West Seoul University Series

by Leigh Ban

  “Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas, everyone!” Isaac said, waving his hand.

  “Christmas!” a girl with a navy bandana around her head squealed.

  “Who are you?” another child yelled out, gesturing toward me with his Rubik’s cube.

  “I’m Tinkerbell,” I mumbled. Even after taking photos with Isaac, I still couldn’t get used to being in costume.

  “What did you say? I can’t hear you!” said the boy with the Rubik’s cube.

  “Who is she, Santa?” someone yelled out from the back.

  “Yeah, where’s Mrs. Claus? When do we get our presents?” asked a boy in electric-blue glasses, pointing at the toys we’d brought.

  After Isaac put his finger on his lips to shush the boy, he said in his hearty Santa voice, “This is Princess Fairy Mimi.”

  “Princess Fairy Mimi?” I repeated, raising my eyebrows.

  “I think you’re so pretty, Mimi. I love your green dress. Green’s my favorite color,” said a girl with a cast on both of her arms, sitting cross-legged just a few feet away from me. When she smiled, I smiled back.

  “Thank you,” I replied with a curtsy. “Isaac—I mean, Santa—I think it’s time for a Christmas song.”

  “Are you kids ready to sing along?” Isaac yelled out as he turned on the Bluetooth speaker.

  “What’s the song?” someone shouted.

  Once “Jingle Bells” came on, Isaac clicked his fingers to the tune.

  “Could you play ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ instead?” requested a kid in the back.

  Isaac pointed at the kid. “That’ll be the next song.”

  While I stiffly moved my arms side to side, Isaac sang along. Although he initially tried to sing in an old man’s voice, which made some of the younger children giggle, he made it halfway through the first verse before he reverted to his usual voice. He added a few “Ho, ho, ho” sounds and shot finger guns as he did so. One older boy cringed and covered his forehead, but this only encouraged Isaac to be louder and jollier.

  As “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” started to play, I leaned over and said to him, “I didn’t know you came armed today, but nice singing, Mr. Claus.”

  “You’ve got to sing too,” he whispered.

  “Me? Sing? Uh-uh.”

  “You suck.” He proceeded to move around the room while grooving to the music. “Oh, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer had a very shiny nose!”

  Isaac went up to the boy who appeared to be embarrassed earlier. After Isaac yanked the white pom-pom from his hat, he pretended to cover the boy’s nose with it. Though I expected the boy to roll his eyes, he hooted with laughter. When Isaac started shooting finger guns again, the boy seemed entertained.

  “Ho, ho, ho,” Isaac said at the end of the song, coming back to me and putting the pom-pom on my head.

  “You are a naughty Santa,” I said as he took my hand.

  Soon enough, I was skipping around, singing “I Wish You a Merry Christmas.” I knew I was terribly off-key, but the little girls in the room looked at me like I really was magical, even though I was a fake blonde Tinkerbell in a cheap wig.

  Once my throat started to get dry from all the singing, I murmured to Isaac, “Should we give out the Christmas gifts now?”

  “Yes,” he said, stroking his long white beard. After turning down the volume of the speaker, he grabbed the first sack of toys we’d brought with us. He announced, “Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. Are you ready to receive your gifts?”

  “But it’s not Christmas today,” a girl in a purple bandana pointed out from the back of the room. Although she couldn’t have been more than twelve years old, she had a rather husky, deep voice.

  The woman standing behind her, presumably her mother, said, “Don’t interrupt him, baby.”

  “You’re right. We’re celebrating a little early. I hope you don’t mind,” Isaac explained before exchanging eye contact with me.

  “Would you like to be the first one to receive your present?” I asked the girl.

  “Yes. Even though it’s not technically Christmas,” she retorted.

  I laughed. “Can you come up to the front? Or should we go over to you?”

  The girl looked back and glanced at her mother, who gave her a nod of approval. As she tottered to the front of the room, she kept her eyes on the ground. The clunky beaded necklaces around her neck rustled with each step she took. It was then that I realized she was either a lot younger than she initially seemed or very small for her age.

