Linger - Part 1
Part One
Early autumn, 2007
For the past hour-and-a-half or so, the petite woman with the windswept hair had been waiting impatiently by the side of the road for the tow truck to arrive and rescue her from her predicament.
Nice. An overheated car engine...just what I need.
Stopping short of spewing profanities, Jessica Jung kicked at the rear tyre of her car out of sheer frustration, which probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, considering that her dainty, open-toe sandals could never in any way be mistaken for safety boots.
Grabbing her foot, she let escape an involuntary, "Owww ".
Slumping back against her car in utter despair, she kicked off her sandal, lifting up her foot to examine her stubbed toe. No sooner had she done that than there was a loud rumbling, followed by a couple of sharp honks which made her jump, momentarily causing her to lose her balance and stumble, almost falling.
A white tow truck that had just sped by, screeched to a halt before pulling up several meters in front of her car.
Maniac. Jessica silently mouthed, trying to contain her temper. Composing herself, she poked her tongue against the inside of her cheek, already mentally rehearsing the less-than-polite words she usually reserved for scolding .... maniacs?
The maniac in question had already hopped out of the truck and was sauntering towards her- a young chit of a girl donning an androgynous-looking T-shirt and baggy, orange coveralls that she wore stripped down half-way with the sleeves tied around her hips. Hanging beneath a black ball cap worn back-to-front at a jaunty angle on her head, was dark hair carelessly plaited in a loose French braid.
She looked barely out of high school.
Guilty of stereotyping mechanics and tow truck drivers alike as middle-aged, pot-bellied, balding men, Jessica certainly wasn't expecting a scruffy teenager, and a girl at that, to arrive to her rescue.
Great. They sent a kid. Why am I so not amused?
Resigned to her fate and quickly sizing up the girl, she had to admit, albeit grudgingly, that she was quite taken by her robust, sun-kissed complexion; she was as bronzed as Jessica, herself, was all alabaster.
Fresh-faced Kwon Yuri was merrily chewing away on several slabs of sugarfree, ginseng-flavoured gum that had by then become a sizeable wad in her mouth. The off-white tee she wore with sleeves rolled up to her shoulders, contrasted starkly with her tan and she carried a laid back manner about her. She was decidedly cheerful and amicable.
But a disgruntled Jessica Jung wasn't feeling up to doing cheerful, or amicable for that matter. She had driven non-stop for several hours since leaving Seoul and had lost her way once or twice. She was tired, thirsty and hungry. Tired, because she had hardly slept a wink the night before; thirsty and hungry simply because she had overlooked the importance of stopping for a meal at the last rest stop she'd passed by. Then, just as she was almost reaching her destination, her car had acted up, puffs of smoke billowing from under the hood, freaking her out totally. Frantic, she had called for assistance, waited longer than the stipulated time and they'd sent someone who didn't look old enough to drive. All these on top of the crap that was currently going on in her life. In short, there was zilch for her to be cheerful about. If anything, she was sceptical and resentful.
Really. If she knows nothing about car mechanics, I'll scream.
To a keenly perceptive Kwon Yuri, Jessica Jung's body language literally screamed displeasure and distrust. But the girl wasn't about to let that faze her out too much. Not just yet.
"Unnie, you the one who called? Miss Jes-si-ca Jung, am I right?" Yuri rasped, painstakingly breaking up the syllables of the distressed damsel's name. That's a mouthful. Hasn't she a Korean name?
"Tch." Jessica clucked her tongue in annoyance. "Obviously?"
Looking up from her clipboard, Yuri flashed the sullen woman a disarming grin while giving her the once-over, or perhaps twice-over was more like it, her eyes blatantly sweeping over a svelte 5-foot-3 frame clad in a figure-hugging shirt with a button too many undone, unabashedly offering sightings of black, lacy inners and a deep V, creamy-white expanse of chest. Skinny jeans that seemed to give off the illusion of longer legs while simultaneously accentuating the curves of her behind, and flat, open-toe sandals completed the whole ensemble.
Whoa...just...WHOA. Nice curves and all. Pity about the attitude though.
Visibly flustered, Jessica folded her arms defensively across her chest, knowing she was being ogled at.
Just where are you looking, you little pervert?
Although a little curious as to what was on the girl's agenda, she decided to disregard the appreciative glances being thrown her way. After all, with her stunning, good looks, Jessica Jung was quite accustomed to being gawked at. Besides, there was a more pressing issue at hand and she just needed to rant.
"Look, kid, d'you see anyone else with a white, broken-down BMW 320i along this godforsaken stretch of road?"
"Well, uh, no." Scratching her temple, Yuri threw her a sheepish grin.
"And how fast did you people say you'd be able to get out here?" Jessica asked in a tone laden with sarcasm.
"I think my Dad said, uh, 45 minutes?" Another embarrassed grin.
"Right. You guys were so confident when you said 45 minutes. But SEE? " Jessica raised her wrist, tapping at her watch with a finger, and growled, " It's more like a blooming hour-and-a-half now!"
With an irate Jessica Jung resembling a fire-breathing dragon that was simply raring to unleash its fury, Yuri couldn't risk being torched, thinking perhaps that wasn't a good time for her to explain her impunctuality -she had, enroute, merely stopped to help an elderly couple jumpstart their car.
