webnovel

Life is so colorful

Aera checks the time, which is 9.30 p.m., looks out the moon, and she also bought some veggies which is on the sofa table. When she checks the time again, 10 p.m. She decides to go out so she grabs her jacket.

When she came out, Jimin standing next to the side of the door. Both are staring at each other.

Jimin cooks while Aera sits on the bar stool. Aera begins quietly, "I thought you left without saying anything."

Jimin remembers, when he took the bus, looking at the money that Aera had given him. Suddenly he came to the realization 'You helped me and treated me a lot. So, I'll cook some food for you.' So he abruptly asks the drivers to stop the bus.

He smiled and asked, "Why didn't you learn to cook? Cooking is very easy."

"I deliberately don't want to learn to cook."

He asks, "Why?"

"I eat my mother's cooking very rarely. I lived in Gangnam when I was four years old with my father and mother. Then I live all alone." Aera expressed her worries.

She continued, "You know shaman (fore teller)?"

Jimin replied while he was cooking, "Yes."

"They said to my parents. If they are with me, my life will be in danger."

"So when I was five years old, I went to an orphanage for a few years. After that, I spent my middle school, high school, and college years in a hostel. I scarcely saw my mom and dad. I used to see them once a month, then once a year; but now I haven't seen them in four years. They just called once in a while."

"You can see empty containers in my refrigerator. My mom is aware that I don't know how to cook. So she brought me Kim-chi, Mu Saengchae (Radish Salad), Zucchini, Dried Squid, and other side dishes. But she hasn't cooked anything for me since few years. She has stopped looking at me"

"If I knew how to cook, she would never have come to see me, so I'm not going to try cooking," Aera says with a smiling face while her eyes welling up with tears.

When Jimin noticed, he distracted her by giving spoonful of soup to taste, "Taste this."

"Oh my god, it's so good, the taste is amazing."

"Like it…?" Jimin says with a smile, "Then try this as well." They happily ate the meal.

On her way to work, Bo-ra contacted Aera and told her, "Aera, tonight you should come," she urged sternly.

Aera answered, "Yes, certainly." Someone with a helmet on his head bumped into Bo-ra while she was on the phone.

Her phone fell to the ground; she turned back and shout "You crazy bastard." Then she turned around again and four people ran towards Bo-ra, she gave them a startling look and moved.

"Aish… Are they stupid? If they want to run and play, they must go to ground. Why here?" Bo-ra was searching her phone as she noticed a purse alongside it. She opened the purse; and there was the ID card of a man whose name was Chang Han-na.

"Whose wallet is this?" she wondered, recalling the helmet man who had bumped into her.

Bo-ra went to her work. Her senior asks "Can you get a copy of these files?" as she was working.

"Yes, Ms. Ye-jin," Bo-ra answered.

"Do you like working here?" Ye-jin questioned.

"Yes, I like it. They're all nice to me. I assumed there would be some bullying, but there is none."

"Here, too, bullying happened." Ye-jin whispered silently in Bo-ra's ear. "It's all done by one group called 'Thunder Boys,' and they, too, have a head. He sometimes rags seniors, too. So be careful with them." Bo-ra nodded off.

Bo-ra, Aera, and Jenny were dining together in a restaurant. "Why are we here?" Jenny begins. "You said the party was going to be at the club."

"I'm working for the National Media Organization now. With a hangover, how could I go to work?" said Bo-ra.

Jenny responded, "Aish, this is too much. How about we throw a party at Aera's house this weekend?" Jenny intrigued.

"No," Aera yells, "My house is so messy and unclean. I'm planning to clean my room this weekend."

"Hey, we know you always kept your room so clean, how could that happen?" Bo-ra and Jenny exchanged glance.

Aera gasped, "Due to stress."

"Why stress?"

"You know Eugene? She came back to our college" Aera explained.

Both Bo-ra and Jenny were shocked, "Eugene…! Principal's daughter. She is so annoying. What brought her back?"

Aera replied with a worried, "I, too, don't know. The principal has ordered that I work with Eugene on a sports festival. As a result of my stress, my room has become extremely cluttered."

"It's okay, we'll hold a party later. Give me a call if she does anything to you. I'll tear him apart," Jenny replied angrily.

"Yes, I too," said Bo-ra. Aera somehow tackled the problem.

