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“It says my employment with Haneul Corporation has been terminated.” There is no emotion in his voice. None reflected on his face. He either expected it or is in complete shock. Either way,I’min complete shock. How could they do this to him? I’m speechless, frozen on the spot.
“Shit, what the fuck, that sucks,” Ella says, clearly not speechless.
“Wait, that’s not fair. They can’t do that. It’s a mistake. Dad, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
My brain goes into overdrive over what to do next. I can only think of one thing, one person to call. I grab my phone from my pocket and dial Elijah. He has to do something about this. He has to talk to his dad. He has to help us figure out a way to fix it.
A voice I only recognize from commercials and movies comes on the line.
The number you have reached is no longer in service.
27
elijah
A crisp morning in September...
“Mom, I’m fine. You can stay in the car.”
“I’m not falling for that again,” she says, referring to that day months ago when she dropped me off at the airport before my first flight to New York. It feels like a lifetime ago. If I had known then that I’d be living a different identity all while falling for someone unlike anyone I’ve ever known, only to lose everything in the end, I don’t know that I would have gotten on that plane.
Who am I kidding? I would do it all over again, just to recapture those moments I had with Jessica. I haven’t seen or talked to her since our argument in Central Park. The sting in my heart still catches me off guard sometimes when I think about her. My whole life changed this summer in New York and she had so much to do with that. It’s changed even more since I’ve been back in Korea. I hope one day I’ll be able to tell her all about it.
I hold the door open as my mom slides out of the back seat, followed by my sister. “I’ll call you when we’re ready,” Mom says to the driver, who takes the car to be parked in Incheon Airport’s garage.
“You sure you have everything you need?” Hee-Jin asks. She looks down at my luggage quizzically, as if wondering how I can fit my entire life into just two suitcases.
“I’m moving to Los Angeles. It’s warm there. I don’t need much,” I say.
“If there’s something you’ve forgotten, just let your uncle know and he’ll take care of it,” my mom says. “My brother is thrilled you’ll be close by. He seems to think it’ll give me more reasons to come visit him and your grandfather. And you know what? He’s right.” She smiles at me and runs her hand through my hair. “You should have gotten a trim before you left.”
“I think I’m gonna grow it out. See how that feels,” I say.
She presses her lips together and nods. Since we’ve come back to Korea, our lives as we’ve known them have been thrown upside down. It’s all taken some getting used to for my mom, especially letting me make my own choices for my future. When I told her I wanted to move to the States, she struggled with it. She isn’t trying to control my choices or anything, but she worries about me.
I haven’t talked to my father since I returned to Korea, since the disastrous ending to my summer in New York. After that fraught conversation at The Plaza, we left immediately. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to any of my friends.
I never got to see Jessica again.
But my dad made a promise, and Hee-Jin made sure it was followed through with by Human Resources without his meddling. Jessica got a full scholarship to whatever school she wants to go to. I can be okay knowing that the entire summer wasn’t a waste for her. At least she got the happy ending. It took me an additional month to fight for mine. But here I am.
I wish there could have been a happy ending that included the two of us together.
“I think you’d look good with longer hair,” Hee-Jin says. She looks younger, more relaxed with no makeup on and her hair in a neat braid.
“Good luck with everything. Hopefully by the time I graduate, you can hire me to be an engineer for your new company or something,” I say. I can see the worry bloom across her face at my words. Breaking away from the massive tech corporation that has been our family’s legacy for generations is no small feat. But there’s no denying the fire in her eyes when she talks about her new start-up venture.
“I’d love to have you on staff one day, when you’re ready. I have no clue where we’ll be in a few years, but I’m confident and hopeful. Even though I had to sign a non-compete when I left Haneul, limiting what kinds of games we can produce, I think there’s a lot of opportunity for specialization and disruption.” She pauses, laughing to herself. “I’ll spare you the TED Talk, though.”
“I don’t mind at all,” I say, and I mean it. “You deserve this, and if anyone can make this happen, it’s you. You inspire me, Noona.”
Hee-Jin’s eyes fill with tears. “You’re the brave one, Elijah. I’m so proud of you.” Her voice breaks and she grabs me for a hug before stepping aside.
My mom holds my face in her hands before wrapping her arms around me tight. “Call me when you land,” she whispers into my ear. “And, Elijah? Be happy. Every single day, make choices to make yourself happy.”
And this time, those words don’t scare me at all.
“Elijah, over here!”