"Sorrryyy, " she drawled, shrugging and popping her gum loudly, much to Jessica's disgust. "Got held up a bit due to unforeseen circumstances and then wasn't exactly sure which part of this road you were at, so- "
"Kid, didn't I tell you people there's this BIGASS signboard? SEE?" Sliding her tortoise shell designer shades down the bridge of her nose, Jessica scowled, exasperatedly pointing to the large signboard behind them, to drive her point across. "THIS?"
Yuri blinked several times, Jessica Jung's condescending demeanor starting to not agree with her.
The broad's got her knickers in a twist or what? Or should I just attribute it to pms?
Rubbing the back of her neck, she took in the familiar text on the signboard:
" DAEWON TEA PLANTATION "
A bit of deliberation later, Yuri cleared her throat. "Miss Jung, unnie, all of this..." she began, flailing her arms about, swiping them in the air over the expanse of tea bushes behind them, "....belongs to Daewon. There are at least half a dozen- maybe more- of these signboards, all similar, all along this, do let me quote you, 'godforsaken stretch of road'. We're supposed to know which signboard you were referring to? Fine, then we apologise for not knowing that it was this one. But if you'd said that it was the third signboard after that sharp bend once past that fork in the main road, we would've known right away, you following me? But in any case, my Dad maintains that the client is always right. It's always our bad, so yeah, we at Kwon's Auto Repairs and Towing Services offer our humblest apologies. We're sooo sorry to have kept unnie waiting. " Having said her piece and hoping she sounded civil enough, Yuri deliberately leaned a little closer to Jessica, purposefully popping her gum with all the might she could muster, with full intention to annoy.
"Kid, please- " Shying away a tad, Jessica rolled her eyes in disbelief at how anyone could ramble on the way the girl just did, feeling more than riled by the way she had emphasized key words in her speech. She swore that if the girl was to pop her gum in her face just one more time-ugh, what's that horrid herbal smell?-she would personally ensure that she swallowed that crummy wad of gum.
Not taking kindly to repeatedly being referred to as 'kid', Yuri interjected, "Unnie, like everyone else, I have a name and it sure isn't kid. It's Yuri, or Yul, but only to close friends." Not that you would ever have occasion to address me as such.
"Whatever." Stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the girl's name, Jessica had her fists clenched tightly by her side, in case they had a mind of their own and decided to deal one on the cocky teenager's nose. Forsooth, she had never wanted to hurt anyone as much as then. "You're here to tow my car, so, TOW!"
"Hold your horses. Let's take a look at what's wrong with it first." Yuri walked to the front of the Beemer which already had its hood propped up, with Jessica following closely behind. "You did say you saw smoke?"
"Lots. And then there was this red thermometer thingy and some other stuff lighted up on the instrument panel?"
"Red thermometer thingy...of course." Yuri couldn't help smiling at the woman's layman description of the fault as she stuck her head under the hood to quickly assess the damage.
"Well...?" Jessica was watching her like a hawk.
"Yep. Overheated engine is about right. We'll just haul this babe back for a thorough check and put things right. Nothing to it," Yuri said, and continuing to ramble off her knowledge, " It could be so many things: low coolant level, coolant leak, a faulty thermostat, an inoperative cooling fan, defective radiator cap, a collapsed radiator hose or..." She cut herself short on seeing the blank, clueless expression on Jessica's face which she found oddly endearing, despite the woman's demeanour. "No worries. Just leave it to Kwon's Auto Repairs," she said, slamming down the hood, the most reassuring of smiles gracing her face.
*
The woman remained silent almost throughout the 30-minute drive into town. Attempts to draw her into conversation only received, at most, a mere grunt or two. She'd grunted to Yes, she was from Seoul, and also to Yes, she would be in town for a while. But on the odd occasion however, there was a reluctant shake of her head- No, she wasn't in town to visit anyone.
Jessica Jung had her face turned towards the window on the passenger side, gazing out at the passing scenery. From green tea bushes and tall, shady cedars on either side, the road soon narrowed and dipped as the tow truck, with her car securely anchored behind it, descended and wound its way around hilly terrain. Before long, the ocean and the seaside town of YulSoo came into full view.
"Welcome to the township of YulSoo, unnie. Population: 2,562. No, correction -- 2,563. Mrs. Kim's second daughter just had a baby boy yesterday," Yuri declared, not expecting any kind of response. From the corner of her eye, she stole a glance at the woman who was absent-mindedly sweeping strands of hair out of her face, hooking them behind her ears as the wind mussed up her golden-brown tresses-oh help...her hair looks so soft -before fixating her eyes on the road again. For stealing that 3 seconds of eye candy, she felt her heart beat just that bit faster.
And much to her surprise, Yuri heard the woman utter in a flat voice, "Do I even need to know that?"
The woman hadn't even bothered to look at her. But still, for those 7 meagre words, and not that she cared, Jessica Jung had just earned herself a wide smile from a delighted Kwon Yuri.
*tbc
A/N: YulSoo is non-existent, meaning it's fictitious. Something I made up. No prizes for guessing how the name was derived, lol. Yes, sure looks as if Jessica's got a chip on her shoulder, doesn't it? And yes, Yuri's a lot younger than Jessica here.