AAE THE REUNION
Written by: Margie [MY]


8 YEARS AGO IN A SMALL TOWN IN KOREA

San Mei alighted from the bus and immediately noticed a group of young bikers lounging on their bikes near the bus-stop. They were laughing and talking but when they noticed her, they all turned in her direction, making her uneasy. There were about 10 of them and they were all in their early 20s and wearing leather jackets. San Mei could tell from their expensive attires and bikes, they were obviously rich and from the big city. She wondered what they were doing in this small town.

"Excuse me, Miss."

San Mei ignored whoever was calling her and increased her pace.

"Hey, little Maid."

Suddenly, she felt her wrist grabbed by a warm hand.

"I'm calling you, Miss."

San Mei turned and looked at the extremely handsome young man still holding her arm.

"Let go of my hand or I'll scream."

She was shaking in her school uniform, but there's no way she would let these 'hooligans' know. Standing tall and straight, she returned the young stranger's look steadfastly.

The young man immediately released her wrist and apologized. Contrary to his image as a rough and tough biker, he was polite when he spoke. "I'm sorry if I frightened you, but I was calling out to you and you didn't hear me."

Gosh, San Mei, he sure has the most charming smile. "I heard you. What is it that you want?"

The young man looked towards his friends and back at San Mei. "We're from Seoul and we are not familiar with this town. We're paying our friend a surprise visit but we seem to be lost. I called my friend but I do not know the name of this place."

He handed San Mei his mobile. "Can you speak to him and tell him where we are?"

San Mei hesitated.

"Please?" She took the phone and gave the name of the town to the stranger's friend.

"Thank you very much, little Maid." The young man smiled again and continued, "I apologise again if we startled you."

San Mei looked towards the group. Now that she could see their faces more clearly, they do not seem as rowdy or as dangerous as they initially seemed. They were all smiling at her. She returned their curious looks with an angry glare.

She countered haughtily. "I do not scare easily."

Without a further word, she turned her back on them and walked away. But as soon as she was out of their sight, she ran the short distance back to her parents' laundry shop and tried to calm her racing heartbeat. She touched the part of her wrist where the young man had held it earlier. Was her skin tingling or was it just her imagination?

The next morning as she walked towards the bus-stop, the young man was there again. This time he was alone. He was again half-lying, half-sitting on his bike and seems to be waiting for someone.

"Morning, little Maid."

She guessed he must be calling her that to annoy her into revealing her name to him. Well, she was annoyed alright, but she sure wasn't going to reveal her name to him.

San Mei nodded slightly and mumbled an unfriendly 'Good morning.' She would have ignored him but didn't think it was necessary to be rude -- especially since he was her senior in age. Her parents have ingrained into her the importance of being respectful to everyone, especially her seniors.

"Going to school?"

Hooray! He got his arithmetic correct, San Mei mumbled to herself.

He shrugged his broad shoulders and asked, "Can I give you a ride to school? I bet you haven't ridden on one of these beauties, right?"

She finally blurted out angrily. "You're right, I haven't! We're poor people. We'd rather spend our hard-earned won on food and clothing than on these imported machines we have no need for. Do you know that what you spent on your bike is enough to feed several families for a year?"

The young man was startled and embarrassed by her angry outburst. He jumped off his two-wheeler and responded, "I didn't mean anything like that!" He placed his palms together in a humble gesture and repeated gently, "Really, I didn't mean any offense. Peace."

Just then the bus arrived and came to a stop in front of San Mei. She boarded the bus without another look at the stranger. But she heard him call out, "We'll meet again, little Maid."


PRESENT DAY IN SEOUL ...


Errr, sorry... to be continued .....