Chasing Rainbows

5. Charity Dinner

Korean Community Houston - Charity Dinner - Seoul Garden Restaurant - July 20, 2016

Reading the signage, Bin entered the Banquet Room of the restaurant. He saw Dr. Youn, smiling widely, as the usher led him to his location. He  shook his hand and ushered him beside his seat, and excitingly talked to him. "Thank you for coming, Mr. Hyun, Bin. I'm so glad our paths crossed in Galveston just this weekend."

"Sure, Dr. Youn, not a problem. I also would like to be familiar with the Korean Community here in Houston, and all the projects you've been doing." He said as the waiter served them drinks.

Dr. Youn introduced him to the other persons seated with them in the table. "Mr. Hyun, kindly meet all the other members of the Board, Prof. Kim, Dr. Park, Madam Sung. Colleagues, this is Mr. Hyun, he just came here a few months ago. As you know, their family in Korea owns the Hyun Group of Companies." He proudly beamed.

Everyone in the table greeted him. "Hello, I'm Sung Minji. It's a pleasure to meet you and thank you for coming to this dinner. It would mean a lot to our advocacies." Madam Sung smiled at him.

Prof. Kim then interrupted, "Annyeong, I'm Prof. Kim Deoksu of Rice University. Yes, that's very true, and we're excited with our new project, for sure, more and more students will be helped."

Dr. Youn smiled and butted in, "Uh-oh, Prof. Kim, don't spill the beans yet, let's save it for later. Haha. Prof. Kim here came from Yonsei University in Seoul and he's just really excited for our new project, that's why."

Hearing those words, he smiled. "Oh, is that so? I also studied at Yonsei, I had my MBA there."

Prof. Kim couldn't be more happier, with his smile beaming widely. "That's very nice! Actually, my partner in this project also came from Yonsei. That's just great!"

Just after he finished, Madam Sung exclaimed. "Oh she's here, our very lovely doctor from Yonsei!"

Turning around, a familiar face greeted him. No. It's not just a familiar face, for he knew every detail of that face. Yejin.

Dr. Youn rose from his seat and greeted her. "Omo, still as lovely as before, our pretty doctor!" Yejin was like a daughter to him. She bowed down and shook his hands, not realizing that Bin was there.

She greeted everyone and as Dr. Youn ushered her to her seat beside Prof. Kim, he introduced Bin to her. "Dr. Son, this is Mr. Hyun Bin, one of our invited guests tonight."

He looked at her and tried to smile and she smiled back, albeit awkwardly. He extended his hand and she shook it briefly.

"Dr. Son, he's from Yonsei, isn't it great for our project?" Prof. Kim mentioned.

"Yes, nice to hear that." She smiled and with that, she withdrew her gaze from him and looked back at Prof. Kim.

With that, the host called their attention as they were about to start the program.

Sitting across Yejin, Bin tried to focus on what the host was saying. Dr. Youn then gave his welcome remarks, greeting their invited guests one by one. He just smiled when he called his name. "You know, I just came across Mr. Hyun here at Galveston last weekend and it's an honor to have him here right away, attending our charity dinner tonight. Mr. Hyun seemed to be not that busy huh?" He teasingly joked at him. Bin just continued to flash his smile. After his speech, Dr. Youn called for dinner to be served.

The people in their table just continued to chat as they ate, with Dr. Youn seemed to be entertained with his conversation with Bin. They discussed about the countries they have travelled to, with Dr. Youn sharing how he connected with the Korean communities in those countries. Madam Sung, on the other hand, asked Yejin about some medical terms, to which Yejin explained diligently. Prof. Kim interrupted them, when he asked Yejin, "Hey Dr. Son, what year did you graduate from Yonsei? Maybe you're in the same class as Mr. Hyun here?"