta go.” “Wh-where are you going! If you leave me here like this I might die from the shock. My heart is already beating funny. I feel like I'm going to go insane from the confusion my emotions have been thrown into.” “Then just go insane.” “I'm not ready to accept it yet, so just give me a minute here. No, how can anyone be ready for something like this? Who could've imagined? Who else knows, other than me? Nobody?” “Mr. Hong. Seriously, if you tell anyone, especially the sajang, I'm really going to kill you.” “My heart doesn't feel like my heart right now. Oh, I'm dizzy.” Watching Ha Rim playfully fall onto his mattress, En Chan had to force herself to keep her anger in check. Ha Rim had already made his way out of his shock and was making a mischievous face. It seemed the thoughtless kid found this situation pretty amusing. En Chan shook off Ha Rim, who insisted she had to stay with him until he'd calmed down, and left the store. “Crazy bastard. (sigh) Bravo, my life. How I ended up getting caught by that guy, I'll never know...” She was leaving the store, muttering to herself, when some car pulled up in front of the entrance. It looked like it was trying to park itself in front of the store. She was heading toward it to let the owner know that the spot had to be vacated by the morning when the driver got out of the car. “Hey!” “Is the store closed already?”

“H-hello, how are you?” It was bubble wrap man. It seemed she was having a bad-luck day. She kept running into men who knew her true identity. “Sajangnim has already left.” He'd gone out after having received some woman's phone call. For some reason, her intuition told her that it was the woman who'd come to the opening, the one who'd almost had her purse mugged. Judging by the fact that her intuition was still alive and kicking, she was, without a doubt, still a woman. The sajang had shot out of the store, his expression and feet light. Seeing that hadn't made her feel good. It was probably because she disapproved of a sajang who kept running off to fool around. “I didn't come here to meet Han Kyul. I came here to meet you.” “To meet me?” “Get in. It looks like you're off for the night; I'll give you a ride home.” “No, tha—” En Chan, who had been about to refuse, decided to take him up on his offer since she was late and so that she wouldn't have to pay for transportation. “In that case, can you take me to where I need to go?” “Sounds good. Get in.” Looks like I'm getting to ride in luxury cars pretty often these days. En Chan exclaimed over the wide interior and then snuck a glance at Han Sung. The car slid through the streets without a sound. They say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they drive. This man drove deftly while steering the car calmly and accurately at the same time. His neat suit became him very well. Gold cuff links and a tie-pin, there wasn't a single flaw in his appearance. En Chan asked, feeling a bit humbled, “What was it you wanted to talk to me about?” “Last time, you asked me not to get you in trouble, right?” Ack! So this cheapskate was about demand something from her. Man, and here I was thinking he looked like a good person. It seems he's rich, too. Skin a flea for its hide, why don't you. “Do me one favor.” “What is it?” asked En Chan crossly, not bothering to mask the annoyance in her voice. “Spend a day, no, an afternoon and evening with me.” “Huh? To do what? Nothing like household chores or anything, right? I can't do anything.” En Chan furiously shook her head as she explained. “I might be a girl by name, but I can't do anything that other girls can do. I can't cook, can't wash dishes, can't do the laundry. If I try cleaning, I end up breaking everything instead. You saw it, didn't you? I got cut from Da Soop after just two days. There was a reason why.”

“It's nothing like that, so don't worry. Just think of it as a date with me.” “A d-date?” En Chan jumped in her seat in surprise, and the man looked at her and, of all things, laughed delightedly. The car arrived at the street where the snack cart was. “Judging from your reaction, you've never been on a date, have you?” “I-it's not that, it's just... y-you've got strange tastes, haven't you? Stop right here, please.” The man snickered again and then said as he parked the car, “I'll come by to pick you up the day after tomorrow at three.” “N-no! Don't come to pick me up. If sajangnim sees me, I'll be in big trouble.” “Then I'll need your phone number.” The man held out his cell phone. “Do you really have to do this?” En Chan said, looking at Han Sung suspiciously. The sajang had called him hyung, right? His car was nice, his style was good, and it didn't seem like he was a bad person; but then bad people didn't go around wearing labels that said what they were. “And with this, you'll never mention anything ever again, right?” En Chan felt trapped, but she had no choice but to punch her number into his cell phone. She didn't think that the man was interested in her or that he was attracted to her. His expression said as much. He looked dry, as one speaks to another about matters of business. “Is this a real date?” “Is there such a thing as a fake one?” The man nodded and saved the number in his cell phone. En Chan, who'd gotten out of the car, walked toward Nak Kyun's snack cart full of mixed feelings and confused thoughts. At the same time, she heard a rough voice. “Hey, mister, who said you could start doing business here again?!” Han Sung, who had been about to drive away, stopped and looked at the gangsters. En Chan, surprised, dashed over. It was the bastards who'd injured Nak Kyun's father's hip. “Yo! Go away! Go stuff your face somewhere else! Shit! Hey, assholes, I told you to buzz off!” “Fuckin' a, you'd better do as we say!” The gangsters were driving customers away with curses. “I thought we told you to either pay the street tax, or get the hell out of our turf, old man!” There were four in the pack. They began to break the cart apart.

“Who the hell do you guys think you are, you assholes!” shouted Nak Kyun. Watching Nak Kyun's furious eyes as he ran into the gangster, En Chan thought to herself, Even if I can't be a Tae Kwon Do master anymore, I've got no choice. “Hey, mister! Grab your son!” En Chan flew into the air and executed a brilliant double jump side kick. Jump lightly and then a turning wheel kick. “Eyaht!” It may be that she had learned Tae Kwon Do for this kind of day. To protect the weak and the innocent people of the world. But this was still violence in the face of violence, so En Chan tried to finish the fight quickly by targeting vital spots. “What is going on here?!” Han Sung came running. Seeing Han Sung arrive next to her, En Chan shouted, “Don't get closer! You'll get hurt!” “Even so, I'm still a man. You stand back.” Han Sung suddenly got in front of En Chan. En Chan started in surprise at the man's back which had suddenly appeared in front of her. Han Sung took off his jacket and tossed it at En Chan. “Women should just hold onto things like that.” En Chan received the jacket, completely dumbfounded. She had no idea how to react because she'd never been treated like this before. When was the last time, if at all, someone had done something for her? Seeing Han Sung's fist carry its own, En Chan thought to herself, oho, pretty good. But she soon saw that Nak Kyun was in trouble, so she ran over to help him. “Nak Kyun! Get out of the way!” Right then, she heard a familiar voice shouting from somewhere. “What the fuck!!” Huh? WHAT?! That man was.... “You fuckers, what the fuck!” En Chan did a double take when she saw Han Kyul, who'd suddenly jumped into the fray. She saw him take a punch to the face and fall down. Wh-what the hell was with this ahjussi?! “Sajangnim!” < Part 2 >

Nak Kyun ran over to Han Kyul and helped him up. Even more outraged, Han Kyul thrust Nak Kyul away and ran in violently again. “You assholes are all dead!” Why the hell are you here, goddamn it! En Chan wanted to finish things up quickly. Right then, a siren sounded from a distance. Apparently, a customer had called the cops. The gangsters ran away, leaving En Chan standing stupefied, in the middle of the chaotic mess. Han Kyul ran after the gangsters, chasing them until god-knows-where. “Mister, are you alright?” Han Sung dealt with the police when they arrived. En Chan watched him deal with the police in a calm and collected manner. For some reason, whe felt reassured. “Nak Kyun, take your father and go home. I'll clean up here.” Nak Kyun looked like he wasn't thinking anything. He was looking at the scene of pandemonium with a dumb expression on his face. Then he said in a hollow voice, “I guess I can go back to the construction site now... It's probably for the best....” So Nak Kyun hadn't much approved of working at the snack cart. After Nak Kyun had led his father home, Han Kyul limped into view. She didn't know how far he'd chased them, but he was sweating up a storm. En Chan, who'd been clearing away the dishes and the broken chairs and tables, stopped what she was doing and looked at Han Kyul. There was blood on the side of his mouth. En Chan picked up a roll of tissues that was lying on the ground and went toward him. “Why'd you come here anywa—” The moment she tried to wipe the blood away, Han Kyul collapsed to the ground. His legs had given away. En Chan squatted on the floor and took Han Kyul's chin, lifting it up. “Phew, you smell like alcohol. Did you drink before coming here? That's why all your punches hit nothing but air.” He slapped her hand away irritatedly. “Water.” Then he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand. Ooh, Mr. Tough Guy, huh? En Chan sighed and stood up. She poured some water into a cup she picked up off of the ground. Normally, he wouldn't have even touched it on accounts of germs or something, but he snapped it out of her hand and gulped it down. Must've been real thirsty, huh? “Are you ok?” “Who the hell were those bastards?” “Gangsters. This is their turf, I think.”

“What the hell were they bitching about?” “Street taxes.” “Bastards.... I'll fix them up.” After having sent the police away, Han Sung came to them. En Chan found the jacket she'd put away somewhere and brought it to him. “Are you all right?” “I guess lifting barbells has its uses.” “Oh, you've been scratched here. We should probably disinfect that,” said En Chan gently, feeling grateful. She dipped some tissues into water and wiped off the back of Han Sung's hand. “Hyung, what are you doing here?” blurted Han Kyul angrily. Looking extremely put off, he snatched away En Chan's arm that was holding Han Sung's hand. “Ow!” En Chan yelled unconsciously. Han Kyul, who'd been glaring at Han Sung, turned his gaze to En Chan. Seeing that she was in pain, he immediately rolled up her sleeve. On her arm was a dark bruise that filling up with blood. She'd gotten it when some bastard had struck down on her with a wooden stick. Han Sung came toward her and said worriedly, “Are you ok? That bruise looks bad...” “I'm ok.” Just when Han Sung was about to lay his hand on her injury, Han Kyul jerked her toward him by her shoulder. “Let's go to the hospital.” “What? The hospital just because of this little thing.... Muscle relaxant strips will work fine.” En Chan tried to escape from Han Kyul's arm, which was pulling her toward him. It was because the position, which almost looked like he was embracing her, made her feel strange. She could smell the scent of his body and feel his rough breathing. But he was holding onto her so tightly she couldn't get away. “Let's take my car. I'll drive you there.” “No, it's fine. We'll take a cab.” Han Kyul turned his back on Han Sung and pulled En Chan toward him. Behind him, Han Sung was looking at Han Kyul as if he couldn't believe what was happening, but Han Kyul didn't pay him any heed. En Chan managed to turn around and say, “Thank you. Hey, how 'bout letting go now?” “Just keep walking, you idiot.” “Why are you getting mad at me?”

“Why is that hyung here, huh? Is he taking over even the snack cart? Is even that hyung infatuated with you? This flirt of a boy's got ninety nine tails.” “I have no idea what you're talking about. Are you saying that stuff about me right now?” “I don't know, you dumbass!” “Damn, why are you screaming at—. Man, you've got a weird temper. You're a real question mark, sajangnim.” “Yea, even I don't know myself. Goddamn it.” In the end, Han Kyul succeeded in dragging En Chan to the hospital. A hospital in the area would have been fine, but Han Kyul took her all the way to the Dong Yi Oriental Medicine Center. Despite the fact that it was a relatively shallow wound, En Chan was taken care of very thoroughly. A muscle relaxant strip would have done the trip, but she had to endure some kind of electric radiation treatment and foul-smelling ointment. But it turned out that that was nothing. She'd noticed he was limping, but she couldn't know that his legs could have been that swollen. He'd been by her side the entire time her bruised arm was being treated, so she really had had no idea how bad of a condition he was in. He'd shown the doctor, not his split lips, but a severely swollen ankle, which a unconcerned look on his face. He received acupuncture and even drew blood. En Chan stayed by him the entire time as well, watching. For some reason, her father came to mind. Her father, who'd run to the hospital, oblivious to his own broken arm.... < Part 3 > “Hey, hyung! Leave it. I'll do it.” En Chan had been about to put down the Benjamin vase when Ha Rim came and stopped her. “Leave the men's restroom cleaning to me. I do it better.” Ha Rim again. Mr. Hong looked at him as if wondering, what the heck? She felt so nervous she was going to go crazy. “Uh uh, I'll do the hammering.” Then he whispered in her ear, “these kinds of things should be done by men.” She couldn't decide whether she could say this made her life easier. The catch phrase of some commercial popped up in her head. 'I'm happy to be a woman.' “Hey, isn't that Nak Kyun?” Nak Kyun was coming in through the entrance. She looked at him in surprise as he bowed his head in greeting and smiled sheepishly. “I'm here.” “What's the deal? You coming back to work?”

“Yes.” “Really?” En Chan tried to follow Nak Kyun into the dressing room, but was stopped at the door by Ha Rim. “Stop right there. No more.” “Ya.” En Chan flashed her eyes and tried to push Ha Rim away. “Look here, nuna. Isn't it enough that you've looked to your heart's content until now?” “Hey, who said I—“ En Chan blushed to her very ears. To be honest, she hadn't not seen the boys change. But that was because she had to blend in with them to convince them that she was a guy. She hadn't meant to be a peeping tom. “There was nothing to see anyway. Especially you, Jin Ha Rim. You're the most—“ En Chan made a derisive face and shook her head. Ha Rim then shouted with resentment in his eyes, “What?! Damn, I'm going to tell everyone about you!” “Ya!” En Chan was trying to put her hand over Ha Rim's mouth when Nak Kyun came out. She gave him a weak smile. “What are you guys doing, standing here?” “I-I was just trying to talk to you...” En Chan grabbed Nak Kyun and took him outside. “What happened? Didn't you say you were going back to the construction site?” “Sajangnim fixed our snack cart for us.” “Really? What's with Mr. Cranky all of a sudden? So you're going to take the snack cart back up again? What about those bastards?” “They're all at the police station.” Nak Kyun snickered at En Chan's eyes, which had grown round with surprise. “Hyung, do you know that you look just like a girl when you make that face?” “Wh-what?” En Chan, even more alarmed, didn't know what to do. “D-didn't you see me fighting that night? I was a hundred times better at it than our sajang.” “Yea, that's true. Man, hyung, you really flew.” She hadn't seen Nak Kyun talk with such a bright face for such a long time that she had trouble adjusting to it.

“There's nothing a little backup support can't do in this world. I don't know the details, but those bastards suddenly turned themselves in.” “They went to the police on their own two feet?” “Yea. I didn't believe it at first either, but they really did. In return for not pressing charges, they're going to help out with my father's snack cart for a while.” “Woah!” “I decided to come back to work here. I'm going to save up my tuition and go back to school starting next semester.” “That's a really good idea. But did the sajang say you—“ “What are you boys doing standing around and goofing off when you should be working?” Like the devil himself, Han Kyul appeared. He hadn't come to the store yesterday, saying he was busy with something. She'd thought that he couldn't come to the store because the swelling in his ankles worsened, but now it looked like he really had been busy. Busy making the gangsters turn themselves in.... “Good morning.” Nak Kyun stood up to greet Han Kyul, who simply nodded his head before going inside. Oho, so Nak Kyun coming back to work has already been settled, huh? After firing him so heartlessly.... En Chan, who'd followed Han Kyul inside, hastened to prepare coffee. She took the coffee to the seat that Han Kyul had basically reserved as his own. “How are your ankles?” “They're fine.” “Aren't you going to ask me about my arm?” “.....” En Chan lifted her sleeves up and showed him the bruise, which had turned yellowish. “It's almost gone. That radiation thing must've had some effect. It felt all nice and warm, too.” Han Kyul, even while pretending not to care, stole a glimpse at the bruise. En Chan smiled at this. En Chan, standing beside him holding the tray, gave him a friendly smile and said, “Sajangnim.” “What?” “I wanted to talk to you about leaving a bit early today.” Han Kyul, who had been carrying the cup of coffee to his mouth as he read the paper, looked up at En Chan. “At three... no, two-thirty.”

“What is this, high school? What do you mean, leave early?” En Chan simply remained standing with a long face. He asked, “Are you sick?” “No. Oh, I mean.. yes.” “Where?” “I mean, not me, my mother. She has the flu, and she's feeling pretty terrible. Her bones ache and shshe feels like throwing up and... En Se has to go to cram school....” “You have to be at work by six-thirty tomorrow. If you're late by even just one minute, you're dead.” “What? Oh, yes! Of course!” En Chan smiled widely and then stooped down to say into Han Kyul's ear, “Sajangnim, thank you very muchos gracias.” She gave a scowling Han Kyul another smile. < Part 4 > When Han Sung arrived, the little miss in the baggy jeans and grey jumper was on the phone. When he stopped the car, she waved her hand and climbed into the passenger's seat laughing. “Hello, how are you?” Then she said into the phone, “Oh, just an ahjumma I know. I said it's ok. What's going on with you? It's not like you to worry about me, much less my mother. Sajangnim, haven't you heard people say if you show signs of belated maturity, it's because it's about time to die?” Then a man's voice could be heard from the phone. [If you keep talking like that, I'm going to cut you.] “Cut me? Cut what? My hair?” The man's voice sounded like Choi Han Kyul. The woman snickered in reply to something he'd said. Surprisingly, Han Kyul's laughter could be heard as well. Han Sung was nonplussed. He'd never before heard Han Kyul talk to someone on the phone this comfortably. “Ah, I'm sorry.” Han Sung quietly started the car. She finished her call. Then, even though he hadn't asked, she told him, “It's our sajangnim. I lied and said my mother was sick, and then he said that I should take her to the hospital. He even said he'd call ahead and make reservations. Don't you think that's overdoing it? What, are all the doctors in stand-by mode for whenever he calls? Psh. It's probably because he's ticked off that I took off early today. He said that my mom had to get better so I wouldn't give him excuses to leave early. Seriously, that guy can be such a jerk—” She then changed the topic quickly, as if worried she'd gone too far.

“I didn't get to thank you properly last time. Thank you so much once again. How's your hand?” “Han Kyul looked really angry. Were you all right, miss?” “You know him. That's just how he is, he goes back and forth between emotions.” “Does he, now...” “Hey, where are we going?” “You'll see.” En Chan peered at Han Sung through narrowed eyes. “What?” “You're not going to ask me to pretend to be your lover or anything, right?” Han Sung was caught off guard, but he didn't let it show. He answered, “Not a lover, per se. You just have to be next to me.” Suddenly, En Chan began to smack her head against the car window. Han Sung was so surprised that he almost let go of the steering wheel. It was an act that threw even Han Sung, who usually never so much as blinked at anything, in for a shock. “Arrgh! Arrgh! I knew it. I knew it! You can't fool me. How is it that everyone.... Why don't I just open up a substitute girl/boyfriend service center, huh? How 'bout that?” “Who else...” Han Sung caught on quickly. About two months ago, he'd heard an outrageous rumor that Han Kyul was taking around a pretty boy wherever he went. Now that he thought about it, it might not have been just a groundless rumor. Especially when you considered Han Kyul's expression and actions that night back at the snack cart. Had Han Kyul maybe already figured out that she was a girl, and was pretending not to know? “Since you have experience, you'll do a good job. You and Han Kyul have gotten pretty close, haven't you?” “Close nothing. We always fight and scream at each other. Man, things are real sticky between the two of us these days. We're just not meant to get along or something. Oh, well, not like fortune-telling or anything. Just the energy between two people, you know? I don't think we match. How do you guys know each other anyway? You guys aren't brothers, right?” “Cousins.” “Oh, I see. Well, in that case... The lady from before...” When Han Sung didn't answer, En Chan answered herself. “A f-friend, huh? Right? It's not like a love triangle, right?” En Chan laughed loudly by herself. She soon grew sheepish and shut her mouth.

When En Chan had grown quiet, Han Sung found that he felt rather empty. After meeting her at Da Soop, he'd think of her every once in a while. It was probably because of the bright and pleasant energy around her. After meeting Yu Ju that night, he'd felt trapped and frustrated. And then he'd spoken to this woman for a short while, and found that he was feeling much better, that, strangely, his mind had grown calmer. He'd been fascinated by his own actions, laughing as he popped bubble wrap... “Is the business pretty good?” “No. We're actually doing pretty badly, so we're all pretty worried. Our sajang invested a lot into this.” Han Sung had heard about the deal between Han Kyul and his grandmother. That situation had actually put him in a rather tight spot. One part of him wanted Han Kyul to do well and to live go on doing whatever he wanted, and another part of him worried that Han Kyul might, following his grandmother's intention, realize his management potential and begin to like working, which would complicate things “We decided to switch to take out tomorrow, so it'll get better. If nothing else, sajangnim has some good sense inside that head of his. I don't think we're going to fail.” “Han Kyul still doesn't know?” “Huh? Oh... yea.” “Are you sure?” “Of course. If he knew, you think he'd let me be? He would've already fired me.” “You won't be able to hide it forever.” “(sigh) I don't know either. Sometimes I want to just go ahead and blurt it out, but every time I get that feeling, I end up arguing with him. Sometimes I just want him to figure it out on his own, and other times I feel nervous that I'll get found out. My emotions go back and forth.” “It's rather strange. He's not a dense guy.” “Most people don't notice either anyway. If you hadn't met me at Da Soop, you probably wouldn't have known either, ahjussi. Hey, is it ok if I call you ahjussi? If I have to be your girlfriend, do I have to call you by your name or call you obba? Or honey? Yecch! That gives me the creeps.” Han Sung cracked a smile. It was amusing to watch En Chan talk to herself, counting things off on her fingers and then shivering all on her own. She really did seem like a troublemaker boy. He could understand how Han Kyul could be confused. “When do we eat?” “Are you hungry?” “N-not really.. just... yes.” “We don't have time....” When Han Sung looked at his watch, En Chan hurriedly reassured him that it was all right. Han Sung took her word for granted and parked his car in the beauty shop parking lot. Once inside the shop, he set his

briefcase on a desk arranged in the shop. The designer who he'd already contacted was waiting to take En Chan away. Before she disappeared, En Chan made a face like a puppy being chased away and said, “You can't leave without me, ok?” Han Sung spread out his work and tried for a while to concentrate on it, but he kept getting distracted. Being cold and apathetic toward other peoples' business was the trademark of this bloodline. So it was surprising that Han Kyul would care about even the health of an employee's mother. Not only that, but even when En Chan spoke freely to Han Kyul in such a impertinent manner, Han Kyul was still keeping her company. This was nothing short of a world-shaking event. What was it that she had said to him? Signs of belated maturity mean it's about time you die? This, from an employee, to her boss. And the boss was enduring it? Not just any boss—the almighty Choi Han Kyul was enduring it? How amusing. And even more amusing events were sure to be waiting at the party. Han Sung picked his files back up, but he couldn't concentrate. This time, he was distracted by his curiosity about Ko En Chan, who'd been dragged away to the dress room after her hair and make up were done. Eventually, Han Sung put his work away and went to help En Chan pick out her dress.

