Kimchi Soup

I bumped into her going through the aisles of our library.  Today was my usual run through all the Korean poetry books on the fourth floor.

I landed on my ass really hard.  Honestly, I didn't see this coming.

"Ouch, ouch, ouchies.  Hey watch where you're going!"

"Sorry.  You just came out of nowhere.  And well, I didn't have time to move."

I opened my eyes to see a really cute girl wearing faded blue jeans and a simple light blue blouse.  On her feet I saw some pink Nike running shoes.  I won't hold that against her.  She was such a goddess.  Her silky black hair went past her shoulders in a cute messy way.  

Her perfume hinted faintly of jasmine and apples.  For a moment a picture of my mom when she was young came to mind.  It must have been the apples she used to peel and cut in cute little wedges for me when I was child.  Once I got to her sky-blue eyes, I fell in love.  Not just love.  Caramel candy in love.  I was in trouble.  I could feel my heart start to beat faster.

"Yeah, I get carried away sometimes.  Sorry about that."

Focus.  Calm down Jenni.  You can do this.  One-two-three.  I noticed she looked half-asian and white.  I've always had a thing for us mixxies.  I pretended to dust myself off.

"Hi my name's Jenni, what's yours'?"

Breathe Jenni.  Breathe Jenni.

"I'm Cassandra or Sandy or Cassie.  Take your pick."

She giggled so playfully I melted into a gooey icecream mess inside and all my brainpower went into overload.  This can't happen.  My brain can't shutdown.  Focus.  Focus.  I giggled like an idiot which must have made me seem so crazy to her.

"Uh, you can stop laughing!  I don't think I said anything funny or did I?  I hope not."

She laughed and smiled so twitchingly perfect.  I couldn't help myself.  Yeah I was in love.  She even had a small Hello Kitty charm hanging off her purse.  Which I despise, but this time it didn't matter.  She will be mine.  Oh yes indeed.

"Uh, nope.  Nothing funny at all."

I gave her my best Jane Bond smile and winked at her.  This always works in my head.  No need to gawk.  Pass on through.  All the girls fall for this secret agent.  Big imaginary flashing sign pointing none to obviously at my tiny head.

Time to pour the charm on.

"So Cass, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

She moved a little lock of her hair around her right ear.  Then pointed to the Korean poetry section.  My brain took a millisecond to realize she liked the same poetry I did.  This has to be divine intervention.  It must be.  I did the YES dance inside.  Thankfully nobody was watching.

I shook my head in recognition.

"Ahh, I see.  Are you by chance half-korean?"

She did a really cute mini-smile.

"Yes, of course.  My mother was born in Suwon, South Korea.  My dad was an Air Force mechanic in the motor pool.  Now why would you want to know Jenni?"

She playfully did a soft hip swing into my left leg as we were facing the poetry section.  I could tell my idiot charm was working.  Hopefully I still sounded intelligent.  My mind was wandering to silly fantasies again.  Focus Jenni.

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, I'm half-asian too.  In fact half-korean."

I gave her the most killer smile any good secret agent girl would flash and get THE girl.

She softly snorted and smiled and poked at us.

"Prove it!  How do you say I love you in Korean?"

I got this.  That was an easy one.

"Sarang Haeyo.  And you're beautiful is Tangshin-un arumdapayo.  Anything else?"

She smiled playfully in satisfaction and nodded softly.

"Very impressive.  So you know a little bit about your culture.  Okay, who were the Kisaeng?"

She got me there.  I tend to gloss over history.  It really wasn't my best subject in high school.  So, it really didn't carry over to college.  I hung my head in mock shame.

"Well, how about we get some lunch?  You can educate me on the finer points of Korean history.  Is it a deal?"

She laughed and smiled so twitchingly perfect.  I couldn't help myself.  She was the Sun and I her Earth.  I was so drawn to her.

"It's a deal.  I guess this means you're taking lessons from me now on, eh?"

She winked and I followed her out in bliss to a local Korean noodle restaurant.  This was the start of a beautiful relationship.