CHAPTER 9

I remember that day very clearly. It was a crisp bright morning on the 24th of March and I was running.

Yes, you read that right I was running on the streets of Hongdae trying to quickly reach the same tourist shop I had hired Baek from, my eyes were red and puffy and my body was protesting my every movement but I didn't stop until I reached my destination.

I didn't waste time in trying to greet the owner in my very amazing Korean but instead I gave just one statement,

"I want to see my tour guide from yesterday, it's urgent!"

I was informed that he had an early morning engagement that day and was all the way out in the Gangnam area for most of the day. Disappointed but not discouraged I quickly made my way to the Hongik station and managed to reach Gangnam.

Now the challenge was to find Baek. I had his cell number thanks to the shop but the idiot had decided on that particular day to not receive calls.

Gangnam is a huge area but fortunately for me it also happened to be a tourist hotspot and I had done my homework in advance and knew the places I could search for Baek. An hour of searching and I finally found him, showing a family the SM entertainment building.

And I ran again.

Reaching them, I didn't even bother to look at those tourists and immediately pulled Baek into a hug.

"Baek my answer is yes, I'm willing to stay, to learn from you. I want to make a life here and I want you to help me all the way through," I told him, not breaking the hug even once.

He didn't say anything to me, in return just tightened his hold and me and spun me around earning a giddy squeak from me.

I had to wait until he was finished with his tour before we could talk more so I made myself comfortable in a small café nearby.

Whilst waiting my thoughts wandered and I began to go through the events prior to my morning marathon, the reason for my sudden decision. A single phone call back home had made up my mind about what I wanted and what I was going to do with my life and future.

The phone call to my parents was made around at six AM the same morning, after I had given up on trying to get some sleep. It began like it normally would, my mom had picked up the home landline and greetings were formally exchanged because that's how my relationship was with my parents, formal.

"So mom listen I know I said I'll be back after a week but I was just thinking that maybe I should stay more you know......"

"what more do you mean, you know we can't afford this anyways. Your dad was so upset and unwilling anyways and now you want to spend more, this money was earned by your father with so much difficulty it did not grow on a tree Radhika and you have no right to waste it" she said immediately not even waiting for me to explain further.

I heaved a loud sigh before beginning again, trying not to lose my temper and continue being respectful to my mother.

"Yes maa I'm well aware of the fact that money won't grow on trees and that father has earned it all with most difficulty so that I can be married off into a respectful family but I'm not asking for any money. I have a job offer here, a company is willing to pay for my expenses and classes to learn Korean if I take a job as their translator, it's a really good offer and the pay and perks are also fabulous , just think about it, I could even send some money back home!!" the lie came naturally to me.

There was pin drop silence on the other end of the lime for a few moments before I heard my mother screaming on the other side,

"Where are you Radhika's dad, listen to what your daughter is saying, she is talking about job and staying there, I told you, warned you don't let her go, see what happened , she has gone crazy see, maybe she met some man there , talk to her right now"

Shouting as if I had committed a crime.

"Is what your mother saying, true?" came my fathers voice.

"Yes" I replied, my voice barely above a whisper .

My father was a man of very few words, if he was upset about something he never screamed, just gave cold stares and disappointed nods every now and then, sometimes even a slap if it was something that upset him a bit more, but not during that phone call, no, he went all out,

"How dare you Radhika," he had screamed.

"How dare you go behind our backs like this? We did not invest all these years in you just for this day when you would go around disrespecting us like this." A few seconds of silence followed before he finally dropped his tone a bit and continued,

"You will come back home right away, god knows what all you must've done out there that you have suddenly got ideas like these, is it a boy now Radhika? A boy feeding you all of this job and stay away non sense huh? You have become characterless just because you were away for a few days but not anymore, now pack your bags, I will do something about the ticket and....."

At this point I had stopped listening to him, my mind had gone numb and I was brought back to reality when I almost dropped my phone.

"Are you listening to me Radhika?" I heard him asking when I came back to my senses.

No, no I wasn't listening because it was too painful, it broke my heart, my own father was talking this way to me, this way about me. I couldn't take it. They had controlled me, pushed me around, even humiliated me a few times but I couldn't take it anymore. I wasn't going to take it anymore. This isn't how family should be treated, this wasn't what I deserved and I had had enough.

"I'm not coming back Papa , please forget you ever had a child and please consider me dead to you." I said and I hung up, blocked all the numbers.

I had cried and cried, for myself, for the fact that I had officially lost my parents, I cried because I had just lost the only home I ever knew.

An investment? That's what I was to my parents? A mere investment and characterless? Wanting a job, wanting to get on my feet that made me characterless, seriously? And where the hell did a guy come into the picture, couldn't I think for myself? I could only want a job and a life if someone brainwashed me?

I wanted to say so much, give it back to him for all the years of emotional torture but I didn't, he didn't deserve it, didn't deserve my tears or my words, didn't deserve me putting in that much of my time and energy into a conversation with him.

"Lets go to my home and we can talk, you can meet Grace too, you will like each other!!" I was pulled out of my thoughts by Baek's voice.

'Wow time sure flies when you're busy with thoughts'

Getting up from my chair, I made my way out of the cafe with Baek, heading towards a new life, a better life.