Chapter Fourteen < Part 1 > There were quite a few people gathered in the room with the paintings. Each person, wearing his or her own unique formal wear, walked around with a glass in one hand and talked to each other or looked at the paintings. En Chan pulled along her chocolate colored dress that laid one shoulder bare and followed after Han Sung. The bottom half of the dress wound around her legs. The feeling was cool and smooth, like the sensation of ocean waves. She'd never worn anything that was so thin and soft and form-fitting before. She walked carefully on account of wearing high and narrow heeled shoes. So it was true that clothes dictated the movements of your body. She truly felt as if she'd become a graceful and sexy woman. En Chan had put on a wig and false eyelashes. She couldn't believe her own reflection. The surprise of the people around her couldn't compare to the shock she herself was feeling. The transformation could very nearly compare to the prince and the pauper. She was, by essence, the soot-ridden Cinderella arriving at the palace. But true to her habit, En Chan couldn't control herself in front of food. When she saw the food arranged by the wall on one side of the hall, she lost her head. She abandoned Han Sung and proceeded to stuff her face. “Here you are.” En Chan was in no position to reply. Not only was her mouth full of food, she was also holding bread pieces covered with canapes and anchovies in either hand. Han Sung looked at her squirming lips and knit his eyebrows. En Chan smiled sheepishly before holding one of the bread pieces out to him. “No, thanks.”

Han Sung shook his head and then brought her a glass of water. Right then, he caught sight of a man and a woman walking in through the entrance. “Eat later.” He snatched up En Chan's wrist, which had been stretching toward the food. She glared at Han Sung. “Don't say anything. Your voice might give everything away. Now, smile.” En Chan licked her fingers as she was being dragged away. “Good evening, senator.” “Oh, so it's you. Long time no see.” Han Sung thought to himself that he might regret it later. But he wanted to, just once, show the senator that he hadn't lost his dignity. He didn't care if that was useless obstinancy or foolish pride. This needed to be done so he could get closure. “So you're in charge of pharmaceuticals? I hear you're doing very well with it. Everyone's saying that young men's passion is a thing to be feared and shivering in their pants.” “It's only just the beginning. I hope I can count on you for guidance.” “What could I possibly guide you on? I should be the one asking for guidance.” The dignified senator showed no sign of being flustered as he laughed heartily. Yu Ju's mother, who stood next to him, was simply standing there, rigid. Han Sung had politely bowed his head to her in greeting, and still she hadn't said a single word. “Darling, there's Yu Ju...” “Oh, right. Let's have a drink next time, shall we?” “Of course, senator.” Han Sung bowed and purposefully did not turn around. He felt Yu Ju's gaze on his back as he escorted En Chan toward the entrance. Right then, En Chan discovered Han Kyul, who was just coming in through the entrance. “Shit!” This time, En Chan, who had whipped her body around, found her eyes meeting Yu Ju's. Han Sung put a hand on her bared shoulder. “Stay still.” He then whispered in her ear, “I'll take care of it.” En Chan felt Han Sung's touch on her back and glanced at him. For some reason, she had a feeling that this man was enjoying this situation, while she felt the blood dry up in her veins. “I didn't know you would be coming here, hyung.” “It's a company affair. Of course I have to be here.”

En Chan stood still, torn between anxiety and anticipation, fear and thrill. On on hand, she was sure he wouldn't recognize her, and on the other, she kind of hoped he would. As if her tremor had been transmitted, the hand on her back moved lightly. “And this is...” En Chan lowered her gaze when she realized Han Kyul was looking at her. If she looked him in the eye, she felt like she was going to unconsciously begin signaling, 'it's me!' to him. “A friend.” Han Kyul crinkled his nose at Han Sung's concise answer. “What kind of an answer is that? Is this a girlfriend you've tucked away somewhere?” “Watch your words.” “Oh, excuse me. You must understand. I'm just that kind of a bastard. My name is Choi Han Kyul.”Han Kyul held his hand out. En Chan debated whether she should hold out her big, rough, unwomanly hands or not. Fortunately, a woman appeared just then. En Chan's heart began to beat faster. Not even during competitions had she been so nervous. “You're here? Oh, you're here too, obba?” “Wow, you look absolutely stunning, Han Yu Ju. I feel like whisking you away from here.” As soon as she heard what Han Kyul had said, En Chan felt anger rising up from inside of her. Suddenly, she was angrier than she could express in words. She quickly swept her eyes up and down the woman. She was wearing a black dress cut deeply in the front, and truly did look elegant. A long string of pearls hung from her neck and her hair was swept up high. Her body, which had only seemed tall and thin when En Chan had seen her before, seemed voluminous in the dress. Even En Chan felt that she was so beautiful that she wanted to run away. She suddenly became very depressed. “The party's a success. Congratulations, Han Yu Ju.” “Thanks.” Yu Ju smiled shyly in response to Han Kyul's words. The image of that smile stabbed En Chan's heart. She vowed to practice that smile as soon as she returned home. “I thought your style was limited to a girlish look like Degas, but modern Chilean art? It's surprising,” said Han Kyul, looking at the paintings. “It's because I visited the Santiago art gallery the last time I went touring. That trip really helped me.” “See? I told you. I've said this a couple times, but going abroad really was the best thing you could have done. Hey, isn't there any dancing at this party? I want to dance the blues with you.” Han Kyul pulled the woman to him by her waist. “What are you doing? Stop it.” The woman tried to push him away, but it didn't seem like she minded overly much. As En Chan watched the two of them look at each other and chatter, a fire began to roar inside of her. So

unconsciously, she blew the hair out of her eyes. Right then, her eyes met Han Kyul's. At the same time her eyes grew wide, Han Kyul's eyes filled with suspicion. His sharp look seemed to reach inside of her mind. Even thinking that she should run away, En Chan was frozen stiff and couldn't move a finger. Han Sung, who'd caught on immediately said, “Well, then, we're off....” “Wait.” Han Kyul approached them. En Chan began to unconsciously back away when her feet, unfamiliar to heels, gave way. “Oh!” She stretched out her arm as she stumbled. Both men grabbed on either side grabbed an arm. En Chan looked at Han Kyul with a rigid face. Han Sung, who was holding the other hand asked, “Are you ok?” En Chan nodded her head and shook off both arms. She whipped around and limped away. Suddenly, she felt her body being lifted into the air. Han Sung had come and picked her up. Finding herself abruptly in a man's arm, En Chan was so surprised she didn't know what to do. She then saw, over Han Sung's shoulder, Yu Ju's expression. Her face read shock. “Wh-what are you doing?” “Stay still.” “People are staring.” “Shh.” The vein in Han Sung's temple rose from the strain of her weight. En Chan, embarrassed and angry, growled into Han Sung's ear, “Put me down.” “We're almost there.” En Chan glanced back at Han Kyul and Yu Ju, who were watching them. Both expressions looked grim. She got scared that Han Kyul might follow them. Han Sung put En Chan down onto a bench in the backyard. His forehead was sweating because En Chan, for a girl, had been pretty heavy. “Why in the world did you do that? My legs were fine!” En Chan shouted angrily. The anxiety and tension she'd held inside exploded and she couldn't see anything else. The image of Han Kyul with the woman was embedded in her head, refusing to disappear. The more she thought about it, the hotter the fire inside of her grew. “I see now why you brought me here. You wanted to show me to that woman, right?! Am I right?!”

Seeing the man take out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, En Chan stood up abruptly. Her heels slipped again in the travel and she tottered. “Shit!” En Chan took her heels off and held them in either hand, and walked away with her legs spread out as usual. Then she turned around and said, still heated, “These shoes and this dress.” She snatched off the voluminous wig on her head. “And this wig, I'm going to return it to the store tomorrow, so do whatever you want with them!” “Look here.” The man came toward her and grabbed her arm. En Chan roughly shoved him off and seethed, “You piece of garbage.” The man's expression contorted and his face grew frightening. “What?” “I said, you piece of garbage! How could you treat someone like this! Who do you think you are!” “You're being rather careless with your words..” “So what if I am? It's a hundred times better than being careless in the way you treat people.” The two of them breathed hard as they glared at each other. En Chan didn't try to hide the disgust and disapproval she felt as she shot, “What the hell is this? What did you want to show them by doing this? You don't think this is being stupid? Do you know how hard it was to keep my mouth shut when all I wanted to do was blurt out the truth? If only our sajang wasn't there.... Grrrr! Ko En Chan's really learning how to keep her temper.” En Chan blew out with her mouth again to calm herself and then continued. “Even if being in love means being stupid, you shouldn't do something like this. Do you think it's all right for you to use somebody and hurt them? What does that make me? When I asked you not to get me in trouble, it was because I was desperate. And you use me like this? Man, the more I think about it, the more angry I get! Damn!” She was turning around to leave when the man grabbed her again. “Wait. I'll drive you home.” “Forget it! This is the end, right? We're done!” “Where do you think you're going, looking like that!” shouted the man. He probably wasn't feeling too good about himself either. Judging by the look on that woman's face, there's definitely something there. Is it really a love triangle, then? It looked like the sajang liked her too...

“Damn, how the hell should I know? It's got nothing to do with me!” “Stop right there, Ko En Chan!” En Chan, who'd turned around at Han Sung's shout, felt another gaze and lifted her head. What she saw surprised her so much that she nearly fell backwards. The woman was standing there. How long has she been there?! “Shit!” En Chan breathed in sharply. Yu Ju's surprised expression was focused on En Chan's hair. Her face said, I can't believe this. I know who you are. Only then did En Chan remember that she'd taken her wig off. Without a second thought, En Chan began to run like a maniac. She harshly thrust away Han Sung's hand and ran through the garden barefoot. Fuck! How long had she been there? How much had she heard? Shit! More and more people were finding out. Goddamn it! This is getting out of hand! < Part 2 > En Chan, who always came to work having eaten breakfast after delivering milk, looked down at Ha Rim, who was still asleep. On one side of the store was a broken orchid vase. Maybe he had gone to the bathroom late at night; one side of the vase was broken. En Chan was in a bad mood after having tossed and turned for the majority of the night. She was about to shake Ha Rim awake to give him a good scolding when she happened to look at the entrance. The red wreath hanging on the front glass door. En Chan put the wreath away along with the broken vace. She quietly woke Ha Rim up and proceeded to clean silently. At exactly six-thirty, Han Kyul arrived. En Chan hid in the kitchen, pretending to be busy. Han Kyul hung up a sign by the entrance stating that take-out was now possible, and was sitting drinking coffee at a table outside. En Chan peeked out at him from time to time. Every time she did, the image of him with the woman looped around in her head and irritated her. That he might have recognized her yesterday at the art gallery didn't make her feel anxious so much as even more irritated. Her temper rose at how casually he acted. And she felt disappointment. Her appearance, which even she had thought was quite attractive, had already disappeared from his mind. If he had so much as asked a suspicion-riddled question, she might have immediately blurted out the truth.... The weather grew warmer and warmer with the advent of April. Han Kyul, who had been drinking coffee while reading his paper, called to Mr. Hong. He wanted to talk about the menu. “How can we go around each and every time.....” “We need a personalized service feature. Some people will want to enjoy their coffee properly with sugar, and some people who are in a hurry will want fast-melting syrup. Whipped cream or steamed milk, cinnamon powder or cocoa powder? If we give them these choice, they'll feel like they're being served coffee made specially for them, don't you think?” “If we want to do all that, it'll take an enormous amount of time. Also, when we take their order, it'll be easy to get confused. If we mess up because we're so busy, it'll slow us down twice as much.”

“That's why I'm thinking about an order form. Since you're in charge of the kitchen, I'm sure you can make a more precise order form than I can, Mr. Hong.” “I mean, that would be nice... but you'd have to put aside more money for ingredients.... We came out with a huge loss last month, too...” “Don't worry about me.” Even though he was speaking to Mr. Hong, Han Kyul was conscious of En Chan, who was sweeping the front of the store. “Energetic” wouldn't do the energy the kid put into his sweeping justice—it looked like he was trying to dig into the ground. “Hey, Superior Physical Strength boy.” En Chan jumped at his sudden calling. She looked at him guiltily and Han Kyul motioned for her to come over. She approached him with an expression of dissatisfaction and crossness. He frowned when he saw her expression. It looked like he was about to scold her for something. En Chan clenched both fists, stood rigidly, and looked at him stiffly. “How's your mother doing?” “Fine.” En Chan answered shortly with no expression. “Did you lie to me so you could skip work?” “What am I, a kid? Skipping work... I graduated high school a long time ago.” At En Chan's brusque words, Han Kyul knit his eyebrows. “So you did go to school, huh?” “Why are you picking a fight again? What did I ever do to you that you'd have to pick on me so early in the morn—” Shoot! Her temper couldn't endure more than three seconds before it showed itself. En Chan bit down on her tongue. Let's not do this, let's not do this. This man is he sajang, and I'm an employee. That's it. Don't think about anything else. Don't think about that woman, don't think about their relationship, it's got nothing to do with me. “If you've finished speaking, sajangnim, may I please excuse myself from your presence?” “What the hell is wrong with you today? Did you not get breakfast for something?” “I ate breakfast.” “Did you not have enough of it?” “No, I did.”

“Did you deliver coffee to the market vendors?” “No. I had to come here, how could I? How many of me do you think there are?” “Well, you're such a monster of a kid that I thought maybe you'd finished it all before coming here. What about your milk delivery?” “Did it.” En Chan maintained her belligerent attitude while answering his questions curtly. When Han Kyul stopped talking and simply looked at her, she looked down at him and said, “If you've finished speaking, may I excuse—“ “The fish vendor—how many packets of cream?” “Excuse me?” At the sudden question attack, En Chan found herself holding up two fingers. “T-two. And two cubes of sugar.” “The side dish store?” “The ahjumma there likes it black.” “The vegetable store?” “One packet of cream, two cubes of sugar. The ahjussi takes only two sugar cubes. Why?” “All right. Go to work.” Han Kyul then turned to Mr. Hong. Mr. Hong looked at her with such a helpless look on his face that she mouthed, 'what's wrong' to him. But the two of them wordlessly stood up and left. “What the heck? Ignoring people, huh? Psh.” She was sulking as she swept when she finally realized something. She'd failed. She couldn't just think of him as her sajang. She couldn't just think of him as another person either. My God, what's happened to me?! < Part 3 > The moment she lost herself in her self-torture, people began to stampede into the streets. They were white-collar men and women who'd just come from the train station. En Chan immediately changed her expression and stood straight up shouting, “Coffee Prince Cafe now offers takeout! Come and get it!” Two females who'd turned to look smiled at her and came into the store. En Chan greeted them and led them inside. That was the beginning. They came one by one, and in thirty minutes, the store was chock full of customers. They were all waiting for coffee. Mr. Hong became so busy that even Han Kyul was recruited into the kitchen, and En Chan and Sun Ki, who had no talent with their hands, were relegated

to order-taking and the register. Nak Kyun and Ha Rim ushered the customers and provided water and simple conversation. Ha Rim joked around with the customers and Nak Kyun treated them with courtesy and kindness. The customers laughed and enjoyed themselves. Customers who were waiting read the papers and books that had been prepared and even sat in front of the computer that had been set up. She'd worked two hours straight without sitting once, but En Chan didn't feel the passing of time or the pain in her legs. It had been a while since she'd been this busy and lively. Everyone worked well together and dealt with the customers with no problem. When the customers flooded out again like the waves on the beach, the crew was silent in the post-frenzy atmosphere. Just then, Ha Rim jumped up and down shouting, “Yeehaw!” Only then did it really hit them. Everyone ran around hugging each other and jumping up and down. It being their first time, there had been a few mistakes here and there, but everyone complimented each other on doing a good job. “Man, the smell of makeup on those women! I went all dizzy back there.” “It wasn't that bad. You and your exaggerations.” “By the way, sajangnim, did you see the curly-haired woman sitting here in the middle table?” “Four lattes to go?” “Yea. She asked how old you were.” En Chan glared sharply at Ha Rim and Han Kyul. Oblivious, Ha Rim kept sniggering as he continued, “It looks like you're the most popular out of all of us. It's probably because all the women around here are kind of old, huh? Anyway, you must be feeling pretty good, huh?” “If she got some lipo done around her waist and transplanted some hair onto her forehead, she would've been all right.” “What? Wow, you're real sharp! You saw all of that from there? Man, players really are something different.” “If she comes around asking my age again, that's what you tell her.” “You planning to ruin us all or what?” said En Chan, even though for some reason, she'd felt better after hearing Han Kyul's answer. Sometimes, it pays to be impertinent. “But the table in front of the mini garden was a total nightmare, don't you agree?” Ha Rim looked at Nak Kyun and Nak Kyun replied, smiling, “I wanted to call the EOD.” “The what? Call the what?” asked En Chan. Han Kyul answered from the kitchen, “Explosives Ordinance Disposal.”

“Explosives.... Ya, Kwon Nak Kyun, you're pretty picky too, aren'tcha? I never knew.” “If I'm not picky now, when else could I be? There's a saying in India, 'A beautiful woman belongs to the world, and an ugly woman belongs only to you.' You've got to share when you can.” Men. Tsk tsk. “Ah, I'm hungry,” yawned En Chan, before jumping up suddenly. “Hey everyone, in honor of our first take-out day success, I'll take care of lunch.” “Really?” “Did the sun rise from the west today?” “I'll make you all sandwiches. Hey kids, wait just a little bit, and this hyung will make you the Ko En Chan special sandwiches.” “Ya, you're going to make it yourself?” “Is it even edible?” “You're probably better off just buying kimbab from the convenience store.” En Chan, disregarding everyone's protests, eventually succeeded in buying all the ingredients she needed to make sandwiches and spread it all out in the kitchen. I suddenly have the loving urge to make something you can all eat with my own hands; what can I do? The instincts of a woman can't be helped once set in motion. She was busy making the tuna sandwich when the phone rang. En Chan unconsciously stretched out her hand to pick the phone up. “Hello, this is Coffee Prince, home of delicious coffee.” Suddenly, everyone, who'd been scattered in different places doing different tasks, stood up in unison. They all stared at En Chan as if they were looking at a ghost. What the hell is up with everyone? Oblivious, En Chan looked at Ha Rim and repeated, “Hello?” Strangely, the phone continued to ring, but nobody thought of answering it. “Why aren't you picking up the phone?” “Ch-chan-ah....” She tried to turn around to look at Mr. Hong when suddenly Han Kyul shouted, “Don't move!” She had no idea what the hell was going on. En Chan impatiently opened her mouth to ask what was going on.

“Don't make a sound and don't move!” shouted Han Kyul, not even allowing her to ask a question. Just what in the world was going on? The way everyone was looking at her and the tense atmosphere made her heart begin to beat faster. Everyone else seemed to feel the same, standing stock still, tensed up. Their strange reactions made her feel uncomfortable and anxious. She wanted to shout back at Han Kyul, but he wouldn't let her, so it made her feel even more scared and worried. “Don't turn your head....” The sajang crept slowly toward her and suddenly snatched away the phone she was holding in her hand. Immediately, everyone breathed out in unison. “Whew....” “Ya... Ko En Chan, you.....” “God, hyung, I can't believe you! You're going to drive me insane!” Mr. Hong collapsed into a chair, Ha Rim began yelling at her, and Nak Kyun began to tear at his hair saying he was going to go insane. Seeing that even the usually reactionless Sun Ki was shaking his head from side to side made En Chan believe that something pretty big had just happened. Something that had something to do with her. Just what exactly was this something?! “You idiot!” Whack! “Ow!!” shouted En Chan indignantly as Han Kyul smacked her upside the head. “What're you hitting me for?!” “You, come out from there. Now.” “Yea. Ko En Chan, you're hereby banished from the kitchen area. All you do is break cups and you're no help anyway, so don't even come near the kitchen again.” “Why? What hap—“ Right then, Han Kyul shoved a huge gleaming cleaver in front of her face. “Does this look like a phone to you, you idiot?! You know what, don't even pick up the phone either. All right?!” There were beads of sweat on Han Kyul's nose. En Chan finally realized that she had picked up the cleaver from the cutting board and brought it to her ear, and had said 'hello' into it. “Oh! I-I didn't know...” “What are you, an imbecile?!” “Oh man, why did I do that? You guys all got scared because of me, huh? Sorry, sorry....”

“Grrr! If only I could just....” “You want to be the next van Gogh or something?” Once Ha Rim began to tease her, the atmosphere became a bit lighter. Mr. Hong didn't fail to notice how Han Kyul had been overly alarmed and gone pale. He didn't fail to notice how En Chan clowned around the sajang, smiling and laughing, trying to cheer him up, either. “Sajangnim, were you so scared that your lifespan was shortened? What are you going to do? You're already pretty old, so I guess you're going to be forty now, huh?” The irritation from this morning had vanished. She wasn't one to be angry for long anyway, but it was the sajang's alarmed expression, looking more scared than anybody else, that had melted her. “Buzz off.” “How can I buzz off? What am I, a bee?” “You little—” Right then, the glass doors opened and a middle-aged woman came into the store. “Welcome to Coffee Prince,” said Sun Ki, who had been the first to see her come in. Everyone stood up from their seats when Ha Rim, who'd just turned around, shouted, “M-mom!” Surprised, everyone bowed awkwardly and backed away. Mother and son sat down at a table in the corner of the store. En Chan served them warm and soft cafe latte. She wanted them to be able to melt their differences, if any, warmly and softly, like the cafe latte. “How did you know I was here?” “I heard from Gwang Il.” “Man, I told that guy not to say anything...” “Do you get enough to eat? Where do you sleep?” “Just here and there...” “You don't have any money... have you been sleeping outside like a homeless person?” “N-no. I slept here. At the store...” Suddenly, everyone, who'd been eavesdropping, opened their eyes widely. Han Kyul, who'd been sitting in front of the computer, looked around at En Chan. When their eyes met, En Chan replied to his fierce stare with an awkward smile. Strangely, the sajang was really good at figuring things out without being told. Fascinating. Did I make a guilty face or something?

