Forbidden (Chapter 4)

Here's more "Forbidden!" I'm so glad you guys are liking this story! it warms my heart!! I now have a new moderator, Kelly Lim, who has agreed to help me edit my chapters because I cannot spell for shit. (Though I blame most of what is misspelled on the Mac computers that i'm FORCED to use at school cuz that's all we have mostly. there's only like 1 or 2 pc labs....most are all macs. they need to die.)


ps- i got the information about the talent agency (modeling agency/whatever) from episode 5 of H.I.T. so no, i did not make that up. :3

Chapter 4

I met Su-Jung the next day at the park at 4:30. To excuse myself from "work" at 4, I told Mi-Young that I had a bad stomachache and thought it best not to go. "Really? You were fine in school today," she said, concerned. She was all dressed and ready to go. I, still in my school uniform (it was Monday), lay on my bed and clutched my stomach and grimaced, "I think it was something I ate at lunch today. It's not sitting right."

"All right," she said. "I'll tell the boss--"


"No," I sad sharply. "If he does ask, then just tell him I have a stomachache and I thought it best not to come in today. That's if he asks though. If he doesn't then just don't say anything ok?" She looked at me, wondering why I was acting so strange, but nodded and said she won't say anything.


Then she left for work, leaving me totally alone. I waited ten minutes and looked out the window and saw her climb into a cab and leave. I quickly changed into jeans, a black sweater, and ankle-high zip up high heeled boots. I ran a hand through my hair...then just threw it up into a ponytail, grabbed my purse and jacket out of the closet, house keys, money, and headed out the door, immensely grateful that Mi-Young's parents were both out working and wouldn't be home until really late. I hailed a cab, gave the driver the address to the park, and made it with 10 minutes to spare.


I paid the driver and got out and searched for Su-Jung. I found her sitting at one of the benches under a bare tree. She smiled and waved when she saw me and I quickly ran to her. This time she was wearing much more sensible clothing for winter, consisting of jeans, sneakers, a cream-colored turtleneck-sweater, gloves, and a black thigh-length trench coat. Her hair was down and fluttered in the breeze, and her cheeks and nose were a rosy pink from the cold.
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting long," I said in Korean, once I reached her (I was getting better at it. Yay me!). She shook her head. "No, I just got here myself." We stood making small talk for a while, then the two of us headed to a nearby cafe.


"I hope you don't mind," said Su-Jung as we took our seats at a table near the window. "I called the manager and told him to meet us here."
"Oh no, I don't mind at all," I answered smiling. A waiter came and asked for our order. Su-Jung ordered ginseng tea while I ordered hot chocolate. The waiter bowed and left the two of us to continue making some small talk....however awkward and somewhat difficult that would be.


"So, Kimi," started Su-Jung, "Where were you living before you came to Korea? Judging from your slight accent, you don't sound like you're from around here....as well as your name."


I stared at her, for some reason annoyance slithering within me. Did she really have to say it like that? To me, she sounded haughty and stuck up, or maybe it was just me getting annoyed because I've been trying my hardest to lose my accent and it irked me that she noticed. Let's go with the second part.


"Um...well, I actually came here from Canada not that long ago," I said, playing with my silverware. I glanced up at her and saw her nod and open her mouth to ask another question.


"What made you decide to move to Korea? Did you move with your parents?"


I felt my stomach tie itself in knots. I had hoped she wasn't going to ask the tough questions but....


I steeled myself and looked at her and replied, "No...I decided to move by myself--"


"But you don't look older than 17--"


"It was my choice!" I barked. She stared at me, looking somewhat scared. Well, she's the one who stared asking me the hard questions...shouldn't she get yelled at? I sighed in frustration and continued to play with my silverware and was relieved when the waiter came back and gave us our drinks.


"Look," I said, "I'm sorry for yelling....I'm just not all too comfortable talking about my personal life--I mean...with my family and all--so I'd appreciate it if we don't get into that." I looked at her, expecting her to continue asking me questions, but she didn't. Instead she nodded and took a sip of her tea.


"I understand," she told me. "There's a girl at the agency who doesn't really like to talk about her family either. Though from what I've heard, her father and mother divorced, leaving them neck deep in debt and her mother's never home to see her."


