Love Across Universe

Shattered Glasses Of Tears

Soojin

I woke up to the insistent ringing of my alarm clock and checked the time—it was 9 o'clock. Damn! Where was Alex? The last thing I remembered was seeing a strange shadow in the bushes and pondering it.

My head was pounding, a clear indication I'd overindulged last night. I stumbled downstairs, finding Sooah unnie standing by the gas stove, preparing something. Life felt incomplete without her. I smiled at myself and embraced her from behind.

"Good morning, sis," I greeted, eyeing the fried eggs in the pan.

"Aye, don't do this. I will get a burn."

"Where is Alex and where were we last night?" I left her waist and walked to the fridge for some water.

"You don't remember Soo? Oh, you're not supposed to. You both went out for dinner and you drank 8 bottles of soju, so you passed out and poor Alex had to carry you back home. That's pathetic," she said without looking at me.

She looked chafed. She hated getting too drunk to that point when some one else would have to carry us.

"You didn't answer my first question and I am sorry," I said putting the glass on the table.

"I'm glad that you realized your mistake and I don't know where he went early in the morning. He said he had to meet his important Korean client and since he was here, so he went to meet him." 

"Oh....oh God! My head is hurting. Sis, I will go for a walk after breakfast. Are you going anywhere today? I would like your company."

"I want to rest," she said placing the food on the plates.

She was still mad but never mind, I would bring her a bouquet of flowers on my way back home.

I went to my room and quickly freshened up. I put on a comfortable white sweater with beige coloured jeans. It was a bit windy outside so I wore a red scarf too.

I came down and silently had my breakfast.

"I am going, bye," I closed the door, but no response. Sooah should be more merciful.

I decided to walk to the Han River and go to the other side. The bridge had been opened and now I could search the place. I trailed my fingers on the sweater's soft woolen hem, feeling all the warmth and love of my eomma. 

It was my last birthday with my parents and she gifted me her handmade red scarf. 

I smiled to myself and stopped near a graveyard. It wasn't just a common graveyard, it was the place where all our ancestors were buried, however, my parents weren't because they died in The States.

I remembered holding appa's hands and cleaning the dusty tombstones of our ancestors. Korea indeed held many of my forever golden treasured memories. I took slow steps towards the graveyard and then started roaming like a vagabond- reading the names of all dead people.

I saw a girl of my age placing a small cake on a tomb. Her eyes were red and on the stone it was craved : 'Jung Woo-bin 2000-2030'. The girl whispered a small 'saranghae' (ILY in Korean) and left weeping.

I assumed it was her lover who died at the prime of his youth. I came near the tomb and saw a white butterfly sitting on the cake. It was surely him, Jung Woobin who came from Heaven as a butterfly. 

His creations are the best thing that could have ever happened. Though, I wasn't religious but I believed that something  existed beyond our two eyes.

Slowly I went to the spot where my grand-parents were laid to rest. The tomb looked clean and the grass looked trimmed. Sooah had cleaned it yesterday. I was happy that she was following our family's footsteps. I had 2 white flowers in my hands and placed them on their tombs.

I chanted a prayer and felt calm. 

Praying is always good, it's the best way to calm yourself. Isn't it beautiful how praying is the only method to communicate to the Universe?

I exited the place and walked to Han River.

On reaching the Han River I crossed the bridge and went to the bushes. The walking path was thin with a tall wall on the other hand and thorny bushes facing towards the river, that's why this placed lacked visitors.  I took out my phone and clicked a few pictures of the bushes and the path. I strolled there for a good 15 mins but found nothing. Giving up, I decided to go back and spend time with my family.

Walking back to my home, I picked up a bouquet of beautiful lilies for Sooah and roses for Alex.

Plastering a smile on my face I opened the main door and sneaked upstairs. I decided to surprise Sooah first. 

I opened her room's door and the next site which I saw  worse than the deadliest nightmare I could ever have. Alex, shirtless on top of Sooah and her neck had red-purplish bruises. I dropped the bouquets and that's when they looked at me. 

"Baby, it's not what you are thinking," he came and held my arms.

"WHAT DO YOU EVEN THINK OF ME?" I growled and hot tears started flowing through my cheeks.

"Soojin, be calm, please listen to us," she said hiding her neck through a scarf. She thought that I couldn't see the mess.

"Unnie you too...how unnie...how? How could you? I trusted you the most. You were my life," I threw both the bouquets on their faces.

It takes many years to develop trust, but a single fault can break it for ever. 

"Let's stop our game here Alex, she isn't a teen anymore," Sooah said crossing her hands against her chest.

"Yes baby, let's explain her everything and abandon her forever," he said with a devilish smile.

I prayed to God that it was a night mare.

"Listen you nameless bitch, first of all cut all sorts of feelings that you have for Alex because he is mine. Now coming to the story, Alex and I had been in a relationship since my graduation days. We attended the same college but before you came to our college, Alex went to the Cambridge University so you didn't know him. He proposed to me on my farewell day and I accepted him," she said calmly, indeed calmly-it was like nothing for her.

It looked like I was talking to a complete stranger.

"The biggest fact which our family has hidden from you is - you're actually my cousin-"

"NOOOOO! It can't happen. You're lying, you asshole!" I spatted.

However, she continued. "Dad had his own sibling brother who married a Japanese maiden and settled there. Our grandparents were against this marriage and hence abandoned their child. My appa loved your appa, so when I was 2 years old, we went to visit them. Just when we reached your original home, the front door was ajar. We pushed it and went inside and saw your parents lying dead with no traces of violence and you were alive, lying beside their bodies, crying."

I was in utter shock and to the point that I thought that it must be just a story. "What about the birth certificates then?"

"They are all fake. We don't know the reason of death of your parents neither tried to know. My eomma adopted you. You were never my family's child but still appa gave half of the property to you. The entire property should be mine."

"You could have just said that and I would have given you everything Sooah. How can you go so low? You're a greedy bitch," tears of betrayal running down my cheeks. "But why did you do the Alex drama?" I wiped my tears with the back of my hand.

"Oh, about that - I noticed that you were lovesick, so I send Alex to you. We will be getting married this year and I wanted to gift something to my in-laws, so we decided to give my family's Korean house to them. We brought you to Korea to sign the papers and luckily you were so mad in love that you did," she delivered her speech smoothly.