It must be March 20 in Asia now.
–> My brave attempt at drawing a phoenix. lol.
I took the liberty of choosing a venue for our birthday party. Since we’re all dressing up in our evening gowns and tuxedos, and sharing our Pulitzer prize-winning stories of our first meetings with our Drama Boyfriends, I’ve chosen the Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland.
My husband and I love visiting old libraries and this is one of the most beautiful ones we’ve seen. The venue can be rented for weddings after hours.
Like this one.
credit: https://artfulweddings.com
There’ll be dancing afterwards so bring your dancing shoes.
I’m posting your story here, Phoenix, and a gif from “Howl’s Moving Castle.”
My Love Story, also known as ‘Fate of the Phoenix’
Do you know why I’m called Phoenix? Because the phoenix represents transformation and renewal, like the mythological bird that rises from its ashes with renewed youth. Today on the eve of my birthday, I want to confess that I have an ailment. For one week of the month, I transform from my normal age and take on the appearance of an old woman (no, this doesn’t mean I forgot to color my hair again :P). On the eighth day, I wake up in the morning and find I’m back to my original age and my skin is without wrinkles again (even without using those revolutionary K-beauty creams!).
I’m not sure what caused this condition, but the first time this happened was in my early twenties, just after I nearly drowned. I was trying to save a boy who had fallen into a river and went under water myself somehow. Coincidentally, there was an eclipse that day. I lost consciousness and remember waking up on a hospital bed, wondering how I got there. I learned later that I was saved by some passing fisherman, but I was never the same afterwards.
Soon I realized that my body became old overnight for the last week of every month, and somehow renewed itself the next week. I knew there was no cure for my condition and neither could it be disclosed to my boyfriends (my immediate family of course knew and were forced to adjust). For the last week of the month, I started staying strictly at home, and always wondered if my truluv (**heart eyes**) would accept me with this glaring malaise. I fantasized about my favorite anime hero, the dashing Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, who falls in love with the heroine despite her old appearance. I had almost given up all hope of finding my perfect boyfriend when lo and behold, a miracle happened!
To be continued….
Here’s the continuation.
I was travelling to Switzerland last November, having managed to save some money by working hard at my job. Seeing the Alps would be my dream come true, I thought. But there was a catch. I got leave approval for only the last week of the month! After mentally calling my boss some very unflattering names, I decided to plan my travel in such a way that I reach Zurich and check into my rented apartment in Murren, an Alpine village, before the start of the last week, so that no one is wiser about what happens to me on the last week.
I got on my flight and was overjoyed to find that I had been upgraded to business class! I settled into my plushy seat and was happily starting to doze when I suddenly noticed the airlines cabin crew paying special attention to the suited gentleman seated next to me. I looked at him and found his face to be somewhat deadpan, though he looked like he hailed from that fabled land of fairy tales and eye candies, South Korea. He was reading a book, and I thought I’ll leave him to it and take a nap. I don’t know for how long I slept, but when I woke up, I realized that my head was on someone’s shoulder! I looked up to see it was my neighbor in the adjacent seat who was looking distinctly uncomfortable at his predicament. I apologized profusely and thanked him for being so courteous as not to have woken me up. We started talking and I realized he was no ordinary person but See Do-Jae, the owner of that airline chain (a legitimate chaebol!!), which explained the airline staff trying their best to keep him happy. As we chatted, I found that we had a lot of things in common, like shared interests, similar values and same passion for life. As my heart fluttered, I kept thinking: if only I was normal, if only he could somehow understand…….
We landed at our mid-way layover, Paris, which was supposed to be just a three-hour halt. Do-Jae insisted that we go together to his airline’s lounge and have some light refreshments while we wait for our connecting flight to Zurich. As I was enjoying our conversations a little too much and my heart was loathe to part with him so soon, I agreed. While we were enjoying glasses of wine in the lounge, a few anxious looking airlines officials came and informed Do-Jae that the connecting flight had developed a snag and would be delayed by another nine hours. I suddenly realized that this would mean the midnight would be over and the last week of the month would start! I somehow managed to escape Do-Jae in the nick of time by making an excuse to visit the restroom.
In the restroom cubicle, I watched the skin on my fingers get slowly wrinkled, the veins stand out, and felt my shoulders sag with the weight of years. My dream was over and I was back to my cold, harsh reality now. Don’t get me wrong – I like myself in both my old and my young forms as inside I am the same me, but I doubted then that the man of my dreams would accept this.
As I exited the restroom in my aged form, I realized I’m still hungry as in my excitement of meeting Do-Jae, I had just had too many glasses of wine and not enough food! I rushed to the nearest patisserie and helped myself to some macarons and madeleines to cure my heartache (because I firmly believe good food cures everything :P). In the middle of eating, I looked up to see Do-Jae standing in front of my table, gazing at me with his deadpan face, but with some indefinable emotion in his eyes that made them look all soft and melty. Imagine my surprise when he called me by my name and asked me why I had run away so abruptly! But how could this be? Only I knew I was Phoenix! How could he know that I was the same woman he had met earlier? I hinted to him that my appearance may have changed and wanted to know how he knew me. He said he had been in an accident a few years back which robbed him of his powers of recognizing faces. He just knew people by their mannerisms, their personality and the essence of their presence.
He said: “That is how I knew you, Phoenix. It doesn’t matter how you look now or how you looked before, what you wear or how your hair looks. What I can just see is your heart, your spirit, and the soul inside that is always you. I can only see the beauty inside you and I think I want that in my life.”
And I knew I had finally found my truluv, the one fated for me……the one who was able to see beyond my changing façades and recognize the real, unchanging me inside.
I’ll also transfer everybody’s stories here later.
Let our virtual celebration for Phoenix’s birthday begin! 🎂 🎁 🎈🍾🍹🥳
(And take that, Coronavirus!)
Happy Birthday Dearest @Phoenix !!! 😘😘😘
🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂
There’s your birthday cakes incase I forget later because my boyfriend will just grab my attention for sure. 😍😜
Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland.
Wow! That looks amazing! 😍
I feel like I’m Cinderella though because I have to clean now before I can attend the party. 😂
Laters!!!
@Woohoo! My birthday has started already 🎊🎊 Thank you, @packmule3 for that post wishing me🎉🎉
I love the venue – libraries are my all time favorite places to visit, next only to museums (where one cannot hold celebrations, of course)! That library in Baltimore looks perfect for our party!!
It’s early morning here and I woke up to find this post, which made me so happy instantly 😍😍
Ooh those birthday cakes are delicious, @agdr03..I just tried one😍😍 Thank you for your wishes..huggss🤗🤗🤗 I’m waiting for Arihsi’s hummus (because I love falafel with hummus) and Snow Flower’s exotic quinoa with mangoes..yummy!
I’m going to air my evening gown, get my high heels ready, and come back to post the rest of my love story soon☺️☺️
This party made my day – virtual birthday party in the time of Coronavirus 🎉🎉🎈🎈
Happy birthday! Enjoy the soup and soju. I posted the conclusion of my story on the invitation thread.
@Snow Flower: Thanks for the wishes 😊 The seaweed soup is lipsmackingly good! I’m going to eat a few more pieces of cake before teying tje sohu because I find soju a bit too potent.
Sorry in my earlier post, I meant @Barbrey’s quinoa with mangoes 😛
Bring on the food, because what’s a party without food and wine!🥂🥂🥂
See you all in a while with your boyfriends and girlfriends 🎉
Happy birthday, Phoenix!
As stated in the article, I wanted to write a quick story.
Unfortunately, I had too many ideas.
This makes it more like the first episode of a drama.
However, I kept the principles that were requested.
As far as I’m concerned, since I’m a man, of course it will be a girlfriend!
The actress of my dreams: Park Ha Na.
As a joke, I’m taking Lee MinHo instead of me as the male lead.
For once, a Lee MinHo not only handsome, but very lively 😉
Concerning the tropes, it’s full of them to the brim!
It almost looks like a Kim Eun Sok scenario!
The story has some secrets…
In fact, I have the general plan of the plot.
But to write the whole thing would be too long!