Wow...and I thought I had it rough. I suppose I should count my blessings then....I took a sip of my hot chocolate and nearly seared my tongue off. I dropped my beverage on the table and clutched at my mouth. HOT!! HOT!! HOT!! REALLY HOT!!! OMG!! Su-Jung stared at me with amusement twinkling in her eyes.


"Careful," she told me after I had swallowed my boiling lava of hot chocolate, "It's hot." I rolled my eyes at her and glared. "Just wait 'til you drink your tea," I threatened. She continued to smile at me but said nothing when her cell phone rang. She sifted through her purse and, after checking the caller-ID answered with a perfect smile and a warm "Yobosaeyo!" I assumed the Manager was calling. She stayed on the phone for about 3 minuted, hung up, looked at her watch and said to me, "The Manager will be coming shortly and he apologizes for being late. He hopes you understand."


"Oh, that's not a problem," I reassured her. "I have plenty of time to spare; he doesn't need to rush." She and I smiled at each other and continued making small talk (and avoiding the subject of families in general). Ten minutes later the Manager came, and she and I stood up and bowed to him in welcome. He took up a seat and sat down at the table and introduced himself. His introduced himself as Charlie Park (omg, yay! A name that doesn't sound uber foreign and I can actually pronounce without being hesitant of the pronunciation!!) and that he owned a talent agency called EGM Talent Agency where they taught young girls basically the things they need to learn to make it big in either the modeling agency or other things. But they mostly focused on Modeling. Mr. Park wore an all black suit, with a white tie, and a Rolex watch on his wrist. He looked to be about in his mid 30s and had short hair.


Mr. Park looked at me after Su-Jung had introduced me to him and said in completely perfect English, with a smile, (ANOTHER POINT! YAY! I CAN SPEAK MY LANGUAGE!) "So! You are interested in honing your beauty to become a model, are you?"


I blinked and answered sheepishly,"Huh? Oh....no no. I'm not much for modeling. I figured I could, y'know....help the staff carry around equipment and things. I'm one of those people who like to work in the background rather than be in the spotlight...."


"Why not? You already have the face for it! You might as well try it. Who knows, you might even like it," he encouraged. I looked at Su-Jung.


"Don't worry," she said in Korean. "You don't have to if you don't want to. Do what you're comfortable with." I smiled and addressed Mr. Park.


"Thank you for the compliment, Sir, but...I think I'd much rather stick to what I'm good at: which is staying in the background." Mr. Park nodded and said, "All right. If you're sure....well, for your work, of course I will pay you, you know that right?" I nodded.


"May I ask how much?" I inquired. He took a napkin from the table and a pen out of his blazer breast pocket and wrote down an amount and handed it to me. I looked at it and nearly choked on my hot chocolate. It was a lot!!!


"But wait," I said, looking up at him. "This is Hong Kong Dollars isn't it?" He nodded. "How much would that be in Won?" I asked. He took back the napkin, calculated, and handed it back to me again. I looked at him. "This is still a lot," I said. I asked if I could use his pen and he handed it to me and I converted the amount to Canadian Dollars. It was about the average pay for an equipment manager!! I stared at the napkin and its many calculations, pondering.


"Are you interested?" asked Mr. Park. I looked up at him and said with confidence, "Yes, Sir. I'd like the job."

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I came home feeling both a ecstatic and very, very sad. I had taken the position in Hong Kong, meaning I would get money and be able to live.....on the other hand, I would have to move out of Korea and go to China. Which meant, possibly another language for me to learn (omgwtfbbq?!)....but Mr. Park said basically everyone in Hong Kong speaks English, so I should be able to get by. But there is also that little problem with telling Mi-Young's parents that I'm going to China....and the fact that I had been lying to them for the past couple of days so they wouldn't worry. Ooh man, I am in trouble!


I went to Mi-Young's room and placed my purse onto my bed and threw myself into the cushiony-softness, and buried my face into my pillow. How was I going to tell them? I looked at my clock and saw that it was 6:30....Mi-Young didn't get home until 9 and her parents didn't get home until and hour later. That gave me 2 and a half hours to think of something until Mi-Young gets home and 3 and a half until her parents get home. I started thinking of the best possible way to break the news to them without having them go all nuclear-war on me. (Not that I thought they would but, I....I HATE lying to people who have been nice to me!!)


