Telling Our Stories

Driving late in the night, Virel was heading towards the Last Stop Town and Ra Ra was beside him. The two had not uttered a word since they left Seoul and this was making the car's environment a little boring. V took the initiative by turning on the radio and to his dismay, his favorite music genre was being played.

"Do you like classical music?" He asked my bestie who replied: "A little. Not that much."

"Then what type of music do you enjoy?" He asked.

"That is… hard metal, rock and roll!" She said with a lot of enthusiasm and nearly caused him to pull the brakes.

"You enjoy that?" He asked in bewilderment.

Not feeling guilty for loving her own brand of music, Ra Ra replied: "Yes, what's wrong with such music? Don't tell me that you are prejudiced against lovers of such music?" She asked and he quickly said: "No, that's not the case. I have loved classical music since childhood. That's what I was brought up with."

"Don't you get tired of it?" Ra Ra asked him.

With a charming smile he gently replied: "No, it is soothing for the soul. Pay keen attention to the various sounds, how they sound harmonious and try to derive the melody within your heart. Ha! So refreshing!" He sure loved classical music.

"That was quite... poetic", Ra Ra muttered before asking: "How long will it take us to get there?"

"About four to five hours", Virel replied.

"What? But we have been on the road for three hours already. Why did they go so far away?" She asked yet again before adding, "At this rate, we will get there in the morning."

The car kept moving along the road and that's when she realized that there was a bigger problem than the road's distance.

"Virel?" She called out. "What is it?" He asked whilst looking straight ahead.

"I don't think that we are behind because of the distance", she said. "Then, what is it?" He asked.

In a calm manner, she replied: "There is no car on the street."

"Yes, so?" Virel asked and she replied with a different tone this time. Sounding angry and fed up, she asked: "So why are you driving like a tortoise?! Why are you moving at 30km/hr?"

If the steering wheel had not been well fixed, I am sure it would have fallen out of place and left in Virel's hands. With his lips trembling, he replied: "Th-th-that's my… my maximum speed."

"Ra Ra, take in a deep breath", my bestie said to herself as she applied her words by taking in deep breaths. She then said in her head: "Right, we have such individuals on earth. At least, he decided to go at his maximum speed."

Left alone with Jin Ho, I began to narrate a piece of my story. Since he asked for it, there were no weird feelings attached.

Sighing heavily, I began by saying: "When I was a kid, I had a weird dream. I wanted to grow up and marry a billionaire hero."

He looked surprised but eventually said: "Wow that's so cool."

"Are you making fun of me?" I asked as I didn't expect such a reaction. Besides, no one had ever called my dream cool before. I always received insults for it. But this time, I heard a different opinion.

Jin Ho explained his opinion by saying: "Your dream is cool since I have never heard of it before. And besides, it proves that you have elevated standards in life."

"Elevated standards?" I wondered. Even if that statement was a lie, I loved it because it made me feel good.

"So how did you end up dating an ordinary guy? Or did you meet your billionaire hero?" He asked.

"No, I changed my mind after high school. Everyone kept on ridiculing my dream, so I gave up on it. After which I met Min Ki, my ex boyfriend", I replied.

He nodded as an indication that he was listening and that urged me to continue.

"He was very nice to me and was a hero in his own way. But he lacked the billionaire aspect. And today, I broke up with him and ended up on the bus", I narrated.

"Why did you break up with him?" He asked with true concern.

"Cheating. He was cheating on me with a richer woman", I replied and he nearly broke the bed with his fist.

"What? Do we have such jerks on earth?" He asked as he punched the bed with all his might.

"Say it again. He's totally unbelievable", I added in agreement.

"Is that why you were so angry on the bus?" He asked and I gave him the obvious answer: "Yes. Sorry that I took it out on you." I apologized.

"I'm also sorry for picking a fight. I also vented out my stress on you", he confessed.

Now that I had told him mine, I could ask: "What's your story?"

He began to narrate what I call a bittersweet story.

Facing me, he began: "I lost my parents when I was just a baby. I don't even remember their faces clearly and neither do I have a picture of them. After their death, I was sent to an orphanage and a family took me in. They took care of me. But later on, they abandoned me and another took me in. They also returned me to the orphanage. I kept on moving from family to family until I met this good man who took good care of me. A while later, I met Mi Rae. She was so good to me and we had a strong connection. She's my first love and we started dating. But today, we broke up."