————————————————————————
#01 – Seoul Avenue, Gangnam Uptown, day.
Lots of cars, a traffic jam.
A luxury sedan is stuck in traffic.
Driver’s seat, a man in a driver’s suit, spotless.
He winces and honks the horn.
(Pon-Pon-Pooon!)
DRIVER – … (sighing)
He puts his finger on his GPS, and scrolls through some information.
In desperation, he turns slightly backwards.
DRIVER – I’m sorry, miss. It’s gonna take at least another half hour.
Rear passenger, a young woman of incredible beauty.
Ha Na, 32 years old, sweet face, sensitive eyes.
Perfect makeup, high-end hairdo, luxury clothes.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/2gVl6NnJB54/maxresdefault.jpg
HA NA : (Disappointed, she looks at her watch, and becomes worried.)
HA NA – How far away are we?
DRIVER – Three kilometers, miss.
She grabs a bag from the seat next door, and a flat, rectangular object wrapped in cardboard.
She gets out of the vehicle, while the driver panics.
DRIVER – Miss! Miss!
Ha Na starts trotting among the passers-by.
A bag with a shoulder strap, a flat cardboard object under her arm.
A sad and anxious gaze.
#02 – Cheadol Group, large executive office, day.
On the walls, a large number of contemporary art paintings.
Some of them are very expensive, like a painting by Nicolas de Stael, or another one by Francis Bacon.
https://imagenes.museothyssen.org/sites/default/files/styles/width_600/public/imagen/obras/1961.12_paisaje-mediterraneo.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gs2eaVbly4s/TPx16igd4uI/AAAAAAAAAH0/LU4ETrviP8g/s1600/francis-bacon.jpg
A man in a suit is standing in front of a desk, waiting.
On the desk, another man’s hand is signing a document on a sleeve.
Solid hand, signet ring with a dragon effigy, luxury watch.
Once signed, the man in front of the desk retrieves the pouch and closes it.
Sitting behind the desk, MinHo, 30 years old.
Handsome, cold, sophisticated, dark eyes, designer suit.
https://pm1.narvii.com/6881/b677ec0a0e2f26bc50aab2366dff68e9d1dc6381r1-720-900v2_hq.jpg
MINHO – You liquidate this in time, don’t wait for the rates to drop.
MANAGER – Yes, President.
MINHO – Margin of 20% minimum.
MANAGER : (surprised and anxious)
MANAGER – Yes, President.
MINHO : (He looks slowly at the paintings hanging on the wall.)
MANAGER : (waiting still)
MINHO – What about my personal investments?
MANAGER – I got you an immediate appointment at your gallery, President.
MINHO – (annoyed) And you’re only telling me now?!
MANAGER – Sorry, President. I just got the information.
MINHO : (He looks at the manager suspiciously and threateningly.)
MANAGER – (Scared, lower his head) Your mother made the appointment.
MinHo suddenly becomes angry, teeth clenched, big eyes.
He sweeps everything on his desk with his hand.
All this junk is thrown violently and falls noisily on the floor!
The manager looks desperately at the floor, full of fear.
MANAGER – Do you want… Do you want me to cancel, President?
MINHO : (staring, frozen face, takes a breath)
MINHO – (cruel smile) No.
#03 – Gangnam uptown, sidewalk, day.
Ha Na walks very fast, and trots from time to time.
A passerby jostles her, she hurts briefly, but continues on her way.
PASSER – (unkind) Can’t pay attention, huh?
She walks away, upset and her eyes moist.
She checks her watch, anxious and looks around.
There are two possible directions.
She hesitates, then chooses the left sidewalk.
In front of her, at the other end of the sidewalk, a man is walking towards her.
Lee Wan, 28 years old, very beautiful.
Thin and athletic, with a young and sophisticated hairstyle.
He is dressed casually, jeans with holes, T-shirt, with a jacket.
However, these are designer clothes, all very expensive.
https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1143321430492192768/KYpp8tY3_400x400.jpg
Opposite, on the sidewalk, he notices Ha Na, and immediately becomes attentive.
As they approach each other, he contemplates Ha Na with more discernment.
In slow motion, she shakes her head, to put part of her hair back.
Lee Wan becomes completely engrossed, charmed, and looks at her obstinately.
In slow motion, she walks towards him, with an elegant gait.
In slow motion, she raises her eyes in his direction.
At this precise spot, a scaffolding is set up against the front of a shop.
Workers are repainting a façade, a few floors above.
A painter inadvertently jostles a large bucket full of paint.
The bucket falls from several floors, just above Ha Na.
Lee Wan instantly notices the bucket in free fall.
He runs towards Ha Na.
Falling bucket in slow motion, Lee Wan runs in slow motion, Ha Na is unaware of anything in slow motion.
x2 ^^
LEE WAN – Look out!!!!
HA NA : (incredulous, panicked)
At the last moment, Lee Wan catches Ha Na.
Ha Na lets go of everything she’s holding.
Lee Wan forces her to make a big arc, to get her away from the drop point.
In slow motion…
The bucket smashes into the pavement, and its contents shatter.
A huge splatter of yellow paint is splashed on Ha Na and Lee Wan.
Half of Ha Na’s face is covered with yellow paint, as well as her clothes.
HA NA : (Eyes wide open, tetanized, becomes aware of the situation)
LEE WAN – (out of breath) Are you okay?
HA NA : (shaking, looking at her clothes, touching her cheek and looking at her paint-coated finger)
LEE WAN – Are you all right?!
HA NA : (Lost look around, picking up her stuff)
LEE WAN – Is that…?!
HA NA – (eagerly) The Cheadol Gallery!
LEE WAN – Cheadol?
HA NA – Do you know it?
LEE WAN – (pointing to the sidewalk on the right, further down) It’s that way, but that …
HA NA : (Going in that direction, hurrying away).
LEE WAN : (Appalled, disappointed, he watches her walk away.)
#04 – Cheadol Gallery, day.
Huge and deserted room, white walls, paintings on the walls.
In the middle of the room, a small white table.
MinHo sits lightly on this table, motionless.
MINHO : (fixed and hostile gaze, directed towards the front door).
MINHO : (He looks at his watch, his eyebrows raised with impatience).
MINHO – Pffu (disdainful chuckle)
MINHO – (makes several yeses with the head, falsely amused) Really?
MINHO – (mocking) Why not, after all?!
MINHO : (turns cold and hostile again, walks to the front door)
MinHo arrives two steps from the gallery door.
(SVLAM!!!!)
The door opens wide, abruptly.
Ha Na is in the entrance hall, covered with yellow paint.
They both move backwards, by surprise.
MinHo looks at her incredulously.
First the face, then up and down, then the face again.
Ha Na is out of breath, contracted.
She looks at MinHo with sorry eyes, very embarrassed.
MINHO – You’ve come for some kind of… performance?
HA NA – Ha Na, I’m Ha Na, we have an appointment.
MINHO – (disappointed and nonchalant) Aaaaah, it’s you…
HA NA – (clumsy, bowing her head) Sorry I’m late.
MINHO – (condescending) You needn’t have felt obligated to come.
HA NA – I apologize for the way I look, but I…
MINHO – (raising his voice, casual) That’s fine like that!!
HA NA : (Confused)
MINHO – Come, come, let’s make it quick and easy.
MINHO : (He waves her in, and walks over to the white table.)
HA NA : (She follows him, looking around, astonished.)
MINHO : (He scans the bag and the flat cardboard box that Ha Na is holding, and then points at it.)
MINHO – So you’ve come to offer me a painting?
HA NA – (smiling) Yes.
MINHO – (cynical) That’s cute…
HA NA – … ?! (confused)
HA NA – (embarrassed smile) I’ll show you.
MINHO – (mocking smile) It would be a shame to have come for nothing.
Ha Na removes the card stock from around her painting.
Then she holds the painting with both hands to show it to MinHo.
She has a big, proud and warm smile on her face.
The painting is very dark, with a few branches of shrubs.
In the center, two white flowers, painted in a rather rough style.
MINHO – There are still people who produce such crap?
HA NA : (shocked, unable to react)
MINHO – Why didn’t you buy something a little more stimulating?