“You'll ruin your health that way. Just look at your face. Oh, I'm so upset....” “I eat well and I sleep well. Don't worry about me.” “My one and only son leaves the house, and I'm not supposed to worry? Ha Rim, please, stop this and let's go home with Mommy, hmm? Father worries about you a lot.” “No.” “Ha Rim.” “Even if I went in now, it'll just be the same thing. You know as well as I do, Mom. Dad will just yell at me to get out.” “So you're not going to come home?” Seeing Ha Rim look so serious and depressed for the first time made En Chan feel bad. The other employees who hadn't known Ha Rim had left home glared at En Chan, looking as if they'd been betrayed. Nak Kyun asked in a low voice, “Why'd he leave home?” “College issues.” “Ah.” Ha Rim's mother pleaded with him, crying. Ha Rim tried to comfort her, but it didn't look like he was about to bend his own will. Right then, Han Kyul stood up from the computer. He strode over to the table. The employees who had been watching breathlessly opened their eyes widely in surprise. En Chan bounced her butt in the air as she looked at Han Kyul's back. What is that man going to say? “Jin Ha Rim.” Ha Rim slowly got up and hung his head. “Pack your things and get out.” “Huh?” Alarmed, En Chan dashed over and tried to dissuade Han Kyul. “Sajangnim, wait just a moment here.” But Han Kyul pushed her away with a firm and serious expression. And then he spoke to Ha Rim again in a dispassionate voice, “Go and compromise with your father. Until you do, don't you lay a foot in my store.”

Chapter Fifteen < Part 1 > The coffee house picked up momentum as more and more customers filled up the store. As if avenging itself against the lack of activity in the past, business attacked the store guerrilla-style with customers flooding in and flooding out. Eventually, they had to install a second kitchen by tearing through the glass door on the left. There, Mr. Hong and relatively quick-handed Nak Kyun took over, while the inner kitchen was passed onto Han Kyul himself. Outside, they increased the number of tables for take-out customers, and they fixed up the landscaping and the facilities. Newspapers, magazines, and books were set up, the mailbox greeted customers, and outside speakers were installed to keep waiting customers from getting bored. Next week, they would try out the order form. “En Chan obba, I'm here.” “Oh, hey, how are ya? Cappuccino, right?” “Uh huh. I want obba to make it for me.” There are a lot of female customers who come looking for En Chan. Especially this one, a helper at a nearby karaoke place, who comes to seduce En Chan everyday at around four PM. Han Kyul couldn't concentrate on his conversation with Mr. Hong. It was because of the girl who, without fail, showed up today as well, wearing a low cut shirt and a mini skirt, smiling at En Chan. He found himself checking to see if En Chan was looking at her chest. He hated himself for doing so, so much that he felt like he was going insane, but he couldn't help it. His eyes moved there on their own. “Obba, come visit our place. I'll give you a lot of specials. No, in fact, I'll treat you.” “Ok. When I have time...” “Gosh, when's that going to be?” She looked older than Ko En Chan, and still she was calling him obba; it was incredible. Mr. Hong noticed that Han Kyul was glaring at the woman for some time now. The conversation had come to a stop and even though Mr. Hong was looking at Han Kyul, he didn't seem to notice. “I get off work early tonight. Do you want to go watch a late-night movie with me? There's a good one that I wanted to see.” “Man, it's been a while since I've seen a movie. I like action movies. Is it an action movie?” “Oh, what was the title again...” “Ya, Ko En Chan!” Han Kyul called sharply, having seen that En Chan had finished making the cappuccino. “Yes?” Hearing Han Kyul call him, En Chan hurriedly handed the cappuccino over to the woman. “Hey, I gotta go. Rain check on the movie.” Han Kyul said looking at En Chan, who'd run over,

“Don't flirt with the customers.” “Huh? When did I—“ “Being friendly and flirting are two different things. Right now, you were flirting, all right?” “N-no way!” “It's always the one who can't work properly that creates all the problems. So you have to be especially careful.” “When did I ever create problems?” “Shuttup, kid.” En Chan threw a fit saying Han Kyul was being unfair, but Han Kyul didn't even seem to be listening. Watching En Chan call over the other employees to ask if he was flirting or not made him want to selfdestruct. Have you gone mad, Choi Han Kyul? What the hell are you doing? Why are you paying so much attention to that kid? Man, I'm going nuts! Seriously! I hate everyone who gets close to him, regardless of sex or age. I don't want him to be nice to anybody else. But that kid's nice to everyone and anyone. What a loose kid. What a pushover! After sending Ha Rim home, he hadn't employed anyone else. Han Kyul was planning to wait a week. If Ha Rim didn't contact him until then, he would have to use someone else. Since the weather started changing for the better, they were becoming more and more busy. The final number for the second month's sales wasn't bad at all. Compared to what he'd estimated in the beginning, it was a pathetically small number, but the first month's losses had been enormous, so he had to be thankful that the second month had even put them into the black. Han Kyul said as the last customer left the store, “How 'bout a company dinner tonight?” “Really?” “Wow! It's been a while, hasn't it? Let's eat pork boned rib!” “Yea? I was going to suggest sirloin....” “Sirloin!! I call!” Han Kyul watched En Chan brighten up immediately, all feelings of victimization gone, and clenched his teeth. It was to stop himself from laughing. Coffee Prince had become a morning-based cafe. They opened their doors at dawn and closed their doors at nine at night. Sometimes when there were customers who came to drink coffee after dinner, they left it open until ten, but when that happened, Mr. Hong or Han Kyul were the only ones to remain behind while everyone else was free to take off. This was because Han Kyul felt bad that they'd worked two months straight without letting a single day off. Han Kyul didn't know that he would feel such

apologetic feelings toward his employees. Thankful and apologetic emotions mixed together and made him more affectionate toward them. It was the first time he'd ever felt this strange feeling, but it didn't feel bad. He'd put his apron away and was preparing to close up when he heard laughing from somewhere. En Chan and Sun Ki had put their heads together and were whispering something. The only person that Sun Ki, who never wasted words, ever talked to was En Chan. It was a mystery why, but Ko En Chan possessed the strange ability to pull words out from anyone. Even when Han Kyul had come out from washing his hands, En Chan and Sun Ki were stuck together. Watching them as they whispered, holding something up, made him feel strange inside. An unnameable emotion began to unfold and bloom inside of him. This feeling, this feeling that rose up every day when he looked at Ko En Chan, confused him. So much so that he'd even called Pak Do Hun's elder brother, someone he didn't know very well, on the telephone. That conversation had proceeded thusly. [How unexpected. A call from you? What's the matter?] “I'm sorry, hyung, I meant to go visit you, but I've been so busy that I've only just had the chance to call you. You see, I'm kind of busy doing something these days.” [Oh, I think I heard from Do Hun. A coffee shop, right?] “Yes. It started out as just a way to kill time, but it takes up more time than I thought.” [I see. And you're having fun?] “Well, I'm not doing it to have fun, but it's not boring. The reason I'm calling is because I have something to ask you. A friend of mine is stuck in a dilemma, and I thought maybe a pyschologist could help.” [What are the symptoms?] “Well.. you see....... There's this guy that my friend has met recently, and this guy is real pretty, just like a girl. The way he talks or acts says that he's a male, but this twenty-four year-old guy is a total pretty boy. But whenever my friend so much as looks at this guy, his heart starts pounding and the guy starts to look pretty, and he starts w-wanting to t-touch him.... Anyway, that's what he says. Unbelievable, huh? It's not like he's gay or anything.” [If he's your friend, he's probably around your age, yes?] “The same age, actually.” [Perhaps this is a case of belated self-discovery.] “Excuse me? Are you saying he's gay? Even though this has never happened before?” [Well, we can't jump to conclusions. It could be a temporary case, so if the symptoms worsen, send him to our hospital. But hey, how pretty is this guy that this would happen? If your friend's the same age as you are, why don't you tell him to just try going for it? He has experience with women, I presume?]

“Of course.” [In that case, tell him to try light physical contact. This will clear everything up. Even though he thinks he wants to touch him, once he embraces or even kisses the other guy, he might realize he's actually averse to it. He might even be lost in his own fantasy. Or it might be just curiosity about pretty boys....] Han Kyul was chewing over the contents of the conversation in his head when his cell phone rang. It was Yu Ju. By her breathing, it sounded like she was walking somewhere while on the phone. [You're still at your coffee shop, right? I'm on my way there right now.] “Why?” [A reporter who came to cover the art gallery asked me to introduce him to a good coffee shop, so I recommended Coffee Prince.] “You shouldn't have.” [Why? Doesn't your store need help? I was just trying to—] “No, no, thanks. So he's coming here right now?” [No. I'm giving you a few more props. Last time, I noticed that the left wall was a bit barren. The reporter's going to take pictures to put in the magazine, so the store should look nice. I wanted to come earlier, but the meetings only just ended. Ah, I'm hungry. Feed me.] As soon as he heard her say this, En Chan came into view close up. He suddenly remembered the woman he met a few days ago at the party who'd come with Han Sung. The moment she'd blown the hair out of her eyes, he'd thought of Ko En Chan. Hey, that's Ko En Chan's habit, he'd thought. For a moment, the woman's face and En Chan's face had lined up, but Han Sung had carried her away, so the image had broken. He'd become angry at Yu Ju's crumbled expression, so he'd forgotten about it. But now that he saw En Chan, that woman came to mind again. To think that that glamorous woman was Ko En Chan was, he had to admit, pretty absurd. That woman had had long hair with big eyes and sensuous lips and plump breasts with long legs and a tight body, smelling of perfume... a far cry from Ko En Chan. Now you're imagining all sorts of things, Choi Han Kyul. Have you finally gone insane? Are you "lost in your own fantasy"? Goddamn it. “All right.” He hung up and put the cell phone in his pocket when En Chan swaggered over to him. “Sajangnim, aren't you coming?” “You guys are going to have to have the company dinner without me tonight.” “Aw man! Why?” said En Chan with an annoyed look on his face. Han Kyul wanted to tear his own hair out. Just why did he think this guy was insanely cute?! “You don't need me, you just need my credit card.” Han Kyul took his gold credit card from his wallet and held it out to En Chan. “Here, take it. Don't overdo it.”

“Hey, what makes you think you can trust me with this card?” En Chan immediately changed his tune and snatched the card away. For having worried at all about this parasite, Han Kyul had only one thing to say to himself: Crazy bastard. “We're going to go to three different places tonight!” Han Kyul smacked En Chan, who was whistling as he went out the door, upside the head as he said, “You trying to make everyone be late to work tomorrow? You better not come in late tomorrow. I'll fire all of you.” “Psh. I knew it from the moment you handed over your credit card without a fuss.” “I give you my card and you're still complaining?” “How could I, sajangnim? I'll be sure to eat well without complaining. But where are you going? A date?” “Yea. What are you going to do about it?” Suddenly, En Chan's face crinkled like a silver pot. He then whipped around and went outside. Han Kyul, who'd been waiting for En Chan's retort, looked after him, feeling rather empty. “What the heck? What's with the sudden long face? Is he hungry or something?” After the employees had gone, Han Kyul was left alone in the store. When they were leaving, En Chan hadn't said a single word or even so much as looked at him. Han Kyul had had to restrain himself from calling him over to ask what the matter was. He didn't want the other employees to think anything strange. The worse you feel, the more you eat. In this, Ko En Chan's stomach was of a superior kind. Stuffed with meat, En Chan stood up when the restaurant employee began taking the plates away and said, “I have to go to the bathroom.” “Oh, let me go with you.” “Excuse me?” En Chan looked at Mr. Hong, shocked, when he followed her out. Under the influence of alcohol, she'd momentarily forgotten that they were supposed to be the same sex. “Oh, right. Right. L-let's go.” Fortunately, the bathroom in the restaurant was co-ed. “Ya,” said Mr. Hong as he urinated outside the stall. “Why don't you just come clean?” “Come clean about what?”

“About sitting down to pee.” Horrified, En Chan hurriedly pulled her pants up. She flushed the toilet and came outside, but Mr. Hong was nowhere to be seen. When she came outside, she saw Mr. Hong smoking a cigarette and glared as she approached him. “What if someone had heard that? I've been nervous enough as it is since Ha Rim.” “The sajang... are you sure he doesn't know yet?” “Of course. If he knew, do you think that old cheapskate would let me be?” En Chan hung her head. She was worried enough as it is. She'd wondered if the woman from the art gallery had figured anything out, so she'd called the bubble wrap man, and sure enough, he said that the woman had found out. He said not to worry because he'd take care of it, but to En Chan, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before word reached the sajang's ears. Maybe it was a better idea to tell him herself before then. These men's clothes now felt confining. She wanted to get out of this act and return to the way she was before. Recently, she'd been feeling time and time again that she'd like for him to look at her for who she really was. “What can he do about it now? You're a part of the team. Do you really think he'd kick you out?” “Even if he does, there's nothing to be done about it. I'm considering telling him sometime soon. It's weird. Male, female, I didn't really think about it until now... When I was younger, it was kind of amusing to see the other kids' reactions. After Dad died, I was too busy to care.” “But you care these days, don't you?” “It's not so much that I care as much as it is that I don't like fooling someone. But why are you suddenly saying I should come clean? Do you think maybe the sajang has already figured it out?” “No, nothing like that... just... it just seems like there's something between the two of you.” “Huh? What do you mean 'something'?” “Nothing. Let's go inside.” En Chan tilted her head from side to side as she followed Mr. Hong inside. < Part 2 > Han Kyul took Yu Ju to a Japanese restaurant nearby. It seemed that something had happened between her and Han Sung during the art gallery party, but Yu Ju said nothing. In her words, she was just tired, but her face was drawn and she looked impatient, as if being chased by something. It was probably because of Han Sung. Even if it wasn't for Yu Ju, Han Kyul found himself disliking Han Sung more and more these days. “Your cafe closes early, doesn't it? I wanted to see your employees, too.” “Why? You interested in one of them? If you are, let me know. I'll stick him with you.”

“What are you saying? Interested.... It's just... That person, Ko En Chan....” Han Kyul unconsciously gave Yu Ju a sharp look. “He's the one who got me my purse back, right? I didn't get to properly thank him. I didn't realize it at the time because it was dark, but he's really pretty, huh? For a guy....” “If you're worried about thanking him, I've thanked him enough for the both of us, so don't worry about it.” “Maybe Han Sung obba likes that type.” “Huh?” “I-I mean, if that person was a woman. He's pretty, just like a girl. He's bright and honest and open and strong.” “Just when did you get to know that kid this well?” Han Kyul realized that he was being edgy and clenched his eyes shut. Wake up, Choi Han Kyul! This is Yu Ju, Han Yu Ju. She's got nothing to do with Ko En Chan. Han Kyul took in a deep breath and put the edge out of his voice as he said, “If Han Sung hyung went for that type, do you think he would've dated Han Yu Ju for three years? What's wrong with you all of a sudden? You've been strange ever since that party at the art gallery. Did something happen?” “No. I'm just wondering if he's sick of me. Until now, I've thought that it was just because he was angry that I broke off the engagement on my own, but now I'm starting to think that maybe that's not it. It might be that he's totally uninterested in me, or that he's drawn to other types of women. Don't men want to try dating different types of women?” “That's most guys. Choi Han Sung is a special breed.” “What about you?” “Me? I'm a man amongst men, so I put value on variety.” Han Kyul paused for effect before snickering as he said, “I don't even discriminate among sexes.” Just when Yu Ju looked at him through wide eyes, his phone rang. It was his older brother. Han Kyul, whose face had immediately hardened, picked up the phone call and heard the news that his father had collapsed. [Come to the hospital. Now.] He then heard for the first time that his father was in danger of a blocked artery in his heart. He'd known that his father suffered from hypertension and so he had to undergo chemical treatments and watch what he ate, and that's all he knew. He didn't know that while he was studying abroad, his father had collapsed twice from excessive stress and drinking. When Han Kyul arrived at the hospital with Yu Ju, he was stopped at the entrance of the hospital room.

“Wait. He says he needs to talk to Han Sung.” “Han Sung hyung's inside there? How is he here before I am?!” “Be quiet.” Han Kyul, who'd thrust his older brother aside, stopped at his grandmother's call. “Han Kyul, come here.” He hung his head and walked over to the sofa where his mother and grandmother were sitting. When his grandmother took his hand and pulled him closer, he collapsed onto his knee. “He collapsed during a meeting. That's why Han Sung brought him here.” At his mother's words, Han Kyul raised his head. “A meeting? Until this hour?” “It looks like Han Sung's going to take over Foods.” “So he collapsed from the shock of that? Is that what this is?” His grandmother gave a long sigh and said, “The Choi family wants a new president, is what this is.” This had happened before. When his uncle had undergone police investigation, the Choi family had coldly asked for Han Kyul's father's rise to the presidency. This time, it looked like the successor was going to be the son of the eldest son, Choi Han Sung. Han Kyul didn't care who was in charge of the company. But he didn't want what happened to his uncle to happen to his father. He wouldn't allow it. The door opened and Han Sung appeared. Everyone stood up and looked at him. “He says he wants to rest. He says there are nurses around, so it's all right for everyone to go back.” Han Sung blocked Han Kyul, who was trying to go inside the room. “Move.” “He said not to let anyone in. He's going to sleep.” “I said MOVE!” “Han Kyul.” Despite his mother's appeal, he pushed Han Sung aside. Just then the nurse came out from the room and repeated that he'd just fallen asleep, so it was probably better to come the next day. “Grandmother, go and take some rest. Uncle's going to be better soon.” “Han Sung, see me for a minute.” “Why don't I see you at the company tomorrow, hyung? (translator's note: here, he's speaking to Han Kyul's older brother, who would be his older cousin.) I have something to say to you in private as well. For tonight, take Grandmother home.”

In the midst of the extreme tension, Grandmother stood up. Han Kyul's mother and sister-in-law held her arms and she walked out quietly. His older brother left as well, and all who remained were Han Sung, Yu Ju and Han Kyul. “What the hell do you think you're doing?!” roared Han Kyul at Han Sung, gritting his teeth. “ 'You made my father die, let me give you a taste of what I've got,' is that it?!” “Choi Han Kyul!” Yu Ju stood between them and tried to stop Han Kyul. Both Han Kyul, clenching both fists, and Han Sung, standing calmly, glared at each other. “Or is this because of Han Yu Ju? You think if you become the president of the company, Senator Han's going to offer his daughter up to you? You can't ask for her because of your dignified pride, so you're trying to get him to offer her—“ Yu Ju's hand slashed across Han Kyul's cheek. Han Kyul stood there with his head to one side, and Yu Ju ran out, tears in her eyes. “Take good care of Uncle. Don't do anything to stress him.” Han Sung left and Han Kyul kicked at the sofa, letting out his anger. “You fool! You goddamn fool! Goddamn it!” His anger rose up and drove him crazy. He felt like he was going to explode from the despair and selfhatred he felt. < Part 3 > En Chan's group went to a karaoke bar after dinner. But even when she sang fun songs, En Chan didn't feel up to it. She kept thinking about the sajang. She was so curious what he was up to at the moment that she couldn't focus on the song. That date or whatever was probably with that woman, Han Yu ju. Maybe the two of them were at a fantastic restaurant eating dinner and drinking wine. Imagining the two of them together made her feel ill-tempered. She vowed to stop thinking about it and sang her throat out while jumping around. En Chan was the only was dancing like an idiot. Nak Kyun was completely tone-deaf and Mr. Hong only sang Kim Gwang Suk songs. “Man, this is boring. I wish Ha Rim was here. If he was here, he'd play along...” grumbled En Chan as she returned to the sofa. The song Mr. Hong had reserved began to play. “Looks like you're in a bad mood tonight,” said Sun Ki, who was sitting next to her. En Chan, who'd been watching the screen, turned her head that was resting on her hand to look at Sun Ki. “Yea?” “Are you tired?” “No.” En Chan drank her soda while listening to Mr. Hong sing. She swayed from side to side, singing along, and then stopped and turned to Sun Ki and said,

“You know the quail feather grandpa? He came today too, at 9:30 am sharp. And I failed again. Why is that old man's tastes so picky?” By 'quail feather grandpa,' En Chan meant the elderly gentleman who came to Coffee Prince every morning at 9:30 sharp, wearing a checkered suit and a homburg hat with a quail feather stuck in it. “I just don't know what he wants. I made it exactly the way he told me to, and he still said it wasn't right, that there was too much cinnamon in it today. Whew. I've never met such a picky grandpa in my life.” “But that grandpa only ever orders from you, hyung. He doesn't even look at the rest of us.” “That's what makes me even madder. How did he know that I'm the worst out of all of us and order from me? It's like he's saying, 'haha, let me mess around with you now.' Psh. We'll see about that. We'll see who wins, him or me.” When Mr. Hong's song ended, Sun Ki took the microphone. En Chan looked in surprise at Sun Ki, who was heading to the stage. The intro began to play. The song on the screen was Buzz's “Coward.” “Hey, look at him, his pose looks good, huh?” Just as Mr. Hong said, Sun Ki stood like a real singer and began to sing skillfully. The voice he rarely let anyone hear was so sweet and smooth.... “Wow!” En Chan, who'd picked up a peanut, stopped in mid-action. Completely dazzled, she looked at Sun Ki. Short of drooling, En Chan looked like a complete idiot. And there goes the drool. Nak Kyun and Mr. Hong both watched Sun Ki and exclaimed to each in turn. His high notes were perfect and heartwrenching. When the song ended, the three people who'd listened as if possessed stood up in unison and gave him a standing ovation. “Ya, No Sun Ki, how could you? How could you fool us like that?” “You could totally be a singer! I'm seriously really jealous.” “You bastard, you actually play around a lot, don't you? You secretly go around club-hopping at night, don't you?” “Hey, sing another one.” “Yea, this time, sing a faster one. This bastard probably dances really well too.” Sun Ki, after declining to dance several times, began to sweep the stage like a b-boy. His long arms and legs went whirling, and everyone's eyes went spinning. His body was so flexible that it reminded En Chan of a salmon strongly making its way upstream. “No Sun Ki! No Sun Ki!” The group went wild with cheering. Eventually, everyone grew excited and stood up to shake their bodies. Nak Kyun, shaking a tambourine, looked like a cheerleader. En Chan thrust away Mr. Hong as he tried to spin her and danced by herself.

