Just Like the Movies

A plot that has been lurking in my mind since early this year when Mama Jang and her fortune teller started making the headlines. Meeting the parents is always a moment worthy of a fanfic, right? This is for Dorothy, my friend from the Land of Oz (kidding!), who writes kick-ass song lyrics and fanfics about KS2H. She celebrates her birthday on the 25th of May. Maligayang Kaarawan, Dot!

Just Like the Movies

Shin Hye scans the interior of the restaurant nervously, fidgeting her dainty Tiffany necklace. She strains her neck towards the entrance everytime a customer is ushered by one of the kimono-clad staff. She checks her watch. Five minutes to seven in the evening. She arrived fifteen minutes early and deliberately so. She did not want to make the person she is about to meet to wait that’s why. And she desperately wants to make a good impression.

She has acted out this scene a couple of times in her career. But in real life, this is the first time she will be doing this and suddenly she wishes she has a ready script at hand so she could just blurt out her memorized lines because God knows she cannot do any adlibs now even if she wants to. She is too nervous to even think coherently now. Oppa, you should be here with me at this moment. I need you here.

Although Keun Suk has agreed to join them for dinner, he said he would only come an hour later to give them time to talk and get to know each other better. She initially balked at the idea but Keun Suk insisted. “It is omma’s request, Shin Hye,” he said, his eyes sparkling with unabashed mirth. He was obviously enjoying her uneasiness.

“Park Shin Hye-ssi?” a gentle voice calls out to her, cutting her reverie. The lyrical voice comes from the beautiful face smiling at her just now and Shin Hye abruptly stands up to give her greeting.  

“Anyeong haseyo,” Shin hye shyly bows before the elegantly coiffed woman standing in front of her.

“Anyeong haseyo,” the older woman replies back with a smile and takes her seat across Shin Hye.

~o0o~

Jang Keun Suk’s omma smiles inwardly, amused and pleased, at the young woman in front of her. This is not the first time she is meeting Park Shin Hye, the actress. They have been introduced before and have met her twice when she used to visit her son at the set of the drama. But this is the first time she is meeting Shin Hye as Keun Suk’s girlfriend and although her son has practically informed the whole world that his omma is very fond of Shin Hye, still she wants to personally convey her blessings on the relationship and maybe hear for herself how Shin Hye really feels about her only son. Hence, she asked to meet the pretty young lady, who is currently busy getting nervous before her presence.

“How have you been, Shin Hye-ssi? I heard from my Keun Suk you have been busy with projects lately,” she asks before taking a sip of tea.

Shin Hye smiles politely, keeping her gaze slightly low. “Ne, eom—eomoni,” she stammers. “I am currently filming a new film.”

Keun Suk’s omma smiles, noting how Shin Hye almost choked when she addressed her as ‘mother’.

“Omma, be nice to her, please. Don’t make her squirm too much, ahrasso?” Keun Suk had begged before he dropped her off at the restaurant earlier.

“My Keun Suk is a handful, don’t you think so?” she lays down the bait. “He is stubborn and very, very strong-willed. Has he not given you any headaches yet?”

Shin Hye’s eyes lit up at the question which make her anticipate for the answer. “Aniyo, eomoni,” she says. “I am strong-willed myself so I often understand where he is coming from. He is just full of ideas and passion that he always wants to act on them instantly. I often ask him to slow down and just enjoy what he is doing. There’s no need to rush and do everything simultaneously. He is young and has a plenty of time to do everything, one at a time.”

The older woman nods her head in agreement. That’s what she has always been telling Keun Suk. Do not rush. You have the advantage of youth. Do not overwork yourself. Do not keep running. No one is chasing after you. And it seems that she shares the same sentiments with Shin Hye.

“Shin Hye-ssi, don’t you find it a burden that he is an actor?” Keun Suk’s omma knows she must ask this question. She knew his son’s romantic history. Although she has not always been privy to all his relationships, she does know that the last time Keun Suk’s heart was broken, it has been because he had to choose between his career and his girlfriend. She knows her son like she knows the lines on her palm. And it would really hurt her if this budding relationship with Shin Hye would end to nothing again just because of busy schedules and work. She likes this girl and she wants her son to be happy for real. So she has to know Shin Hye’s heart.

Shin Hye’s eyes grow solemn at the question, as if understanding the reason behind it. “I am an actress, too, eomoni. And yes, the most ideal thing for me to do is to not date someone from the business if I want a boyfriend who would be there for me every time I want to go to the movies or go fishing in the countryside, or to just openly date like normal couples do.”

“But,” Shin Hye continues, “The Jang Keun Suk I like is not an ordinary guy, eomoni. He is an actor. His schedule is more hectic than mine. He will never be there right away whenever I want him. And yes, sometimes he even has to check his manager if he is free on a certain day just so we can date. But I don’t really mind, eomoni. Because I, too, belong in his world. I know how things work and I understand.”

Keun Suk’s omma smiles warmly at Shin Hye’s explanation. “You must really like my Keun Suk,” she quips. It was not a question, she was just stating a fact she now considers to be true.

Shin Hye’s cheeks turn into deep crimson at the remark. She meekly bows her head and smiles.

“Keun Suk likes you, too. And he is very proud of you, you know that? He says you are far wiser than your age. And I can see that, now. I agree. Your parents raised you well, Shin Hye.”

“Kamsahamnida, eomoni. You have raised Oppa well, too. And he loves you so,” Shin Hye answers.

Keun Suk’s omma gives out a hearty laugh. “Oh, he should. He doesn’t have much choice, does he? He’s my only child, after all.”

 Just then, as if on cue, like in the movies, a distinctively manly voice interjects from out of nowhere. “Sillaehamnida, omma, Shin Hye, but I think I heard my name just now.”

Shin Hye beams at the smiling face of Keun Suk, her heart bursting with relief that he has finally arrived, and pride, that she has managed to make his omma laugh.

The fortune teller must have been right, after all. She and her oppa might just have been a match approved by the heavens.