Road Trip

Chapter 7

There were moments when Hyewon thought that the only reason why Jihan stayed was because of Madame Dupont and her offer, but whenever she would exit her school and find the other girl waiting for her at the front, perched on her moped and wearing her adorable helmet, all doubts and insecurities would fly off once they ride the streets of Paris, looking for yet a new place to eat at.

Not this time though, because Cosette had an important event scheduled in the evening and she needed Jihan to dress her fabulously. It was fine, Hyewon thought; she was actually really proud of what Jihan has been doing for the past few months.

Who would have thought that the other girl would actually find something to do in Paris?

Hyewon suggested it—it was her idea—but that was a mere act of making conversation while she packed in her office that day Jihan visited and invited her for dinner.

But then again, she was glad that she had said it, because now Jihan was with her, and she no longer felt lonely since then.

The red haired girl had just started her moped and finished fastening her helmet when her phone suddenly rang, forcing her to turn off the scooter’s engine.

“Hey, dad,” Hyewon greeted as she leaned back on her scooter, phone sandwiched between her ear and shoulder while she took off her helmet again.

‘Hi, Hyewonie! How are you? How’s school?’

“It’s good, dad. Everything’s great! I love it here.”

‘I’m very glad to hear that, Hyewonie. Oh, but don’t love it too much, I still want you back home.’

She could hear the pout on her father’s voice, and when she would usually cringe at the image, Hyewon smiled instead, actually missing the old man’s antics.

“I miss you, dad. You said you were gonna visit me before you head back home but you didn’t. I haven’t seen you for more than a year now!”

‘I’m sorry Hyewon, you know what happened in the company when you left. Everyone on the board wanted your seat; I had to straighten them out again. But don’t worry, as soon as I get some downtime and once I made sure that no one’s gonna steal our business, I’ll fly there immediately.’

Hyewon only chuckled as she shook her head.

It was still rather early, just a little over after noon, but her classes were all done for the day. Noticing that she had been talking to her dad like a fool on her idle moped, she had decided to continue the chat in a nearby café.

On her way, she had told him of her adventures in the kitchen, how she looked at food differently now and how she had almost cut a whole finger yesterday.

“Oh, dad, that reminds me,” Hyewon suddenly said, plopping on a vacant table outside the café near her school, “I bumped into Madam Cosette. She says hi.”

‘Ah, that crazy lady. How is she?’

“Same old, same old. Always busy, always has a party to attend.”

Hyewon suddenly remembered Jihan. She swallowed audibly. If her crazy father knew about it, she was sure that—

‘Oh, oh, wait! I almost forgot! Speaking of bumping into people…’

She almost jumped from her seat at her father’s excited squealing.

‘I called you because I bumped into my best friend’s wife and she said Jihan is in Paris too! You should meet up with her!’