Mint Is Pure Love - Chapter 45

Part 2

April, 2006. Spring.

“So, I always thought Minseo was really nice.”

In the middle of all the noise and chatter, that sudden drop of a name made the chopsticks in my hand hesitate right above the grill. In front of me, the pork belly I’d carefully cooked was sizzling to perfect, golden-brown deliciousness.

“You know how pretty girls are usually a bit picky? But Minseo’s not like that. She smiles a lot, eats well, talks well.”

Funny. He’d only ever seen her hanging out with the girls—when did he have time to notice all that? I prayed it would just end as a token compliment. Please, don’t ruin the mood.

“They say there’s this thing going around the internet these days. Something about a woman’s age being like a Christmas cake. You throw it out after twenty-five.”

The guys at the round table laughed like it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard, while the female seniors at the table went stone-cold. No wonder everyone seemed lukewarm when this older senior barged in earlier, insisting he’d buy us dinner.

He was Class of ’01, I think. Narrow jaw like a mouse, sloped narrow shoulders, and even while talking, his eyes kept darting over to gauge my reaction.

I could guess what he meant. Minseo—no, Yeonseo—was twenty-four, a brand-new freshman of the Class of ’06. She was pretty, easy to talk to, and laughed easily. He probably wanted to take a shot at her, but failing that, decided to take a jab at her age instead.

Thinking of her friend Yeongeun back in Chungju, Yeonseo picked up a piece of pork belly from the grill. She wrapped it in lettuce, added a smear of ssamjang, a spoonful of rice, garlic, and shredded green onions, then stuffed it all in her mouth in one big bite.

“So, Minseo, what do you think?”

Chewing, one cheek bulging, she looked at the Class of ’01 senior. His glasses gleamed, like he was imagining that Christmas cake would be his soon.

Yeonseo swallowed and asked, “Think about what?”

“About your love life, about to be delisted from the market.” His eyes squirmed with wormy anticipation.

“How do I think about it? Well… it’s a shame, I guess. I came to college to date.”

The “oooh” and mocking cheers seemed to make his smugness grow bigger. Yeonseo, pretending to humor him, tilted her head.

“You’re Class of ’01, right? So that makes you…”

“Oh, I’m twenty-seven. Took a year off to study again.”

“Ah…”

This place—Tongtong Samgyeop near campus—wasn’t living up to its name. The pork belly was paper-thin, grilled on foil. Three thousand won a serving. Smoke hung heavy in the air despite the vents. Perfect for broke college kids.

But still, why would I take a hit like that here, with this crowd, at this time? Especially not from someone who talks like that.

“So… if women at twenty-five should be thrown out, what about men at twenty-seven?”

She asked innocently, like she didn’t know any better. Then she answered herself.

“Isn’t that about the age you get nailed into a coffin? Pffft—”

Her laugh burst out into the air, mixing with the soft hiss of fat dripping into the grill. Without missing a beat, she added casually,

“Kidding. My little brother says only idiots judge people by age.”

“Little brother?”

“Yeah. He’s twelve this year.”

The twenty-seven-year-old, now demoted to less than a twelve-year-old, flushed red and downed his soju.

One of the senior girls beside her, who’d been holding back laughter, asked, “Minseo, can I ask what kind of guys you like?”

“Me? I…”

A fleeting image. A blurred silhouette. Before it could even take shape, it vanished.

“I just… as long as they’re tall and handsome.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah. I only go for looks.”

Yeonseo flashed the soon-to-be-buried senior a sweet smile, then used “I have homework” as an excuse to leave. The meat was gone—so was the reason to stay.

The heat of the grill gave way to a slight chill as she stepped outside. April nights still had a bite to them. She walked down the street lined with bars and restaurants.

A month into the semester, Friday nights still buzzed with that start-of-something-new excitement. Her long legs in jeans carried her briskly down the street when—

“Uh, excuse me—”

She turned. A flushed-faced guy was looking right at her.

“If it’s okay… could I have your number—”

“Sorry, I have a boyfriend.”

She tilted her head slightly, and he backed off immediately.

Time had taught Yeonseo plenty of things—like the simplest, cleanest way to shake off guys hitting on her. Things the old Ji Yeonseo would never have known.

She took the bus from the stop in front of campus, riding for about twenty minutes before getting off. Looking for a place she could afford had brought her to this neighborhood, but she actually liked it. The campus was just too noisy.

She climbed up to the third floor of a five-story villa—no elevator, but she didn’t mind. She unlocked the door, and the hallway sensor light flicked on.

Click—the light in her seven-pyeong room came on. Her own tiny landmark, made for and by Ji Yeonseo alone.

“Haah… I’m tired.”

Followed them out for free meat, only to get roasted in return.

She flopped onto the bed, but the vibration in her bag pulled her back up. Only one person would call her at this hour. A smile crept across her face. She flipped open her phone, voice soft with fatigue.

“Hey, babe~” she cooed.

—”Ugh, stop calling me that. Save it for your boyfriend.”

She laughed at her mother’s disgusted tone.

“What kind of mom calls her daughter gross? You’re supposed to say I’m pretty and precious no matter what.”

—”Just wait until you have a daughter your age. Anyway, have you eaten?”

“Yeah, the seniors treated me to pork belly.”