Jenny noticed men's purse in Bo-ra's handbag and asked, "Hey, when did you start using men's purse?"

"That isn't mine. Someone missed it, so I'll hand over to the cops tomorrow," Bo-ra replied.

Jimin approached Aera while she was getting ready for college and said "I prepared breakfast."

Aera and Jimin were eating when Aera apologized. Jimin staring at her blankly.

Aera continues "Yesterday my friend's treat, I don't know how to reach you. When I came back you already slept."

Jimin replied, "It's okay."

Aera said, "Tomorrow I don't have work. You've been bored, why don't we go out?"

Jimin slowly tells her, "You helped me a lot, so it's my time to leave."

Aera suddenly placed the chopstick on the table. "Where would you go? Is there anywhere you could stay?"

With a shake of his head, Jimin said no.

Aera said, "Then why? You should stay here. I know you don't have money, so how could you possibly leave Korea? For the time being, find a job and work here. You leave when you have enough money to travel to other states... You understand, what I said? Now just eat."

In college, "Today's class is over; those who have not yet filed their reports, do so right away," Aera informed her students. When Aera walked out of the classroom, she was surprised to saw a woman. "Ahh…..Why is she here?" Aera asks as she turns around and enters the classroom again.

Again, look outside of the classroom, and she talked herself. "What am I going to do now? No, no…. This is not who I am. Now it's time to know whether I am still strong or have become weak." Aera came out of the room and the woman was nowhere to be seen.

She walked happily, and then the woman suddenly jumped in front of Aera. Aera jerked, "You startled me!"

The woman said, "You didn't expect me right."

Aera raising her voice, "Hey Eugene, we grown-ups don't do these kinds of stuffs."

Eugene laughed and said, "Why? You were scared to death? How pity. However, you were aware that you are going to assist me in a sporting event."

Aera said, "Yes, I know."

"You know what? I was the one who requested your involvement. I've been missing you a lot and would like to get a closer look at you. How is your brother? Still not getting any news?"

Aera get annoyed and shouts, "Hey Eugene, You have your family besides you, but that does not mean you are happy and I know very well about yourself. Don't pretend like you've everything." As she said, Aera walked away.

Eugene said, "She's never gonna change."

Jenny seems so disturbed in her restaurant. "Mam, why are you looking so down?" Jenny's labor-girl asked as she approached Jenny.

Jenny sounded depressed, "Nothing." The labor girl left. Jenny called her again and asked, "Do you know any spas that address anti-aging?"

The girl wondered, "Why mam?"

Jenny replied with a sad tone, "You know, I am young, but as you can see, there are some wrinkles on my face. That is something I wish to treat, or will I have to undergo some plastic surgery?"

The labor-girl advised, "No, plastic surgery is not a solution. It's all due to your stress."

"Oh, the stress. What am I gonna do now?" Jenny asked.

"Meditation and yoga. That will relieve your stress, and you will appear to be much younger," said by labor-girl.

"Okay, I am going to join yoga class and will become so young. Then no one will ever call me as aunty," said Jenny

Aera arrived at her apartment and saw that Jimin was not there. During their morning conversation, Jimin told Aera that it was time to leave, Aera remembers. She searched nearby stores for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"I told him to stay at my apartment. Why did he leave? What if the creditors beat him up?" she said sadly as she walked along the streets.

When she reached her flat, Jimin was waiting for her at the entrance. She angrily came toward Jimin, "I told you to just stay in my place. Where have you been? What if the creditors saw you?"

Jimin was staring at her eyes, "I got a job."

Aera shockingly looked at him, "What?"

Aera and Jimin are silently going through the street. "Sorry," Aera said.

Jimin responded with a smile, "I gave a thought to what you said in the morning. I need money if I want to leave the place. Nearby coffee shop, they were hiring part-timers. So I joined there"

"OK, I had planned on getting you a job at my friend's restaurant. But you already have a job."

"It's okay, you've already helped me a lot. And your friends still not aware of me, right? Jimin asked her. Aera shook her head.

"So it's kind of uncomfortable asking for me to your friend. That cafe shop assured me that I would be generously paid."

"Really" wondered Aera, "You cut your hair too and it looks good on you." On the drive to their apartment, they conversed.

The next day, Jimin and Aera went to the Cheonggyecheon light festival. Both of them spent the day admiring the lanterns. Aera and Jimin took snaps, ate food and enjoyed the lantern festival.