When Mr. Hong, who'd become rather excited, began to sing Kim Gwang Suk's “The Place The Wind Blows To,” En Chan quietly left the group and headed toward the bathroom. Apprently, she'd eaten too much sirloin. Unconsciously, she ended up in the women's bathroom. She was about to go back out when she laughed at her own identity confusion, and went back in. She was sitting on the toilet when she smelled cigarettes. “You know the room next to ours? I was walking by and I heard a familiar voice so I peeked in.” “Someone you know?” “Marine Boy.” The cigarette smoke plumed over the stall door. En Chan scowled and waved her hand around to dispel the smoke. “What? What's that bastard doing here? Did he quit the other place? Is he working here now?” “Hey, do they use men here? I think I did hear something about madam looking for a few...” “Aw shit! Another run in my stocking!” “Just take it off. Hey, judging by the looks of those old geezers, they're not going to tip much, so let's cut them off early and go hang out at a bar somewhere.” “I'm broke, you bitch.” En Chan, who'd come out of the bathroom, felt like throwing up from the smell of cigarette smoke and perfume. She was holding her breath as she washed her hands when her cell phone rang. “Hello, this is Coffee Prince, home of deli— Oops!” It'd become habit to say this line, even when she was picking up her own cell phone. En Chan hurriedly said, “Hello?” [Tae Kwon V.] The pronunciation of the words was slurred, so it was hard to make out what was being said. “Who is this?” [Me? Hmm... I wonder who I am?] This was a familiar way of speaking. Oh! And here I am, wondering who it is. “Mr. Cranky Sajang, what's the matter? Is your date no fun?” [Date? Ok, let's go on a date.] What the hell is he saying? “Sajangnim, are you drunk?”

[No. I'm drinking. Ya, Ko En Chan!] “Damn, you're going to make me deaf. Why, sajangnim!” [You, come here.] “Huh? Right now?” [Yea. Come here.] “We're having fun right now, why are you trying to make me leave? I don't want to. If you have something to say to me, tell me tomorrow. Or you should come here, sajangnim. Did you know that Sun Ki sings really—“ [Sun Ki? Oh, No Sun Ki. You're with that guy right now?] “Of course. It's our first company dinner in a long time. Do you think I'd let anyone get away?” [Don't hang around that guy! I don't need him. Shake him off and you come here.] “Are you at your hotel right now?” [Yea. Our hotel.] “Do you know what time it is right now? If I go all the way there, when, exactly am I supposed to go to sleep? Aren't you overworking your employee too much? I have to deliver milk tomorrow, too. It's not like I'm your secretary or anything....” [Hey kid! Can't you just come when I ask you to?] “Goddamn it....” [I need you right now.] Surprise took En Chan's breath away. [I need you....]

Chapter Sixteen < Part 1 > Having arrived at the door of room S11, En Chan took in a deep breath before ringing the bell. Her heart was still pounding from what he'd said on the phone. She told herself that he probably hadn't meant it, that it was a slip of the tongue or joke or a thoughtless remark. But it wasn't working very well. She heard pounding feet and the door opened, but there was nobody there, just the smell of alcohol. En Chan, who'd come inside, looked at mess that started from the door on and was surprised. The farther

she went into the room, the worse the mess became. Clothes were crumpled and rolled up on the floor, chairs were knocked over, wet towels and tissues boxes, books, DVDs were all scattered about. “Woah!” Hearing a squishing sound from underneath, En Chan looked down. An enormous vase had been knocked over, and the carpet was thoroughly soaked. “What the hell is all this?” En Chan struggled to set the vase up straight. “Why's it so messy in here?” “Just step around it and come inside,” came the answer from inside. He'd either drunken too much, was still drinking, or had spilled his drinks, because the room absolutely reeked of alcohol. “You're usually such a neat freak, why'd you make this mess? It's very un-Han-Kyulistic.” “What are you yapping about? It's not like you're going to clean it for me.” He was right. En Chan stepped around the clothes lying on the floor and moved to the living room by stepping only in empty spaces. He was on sitting on the floor in the living room, between the sofa and the coffee table. His shirt was flung open and his hair was rumpled as if someone had begun to wash it and then quit. In one hand he hand a green liquor bottle and was watching the television. “Ya, come here. This is really funny,” he said, watching the screen and waving her over. En Chan scowled and tiptoed toward him. She pushed aside his jacket on the sofa and sat down. “Come sit here. I don't like having people stare at the back of my head.” En Chan glared at the back of his head. “Now.” There was nothing else she could do but slide down and sit on the floor. “Come over, go away, come here, sit down, what am I, a dog?” “A dog?” he snickered. Without taking his eyes off the television, he held out his palm. “Shake.” En Chan smacked his hand down hard, and he whined, saying it hurt. And then suddenly he put his arm around her shoulder. En Chan looked at him in surprise. He was still watching the game show on the television. He lifted the bottle. “Do you want a sip?” “No, thanks.” “Hey, don't be shy. Here. Drink.” He forced the bottle to her mouth. “Mmrph!”

She couldn't get away because he was holding tightly onto her head. Eventually, En Chan opened her mouth and then immediately winced at the strong smell. “Keck!” The alcohol wasn't just strong, it was overpowering. It felt like her throat was shriveling into itself. She was coughing and gasping for air when he stretched out his hand to wipe off the liquor that was flowing down her chin, as if to a child. He then took the bottle to his mouth like nothing had happened. It was rather worrisome the way he was gulping it down. En Chan watched him drink, even wetting his neck, and asked, “You get dumped?” “Pfff!!!” Alcohol sprayed from his mouth. He coughed the liquid from his windpipe and said, “Wh-what did you say?” Just then, she saw the stream of liquid on his chin. Without thinking, En Chan stretched out her hand and wiped it off, just like he had. His eyes grew wide with surprise. En Chan pretended not to notice as she clucked her tongue. “You got dumped by that lady, right? It was one-sided, right? I knew it. Date, my butt. I can tell just by looking that you liked her all by yourself and then got kicked in the behind. Even I have to say that you and that lady don't look good together. That lady looks better with that pop wrap ahjussi. Well, the pop wrap ahjussi might be kind of a jerk, but he's a good-mannered jerk, dependable, too.” “What's all this pop-popping about? Stop pop popping.” (translator's note: in Korean, bubble wrap is pronounced “bbok bbok”, a word that require a significant pout of the mouth to say. The point of this dialogue is that this pout diverts Han Kyul's attention to En Chan's lips, so I had to change “bubble wrap” to “pop wrap” since the word “pop” requires more pouting than “bubble.”) “Why? Pop wrap is the best! Haven't you ever tried refrigerator poppers? It's the best of all pop wraps.” En Chan raised a thumb and continued to explain. “You know, before, when my family bought a new refrigerator—do you know how big refrigerator poppers are?—my dad and I spread it out on the floor and popped all of them. Do you know how we did it? We rolled around. We pressed down with our backs and it popped, like this, pop pop, and in our ears we could hear pop pop, pop pop.....” En Chan stopped when she felt that the mood had suddenly turned strange. He began to come closer, looking at her as if to bore a hole in her face. She began to be pushed back as he came closer, and her head began to fall backwards. “Wh-what are you doing?” His eyes were gathered on her lips. Her heart felt like it was about to burst from his sudden proximity. “You're funny.” En Chan tried to make a joke to get away.

“I-I'm not funny, I-I can't even tell a joke.” “No, you're funny.” It didn't work. He was still looking at her intensely and he'd gotten so close she could feel his breath on her. “Your hair is funny....” He fingered a few strands of it and rubbed it as if to test it. Then his hand strayed down to her face and rested on her cheek. Her heart strained to burst out of her chest. “Your skin is funny....” Her pulse was going crazy. En Chan swallowed hard and looked at his eyes, which were unblinking. She felt like she was going to melt into the fragrance that emanated from his body. “Your lips are funny....” What was funny was En Chan's heart. Her mind was a complete blank. It might have been that he'd figured out that she was a girl, and this might be him trying to tell her that, but her mind was a complete blank. All she could do was tremble with the anticipation and excitement that his fingers would soon touch her lips. Finally his thumb reached her lips. He gazed at them intensely as he touched, and her lips parted on their own. He lifted to his eyes to capture her own. En Chan looked at him, shaking with excitement and anxiety. Just then, he said, “Are you a..... gay?” Suddenly, everything lurched to a stop. Anticipation and excitement vanished into air. En Chan felt irritated at her strange sense of disappointment. “You might not have known it yourself until now, but—“ En Chan shoved him away by his chest. She stood up abruptly as he flailed backwards. Her heart was still pounding quickly. She felt embarrassed that she'd expected anything and her reddening face felt like it was on fire. “Wh-what the hell are you talking about!” “Ah... ow.. my back.....” He squirmed on the floor. “If you've gotten drunk, you should just pass out like a decent person! Why'd you have to call me out and say ridiculous things? Really! You're completely no help! Stop whining and go to bed!” Right then, he pulled the bottle out from under his back. En Chan looked at him in surprise. Groaning, he sat up and winced as he rubbed his lower back. “Man... that sure as hell woke me up. Fuu....”

“A-are you all right?” En Chan sat back down and helped massage the injured area. “Serves you right for saying such nonsense... Are you all right?” “Man, you may be peanut-sized but you're hella strong. How much meat did you eat today?” En Chan answered as she massaged, “Not much. About 18 servings?” “All by yourself?” “No, all together. I only ate six servings by myself.” “Six servings? You ate six servings all by yourself? Isn't that past the lethal dosage for a human?” “Lethal dose? Nah. A sumo wrestler could probably finish sixteen servings all by himself. “What a very EnChanlistic statement.” “You feeling better now?” He stood up and rotated his torso before saying, “Now that I'm wide awake, I've got to drink some more. For the almighty Ko En Chan, who finishes six servings of meat like it was nothing, this kind-hearted sajangnim will open up a bottle of excellent wine.” “It's late. I have to go home.” “You can't go home today. Stay the night.” “I can't. I have to deliver milk in the morning....” “Hey, scrap that, all right? Starting today, I mean, tomorrow, don't do anything. Just stay by my side. All right, Mr. Ko En Chan?” Wide awake my ass. He's still talking nonsense. En Chan flopped onto the sofa, dumbfounded. To be honest, she didn't want to leave either. With a word, he could control her emotions, making her happy and then disappointed, back and forth. Her body would heat up and then cool down with a single look from him. Ahhh I give up. I don't know what's happening to me. I must've caught cold or something. < Part 2 > Han Kyul sat on the left end of the sofa, En Chan on the right. They looked at each other as they drank. In the middle of the sofa were their legs, entangled together. “What size shoes do you wear?” asked Han Kyul, giving En Chan's foot a light kick with his own foot. En Chan sipped the wine before answering,

“Size 8 ½.” “Ya.” “7 ½.” “I wear 9 ½ size shoes.” “No, really, I either wear size 8 ½ or 7 ½.” “Your foot looks like a size 6.” “Big shoes are in fashion these days.” “What are you, a kid? Still following fashion trends?” “Don't you buy new ties when the tie trend changes?” “That's not the same thing.” “Psh.” The two of them continued drinking for a while, kicking each other's feet. En Chan had already begun to melt from the wine, and Han Kyul had become quite mellow as well. “What are you going to do about Ha Rim?” “I'm not going to do anything.” “I don't know what happened, but he won't pick up his phone. Why is it that if someone leaves Coffee Prince, they stop picking up their calls? What if it's not that he's not picking up the phone, and it's that he can't pick it up... What if something bad happened?” “What do I look like, a guidance counselor for runaway teens?” “Ha Rim's not a runaway teen. He's an adult, and he has a very clear goal.” “If you have a goal, you should expect obstacles.” “I heard that his father's extremely strict. His son left home for two months, and he didn't even go looking for him. There's no doubt that his father's completely old-fashioned and stubborn as hell. Ha Rim probably took after his mother.” Seeing that he'd finished his glass, en Chan stood up. She felt a little dizzy, but the buzz felt nice. She lifted the bottle and precariously poured the wine in. Red droplets splashed onto his hand. En Chan wiped it off with her fingers and leaned back into the sofa. Han Kyul drank again. After draining half the cup in one draught, he said, looking at En Chan, “What kind of a man was your father?” “My dad? He was a really good person. My grandmother used to say that other than athlete's foot, there was nothing at all to find fault with in him.”

Han Kyul then suddenly looked at En Chan's feet and began to retract his own feet slowly. En Chan snickered and playfully tickled the bottoms of his feet with her toes. “Hey, hey, athlete's foot is genetic, you know.” “If you say so, sajangnim.” His foot that had been running away from her tickling stretched out suddenly and placed itself on top of En Chan's foot. “Hey, who do you think you are?” En Chan whipped her foot out and lifted it onto the top of his foot. For a while, all four legs struggled to win the top. The game of strength, in which the spirit of competition roared like fire in the two competitors, concluded in a draw. Both lost one leg and won one leg. “What about you, sajangnim? What kind of a person is your father? You know, now that I mention it, you never talk about yourself. How many siblings do you have? Don't you have a house other than this hotel? You don't live with your family?” “I'm an orphan.” “Ah.” En Chan, who'd carelessly nodded her head, looked at him, completely taken aback. “Wh-what did you just say?” “You gonna be cruel and make me say it again?” “Oh! S-sorry.” “If you're sorry, keep your mouth closed on this. You're the one who made those words come out of my mouth.” En Chan closed her lips tightly and shook her head. “When I was ten, I accidentally overheard my parents talking. I found out later that I'd been sent to an orphanage as soon as I was born. Not long after that, I was adopted to this family. I have an older brother and an older sister. My grandmother, my father, my mother, my elder brother and his wife all live in the same house, and I have a room there, too. My elder sister's married with a kid. Satisfied now?” “Y-you must've been surprised, huh? Being so young...” En Chan was surprised as well. She saw him in a new light. She'd thought that he wouldn't have any worries or scars since he was a rich kid from a rich family. She thought that he lived however he wanted because he grew up not lacking in anything. But the more she got to know him, but more surprised she became. She thought he only cared about superficial things, but he ran the cafe diligently, and always used polite speech to Mr. Hong, and the most surprising thing was Nak Kyun's incident. That was when she changed her opinion of him. He'd gone from being a vain, cold-hearted libertine to being a cold but genuine person who could hold his head up proudly, and who could, at times, possess the warmth of heart to help others.

The fact that this kind of man was an orphan made her heart ache deeply. It's not that there weren't more unfortunate people in this world, or that her situation was better than his, but for some reason, her heart throbbed at the thought that he was an orphan. Not just anybody, but he was.... En Chan was gazing at him steadily when Han Kyul said, “I hated the world. Everyone seemed like a liar. They would smile on the outside and on the inside, they'd curse me, saying I was a fatherless bastard. If I hadn't been adopted, I probably would've been despised by everyone. That's why I don't trust them. The bitches who say they like me. It's obvious what they like about it. They don't know anything about who I really am, and all they like to see is what's on the outside. If I took off my shell, they'd probably set sail and run away.” “If they really liked you, they wouldn't run away.” “I don't believe you.” “Did someone run away?” “No.” “See?” “I don't show anyone who I really am.” “Does that mean you've never been in a deep relationship with a woman before?” “Pretty smart there, aren't you?” “What about that lady, Han Yu Ju? She doesn't know either?” “I told you, you're the only one.” A shy smile floated up on En Chan's face. She could blame the redness on the alcohol, but what could she blame her sudden happiness on? “But why don't you go home....?” “I don't want to live the way my father tells me to. If I live at home, I have to live my life the way he tells me to.” “He wouldn't tell you to live a bad life, though.” “It's childishness. I want to plan my own life, but he's already planned it, so I get angry. As you've probably noticed, I have to have things go my own way to be happy.” “I-it's suddenly become confession time, huh? Can I tell you something about myself?” En Chan swallowed drily. She thought that this was her chance. Her insides told her to tell him right now. They shouted, you can't lie when he's being honest. He's drunk now, so he might take it better. He might even forgive you. But. Then.

“What could you possibly have to confess? You're nothing but honesty, kid. Too honest, actually. That's why I like you, though.” Said he. “I-I lied about Ha Rim sleeping at the store...” “He probably asked you to keep it a secret. If you'd gone and ratted him out, you'd have probably been left out from the group. The only way a group can work together is if they trust each other.” So what? So she did the right thing? She wanted to shout, 'What exactly is your definition of being honest?! I'm human too! I lie too! I'm actually telling an unbelievable lie right now!!” “Ko En Chan.” “What?” “Do you want to become blood brothers?” “Isn't that something that comes out in the Three Kingdoms?” “Are you saying that having even read the Three Kingdoms?” “I've read the first few pages.” “Anyway, let's do it. You don't have an older brother, I don't have a younger brother. It might kind of be my loss and it might be a little annoying for me to have to clean up after you, but I'll take it. Instead, you have to listen to whatever hyung says. Ok?” “Psh. There you go again, doing whatever you want. Who says it's ok? I don't need a hyu—“ Suddenly he set his glass down and came closer. En Chan, afraid of what he'd do this time, folded her legs and stood up. Her head spun. “Ugh... Your face looks like there's four of them, sajangnim.” “Your face looks like Princess Fiona.” He took the small hoop earring from his own ear and then scowled as he looked at En Chan's ear. “Your ears aren't pierced?” “Why would I pierce my ear? It'd be painful, right?” “Well, no can do. Come here. I'll pierce it for you.” “Whaaat?” En Chan felt danger and raised her body. She was so dizzy that her she teetered from side to side. “Hey, hey, come here already. We need some kind of mark that we've become blood brothers.”

“No! I don't want it!” “If you let me pierce it, I'll buy you a Monk's Jump Over the Wall.” “I don't need no monk or no wall!” “You idiot, Monk's Jump Over the Wall. You don't know it?” “I don't care if it's a monk or a punk jumping over the wall, I don't want to!” “It's a Chinese dish.” En Chan, who'd been running away from Han Kyul, stopped and looked around. “It's something to eat?” “Yea, stupid. It's good for you. You like stuff like that right? It's ear shell with pine mushrooms, sea cucumbers, carp bladder, deer tendons, and.. what else was there... anyway, it's a soup that has ten different ingredients in it. I'll buy it for you.” “D-deer tendons? I don't eat stuff like that. Damn it, I don't want to!” “You're quite the scaredy cat for a boy..... Wait a minute, needle. I need to find a needle. Where's the needle again? Where's my phone? My phone....” “What do you need your phone for?” “Stupid. I have to call the manager and ask him to send over a needle.” “No!!! I won't pierce my ear! Never!” En Chan jumped somewhere and pulled the blanket over herself. She could hear the sajang on the phone in the living room. He was really asking the manager to bring over a needle. It was incredible. What was more incredible, however, was that no matter how hard her heart was beating, she couldn't keep her eyes open. Sleep rushed to her like waves.... < Part 3 > Han Kyul wriggled at the sound of the alarm. He stretched out his arm and groped around to turn the alarm off and tried to go back to sleep mode. He felt something soft and warm, so he pulled it toward himself. The thing he was holding moved and came into his bosom. The thing that had come into his bosom was cushiony and tender, and it made him feel good. He held onto it tightly and puckered out his lips. He drew it up to his mouth and smacked kisses on it repeatedly. He then moaned satisfactorily and went back to dream land............ huh? Han Kyul wasn't the only one who opened his eyes as wide as they would go in surprise. The moment their eyes met each other, they both sprung up. “Aacck!!” screamed En Chan. She had no idea how they could both be sleeping in the same bed, not to mention holding each other!

“What are you screaming about...” Han Kyul muttered in a flustered voice as he got out of bed. He was wearing nothing but boxers. Alarmed, En Chan hurriedly looked down at her own self. Thankfully, she was still wearing her clothes. “Oh! Milk! Shit! I'm dead!” “Hey, hey, I told you to scrap that. The kid never listens.” Forget milk, she was going to be late in getting to work on time. En Chan was hurriedly getting out of bed when she stopped because of a strange ache somewhere. Figuring it was a hangover, she ran to the bathroom. She was rushing to wash her face when something was strange. It was then that she noticed something sparkling on her right ear. “Ah.. aaaarrrrgggggh!!!!!!” she shouted as she jumped out from the bathroom. She yelled at Han Kyul, who was reading the paper, still dressed only in his boxers, “What are you, a freakin' psycho?! How could you pierce someone's ear like this?! You're crazy!!!” “Goddamn it, kid, don't scream. You're making my head ring.” En Chan went back to the living room mirror and looked at the piercing again before letting out another shout. “How can you tell me not to scream right now! Were you insane?! Ow, it's hurts.” Everytime she yelled, her right ear shook and ached even more. “What the hell are you yelling about?” En Chan felt like she was going to burst from the frustration. “My ear!! My ear! You pervert cabbage slug! I said I didn't want to! I said I didn't want to, so why'd you go and pierce it you jackass!” “You little punk!” He came toward her with a scowl. Han Kyul finally discovered when he looked at En Chan in the mirror that the earring that had hung on his ear was now hanging on the end of En Chan's ear. “Ya, what's that doing on your ear?” “Arrgh! Arrgh!!” En Chan was punching at her own chest when suddenly a fear came rushing up to her. What if the piercing went wrong and began to swell up? Then she'd have to pull a van Gogh and..... AAAAARGGGGGH!!!!!! A cry of terror rang in her chest. En Chan whipped around and grabbed Han Kyul's arm as she asked, “Wh-what did you pierce it with? A needle? Where's the needle? Did you disinfect it? Argh, you crazy man! If there are any side effects, I won't stand for it!” “You're saying I did this piercing?” “Grrr!!”

