Translation of Love

20

Happy

We are sitting in our usual spot at the cafe. Taeyoung is beside me, helping me conjugate verbs into the tenses.

"Next one is 만나다, to meet. Write it in future tense."

I write out the verb in hangul before beginning to conjugate it. I think through it aloud, "만날 거예요?"

"맞아요 [Correct]," he responds, drawing a happy face next to my writing.

"누구 만날 거예요 [Who are you going to meet]?" I ask him.

"너 [You]." He replies back.

"Who?" I ask in momentary confusion.

"You, 바보 [fool], you." He laughs at me, tapping my forehead with his pencil. "Just when I thought you were improving." He shakes his head, tsking at me. I glare at him and he smiles his charming smile.

"Next one." He focuses back on my paper. "Love, in the present tense." He says and I grow slightly nervous because present tense is something I learned within the first week of class. Why is he asking such a simple question?

I begrudgingly write down 사랑하다, then conjugate it to 사랑해요. He draws a heart next to it.

"Pronounce it."

I glare at him soundlessly. He raises his eyebrows at me and the small movement makes him look so striking that I have to look away.

"Pronounce it."

I cough a bit before mumbling, "사랑해요 [Saranghaeyo]."

"뭐 [What]?" He leans in closer, hand cupped over his ear mockingly.

"사-랑-해-요" I emphasize each syllable.

"Good job." He pats my head, an evil smile on his face.

"Taeyoung, can we do something more difficult—" He cuts me off, shaking his head and his finger at me, lips pursed like a fish.

"Ah, ah, ah, I'm not Taeyoung when I'm teaching you, neither am I oppa. I am 선생님 [Teacher]. Repeat."

I sigh at his ridiculousness, "Sorry, 선생님[seonsaengnim]."

He smiles at me in triumph. "Sure, let's move onto forming bigger sentences."

We spend an hour writing out simple sentences like, "can I please have water," "where is the nearest convenience store," and "I want to watch a Romance movie."

***

The Taeyoung in front of me now is so different than the one from last week, the one who gave me the cold shoulder after I asked about our relationship. He had told me what happened that day when he was walking me home after making up.

"My father had seen me on an advertisement for a clothing brand, the clothes I was wearing the day we went to the cat cafe actually," He paused as I remembered how ethereal he looked that day. "Anyways, my parents don't know about me modelling. So it was a bit of a shock, to say the least."

His pace slowed down and I slowed mine to match. "My parents didn't want me to move to Seoul for music. My dad despises me for it actually. He refused to help pay my tuition, or even my rent, even though they are well off now."

He smiled sorrowfully, "He thinks going after my passion is a waste of time. Maybe he's right..."

"No, don't say that. I think being miserable doing something you love is a lot more honourable than being miserable doing something you hate."

He looked at me, squeezing my hand. "I guess you're right." He sighed. "But that already put me in a bad mood, having to hear him yell at how disrespectful of a son I am doing something behind his back. How embarrassing it is for him to pretend it's not me in the photo when his friends ask about it. How disappointed he is in me."

I stopped Taeyoung from walking and took both of his warm, big hands into my own small, cold ones. He looked down, taking deep breaths.

He continued. "Then as if my father willed it, our landlord went off on me because I've been late with paying rent. While I've been getting better modelling gigs, they're coming less often and I've been short of money."

I wrapped my arms around him, my ear against his chest, listening to his heart, which was beating faster than normal.

"And on the same day, I had to go to a photo shoot, an important one for a shopping centre in Hongdae. And I couldn't get into it at all. The cameraman was verbally attacking me, maybe hoping that it would snap me into a mood good for modelling. But I ended up leaving the set while everyone yelled after me. I shouldn't have left, I could have ruined my whole reputation. I made an excuse that someone in my family died and they backed off a bit. I came home straight after, to you. And I hurt you."

His last words were barely a whisper. I looked up at him, hands holding each side of his face. He looked down at me, eyes dispirited.

"It's all over now. It sucks to have parents that don't support you, I understand. But you have your friends to support you," I paused for a breath, "and now you have me too. We believe in you."

He looked into each one of my eyes for a moment before leaning in to kiss me. I felt as though we were somewhere secluded, and not in the middle of a sidewalk with people walking around us. I felt as though it was only us two there, as if our story was the only one that truly mattered.

***

Now we leave the coffee shop hand-in-hand—something I still can't get used to.

I also can't get used to the stares from young girls as they eye Taeyoung; sometimes ignoring me, other times glaring at me, and a few times genuinely smiling at me.

The happy-go-lucky disposition Taeyoung carries now makes my heart flutter with warmth. It's a side to him I haven't been able to see until now.

I want him to always be this happy, and I'll do whatever I can to keep it this way.

. . .

Instagram: @sooaura
Twitter: @_sooaura

Love,

Sooaura