MINHO – Do you have such a taste for shit?
HA NA – (hurt, outraged) Bought? BOUGHT?
MINHO – You didn’t bother scribbling that down yourself, did you?
MINHO – To make such a pathetic excuse credible?
MINHO – Mmh?
HA NA : (breathless, eyes wide open, completely turned upside down)
MINHO – Really???!
HA NA : (unable to react, nods her head several times to say yes)
MINHO – Wow, bravo, you’re the first woman I’ve ever met who’s gone this far in her delirium…
HA NA : (She doesn’t understand anything, hurt, eyes about to cry.)
HA NA – There… There’s really no way that this can sell?
HA NA – Or at least be exposed?
MINHO – (scornful and accusing) Aaaaah, you’d rather keep up the charade?!
MINHO – Is that your stuff in there? (he points to Ha Na’s bag)
HA NA : (With a contracted chin, about to crack, she nods her head to say yes).
MINHO – So, I’ll show you what sells…
MINHO : (He approaches Ha Na, and ruthlessly rips the bag from her).
HA NA – Stop it!! What are you doing?
MinHo opens the bag and empties its contents onto the little white table.
Many different objects fall on the table.
Paint tubes, ruler, glue, pencils.
Ha Na is so shocked that she can’t react.
She looks at MinHo, without understanding anything.
MinHo pushes several objects with his hand.
Ruler, glue and pencils are swept off the table and fall to the floor.
There are only a few tubes of paint left.
HA NA – (outraged) It’s none of your business! So stop…
MINHO – Two seconds, it won’t take long, you’ll understand.
HA NA : (She doesn’t dare to make a move, and looks at what MinHo is doing with concern and dismay.)
MinHo unscrews the cap of a paint tube.
Then he crushes the tube with force, to empty its contents onto the white table.
He starts again with another tube of a different color.
Ha Na’s breathing accelerates.
She is scared and fascinated at the same time.
She looks at MinHo without moving.
MinHo has finished emptying the tubes of paint on the table.
Several lumps of paint of different colors are on the white table.
MinHo looks at Ha Na with a cruel smile.
He moves towards her quickly.
For a very short time, she sees him approaching.
But she remains tetanized, as if she were hypnotized by a cobra.
Then, MinHo grabs both of Ha Na’s wrists with force!
HA NA – (shouting) Aaaah! Stop! Stop!!
HA NA : (She tries to fight in vain, but he’s too strong, and he drags her to the table.)
HA NA – (shouting) Stop! You have no right to do this!!!
MinHo forces Ha Na’s hands towards the table.
Then he buries her hands on the clumps of paint.
He crushes the palms of her hands making arcs of circles.
All the paint is spread in an anarchic way on the white table.
HA NA – (screaming) No! Noooo! Let go of me!
Suddenly MinHo releases Ha Na, who instinctively steps back.
She looks at MinHo, scared and angry.
MinHo looks at Ha Na, and for the first time he smiles warmly.
(Song! Here, start your favorite sentimental song from a kdrama).
(The song will stop when I tell you. ^^)
MinHo smiles at Ha Na warmly but arrogantly.
Ha Na can no longer stand the nervous tension and tears appear in her eyes.
She gasps, her chin trembles, her eyes drown.
MinHo grabs the legs of the table and lifts it up.
Moment seen with several temporal rewindings!
It takes place from 3 different angles, and… in slow motion!
MinHo holds the table towards Ha Na, showing her the flatness.
It’s as if he’s showing her a painting.
Ha Na starts crying, tears are streaming from her eyes.
She looks at the anarchic layers of paint on the top of the table.
MINHO – That alone, I can sell it for more than your garbage.
HA NA : (She’s horrified at MinHo, then she looks at her hands full of paint.)
MINHO – (ironically) Congratulations, you’ve become a publicly traded artist!
HA NA : (She totally cracks and cries, interspersed with hiccups and interrupted breaths.)
MinHo becomes worried, and he puts his hand in his jacket pocket.
A clean, neatly folded silk handkerchief comes out. (in slow motion!)
Slowly, he approaches Ha Na.
As his gait is slow, she has neither the strength nor the desire to move.
With great delicacy, MinHo wipes her tears with the handkerchief.
Their eyes meet.
MinHo’s gaze is not aggressive, rather curious and admiring.
Ha Na’s is fearful, incredulous, but also admiring.
MinHo gently wipes Ha Na’s tears.
This is before the tears run down the yellow paint on her face.
HA NA – Why… Why are you doing this?
MINHO – (smiling slyly) If your tears get the paint dirty, you’ll lose all artistic interest.
HA NA – (Beyond Emotions) Is there really such a thing on earth, a jerk like you?
MinHo walks away from Ha Na, smiling and raising his eyebrows.
Then he takes his smartphone out of his pocket.
He aims at Ha Na, and quickly takes a picture of her.
MINHO – (cold) Do you really think you belong in this gallery?
Ha Na’s eyes narrow.
She understands the hint perfectly.
Terribly pained, she turns around and walks towards the exit of the gallery.
Her face shows a sincere emotional pain.
MinHo briefly looks at the photo on his smartphone and smiles.
Then he watches Ha Na walking away from behind.
Ha Na is crying her eyes out as she walks out of the gallery.
MinHo’s smile disappears and his face shows a mixture of doubts and regrets.
(End of the sentimental song! 😉
#05 – Cheadol Group, large executive office, day.
MinHo is sitting behind his desk.
He grabs his smartphone and looks at Ha Na’s picture.
He puts the smartphone down and sighs heavily.
He looks at the paintings hanging on the wall of his desk.
Then he takes the smartphone again and looks at the picture.
He looks at it for a long time and smiles slightly sad and confused.
He takes a compatible cable, and connects his smartphone to his desktop computer.
Then he clicks on the printer software.
The printer outputs Ha Na’s portrait.
MinHo presses the button on his intercom.
MINHO – Come to my office right away.
MANAGER ~ Yes, President.
MinHo opens a drawer of his desk and digs a little bit into it.
He grabs something inside, a thumbtack.
Then he gets up and goes to the printer.
He takes the printed picture of Ha Na, then walks towards one of the walls of the office.
There, he fixes Ha Na’s portrait on the wall with the thumbtack.
The manager enters the office.
MANAGER – President?
MINHO – Get rid of all this rubbish (he shows the expensive paintings).
MINHO – And have me frame this (he shows Ha Na’s picture).
#06 – Gangnam uptown, sidewalk, day.
Ha Na walks on a sidewalk crowded with people.
She is holding her painting under her arm.
She staggers, emotionally devastated.
HA NA – Bastard.
HA NA – (crying) You rotten jerk!
HA NA – (crying) Boo-hoo.
People inadvertently approach her.
She raises her hand, full of paint.
People get scared and run away.
HA NA – Scumbag, you dumbass… Boo-hoo…
Her face is swollen with tears.
(Tuuuut-Tuut!)
A horn honks!
Ha Na sees her car and her driver nearby.
She wipes her tears with her hand.
As she did so, all the paint on her hand spilled onto her face.
#07 – Cheadol Group, large executive office, day.
MinHo is looking at the portrait of Ha Na, fixed on the wall.
Someone is entering the office.
It’s Lee Wan! MinHo is turning towards him.
Lee Wan is dressed in a suit, he has changed his clothes.
The two friends are smiling at each other.
Lee Wan comes to stand next to MinHo.
He is looking at Ha Na’s portrait hanging on the wall.
He is immediately surprised, and MinHo notices it.
LEE WAN – (unsettled) Who… Who’s she?
MINHO – A slut sent by my mother.
LEE WAN – …!
MINHO – Do you know her?
LEE WAN – (hesitant) … No, I don’t know her.
MINHO : (Looks closely at Lee Wan, and notices yellow marks on his fingers.)
LEE WAN – Why are you hanging this on the wall?
MINHO – Just a feeling…
LEE WAN – (worried) Do you know her?
MINHO – (vicious) I just want to have fun with her…
MinHo looks at Lee Wan’s fingers and then looks into his eyes, smiling.
Lee Wan notices the traces of yellow paint on his fingers.
