Angels of the Morning Calm (Chapter 3)

“So why did you leave Pusan and come to Kunsan?” Byron asked looking across the table at the beautiful lady now sipping ice coffee.1

Miss Lee sat her coffee down, and glanced for a moment out the glass front of the coffee shop where they now sat. When the words were gathered, she looked across at Byron again and began:2

“You know that I am Christian girl?”3

“Yes.”4

“My father is not Christian man. He want-uh me Buddha girl. But I do not believe this kinda. I believe Christian now.”5

“I see,” Byron said urging her to continue.6

“This is big problem. Girl is not supposed to believe Christian if-uh her father believe Buddha. If she marry, and her husband believe Buddha, she supposed to believe Buddha too. If she marry, and her husband believe Christian, she supposed to believe Christian. If she not marry, she supposed to believe her father same.”7

“I see,” Byron said. “And since you wanted to be a Christian, you couldn’t stay home.”8

“This really bad,” She continued. “I want to go churchee, and my father so mad. He come churchee inside, and he get-uh me.”9

“He came into church after you?”10

“Yes. He takee my ear like this,” she said pinching her ear lobe to demonstrate. “Everybody lookee me and-uh he takee me outside.”11

“Wow,” Byron said. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. How old were you?”12

“Just-uh one month ago!” Miss Lee answered.13

“You were 21 years old and your father dragged you out of church by your ear?”14

“Yes,” she said growing visibly agitated as she relived the experience. “Think about it – I am so embarrass. I talk to my mommy and-uh say ‘I want-uh believe Christian. I know not supposed to, but I want-uh believe Christian, so what-uh you going to do?’”15

Byron nodded. His conversations with Miss Lee the last few weeks had taught him that the “What you going to do?” statements from Miss Lee actually meant “What am I supposed to do?” He needed to correct that, but her page was already full of notes from today – maybe next time.16

Byron turned his attention back to their conversation.17

“What did she say?”18

“She say she understand, and-uh she tell me if-uh I want-uh leave, I am old enough.”19

“So you left and came here?”20

“Yes. My mommy give-uh me money, and I buy bus ticket and-uh I come here.”21

“Why Kunsan?”22

“I likee ocean. You know, Pusan have-uh lot of beachees”23

“I bet they’re not like Kunsan.”24

“Not same thing,” Miss Lee said shaking her head. “This place, everything so dirty. Pusan not same thing.”25

Byron reached down beside him and pulled his notebook out of his backpack. He flipped through the pages of practice of the Korean alphabet, and spelling of his vocabulary words. He paused from time to time and mumbled the words which he still had some difficulty pronouncing. He reviewed a few of the Korean vowel sounds, and how they transliterated. The ‘ae’ made a long A sound. What was transliterated as ‘i’ made a long e sound. The little character that was transliterated as ‘a’ actually made an ‘ah’ sound.26

He stopped, and looked up at Miss Lee.27

“Ajoshi is an older man, and ajuma is a married older woman. What would I call you normally?”28

“If-uh you do not know me, you say ‘agashi.’ But you and-uh me are friend.”29

“So can I call you Ok Sun?”30

“Not supposed to,” Miss Lee said shaking her head.31

“Why? You’re barely one year older than me.”32

“Even if-uh I am only one day older, you are not supposed to call me my name.”33

“So I just call you ‘Miss Lee?’”34

“Miss Lee is OK, but when we are good friend, you call me ‘noona.’”35

“Noona?” Byron said recognizing this term which Miss Lee taught him was used only by boys. “Older sister?”36

“Yes.”37

“That’s weird.”38

“I likee,” she nodded.39

“That just feels weird.”40

“Miss Lee is ok, too.”41

Byron nodded and wrote notes on what Ok Sun had just taught.42

“You know, we always come here to study, and you have taken me where you work several times so I can eat different Korean foods. Ajuma likes me now, and I think even Miss Gunn has eased up around me.”43

“Don’t trust-uh Miss Gunn,” Ok Sun warned. “She so muchee gossip.”44

“I understand,” Byron continued. “But what I was saying is that you teach me a lot of things, but I still have never seen the inside of a Korean house. You let me walk you home, but I don’t know what the inside of your house is like.”45

“Not supposed to,” Ok Sun said shaking her head disapprovingly at the question she anticipated.46

“Fair enough,” Byron said showing her his palms to indicate he had no plans to pursue the topic further.47

“Fair enough?” Ok Sun asked.48

“Yes. It means … like … now that I know what you think, that’s ok.”49

“Fair enough,” Ok Sun repeated nodding. She gathered her notebook in front of her and noted the expression.50

“What is your house like on the inside?”51

“You know, I don’t have so muchee stuff.” She paused and looked for Byron’s approval of her sentence.52

“Stuff, yes, that’s good usage.”53

She smiled, nodded, and continued. “I have small dresser and mirror, and little stove. I don’t have bed.”54

“You don’t have a bed?”55

“I have bed, and-uh not likee American bed, just little folding bed. We call it ‘Sam-dan-yo’”56

“Sam-dan-yo?” Byron asked as he tried to note this new word in his notebook.57

Ok Sun nodded in approval of his Korean spelling.58

“Sam – likee three,” she said.59

“Ok,” Byron noted.60

“We say sam-dan-yo because bed fold, and have three part.”61

“Oh,” Byron said. “That’s what the GI’s call a ‘yobo bed’.”62

“Don’t say ‘yobo bed’,” Ok Sun answered. “Husband say to his wife ‘yobo’ or wife talk to her husband likee ‘yobo’, but GI talk not mean likee that. Korean yobo mean likee ‘sweetheart’, but only husband and wife say yobo.”63

“I knew that about the GI talk, but I didn’t know what it meant for sure in Korean,” Byron noted.64

“What do you need in your house?” Byron asked.65

“Nothing,” Ok Sun said thoughtfully. She paused, then continued, “I do not need, but just-uh I want TV.”66

“You don’t have a TV?”67

“No TV. Nothing.”68

Byron smiled slyly as he continued to write down the definition for “yobo”. Ok Sun had never allowed him to pay her the taxi fare from their first meeting, but perhaps she would accept a gift…69