Lovers in Seoul

»You don't love a woman because she is beautiful,

but she is beautiful because you love her« by Unknown

송희 woke up pretty late and had to rush to town. She was very troubled, didn't know where her head was. Not only did she have a major assignment at school, she also had a very important date with a certain someone at 1 o'clock. It was already 11. She found her watch, put it on and realized she only had few minutes to find the second stiletto as well as some untorn stockings. Her skirt was thoroughly crumpled, so she quickly ironed it with her hands. Her hair was messy, she tied it in a bun and soon after began cursing while frantically putting on the the only undamaged tights she had found. She uttered »How did I end up like that« when her uncut razor sharp toenail pierced through the fabric like a hot knife through a piece of butter. She instantly lost it. She pulled everything off and decided to go bare legged. By going over her the skin with the hand, she realized that she hadn't shaved her legs for a while, which made her utter another »damn«, but she didn't have time to even think about that. She just grabbed her purse, put on the shoes and rushed off, nearly jumping down the stairs, stumbling several times. She soon felt something was wrong with her shoes and by looking down she recognized that she put on two different ones, one with a visibly shorter heel. She could not return, because the bus on the other side of the road was already letting people in and she had to speed up her pace to catch it. She was lucky that day, the driver seemed to be in good mood, because he waited for her. All sweaty and messed up she started walking up the aisle trying to find an empty seat. There was none. So she stood there all by herself, with old women giving her mean stares, seemingly gossiping about her. She had no time to think about that either, all she cared about in that moment was that dreaded assignment. The bus suddenly stopped and her purse fell down, with a lipstick rolling down the aisle. Everyone stared. She blushed a little, but gracefully walked out. However once she had left the bus, she realized she had made a terrible mistake. She took the wrong bus and ended up in a totally wrong direction. She sat down on a bench at the station and started crying. She knew she can forget the assignment and she didn't feel like going on the date. She felt terrible and out of place. But somehow the thought of him calmed her, soothed her, gave her hope. She knew she had to meet him in that café that day, because she didn't have his number, nor his address. If she didn't meet him that day, she would probably never get another chance again. After all, Seoul is a big city. She decided to find her way back. She spotted the main road and hoped to get a better overview of the whole area. She could not walk well, so her pace was slow. It was 11.47 when she suddenly saw a subway station on the horizon. She knew she'll have to walk a long way, before she can ride that train to the guy, that made her heart flutter upon a mere thought. Her mind was wandering. And the train was, too. After seemingly endless 53 minutes she finally reached at Yeouinaru. She knew she was late and was nearly convinced that he had left already. But she wanted to be sure, she wanted to see, if that seat at the café is really empty. Half limping to the entrance, she saw someone through the door glass. Could that possibly be him? She wasn't sure. Maybe someone else took the spot, since it was already 27 minutes after 1 o'clock. She opened the door and slowly approached that famous table from the popular TV drama. It was him! She stopped for a second, took a deep breath and then voiced out a gentle »hello«. A hello with a trembling underlip, colored with fear and despair. She felt ugly and dirty, messy and lost. And in that moment she stood there like that in front of the man of her dreams.

»Hello 송희«, he said with a smile, stood up and offered her the seat. She sat down.
»You look beautiful today« he added, widened his smile and gently touched her hand.
She smiled, too. And then they had coffee.

[Photo by MKL, 2010, from Yeouido]