The eyes of the two friends collide.
Lee Wan suddenly grabbed MinHo’s arm.
LEE WAN – Yah! That’s not the kind of woman you play with.
MINHO – (approaches, defiant look) Take this seriously on your side, if you feel like it.
LEE WAN – (Getting closer) We’ll see who wins in the end…
My Love Story, also known as ‘Fate of the Phoenix’
continued from Part 1…
I was travelling to Switzerland last November, having managed to save some money by working hard at my job. Seeing the Alps would be my dream come true, I thought. But there was a catch. I got leave approval for only the last week of the month! After mentally calling my boss some very unflattering names, I decided to plan my travel in such a way that I reach Zurich and check into my rented apartment in Murren, an Alpine village, before the start of the last week, so that no one is wiser about what happens to me on the last week.
I got on my flight and was overjoyed to find that I had been upgraded to business class! I settled into my plushy seat and was happily starting to doze when I suddenly noticed the airlines cabin crew paying special attention to the suited gentleman seated next to me. I looked at him and found his face to be somewhat deadpan, though he looked like he hailed from that fabled land of fairy tales and eye candies, South Korea. He was reading a book, and I thought I’ll leave him to it and take a nap. I don’t know for how long I slept, but when I woke up, I realized that my head was on someone’s shoulder! I looked up to see it was my neighbor in the adjacent seat who was looking distinctly uncomfortable at his predicament. I apologized profusely and thanked him for being so courteous as not to have woken me up. We started talking and I realized he was no ordinary person but See Do-Jae, the owner of that airline chain (a legitimate chaebol!!), which explained the airline staff trying their best to keep him happy. As we chatted, I found that we had a lot of things in common, like shared interests, similar values and same passion for life. As my heart fluttered, I kept thinking: if only I was normal, if only he could somehow understand…….
We landed at our mid-way layover, Paris, which was supposed to be just a three-hour halt. Do-Jae insisted that we go together to his airline’s lounge and have some light refreshments while we wait for our connecting flight to Zurich. As I was enjoying our conversations a little too much and my heart was loathe to part with him so soon, I agreed. While we were enjoying glasses of wine in the lounge, a few anxious looking airlines officials came and informed Do-Jae that the connecting flight had developed a snag and would be delayed by another nine hours. I suddenly realized that this would mean the midnight would be over and the last week of the month would start! I somehow managed to escape Do-Jae in the nick of time by making an excuse to visit the restroom.
In the restroom cubicle, I watched the skin on my fingers get slowly wrinkled, the veins stand out, and felt my shoulders sag with the weight of years. My dream was over and I was back to my cold, harsh reality now. Don’t get me wrong – I like myself in both my old and my young forms as inside I am the same me, but I doubted then that the man of my dreams would accept this.
As I exited the restroom in my aged form, I realized I’m still hungry as in my excitement of meeting Do-Jae, I had just had too many glasses of wine and not enough food! I rushed to the nearest patisserie and helped myself to some macarons and madeleines to cure my heartache (because I firmly believe good food cures everything :P). In the middle of eating, I looked up to see Do-Jae standing in front of my table, gazing at me with his deadpan face, but with some indefinable emotion in his eyes that made them look all soft and melty. Imagine my surprise when he called me by my name and asked me why I had run away so abruptly! But how could this be? Only I knew I was Phoenix! How could he know that I was the same woman he had met earlier? I hinted to him that my appearance may have changed and wanted to know how he knew me. He said he had been in an accident a few years back which robbed him of his powers of recognizing faces. He just knew people by their mannerisms, their personality and the essence of their presence.
He said: “That is how I knew you, Phoenix. It doesn’t matter how you look now or how you looked before, what you wear or how your hair looks. What I can just see is your heart, your spirit, and the soul inside that is always you. I can only see the beauty inside you and I think I want that in my life.”
And I knew I had finally found my truluv, the one fated for me……the one who was able to see beyond my changing façades and recognize the real, unchanging me inside.
He said: “That is how I knew you, Phoenix. It doesn’t matter how you look now or how you looked before, what you wear or how your hair looks. What I can just see is your heart, your spirit, and the soul inside that is always you. I can only see the beauty inside you and I think I want that in my life.”
And I knew I had finally found my truluv, the one fated for me……the one who was able to see beyond my changing façades and recognize the real, unchanging me inside.
Awwwww……. 🥰🥰🥰
As for me, I’m thinking of bringing (and here the paragraph that follows is actually true, the next one after that, well, not, or better said is only true for the birthday party that is to come)
There’s this dude. Or no, lets start with the game. I’ve been playing Pokemon Go and I’ve added over time some hundred ids of people all over the world. There’s a thread on Reddit where players who want in game friends for gifts post their ids. I’ve got them all from there. You can send to each of these friends 1 gift per day which contains randomly in game stuff and tells the receiver from where it was collected. There’s no way in game to talk to your friends though, you only have their game nickname. And you know where they live or are travelling to based on the location of the gifts received. Aanyway, I’ve been exchanging on and off gifts with this person from Daegu and freaked out a couple of weeks ago after covid19 cases started to get out of control in that place. Anyway, I’ve been obsessively checking the game ever since to see if my friend which I couldn’t contact in any other way was still sending me gifts and relaxed every time I saw he was. And thankfully he was diligently sending those gifts every day.
At one point I deceided to try to find him through Reddit. And guess what? Of course. He’s Choi Yang-joo, the geek from Memories of the Alhambra, the one from Jin Woo’s headquarters who was obsessed with Emma, making her different outfits. He moved to Daegu after JinWoo got back safely from his dungeon. He wanted to start his own company there. Aaand.. he’s adorable in his geekiness. First thing he told me is that I’m ridiculous to worry about some stranger but he sounded like he was enjoying that I did. And I loved the teasing. Anyway he was never in any danger anyway of any virus. He’s living most of his life indoors anyway, programming, developing or playing games, ordering most of what he needs online. He has a PokeStop near his house that he spins often to get gifts and send to others but it needs no social interaction.
But more about him at the party :)))
Snow Flower’s story, part 1
Snow Flower and Crazy Horse or Second Leads and Second Chances
Seol Hwa woke up being carried on someone’s back. Her body felt stiff and she could still feel the frozen tears on her cheeks. She also felt hungry. Daegil’s last words still echoed in her mind: “…I am sorry, Seol Hwa…I was surrounded by darkness and did not notice that your heart was beating for me…On this fine day, will you sing a song for me?” She remembered that she sang while she buried his body, and continued to sing for hours afterwards, until she no longer had a voice or tears left in her. But now something felt different. Maybe everything that had happened yesterday was a nightmare, her orabeoni was not dead, and he was carrying her on his back to a place that was safe and warm, and with plenty of food. The warmth of his back was not imaginary and it gave her comfort.
“Orabeoni…” she whispered.
“Miss, you are awake! How are you feeling?” His voice sounded pleasant, but it was not familiar to her. She opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was his hair, long and unruly. She tilted her head to look at his face. His eyes were kind, but she could tell that he was not easily fooled.
“You are not my orabeoni. Who are you?”
“I am Officer Moon Jae Shin from the Left Police Bureau in Hanseong. And you are under arrest.”
to be continued
Snow Flower and Crazy Horse Part 2
“You must be out of your mind, Officer Moon Orabeoni! Why am I under arrest? Do you really think that I killed all these soldiers by the river? And what is Hanseong?”
“Miss, stop calling me Orabeoni. You should use formal language with me. I did not see any soldiers by the river, only you. You are under arrest for spreading vile rumors about our Police Bureau. I have been trying to catch The Blue Messenger for weeks, and now that I finally caught you, I may get a promotion. And Hanseong is the great capital of our country, Joseon.”
“Orabeoni Sir, I don’t know what you are talking about. There was a real bloodbath last night by the river. My orabeoni Daegil, he is the one who killed all the soldiers, but then he died too…” She felt a sudden chill when she mentioned Daegil’s name. “But I don’t know anything about a Blue Messenger or vile rumors. And our capital’s name is Hanyang, not Hanseong.”
