Star Performer

For a few seconds, time stopped. We weren't specifically kissing but none of us could react to the ongoing occurrence. The first to do so in the end was Jin Ho. He shoved me off and quickly got to his feet.

Feeling sorry afterwards, he reached out his hand to help me up, but I imagined the following scene:

After accepting Jin Ho's offered hand, he pulls me up with a lot of strength and I fall right into his arms, my lips touching his once again.

After thinking of such a possibility, I refused to accept his hand and got up on my own.

"Are you two okay?" The mister before us asked and we both replied: "Yes''.

Seeing the tension between us, he tried to ease the atmosphere by asking: "Aren't you hungry?"

"Not at all", we said in unison, but then, my stomach rumbled heavily, giving out the truth without my permission.

Jin Ho looked at me and chuckled. Feeling embarrassed, I asked myself: "Why did my stomach have to rumble at this time?"

I had my pride, yet I knew how serious my hunger could be hence I asked the mister before us: "Mister, is there any restaurant around?"

"Restaurant you ask, restaurant there is. Follow me", he replied enthusiastically.

In front of a typical neighborhood restaurant, a pretty woman in her forties was shouting on top of her voice. "Hey kids, stop running", she said but the recipients of her message didn't bother to listen to her words.

Seeing the mister with us, she quickly approached us and said: "Customer, you are welcome. What would you like?"

It seemed like he was a regular at this restaurant. The mister asked us: "What would you like?"

"Anything that can get me full", I replied.

"Anything tasty will do", Jin Ho added. At least, this time he said something different.

"Let's go in then", he said and welcomed us in. The restaurant wasn't a five star hotel's type of restaurant; rather it was a more locally standardized restaurant loved by most Koreans.

The woman in her apron came to us and the mister with us told her: "Madam, give us three servings of bulgogi, some steamed rice, lettuce leaves and perilla leaves to wrap the bulgogi. Also don't forget to pair it with some ssamjang (Korean BBQ dipping sauce) and some kimchi too."

"Do you like spicy kimchi or non-spicy kimchi?" The madam asked.

"Spicy", I replied.

"Non-spicy", Jin Ho said.

"Both, I guess", the mister said.

The table we sat on was rounded, but Jin Ho and I couldn't sit face to face. There was no way my meal would be enjoyable if we sat in such an arrangement. Hence, I made sure that I faced them both. That way, if I looked to my right, I would see Jin Ho but if I looked to my left, I would see the old yet not old looking mister. This helped me avoid any eye contact with Jin Ho at least before our meal was served.

There was one part of bulgogi that I loved so much: stir frying the beef, and the mister with us knew exactly when to take them off the fire for serving.

"Right, they are ready", he said and my watery mouth couldn't wait to get all chewy.

"Should I wrap them in perilla leaves?" He asked and I replied with a quick, "Yes."

"Then, here you go", he said and placed a wrapped bulgogi on my rice.

"Thanks", I showed my appreciation.

Suddenly, a female voice said: "Don't just eat the food, make sure to pay up this time."

"Alright darling, I will", the mister replied.

Jin Ho and I looked at each other and the man before us saw our expression.

"Don't worry. I know what you are thinking. She is my wife", he explained.

"Ah, your wife", I repeated. But then I started wondering: "Hold on, did he just refer to that young looking madam as his wife? How could he have such a young and pretty woman for a wife?"

Jin Ho was also thinking of something similar. He wondered: "What is this man's secret?"

Nevertheless, I was so engulfed in the food that I got a grain of steamed rice stuck to the side of my lips.

Jin Ho noticed this and tried to signal me to take it off but since I didn't want to make eye contact with him, I pretended as if I had seen nothing.

Hence, all of a sudden, he nudged forward and touched my lips.

"Is he crazy?" I wondered but could do nothing about it, just like before.

With quick reflexes, he flicked the grain of my lip and got into his previous position.

Yet, I didn't understand what was happening to me. Even when Min Ki whom I had dated for years hugged me or held my hand, I felt nothing, absolutely nothing. It was like holding hands with a friend but with this guy, it felt completely different.

As we were enjoying our bulgogi, I suddenly felt the need to visit the washroom. Hence, I excused myself from their midst and went to the female washroom. After stepping out, I overheard two women discussing something. They sounded like they were very distressed about something.

"What do we do then? There is no singer in the room", the younger woman told the older one.

"How could she pull out at the last moment?" The older one asked.

"What do we do about the promised event?" The younger one asked and the older one gave out a heavy sigh before saying: "Let's cancel it then."

Back at my seat, I wondered if I could help with the current situation but then, the mister with us brought my mind back to the meal.

"How's the meal?" He asked.

"It tastes great", I replied and Jin Ho added: "Wonderfully great."

"What a copycat", I badmouthed him in my mind.

The man then introduced himself. "So I am Jang Sik. What about you?" He asked.

