Koi No Yokan

Moving forward

Minju's POV:

It was Monday yet again, Yujin and I has gotten closer over the span of three days. I approached her earlier, I invited her to hang out with Kwangbae Oppa and I. We often go to a Filipino Barbecue Restaurant on Mondays for dinner. It was Haneul Appa's favorite place to eat at in Mapo-gu. Mondays are Haneul Appa's favorite day because as she used to say, Monday symbolizes a new beginning of the week, it symbolizes a new chance to turn around your bad previous week. Her resilient attitude had left marks on us, we try each week to fight against the current, to cement their legacy, the vocal practice room where Seri Eomma died was already converted into an office.

Times had changed us, it made some visible changes. Myself alone this past year have undergone so much changes. Previous years, I was still holding out for Chaen, but with the last explosive fight we've had this past Friday, that was the last strand, I still haven't made an effort to speak with her, despite her spending the night at Mong Oppa's Penthouse Suite at Kang Hotel. The morning after she stayed at the suite too and she even had breakfast with us, an All-American Breakfast prepared by the hotel's kitchen. I slept in our shared room on my own double bed, barricading myself with pillows and stuffed animals. I don't speak with her, despite being room mates. Unless I need to, I won't, I quietly left the dorm earlier this morning too. Sunday we went to Seri Eomma's and we spent time by her gravestone marker, we spent time with her family too. Then in the afternoon we dropped by Haneul Appa's Photography shop. We got some films like usual and had the batches of films developed.

Mong Oppa and I have become prolific film camera enthusiasts, even more so now that Haneul Appa was gone. Her Harabeoji was all smiles whenever he would see us in the shop. He said he looked forward to seeing us in the shop, because it reminded him of his sonnyeo Haneul. My favorite subject to shoot was Mong Oppa, she knows how to pose and her cold facial features looked heavenly in every shot I took of her. Harabeoji Kwak as we fondly call Mister Kwak Yong Jae, the owner of Kwak Photography Shop, loved to smile like he meant it, now I know where Haneul Appa got her smiley face from. Her never give up attitude was from her Father side, Filipinos are known to be a resilient nation, despite all the atrocities the Filipino People have gone through, like say an Earthquake and Flashflood, they will still stand tall and proud, it was a shame that their leaders are not doing them good, shame on the corrupt officials, shame on them for making Filipinos suffer more and die trying to be free.

Haneul Appa took us to Korean-Filipino museums and places around Korea where they had rich history with the Filipino people. It was surprising to find out about how 900 of their soldiers stood with us and fought for Korean Sovereignty in the Korean Civil War, where the two opposing civil factions now known as South Korea and North Korea were at war, causing the DMZ line to be put up and the great divide was sparked by this war, up until today, the two factions were on truce and constant negotiations were being discussed. It's been fifty years now and a lot of us had relatives from the north, some tried to escape and some lives in poverty at the North. I know a lot of people who had relatives at the North.

We walked five blocks after our Weekly Evaluations, Yujin and I walked behind Mong Oppa. We reached the Filipino Barbecue Restaurant sooner than we expected. I guess if you're walking with good company, time passes by so quickly. Yujin loved to talk about herself and how she was as a child. She told me a lot about herself and I would just occassionally nod at her on varied times, laugh at her little childish adventures. She was every bit like Haneul Appa, Haneul Appa was good with her hands, she builds stuff as a kid, Legos are her favorite, aside from Christmas and Cameras, she liked Legos the most. Her room was filled with Lego figures. She was often called by Uncle Skyler as Gabriela, a Filipino term for a lady that fights a lot with the status quo, she doesn't grow silent, if there's anything, she could argue for hours about why she should be allowed to do a thing. She argues sassily and passionately. Gabriela after a Filipina Hero's name Gabriela Silang, Gabriela Silang was an Army Leader, she led the Ilocano Independence Movement who are against the Spaniards.