HECTIC DELICATE (short story)

‘Don’t go!”

I couldn’t stop the tears flowing from my eyes. I couldn’t feel anything. It’s numb. Everything looked the same. The mist, the cold, the chill. All mixed in a desperate feeling I was hardly able to describe. His feet paced fast. Even faster than Willow, a pony father had raised since early summer. His head kept facing straight ahead leaving me behind. He didn’t care about me at all though I screamed, calling out his name.

“No!!!!’

I gasped as I opened my eyes wide open. The fingers started trembling and at the same time, my heart went beating faster. I was sweaty. The room still looked dark. No sun light beamed through the window. My eyes wildered around this small space, trying to figure out what had happened to me. It was three in the very early morning.

“Hyeon Jin, ah, are you OK?”

Mother’s face came up as she threw the door opened. I stared at her, asking the same question.

“nothing. It was just a bad dream. Like usual,” I softly explained to her.

My words didn’t work to lessen her concern about me. I had done this before, not only once but over and over again. It was just like a habit for the past nine years.

“The same bad dream, isn’t it?”

Her slanted eyes shone a meaningful request for me to speak honestly. No, not for this time mom. I was not ready yet. I wasn’t ready to brag out about this. This was only a bad dream. Dream that every ordinary person experienced in their deep sleep.

“Don’t worry mom. As I told you, it was just a bad dream. I was too tired before going to sleep. A lot to think. Hectic Delicate is having an anniversary soon. My boss asked to do a lot of jobs. I am a bit stressed. Only a bit, trust me.”

I smirked. Nothing changed on her face. She kept looking at me, even deeper now. My average description about the bad dream needed a new script. It was too obvious that I had made it up all. Mom was a genius one. She was not docile to trick.

“How long will you lie to me, sweetheart?”

“I didn’t!”

“did you?”

“I didn’t. It was just like that. You have a bad dream, don’t you? Everyone does. Mom, it is just normal.” I straightened up my back. I breathed in random paces. I was obviously nervous.

“Yours is not just usual. However, I am not gonna force you to tell it if you don’t want too. I was just…”

Her right palm stroke my head. Everytime she did this, the little Hyeon Jin would fully over me.

“I was just sad seeing you going through all of this. I could not help you. “

I didn’t have to wait for any longer to watch the tears falling down from her bright eyeball. I had hurt her a lot. Nothing I could do but giving her a hand to wipe the tears. At my very best, I held up mine not to come out.

“I am sorry. Really sorry!’

We huddled up. Feeling comfortable to lean our heads on our shoulders. I didn’t cry. I could catch mother’s sobbing softly in my ears. I felt guilty for getting her, it is into my long lasting problem. A problem? Yes, this is a fairy tale classic love complication that I really wanted to burry deep down the core of my heart. But, just like what Medusa said it’s too powerful too resist. My love story didn’t have a prospective good ending.

“Just go to sleep. You must be ready for your days tomorrow,” Mom gave advice before she darted out of my room.

Hectic Delicate, was full of the cheerful customers. They eagerly were standing up in front of the closed blue gate waiting for something delicate and delicious to come out. Today was the 12th anniversary of this legendary patisserie café. We had been preparing the spectacular and impressive feast for our customers for the last seven days. Kim ahjussi was smiling happily in the kitchen keeping his eyes on the workers who were busily making arrangement of the cakes. He was our big boss. Not forgetting his high status, I preferred calling him ahjussi. It sounded closer. After all he didn’t mind it. Plump, chubby and fatty, all the effects of sugar that a pastry chef could ever imagine was in his now.  His face was clean and shaven. Not many of the customers noticed him as the master pastries in this café since he did keep his mastery skill under the secrecy of his low profile attitude. I nodded over and over again as he pointed a pile of saucers in the corner of the buffet and told me to spread them on the wrapped tables in the middle of the room. Jong Kook oppa grinned while happily quite satisfied finding me nerved every time I was in a rush.

“get all them done in 15 minutes!” Jong Kook loudly shouted to the whole room. He used his power as a new assistant of the manager who was unfortunately off today. Everybody was fast, precise and tidy today. It was a big day so flaw was a kind of unacceptable condition.

“You, guys, have worked so hard. So as a sign of gratitude for me to the workers and to the customers , today, I’d like to share this happiness and joy with all of you. Jong Kook, open the gate and let the people have the feast now.” As the command passed by, Jong Kook hurriedly went to the front gate and threw the gate open widely for the people to come in. Hundreds of people, the young, elderly, aunties and even kids were quickly swarming the long buffet table as if this was the heaven of cakes. This is the real feast, with no money to spend and glucose to worry about. One day, just let it in a day the lust of the food met its fate.

“Ahjumma, could you please take that strawberry cake over there. My hands are too short to reach it.”  An about seven year old fatty boy pointed his index finger to a fresh red strawberry cake at the edge of the table. I stared at him showing my complain about the ahjumma calling he addressed at me. I pouted my lips and I smirked. He stepped back frowning.

“Why? Did I say something wrong?” he asked in trembled voice.