“I don't remember that.... Well, for having done it while drunk, it's done pretty nicely. Oh, scab.” He suddenly touched the end of her ear with his hand. The next moment, En Chan screamed at the pain and kicked him in his shin. “Ugh!” Watching him jump around the living room with his hands wrapped around his leg made her feel a bit better. “You little! Who the hell do you think you're kicking?!” “I didn't even kick you that hard, don't whine. Compared to what you did to my ear, that's nothing. I'll pay you back for this someday, so just you wait.” “Ya! Pay me back with cash. I pierced your ear for you and even gave you my earring. That's 24k gold, kid.” “Hurry up and wash. We're late.” Han Kyul, who walked into the bathroom muttering, took a leisurely shower. En Chan was throwing a fuss in the living room, but he took his time. No matter how late he was going to be, he had to take a shower. To think that she'd be able to avoid scolding because she'd come in with the sajang was an error. After starting take-out, the morning time was incredibly busy. If things kept on this way, she'd end up being sorry to the other employees. Eventually, En Chan left without waiting for Han Kyul. “Ya, Ko En Chan! What happened to you yesterday? You left without a word. Your mother called looking for you.” Oh shoot! I forgot to call home. “S-something came up...” “Get a new cell phone. I couldn't get through again.” “Sometimes the reception's really good. Last time, I even got bars in the underground parking lot. Pretty amazing, huh?” “You're supposed to get reception even in the underground parking lot.” En Chan, who'd just barely made it on time, moved quickly. Ten minutes later, Han Kyul entered the store like a runway model. “Good morning!” With that, he went straight to the kitchen to pour coffee. Just then, Nak Kyun started the drip machine. Han Kyul moaned at the whirring sound and grumbled, “Can't you do that later?” “Excuse me?”

Nak Kyun stared at him as if to say, what kind of ghost-shelling-peanuts nonsense is that? The sajang sighed and waved his hand. “Never mind.” Judging by the way he was pressing down on his temples, he was suffering from a hangover. En Chan was suffering not so much from a hangover than from hunger. Usually, she'd have had breakfast thirty minutes ago. The two suffering gazes met in midair. En Chan, suddenly sheepish, looked away, but he kept looking after her. Finally, En Chan threw him a questioning gaze. He then spun around toward her and said quickly in a low voice, “I brought you vegetable porridge, parasite boy. There's antibiotics, too, so take it. Otherwise, it'll infect.” Boy, this guy really gives you the illness and then feeds you the medicine. Psh.

Chapter Seventeen < Part 1 > “Raindrops keep falling on my head, and just like....” Han Kyul found himself singing to himself in his car on the way to work. The streets were full of pink azaleas and red roses moistened by the spring rain. Raindrops clearer than crystal were sliding down his windshield and cheerful music flowed inside the car. Han Kyul discovered that he was tapping his steering wheel and was in quite a good mood. It was true that now that the cafe was becoming busier, he was beginning to like it more. Well, to be totally honest, it wasn't just because of the work. He'd begun to like something else. Ko En Chan. It was delightful to see the kid. Even when their opinions clashed, their arguments were fun. Quarreling with each other and playing on each other's words was the best at getting rid of ennui. It was also intensely amusing to watch the kid, who always flared up at the slightest provocation, get angry. When they were together, he never got bored, and sometimes, he even found himself thinking that he was happy. Just look at how he'd simply quivered with rage just because he'd pierced his ear. Even after arguments, he was always so easily pacified. What a simple kid. Han Kyul couldn't help but laugh. Han Kyul unconsciously burst out laughing and in turn became rather sheepish. A few drops of rain came through the slightly open window. He leaned an arm against the rain-smeared window and suddenly began thinking. What is this? What is this feeling? I even told him about my being an orphan. For some reason, Han Kyul had wanted to tell him. Maybe it was because he was feeling frustrated, but the fact that it had to be this kid made him wonder. Why did it have to be him? Han Kyul breathed out a sigh and said, “Que sera sera.”

Was he gay? Well, if he was, so what? So what if he was gay? What did it matter if he liked him? Wasn't it better than having an affair or prostitution? He'd no intention of following along with other peoples' principles anyway. He didn't even consider the notion that he had to care about what other people thought about him. What was wrong with liking a guy? It's not like he was saying he was going to do anything about it just now, just that his mind was leaning that way.... “It might not even be that. It might be just attraction between one person and another person. It's not unacceptable for two friends to embrace each other. It might just be feelings of friendship..... He's pretty cute anyway....... Maybe it gets a little beyond that and I'm attracted to him....... shit. Goddamn it!” Yea. It was untrue to say that he wasn't worried at all. He'd received an orthodox education and his ethics grades had been pretty high. As long as his eyes and ears remained open, it was inevitable that he'd be trained to follow the principles of this society. But if I like him, and he likes me, what was the big deal? This body will live the way this body wants to. Yea. Let's just let it flow the way it wants to. If I start to think about it, it'll only give me a headache. It seemed the employees had also begun to like the store more these days. Recently, they'd begun to lay out their suggestions during meetings. Of those many good suggestions, he decided to try two of them. The first was to give every 100th customer a small cactus plant present, and the second was to give out an apple a customer every morning. The latter was a suggestion from Nak Kyun, and the former was, without question, En Chan's suggestion. Cacti were good for blocking electromagnetic waves and apples in the morning was good for the health, so it was worth trying out in the sense of customer service. When he was almost to the cafe, a call came from his grandmother. “Did you sleep well, Grandma?” [I don't like begging for attention. Come home and say good morning to me properly.] “There are some things I have to take care of today, so I don't think I'll be coming home tonight. I'll present you with the reasons for not sleeping at home in a report.” [Bring your account book and buy me a meal. I want to eat potato noodles.] “It hasn't been three months yet. Has there been a change in our contract?” [I'll know how you'll do if I see your progress in the past two months. Have your car ready in front of the company building by five PM today.] “Yes, ma'am.” He didn't know exactly what his grandmother wanted to talk to him about, but he was sure it had to do with the company. His older brother Han Kyu had told him as much when their father came home from the hospital last night. “Start as a proxy director and gradually master management. Only then can Father retire in peace. Right now, even though he wants to rest, he can't because he's anxious. In the end, it just means that you're the one making him continue to work. He's not being absurd. I know. Even though he doesn't say as much, the reason why he's more strict with you is because he trusts your abilities more. Do you know something? Our personalities have switched since we were children. I was the troublemaker and you were the good one. Whatever Mother had you do, you did it without complaining and without a single

mistake. You always made your bed perfectly and your desktop was always clean. Father even entrusted you to organize his library. You even created a catalogue. Not a millimeter of error, the entire bookshelf looked like a flat wall, the books were so carefully placed. Whenever guests came over, Mother would take them to show it off. A ten year-old who was like a little librarian. But somewhere along the way, you changed. You did whatever they told you not to do, and you rebelled against Mother and Father. We all thought it was just puberty but..... you can't expect us to believe that that's still going on. Are you still stuck in puberty?” After hearing his brother speak, his head felt tangled. The three months his grandmother had given him were coming to a close, but he didn't know how he would settle the contest. If he only counted sales, 300% was a possibility, but if they were talking profit, there was no contest. If he wanted to reimburse his grandmother's loan, business would have to continue in this same manner for at least a year. Would his grandmother count this loan or no, and would he accept it if she did would decide the results. Since she'd said sales, he could, technically, argue that he couldn't add investment capital into the calculation. If he did, though, his grandmother would probably be disappointed. I've given you three months to think, and you're still coming up with ways to run away? she'd probably say. He knew his grandmother's true intention. Han Kyul shut his car door when the shop's glass doors opened and En Chan ran out. In his hand was a large trashbag. “Sajangnim, take this.” Han Kyul, who'd unconsciously begun to smile in joy of seeing the kid again, felt incredulous. En Chan had handed the trash bag over to him and had run back into the store. “Ya!” But it was no use to yell after him. Han Kyul grumbled to himself as he put the trash bag in its designated spot and went into the store. He was coming out from washing his hands when En Chan brought him coffee. “Looks like we're not going to get too many take-out customers this morning, huh? They're probably not going to want to wait in line in this rain. Maybe we should've set up canopies outside. Hey, maybe we should do that when it rains. I'm busy, so hurry up and drink this and help me. I have to wash the apples.” This kid was just impossible to hate. Han Kyul rolled up his sleeves and washed apples together with En Chan and put them into baskets. The drizzling spring rain somehow felt artistic. He suddenly felt sentimental. He wanted to sit with En Chan by the window drinking coffee and listening to music. Peacefully...... After the morning business men and women swept past, the store was quiet. “ 'The coffee tastes great. The best I've ever had. I'll be expecting more of the same from now on.' “ “ 'Friendly.' ”

“That's it? That's all they wrote?” “It's the biggest compliment.” En Chan and Nak Kyul were reading the customer comment cards. “ 'Totally dazzled. I was about to pass by because I was busy, but I was lured by the fragrance of coffee, so I ended up standing in line. There were five people in front of me, but they disappeared in a second. En Chan obba, you really are best. How can you memorize everyone's tastes? You must be really smart, too. Ho ho ho.' “ “What's the ho ho ho about?” “It's written here, just like that. Look.” They held up the card as they analyzed its contents and laughed in delight. “This person wrote a suggestion that we should sell sandwiches or cakes that go well with coffee to serve as breakfast.” “If we have to make those as well, what time, exactly, do we have to come to work?” “We can just order from somewhere else. We can't make all of that.” “My Mom makes the best sandwiches.” “Oh really? Try asking her if she'll do it.” “No. My Mom takes forever to make it anything. Now, this, and this, and this—“ En Chan pushed aside dozens of cards to one side. “What is this?” “Fan letters. Hey, No Sun Ki, take 'em.” Sun Ki came and looked at the cards before saying, “Aren't we going to hang up a banner or anything?” En Chan and Nak Kyun stared at Sun Ki together. “The magazine reporter came to cover this place yesterday, right? The restaurant across the street hung up a banner saying they were on television.” Sun Ki then disappeared with an embarrassed look on his face. There was an awkward silence. “What planet did he come from?” At En Chan's words, Nak Kyun snickered. Just then, Mr. Hong called En Chan's name. She turned around and saw that the quail-feather grandpa was standing by the entrace. “Oh, hello, grandpa, how are you?”

En Chan greeted him and prepared to take his order. The elderly gentleman, holding up a great big black umbrella twitched his mustache as if displeased and said, “Today's recommendation is conpana? How am I supposed to know what it is if all there is is writing? You should have a picture up or something.” “Oh, that's a good idea, a picture.” En Chan quickly smiled and agreed with him before cautiously asking, “What would you like to have today? Just coffee...” “Can't you just tell what I want to drink?” No, how could I? I'm not telepathic or anything. But En Chan retained her smile and said, “Oh, then let me guess. Hmm.... How about a cafe latte?” “Too watery.” “What about a neat and clean-tasting Americano?” “Don't feel like it. You don't know anything. Give me a cup of Blue Mountain.” “Blue Mountain it is, sir.” En Chan hurriedly relayed the order to Mr. Hong and went back to the gentleman. The senior never drank inside. He'd order the coffee and then sit outside at a table and wait. But today, the chairs were wet from the rain. Seeing the gentleman standing outside the store made En Chan restless. Finally, she tucked a towel inside her apron and ran outside. En Chan pulled a chair inside the narrow eaves of the building and wiped it down with the towel. All the employees watched from inside, and the grandfather was watching from underneath the umbrella. “Grandpa, please, sit here.” En Chan stood waiting for the grandfather to come. He stood there a while, watching her, then he began to walk over. Seeing the grandfather sit, En Chan smiled in relief. “When the coffee's ready, I'll bring it out to you,” she said, and was about to go back into the store when the gentleman suddenly said, “My grandchildren never speak to me.” “Excuse me?” “Do I look that frightening?” “N-no, of course not,” answered En Chan, firmly shaking her head. “You're quite dashing, Grandpa. That hat, especially, is killer.” “Hrm hrm.”

“Oh, well, by killer I meant.. um... it's the bomb... I mean... no... uh...” “It's 'totally happening'?” “Oh, yes! Yes! Totally happening. That.” “Tsk tsk. Such a lack of intelligence in such a young man. I speak the most when I come here. There's no point in talking to the old farts down at the senior citizen center. You have to talk to young people and see how the world is turning.... Aren't you going to give me my coffee?” “I'll be right back with it.” En Chan dashed back into the store and quickly brought the coffee out to the grandfather. He first took in its smell and then began to speak about Jamaica and Blue Mountain coffee. As she stood there listening to him speak, En Chan realized something; he hadn't really disliked the coffee she'd served until now. The grandfather didn't forget to reprimand her for the lack of density in the coffee. Even after he'd left, En Chan felt something surging in her chest. It was a happy and proud feeling. She felt that her work hadn't been fruitless, and vowed to live an even better life. “Hyung, what are you thinking about?” asked Nak Kyun, watching a deeply pensive En Chan. “I think I've found my calling in life.” “Calling in life? So you're not going to be a Tae Kwon Do master anymore?” “I like martial arts, but I think this has more meaning. When customers look satisfied as they drink the coffee we make, I feel really good. Especially on Monday mornings, when people who were tired stand in line and greet each other, smiling; it makes me feel like I've done something good and gives me pride. Don't you feel like that?” “I do, too.” “If someone looks down or depressed, it makes me want to liven them up and help them out, right?” Seeing Sun Ki nod his head made En Chan smile widely. Sun Ki's face had grown brighter since they'd first met, and he was talking more as well. En Chan felt that Coffee Prince was becoming a place that gave smiles to people. She said, “You know that quail feather grandpa? He's really knowledgeable about coffee. He knows way more than I do. But you know what? I think he likes me.” “You only just figured that out? That old man only likes you, hyung.” “I'm going to be even nicer to him.” “Don't be nicer. He'll start comparing us to you.” “Where's that coffee book that Mr. Hong was reading before? If I want to have a good conversation with that grandpa, I've got to do some studying. Wow, Ko En Chan's actually studying for once, huh?”

Just then, someone pushed open the glass door and came in. Han Kyul, who'd been watching the person from the other side of the glass, furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at him sharply. En Chan shouted, “Jin Ha Rim!” Ha Rim, who'd jumped into the store, collapsed onto a chair. “M-my God!” Ha Rim was barefoot and limping, and on his face were countless bruises. < Part 2 > Han Kyul took Ha Rim out somewhere. He made Ha Rim put on a pair of sneakers Mr. Hong kept around as a spare and put him in his car and rode off. En Chan worried about the grave look on Han Kyul's face. Ha Rim had said, crying, was that he'd argued with his father for several days on end about school, and his father had finally exploded. He'd beat Ha Rim up and locked him in his room. That was two days ago, and he said he hadn't had a single cup of water to drink since then because his father had nailed his door shut. This was when En Chan blew up. How could anyone starve his own child?! Eating was a matter of survival. It was the same as telling his son to die. “Just what in the world did you say to him?!” asked En Chan in a rage. Ha Rim answered through a fat lip, “I admit I was wrong. I was so frustrated and angry... I said I'd rather be an orphan....” “What? How could you say that to your own father?” At Nak Kyun's words, Ha Rim sharply shot out, “You don't know what you're talking about, so shut up1” “You bastard. You don't even know how luck you are....” “What did you say?!” “Hey, stop it.” En Chan stopped the two who were glaring at each other. In Nak Kyun's perspective, Ha Rim's anger probably didn't seem more than a child's petulance. She wondered what it would've been like if the two had been switched at birth. Then Nak Kyun would've been able to study what he wanted and Ha Rim wouldn't have to go to medical school... Han Kyul, who'd until then had listened wordlessly, said, “If you don't go to medical school, what is he planning to do to you?” “He's going to kick me out of the house and remove my name from the family register. He gave me until tonight to think about it and that's why I ran away,” said Ha Rim in a weak voice. “So did you think about it?” asked En Chan. “It's not that I don't want to go to medical school; it's that I want to go to art school. I studied to go to medical school until junior year. Art was just something I started as a hobby, but now I like it, so what can I do? I want to study painting and cinema. I want to become something different. It's not that I can't

understand my father. If I don't take over the hospital that my grandfather built, he'll have to close it down. I understand that he feels disappointed and I feel apologetic toward my grandfather, too. But I don't want to give up what I want to do just because of that. I, my dream is....” “Ya, what are you crying for? Be a man...” comforted En Chan. Ha Rim grabbed onto her. En Chan stood awkwardly, patting Ha Rim on the back. “Stand up,” said Han Kyul. “Get him a pair of shoes. Put them on and follow me.” Just like that, they'd left, and there had been no word from either of them for the past several hours. “Man, I'm about to die from worrying about what's going on. I should've gone with them.” “You're that worried about him?” “It's just that the sajang's got himself a nasty temper.” “It's not like he's going to beat Ha Rim up again, and it's not like he's going to go beat up his father.” “I'm just worried that he's going throw a fit and get himself hurt.” Seeing that Mr. Hong was gazing steadily at her quiet mumblings made her blush. “Hey, when'd you pierce your ear? Didn't you say that you'd never do something as savage as paying money for pain?” “I-it just turned out that way.” En Chan went to the glass doors to avoid Mr. Hong and stood watching the streets. It looked like the rain was going to continue all day. The person she was worried about wasn't coming either.... Around dinnertime, Ha Rim came in with band-aids plastered on his face. Maybe it was because he'd been treated, but his expression was a lot brighter. En Chan went to him and immediately asked, “Why are you alone? Where's the sajang?” “He said he had a dinner appointment. He said he'd be back before closing time.” “So what happened?” she asked Ha Rim, but suddenly customers began to flood in one after the other. These days, word-of-mouth had spread and there were so many customers that it had become difficult to even close at 10 PM. It was good for the store, but it made life difficult for the employees, who had to come in early in the morning. Maybe it was a good idea to separate the employees into morning shifts and afternoon shifts. They didn't get to hear Ha Rim's story until it was close to closing time. The bright expression that had been on his face had calmed down a little. It looked as if his mind was heavy after thinking some more. “We went to the hospital first. They treated me and hooked me up to an IV drip and got a medical diagnosis.” “Medical diagnosis? What for?”

“To report my father to the police.” “What?!” “Ya, you crazy jackass—“ “That's what the sajang said he'd do, even though I'd be the one reporting him.” “Goddamn it, I knew I should've gone along. I knew something like this would happen. What are we going to do about this idiot sajang?” “I had a bowl of porridge and then we went to my father's hospital.” “Your father was probably terribly angry.” “He turned the entire hospital upside down. He screamed at us to get out. That's when the sajang put the medical diagnosis down on the desk and said he'd report him.” “Man, he must've flipped.” “No, actually, he kind of froze and couldn't say anything. That's when it started to get really scary. Father began to ask the sajang who the hell he thought he was to come between a father and his son and to fuck off.” “And the sajang?” “He said things like, don't treat your son like an object, don't think he's an idiot who's going to change his mind just because he took a few hits. He's a person and an adult who can report you. Look at him person to person, man to man. The best thing a son could do for his parents is to live a good and happy life. But parents sometimes fall into the delusion that if their children live as they tell them to, they will be happy. Even if Ha Rim regrets it later, that's his cross to bear, and his own life. Jin Ha Rim is already an adult, and he has the right and obligation to decide his own life.” “The idiot sajang said all that? Seems like he was unexpectedly calm.” “His face was scary as hell though. I haven't seen such a scary expression in my life.” “So what happened then?” “He told my father about me sleeping on the floor of the store. He said that the fact that I did that, not for one or two days but for nearly a month meant that I had the will power to do what I want. He said he'd given him two days to think. If he had any intention of sitting down to talk quietly with his son, to give him a call. He handed over a business card and we came out.” “And your father didn't do anything? He was probably furious....” “He roared bloody murder. He said he'd never see me again.” “What the? Isn't that back to square one?” “I don't think so. His reaction was scary enough, but I think he's thinking about the problem sincerely for the first time, and for me, too......”

“What?” “When we went to the hospital, there were tons of patients waiting in line. They said he was seeing patients without even having eaten lunch.” Ha Rim hung his head. En Chan felt depressed as well. She sighed deeply and patted Ha Rim on his shoulders. What exactly was the relationship between parents and their children? They loved each other and yet they hurt each other, they yelled and screamed at each other and yet they ached inside.... I don't know either. It's a complicated relationship for sure. < Part 3 > Han Kyul ate dinner with his grandmother at her favorite potato noodle restaurant and followed her to her favorite traditional tea house to drink persimmon leaf tea. His grandmother, who'd sipped her tea quietly while listening to traditional instrumental music, suddenly opened her small handbag. From there, she pulled out an old, worn picture. Han Kyul looked at the woman who smiled at him and then looked back at his grandmother. “Why are you doing this? This is different from the contract agreement.” “I'm not telling you to go on an arranged date. I don't know how to begin.” After pausing for a moment, she continued in a low, calm voice, “This is your mother who gave birth to you.” “What?” Han Kyul furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the picture. His eyes gradually widened and he felt his heart drop. All the blood in his veins seemed to grow cold. “It wasn't long after your father entered Dong Yi Construction. There was an accident at the Ma San Construction site. He was there for a month to take care of the situation, and apparently that's where he met her. They say she was a singer at a nightclub. About two months after he returned, he suddenly began drinking a lot and he wouldn't smile. He even made mistakes at work, so I investigated the matter, and it turns out that the girl was pregnant with you.” Han Kyul grew rigid with shock. “G-grandma...” “You're probably pretty shocked. But I couldn't think of any other way. I'm sorry, Han Kyul. Your mother didn't give birth to you. But you know how good she was and is to you, right? You can't feel lonely or sad, hmm?” “G-grandma... then... I.... I'm.... Th-then I'm my father's son?” “Of course. Do you think your father didn't make sure you were before he brought you? You're most definitely part of our bloodline.”