  “Are you excited to receive your present? What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Rahee,” she croaked, fidgeting with her necklaces.

  “Your necklaces are so pretty. Do you like making beaded jewelry?”

  Rahee shrugged.

  I tapped Isaac’s arm. “Santa, don’t we have some cool jewelry-making kits that Rahee would love?”

  “We sure do.” Isaac dipped his arm into the sack he was holding. “Rahee, do you prefer orange or pink?”

  “Orange. It’s my favorite color after purple.”

  “Merry Christmas,” Isaac said as he handed Rahee a boxed jewelry-making kit.

  She beamed at Isaac. “Thank you, Santa. Merry not-yet-Christmas!”

  “Those kids adored you. Watching you two felt like a mini Christmas parade,” a nurse complimented as she handed me two small bottles of orange juice. “I know this isn’t much, but you two must be thirsty after all the singing and talking.”

  “You’re too kind. Thank you,” I said before passing one to Isaac.

  Once the nurse left and Isaac had folded up two of the empty red sacks to stuff into the third one, he popped the bottle open and took a long swig.

  “You’re not going to finish that in one gulp, are you?” I asked.

  “No, but I might finish it in two gulps,” he replied, then poured the rest of his juice into his mouth.

  After I guzzled my drink, he took our empty bottles and dumped them in the recycling bin down the hallway. When he turned around, an elderly woman hit him with her cleaning cart. I heard her yelp in surprise and ran over to them.

  “Are you alright?” Isaac said. The sleeve of his red jacket was dripping wet.

  “I’m fine. Oh dear. Did… Did I get your clothes wet?” the woman stammered, reaching out but hesitating to grab his arm.

  “Ah, it’s no big deal.” Isaac gave her his brilliant signature smile and proceeded to roll up his wide sleeves.

  “I’m sorry. The water in the bucket is clean though. I promise. Do you want to take off your jacket so I can take it to the bathroom and dry it off?”

  “Thank you for offering to help. But no, you don’t need to do that. I’m going to change out of my costume soon anyway,” he assured her.

  She gave him an uncertain nod. Although she went back to pushing her cart down the hallway, she moved slowly, keeping her eyes on Isaac.

  “Don’t worry about me,” he called out, waving. “Take care.”

  Once the old woman reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner, I joked, “Poor Santa. First the hat, and now the jacket.”

  He chuckled. “Where did the pom-pom on my hat even go?”

  I went on my tiptoes to pull Isaac’s hat off him. “You’re way too hot to pass off as Santa anyway.”

  “Believe me, I know,” he said with a smirk.

  I snorted. “Seeing as you’ve still got a goofy beard on your face, you could try being a little humbler.”

  “What do you mean I need to try being a little humbler? Touch my arm. I’m hot,” he teased as he took my hand and placed it on his bare forearm.

  “Oh stop,” I protested, though I kept my fingers wrapped around his warm, strong arm.

  “You know, the only reason I couldn’t take off this jacket was because I’m not wearing anything underneath,” he whispered.

  My face flushed as I remembered seeing him shirtless earlier.

  Isaac added, “Did I tell you how gorgeous you loo
k in green?”

  “Should I wear bright colors more often?”

  “If you want. You look good in your usual black clothes too. It’s your thing, isn’t it? I instantly recognized you after we became partners for Society and Love.”

  I smiled. “This is the first time I’ve ventured out of wearing black since my last year of high school. Who knows, maybe I’ll buy some colorful dresses later.”

  “Really? Didn’t your school have a uniform?” he asked.

  “We did. Except we were allowed to dress in our own clothes during our final year. The principal told us it was so we could be comfortable and focus on our studies, but I think it started because a lot of students would put on weight to the point where they couldn’t fit into their uniforms.”

  “I guess that’s what happens when students are stuck at their desk, forced to study all day.”

  “Combined with the fact that people tend to either gain or lose a few pounds when they’re stressed out.” I sighed, contemplating whether to go on.