—”College sounds great. Seniors taking turns feeding you… Is that because it’s such a prestigious school?”

“Korea University exists, you know. Yeono University isn’t number one.”

—”Please. If it’s second only to Korea University, that’s still top-tier. After all the effort you put in to get in, can’t you be a little proud?”

Her mom wasn’t wrong. It had been a long climb to Yeono. She hadn’t always been good at studying, but after transferring to a school in Chungju, she buried herself in her books. Maybe she wasn’t dumb, or maybe she was just trying to forget other things—but her grades only ever went up.

Her mom had suggested she retake the college entrance exam after her first try fell short. Using her alimony money to open a small lingerie shop, she promised to support Yeonseo through another year.

Her second try got her into several private universities in Seoul, but she was still shy of Yeono’s cut-off. She didn’t need Yeono specifically—she just wanted to graduate, get a job, and start earning money to help her mom. But…

—”Yeono was your dream. If you got in, that makes it the best, doesn’t it?”

Why had Yeono been her dream? Why did she want it so badly? And now, at twenty-four, after all that time… why?

—“Minseo.”

“Yeah?”

—”I know you’ve worked hard. I’m proud of you, my daughter.”

“…Sheesh. Out of nowhere.”

—”So I want you to try everything now. Date. Stay out all night with friends. Don’t put it off. There are things you can only do at your age.”

Her chest ached. She understood exactly what her mother meant.

—”I sent you some money. Don’t skip meals to save it, don’t turn down invitations to hang out. I sent side dishes too. Put them in the fridge right away, rice in the freezer, okay?”

“Got it, I will.”

Her younger siblings Minkyu and Minjae took turns grabbing the phone, making a ruckus before hanging up. The noisy warmth evaporated, leaving only the hum of her mini-fridge in the small room.

Three months living alone in Seoul, and the silence still felt strange—just like when she’d been eighteen, left alone in that big house.

“…I think I need a beer tonight.”

She sprang up, took a shower to wash away the smell of grilled meat, and came out with a can of ice-cold beer.

One of the gifts time had given her—ways to end the day cleanly before thoughts could spiral. Being an adult had its perks.

“Ahh, that’s good.”

She let out a satisfied sigh, sat down at her desk, and powered on her chunky Pentium desktop. The Windows XP logo bloomed on the screen.

This had been one of her biggest expenses when she moved to Seoul.

She logged into her usual portal site and visited the Polylogue club page, which is Yeono University’s language exchange group. Someone had already uploaded group photos from dinner earlier, complete with the Class of ’01 coffin-senior.

Comments had already started rolling in.

[03 Business, Oh Jeongsu: Ah, senior, you should’ve invited me too. You knew I was around.]
[02 Law, Lee Jeongmin: Was that at Tongtong Samgyeop near campus? Betrayal!]
[03 Business, Han Mingwan: Our juniors are all so beautiful. Especially one in particular ^^]
[03 Business, Oh Jeongsu: Why not just say it’s Ji Minseo? Lol]
[05 English, Yeo Eunjoo: Thank you for dinner today, senior ^^]

Yeonseo left a polite comment too.

[06 English, Ji Minseo: Thank you for the meal today, senior. And for the good conversation!]

Another popped up soon after.

[04 Economy, Kim Haegyeong: Let’s go again next week with the people who missed today!!]
[03 Business, Oh Jeongsu: Deal!]

She wasn’t the type to lead conversations, so she closed the page and logged into her mini-homepage. A pop-up appeared:

[Kim Eunho] has sent you a friend request.

Kim Eunho… that name lit up an old memory. She clicked. His homepage was as flashy as ever—classic Kim Eunho. His profile photo was a carefully angled selfie, the kind only a former ulzzang could pull off.

Time could be shameless like that. Had the past been stuffed into some jar of forgetfulness and tossed into the ocean? Were she and Kim Eunho really at the point of being “friends” again, even if only in name?

Scrolling through his page, Yeonseo thought, Yep. Still the same Eunho. She’d heard he’d injured his face once, but surgery had gone well—there was still a trace of his old look. That cocky, grinning high school boy.

“…”

And just like that, he made her remember.

Of all the names time had swept away, there was one it never could. A name wrapped in guilt and regret, in bittersweet longing, in the raw slice of a school day memory.

Looking at Kim Eunho didn’t stir anything in her—but that other name? Just thinking it made her chest ache.

She turned off the screen.

She’d kept in touch with Hojung after transferring schools. Probably, Eunho’s friend request had come from hopping through Hojung’s page.

—”Cha Seokyung dropped out.”

That winter, after everything, Hojung had told her the news.

—”I think he moved to the US? His mom’s some kind of professor, so maybe she took him overseas.”

“…”

—”Well, whatever. He’s smart and good-looking. He’ll do fine anywhere.”

Hojung tried to comfort her, but they both knew the truth—Seokyung would be fine. He’d forget the spring and summer entirely.

“Don’t dwell on it, Ji Minseo. You’re not even that smart.”

And yet, here she was—no longer Yeonseo but Minseo. Everything had changed. So why was she still thinking about it?

Yeonseo curled up in bed. Half a glass of soju from dinner and half a can of beer had left her pleasantly tipsy. Cheap, efficient drunkenness. She closed her eyes, grateful for it—never noticing the dampness that slipped down her cheek.