A cold sweat broke out in his back. His head started to spin. His blood, that had been frozen, began to jump in his veins, heating his body. It felt like it was going to start spurting out of the back of his head. It wasn't because he was happy or glad. It was because he felt anger and regret at himself, who'd never even bothered to find out the whole truth, and who'd lost himself in his own conclusions. “Han Kyul....” “W-where is this woman...” “I sent her to America. I prepared a position for her in a place where there were a lot of Korean people. But not even a month before she arrived, we heard that she died in an accident while touring a mountain.” “S-she left her son here... without a word....” “You, whose hot temper resemble your father's the most, should know better than anyone. It seems he told her that he'd give her enough money to spend in a lifetime so she'd take you with her. I stopped him in this. You're part of our bloodline, how could we leave you with a woman who used to be a nightclub singer.... I didn't want to leave you with your birth mother. It was my greed. So I convinced him to let you stay with us. She was twenty-four at the time.” “Then what's the orphanage about? Wasn't I brought home from the orphanage?” “You....” “I found out about that by coincidence.” “I didn't even know..... I should've told you earlier....” his grandmother let out a long sigh. He offered her water, and drained a cup clean himself. “When did you find out? You must've thought a lot of things.” “.....” “We couldn't just bring you home because of your mother.” “So you brought me through the guise of adoption?” “It was the only way. But it was no use anyway. Your mother's quick on the uptake and she figured it out soon enough. Not six months had gone by when I had to tell her everything. It seems she'd been prepared for it, because she didn't seem too surprised. It was hard on her for a month or two. And then she changed her mind. Even if I thanked her a hundred, no, a thousand times, it wouldn't be enough.” “What about Father?” “He was outraged, but what could he do? He was the sinner. He had no choice in the matter.” Han Kyul stared at the picture again. Now that he looked at it, it did look like a promotional picture that a nightclub would use. She wore thick makeup and had wavy hair. His mother now was a magnificent, fun and cool person. That fact that she'd taken a son her husband had borne out of wedlock as her own showed this more than sufficiently. But this woman... he didn't know.

“Do you want to see her? She's your blood, after all...” “No. I don't feel anything. I don't want to see her or anything. She's a woman I don't know anyway.” “Do you resent me? For taking you away from your birth mother....” Han Kyul lifted his head and looked at his grandmother. Remorse filled her benevolent face. His heart ached at her reddened eyes. Tears came to Han Kyul's eyes. He shook his head and said in a choked voice, “N-no....... no, Grandma.” “Do you, do you see why I had to tell you this?” Han Kyul quickly wiped his eyes and looked at her. “Because of the company?” “I know that you have talent and ambition in management. Whether you come into the company or not is your decision. I would just like for you to get along better with your father. I know that the way your father was strict with you was different from the way he treated Han Kyu or Han Hui. He didn't forgive the smallest mistake from you. Han Kyu would pretend to be sick to skip cram school, and he wouldn't care, but you, you would be scolded to an inch of your life. I know, I know.” Han Kyul fell into reverie and said, “He'd leave Han Hui nuna alone even if she fell asleep during piano practice time. He whipped my calves for reading a science book during piano time.” His grandmother gave a deep sigh and looked at Han Kyul with a compassionate gaze. “It's his own guilty conscience. Your mother was so good to you and him, so he felt even more sorry and guilty. He was trying to make up for his own sins.... Han Kyul.” “Yes, Grandma.” “It seems there are no father-son relationships that are easy in this world.” Tears ran down Han Kyul's cheeks. “Your father and your late grandfather were the same. Your grandfather often said that you would accomplish anything you set your mind to. He never treated his son with half as much affection as he did you. Didn't your father have a hard time because he never received attention from his own father?” “Yes.....” “It seems there are such things between fathers and sons. From some moment, they began to understand each other and they got along. They would go golfing together and hiking together. Later on, they grew comfortable with each other and got along like friends. Why don't you do the same? Understand your father and....” Han Kyul sobbed silently. He hid his tears with his hands and said to himself,

What are you feeling so lonely for, you idiot? You idiot.... After leaving his grandmother, Han Kyul drove around for a while. After about two hours, he found himself sitting by the river, watching the riverwater flow past him. A face rose up in his hollow mind and he took out his cell phone. [Hello! This is Coffee Prince!] As long as he wasn't hungry, his voice was always full of energy. Han Kyul smiled softly and said in a purposefully stiff voice, “Hey you, what happened to the “home of delicious coffee” part?” [You told me to get rid of it because it was tacky. Man, you really do whatever you want, huh?] “That's because I'm the owner, kid. How was business?” [Oh, so you do care. We were hella busy. As expected, with the ice man gone, customers just flooded in.] “You letting your tongue flap because we're on the phone?” [Aren't you coming in? Ha Rim is waiting for you.] Oh, that's right. He'd totally forgotten about Ha Rim's problem. [Hey, how can you get the kid to completely leave the house? You should've gotten them to solve the problem peacefully somehow. What's this about reporting him to the police? Tsk tsk.] “You're one to talk. Why'd you let the kid sleep at the store? Instead of sending him home, you let him sleep on the store floor? You need a good scolding.” [I g-guess that was wrong of me.] En Chan immediately admitted his mistake, his voice dejected. Han Kyul became dejected along with him. He needed En Chan to talk back to him belligerently so that he could feel better. He'd called En Chan so that he could become energized. It was better than being comforted. [I didn't think ahead. What are we doing to do about Ha Rim?] “Tell him to come to the Dong Yi Hotel. I'm going there myself.” [Oh, you're going to let him sleep there? Lucky bastard. He gets to sleep in a luxury hotel, eh? Hey, by the way, what's wrong with your voice?] “Now you're picking a fight about my voice?” [No, it's just that it sounds different than usual....] Pretty sharp for a little boy. “I might be coming down with something.”

[That's because you keep wandering around at night. Tsk tsk. Stop going to all those useless nightclubs and go home and eat some soup. You really want to go club-hopping at that age?] “Hey punk, how dare you say 'wandering around' to your own sajang?! You starting to think you can step all over me, huh?” [I don't know what you call it, but I call leaving the store behind to play around 'wandering around.' You didn't get that? Oh, closing time. I'm hanging up now.] “Hey! You punk, hey!” Han Kyul shouted into the phone. When he saw that the call had ended, he smiled. He wanted to hear more of the kid's voice. But Han Kyul felt much better now. For some reason, he always felt a strange kind of peace when he spoke to him. He was able to show himself openly and honestly. So he felt better. “Cute bastard.”

Chapter Eighteen < Part 1 > The building owner had told them to move out. The building was too old and worn out, so he was going to demolish it and rebuild it. He said he had no intention of building them an attic room, so he was telling them to get out. This is what her mother, eyes swollen, told her when she'd come home from work the night before. And there was a bigger shock awaiting her. He'd asked her mother, who was in despair from the building owner's announement, to move in with him. That he had spare rooms, and to consider it free room and board. “He” was Mr. Ku, the butcher. He'd probably been waiting to say it for a long time so he'd blurted it out just like that. This was from En Se. “Waiting to say it for a long time?” she'd asked. In reply, her sister had called her dense. “So you're saying ahjussi like Mom? Even though he's six years younger than she is?” she'd asked, incredulous, and En Se had said, “God, you're so tacky. What does age have to do with anything? And you call yourself a person of the 21st century? Anyway, in my view, this offer is nothing short of a marriage proposal. I guess he felt it was kind of strange to ask her to marry him, so for now he's just asking her to move in with him. Ahjussi's parents passed away and he's living by himself, right? I heard the supermarket lady say that he lives in a two-story western style house, and it's pretty nice. We can't dream of paying rent in a place like that, so it's for the best, I suppose. It doesn't seem like Mom's totally against the idea, either.” “Not totally against the idea?” “Can't you tell by the way she accepted the scarf? No matter how much Mom likes brand name stuff, she's got enough self-respect not to accept gifts from a man she doesn't like at all.” En Chan was dumbstruck. Even after looking at her mother and peeping at Mr. Ku, she couldn't see anything different. They were the people she thought she knew. When had they begun to have feelings for each other?

“Ouch! Hot!” En Chan drew her hand back and jumped. She'd been distracted, and finally, she had caused an accident. “What happened? Did you burn yourself? You should've been more careful.” She'd poured the coffee not into cup but onto her hand. The back of her hand swelled and turned red in an instant. “Shouldn't you go to a hospital?” “Hey, don't just stand there. Come here.” Having caused this accident on such a busy morning inconvenienced everyone. En Chan ran to receive the ice pack that Mr. Hong was holding out. “I'll take care of it.” She took the ice pack and ran to the bathroom. She turned the sink faucet on and immersed her hand into the water. The back of her hand stung. En Chan took a deep breath and looked in the mirror. “Let's wake up, Ko En Chan.” There were a few reasons why she wasn't herself these days. The sajang acting like a depressed person the past few days was one of them. No matter how many times she asked him, he wouldn't say anything, so she was about to go crazy from worrying about it. But the biggest reason why she'd caused this kind of accident this morning was, no question, her family situtation. To be honest, they had no other choice. If they didn't move in with Mr. Ku, she'd have to receive the baton from Ha Rim and sleep on the floor of the store. When her burned hand began to lose feeling, Han Kyul appeared in the mirror. “Give me your hand.” He was standing there in a black shirt and black pants with a black apron around him, holding a white medicine box in his hands. “Leave it there. It's busy outside.” Han Kyul wordlessly turned En Chan around. Her hand was still red, but the swelling had gone down some. He looked at it and then wiped off the water and opened the box. He didn't say a single word. En Chan blew out her bangs and said, “Man, this is so awkward that I can't stand it. Can't you tell me what's go—“ “Stand it.” En Chan shut her mouth. “Damn...” Han Kyul didn't even look at her while he took out the gauze. He cut a piece about the size of the back of her hand and carefully taped it on. En Chan, who'd been steadily gazing at him, noticed that the corners of his lips were slightly turned up.

“Why are you smiling?” “......” “I saw it. You just smiled.” “All right, all done. It's not too bad, so you'll probably only have to keep this on for today. Or you can watch its progress and go to the hospital in the afternoon.” En Chan looked at the cleanly wrapped hand and nodded her head. “Mmm. Wrapped very HanKyulistically.” “So I guess now my name also correlates to thankfulness, huh?” “Oh, thank you. Hey, do you have liability insurance? I'm thinking about suing you for about $100,000.” “Don't talk nonsense and go sweep the front of the store. Don't go around serving people with that and.” With that, the sajang left. Something was definitely there, but it seemed he didn't want to talk about it. But to think this would go on for several days.... “As if he's the only one. I don't feel like telling you anything today, either.” It was the tragedy of an employee that she had to continue smiling, even when her family was on the brink of becoming homeless. The magazines were delivered in the afternoon. “Wow, this is cool! Sajangnim, come look at this. These photos are awesome.” “Why is the group picture so small? You can't even see our faces.” “Hey, these pictures make our shop look pretty good, huh?” “Yea, right? Especially the picture of the entrance here, it looks really pretty.” “Oh, it's even a two-page spread. Sajangnim, when did they take so many pictures? Let's take a look at it.” Everyone crowded around the magazine. En Chan was refilling the cups of the customers sitting by the window. “Will you be needing anything else?” “No, thank you.” En Chan smiled and was backing away when she suddenly looked outside the window. Two big men were loitering around the store. “What are flunkies doing around here in broad daylight?” she mumbled. The phone rang. “Hello, this is Coffee Prince, home of delicious coffee.”

[Is the sajangnim there? This is the National Economy newspaper calling.] “Oh, yes, please hold.” She'd turned the phone over to Han Kyul when Ha Rim called her over with his eyes. “What?” “Did you know about this?” In a low voice, Ha Rim read a section of the article in the magazine. “Coffee Prince's owner, Choi Han Kyul, is twenty-nine—twenty-nine? They made him a year older here. Look here. Grandson of Dong Yi Group's president Kuk Ji Hwa, youngest son of Dong Yi Construction's president Choi Myung Ro, graduated from Washington University with a major in management. In a word, a handsome and sophisticated third-generation plutocrat with a sharp intellect to boot. Dong Yi Group president's grandson? My God, my heart's pounding. I can't read anymore, my heart's going to give out.” “What the hell are you talking about? Give it here.” En Chan couldn't understand what was going on so she took the magazine and read it herself. No matter how many times she read it, it said the same thing. Dong Yi Group.... third-generation plutocrat.... Reading it repeatedly, she felt like a gong had fallen on her head. Her head rang. “I thought he looked too rich. I said so, didn't I? From the top of his head to the tip of his toes, all covered in brand names. I told you that I'm sleeping at the Dong Yi Hotel villa these days, right? I felt bad because I thought he was spending a lot of money on me, but according to this, that place is basically home to him, right? Man, we should probably stay on sajangnim's good side, huh? So we can get the scraps that fall from that table.” “For a punk who's been run out of his home, you're pretty energetic, aren't you? I really can't understand you,” criticized Nak Kyun. Ha Rim's father hadn't contacted him in the end. He could say he walked out on his own two feet, but it was the same as being kicked out. So Ha Rim had been coming to work from the sajang's S11 hotel room ever since a few days ago. He said he was planning to get an underground single room somewhere. “Wow... I can't believe I've met a plutocrat.” “We worried that he might have some debts from investing too much in the store... but I guess we didn't have to, huh?” Even Sun Ki made a incredulous face. “Yea... Guess so.” En Chan remained in shock until Han Kyul's voice made her raise her head and turn around. Han Kyul was on the phone, his face full of displeasure.

“Listen here. I said I don't want to. I don't need to explain to you why I don't want to. I just don't. I'm hanging up now.” Han Kyul been polite enough in his reckoning. He roughly smashed the receiver down and then came to snatch the magazine from En Chan's hands. He whipped his gaze around at everyone and made a scary expression. “These freakin' idiots!” he said angrily before throwing the magazine into the trashcan. His eyes met En Chan, who'd been watching him. En Chan was still in a state of shock. She was looking at Han Kyul as if he was a stranger. Han Kyul seemed as if he was about to say something when the phone rang again. Han Kyul gruffly picked up the receiver. “Hello, this is Coffee Prince.” [Hello, could I speak to Choi Han Kyul, please?] “May I ask who this is?” [Oh, hello, this is the Economics Weekly magazine.] “He's not here.” With that, he hung up the phone. All the employees stood around awkwardly, watching him. They crowded around each other and watched him as if he was a wild animal on display. Han Kyul scowled and let out a deep sigh. “What're you all staring at? Go back to work.” After that, the phone didn't stop ringing. Eventually, Han Kyul ripped the cord out from the wall. This time, everyone's cell phones began to ring. Everyone and their relatives began to call them like mad. After suppressing his anger, Han Kyul finally exploded. “Goddamn magazine fuckers! How could they fucking do this?!” While Han Kyul phoned the magazine people and laid it out on them, En Chan sat dumbly in the employee room. Han Kyul was screaming so loudly that all the customers were beginning to be frightened. “This is different from what you asked at the interview! You interviewed me as the owner of Coffee Prince, who said you could talk about my private life in here? What did you say? Are you fucking insane? How am I a public figure? You better recall every issue when I tell you to. If I see even one copy, I'm going to sue you! And what? Twenty-nine? I'm going to sue you for defamatory statements!” Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, what was the difference..... she was thinking dumbly when Mr. Hong came in. “What are you doing here?” En Chan simply sat there expressionless like a statue. He came to her side. “What's wrong? Shock too big for you?”

“Is he really a plutocrat?” < Part 2 > “Is he really a plutocrat?” asked En Chan despondently. “Looks that way. I knew he was rich, but I didn't know he was that rich. I should've known when a young man poured all that money into the store. His watch too, like Ha Rim said, not to mention it didn't look like he did anything before this store. Where would a guy like that get so much money? I thought, he's probably from a pretty rich household. Still... Dong Yi Group....” said Mr. Hong, letting out a sigh. “Man made money, not the other way around. Even so, the man's got a bit of a wicked streak, hasn't he? It's like I'm seeing him in a new light. Some people don't have the money to run even this one store, and some people own several huge companies. When I look at him, I think I understand what people mean when they say that money earns money. When that guy first talked about 300% and whatnot, I secretly laughed at him. All right, go ahead, go ahead and make a fool out of yourself. Looks like you still don't know how bitter the world is. And look, he goes and does it. Damn, money really makes a moron out of a person, doesn't it?” En Chan agreed with him. She'd believed him to be the youngest son of some rich family, but there was a huge difference between that and being a plutocrat who was a part of the enormous Dong Yi Group. It was like the difference between saying, 'look at that big mountain over there' and saying 'look, that's Mt. Everest.' “The building owner told us to get out,” said En Chan, as if talking about somebody else. “Which building owner?” “Our house.” “What? Why? He's kicking you out now that the dojo master's gone? What a jerk!” “He says he's demolishing the building and rebuilding it.” “Oh..... that building is pretty old, huh?” En Chan, who'd been sitting still, suddenly looked at the ramen box on top of the cabinet and said, “Se Cham Ramen's from Dong Yi Group, right?” Mr. Hong, who'd followed her gaze, nodded. “Probably.” “The multivitamin my mom takes every day's from Dong Yi Pharmaceuticals. I know because I buy it for her. Do you know who built the apartment complex behind the market there?” “Dong Yi Construction.” “Bingo.” “That's not all. The fusion Korean chain food restaurant my wife likes is theirs too.”

“The company En Se auditioned with last time is D Entertainment.” “Right. That's Dong Yi Group's too.” “But they dropped her.” “Bastards.” A silence ensued. The inferiority and powerlessness, the feeling of injustice and unnamable anger that a commoner felt when they looked at a plutocrat made their lips heavy. “You have to find somewhere to live. Want me to help you?” At his words, En Chan smiled and said in a self-mocking tone, “We have no money.” “H-how much do you have?” “Nothing but debts. But they say our sajang is a plutocrat.” Suddenly, something hot flared up inside of En Chan. An emotion she hadn't known she had seemed to break into a thousand pieces. Something that had been stacking up in her heart unbeknownst to her came tumbling down at all once. “I've never once thought this before..... Well, no... when Dad died, and now.... but... the world is really unfair, isn't it? I really tried hard to live my best.... I tried my best to keep my promise... with my dad... and.....” En Chan burst into tears. Mr. Hong didn't know what to do with himself. Ever since he'd gotten to know En Chan, he'd never seen her cry. “Ch-chan-ah..... what's the matter.....” “H-how could he? Tricking me like that..... And he was so far away..... I didn't know he was someone who was so far out of reach....... I d-didn't know......” En Chan buried her face in her lap and sobbed. The harder she tried to control herself, the harder her emotions rose up from inside of her, and she could not stop crying. The memories they'd shared together rose up in her mind. Those memories came to her like scenes in a movie. When they'd first met in the street, and she'd thought he was an arrogant bastard, the time she'd met him in the hotel and had put her hand on his bare chest, the awkward kiss they'd shared in front of so many people, memories of Coffee Prince, the fight in the parking lot when they'd gone to buy dishware, when they played basketball, when he pierced her ear, when he wrapped her hand up for her...... Suddenly, shock struck down on her head. I.... I like him. The moment the thought came to her, an uncontrollable wave of sorrow crashed into her. Shock tore at her chest. It was painful, as if her heart was being ripped to shreds. “W-what do I do..... oh God, ahjussi..... what do I do.......”

En Chan began to weep. Mr. Hong, feeling sympathetic towards her, awkwardly put out his hand to pat her on the back and tried to comfort her. But now that En Chan's tears had came out of their gate, they had no intention of holding back or stopping. Then abruptly she stood up. She went toward the window and turned with her back to him. She quickly wiped away her tears and turned around at him and said in a husky voice, “I-I'm just embarrassed is all. To have looked up a tree I can't climb. For someone like our sajangnim, someone like me has no chance. He probably doesn't think of me as more than a spot on the ground, right?” “Chan-ah.” “Damn, how embarrassing. You c-can't tell anyone, ok? If you tell anyone, you be my son, heads up seven up. Ah-ahjussi.... I want to be alone for a while.” Thick tears fell from En Chan's eyes. Just then, the employee's lounge door flung open. En Chan immediately turned her body toward the window and hid her tears. “What are you going to eat for lunch? We're going to order from Gong Joo Restaurant today. Hyung, you want a bulgogi dubbab, right?” “I-I'm not eating.” “Ahjussi, you want—..... w-wait. What? Hyung, I think I heard you wrong.....” “L-let's go outside.” Mr. Hong dragged a dazed Ha Rim outside. Han Kyul was getting ready to leave to get to his lunch date with his mother. Ha Rim, who had been dragged out from the employee's lounge, said in a shocked voice, “Hey, Nak Kyun. En Chan hyung's saying he's not eating lunch.” “April Fool's Day's already passed.” “I'm serious. Either that or I'm going deaf. Ahjussi, you heard it, right?” “Just leave him. Channy has those kinds of moments too, you know.” Immediately, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Mr. Hong. Nak Kyun, who'd been cleaning off the tables, stopped with a cup held up in the air. Sun Ki stopped drying his cup, and Han Kyul stopped in the middle of putting on his jacket. Everyone froze, as if someone had said “Red light.” The first one to hear “green light” was Han Kyul. “What's going on? Is he inside?” Mr. Hong stopped Han Kyul, who was trying to get into the lounge. “He wants to be alone.” “What?” Han Kyul looked at Mr. Hong in surprise, but all he could do against a head-shaking Mr. Hong was to look at the door.