“Miss, the Blue Messenger has been a real nuisance for the public order in our capital. His style and handwriting were far from excellent, not to speak of his archery skills. I was chasing him last night and finally caught him on the roof, only to find out that it was a woman. I was so startled that I let her escape. I continued chasing her down the hill, but then I tripped and rolled all the way down to the river, and there you were! Had I not found you, you would have died of exposure.”
“Orabeoni Sir, thank you for saving me, but everything else you say sounds even crazier than the tales of the Fortune-teller of Dongdaemun.”
Moon Jae Shin tried to suppress a hiccup. “You have met the Fortune-teller of Dongdaemun? What did she tell you?”
Seol Hwa smiled: “Ah, so you know what I am talking about. I met this crazy old lady last spring, when our dancing troupe was at the Dano festival at Dongdaemun. She read my fortune and told me that I will find love, but it will bring me heartbreak. Now that I think about it, maybe she was not crazy after all. I did fall in love with my orabeoni, but his heart belonged to another woman. But then the fortune-teller said that love will find me on the day after the first snow. Sounds crazy, right?”
Moon Jae Shin tried to suppress another hiccup and failed. “I met the old lady just yesterday. She told me that love had already found me unexpectedly, but it was not meant to be…” He hiccuped again and blushed. “But she also said that I will find love of my own. And she said to pack rice cakes enough for two before I went to my undercover mission last night…I thought it was ridiculous at first, but I saw a rice cake seller on the street and bought some just in case.”
“Orabeoni Sir, I am very hungry. Let’s eat the rice cakes and then we can go to Dongdaemun and talk to the crazy lady in person!”
“Sounds like a good plan. Are you well enough to walk on your own? We are approaching the main road which leads to Hanseong.”
The main road to Hanseong was stretching in front of them, but it looked different than what either of them remembered. The road was much wider, and had white lines on it. Its surface was black and smooth. Seol Hwa and Jae Shin looked puzzled.
“The road did not look like that yesterday,” Jae Shin said. He stepped on the smooth surface when he heard a strange notise. An unknown shiny object was approaching with great speed. The object stopped and a strangely dressed man peered from the window.
“Too much soju after the costume party last night, eh? Where are you headed?”
“Hanyang,” said Seol Hwa.
“Hanseong,” Jae Shin corrected her.
“Dongdaemun,” both of them said at the same time.
“Hop in, I will give you a ride.” The driver said. “Dongdaemun it is!”
to be continued
Snow Flower and Crazy Horse Pt. 3
They had settled comfortably on the back seat of the car, eating rice cakes, when Seol Hwa spoke:
“Orabeoni Sir, who is this Nauri? His hair is short, but he is clearly not a monk. And what is this cart we are riding? Thank you for the rice cakes, by the way. Oh, and I never told you my name. I am Seol Hwa, age 17. I sing, dance, and play the haegeum. What do you do for fun?”
“I already told you my name. My friends call me Crazy Horse. Back in the day, I was The Red Messenger and had a couple of run-ins with the law. I am also curious why this gentleman has short hair and wears such strange clothes. But I like riding in this thing,” Jae Shin said.
“Oh, sorry for being so rude and not introducing myself first,” the driver chimed in. “My name is Gu Dong Mae and I run a wine bar in Seoul with my wife Hina and my business partner Kim Hee Seong. Occasionally I run errands for the Fortune-teller. She called early this morning and told me to pick you two up. I am not a morning person, but I could not refuse her.”
“So you too know the Fortune-teller of Dongdaemun, Nauri?” Jae Shin asked. “What did she tell you?” Seol Hwa added.
“Oh, she told me that I had to die three times before I found happiness with my true love.” Dong Mae smiled. “I have to say, it was a little difficult getting used to these clothes at first. I wore samurai attire for most of my life, but now I love my blue jeans. And the flip flop sandals remind me of the Japanese sandals I wore back in the day. We are here. Enjoyed meeting you two. Come and see me at the wine bar anytime!”
“Thank you, Nauri.” Seol Hwa and Jae Shin said politely. Gu Dong Mae had dropped them in front of a small store near the crowded market. The sign above the door read “Second Chances for Second Leads.”
They stepped in through the door and found themselves in a small but comfortable room. An old lady dressed in a silk hanbok smiled at them.
“Welcome, my dears. I am so happy that you made it here. The drama fans were anxious about your fate, so I had to do something to ensure a happy ending for you two. Time travel is not easy, but you will get the hang of it.”
“Where are we? And who are you?” Jae Shin asked.
“You are in the happy place where all second leads get their second chances. I am the drama goddess in charge of mending the drama fans’ broken hearts. My job is to listen to the fans’ complaints and make things right. I get a lot of ideas from reading fan fiction. It makes my job so much easier!” She continued: “Now it is your turn to have your second chance. Here is a key to an upscale apartment in Gangnam. You are going to live together in the same apartment and you will fall in love.”
“Fall in love!” Seol Hwa exclaimed. “I only met this orabeoni two hours ago!”
“And yet you are already calling him orabeoni and eating the rice cakes he gave you,” the old lady said with a smile.
“Look, halmoni, I am really thankful for all you have done for us, but how do you expect me to live with this woman? She does not use formal speech and I have the feeling that she is not a good cook.”
“Then you can teach her good manners and the art of cooking. Is there a better way for two people to fall in love? Plus, you can always get tips from Gu Dong Mae and Hina. Also, there is Jung Hwan’s business card. He runs a coffee shop with his true love and he has a soft spot for unfortunate second leads.”
Jae Shin said: “This sounds really good, but how can we afford to live in an upscale apartment? How are we going to make a living in this world?”
“Don’t worry, my dears. Moon Jae Shin, the laws of this world are the same for all people, regardless of social status. But sometimes people forget that. They need someone just and upright like you to uphold the law and set a good example. There is an opening at the prosecutor’s office and I know that you will fit right in.”
“But what about me?” Seol Hwa said. “I don’t even know how to read and write.”
“You know how to sing and dance, my dear, and how to tell stories. People are so busy these days, they have forgotten how to enjoy themselves. You will make a great tour guide at the Historical Village museum. You won’t even have to wear modern clothes!”
“Now go, my dears. Be happy and make the drama fans happy!” The old lady smiled.
Seol Hwa and Moon Jae Shin stepped outside in the sunlight.
The old lady sat down on the comfy couch. “That went well. Drama fans should be happy. Now back to work. Who is the next Second Lead in need of a happy ending? Well hello, Chilbongie!”
Dramas referenced: Chuno (The Slave Hunters), Sungkyunkwan Scandal, Mr. Sunshine, Reply 1988, and Reply 1994.
Tropes used: Piggyback ride, time travel, cohabitation
Happy Birthday, Phoenix! I tried not to bring my date, but he found out and blackmailed me by threatening to read my search history to our co-workers the next time we go out for karaoke.
I was transferred to another department after my boss found me reading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy under the conference table. I wanted to say it was his fault for being such a boring, unproductive and illogical product of nepotism, but I needed to stay employed. “I’m comparing a Mandarin translation of English science fiction,” I lied.
Lunchtime. The new department was empty. I walked in carrying a large box of personal items and promptly tripped over someone’s extension cord. Novel, spare tights, run-for-the-bus trainers, coffee mug, makeup, personal hygiene products, you name it: all over the floor and under various chairs and desks. I sat down on the nearest chair and banged my head once on some stranger’s desk.
“You owe me $10 rent and lunch,” said a voice. I looked up. A man was staring at me. He waggled his eyebrows. I could feel the embarrassment burning from my neck upwards to my hairline.
“Quick, before the others come back!” he whispered, picking up the largest objects and snickering as he watched me crawling around under desks getting the rest. “Job done,” he said. “My name is Lin Yi Mu.”
@agdr03 Glad you like my love story 😍 When I started thinking about which one of my boyfriends had keft the most impact one me, I realized there was only one, who was probably the mist unassuming looking on the surface but whose emotions ran deeper than anybody else. Even I was surprised that im spite of being a Shallow Island resident, when it came to finding the truluv, my heart chose someone who wasn’t an eye candy in the traditional sense but whose eyes spoke volumes. His prosopagnosia is a perfect foil for my changing faces and he is always able to see through me – we were made for each other☺️
@WEnchanteur Thanks for your wishes. I will get back to reafing your long play soon.