  “Right,” he said, giving me a sympathetic look.

  I lowered my voice and shared, “Although in my case, it was more than just a couple of pounds. I put on thirty pounds within a couple of months.” I laughed dryly. “Hello, stretch marks and cellulite.”

  “So that’s why you started wearing black exclusively?”

  “In a nutshell.” I pointed to a row of waiting chairs. “Do you want to sit over there?”

  “Sure,” he replied.

  Once we sat down, I continued. “Isaac, I wanted to hide my body. At the start of my final year of high school, a group of boys in my class wrote these… stories. They were fantasies—really vulgar fantasies.” I clenched my fist. “They described what they wanted to do to some of the girls in our class. You know, it wasn’t just, ‘Oh, so-and-so is hot. I want to sleep with her.’ It was humiliating and degrading stuff which I’d never even heard of before. I’m not exactly sure how these sick stories got out, but everyone at my school ended up reading them.”

  “That’s disgusting. I’m sorry to hear you had to go to school with those guys.”

  “It was disgusting. And it was about me.” I faltered. “The aftermath of the incident was just as infuriating. Those boys were scolded by the vice-principal, but he didn’t actually do anything. They stayed in my class with no repercussions.”

  Isaac swore under his breath. When I gazed into his eyes, he took my hand and interlocked our fingers.

  “So I began comfort-eating. Food was a distraction from my anxiety. I would gorge on chocolate and pastries all day while I studied. My entire allowance was spent buying food. One time, I purchased a cheap mud cake from the supermarket, covered it in whipped cream, and devoured it in one sitting. Gross, right? I even ate a pint of ice cream afterward.”

  I paused while a couple of kids walked past. They waved at us.

  “Hey, Santa. Hey, Tinkerbell,” a boy called out.

  “Hey,” Isaac said.

  Once they were no longer within earshot, I went on. “My parents assumed I was stressed out because of my studies. They told me not to worry since I could always lose weight after I got into college. Once I could no longer fit into my clothes, I bought the baggiest black items I could find. Nowadays, I just enjoy wearing black. I’m not particularly self-conscious. You’ve seen me wear mesh tops and miniskirts. But back then, all I wanted to do was cover up and hide my body.”

  “I think you’re an incredibly brave and resilient person,” he proclaimed.

  “All I did was get through high school. I didn’t save the day. I wasn’t a hero by any means.”

  “You’re a hero in my eyes. You saved yourself. Also, I’m glad you’re not as self-conscious anymore. Yumi, you’re beautiful.”

  “Believe me, I know,” I joked, repeating what he said earlier.

  Isaac winced as he ripped off his fake beard. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing. With his face back to normal, he looked like a dashing star of the silver screen with his chiseled bone structure and striking dark eyes. I cupped his cheek. It felt so warm I thought my fingers were going to melt.

  “I’m a lucky guy,” he murmured, then pulled me toward him until our mouths met.

  At first, he kissed me cautiously, like we were sharing a dangerous secret. However, the moment I released a moan, I must’ve turned on a switch inside him. I felt his tongue massage mine. His breaths were short and ragged. The heat of his mouth made my limbs weak.

  We didn’t stop until we were interrupted by the echo of footsteps down the hallway. A few kids scurried past, giggling; they were the ones who’d waved at us earlier.

  “Santa Claus kissed Tinkerbell!”

  Chapter Twelve

  Date #5

  Although Isaac and I didn’t go on a conventional date for our fifth partner assignment, our afternoon at Seoul Modu Hospital takes the cake as our most romantic date thus far. Of course, our evening at the Seo Woo Center was wonderful too, but I made memories of a lifetime volunteering at the children’s ward. To prepare a special Christmas event for the young hospital patients, we shopped for toys. Then, at the hospital, we sang songs, talked to the kids, and gave them their presents.