Aera sat on the stones on the sides along the stream; Jimin looking at her. "You seem to be very fond of this lantern festival," said Jimin.

She exclaimed happily, "Yes, I like it a lot. It's so colorful, this is how I want my life to be. But I didn't expect it to be that colorful this time."

"I, too, never thought life could be this colorful," Jimin said to himself as he stares Aera surprisingly. There was also a display of fireworks. Both were delighted.

Bo-ra enters the lift, accompanied by a man. He didn't notice Bor-a because he was engrossed in his phone. After a while, he was astonished when he spotted Bo-ra.

He remembered the encounter, when he ran into her. When he collided with her, he saw her, but she didn't because his face was hidden under the helmet. He then rushed to his gang members, of which there were five.

"Han-na, no one saw you, right?" one of them inquired. "If anyone, including our office worker, saw you. Our pride will be stripped away."

Han-na said with a haughtiness, "Hey, you know about me. I never made that mistake." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "No one saw me."

Both of them exited the lift, which was spotted by Senior Ye-jin.

"Is something happened to you, was he ragged you?" she asked. Bo-ra looks at her oddly.

"He is Han-na, the Thunder Boys' head," Ye-jin explained.

"Oh, the Thunder Boys. I didn't see his face at all," as she says she moved.

Suddenly Bo-ra remembered something and approached her, "What did you just say, his name?"

Ye-jin replied, "Chang Han-na."

"Chang Han-na…! He's the one on the ID card," Bo-ra recognized him and pursued him. "Mr. Han-na wait a minute," Bo-ra called his name loudly.

He noticed her, "She remembers me, what am I gonna do?" he quickly made his way downstairs. Bo-ra was following him, and suddenly he vanished.

Bo-ra gets tired, "Why did he flee so fast? I am tired, it's okay. He is also employed by this organization. I will find him soon."

On one evening, Aera takes a shower while Jimin watches TV. Aera's phone started to rang, and Jimin turned to see Aera's father on the other end of the line. "Aera, your father is calling," Jimin yelled.

Aera was overjoyed and ran outside with a towel. She grabs the phone from Jimin's grip and excitedly talks to her father. Jimin get flabbergasted that Aera's wearing a towel.

Aera continues, "Dad, how are you doing? I miss you both." "Can I come to our house, dad?" "Yes dad, okay," she hangs phone with a sad face.

"Thank you, Jimin," she says as she looks around for him, but he nowhere to be found. "Where he gone?" She looked down, startled because she's wearing a towel.

Aera getting ready for class, her face flushed from the previous day's event, as well as Jimin as.

Aera hesitantly suggested, "How about we stop by Jenny's restaurant? I still haven't mentioned you."

"You know lately, Aera doesn't come to my restaurant to eat. Maybe she's learning to cook," Jenny said over the phone to Bo-ra.

"It doesn't make sense. How could she cook? Maybe she's hiding something from us," Bo-ra said. Jenny exited her restaurant as she spoke when Aera and Jimin arrived.

Aera asked to labor-girl, "Where is Jenny?"

The labor-girl replied, "Jenny ma'am, now only left to yoga class."

"Yoga!" Aera sighed deeply.

While walking to Jimin's workplace, Aera said her goodbyes to Jimin and walked away silently. Jimin ran towards her, "Why don't we eat out tonight?"

Aera locks her gaze on him. Jimin continues, "I already got a job, but I didn't treat you properly. So today's night treat is on me, we will meet here, okay?" Aera shook her head, smiled.

Aera went in to angrily in Eugene's office room, "Eugene, why did you do that?"

Eugene said calmly, "What did I do? Oh…, yeah, that one."

"How did you say easily 'Oh…, that one?' Are you insane?"

Eugene suddenly stood up, "Aera, watch your mouth. I am your superior and the college's principal's daughter."

Aera shouted furiously "I'm just leaving you because of your father. Don't get on my nerves, again, Eugene. I won't slide it off next time."

"Don't you want our school to win?" Eugene yells again as Aera tries to left.

Aera turned back and approached Eugene "I, too, want to win madly, but it is not up to us. They are students not our slaves. We never ever have the rights to control over other lives."

Jimin waited for her a long time, but Aera didn't show up. So he headed to Jenny's restaurant.