I finally made it to Chejudo, Korea. I didn’t
know where to look for Ji Won so anywhere was fine.
I was never a lucky person. I couldn’t find
any signs of Ji Won there so I traveled to Inchun
City.
My search for Ji Won continued for another year.
During that time I had traveled to many cities like
Guam, Pusan, etc. It must have been a gift from
God because one day my search was over…
November 21, 1998
I had just finish my overtime shift at the Nam Hotel.
It was pretty ironic because my whole family spent
their lives working for hotels and here is the biggest
one in all of Seoul with our family name. I went
into the worker’s lounge to take a break and
pour myself some tea. I sat down and read the headlines.
‘Sechskies are to open a conference broadcasting
live on Channel 6 today’
I rolled my eyes. Not them again. They were the
notorious mafia lead by Matthew Eun. I shuddered.
I can’t believe the leader has the same last
name as my beloved Ji Won.
Actually 6kies was composed of 6 leaders. They committed
a lot of crimes and were always challenging the
authorities. They had a lot of power and no one
could take their pictures without their consent
but a lot of people know what they look like. I
didn’t care. I was too busy looking for Ji
Won to notice them.
A worker with me named So Kyung Hee came in. “Hey,”
she said, patting me lightly on the knee. “On
break?” I took a sip and nodded. “Me
too,” she said smiling.
I smiled back at her. Kyung Hee was actually one
of the nicest people at the hotel. Most of them
were cold and just worried about how much tips they
can get.
Kyung Hee picked up the TV remote and turned to
Channel 6. “Hey Mina, there’s supposed
to be showing 6kies today. Wonder what they look
like.”
I nodded and watched with her. When the clock struck
9, I felt my heart had stopped and it was not from
my heart failure either. I stared at the face that
was giving a cocky smile to the camera. Ji Won.
Slowly the camera pulled out revealing the other
5 members.
I recognized Sung Hoon. He and Ji Won looked completely
different but I still recognized them. Ji Won had
his hair dyed completely blonde while Sung Hoon’s
was streaked. Kyung Hee and I watched them in silence
as they began to talk. Ji Won and the others introduced
themselves. Then the camera showed directly at Ji
Won.
To most people he would look like an evil gang
leader but in my eyes he was a beautiful angel.
If it was ever possible, Ji Won was even finer than
before.
“Mina, are you okay?” asked Kyung Hee,
as she waved a hand in front of my face.
“Huh?” I asked looking at her. “Oh,
I’m fine. Just listening to what they have
to say.”
I pointed to Ji Won on the screen. “Who is
he?” “That’s Matthew Eun,”
she answered me.
I stared at Ji Won some more. He had changed his
name and so did Sung Hoon. No wonder I couldn’t
find them.
Kyung Hee caught me staring so she smiled at me.
“The leader is cute huh?”
I blushed. “Yeah.” “Too bad in
real life he’s such a jerk.”
“He is not!” I yelled at her.
Kyung Hee scooted her seat back in shock. I apologized
right away. “Sorry Kyung Hee, I didn’t
mean to yell at you.”
She had a confused look on her face but she said,
“Uh, it’s okay Mina.”
I pulled a finger to my lips. “Shh…let’s
listen to what they have to say…”
Ji Won began talking.
“This is Sechkies speaking to all you losers
out there watching us. We just want to say that
we’re open to hire new ‘employees’.
We usually travel around to our many hotels but
you’ll find us if you have the right connections.
Also a word to the police of Korea. Why are you
picking on us?“ Ji Won asked sarcastically.
“We’re good, law-abiding citizens.”
Ji Won folded his hands together and gave a little
bow. Then all of the Sechskies leaders started laughing.
“Oh my gosh! Look at him!” yelled Kyung
Hee and pointed to Sung Hoon on the T.V. screen.
“Look at that stupid smile and that perverted
laugh. Kekeke…”
Kyung Hee made a poor impression of Sung Hoon’s
laugh and it made me laugh. ‘Geez’,
I thought. ‘Sung Hoon would kill her if he
knew she made fun of his trademark smile’.
The show ended a little too soon for me but Ji Won
did say he was visiting many hotels and mine is
the biggest one. He has to come here. I went back
to work and waited for him to come.
Part 18
Ji Won entered the main doors of the Nam Hotel
and headed towards the lobby. He let out a sigh.
Being in a hotel brought back to him a lot of memories.
He remembered how he would take Mina to the hotels
to trash it or slide down the long stairway banisters.
But those carefree days are over. His only love
had died and he no longer has the heart to love
anyone else.
Eversince the news of Mina’s death, Ji Won
began to develop a passion for anything he thinks
is related to her. Things like her hairbrush, the
same type of lipgloss she uses, her little respirator,
etc. There are times when he had to give her mouth-to-mouth
if the respirator wasn’t around. Ji Won smiled
remembering that she had told him that he was her
first kiss. Mina never went out with any guys so
it made him really happy but he also found it very
strange. He didn’t want to give her any ideas
about dating other guys so he never asked.
Ji Won had changed his name to Matthew. It’s
to symbolize that Ji Won died with Mina and Matthew
replaced him. He chose the name Matthew because
of Mina’s initial ‘M’ and if anyone
asks, the ‘M’ stands for Matthew.
Sung Hoon wanted to change his name to Ricky but
Ji Won wouldn’t let him. Ji Won only allowed
him to change it if it had the letter ‘M’
so Sung Hoon ended up changing it to Mickey instead.
“Hey hyung! Over here!” shouted Sung
Hoon.
Ji Won looked over at his five friends. He walked
over to them and was surprised at what he saw. “What
the hell is this?” he asked angrily. Every
single one of them had a girl in each arm. “What
do you guys think you’re doing?” he
asked as he strode over to them.
“Come on hyung,” said Jae Duc. “Lighten
up.”
“Yeah,” said Jae Jin. “We worked
hard all day and now let’s have a little fun.”
Ji Won rolled his eyes and then he saw two girls
wrap their arms around him. He smiled. “Yeah,
I guess.”
“Alright!” they all shouted. They like
it when Ji Won is in a good mood.
From where I was standing, I felt as though someone
had stabbed me with a knife. Ji Won looked so happy
with those 2 girls sitting on both sides of his
lap. I stared at my reflection in the hotel mirror.
Big, glassy eyes, pale skin, and waist-length black
hair. I looked kind of like a ghost. Not much to
look at, I thought sighing sadly. Then I felt a
tap on my shoulder and I slowly turned around.