Btw @packmule3 I love that illustration of the Phoenix ☺️
Glad you liked it. 🙂
Good night. And have a happy birthday, my friend!
Thank you, @packmule3, for all this🤗 We will resume our party on your 20th ☺️
@Phoenix, your story was lovely because it was straight from your heart. I’ve always believed that it’s always the inside of a person that you need to look at and not the outside even though I am an outright shallow girl. LOL.
I actually love Howl’s Castle and Beauty Inside so I can relate to you. 😉 I hope you’re having a wonderful birthday. 😘
Thank you @agdr03. As always, our thoughts are in perfect sync 🙌 I’ve always found ‘Beauty Inside’ to be kind of allegorical, though it seems a fantasy on tje surface. Isn’t true connection always about looking beyond the obvious to the person inside and liking what we find?
I’m actually enjoying all the ‘me time’ today as I took a much-needed day off from work. I will do some leisurely cooking for my friend who is coming over in the evening. She stays nearby and we will have a girls’ dining-in night talking about everything under the sun ☺️
I’ll drop in here from time to time to participate in the party – I have my flame colored gown and red slippers all shining and ready 💃💃💃
“Isn’t true connection always about looking beyond the obvious to the person inside and liking what we find?”
I couldn’t agree more. 🙂
Sounds like you will have a great birthday dinner with your friend. Enjoy it and don’t forget to make a birthday wish! 😉
Thank you, @agdr03, fir reminding me about the birthday wish☺️ I will wish on the brightest star in the sky tonight🎇🎇🎇
Blessed Birthday @Phoenix and Many Healthy, Happy Returns!
@GB Thank you so much for your wishes☺️ It feels so great that I have so many friends here ☺️☺️
Happy Birthday, Phoenix! I crushed on Howl too, not from the movie, which I didn’t see, but from the Diana Wynne Jones book! Great story! Hers and yours.
@Barbrey: Thank you for the wishes! I read Diana Wynne Jones’ book too, only dud ut backwards. Was so impressed by the Dtudio Ghibli version that I was motivated to read the book on which it was based, and that’s how I ended up discovering her.
So happy you liked my story 🙂 It’s so much fun writing to an audience like this! Each story that we have here is so unique. I read and loved your story..still absorbing its beauty. Will comment on the other thread ☺️
Meanwhile, wallflowers Do KyungSoo and nrllee are sitting in their little corner in quiet solidarity enjoying the party shenanigans from afar. Just how they like it. Hoping beyond hope that their presence would remain largely unnoticed so they can enjoy their favourite past time – people watching. No words are exchanged between the silent pair. Just a comfortable understanding.
Sending you blessings on your birthday @Phoenix. Keep calm and eat cake. 🎂
There are perks of being a wallflower, after all @nrllee☺️
The silent understanding between you and Do KyungSoo makes words meaningless.
Thank you for your wishes☺️Do come out of your corner to grab some cakes though. I brought some lemon tarts too, as they are my favorite 😋😋😋
Happy Birthday Phoenix!
In the theme of library and Switzerland, St-Gall Abbey’s library is in the UNESCO patrimony. It’s not very big but it’s pretty beautiful and old :p
Thank you for the wishes @Sayaris! 🙂
I missed St. Gallen on my first trip to Switzerland last year (I actually did go there there last Nov.). I remember wanting to go to St. Gallen and Winterthur, but not having the time after covering Bernese Oberland and the Zermatt side. The St. Gall Abbey sounds exactly like the kind of place I would enjoy exploring. Noting it down for my next Switzerland visit’s itinerary 🙂
@Phoenix, ‘What I can just see is your heart, your spirit, and the soul inside that is always you.’ made me feel weepy. Lovely. Happy Birthday.
@WEnchanteur, I really enjoyed that and want to read the next chapter, and the next and the next.
@Phoenix I’m very sorry for being so late to your party !!
@ Pm3 what an amazing venue…
Wish you a very very happy birthday carissima 🥰🥰🥰
Tempers are running a bit high in my household at the moment. The Corona bomb has just exploded in my country and in spite of trying really hard, I’m worried. I forgot all about the party 😭 I’m very sorry.
Currently, running bare feet in a ball gown with a giant Tupperware of hummus and a crate of wine to Maryland! Bare feet because although it’s very unhygienic, I’m incredibly clumsy. I couldn’t manage a ladylike dress and food together.
P. S. I walked down the isle bare feet at my wedding. I was petrified of falling over.
Apologies once again!
Bare feet, eh?
That’s what those marble floors are for!! I love walking barefoot on marble. It feels cold and hard.
I know all about tempers getting high. 🙂 That’s to be expected after being cooped up for days. Hang in there!
My hubby and I took a sunrise hike exactly to get clear our minds. We’re actually in the high risk group (welllll, he’s a high risk because of his age) so we’re taking precautions.
Yes, a virtual get-together is the way to go.
Did I hear correctly that somebody brought your Hyun Bin here??
Injure your youth, my dear. Wear a gown with a decolletage! When you get to be my age, everything is sagging and wrinkly.
pwahahaha.
@Fern: Thank you for liking it and thank you for coming to my b’day party! 🙂
@Arihsi: Thank you for bringing the hummus! I loved it :)…and thanks for attending my b’day party!!! t was so much fun 😀
Barefoot Bride – sounds like a Julia Roberts movie to me 😛
@packmule3: Barbrey brought Hyun Bin, God bless her! I adore HB too, except not in his North Korean officer avatar (something about that bowl cut just puts me off, don’t ask me why!). But today he had his MOA hairstyle back and was totally dishy!!!
@Fern,
Thanks, it’s just old school drama magic.
A nice girl meets a jerk, and it doesn’t go well between them at first.
Since they’re the main couple, you wonder how they’ll fall in love.
A concept like that always makes you want to see what happens next. ^^
With a certain makjang spirit, I exploit this as follows:
– The extreme starting situation (excluding revenge/triller drama).
– The inadmissible behaviors generating emotional outbursts.
– Characters morally not very clean (even the heroine, who doesn’t thank her savior).
– Main sentimental story must seem totally impossible.
– They must have every reason to hate or despise each other!
This widens the gap between failure and success.
So theoretically, it’s more addictive. 😀
I have an idea of the general process, but it would take too long to write.
Besides, I didn’t really structure a story from the start.
So it would be too “run-of-the-mill”, with lots of mistakes.
I’m doing my post-analysis of the tropes:
– Angry guy sweeping up a desk table. (The Last Empress holds the record)
– Guy who grabs a girl and saves her from an accident.
– Mother from Cheabol who arranges blind dates for her son.
– Two friends who are interested in the same girl at the same time.
– Dude who physically signals in a manly way that you shouldn’t mess around with the girl.
– A deliberately obnoxious character on a blind date. (cf Secret garden)
– Heroin being passively subdued, to the point of being annoying. (cf Temptation of wife)
– Authoritarian president + fear and quick obedience of his employees.
– Character who leaves in a hurry without saying a word.
– Unpleasant guy who pushes you around in the street to make it harder.
– Dude who looks at the details of a girl’s beauty in slow motion (hair movement).
– Gentleman’s gesture, wiping a girl’s face.
– Wrist grabbing.
– Girl crying alone while being mad at the guy.
– Best buddy walking into your office without knocking on the door.
– Two rich guys in fancy clothes, one classic, one casual.
And I’m probably forgetting things, it’s loaded with tropes to the brim!
But as usual, it’s inevitable in any story…
@WEnchanteur, well done. You should copyright your techniques. Your list would win in the trope bingo game. 😂
I’ve read the different stories posted here.
It wasn’t easy because it’s a harder English to understand (I put everything in automatic translation).
I found a lot of good ideas everywhere.
Fern : I was fooled, because I had read the text on the other topic. I thought you were telling something that really happened to you!
Phoenix: the original idea of changing age temporarily and regularly. A bit like a chronic illness.
Olii : Ahhh! MOA’s geek! The minor character gets his story, plus he’s a geek. He’ll probably like it if you dress up as Emma.
