Free Second Chance by Ong Xiong Page A

excited
about her new discovery she had asked Angela to accompany her to the park.
Angela had agreed until an hour ago when she arrived at the park with a guy and
informed Sue they couldn’t stay.
    Disappointed, Sue
waited for Jae alone at the park. She glanced at her watch; he was late. She
sat on the bench she had the previous day and searched through her backpack for
the gim bop she purchased from a bakery on her way to the park. She took
a bite and started to chew. She was about to swallow when a strong hand slapped
her on her back and a familiar face appeared several inches from her face.
    “ Ahn-nyung ,
Shorty.”
    Sue started
choking. He started laughing.
    “You’re late,”
she said in between coughs. “And its Sue, not Shorty,” she corrected him. She
didn’t notice he was patting her on the back, like how one would automatically
do if another person was choking.
    When she stopped
coughing, Jae reached for her right hand and took hold of her wrist. “I’m not
late,” he said, looking at her watch. “And Shorty matches you,” he added with a
smile.
    Sue glanced at
her watch. “It’s past noon, you’re late. Then I shall call you Lefty,” she
said, returning a smile.
    “I said I’ll be
here around noon, not noon,” he corrected. “Why should you call me Lefty?”
    “You’re still
late,” she said, rewrapping her gim bop . “With your definition, you’re
still late. Around means close to, therefore, since you arrived closer
to one o’clock, you were nowhere around noon.” She smiled sweetly. “And
Lefty matches you,” she added casually.
    “Uh-huh,” Jae
answered as he unpacked and started setting up his equipment.
    He didn’t think
she would come and was surprised to see her waiting for him at the park. After
their meeting the day before, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her.
She was pretty, especially when she was speaking Korean. He smiled and glanced
at her, watching as she replaced her books in her bag, humming quietly to
herself.
    She asked to help
and soon he was instructing her on what to do.
    “Anybody ever
tell you you’re quite bossy?” she asked as she sat down on the bench.
    “Anyone ever tell
you you ask too many questions?” he replied, getting the Gibson out of its
case.
    “All the time.”
    “And you talk too
much, anyone ever tell you that?”
    Sue frowned and
brought her knees to her chest. She had to think about what he said before she
answered. “No, actually, it’s the opposite.”
    Surprise by her
statement, Jae stopped what he was doing and tuned to look up at her. “You mean
you don’t always talk this much?”
    “Do I really talk
that much?” she asked looking at him.
    He nodded.
    “I was under the
impression that I’m the quiet type.”
    “Really? And what
gave you that impression?”
    “Personal observation.”
She shrugged. “Maybe just with you, I seem to talk a lot. After all, we’ve only
met and there’s lots to ask and tell. Maybe…you are even quieter than I am
and…to you I talk a lot.”
    “Maybe,” he said,
returning to doing what he was doing. “You were very good yesterday. What was
the song you played?”
    “ Remember Me .
It’s one of my favorite songs.”
    “Can you read
music?”
    “Yes.”
    “Would you like
to play with me? I mean to perform with me here, sometimes.”
    She perked up. “I
would love to.”
    “Can you sing?”
Jae asked.
    “No.”
    “Can you dance?”
    “No.”
    “You’re pretty
useless then.”
    “Hey! I’m pretty
good with the guitar, remember, and I can hum.”
    “Hum?” He stopped
what he was doing and turned his full attention to her.
    “Yes,” she
answered. “I wasn’t blessed with any singing or dancing talent, but I hum quite
well.”
    Jae chuckled as
he sat down next to her on the bench. “Okay, Shorty—prove it.” He slightly
cocked his head in challenge.
    Sue bit her lower
lip, crossing her legs beneath her. She laced her fingers together and placed
them neatly