I lowered my body so that we were at the same height. His nose was so inviting to pinch.

“Yes. Do I look like an ahjumma for you? For your information I am just twenty four. Not even twenty four before the end of this June.” A nonsense explanation I gave to this little lad might not work at all.  He couldn’t take my eyes on me, as if he was thinking that I was mad enough to have a first quarrel with a boy at his age over an ahjumma call.

“Hyeon Jin, what are you doing here?”  Jong Kook out of nowhere appeared right in front of my eyes with his skinny look. He was the skinniest man in this patisserie café. He frowned as he relentlessly watched my expression seriously. Jong Kook  was not a type of coarse man. His weakness was that he couldn’t express his feeling well.  His setting was too bad.

“What?” I asked him back. The little boy in front of me had been vanished before I had a time to get him the cake he wanted.

“You are requested to be present in the pantry because of unexpected things happens,” explained he in a formal tone.

“What is that?”

“Don’t ask a lot. Get me three plastic of purple icing. I need to decorate the master pieces in great taste. The main course, as you know, all the party must have the main course..the source of all attraction….” Jong Guk’s eyes beamed with happiness. Without too many things to ask I rushed to the pantry at the back to get what this man commanded me.

“He is a good man,” I murmured to reassure my vexed feeling.

After arriving in the pantry, I grabbed three plastic of purple icing on the corner of the kitchen set. I wondered what Jong Guk said as a main course. Kim ahjussi didn’t say anything about this confidential main course. How did this rascal know about it? Hmmm….. My feet were rushing to the center of the feast, splitting the swarm of people craving for the best cake which Hectic Delicate ever presented for him. I quickly passed the icing to Jong Guk.

            Jong Kok’s agile hands creatively changed the plain sponge cake into a master piece as what he said. He made  a lot of rose shaped icing that looked like a bouquet of flowers. Everyone was keeping their eyes on this skinny man’s no joking work. after a fewminurtes showing off his astery skill in decorating, I heard  clapping hands stuffing the room.

“well done mr Kong Kok, “ Kim ahjussi approached  this pastry chef with a great appraisal which I seldom heard. The clapping got louder this time. I stepped back since I was not feeling well.   

“Jong Gok ssi is one of the best pastry chef we have in this store. He’s been with us for nearly seven years. His dedication to the respect of the cake is incomparable. I am truly proud of this man,” Ahjussi kept flowing the seven heavened words to us about this skinny chef. I am sure now, he’s flying up high. I stepped back searching a space to calm. I was hardly able to breathe well. Out of sudden, I saw his figure flashing vaguely in fron of my eyes. Making me weak. My head started spinning around and nothing else I could do beside sitting down on a stool behind this crowd. My ea abouts still could catch ahjussi’s long speech about the legendary history of Hectic Delicate.

`“Are you OK?”

I looked around to the source of the voice. A man, tall, with white pale skin and a….handsome face gazing at me with the pathetic look. I straightened my back and positioned my body. I wouldn’t let him know that I was unwell.

“Yeah. I am  fine.” He then sat down beside me.

“You don’t look fine. Here”

 I hesitantly took the bottled water in his hand.

“Father is too much. I never think that this anniversary should go this way. Everyone knows that we need more capital to enlarge this business. The demand is overflowed. Sometimes, he’s just living on his world.”

I couldn’t move my head over him. I was a bit surprised knowing that he was the son of ahjussi. However, his words were far from his pride of this legendary chef’s son. He sounded like the hatred. Since I worked here, I needed to defend my ahjussi .

“You’re wrong. Absolutely wrong. We have prepared for today since last month. This is the best concept  we have even planned. This is our gratitude to our loyal customers.” My arguments beat him down I thought.

This guy’s eyes shrunk as I was excitedly defended my boss. His eyebrows wrinkled in astonishment.

            “What? Am I wrong? I am working here so I can not let anyone look down on us.”

            “That’s the way the employer should go. Respecting the customers since they are the center of all this business all about. We don’t do this every day, only once in a year so nothing gets loss of it,”.

            This guy kept staring at me as if I was the center of all what he was able to see now. I gasped, and as best as I could avoid this kind of looking back look. He’s got a narrow eyeball with long lashes. His deep sight stunned me for a few seconds.

            “Where did you get all this eloquence. Those are pretty daring statement. Do you know who I am? Oh yes, I have just told you. .you needn’t mention it.”

            I was distracted by a loud shrilled crowded. Kim Ahjussi beckoned me and …wait I thought he also did that to this guy. We looked at each other making sure that we were the right person he was addressing.

            “What are you two doing over there? Come here! Quickly!” 

We hurriedly blended with the crowd in the feast. Everyone was laughing. Every mouth was flustered with full of delicious cakes, pastries, all the best assortment which ever served at Hectic. In a moment I didn’t think about my misery. A misery of dreaming. How could I was living in a shadow of a never vividly seen subject which I believe as love. All I felt now was the joy of having together with the crowd. Maybe it is not only me, maybe the person who was now looking at me with his big and wide smile had the same problem as well. This was not the end. I had to get up. Now or Never.