Snow flowers: A goddess who takes care of disappointed fans, and fixes the situation for the second lead. That’s a great idea. So they become lead principals?! And that will create more second leads… It’s endless. ^^
@ Pm3
thank you for your kind words. I’m trying my best to enjoy my (remaining) youth. However, I find the older I grow, the happier and more content I am with things that didn’t work out. And things that thankfully, did. My childhood wasn’t traumatic per se because I have a very normal and loving family, however, I was bullied a lot in school and a bit through University as well. I feel much happier, safer and well-accepted as an older individual. 🙂
Ooo thank you for the heads-up on HB. Let’s say I spent my time at the party craning my neck trying to get a better look at him and @Barbrey !
@Phoenix
Thank you for your love to my Hummus. I am a rather accident- prone cook. 🙈
I agree with you about HB. I found him so appealing in MoA even in the frames where his character is looking haggard and exhausted. I can’t say the same about CLoY. Along with the bowl like haircut, I can’t say turtle necks suit him as well as regular office wear or casual (note the sudden change in clothing style in the confession scene of CLoY. A casually worn shirt and coat = probably the director also knows that suits him the best).
P. S. I also thought the brief change of style of JH clothes in confession scene indicated his loosening up about his feelings and his vulnerability. Turtle necks probably indicate a strict and reserved demeanor along with a certain hardcore resilience.
Happy Birthday @Phoenix! What a great party! I’ve brought mini fruit tartlets and put them on the table over there next to the cakes. Thanks for inviting me and my date, Yoon Chan Young. What’s that? You’d like to know how we met? Well, let me tell you. Talk about fate.
Chan Young and I have know each other since we were kids. We went to the same elementary and middle school, and we were in the same class. We were friends and classmates, but we lost touch when he got a scholarship to Jaeguk High School in South Korea.
I heard he did really well at Jaeguk High and was accepted into Seoul National University.
Anyway, about 5 months ago I was on my lunchbreak and went to Subway. I was standing in line when some jerk pushed me really hard on his way to the exit and I lost my balance and fell backwards…thank goodness someone caught me in their arms and stopped my fall. Yes..it was none other than Chan-Young! I didn’t recognize him at first because it’s been so many years since middle school, but as I was thanking him for catching me, I thought he looked familiar. I said “Is that you, Chan-young? It’s me Table122000, from LA Middle School.” And he said ” Yes, it’s me, Chan-young. How are you Table? We should get together soon to catch up.” Well, we made a date to meet for coffee at Starbucks after work the next day and we’ve been together ever since.
I’ve brought mini fruit tartlets for your party.
WEnchanteur,
Yay for second leads. More dramas for us to watch, and more work for the goddess!
I liked your tropey story too.
@Table122000 You two were fated to meet again after all those years😍
Loved your fruit tartlets..I love all kinds of tarts😋😋😋
Hello Pheonix and happy birthday!
May you live forever happy and healthy with this guy who can see your real self, beyond outside appearance and loves it the way it is. Sorry for being so late to your party with my geek boyfriend from MOA but we’ve been obsessively playing together this video game. We forgot about time.
Luckily his chaebol mother (!!!!) barged in at one point and we had to stop. She doesn’t like me for some reason. I’m expecting an envelope with money any minute now.
Glad you enjoyed the tartlets, @Phoenix. Have to say there are a lot of good looking people here at this party! And a beautiful venue with yummy food.
Happy birthday, @Phoenix! It is still the 20th in my part of the world, so I’m not late to the party, am I? @Packmule, thank you so much for hosting this get-together in such a gorgeous venue. And I’m greatly enjoying seeing friends I made during outings to Spain, North Korea, Switzerland, and South Korea. Remember that amazing hotel in Seoul? I’ve heard it has changed ownership and is now called Blue Moon. Wouldn’t it be something to go back there?
And the Oscar in film editing goes to…@WEnchanteur:
“MinHo grabs the legs of the table and lifts it up.
Moment seen with several temporal rewindings!
It takes place from 3 different angles, and… in slow motion!”
Before I forget, here’s a tray of samosas: always a favorite appetizer in my household. I’ll set it on the table next to @Arihsi’s hummus. My hands were full, so my party guest is carrying in my other contribution to this gathering, a karaoke system. We should get some interesting acoustics in this library when we turn it into a big ol’ noraebang.
Ah, there he is! Let me introduce you to my future son-in-law Yoo Jeong Woo. @Packmule3, should he set up the system in that corner?
While he’s away, let me tell you a bit about him. He’s a sweet person, but can have a quick temper. He’s had to overcome severe difficulties after being framed for a death he did not cause. The actual murderer used family wealth and influence to pressure witnesses into committing perjury. Captain Yoo was convicted and sentenced to prison, but because his older brother worked selflessly and tirelessly to uncover the truth and clear his name, the true culprit was revealed. Between his trial, retrial, then lawsuits, Captain Yoo was infamous in South Korea and couldn’t move about in public without being recognized. Despite his being innocent, there were those who still thought of him as the Demon Captain. So he decided to take some of his settlement money–what was left after paying back his brother–and travel the world.
I met Captain Yoo in New York City on the observation deck of the Empire State Building. It was his first evening in the city, and I overheard him video chatting with his brother while sharing the view. I could understand a few words here and there, so when he finished his call I asked him if he was Korean. We ended up talking for a bit; fortunately, he could speak English far better than the smattering of Korean I’ve gained from watching dramas. Wanting to learn more about my new young friend, and since he didn’t have further plans for that evening, I offered to treat him to dinner and he accepted.
I learned during our dinner conversation that he loved to drink beer, and loved to eat oysters, so I suggested he visit Seattle. My younger daughter lives there and has a three-bedroom condo all to herself–which my husband and I own and rent to her at a cut-rate price–so I impulsively told him she could provide him a place to stay while he visited. He was a bit scandalized at the idea of sharing a home with someone of the opposite sex, but I assured him it shouldn’t be a problem if each respects the other’s space.
After our dinner, we exchanged contact information and went our separate ways. I didn’t hear anything from Captain Yoo for several months, until the following spring. He was headed to Seattle, and wanted my daughter’s contact info, which I gave him. Then I texted her right away to explain, so she wouldn’t be taken by surprise. She phoned me immediately, upset that I’d put her in an uncomfortable situation by making such an offer to a man who’s a stranger to her. She called it a blind date on steroids. After I talked with her awhile and shared my good impressions of Captain Yoo, she agreed to consider hosting him as long as they wrote up a relationship contract spelling out all the do’s and don’ts.
Oh, hello, Captain Yoo! Is the karaoke system set up now? Thanks! We were just talking about your first visit to Seattle. You had a good time, didn’t you?
“You were right about there being great beer in Seattle: so many craft breweries! I overdid it on tasting a few times, and once your daughter even had to carry me to the car on her back. Good thing she’s so strong!”
“I know, right? It is hard to keep up with her and all her activities: skiing, biking, backpacking, rock climbing, weightlifting, trapeze…”
“Don’t remind me about trapeze! That was a mistake for me to try. It looked fun when I was watching her, but I got nervous about the height when it was my turn to stand on the platform. Even with the harness, guide ropes, and safety net, my hands were sweaty from fear. While climbing the ladder for my second attempt, my hands slipped, I fell to the ground and bumped my head. I ended up in the emergency room on an IV drip for a few hours. It’s a good thing I only got a mild concussion.”
“When you abruptly left town after that, my daughter thought you were angry with her because you’d gotten injured. You two had grown so close, and seemed so fond of each other, but you disappeared without explanation. It broke her heart.”
“I was an idiot for leaving. It was wrong of me to not talk with her first, but I was scared because my feelings for her were growing strong, and at that time I only saw obstacles to our relationship. Although I travel the world, my home is still Korea and I imagine settling there someday. She has a career and home in America. How could I ask her to give that up for me?”
“Well, it’s a good thing you finally came to your senses and talked with her. Once you started communicating and being honest with each other about your feelings, you were able to work out a compromise. It didn’t have to be all or nothing. These days telecommuting makes it possible for my daughter to do her job from wherever she has an internet connection. International flights make it possible for you two to meet anywhere in the world you want…as long as the world isn’t on lockdown due to a pandemic. But that would never happen, would it?”