"Why?" I asked.

"She changed, but I didn't realize it early and found out in a painful manner", he replied.

"What happened?" I asked with curiosity drawn all over my face.

"I tried to propose to her and got rejected", he said.

"Why did she reject you?" I asked as he started to look pitiful.

"Because I didn't fit the scope of a wealthy man. That's why", he honestly said.

Reacting just like he did, I stood up from the bed and placed my hands on my waist. With heated anger, I said: "She's unbelievable. Is money supposed to be the basis for every relationship?"

"Looks like that's the trend now", Jin Ho replied.

I then sat back on my bed and asked him: "Are you okay?"

"What about you?" He asked.

"I asked you first. Don't try to cheat", I mentioned.

"Alright. I feel emotionless. I can't tell what I'm feeling right now. Am I glad that I got to know her true reasoning or am I sad that I got rejected? I don't know what I am feeling at the moment", he shared the same feeling as I did. "What about you?" He asked.

"Similar here. Should I be happy that I freed myself from such a jerk or should I cry for being a fool for all these years? What should I do?" I asked him and he began to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

He said in reply: "It's so funny. If anyone told me that I will be having a discussion with a woman I fought with earlier on a bus, I wouldn't have believed it."

His statement also got me laughing. "Similar here. Life sure can't be predicted. How did I end up in a room with someone I called a pervert in the morning?" I wondered.

"Hope you no longer view me as a pervert?" He asked and I said with a smile: "I don't."

He suddenly stopped smiling and said: "Sorry for calling you a crazy woman."

Since I had never heard him say that, I asked: "When?"

"After you alighted from the bus", he revealed.

"You!" I exclaimed and threw my pillow at him.

"I'm sorry. Really sorry", he quickly apologized before I could throw the second pillow in my hand.

Placing it down, I told him: "For dealing with the kids, I forgive you." We then laughed out heartily.

In their room, Jang Sik and his wife had managed to put their kids to sleep and were about to go to bed themselves.

After they had slid under the sheets, his wife asked him: "Honey, how did they manage to get the kids under control?"

Looking at the two rebellious boys sleeping peacefully, he replied: "I don't know. But the two are certainly a good pair."

"That's true. They look so good together", his wife added and then realized something. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, are they the only ones in the room?" She asked her husband with an alert eye.

"Yes. Then…" Jang Sik finally got the meaning of her reaction.

"Will something happen?" She asked.

"Will it?" He wondered.

On our separate beds, we both tried to fall asleep. But once again, none of us could sleep. And just like before, Jin Ho began speaking.

He asked: "Do you want to grab a drink?"

"At this time of night?" I asked back and he said, "Yes."

"But where?" I asked as it was extra late in the night.

"I saw a pub earlier. Should we go there?" He proposed.

I didn't want to go out, but I felt stuffed inside, so I replied: "I usually don't drink thrice in a row but today can be an exception."

Soon, we were at the pub and Jin Ho made the order.

"Madam, please give us a bottle of soju!" He exclaimed as the place was extremely loud.

"Yes. Coming right away", the woman replied.

Looking around, I said: "I never expected here to be full of people."

"It's just like Seoul", Jin Ho added.

"That's right. Ah! The weather is so nice! It feels great to be in the countryside", I mentioned as the night breeze was gently touching my skin.

"You look like a native at this rate", he said. "I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can. Once I return, I might never be back to this place", I revealed.

"You sure must have a busy life", he mentioned and I asked: "Who doesn't in Seoul?"

We ordered one bottle and then added another bottle, then a third, then a fourth, and it went on and on and on… until...

In a drunken state, I stood up and said: "Min Ki! You… are really really really bad. You are such a bad guy that I don't think… I can ever forgive you."

Jin Ho also had some words to share. "Mi Rae! How could you choose money, money, money over love? Money flies away. It flies away but… love remains, always remains!"

We were quite loud and it came as no surprise when a couple nearby began talking about us.

"How drunk are those two?" The husband asked and his wife replied with great honesty: "Super drunk."

She was right as I kept on shouting loudly the name: "Min Ki!!!" Whilst Jin Ho also went on to exclaim the name: "Mi Rae!!!"