Thx 4 reading~~!!
i finished ch. 2!!! YEAH
ENJOY~~!!
Chapter 2~*
5 years pass—
My new Korean name is Jaegyung. “Jackie” kind of died out I guess. I’m an 18 year old, getting ready to go into college.
I’m finally used to my life in Korea. My aunt, Aunt Nanhee owns a big mall in Seoul so I live in luxury~~!! Aunt Nanhee has never married, or as she puts it, “Never met a man worthy enough to marry me”, so I’m basically her daughter, I guess. Everyday she wants me to tell her what happened at school, if I got a boyfriend or not (I never had one in my life -.-), or if anyone’s been getting on my nerves. She says she would hire a body guard for me.
I never got the chance to visit the U.S. I really miss Hailie, Erik, and Danny. I lost touch with the guys, but I know they’re going to come to Korea to visit. Erik, my first love (and only love), promised me. If Erik or Danny comes to visit one day, I’ll know who’s who because on Erik’s key chain, I engraved “love” in unnoticeable tiny letters. I can’t wait ‘till I see them again!
~*~*~*~
I face started to feel super hot so I opened my eyes slightly to see what was burning my face.
“OW!!” I screamed as I sat up in my bed, covering my eyes. The sun was glaring down through the window at my unprotected face.
“Aish…great. I probably have sun burn now” I mumbled as I scrambled to the edge of the bed and slid my feet into comfy morning slippers.
I squinted as I looked out the window. It was another normal Korean summer day: hot and humid. I sighed and dragged myself down the stairs into the dining room. Aunt Nanhee sat at the table, eating her breakfast. I quickly joined her.
“Good morning, dear” Aunt Nanhee said when I sat down across from her. Her hair was pulled into a bun and she was dressed in business-like clothes, as always.
“Good morning” I said. Where’s Mrs. Ahn…I want my breakfast. Aunt Nanhee pulled her head back suddenly and made a face.
“Jaegyung! What happened to your face? It’s red!” Aunt Nanhee screeched, her hand reaching out and running it across my tomato red face.
“Sun burn…” I mumbled unhappily. I turned my head to the right and examined my face in the decorative mirror. Ouch...How did I sleep through this?
Mrs. Ahn, the house keeper, walked into the room holding 4 or 5 envelopes.
“Good morning, Jaegyung! Your breakfast is ready. I’ll bring it out. Mrs. Hong, you got some mail” Mrs. Ahn said as she handed my aunt the envelopes.
“Good morning, Mrs. Ahn!” I exclaimed happily. She smiled at my happy face then winced.
“What happened to your face?” She asked. Oh great…I’m going to be getting a lot of this.
“I know! I’m worried too. Such a horrible sunburn. Thank you for the mail” Aunt Nanhee answered for me as she winced along with Mrs. Ahn. I nodded as I ran my hand across my red cheek.
“I’ll get your breakfast” Mrs. Ahn said and disappeared into the kitchen.
“FINALLY!” Aunt Nanhee exclaimed.
“What?” I asked, surprised by her rare loud moment.
“My health report came! I was waiting for it for so long! I hope I’m healthy” She said as she opened the big orange envelope. She pulled some pieces of paper out.
“You’ll be healthy, don’t worry. I think I never saw you, in my whole life, go to the doctors” I said, trying to remember if she ever did. She smiled proudly.
“Never did I ever go to the doctors…’Till last week for my health test” Aunt Nanhee replied. She held the paper in front of her and her eyes went side to side, reading the important content about her health.
Suddenly, her eyes went big and round. She started to breathe heavily.
“Aunt Nanhee? Aunt Nanhee! What’s wrong?! Mrs. Ahn!!!” I yelled. I stood up from my seat and ran over. Mrs. Ahn came bursting through the door.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong with Ms. Hong? I’ll go call 911!” Mrs. Ahn said as she scurried out the room back into the kitchen.