< Part 3 > The expression on Han Kyul's face as he entered the restaurant was rather dark. He was angry at the arbitrary actions of the magazine, he was worried about En Chan who'd said he wouldn't eat lunch, and he was afraid of what his mother was going to say to him. “I heard from Grandmother.” “Let's eat first before we talk.” “How can we just eat? Let's talk as we eat, then.” Han Kyul put down the fork that he had been about to put in his mouth and sighed. “Let's hear it, then.” “Mmmm taste this. It simply melts in your mouth.” Han Kyul forced his mouth open to receive the sea bass that his mother was offering him. “How is it? It's delightful, isn't it?” “If you're just going to repeat yourself, please don't. I still have time left for the promise I made with Grandmother, and I need time to think.” “Really? All right, I won't then. But you know, they say you can tell that a tree is going to be magnificent from the time it's a sapling. I could tell since you were a child that you were going to be something great. It's not just Grandfather who knew. You was clear enough about cutting people off when you had to, but you also had a lot of affection to spare. You seemed cold and stiff on the outisde, but you would wordlessly comfort and support people. That's when I thought to myself, this kid will earn the trust and affection of many people. For people in business, if you can't earn peoples' trust, you can't do anything. I thought that you were an individual who had the basics down.” “You must have been supremely disappointed.” “I'm still waiting on you. How can a mother ever give up the hopes and dreams she has for her child?” “One of the guys who works under me left home because of a conflict he had with his father about schooling issues. I told him to come out. Being forced to do something you don't want is no better than being dead.” “How difficult it must have been for the father.” Han Kyul told his mother about Ha Rim. It was the first time he'd ever told her anything about his daily life. Telling her about Ha Rim was a sort of justification on his part. It was like telling her that he was sorry and thankful at the same time. “It's a difficult problem. I can say that easily if it's someone else's problem, but since it's so similar to my own....” Suddenly his mother laughed to herself. “What?”

“I was just thinking how glad I would be if you suddenly said you were going to study art or cinema. I wanted at least one of my children to enter the art world.” “You have three children, though, Mother.” “Yes, I do. I have three children. And how glad I am that I do.” Han Kyul drank coffee and his mother ate ice cream. “I hear your coffee house is doing extremely well. I hear rumors saying the taste of your coffee is quite excellent.” “It's fun. When there are no customers, I have to wonder why there aren't. When there are a lot of customers, I have to wonder why there are. It's pretty exciting to analyze every situation that comes up.” “It's too small a task for you. Your true vocation is something much bigger. You'll become bored with it soon enough.” “I said I'll think about it.” “And I said I understood, Choi sajangnim.” It had been a more pleasant lunch than he had expected. When he stood up to leave, quite some time had passed. “Are you going back to the company?” “I have to to arrange to take your father home.” After leaving the hospital, his father had gone back to work, and was on a strict no-smoking, five-dayworkweek, 5-pm-quitting time schedule. “Mother,” called Han Kyul as she was getting in the car. His mother then turned around and as if reading his mind, simply said, “Forget about it. Just bring some roses when you come home from work tonight. Bright red ones.” Han Kyul choked up as he nodded his head. The words of thanks that had been hanging in his throat passed into his heart. After seeing his mother off, he was on the way back to the store when he received a call. “Who is this?” [Sajangnim! We're in big trouble, sajangnim!] “Why? Did En Chan break another Royale cup?” [R-royale cup? That, too, probably....] “What? 'that, too, probably'? Did he break the Spanish vase?”

[That's broken too. B-but listen!! H-he himself!! H-he got himself hurt too!] “What do you mean he got himself hurt?” said Han Kyul, who'd been about to get into his car. Suddenly he felt a chill going down his spine. “Take it easy and tell me slowly. What happened?” [Wh-what happened was that... there were some punks who came looking for Sun Ki hyung.... flunkies by the dozen came and trashed the store. They said that Sun Ki hyung stole money from a hostbar and fled. Sun Ki hyung and I were eating lunch when they rushed in. We were in the lounge with the door locked. Channy hyung told us not to open the door....] “YA! What the hell are you saying? Where's Nak Kyun? Put Nak Kyun on the phone!” [N-nak Kyun? Ho-hold on a moment....... hey... he wants to talk to you...] Han Kyul's insides burned with frustrated and he tore at his hair. He himself got hurt? Does that mean En Chan got hurt? He'd burned his hand in the morning, sure... Is that what he was talking about? Then what was this about the host bar? Someone trashed the store? What? Who did?! Why?! [Hello?] Nak Kyun picked up the phone. Han Kyul gripped the phone tightly and said quickly, “Tell me what happened. Who got hurt?” [En Chan hyung got hit in the head with a chair. He's unconscious. We're on our way to the Dae Won hospital emergency room. Come quickly.] Han Kyul was not in his right mind. His entire head felt blacked out. He didn't even know the reason why he was driving like a maniac down the road. He didn't know where he was going or why, just that he was speeding down the streets, breathing raggedly. As soon as he reached the hospital he jumped out of the car and ran like crazy. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The sky turned yellow and the ground shook, making his insides quake as well. He felt like he was going to throw up. “Sajangnim!” That's when he discovered his employees. Ha Rim had gone pale and Nak Kyun's face was covered with scratches while his clothes were covered in blood. Mr. Hong approached him, limping. “Wh-where is he?” “Inside......” Han Kyul, who'd walked straight into the operating room, was chased out by a surprised nurse. But in that short moment that he was in there, he'd seen En Chan lying on the operating table. His white shirt was drenched with blood. The nurse who'd pushed Han Kyul out asked him stiffly, “Are you the guardian?” Han Kyul tried desperately to pay attention to what she said and replied, syllable by syllable, “He's my employee.” “Ask the guardian to get here quickly. We have to operate immediately.”

At that moment, mother and daughter ran down the hallway, crying out, “E-En Chan! Where's my En Chan!” “Ahjumma....” “Wh-where's my En Chan? Where's my En Chan? Ch-chan-ah.....” “Are you the guardian?” The nurse asked, holding the mother up. “My daughter, my daughter, what happened to her? Is she dead?” “Mom! What are you talking about? Why would unni die? Sh-she's not dead, right? Unni's fine, right?” “There's been some cerebral hemorrhaging. We need to go into surgery immediately, so come this way.” “Cerebral hem-orrahging? Oh God, oh my poor child! Taking the place of her father as the head of the family and suffering through so much..... oh God, my poor daughter... my poor daughter....” Watching En Se carry her weeping mother away, Han Kyul turned to Mr. Hong, looking stupefied. “That's... well... you see...” Mr. Hong sighed deeply and hung his head. “Daughter?” Nak Kyun's question was still ringing in the air when Ha Rim blurted out, “Channy hyung, I mean, Channy nuna is a girl. That's what makes me even crazier. Fuckers! How can they smash a chair down like that on a girl? No Sun Ki you asshole, you just wait till I find you!”

Chapter Nineteen < Part 1 > That day, having heard that he was a third-generation plutocrat, En Chan had cried until her eyes were swollen stiff. In that moment, she had realized that she had really liked him. She'd gradually come to know him while working in the coffee house with him. She'd come to know how he spoke, how he laughed, how he walked, and also how open he was, how fun he was, what an amazing man he was. She'd found out his past and his family and his thoughts, and she'd come to understand him and follow him. She'd unconsciously begun to resemble him and help him, and lean on him. As the sunset dyes the evening sky, her love for him had diffused and spread itself into her heart. That day, she'd discovered that the dyeing of the heavens by the rays of the sunset were irrevocable. She couldn't know if it was love or co-worker camaraderie or friendship or just plain affection, or all of the above, but all she knew was that she liked him. When she found out that he was a tree she couldn't even dream of climbing, the loss she felt made her heart hurt badly. And so she learned that liking someone didn't necessarily constitute happiness, but that it included also pain and sorrow and suffering.

That day, after he had left, Nak Kyun and Mr. Hong had finished eating lunch, and it was Sun Ki and Ha Rim's lunch shift. En Chan was in the hall alone, greeting the customers as they came. Right then, the punk from the land of crows came in. “Ya! Let's go at it. I definitely won't just leave today. Let's fight it out for real this time, you asshole!” “Ya! You punk, where do you think you are....” The punk from the land of crows stumbled in drunk, spewing ridiculous nonsense and making a scene. “I went easy on you, and you little mouse of an asshole, are you looking down on me? You think being a Tae Kwon Do master makes you the shit, huh? Let's go at it for real today! If you beat me, I'll call you hyung!” His incredibly stupid words added flame to En Chan's anger. That's when the dark men had suddenly rushed in. They blocked the entrance, squeezing in by the dozen, and cast a shadow over En Chan and asked in a snake-like voice, “Hey, squirt. Where's Marine Boy?” What was WITH all of these useless schmucks today? She was thinking to herself that her luck for the day was as rotten as hell when the crow punk squeezed himself into the fray. “What the hell are these jackasses? If you've got business around here, wait outside. I was here first, asshole.” And that was when things began to get out of hand. At the time, she didn't even know that No Sun Ki was Marine Boy or why they would be looking for him. The situation began with the customers fleeing in fear and the crow punk and one of the flunkies grabbing each other's collars. At first, she denied knowing any such person, but she figured they'd come here already knowing what they needed to know, so she began to ask what the reason was. Then they told her that No Sun Ki had run off with their sajang's money. Only later did she find out that he had done so to pay for his mother's hospital bills. Well, whatever the situation, it didn't look like the situation would come to an end without her giving Sun Ki over to them, so En Chan tried to appeal to them to talk calmly when the punk from the land of crows went and ruined everything. “You fuckers! Do you know whose turf this is? You assholes are all dead!!” He'd gotten carried away. Nothing could be done to prevent the resulting chaos. “Ya! No Sun Ki! Come out! You better come out quick, you fucker! Do you want to die?!” That was when En Chan finally lost her cool. Who the hell were these assholes to come and tear apart their store and ruin their business? No matter what No Sun Ki had done wrong, she couldn't put up with anymore. She could no longer suppress her fury and had flown into a double sidekick. She couldn't put the blame completely on Sun Ki or the crow punk. If she had only acted more rationally then, she wouldn't have gotten so seriously injured. And misfortune wouldn't have come so abruptly to her. He wouldn't even let her explain.

En Chan underwent surgery, and fortunately, the surgery as successful. About the time when her body began to recover, her mind grew tired of waiting for the person who never came to visit. Unable to wait any longer, she called him. [Who is this?] “I-It's me. The Tae Kwon V that had brain surgery.” How could you not come to visit even once? These aching thoughts rose up to her throat, but, having committed a crime herself, she approached him meekly. “H-have you been well? I heard you went into the company. You must be pretty busy, huh?” [What do you want?] His icy voice froze En Chan all over. Gripping the receiver tightly, En Chan didn't know what to do. She'd expected him to be angry, but she hadn't expected to be treated with this degree of coldness. If he was this angry, no wonder he hadn't come to visit, she thought. “Y-you're pretty angry, huh? Aw man, I really was planning to tell you....” [Tell me what?] “Hey, don't be cranky. You see, um, last time, when we drank at the hotel, I tried to tell you, but you stopped me from asking....” [If you're talking about you lying to me about being a boy, forget it. I'm not the owner of that coffee house anymore anyway. That's between you and Mr. Hong, who'll decide to use you or not, so it has nothing to do with me. If you're going to beg for your job, call him. Take care.] With that, he hung up. No matter how many times she called back, he didn't answer. What else could that mean? He didn't even want to speak to her. He had said in such a business-like, stiff and dry manner that it had nothing to do with him. To En Chan, it had been the same as a death sentence. A death sentence that stated, 'This is the end of you!' En Chan's predictions were validated by Han Sung, who'd come to visit her that evening. “I had a drink with him yesterday, and he got absolutely trashed. He said while he was drunk that he'd been played. That for the first time since he'd been born, he'd been honest with a woman, and that that woman had played with him.” “That I played with him? Man, this is driving me crazy. When?” “He said he'd been betrayed. That since it was the first time he'd ever trusted anybody, it was the first time he'd ever been betrayed, too.” Tears immediately sprung up in En Chan's eyes. She herself didn't know they were there, but they streamed down her cheek nonetheless. “Damn it... I... I really didn't... b-betray him..... damn it.... this is unfair....”

En Chan wiped her tears away with her fist and plead her case to Han Sung. “I-I really was going to tell him. I was going to wait for the right moment... It's my fault that I didn't tell him, but I was afraid he was going to kick me out of the store. I knew he was going to be this angry. That's why I couldn't tell him..... because I was afraid I'd n-never be able to see him again.......” “That's just how he is. He's a contradiction. He's got a side of him that's as aloof as a Taoist monk, and another side of him that's full of vulgarity, and another side of him that's like a child. Right now, he's a child. He's angry, so he won't listen to anything anyone says to him. “I knew it would be like that, but still.....” When she'd found out that he was a plutocrat, she'd cried because of the feelings that had been gathering inside of her. It had been a shock that he was someone that was so far away. The fear that he was someday going to leave her, that the day would come when she'd never see him again, that anxiety had made her cry. But now, those fears had become reality. So this is what it feels like when the sky crumbles down...

Chapter Twenty < Part 1 > Five months later. En Chan didn't wholeheartedly approve of her mother's remarriage. She simply couldn't imagine that Mr. Ku would be her father. Her late father had been strong and kind and dependable, like a father should. But Mr. Ku seemed more like a friend than a father. Not knowing what to do, she asked Mr. Ku, “If you had to choose between my mom and being awarded the amateur literature award, which would you choose?” “How could you even ask something like that? Of course I'd choose your mother.” “Then you're giving up the award?” “Poems, I can write and show your mother. I can be satisfied with that.” “So you're saying you'd choose my mother over the award, right?” “Right.” “Wasn't winning that contest the goal of your life for the past twenty years?” “Man, you really don't approve of me, do ya, kid?” “When did I say I didn't like you?” “Are you saying you like me then?” “Tsk. Shoo....”

The progress of En Chan's operation was good. The hemorrhaging had been external, so she was able to recover much more quickly than first expected. Even so, staying in the hospital had been torture. It had been more so because her mind had been ill at ease. Her mom and Mr. Ku were married in a small ceremony held at a nearby wedding hall. It was her mother's second wedding, but it was Mr. Ku's first. Her mother, wearing a wedding gown, looked quite beautiful for someone reaching the age of fifty. A nervous Mr. Ku sweated all throughout the ceremony. Only a few close relatives, the Coffee Prince crew, and the market vendors came to the wedding. “My heart would tremble at your sweet sweet voice—“ En Chan sang the wedding song with En Se. It was her mother's good fortune to be able to wed a bachelor as a widow with two daughters of marriageable age. Not to mention it was her mother who had needed convincing. It'd been five months since their family had moved into Mr. Ku's house after nearly being thrown out into the streets. While En Chan was undergoing post-op rehabilitation, Mr. Ku had been earnestly seeking her mother's love. The two of them flew off to Jeju Island for their honeymoon. En Chan had already been on the verge of tears in thoughts of her father when her mother burst out crying first, and so she hadn't had a choice but to comfort her. En Chan reassured herself that although in some ways her mother's remarriage was upsetting, there would also be more good things waiting in the future. It would help them financially, and it would lighten the burden on her to act as the head of the family, and they would now be able to discuss En Se and her mom's futures. She didn't know if she would ever be able to bring herself to call Mr. Ku “Father,” but she got a feeling that she would come to rely on him. That was the way it had to be, and that was the way she hoped it would be. A few days later, En Chan returned to the coffee house after having greeted her mother and her new stepfather, who'd returned for their honeymoon. “I'm sure there's a lot you have to take care of, I told you to take the day off.” “There's nothing to take care of.” After the magazine article, the cafe saw even more customers. There were even people who'd stopped by deliberately just to taste the coffee, so there were days when none of them got a moment's rest. After the damages had been repaired, Coffee Prince had reopened under Mr. Hong's management. Nak Kyun had gone back to school and was only working evenings part-time, and Ha Rim was now living in a basement single and was studying quite diligently to get back into college. Sun Ki, who'd gone missing for months, began coming out to Coffee Prince last month. While En Chan was in the hospital, Han Kyul had said his farewells to the Coffee Prince crew and had gone into Dong Yi Group headquarters. “Ahjussi, you gonna eat that?” “Oh, yea, here. Take it.” En Chan polished off all the leftovers, as she did everyday. These days, she never felt satisfied, no matter how much she ate. When she wasn't eating, she didn't feel hungry, but once she began, she couldn't stop. She may have to get an x-ray taken, to make sure her stomach wasn't harboring a beggar's ghost.

“Nuna.” “Hmm?” “En Se asked me to go with her to the audition tomorrow....” Sun Ki trailed off. Nobody knew how Sun Ki had been able to come back to Coffee Prince. All they knew was that Han Kyul was somehow connected to it because all Sun Ki would say was that the sajang had been helped him. “You're off tomorrow, aren't you?” En Chan knew why Sun Ki was hesitating. As a man with a past, he was asking her permission to hang out with En Se. She'd been dense to the feelings between her mother and Mr. Ku, but she'd had at least an inkling of the attraction between En Se and Sun Ki. She didn't know it when En Se was simply loitering around the cafe, but once Sun Ki returned to the store, she'd drop in constantly and hang around Sun Ki. “If you go with her, I'd feel better about it. She pretends to be strong on the outside, but she's actually a pretty fragile kid. You have no idea how nervous she gets before an audition. Take care of her for me, yea?” “Nuna.....” “Don't shrink like that every time you see me. I'm ok now. And it's not even like you did it to me or anything. You know, for a guy, you really don't get over things, huh? Forget about it, kid.” En Chan pat Sun Ki and on the back and went into the lounge to get ready to take off for the night. “H-hey!” Nak Kyun and Ha Rim, who'd been changing, jumped in surprise. “Nuna! What's the matter with you! Try knocking first, yea?” “Ya, I've seen all there is to see. What's with the sudden shyness, huh?” En Chan slapped the bare backs of both boys and took out her clothes from the cabinet. “It isn't the same anymore. You look like a girl now. Your hair's longer and you've lost weight.” “Yea, you've really lost a lot of weight these days, nuna. But you eat so freakin' much! Where does that all go? Or do you secretly....” Nak Kyun made a retching sound. “Ya, what am I, crazy? Why in the world would I throw up something as precious as food?” “Or do you go jogging marathon-style at night under the moon?” “You're the one who looks like he needs to exercise. There's nothing to see.” En Chan tapped Ha Rim's side and came out of the lounge. When she came out from changing in the bathroom, the punk from the land of the crows was waiting for her. “Nuna, ma'am, I'm here to pick you up.” “Man, you're one annoying kid.”

Even so, En Chan took the helmet the punk held out. “Ahjussi, I'm heading out.” “All right. Good work. See you tomorrow.” En Chan had recently found out that the name of the punk from the land of crows was Hwang Min Yeop. Min Yeop was planning on entering the army once he graduated high school. He said until the day he enlisted, he would take responsibility for her when she came to and went from work. At first she tried to dissuade him, but the kid had a stubborn streak, and there was nothing she could do. It looked like he was unnecessarily burdened by some kind of guilt, but she figured, he'd had it coming, so she'd let it be. En Chan got onto the back of Min Yeop's motorcycle. If I can accept Min Yeop's apologetic mind, couldn't he forgive me as well.... Everyone else believed that En Chan was doing fine. To others' views, she did, indeed, look fine. She ate well, she smiled often, and was energetic, like she'd been before. But actually, En Chan had been suffering from insomnia for the past five months. Until the day she left the hospital, En Chan waited for him. He'd been cold and cruel on the phone and wouldn't even pick up her calls anymore, and she'd heard that he was furious in feelings of betrayal, but she'd believed that he would eventually come to see her. But he did not. He couldn't be seen in the coffee house or room S11. He couldn't be found anywhere, as if he'd never existed in this world. < Part 2 > It was time for Coffee Prince's employee meeting. “So what? We're going to raise Coffee Prince to become like Star?” “Well, it's hard to say it'll grow as big as a worldwide chain, but it looks like he's willing to try out a franchise. He'll be investing, and we'll be providing the Princes' coffee and management know-how.” “In other words, Coffee Prince Branches 2, 3, and 4? Our sajangnim's doing this, right?” Han Kyul was still “sajangnim” to them all. En Chan shook her head. “It's Dong Yi Foods. I'm going to meet the president of that company tonight and hear more about it. You have to come with me, Mr.Hong.” “All right. But do you really think we can pull it off?” “I think as long as we don't overdo it, we can. What do you think about opening up the second branch first and see how it goes and decide then whether we should keep expanding or not? The biggest asset our store has is that most of the customers are regulars, so we know them pretty well. Ha Rim always gives customers comments on their tie colors, new hairstyles, things like that, and En Chan hyung's memorized who wants their cup filled up and who wants only half a cup, who wants their coffee extra hot and who wants their coffee just as quickly as possible. There are a lot of people who come here because they find stuff like that comfortable. If there are too many branches, we'll lose our edge. Personally, I'd like to see branches set up in the countrysides. Not in the busy parts of town but in the outskirts, like us here, and small, so that they'll give off the feel of a friendly neighbor.”

“Ya, take Nak Kyun in my stead. Looks like he'd do a better job.” “I can't, tonight.” “Today's his girlfriend's birthday.” “Oh, it's Soo Ae's birthday today, huh?” En Chan found herself looking at him proudly. After returning to school, Nak Kyun had found a girlfriend. It was unbelievable that he hadn't had one before, but seeing that Nak Kyun had become far softer and more carefree made En Chan realize just how strong the influence of love was. “Then you meet him by yourself tonight, Chan. When the talks start getting a little more detailed, let's all meet him together and discuss it in earnest.” “All right. I should be going now. It's Friday and there's probably going to be a lot of traffic.” “Oh, by the way, En Chan, starting tomorrow, I want you to go and get trained to become a barista.” “Huh? Me?” “You're not going to go back to the dojo, right? When we start building the second and third branches we're going to get busy, so you should take advantage of the time you have now to ge trained. I've already signed you up, so start tomorrow. What's the matter?” “I don't know if I'll be able to do a good job....” “You'll be fine. You work better under pressure. He said the longer the line of customers were, the faster and more accurately you seemed to work.” “Who said that?” “Oh-h... the c-customers did......” < Part 3 > Leaves scattered in the chilly wind. The streets had been emptied by the abrupt cold. The air inside the crowded bus was stuffy. En Chan opened the window slightly and the cold wind that rushed in blew through her hair. A gold earring twinkled on the end of her right ear. The atmosphere of the jazz cafe Da Soop, where she hadn't been back since she'd worked there parttime, was still as good as ever. There were not a few customers who sat enjoying the slow jazz flowing through the air. When she arrived, Han Sung was already sitting down. “You're here pretty early. I'm not late am I?” “There wasn't as much traffic as I thought there would be. Did you eat dinner?” “With my coworkers. You haven't eaten yet?” Saying he hadn't had time, Han Sung ordered a steak and En Chan ordered beer.

