This Burns My Heart Page 0,108
couldn’t imagine why that would be a bad idea. “Yes. This will give us a chance to say a proper good-bye after we checked out so hurriedly. You have to let us thank you for your hospitality. I’m very glad I got to stay here. Meeting you has been so… instructive.”
Soo-Ja opened her guest book again and buried her head in it, trying to remain polite. “I appreciate the offer, but I don’t think I can go. I have a lot of shopping to do before I head to my parents’ for the long holiday.”
“Oh, Hana’s mother, aren’t you the least bit curious to see the house? It won’t take very long, just tea. Please, I know we had some… friction while I was here, but really I’m no monster. Give me an opportunity to prove that, and to make things up with you. I don’t want to end things on a sour note.”
Soo-Ja didn’t know what Eun-Mee truly had in mind, but she didn’t believe a word she had said. Nevertheless, Soo-Ja knew that their feelings for each other were more complicated than either would admit. Soo-Ja guessed that Eun-Mee hated her, but then hated herself for feeling hate, and tried to make it up to her. Eun-Mee wanted to dislike Soo-Ja, but for Soo-Ja to like her at the same time.
More important, Soo-Ja knew Yul would be at his house, of course, and try as she might, she could not really pass up the chance to be near him. If the only way to see Yul was to do so on Eun-Mee’s terms, then so be it. She’d keep her guard up, she told herself, and remember Eun-Mee’s old tricks. She called for Miss Hong and Min, and tried to ignore the confusion on Min’s face as she explained to Miss Hong her duties during their absence.
• • •
And so the four of them ended up meeting in front of the hotel to walk together to Eun-Mee and Yul’s new house. It was not very far, Eun-Mee explained, just four blocks west of the New World Shopping Center. It was too cold, actually, to walk, but the streets were alive with festivities related to the Lunar New Year, and they felt like losing themselves in the lively crowd. They looked well, too, Eun-Mee with her brown fur coat and Soo-Ja in a navy sweater with a low neckline and a camel’s-hair jacket. Both Yul and Min wore knee-length overcoats, Yul’s dark blue, Min’s gray with small white dots. Eun-Mee and Soo-Ja walked ahead of the men; at one point, Eun-Mee interlaced her arm around Soo-Ja’s, and smiled at her like a mischievous younger sister.
Seeing Yul again felt like an unexpected gift. Soo-Ja didn’t think it would happen so soon—if ever. Yul’s eyes seemed to say the same, a sort of bittersweet joy. Here they were, in this pas de deux, changing partners, trapped in a dance performance. Soo-Ja didn’t trust Eun-Mee, but she liked this part, all of them walking together—she liked the ordinariness of it. She imagined couples did this with other couples all the time, going out to coffee shops and restaurants, the men talking about business while the women discussed their health. She felt grateful, in a way, to Eun-Mee, for giving them a context in which they could interact—they were all friends, Eun-Mee seemed to have decided one day—and she was more than happy to play along.
They had been walking for about ten minutes when they saw a large crowd gathered in front of an impromptu stage set up by the entrance to Royal Park. On the stage were a group of four janggo street musicians performing traditional village music, meant to celebrate the harvest. They played loudly, like some ancient tribe—the intense beating of the drums made it feel as if some kind of old religious ritual were taking place, never mind the modern, concrete buildings behind them. The men wore traditional janggo costumes: a black robe held down by a yellow sash across the chest and a red belt around the waist, all made out of silk. They also wore loose white pantaloons, which matched the white bands strapped on their heads. There were four of them onstage, sitting cross-legged, one behind a cymbal, another behind a gong; the other two were behind large drums, one shaped like an hourglass, the other barrel-chested.
Soo-Ja was wondering if they were going to stay and listen to them, when Eun-Mee suddenly stepped forward gaily and