I must have thought for those 2 and a half hours because I heard the slamming of a car door and I knew Mi-Young was home by the way she jubilantly exclaimed, "I'm home!" and ran upstairs. Thankfully, I had changed into my pajamas a long time ago, and was snuggled into bed. When she entered, looking slightly tired, I waved at her and smiled.


"How's your stomach feeling?" she asked me. I shrugged. "A little better I guess. Did the Boss ask you anything?" I asked. She shook her head.


"No, which was weird. But the others did. I told them you had a stomachache and they wished you will get better and hope to see you tomorrow."


My stomach clenched. Right, the others didn't know I got laid off because I didn't tell them. Christ. I took a deep breath and decided to just tell her what came to mind...cuz I hadn't thought of anything during that time of her absence. (Aren't I just soo smart?!)


"Um, listen, Mi-Young?" I started. She had changed into her own pajamas and was (once again) on the computer. She looked at me as if expecting me to start vomiting right then and there.


"Are you ok? Do you want anything?" she asked. I shook my head and said, "Actually....there's something I need to tell you." I glanced at her and saw her expression change from one of concern to absolute panic.


"OMG, you're not pregnant are you?!" she shrieked and sat down next to me and put her arm around me and started comforting me in a mixture of Korean and English.


"No, no, no! I'm not pregnant!! Jeez, calm down will you?" I reassured her. Then I changed my tone of voice and told her flat out that I had lost my job at the restaurant and had spent all of yesterday trying to look for another one and that I had found one already. She stared at me for a long time.


"I didn't want you to worry about me, so...that's why I didn't tell you I had been laid off," I said, looking at her pleadingly, hoping she would understand. "You and your family have done so much for me already, I didn't want to be a burden for you all."


"Who says you would?! I would have helped you in a heartbeat!!" she yelled at me. I cringed. "I would have gladly helped you! But no, you didn't want my help! Obviously, asking for help would be too much of a hassle for you!"


"That's not what I meant!" She huffed in response and looked out the window. We were silent for 5 minutes and she finally said, "Where's this new job of yours?" I bit my lip, stalling for time. "Where?!" she prompted relentlessly.


"Hong Kong," I said and braced myself for another yelling spree. To my surprise it didn't come. Instead she looked at the clock and told me that her parents had called her to let her know that they will be coming home sooner than they usually do and that I will have to tell them on my own. I asked when they will be coming and she said in 10 minutes. Crap.


Ten minutes later they entered the house to find myself and Mi-Young sitting on the couch. We greeted them both and asked them to sit down and that I had something important to tell them. I then launched into the story of how I had been laid off from my job, and how I had found a new one and blah, blah, blah, basically repeated everything I had said to Mi-Young to them. They looked at me and I saw that her mother held a look that I thought might be understanding while her father looked kind of....disappointed.


"Are you angry with me?" I asked. "I know I shouldn't have gone behind your backs and lied to you but I didn't want you to worry about me. I mean, you've done so much for me already...I just couldn't." I felt like crying. Her parents nodded as if they understood my reasoning and then her father looked at me.


"Where is this new job of yours?" he asked in Korean. I answered Hong Kong and they both stared at me. Her father nodded solemnly and said, "Very well. Good luck in Hong Kong." He then stood up and looked at me and added, "But don't come to us when you fail. You said you didn't tell us you got fired because you didn't want to be a burden to us. Always having to worry about you would be a burden don't you think? So, good luck in Hong Kong, don't do anything stupid, and don't come to us if you fail." I sensed Mi-Young and her mother look at the head of the family, alarmed.


"I will allow you to stay here until you are ready to go to Hong Kong, but after that you are on your own. Do you understand?" I nodded and he left to go to sleep. I saw her mother try and speak to him as he passed her to go up the stairs but he ignored her. Mi-Young on the other hand, rushed behind him and, with tears in her eyes, pleaded with him to reconsider opening his home for me if I do fail. He ignored her too.


I was left alone in the living room gathering my thoughts. It could have been worse, I reasoned. He could have thrown me out of the house right then and there in my pj's. I went to bed that night no longer feeling excited about my new job....but now feeling empty, like I had felt on the day I first arrived to Korea.