"I'm Joon Jin Ho", he replied.

"Joon Jin Ho? You have such a nice name", Jang Sik complemented.

"I would rather say a very common one", I mentioned.

Jang Sik then asked: "What's your name miss?"

Tugging my hair behind my ear like a well trained lady, I softly replied: "I'm Amy Lee."

"Amy Lee?" He asked.

But then, a young guy who sat close to us, exclaimed: "Amy Lee?! Are you the famous Ailee?" He asked.

I quickly replied: "No, I'm not the singer. I just have that name."

"But you look like one who can sing very well", Jang Sik's wife said.

"What are these people trying to do?" I wondered. I could foresee where this was leading to.

Jang Sik's wife then made the expected approach. She asked: "Miss, can you sing for us?"

"Damn it", I said to myself.

The older woman from before appeared from nowhere and added: "That's right. We don't have a singer for the night and all of us here are old. If we could get a youngster to sing for us, then we would be so happy."

Recalling the conversation they just had, I felt a need to help them out. I wasn't the kindest of people, but I still knew when to butt in and when to back out.

"Alright, I will sing for you", I replied. Their faces lit up with joy as they kept saying: "Thanks a lot, miss."

So I got myself ready to sing, and my current mood was going to play a great part in my choice of song.

A man wearing a fancy suit climbed onto the podium in the restaurant and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, we promised a singing event for the night. It was nearly missed but then, we had an angel appear from midheaven. An angel with a voice sweeter than a musical instrument, a pitch higher than a bird's, and a tone as smooth as honey. Let us all make some noise for the amazing Amy Lee!"

The whole restaurant buzzed with excitement as everyone kept chanting: "Woo! Amy Lee! Amy Lee! Amy Lee!"

I was standing backstage, and all of a sudden felt nervous. This wasn't expected as I was someone who always entertained people but on this occasion, it seems like I just wasn't in the mood for it.

I muttered to myself saying: "It's been a century since I sang. Should I succumb or not?"

Despite all their chanting, no one was appearing on stage.

The MC then said: "It seems like she feels shy. Why don't we have someone else sing alongside her?"

A woman in the audience exclaimed: "Yeah, that's a good idea!"

And an old man raised his hand and said: "I will do it."

Everyone laughed at his proposal and the MC added: "Man really! You are too old to sing with such a young beauty."

Backstage, instead of thinking about my performance, I was rather pondering over the statement just made by the MC. Now I said to myself: "Did they just call me a young beauty? Well since they are insisting on my performance, then let's give them one of our special performances."

On stage, the MC asked: "Is there anyone who would volunteer to sing with Amy Lee?"

Since I wasn't still coming on stage, Jin Ho raised his hand. But before his hand could be high in the sky, I came on stage and everyone began to clap.

Three highschool boys seated behind Jin Ho were stunned when they saw me and they began to talk about me.

The first one said: "Wow, she's so beautiful. Hey guys, do you think she has a great voice?"

The second one replied: "Alright, let's bet on it. I say IU."

"Rosé from Blackpink", the third one added.

But the first one said: "Ailee herself."

"Ailee? Are you crazy?" The second asked the first.

Anyways, I had taken the stage now and was ready to sing.

Then miss, please sing any song of your choice for us. Although I was on the stage, I had not decided on which song to sing but before I realized, I had told the instrumentalists to give me the beat of Urban Zakapa's song: I Don't Love You.

It was a slow jam which reflected the pain I had felt earlier in the day. Due to the emotions I put into the song, I got everyone in the restaurant to wave their arms in the air.

Many were surprised at my heavy vocals and Jin Ho was quite fascinated by my performance.

The first highschooler told the others: "What did I tell you?"

"Wow, she is a replica of Ailee", the second said.

"And she's so pretty", the third added.

"Yes, she is", Jin Ho replied unknowingly. He had not realized it, but the look in his eyes revealed that my singing had completely mesmerized him.

As I was concluding, I let out a drop of tear which made the performance a perfect one and everyone got on their feet after I sang the last word.

"Woohoo! Encore! Encore! Encore!" They all chanted.

After singing that song, I felt relieved and now, I was in the mood for some partying. Hence, the genre of the song changed completely. It was a switch from R&B to Trot.

I said to the entire audience as the beat for trot music was dropped: "This time, I want everyone on their feet."

And so they did. Dancing in the old granny style, I had gotten all these old women and men back to their youthful times and before I started singing, they were already chanting: "Amy Lee! Amy Lee! Amy Lee!"

Finally, I started singing but didn't need to put in much effort since the beat of the song alone had gotten the grannies to sway their butts from side to side. And as an entertainer in the department store, this was a piece of cake. I knew what grannies liked, and it was nothing other than fun, lots of fun.

Seeing them clap their hands, dance and laugh made me feel important on a day I had nearly felt useless.

I must admit, coming to this town was not just a coincidence. It was one of the best moments of my life.