“AUNT NANHEE!!” I yelled. She started to calm down, and stop breathing. STOP BREATHING?! O.O
“Aunt…Nanhee? Are you okay? ARE YOU ALIVE? OMG ANSWER ME!!’ I screamed. I don’t think I was ever this scared before. Mrs. Ahn came back in.
“Ms. Hong! Wake up!” She yelled as she shook her hard.
Finally, I started to hear the ambulance sirens. I jumped up and ran outside.
“OVER HERE!” I yelled as I waved my arms. The ambulance drove into our driveway and people rushed out of the car, pushing a small, white bed.
I held the front door open as they ran into our house.
Aunt Nanhee can’t die…
~*~*~*~
I waited anxiously in the hallway of the hospital. My aunt was inside the emergency room with doctors and nurses that are trying to help her breathe, I guess. SHE HAS TO LIVE. I have no one else…
After what felt like hours of waiting, the windowless door of the ER slid open and a doctor came out.
“She didn’t make it” The doctor said coldly.
I felt my sun burnt face turn hotter and tears run down my face.
She died…Aunt Nanhee died.
~*~*~*~
After Aunt Nanhee’s funeral, I came back home and fell down on the couch. What’s going to happen now?
*Ding Dong*
I stayed seated and Mrs. Ahn got the door. The door opened and I heard a muffled voice of a man.
“Jaegyung?” Mrs. Ahn called my name as she walked into the living room. A tall, middle-aged man followed with a briefcase. I sat up.
“Hong Jaegyung, right? Nice to meet you” The man said as he reached out his hand. I shook it lightly and he sat down. Mrs. Ahn slipped out of the room silently.
“Yes, I’m Jaegyung. What brings you here?” I asked. The man frowned.
“Let me introduce myself” He said. I nodded and he continued, “You can call me Mr. Kim and I’m your aunt’s lawyer. The reason why I’m here is to discuss some things about your aunt’s will she left behind. I’ll read it to you. It’s very short and simple” Mrs. Kim said. He opened his brief case and pulled a piece of normal white piece of paper out.
“Everything I own goes to Jaegyung Hong” Mr. Kim said clearly. He looked up. “Everything’s yours now”
~*~*~*~
I walked into the mall for the first time as the owner. My long hair was pulled into a tight bun and my neat and tidy clothes made me more uncomfortable than I already was. I reached the front desk.
“Hello, may I help you?” The lady asked. I opened my mouth to ask her where a new owner of a mall is supposed to go but someone interrupted me.
“Miss Hong! The new owner of this mall, am I correct?” A young, pretty woman, about 20 to 25, dressed in basically the same clothes as me asked. I nodded nervously.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Lee Eungyung” She said as she stuck her hand out.
“Nice to meet you too. I’m Hong Jaegyung” I said as I shook her hand.
“I know, Miss Hong. Let’s go now. We have a lot to go over” She said as she tapped my shoulder lightly. She started to walk ahead so I quickly scurried after her.
“Are you nervous?” She asked in the elevator.
“Yeah. It’s my first time…you know, owning a mall. I’m glad I am though, Ms. Lee” I said and nervously laughed. She smiled.
“It’s going to be fine. And call me Eungyung unni. Ms. Lee makes me sound old” She said, and we laughed. I laughed nervously, but Eungyung unni laughed...like she was sure of what she was doing.
“Alright, Eungyung unni. Then call me Jaegyung. I'm not used to Miss Hong” I said, remembering the times when Mrs. Ronane called me Miss Hong. The elevator doors slid open.
“Okay, Jaegyung. We’re almost at your new office” Eungyung unni said as we walked out. Our high heels clicked against the marble floor then stopped in front of a door. Eungyung unni held the door open and motioned me to go inside. I followed.
The office—my office turned out to be awesomely great! Big windows that showed a spectacular view of the city Seoul, a nice clean desk, comfy couches…
Eungyung unni laughed softly as I poked around.
