Chapter 8

I had some time between lunch and my next class so I went to the computer room to check my email. Apparently, it took about 10 days to get something as simple as DSL installed so we were still waiting for it to be turned on at home. I logged on to my email account to find that I had 120 new messages. After deleting all the spam, I was left with about 8 real messages; 1 from Il Woo, 1 from Tae Ran, 1 from Na Young, 1 from Young Hee, my brother's girlfriend (WTF?), and 4 from Min Ki. Seeing his name in bold black letters made me feel all gooey inside so I quickly clicked on the first email. It was funny how I didn't realize how much I missed him till I saw his name.



Date: 6 August 14:27:03
From: "Ha Min Ki"
Subject: Guess who?
To: "Oh Su Jin"



Jinnie,

How was your flight? I am quite sure that you're on the plane at this very moment but I just wanted to send this email to you so that it would be the first thing you read once you arrived in America. Take to you soon.


Missing you already,
Oppa.

---



I smiled. How sweet. I could picture him smiling and writing the email as he anticipated my reaction to it. I felt a little sad that I wasn't able to get to it sooner but that only meant that I had 3 more emails to read, right? I clicked on the next one.





Date: 8 August 01:15:42
From: "Ha Min Ki"
Subject: Guess who again?
To: "Oh Su Jin"



Hey Jinnie,

You should have arrived by now. I thought you would have emailed me by now but I guess you're still settling in. What is America like? Is it like Seoul? Does everything just seem more expensive? Does it look like it does in the movies? Have you witnessed a drive-by shooting yet? Make sure you take care of yourself. Well, email me as soon as you can just so I know that you're alright. Okay?


Yours,
Min Ki





---



My upturned lips immediately changed position. Stupid Verizon DSL! Why did they have to take so long to turn the stupid service on? Was it really that hard to just hit a button? What was with the whole production? Did Min Ki oppa deserve to worry about me so much? I clicked on the next email with trepidation.



Date: 9 August 22:58:31
From: "Ha Min Ki"
Subject: America must be fun!
To: "Oh Su Jin"



Su Jin,

I guess you haven't been able to reply because you're having so much fun. I'm so jealous. I called the airline and they said that your plane arrived safely. I'm so glad that you're okay. Well, I guess you can email me when you get time. Take care.

Ha Min Ki



---



My heart sank further. From the tone of his email, I could already tell that he was mad at me so I prayed that he'd be understanding when I tried to explain it all to him. I thought about it then reprimanded myself for my foolishness. Of course, he'd be understanding, after all, he was my Ha Min Ki. Feeling a bit more positive, I clicked on his last email.



Date: 12 August 15:48:56
From: "Ha Min Ki"
Subject: I'm sorry
To: "Oh Su Jin"



Jinnie,

I was just thinking and I hope that you're not being punished because of what I did at the airport. It was just that I felt that sneaking around made it look like we were ashamed of being together and you know that I can never be ashamed of you. If you're suffering because of something I did, I really apologize. Tell me what I can do to fix it. I emailed Dong Won but he hasn't emailed me back. I wonder what that means. Is he angry about what I did? Anyway, contact me whenever you have time – my number is still the same.

Love,
Oppa.



---



I exhaled then smiled again. Although I hated that he'd begun to blame himself for my silence, I was glad that he'd figured out that I wasn't just ignoring him. Yes, he'd come to the wrong conclusion but that was fine with me. I quickly logged on to Instant Messenger to find him but he wasn't logged on. I did some calculations and realized that he was probably asleep because it was very early in Seoul. I paused for a few moments to collect my thoughts then hit the 'reply' button.



Date: 14 August 12:48:19
From: "Oh Su Jin"
Subject: I miss you loads!
To: "Ha Min Ki"



Oppa,

How are you? I'm so sorry I haven't been able to get in touch with you. We arrived safely but I've not been able to contact you because we don't have any internet connection at home yet. I should be getting my cell phone service sometime this week so I'll email my number as soon as I get it.

How are your parents? And your sister? I hope everything is great at home. Don't feel bad about what happened at the airport – my parents were pretty cool about it. I guess they don't mind since you're so far away! biggrin.gif I think they think that if I remain faithful to you, then they don't have to worry about American boys. Silly. Like I'll ever look at American boys when I have you. But anyway, I am sure that they fully support us so don't worry about the airport – you did a great thing! It was so romantic - I felt like the damsel being rescued by the knight. See? There's nothing wrong with reading romance novels.


So far, my school has been pretty okay even though it's only the first day. Everyone I have met so far has been great and I'm not having any trouble communicating or anything. I don't know why it was so scared. I attend an international school so I get to meet loads of people from all over the world and I don't feel like the odd one out or anything. I have class soon so I'll write you a super long email later.

I hope you reply soon and I can't wait till I can hear your voice again. America would be so much more fun if you were here with me. Talk to you later.

