A Spring Duet in Korea

"Erra," Kyung whispered as she embraced me, "Hye-jin is happy. Good girl. Thank you."

I was curious about what Kyung was trying to say - did she suspect what Hye-jin's and my relationship truly was? No, it was impossible, I told myself. Still, Kyung seemed to treat me differently than the rest of the family on this trip, almost as a...no, I decided. There was no way she could know. I whispered "mannaseo yeong-gwang-ibnida," and with one final squeeze we loaded into the car and drove back to Wonju. It wasn't too harsh of a drive back, and even Mr. Lee was noticeably pleasant. I was definitely in his good books, though the worry in the back of my mind concerning my relationship with his daughter still lingered.

A few days later Hye-jin met and auditioned at the Lotte Mart office for Mr. Park. He liked the pieces that Hye-jin had chosen, and immediately scheduled us for the upcoming Sunday. I was actually surprised at how quickly everything came together. Mr. Park had arranged for a small pavilion in the center of the commons area, with decent enough acoustics. He even allowed Hye-jin a modest budget for costumes. She picked out a couple of matching outfits for us, and I told her it was okay with it as long as it wasn't one of those constricting mini-skirts that were popular with young Korean women. Thankfully, Hye-jin picked out a matching pair of stylish dresses for us to wear. I still felt a bit like a performing animal, but I wasn't about to rain on Hye-jin's hard work. Plus, theywere nice dresses.

As it turned out, the day was actually fun! Mr. Park was fastidious with the promotion, and once we were set up the crowds began to gather. We had a full playlist, which we cycled through a handful of times. We had some classical pieces, from Bach and Mozart, but Hye-jin also arranged some modern Korean songs. There were plenty of people taking videos of photos with their phones, but it didn't bother me after a while. I think they were just surprised that some foreign girl was playing violin at their department store!

It ended up being quite successful, as Hye-jin translated from Mr. Park. and that we would have a regular performance schedule if we so chose. Afterwards, as Hye-jin took me out for a congratulatory dinner, I realized that it had been the first reimbursed music gig I had ever had in my entire life. Even if I was being paid in kimchi by Hye-jin, it still technically counted. I was honestly looking forward to the next show!

Life was rather busy for the next few months, and time just seemed to just fly by. Jasper and Fiona completed their contracts in early February, and were set to fly back home to the UK. Of course, the Wonju expats used it as an excuse to have a party and a week later, like clockwork a new set of foreign teachers arrived at Joy Academy to replace them: a Scottish girl named Elsie and her new husband, a German named Lukas. Apparently he had dual-citizenship, qualifying him for Korean ESL, and despite his slight German accent he was fluent in English. We jokingly referred to them as the new Jasper and Fiona for about two weeks. Things went a lot more swimmingly with Mr. Lee since Seollal and he was constantly praising me for my teaching.

Occasionally we performed for the crowds at Blues Sanjo, but regularly Hye-jin and I continued to spend our Sunday afternoons performing in the Lotte Mart commons. While I never quite got over the feeling of being gawked at by Koreans, I truly did appreciate how nice it was to perform again. I didn't worry about fellowships, professional auditions, or my musical career, I simply enjoyed playing with Hye-jin accompanying me. I did manage to pass out a good number of Joy Academy business cards, and there was a fair number of children who enrolled because of the "violin girl" at the grocery store. Mr. Lee was over the moon about the increased business we were doing for the school. We became sort of local celebrities, even having a local TV station interview us. I mostly stood there grinning like an idiot while Hye-jin answered their questions.

Eventually May rolled around, which led to another major holiday called Children's Day. It is a day off from school for kids, also conveniently a day off work for their parents, and ends up being a day of fun for the entire family. It is also coincidentally a major shopping day, and Mr. Park wanted to organize a large event. Hye-jin and I were already fairly well-known fixtures at Lotte Mart, but it was decided that we should do something special on that day. I had the idea to perform violin renditions of songs that children would like, and so naturally I asked my students what songs were popular. What I received was a list of songs from the most random assortment of video games, cartoons, and online videos I had ever seen. Dutifully, Hye-jin and I researched this eclectic list, and through sheer will managed to arrange a playlist.

Children's Day ended up being a huge event. Mr. Park had set up an entire festival with games, rides, and even rented a large stage. There were streamers, balloons, and bright colors coating every square inch of the market. There was even a camera team from KTN that had set up to do a story on our show. Thankfully Hye-jin and I had been given a top notch sound team, and though the decor was gaudy as hell, we absolutely killed. I purposely chose a few high energy segments that had my bow moving so fast it practically lit on fire. I was most definitely showing off. Everytime we would do a rendition of one of their video game tracks, the kids in the audience flipped their lids and screamed! The adults, of course, had no idea why their kids were losing their minds.

In our final number, with Hye-jin's synthesizer belting out one last jam, one of the technicians timed it to have some pyrotechnics fire up and rained colored confetti onto the audience. There was massive applause, and after we took our bows, Hye-jin and I quickly went backstage still high on adrenaline. We were covered in sweat, but we hugged tightly and squealed in excitement.

"Ella, you were amazing!"

"Oh my god, Hye-jin, we blew them out of the water!"

We hugged and jumped with each other, and in a moment of jubilation, I took Hye-jin's cheeks into my hands and kissed her long and passionately. Hye-jin kissed me back, smiling the entire time and sighing happily. We broke apart, with her hand still in mine and we turned around together.

Our hearts dropped as we saw, standing in the side entryway with a bouquet of roses, a stoic Mr. Lee looking at us wide-eyed.

To be continued.