The Minor Complications of Love

Chapter Fifteen: Anything to Stay in America

Mark lay down on his bed, completely distressed. He knew that it would just take a matter of months before his mom would try to encourage him to go back to South Korea again to try college, because, knowing his mom, not having that scholarship wouldn't stop her from getting her precious son to have a good education in the country she's always wanted to go back to. She's bound to work several jobs just to pay that tuition fee off which is the last thing Mark would ever want for his mother and for himself to be honest.

He had to convince his mom to stay in America and if he couldn't do that, he'd have to do something that would leave his mom no choice but to let him and them as a family stay in America.

Mark's already been working on applying for scholarships and studying for a standardized test that would get him to college in the United States and while he's always dreamed of going into universities like UCLA, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Princeton, which university he'd end up in for now would be the least of his concerns. He really just had to make sure that he could stay in America.

"What the..."

Mark sat up from his bed as his phone began ringing loudly. A friend of his from high school - Dylan - was calling him.

"Hey Dylan! Wassup?" Mark said as he answered the call.

"Yo Mark! Great to hear you're back in Ohio!" Dylan laughed. Mark could swear that he could see his friend's smile through the phone, because of the tone of Dylan's laughter.

"Yeah, to be honest, I'm extremely happy too man," Mark smiled himself (although it was a pretty weak one) as he looked out the window and looked at a part of the neighborhood.

"So, how was Korea?"

And that was when Mark's smiled washed off from his face.

How was Korea? Well, it sure was a living hell, he thought to himself as the moments from when he was in the country flashbacked before his eyes.

Mark barely knew any Korean (much unlike his sister who was the only one is mom was able to successfully immerse the culture in) yet here he was stuck in a country that expected him to. It seems unbelievable that his mom would even let him stay in a country that felt so foreign to him, but the thing was was that his mom expected that he would at least pick up the language while he was there - which you've guessed it, he didn't, because he loathed the idea. 'Loath' may seem like an extremely strong word to use in such a situation, but I can assure you that Mark was feeling that exactly.

And because he loathed his stay in the country and having to blend in with the culture, Mark's roommate, Min-Jun Kim who had stayed in America for a while in his childhood before returning to South Korea, helped him out, trying to understand Mark's situation. This was why Mark was able to at least get high enough grades that would help him keep his scholarship.

Unfortunately though, he was barely grateful for it and Min-Jun ended up giving up on him by their second year in college which led Mark to ultimately fail in his subjects, lose his scholarship, and end up going to America.

In other words, yes, Mark lied about his part-time jobs being the ultimate cause for losing his scholarship - he never actually had a part-time job and he spent most of his time feeling so unmotivated and throwing out pity parties which was why although going back to America was what he always wanted, he also felt a pang of guilt in his chest when he had to confront the idea of facing his mom and deciding to tell her a lie.

That was certainly all in the past now though. Now that he's in America, he can make things right and he promised himself that he wouldn't let his mom suffer like she did countless times before.

"Korea... It was... OK," Mark simply said as he gulped, hating to have remembered all that.

"Listen though," he then continued before Dylan could ask anything more about his stay in the country which still honestly haunts him untim this very day.

"I'm planning to stay in America for now and looking for scholarships. If the scholarships don't work out though, I need a job. A really good paying job for the next year that would help me save enough for college. You think you could recommend me to any?"

"Well, you still know how to play the piano?"