Love,
Jin.









***



I stared at my pen and almost blank sheet. I'd had chemistry, art and math before lunch so it hadn't been that difficult to follow what the professors were saying because they wrote the equations or drew as they spoke so all I needed to do was look at the chalkboard and copy.

But in the last 40 minutes my history teacher had been speaking and dictating notes, I hadn't been able to get down more than a few lines. Part of it was that she was speaking like a cowgirl so it was pretty hard to follow her and the other part was because I had difficulty translating what she said to written words. I was still having a relatively hard time trying to think in English so I wouldn't waste time translating everything I heard to Korean first, understanding it, coming up with a response in Korean, translating it back to English then speaking. Tom had explained that the best way for us to learn to be fluent was to start thinking in English. Other than saving time, it also reduced the chances that the person you were speaking with would peg you as someone with a mental disability.

I listened as she dictated some more notes but every time I'd just about figured out what to write, she was already on the next paragraph. I growled in frustration and dropped the pen. I didn't want to give up but I didn't know what other options I had. Was I about to flunk this class?

"Alright, kids, that will be all for today," Miss Saunders said as she snapped her book shut. She was a dirty blonde with a slightly chubby physique but I could understand why some guys would be attracted to her – she had the kind of worldly demeanor that let everyone know that she was so adventurous that she'd probably try anything twice.

I packed my books and followed the rest of my class towards the door. As I walked past her desk, I got an idea so I stopped and walked over to her.

"Good afternoon, Aju—I mean, Good Afternoon, Ma'am."


She looked up and smiled. "Su Jin Oh?" she asked, pointing her pen at me.

I nodded. "Yes, Ma'am."

"So what can I do for you?"

I took a deep breath in then jumped in. "Would it be possible for me to get your notes after class? I'm having some trouble following you and I was hoping I could get a copy from you after each class so that I can read them at home."

Miss Saunders silently stared at me for a few moments then blinked rapidly. "Can you please repeat that?"

I did as she requested but said it twice as slowly. Maybe she could only understand cowboy English?

She distorted her face for a few moments, sighed then nodded. "Okay, I think I got that. You want to get notes from me?"

I nodded.

She apologetically shook her head. "I don't think that would be fair to the other students. If I give you my notes, then I might as well give it to them too, don't you think?"

It was my time to stare at her but this time, in disbelief. What was so hard about giving notes to a student whose mother tongue wasn't English?

She must have read my thoughts because she looked at me closely then asked which country I came from.

"Korea"

"You've only just arrived in the States?"

I nodded. "We came last week."

She raised her brow. "I see. Alright, I'll think about it and see what I can come up with. See me at the end of Wednesday's class."



***

"Fob," I heard someone say the second I stepped out the classroom. I turned around to find myself staring at a camera. I hissed and continued walking. I really wasn't in the mood to hear more boy names.

"Hey, hold up! Don't you remember me? We just met at lunch. I'm Ryan," he yelled, running to catch up with me. "What class do you have next?" From the corner of my eye, I could tell that the camera was still pointed at my face.

I stopped walking and turned to him. "What's your problem? And my name is not Fob."

"Sorry, Su Jin." He dropped the camera a few inches so that I could see him. I scrunched my nose and took a good look at him. Hmm… he really did look better without that camera glued to his eye. He had a nicely defined jaw and pretty good nose and if I squinted hard enough, he reminded me a bit of Il Woo.

"Can you help me out a little?"

I looked away but didn't leave.

"These first few days are crucial. By next week, your opinion wouldn't be as authentic. I just want to know what you think of the school so far. So can you please answer a few questions?" he begged, lifting his camera back to his eye level.

I covered the lens and shook my head. "Sorry," I said before picking my feet and continuing my journey towards my locker. It certainly wouldn't hurt to make a new friend but even though I pretended not to care, I was slightly affected by what Ali has said about my clothes. Did I really want a permanent record of my outfit?

"Fob," he called a few seconds later. "Will you do it if I lent you my history notes? And any other notes you might need?"

His words were like lead to my feet and I stopped abruptly. I turned to him in amazement. "You are following me? You were spying on me?"

"Hey," he said, his face suddenly darkening a shade, "I only want you for my documentary. Mark Williams hasn't shown up yet and the Okwu person has already rejected me. I just need a newbie's unbiased view of this school. So don't flatter yourself." He frowned. "And I wasn't spying on you – I just overheard. So why can't we make a mutually beneficial deal? I'll lend you my notes in exchange for a few minutes of your time. Then you can forget I even exist."

It was only the first day of school and someone was already promising to disappear from my world? That had to be some kind of record. I thought about it. It would be nice to get some notes but I didn't know if I was going to experience the same difficulty in other classes plus I already had things sorted out with Miss Saunders. And I could probably get other notes from Ali. Plus, didn't the camera add like 10lbs? I shook my head. "No, thanks."