“You seemed quite surprised to receive my call.” “Oh... yes. I didn't know you would.” “About two weeks ago, I met Han Kyul at company headquarters. He entered the company as a regular employee and he's already been promoted to proxy director. He's in the financial department. Did you know that?” En Chan shook her head and took in a mouthful of beer. “Actually, this franchise idea was first brought up by him, too. He'd thought it out pretty carefully. He even submitted a marketing plan, and I have to say, it was quite convincing. It might be that he was just smart about it, but it made even me feel that it would be a waste not to consider it.” The moment Han Kyul's name had come out from Han Sung's mouth, En Chan's heart had begun racing. To tell the truth, she had anticipated hearing news about Han Kyul from Han Sung. But now that he was telling her what she'd wanted to hear, she began to feel more and more depressed. She felt angry and sad that he was doing so well and hadn't once contacted her in all that time. “Your hair's much longer now,” said Han Sung, looking at the hair that covered En Chan's ears. “You think so? I'm getting bored because it's not growing fast enough.” Han Sung leaned back and looked steadily at En Chan. En Chan avoided the uncomfortable gaze and drank her beer. “Is Han Kyul still acting the same way? Have you tried calling him?” “No.” En Chan raised her hand and ordered more beer. “Take it easy.” “I'm not going to make a fool of myself like you did, so don't worry.” “You haven't changed a bit, have you?” Han Sung smiled before returning to his meal. While he finished, En Chan found herself buzzed after her first drink in a while. Han Sung had already learned all about the details of Coffee Prince from the marketing plan that Han Kyul had submitted, so the information En Chan offered was basically supplementary. Han Sung had the deciding authority, but he would have to discuss the details of the plan with his own subordinates. “And Mr. Hong is in favor of this plan, right?” “Well, Coffee Prince was Han Kyul's project, wasn't it? Coffee Prince was born through that person. The concepts for interior design, order forms, all of it. If he wants to do it, how can any of us say no? All of us employees owe him so much and we've all fallen for him.” “Fallen for him?” “He was like a guardian angel. He appeared just when we were all struggling and helped us all and then vanished into thin air. Of course we've all fallen for him.”

“That's not what Han Kyul says.” “What does he say? Did he say anything? I mean, he still remembers us?” “He said that his workers never ceased to stimulate and spur him on.” “Stimulate? Yea, we did that. Nak Kyun went AWOL in the beginning and then Ha Rim left home, and Sun Ki.... Do you know anything, by the way? How he dealt with Sun Ki's case?” “No.” “I suspected as much.” En Chan let out a sigh and took another sip of her beer. “He's a mysterious one, that man. I can never tell what he's thinking.” “Both of you have gotten much thinner. And sharper.” “He rebelled like crazy, so why did he end up going into the company anyway? Does he like work that much? He probably lives buried in work, huh?” En Chan, who'd begun to drink more quickly, began to slur her words. She slouched and her eyes clouded over while she began to talk wildly. “Man, I feel like shit. These days, I remind myself of a bum. I eat and eat and eat and I'm still hungry, and I put clothes on but I feel cold like I'm naked. Man, I'm pathetic. Freakin' pathetic. Like a freakin' idiot. My insides hurts like I drank vodka on an empty stomach. My insides hurts so much....” En Chan, who'd been grumbling, stopped speaking. It was because she'd seen Han Kyul and Yu Ju walking in the entrance together. Han Sung turned his head and looked at the two of them. Han Kyul's face went rigid as well. En Chan gripped the bottle she was holding tightly as if to break it. Han Sung stood up. “So we end up meeting here.” En Chan put her elbows on the table and put her head on her palm. She glared at Han Kyul who was walking toward them with a scowl on his face. “I forgot that the two of you are regulars here. It looks like you were in the middle of talking business, so please, continue.” Han Kyul turned Yu Ju around and began to walk away when En Chan, who'd been watching him, yelled, “YA! Choi Han Kyul!” She stabbed the air with her finger and sprung up from her chair. She teetered but did not fall. “You, boy am I glad to see YOU! YOU! Who the hell are you! What kind of stingy-ass jerk of a man are you!” Han Kyul, completely ignoring En Chan, turned to Han Sung and said,

“Looks like she's drunk. You should probably take her outside.” “Are you drunk, En Chan?” At Han Sung's question, En Chan shook her head vigorously. “NO!” The shaking made her dizzy and she reeled, but she soon found her balance and continued to glare at Han Kyul. “You were the one who thought I was a guy in the first place. You never asked me if I was really a guy or not. And now you're not even giving me a chance to explai myself? You bastard! Just who the hell do you think you are, huh? HUH? Say something, you twisted, miserable human being!” Han Kyul looked at her, incredulous, before turning around, as if to say she wasn't worth dealing with, and began to walk away. Until En Chan said this. “You tell Ha Rim to come out, but you go in? What a traitor.” Han Kyul whipped around and walked toward her with a terrifying expression on his face. En Chan flinched inside, but she placed her bets on the excuse that she was drunk, and stood her ground, glaring at him. “What? Am I wrong?” En Chan lifted her chin up and began to shoot her words at the cold gaze that looked down at her from so close. “You pervert cabbage slug! If you're a man, act like one and act your age! How can you be so ununderstanding? If your employee's been laid up in a hospital bed with an injury, shouldn't you come by to visit at least once? Even if I'd committed a mortal sin, you should've asked what my reason was for it. Am I wrong, you flea-minded old geezer!” The customers in the store were looking on with amusement. But now Han Kyul himself was too angry to back away. “All right. Fine. Try explaining yourself, why don't you? Try explaining the reason why you laughed at me and played around with my mind for months and months. It's probably a damn good one, right? It's not something as stupid as a few hundred bucks, right?!” “Damn it! Yea! It was as stupid as a few hundred bucks! What are you going to do about it! Must be nice to have so much money, ahjussi. Must be nice to be able to earn money without having to lie to anyone! Was I so wrong? And when the hell did I ever laugh at you or play around with your mind?! I never did that!” “Never did that? Never pretended to be an honest, flawlessly innocent kid so you could steal my heart away?!”

“When! When! I never did that! I tried to tell you honestly! But I got scared, all right?! I got scared that if I told you, I might lose it all! Why couldn't you help me and figure it out first? You dense moron! How can you know me for three months and not even know? Do you know what that did to my self-respect? Goddamn it! Am I.... am I really not it? You really don't feel anything towards me?” Suddenly En Chan's face flushed bright red. She felt like she was going to die from humiliation. But she stood her ground. She stood her ground because she thought to herself that if she walked out from here, it would be the end. If she was never going to be able to see him again, she wanted him to tell her straight out right here, right now. She wanted him to tell her if she wasn't, so she could at least wake up.... “What am I, a gay? Why would I feel anything towards a man?” He'd said it straight out. En Chan felt like someone had struck her with a chair. Wanting him to tell her straight out... apparently that had been a lie. Maybe it was because she was drunk, but the thought that she couldn't let him go rose up from inside of her. She wanted to grab onto him as a friend, at least, or even blood brothers. To think that she'd never see him again made her heart ache so badly she felt like she was going to die. She couldn't live like this anymore. This was too pathetic and heartbreaking and cruel.... “It was better when you were a boy. I wanted to make you my little brother because you were cute. You remember me saying that, right? But what? You're a woman? What would I do with a girl like you? You stop at nothing to get at some money and you stab people in the back. You bitch.” At Han Kyul's ruthless words En Chan flinched, wounded. But her desperation rose higher than her anger. En Chan bit down on her lip as she lifted her hair to show her ear. “Th-then let me be your little brother. I still have your mark. C-can't I be that, at least?” The tears in her eyes shined and twinkled like the gold earring on her ear. Everyone who'd been watching them froze in silence. Only Han Kyul, who was breathing hard, looked like a living creature. Han Kyul shouted, his eyes more furious than they had been before, “You think you're the only one who's lost self-respect? You stepped all over my pride! You ripped it to shreds!” Han Kyul clenched his jaw and growled. When he saw a teardrop fall from En Chan's eyes, he finally exploded. “How could a male not recognize a female? Do you know how humiliating that is to a man? There are some things men never want to let women see! Goddamn it!” Han Kyul left. En Chan, who'd gone pale, rubbed her tears away with the back of her hand. She repeated the words he'd just said. Things men never want to let women see? What things? What did I see? En Chan's self-control crumbled. She was angry and hurting and sad and in despair so she screamed desperately, “I didn't see anything! I don't even know what you're talking about, so how could I have seen it?!” And then he reappeared. He quickly walked over to her in big strides.

En Chan flinched in surprise at his roughness and caught her breath. He had come at her so recklessly that she thought that maybe he was going to hit her. “It's this, stupid,” he said, almost at her nose. The moment she thought, 'This? What's this?' her head was grabbed and pulled. En Chan realized that she was being kissed. When his tongue came into her mouth, she finally realized what 'this' was as well. En Chan, who'd been frozen, began to melt. Emotions and excitement suffused her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on. A tingle of pleasure ran down her entire body. As if asking for a deeper kiss, En Chan's body began to bend backwards, and Han Kyul pulled her toward him with all his might. When their deep and passionate kiss ended, her lips, still lost in ecstasy, were straining toward his. Even when she belatedly realized that he'd pulled away and opened her eyes, En Chan was still in a daze. Han Kyul was smiling at her. Everyone who'd been watching their deep kiss came out of their trance and burst into applause and cheers. After Han Kyul had run out pulling En Chan along by her hand, Han Sung and Yu Ju sat in front of each other awkwardly. “Feels like I've just finished watching a movie.” “It's a happy ending.” “Men don't care about stuff like that.” “What do they care about then?” “Sex scenes and action.” “You know, I think that's the most romantic thing I've ever heard you say.” “Was I really that dry?” Han Sung gave Yu Ju a rare smile. “Thank you for helping.” “Say nothing of it. It's also the owner's obligation to make pay attention to his business partner's emotional health. The lady got drunk quite easily on her own.” “And Han Kyul got excited quite easily on his own as well. They must be made for each other.” Han Sun and Yu Ju looked at each other with friendly eyes for the first time in a long time, just like they used to back before they'd been lovers, back when they'd been like brother and sister....

“And Sun Ki's too busy these days. I think we're going to have to hire some new people.” [Are you sure it's for real? Can the guy really sing?]

En Chan was talking on the phone on her way to barista training. “Enough to make you fall in love. Even I would want to give him a recording deal.” [How could I trust your ear? All guys who live in karaoke bars know how to sing.] “He made the audition, so what else is there to say? You think the judges were all scarecrows? Why do you think they just gave him the contract fee on the spot like that? You always pick on only me. Psh.” [Hey, I gotta go. Conference.] “I gotta go too, I'm at the lecture hall. See ya.” [Wait. Where were we going to eat lunch again tomorrow? I'll come pick you up.] “You don't have to do that. It's just a few stops if I take the subway. I'll see you at the entrance.” [I'm just afraid you're going to be late like last time.] “Oh, don't complain about ten minutes.” [12.] En Chan had already arrived at the lecture hall and Han Kyul had to go into his meeting, but they couldn't hang up. They hid the passionate words they wanted to say to each other and acted mischeivously. [Ya, I don't want people thinking we're two men on a date, so dress accordingly.] “In that case you should come wearing a dress, ahjussi.” [Are you gonna keep on talking back to me? Girls are supposed to be soft-spoken and refined.] “Maybe I'll gather together all the un-soft-spoken and un-refined girls around and make an anti-cafe against you, ahjussi. Ha, you scared?” [Turning it into a fan cafe would probably be a piece of cake. I could probably make them turn to my side with a single picture. Hey, I really got to go now. Kissy kissy, Snookums.] “Hey, I'm still a part of that anti-cafe, all right, Mr. Kinky? I'm hanging up now.” The two of them giggled to themselves as they hung up and returned to their respective tasks. Han Kyul had risen to the position of head director, and had moved to the accounting department. To a nextgeneration proprietor, these promotions were actually meaningless; nevertheless, Han Kyul was learning the ropes step by step in preparation to take over the company. As long as he had made up his mind to compete with Han Sung for the top, he had no intention of losing. That there was a worthy adversary was beneficial for the company as well. The next day, En Chan rummaged around in her closet for some time before asking for En Se's help. All that En Chan had in her closet were t-shirts and jeans and oversized jumpers. Other than that, there was only the dress suit that she'd worn for her mother's wedding, but that was appropriate for an amusement park. En Se, having laid out her own clothes in front of her sister, continued to hassle her into choosing quickly. In the end, En Chan put on a flowered blouse and skirt and a feminine jacket.

She'd decided to pull out all the stops because she wanted to look pretty for him and also because of what he'd said about two men on a date. On her one off day every two weeks, En Chan planned to eat dinner with her family. En Chan had been busy with the franchise project, barista training and working in the cafe, and having passed the audition, En Se was also practicing singing and dancing day and night, and wasn't often seen around. And so, they had set apart this day to come together to eat out. Mom and ahjussi were beginning to look more and more like a real wedded couple. What them care and provide for each other sometimes made her feel that all her work had been for nothing. It made her feel kind of lonely, but when she thought back to the way she felt when she was with Han Kyul, she could more that understand their feelings. For the first time since her father died, her family sat around at the dinner table, happy and cheerful. They were coming out of the restaurant when En Se said, “I'm gonna take off. I have an appointment.” “You're going to go meet Sun Ki? The two of your practice together everyday, and you still have to see him on your off day? You give birth to a daughter and you raise her with your own hand, and all this, for what?” En Se had provided an opening for En Chan to say, “M-me too....” If Mr. Ku hadn't been there, Mom would've had to walk the lonely way back to the house all by herself. She suddenly felt thankful for Mr. Ku. En Chan ran to the subway station so as not to be late, but she just missed the train. It was all because of this damned flapping skirt. She got on the next train and had three stops to go when it became their designated meeting time. It was obvious that he was going to give her hell for being late again. She took out her cell phone and tried to call him, but it acted up and wouldn't work. She pounded on it and shook it, holding it out in all different directions, but she couldn't get through. To make things even worse, the playground was a sea of people. She sweated up a storm trying to find him in the pulsing crowds. “Ya!” En Chan, exhausted, looked at the sneakers that came into view and lifted her head. “Oh! Finally!” En Chan took in deep breaths and smiled apologetically, but Han Kyul's angry face didn't loosen up. “Do you know what time it is?!” “I'm sorry. Really, I'm really sorry. I was on my way and I missed the train and.... I freakin' ran. Look at me, I'm sweating. My physical strength's not what it used to be. I haven't worked out in a while....” “Then you should've turned your phone on at least! How long were you going to make me wait in this crowd? You promised and promised that you wouldn't be late! Do you know how much I worried about you?”

“Y-you worried about me? Why would you worry about me? You worried I was going to get into a subway accident or something? I'm fine. I'm fine and I'm here, so please don't be mad.” “Why'd you turn off your phone.” “Oh, this stupid phone. It hasn't been working since I was in the subway. This stupid piece of junk...” En Chan took out her phone from her pocket and was hitting it with the palm of her hand when Han Kyul snatched it away. He then chucked it on the floor. “What's the point of carrying around a phone that doesn't even work!” Still dissatisfied, he stomped on the broken phone and ground his heel into it. People walking by gathered 'round to watch him, amused. En Chan, surprised, gave up trying to stop him and simply watched on. She folded her arms across her chest and watched a seething Han Kyul for a while before saying, “Feel better?” Han Kyul breathed deeply and said, “Yea.” “Then look at me.” After all the trouble she'd gone through to dress up, running had mussed her up all over. En Chan quickly rearranged her clothes and hair and posed for him. “Mmmm. The lady has put on a skirt.” “You finally see me?” “Isn't it a bit small, though? We need to buy you some clothes.” En Chan glared at him and he smiled and said, “You're pretty. Very pretty.” “Prettier than Miss World?” “Miss World? Ohhh... Ya, that's been bothering you until now, huh? It's been on your mind for a while.” Han Kyul chuckled to himself as he poked En Chan's cheek with his finger. “Hey, I didn't have any fun that time. I don't even remember them.” “Psh. What do you take me for, an idiot? You were smiling like your lips were going to rip apart and you threw me out into the streets and sped off.” “I told you, I was already beginning to find you cute back then. Do you know how head-splitting it is to find a boy cute? If you're going to make up for how much you made me suffer, you have to do cute things for me at least 200 more times.”

“Who made who suffer? It's news to me.” “I'm a master at the poker face. Never showing on our faces what's going on in our insides is our family specialty.” “Whatever you say, sir. Let's go eat.” En Chan turned around and headed toward the entrance. Han Kyul, who'd followed behind her, put his arm around her shoulder and pointed with his hand. “Let's ride that first. I've always wanted to ride it.” As if nothing had happened, the two of them went inside the amusement park. They mixed into the crowd and got on rides and ate ice cream and walked down flower paths. Sometimes they'd clasp hands, other times he'd have his arm around her, and other times they would simply look at each other.... After exiting the amusement park, they ate dinner at a high observatory restaurant. They sat down side by side on yellow banana shaped leather sofas in the small balcony-like area that jutted out from the rest of the space. They ate dinner and drank wine, looking out at the magnificent scenery from the window. “Are you going to keep growing your hair out?” asked Han Kyul as he brought his lips to her hair and gave it a kiss. En Chan was resting her head on his shoulder. “Yea. Why? You don't want me to?” “It's not that I don't want you to. It's just that it doesn't fit with the Coffee Prince concept. That's a place where princes work.” “Then you want me to continue to look like a boy?” asked En Chan. Han Kyul nodded without a single moment's hesitation. “I want you to look like a boy to other men. So they don't move in on you.” “You worry about the strangest things. There's nothing but women all around me.” “Don't hang around too much with women either. By the way, you looked really out of shape back there. Let's start working out together starting tomorrow.” “And how am I supposed to find the time? These days, I wish here were ten of me to go around. You know Chief Bong from Dong Yi Foods? He's a total tightass. He wants to have conferences every single day. He's already changed the marketing plan several times....” “You meet Chief Bong every day? Hmm that geezer's got to go. I'll have to change him. Even I can't see you every day, it makes me jealous.” “Ahjussi, don't overreact.” “Cut down on the time you work at Coffee Prince. I've been thinking about this for a while now, but I think you should pick new employees and become the manager yourself. That way, you can pay closer attention to the franchise project.”

“Hm..... I'll talk it over with Mr. Hong.” The two of them leaned against each other, looking at the night scenery. From time to time, Han Kyul would give En Chan's shoulders a tight squeeze. And from time to time, he would lay kisses on her head, her temples, and her cheeks, displaying his affection. “There's something I'm curious about. Before you found out at the hospital, you really never once suspected? You never wondered to yourself if I was a girl?” “What do you think?” “Hmm. Answer 1,” said En Chan, lifting up a finger. “Never. Not even once. Answer 2, maybe just once. Answer 3, maybe in your subconscious, but never thought about it consciously. Why? Because you're a coward. Answer 4, you would've liked for me to have been a girl. Now, which one is it?” “Hmm... the answer bank is pretty scanty. I especially don't like Answer 3. The answer is, Answer 5.” “Answer 5?” “I liked you, even if you were a boy.” “What? What is that? What the?! Then when you kissed me on Valentine's Day, that wasn't just a prank?” “I told you. There are some things men never want to let women to see.” “Oh, right, I've been meaning to ask you. What is that? You didn't want to let me see you kiss me? I didn't have my eyes open when you did.” “No, it's not that... it's just.... well, it's a type of...... the.....” “The what?” “Do you really have to hear the answer?” “I can't stand being curious.” “It's.... like sexual arousal.” En Chan whipped her head around to look at Han Kyul in shock. Han Kyul looked at her as if daring her to say anything and then reached out and put her head back on his shoulder. “You mean, you thought I was a boy and you felt that? That's why the tongue.....” “Yea.” “No way...... pervert cabbage slug!!” “Yea, I don't know what else to say. But you know, when I think about it, Answer 3 might be right as well. If you were a girl, I would have to kick you out of the store, and I would've had to doubt whether you'd come to like me or my money.”

“You narcissist.” “Not a narcissist... maybe a coward, like you said?” “It's late. It's almost midnight.” “I'll give you an answer bank.” “Huh? You didn't ask a question, though.” Han Kyul lifted up a finger in front of En Chan's face and said, “Answer 1. You sleep with me tonight. Answer 2. You go to Dong Yi Hotel room S11 with me right now. Answer 3. We talk in my bed until the morning. Answer 4. You live with me for the rest of your life.” After the last sentence, En Chan couldn't say anything for the pounding in her chest. Her heart was racing like a frenzied maniac. She hadn't talked to him about it, but it wasn't as if she hadn't give their future some thought before. The conclusion was always a deep sigh. She'd comforted herself by telling herself to be thankful and satisfied with her present happiness with him. To treat each moment preciously and to love him to her fullest. “Now, what's your answer?” With that, Han Kyul held out his cheek. “What're you doing?” “Answer me with kisses.” “People are watching.” “Hurry up. Or I'm going to feel up your chest.” En Chan smacked his head with a cushion. “God, you kinky pervert!” Han Kyul shook his head and rearranged his mussed up hair before holding out his cheek again. En Chan scowled at him for a while before deciding there was nothing else that could be done. She leaned over slowly and smacked kisses on his cheek. When she stopped at the third kiss, he turned around. “Answer 3? What was Answer 3 again?” He asked her, looking disappointed. “Man, I don't know if I should really answer this lame proposal, but....” En Chan stretched out her arms and held Han Kyul's head in her hands. “I'm afraid if I'm not with you, you're going to die of boredom, so I'll do you the favor.” En Chan smiled as she kissed Han Kyul on his lips. When she pulled away, he abruptly tackled her and En Chan fell backwards onto the sofa. Han Kyul was smiling above the fallen En Chan. He stroked her cheek and said playfully,

“You're awfully snuggly, snookums.” “Come on, get off! The waitress is watching.” Han Kyul pressed down on En Chan's shoulder as she tried to get up and lowered his lips. “Get used to it. I don't care what other people think.” Should she stop his kiss? But when she closed her eyes, she couldn't see anyone else either. There was nothing that could be done. She had to get used to it. He had said, after all, that it was for the rest of her life.....