“You should get to work. And we have a meeting with the owner of Cherry Blossom Mall in an hour” She said, checking her palm pilot. I sat at the desk.
“Cherry Blossom Mall? What a lame name. Okay. You can go do whatever you’re supposed to do now.” I said, my hands clasped together. The comfortableness of the chair softened my sharp tension.
“I am doing my work” Eungyung unni said as she walked over to a table with a boiling coffee maker on it. She poured the hot liquid into two cups.
“What do you mean? Aren’t you a manager of this mall?” I asked. I’m hoping she is. The more workers there are the less work I have to do. She walked over and handed me a cup of coffee. Even though I hate coffee, I took the warm mug and left it on the desk. “Too hot…I have to cool it down” I said.
“There are 3 managers in this mall and 4 co-managers. I’m your manager. I take care of your schedule, needs and stuff. She said and took a sip of coffee.
“*GASP* There are so many people that can take care of the business around here! So what do I do? Just sit here and drink coffee? Sign some documents?” I asked Eungyung unni, my manager. She chuckled.
“Well…a little more than that. You have to take care of all the pay checks, bills, approving of some things, important visitors…You’ll find out more along the way” She said. I pouted and started to complain.
“But…that’s too much for me! Are you sure I’m supposed to do all that work?” I complained. Eungyung unni nodded.
“Yup…You’ll get used to the routine. It’s almost the same thing everyday. I’ll be here everyday too, to help you out” Eungyung unni smiled and motioned me to drink my coffee. I gave a weak smile and took a small little sip.
“AHHH! EWWW!!” I screamed as I threw the coffee mug at my desk. Eungyung unni stared at me, wide-eyed. The coffee spilled all over my desk, staining everything on it. Well, almost everything. The papers and documents got wet, my computer keyboard, books, and my clothes.
“Are you okay Jaegyung? What’s wrong? You don’t like coffee?” Eungyung unni asked, starting to wipe my clothes with Kleenex.
“I HATE coffee…” I mumbled, wiping my clothes. Great, my white outfit is now stained with brown blobby spots.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Eungyung unni stopped wiping and glared at me. I smiled innocently.
“I just…felt like that was rude”
“It’s okay then. We don’t have a lot of time ‘till the meeting! You have to go get a new outfit, hair fixing...” Eungyung unni’s voice trailed off, her mind now in wonderland.
“Eungyung unni? Shouldn’t we go now? Go get my new clothes and all?” I asked, waving my hand in her face. She snapped out of her ‘wonderland’ and shook her head.
“Oh I’m sorry. Let’s go!” She said, grabbing her keys from the coffee table. I nodded and followed her out the room.
~*~*~*~
I finally had white clothes again and fixed hair but Eungyung unni and I were already 20 minutes late to the meeting. When the mall came in my eye sight, I understood why they had such a lame name. The whole mall was surrounded by Cherry Blossom trees! I gasped at the sight.
“I know, pretty isn’t it?” Eungyung unni asked. I nodded, my mouth still hanging open. The area around the mall looked like it had been snowed on. More pinkish snow though.
Eungyung unni did two sharp turns and finally reached the front drive way of the mall. Eungyung unni got off the car and started running into the mall super fast.
“Wait unni! Wait for me!” I shouted after her. She turned around and sighed loudly.
“Come on! Hurry!” Eungyung Unni shouted and stood there waiting for me. These high heels are killing me.
“I like my flip flops better! Can’t I just go change into them? It’s in the car” I asked desperately.
“Look, you want to look good for your first meeting?” Unni asked. I nodded. “Well then LET’S GO!”
Eungyung unni dragged me into the building and we ran up the escalators 5 times. Finally, we reached the top floor, the office rooms and all that stuff are there I guess.
“Ready?” Eungyung unni asked when we were finally standing in front of the double wooden doors. I nodded. She pushed the door open and I stepped in, unni coming in after.
OMG
IT'S...[/i]