  What made the activity so romantic? It’s not exactly straightforward. There were no rose gardens or cutesy photo zones. We didn’t dress to impress anyone; we dressed to entertain the kids. I started off feeling uncomfortable in my bright green Tinkerbell dress and blonde wig. However, it didn’t take me long to break out of my shell after Isaac and some of the smaller children treated me as if I were a real fairy. Even though Isaac wore a funny white beard and a flimsy Santa hat, anyone would’ve fallen for him after seeing his friendly, confident demeanor as he livened up the atmosphere.

  I know I’m supposed to keep the summaries short, so I’ll stop here. All in all, I would highly recommend volunteering at a children’s ward during the holiday season as an alternative date activity.

  I couldn’t get Isaac out of my mind. From the instant I opened my eyes in the morning to my last waking moment late at night, I wondered what he might be up to. The thought of seeing him again made my heart leap. When I remembered the silly things he did, like the way he shot finger guns as he sang along to Christmas songs, I laughed to myself.

  A few days after we’d volunteered at the children’s ward, Isaac called me in the middle of the day, while I was going to class.

  “Hey,” he said. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m heading to the Department of Economics for my next class,” I replied.

  “What time does your class end? Is it your last class of the day?” he asked, his voice filled with excitement.

  “My class ends in about an hour. Yeah, it’s my last class. Why?”

  “Do you have plans for the rest of the day? Do you want to meet up afterward?”

  “Sure,” I said, a myriad of thoughts racing through my mind. I hadn’t expected Isaac to call me, much less ask me to meet up out of the blue.

  “Perfect. Meet me at the café on the first floor of the student center.”

  “Okay. See you soon.”

  Once I hung up, I couldn’t help but smile to myself. When I glanced up at the sky, cloudy and white like it was about to snow any minute, I was reminded of my first kiss with Isaac. He’d been so gentle until he heard my moan. Truthfully, it was hard to keep my thoughts from getting raunchy.

  To my delight, class finished a little early; I left the lecture hall at 4:40. Although I wasn’t pressed for time, I hurried to the café as fast as I could without running. I rushed through the crowd outside the Department of Economics, brushing past parka-clad shoulders and elbows, then almost skidded while I went downhill toward the student center. Just seconds after I entered the building, I began sweating profusely underneath all the layers I was wearing. I checked the time on my phone—it was only a quarter to five. Though I expected to wait until he arrived, I instantly spotted his broad back occupying one of the window seats. He wa
s typing away on his laptop with an empty mug next to him.

  “Boo,” I murmured as I tapped on his shoulder.

  Isaac turned around and smiled.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Hey, Yumi.”

  “You didn’t expect me to be early, did you?”

  “No. What a pleasant surprise.” He pulled out the chair beside him. “Take a seat, Yumi. Let me get you something warm to drink.”

  “Would I be insane if I got an iced Americano? I usually prefer hot drinks all year round, and I know flu season has kicked in, but I’m about to melt underneath all this.” I pointed to my body before taking off my long down jacket.

  “As long as you finish your drink here. If you take it outside, it might freeze.” He then peered at his laptop screen. “Give me a second. I’ve just got to save this document.”

  “What have you been working on?” I asked as he got up. When I took a quick peek to see what he was writing, I saw my name on the screen.

  “I’ve been catching up on assignments,” he replied, closing his laptop.

  “Is it an assignment about me? I saw my name, Isaac. You’re not writing me a love letter, are you?” I teased, wedging my hand between the screen and keyboard to stop him.

  “Come on, Yumi. What are you doing?” he protested.

  I closed it shut with a playful smirk. “You know, I’m not a particularly nosy person. Ordinarily, I would respect someone’s privacy, even if I saw my name on the computer screen. But of course, you’re an exception.”

  “Should I feel honored?” he joked as we made our way to the counter. “You wanted an iced Americano, right?”

  “You don’t need to buy me the drink though.”

  “I want to. I invited you here.” He took out his credit card and made eye contact with the barista.

  The barista wiped his hands on his apron as he came over. “Good afternoon. What would you like to order today?”