I forgot to mention in my story that my daughter and Captain Yoo discovered, as they got to know each other, that they’d met a few years before in Ladakh, India. My daughter had been volunteering for the summer as an English and math tutor, helping Ladakhi students prepare for upcoming exams. Captain Yoo had come to Ladakh to do some trekking. They bumped into each other several times (the first time, actually) at an internet cafe in Leh. Luck has to be on your side to access the internet up there: the internet cafe has to be open; there has to be electricity if it is open; and if it is open and there is electricity, at least one of the few computers have to be operational. It can take a few tries before all three conditions are met. And if you finally do get a chance to connect with the outside world, you may have to wait awhile for your turn. So my daughter and Captain Yoo ended up chatting to pass the time on a few occasions.
Attempted Tropes:
Noraebang
Viral unjustified public condemnation
Blind date
Relationship contract & cohabitation
Drunk piggyback
Head injury
Hospitalization
IV drip
Noble idiocy
Bumping stranger foreshadows future relationship
Forgotten, then remembered, past encounter as sign of fated relationship
@Welmaris: Yay for Prison Playbook!
@oli Thank you for the birthday wishes😊 Haha..that envelope of money trope ticked too now🤣🤣
@Welmaris: Thank you for the wishes and for coming over with your future son-in-law😊 Loved the samosaa too. The karaoke and your story added a special zing to our party! You are lucky to have a son-in-law like that😊
@packmule3 This party was even more fun than a real one!🎉🎉🎊🎊🎈🎈
So much good food, good wine and so many good stories and great boyfriends and girlfriends!!1🤩🤩
Thank you for organizing this, arranging for the venue and inviting everyone😊😊 We danced all night and there was even a karaoke!! Best party ever!!!
This Coronavirus cannot keep us down!!! 😎
@Welmaris
You’ve got a good list of tropes! You wrote down the ones I spotted while reading.
I’ll add this one:
– Meet at a “magical” tourist spot.
Except for a few lines at the end, your story is told in the form of a synopsis. So, there are a lot of moments when you’d like to know how it goes.
On the Empire State Building, how does it go from the moment they are strangers to the moment they exchange their coordinates? It’s not ordinary.
Your story has some similarities with “Crash Landing On You”, for the end with the long distance relationship. And that gave me an idea inspired by CLOY:
When Captain Yoo is at a restaurant and they’re eating oysters. He drinks beer, and the protagonist is surprised. There he fills her glass with beer, and she tastes the beer with the oysters and thinks it’s good. I’ve never tried it, but it should be okay. Besides, Captain Yoo might have ordered a very specific beer, it gives him the stature of a more refined man than he looks.
About the scene you spotted: when MinHo lifts the table.
The spectator can guess (or not) what he’s doing before: it’s abusive but it makes sense. The heroine doesn’t understand anything. So, this precise moment is very important, because that’s when she will understand his previous actions. It’s the kind of situation that gives the effect “Wow, the hero does something super stylish and clever, he turns a table into a painting in less than 2 seconds”. So there’s that effect that you must have seen in other dramas. The same moment seen several times. But I think it’s more the director who decides that, not the writer. There it was fun to describe it to give a visual touch.
I’ve already spotted several errors in this script:
– Why would the heroine have a bag with her painting stuff in it?
– When she cries in the street, people should notice her because of the paint on her, rather than ignoring her.
– When she walks towards Lee Wan, her walk is elegant, whereas in actuality she is in a hurry and walks fast.
– Scene at the end, Lee Wan has changed his clothes, but he should have had casual clothes, not a suit.
In Secret Garden, the male lead is obnoxious with a woman on a blind date. But at least the woman knows she’s on a blind date, and that’s why she came here. She wants to get her hooks into this man.
In my story, and I hope it’s understandable, because I’m not sure about the translation, it’s much more cruel.
The male leader is going to behave like the one in Secret Garden, he wants to sabotage his blind date on purpose because he’s angry with his mother. Which is pretty dumb, because already he’s going to hurt someone else. But at least he’s assuming he’s dealing with a woman who’s on notice. A woman who’s probably coming for his fortune.
However, Ha Na is really coming for the painting. She doesn’t know that she too has been tricked (probably by her father, another Cheabol). We have some clues beforehand: why does she attach so much importance to this appointment? Why does she go when she should go home and clean the yellow paint on her clothes? She’s a Cheabol daughter, but her dream is to be exhibited in the most prestigious gallery, the Cheadol gallery. Her father could cheat through his connections and open a gallery for her. But she refuses, she wants her paintings to be recognized for their quality. We don’t know what MinHo really thinks about the real quality of her painting with flowers, since he decided to be unpleasant from the beginning. Or maybe he prefers a more modern contemporary art.
@WEnchanteur, for the meeting with Captain Yoo at the Empire State Building and learning his penchant for drinking beer and eating oysters, I got my inspiration from a show I watched on Viki, Jung Hae In’s Travel Log. JHI played the role of Captain Yoo in Prison Playbook. His travel log show isn’t polished, but sincerely done. I enjoyed it because he went places I’ve visited, and I got a kick out of seeing them again through fresh eyes.
Something that happened a few times in the show was that people who didn’t know who he was just came and struck up conversations with him. At first I thought that weird, until I remembered he’d stand out even if not recognized because he had a camera crew with him! As I imagined my story, Captain Yoo isn’t shadowed by a film crew, but I worked up the courage to talk to him when I overheard him speaking Korean while on a phone call. Our first encounter could have gone like this:
“Excuse me. Are you from Korea?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I watch a lot of Korean dramas, so I’ve learned a few words and I thought I recognized some when you were talking. I apologize for eavesdropping, but I thought I’d say hello. Is this your first time visiting the Empire State Building?”
“This is my first time in New York City, and my first time in America.”
“Is that so? Then welcome! I’ve had the pleasure to visit Seoul once, and went up the Namsen Cable Car to Seoul Tower Plaza, but didn’t go all the way up the tower to its observatory. I was there at sunset, just like now, and it was beautiful! The view was different than here, though. This part of New York is flat, so the streets stretch out in a grid. There are hills and mountains in and around Seoul, so the city lights flow around them.”
“Did you like Seoul?”
“Yes, very much. Once I figured out how to use the bus and subway systems, I could get anywhere I wanted. I even managed to get by bus down to the Korean Folk Village near Suwon. That was an amazing day! There were many, many groups of children on school field trips. Some groups looked like there were from preschools! Another group I saw was from a senior citizens’ home. There were also a lot of couples dressed alike or in Josen-era costumes. People watching was a lot of fun. It was also highly entertaining to watch the parades and performances. Walking around the various buildings and reading about their history was very informative. And now when I see a scene in a drama that was filmed at the Korean Folk Village, I go nuts when I recognize the structures. I’m sorry…I’m dominating this conversation. What brings you to the United States and New York City?”
“Circumstances in my life caused a break in my career, and I ended up with some money, so I thought I’d take time to travel. I don’t have particular plans: I’m just going where my interest takes me. I’ve been interested in New York City for a long time because of music I listen to and movies I’ve seen. I’m up here at the Observation Deck right now because I saw this in ‘Sleepless in Seattle’.”
“My younger daughter lives in Seattle! I wish she was here with me now, so she could meet you. I bet you’re about the same age. She’s often my travel buddy–she and I have visited many places in the world together–but I’m on my own for this trip. I’m here to do research, and no one else in my family likes to spend hour after hour in libraries and archives like I do. Ugh! Thinking of being indoors makes me realize I’m chilly out here in the breeze. I’m also hungry, and want to get dinner. Do you have plans? Would you like to join me so we can continue our conversation? I’d like to hear about your travels and your recommendations on what I should do when I visit Korea again.”
“Let’s do that, then.”
It seems that after Hotel del Luna I have acquired a bad habit of not following this site as frequently as I should. Better late than never, Happy Birthday Ms. Phoenix.
Thank you for your wishes, @FGB4877😊😊